#casually gives my ocs angst | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

onlyswan · 3 months

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summary: in which you sacrifice your strawberries and eyelash wishes for the boy knocking at your door.

idol!jungkook x reader, strangers to friends (?) to lovers / fluff and a pinch of angst / word count: 5.5k

content/warnings: allusions to death and grief / jungkook is a cutie patootie and a blushing hopeless romantic mess / he wants to kiss oc so bad (me too bro) / oc is a sunshine <3 / they do chores and watch movies together :((( / in one scene he was worried oc would think of him as a perv lmao / they’re dorks and i love them / seokjin cameo hehehe

> in which masterlist!

note: to make up for the pain i may have caused and will cause <3 LOL. i hope you enjoy reading as much as i enjoyed writing :D as always reblogs and feedback are appreciated! come chat w me. ily 🌼

—

“it’s so cold,” you mutter through chattering teeth.

the grocery bags sit on the hardwood table with a thud— the careless bringer too hasty. you shove your icy hands in the deep pockets of your jacket, breathing in and out with a sense of relief.

you are not granted the mundane euphoria for much longer, however. the doorbell rings and you are padding across the floor against your will. the cold air hits your face before it enters your apartment.

however, the happy smile that greets you blankets your heart with a type of warmth that is difficult to describe.

if you had to guess who was behind the door, you wouldn’t say the boy you’ve been fiercely pining over for the past month, but it is certainly who you’d be hoping for regardless.

“good morning!”

“oh! wait there for a moment!”

jungkook stands motionless by your open front door as you disappear into your apartment. confusion accompanied by curiosity, he tries poking his head inside, but then decides that he shouldn’t.

upon your return, his face lights up again.

“here you go!”

he accepts the jar of honey faster than he could think.

“w-why are you-?”

you tilt your head, lips forming a small pout. “isn’t that what you’re here for?”

“uh, actually-” he awkwardly pauses, hand that carries the heavy paper bag behind him suddenly feeling weak. “i came here to give you something.”

your eyes animatedly expand in surprise of the size of it, not at all expecting to receive a gift from him today. you do know that he’s fresh from japan, as you converse on the phone almost everyday… why would he come here almost immediately? and didn’t he say they weren’t given the chance to roam the city because of their work schedule?

“i just grabbed things i thought you might like. i hope i got most of them right?” he explains with a nervous chuckle as you take a look inside.

a diverse array of snacks; a beautiful journal painted with cherry blossoms; a hello kitty plushie; stickers, muji pens…

“oh my god, jungkook… these are too much. you didn’t have to.”

oh, curse the hopeless fluttering of your heart.

“wow, gifting your merch- that’s real idol behavior for you.” you tease him, referring to the hooded jacket that has their group logo on its plastic packaging. “thank you!”

“no but it seriously warms you up! i have one too!”

“jungkook, why are you so cute?!”

“ah, shut up! i’m getting embarrassed!” he whines, blushing. “just look at them later after i leave, how about that?”

“let go! it’s mine!” you glare at him, hugging the paper bag to your chest to deny his advances on snatching it away. “are you not leaving? don’t you have work?”

“i told you— it’s my rest day.”

“you did?”

“while we were texting last night.”

“oh,” you blink. “i don’t remember reading that.”

“you? what are you doing today?”

you bite back the smile threatening to give away the thoughts running in your mind a thousand miles per hour. why does he want to know?

“nothing special. just chores the entire day.”

jungkook puts his hand inside the pocket of his coat, an attempt to appear casual as he offers you his valiant effort. “do you want some help? i’m good at doing chores.”

you stare at him, perplexed, as if he just said the most ridiculous sentence you’ve ever heard in your entire life.

“it’s your rest day and you want to do chores?”

“sure,” he grins playfully, not at all seeing how that could be wrong. “why not?”

“you know…” you pause— observing his expression, considering shutting your mouth, but that plan rarely ever works out. “you can just say that you want to spend time with me, right?”

your bluntness sends his heart racing. you’re a danger to his health.

he sinks his perfect teeth on his bottom lip, bringing his dimples into view. to be honest, you didn’t always have a thing about dimples. you didn’t consider them all that special. but why do they make him look cute and sexy at the same time?

his cheeks become tinted with a pale scarlet. you’re wearing that friendly beam again; he doesn’t know how to act. he never knows whether you are joking or not.

“well, now i know.”

��

jungkook sets down the jar of honey on the table as he settles in the living room, fascinated doe eyes darting around every inch of your place. it’s not his first time here, but somehow, it looks different each time. the two frames hanging above the sofa captures his attention all over again, colorful drawings against the plain white wall. gifted to you by your siblings, you said.

a tall castle with a happy family. a little boy slaying a dragon to protect a princess from its savage fire.

he is blissfully unaware of the knowledge that the drawings are the lone survivors of a school bus and a tragedy. you want it to stay that way. you want people to feel the opposite of the sadness you feel when you look at them. that is how you seek your peace.

“are you wearing toe socks?”

“huh?” he makes a sound of confusion, only processing your question upon seeing your gaze trained to his feet. “ah- toe socks- yes.”

“i’m only noticing them now. they look funny.” you scrunch your nose, chuckling.

“don’t laugh! they’re so comfortable!”

“really?” your eyes widen with genuine interest. “i should try them then.”

“yeah, you should!”

he whips his head around as he jokingly voices out an observation.

“but ____, your house kind of looks different today… it’s almost like it’s cleaner than the last time i was here.”

you bury your face in your hands with a high-pitched wine, hiding from him in humiliation. you did not plan on inviting someone over that night, and he had to watch you run around organizing and picking up things— the scattered books all over the table and the floor; the jackets that have created a big heap on the small couch; the jewelry box that ended up on the dining table for some reason.

he laughs in endearment, unable to take his eyes from you. even the way your hair bounces as you furiously shake your head is pretty. wait, does that sound weird?

“that’s right, it should look different! the first thing i did when winter break started was clean up my mess.”

“what’s the first chore on the list then?” he catches the grocery bags in the kitchen from his peripheral. “were you putting away your groceries?”

“you really want to do chores? you don’t want to watch a movie or something?”

“aigoo, it’s fine!” he waves off your reluctance. “stop worrying! i already said i’d help you.”

“but it’s embarrassing…”

it’s either jungkook is denying your advances or he is simply dense. but the fact that he showed up at your door unannounced on his day-off despite complaining about his exhaustion from their hectic work schedule, you want to lean towards the latter and believe that he is… as good at chores like he claims to be.

“you must like fruits a lot.” jungkook comments as he is squatted infront of your fridge, sheltering the freshly bought perishables one by one.

kimchi, lettuce, strawberries, tangerines, shine muscat, apples…

this is an entirely different world through your lens.

it feels strange to watch another person restock your fridge for you.

“they’re easy to eat and i’m lazy to cook.”

he chuckles as he looks back at you, who is sat on the dining table, airy and carefree as you snack on a bag of assorted chocolates from the paper bag he brought. almost all of the white chocolates are gone, he notes.

“not because they’re nutritious?”

“that’s the bonus!”

“what is this?”

“cranberry juice.”

“and this?”

“oyster sauce.”

you energetically hop off the table, an idea lighting up the bulb in your mind.

“i have another recipe for you. french toast with strawberries, then drizzle some of the honey. should i make it for you?”

“ah!” he gasps as if he is in pain, but the truth is his mouth is watering. he hasn’t eaten breakfast, and he wanted to eat more for dinner last night but sleep proved to be much more enticing than food. “that sounds so good! i’m starving!”

“stand up!” you begin pulling at the back of his sweater, forcing him to remove himself from the floor. “i’ll make it! just go relax in the living room, okay?”

“but you just said you’re lazy to cook.” he tilts back his head, meeting your gaze. “i’ll help you.”

“i’m not lazy when it becomes to being a host.”

you bend down with a sweet smile, merely inches away from him, and jungkook swears the earth has stopped spinning on its axis. your face is natural and bare, except for the sheen of lip balm across your lips— and dear heavens, having you this close, you are so breathtakingly beautiful.

“they’re playing christmas movies on channel 36.” you announce, giving him the bag of chocolates. “and the remote is… somewhere on the sofa… or maybe the floor.”

and as he gets practically kicked out of the kitchen, your hands roughly pushing his back, he daydreams of kissing you and tasting sugar on your lips.

—

the sweet, addicting smell of the french toast— strong hints of butter and cinnamon— invades every corner of your apartment. consequently, it also compels jungkook to break your rules and insert himself in the kitchen again.

“you never give up, do you?”

“i don’t,” he agrees, nodding eagerly. he has successfully stolen the task of washing the strawberries, and then slicing them after. he endures the freezing water rendering his hands numb. “it’s a known fact.”

“are you saying i should study harder?” you cross your arms, expression painted with faux vexation.

“yes! exactly!” he humors you, grinning of amusement. “what’s my favorite color?”

you sigh, looking at him from head to toe.

“anyone can guess that from a mile away, jungkook.”

“fuck, okay. that’s fair!”

the sound of his laughter reminds of you reasons to stay through the cycle of the seasons. you don’t understand why, but for some reason, it has finally begun to feel like christmas. the only comfort that comes along with the cruel winter that nips at your skin; the blanket over your heart that provides a type of warmth one can travel to seek but will never be able to find alone.

“what’s my height then?”

“aren’t you six feet?”

the silence that follows is an answer enough for you. the noise of the television emerges now that none of you is talking. he pretends to be too busy to speak, transferring the strawberries over to the chopping board.

“yes, you’re ri-”

“liar!” you point an accusatory finger at him.

and he winces, guilty as charged.

“you hesitated!”

“tsk, i should’ve said yes faster! i wanted to experience what it’s like to be tall!” he regretfully purses his lips, eyebrows knitted as if he just lost the lottery. “but haven’t you read it online? even my shoe size and weight are there.”

“what? why do people even need to know that…?” you exclaim, flabbergasted. “i mean- of course i’ve searched up your name, but it feels like cheating on a test. does that sound silly…? it’s just more fun learning about you from you.”

you briefly walk away to grab a bottle of water from the fridge, and jungkook is left at the counter with fondness blossoming in his chest, bleeding into the chopped strawberries staining his hands red.

he calls out your name.

“mhmm?” you hum in question, muffled by the water in your mouth.

“want to hear a fact about me?”

you wipe your lips with the back of your hand, eyes expanding with fueled interest. “what?”

“i’m actually very good in the kitchen.” he boasts his skills with the kitchen knife, quick and precise, the blade against the wood creating the satisfying click you usually only hear from cooking shows. “are you seeing this? huh…? what do you think?”

“so i’ve noticed. i want something new!”

at that, his shoulder sags in disappointment. to his demise, there goes another failed attempt at making you acknowledge that he is boyfriend material.

“what do you want to know? ask me questions.”

“what’s your ideal type?”

being in your presence for the past hour has gotten jungkook re-adjusted to your personality— straight-forward, bold, smart— so vivacious that it’s dizzying. you make him nervous and comfortable at the same time, and he doesn’t quite know how to explain it either. but you’re a breath of fresh air, the change that he has been anticipating to disrupt his routine.

“why do you want to know that?”

you shrug coyly, smiling like the troublesome vixen that you are. you rather enjoy the tension that has hung in the air. if you’ve learned something from the past: men are easy to get, not easy to keep. because they relish in the chase, getting strung along like this. so, shouldn’t you have your fun too? but even if jungkook’s intentions were pure, you can only imagine that seeing someone whose life revolves around their career is… the perfect recipe for disaster.

“i think who you like also says a lot about who you are as a person.”

“i like someone who is kind and funny…” he hums in thought, unconsciously slotting a piece of strawberry in between his lips. “and passionate about the things they love… mhmm, someone who can be honest with me.”

his words form a constellation named after you, unbeknownst to you, and he wants to say more but anticipating what comes next after you connect the dots makes his stomach twist. he doesn’t feel like an adult yet. he’s still just a young boy with a gorgeous crush and high ambitions that coalesce in his dreams.

“i like someone who has a really pretty smile, too.”

and he should probably stop staring, erase the dumb lovesick smile on his face. for fuck’s sake, it would be easier for him if you would just do the same. behind the sparkles of your eyes, there is something he’s been dying to decipher.

“okay, why are you looking at me like that?”

because you are so pretty, especially when you smile.

“nothing,” he replies innocently. “you? what’s your ideal type? who do you like?”

“i don’t know… no one has captured my heart yet. they’re not trying hard enough!”

every romance you’ve had so far has been a letdown.

“but i’m still looking. i’m young, and hot, and the universe is vast.”

“mhm, i see… that’s true, but maybe… you don’t want to be looking too far.” jungkook suggests.

you smirk. “so you agree that i’m hot?”

“you know. you don’t need me to say it.” he chuckles, shaking his head.

“but i want to hear you say it.”

“you’re very beautiful, ____.”

“but that’s not-”

“the food is ready! let’s eat it before it gets cold!”

he runs to the living room without waiting for you, and you seize the opportunity to squeal without a sound, punching the counter without actually punching— releasing the giddiness threatening to spill from the seams of your heart.

you don’t know if this is heading somewhere, nor do you expect it to, but where you are right now is a good place to be.

—

the movie playing on the screen has become more of a white noise to you, a family comedy far less fascinating compared to jungkook drizzling honey over strawberries and bread from a spoon. you wonder if he is aware how often he creates sound effects while he is doing something.

beside you, his body quakes with cackles during the scenes that an editor would definitely insert the classic sound of an audience’s collective laughter and holler. you stumble upon the understanding that his happiness lies in a myriad of things, and you would envy him for it if not for the fact that he is currently sharing that happiness with you. you laugh when he laughs, and being becomes a little less heavier at that moment.

another commercial break rudely interrupts and jungkook turns towards you. the two of you sit cross-legged, knees knocking against each other as you occupy nearly the entire sofa.

“hi!”

“hi.”

“what are your plans for the holidays?”

“my best friend’s family invited me to stay with them for christmas until the new year. it’s kind of been a tradition since…”

the end of your sentence hangs suspended in the air. you still can’t say it out loud.

jungkook knows they’re gone and you’re alone: only the plain and brutal truths.

the reminder that this is the third christmas you will not spend with your family; the thought that this would be the third christmas they would spend without you if the afterlife was real— they bring tears to your eyes at once, but you forcibly blink them away, shoving enthusiasm down your throat.

“how about you?” you take a bite from your toast, attempting to divert your thoughts to… anything else. “are you coming home?”

you hide so well behind a smile. it doesn’t occur to jungkook that his question rubbed salt on an open wound.

“i miss my mom but i can’t go home yet.” he pouts. “i have work on christmas day as usual. we’ve been preparing hard for it.”

“oh, that’s right! gayo daejeon?!”

he nods in confirmation.

the music festival has been an annual event for his group since they debuted, and he never feels the need to complain because not everyone is given this kind of opportunity. what’s extraordinary for most has become his ordinary, and what was once his ordinary like everybody else’s has simply become a thing of the past. nevertheless, he does not have regrets. he is living a good life, one that he believes is his fate. as long as he has a voice and it is being heard, then his existence has meaning.

“your family will surely watch you, so they’re still celebrating it with you in a way. making them proud is the best christmas gift you can give!”

and right now, in his life, you are the cherry on top. you were so cheerful and supportive about the final shows of their tour as well, raving about how amazing it is to perform three nights in a row at gocheok skydome.

“i’ll watch you too!”

he can’t help it— you’re driving him to be better at what he does. childishly, he wants show off and be the one to capture your heart.

“ah!” he groans. “that means i should work harder at practice tomorrow! i can’t mess up infront of you and my family!”

“why not me? you want to make me proud too?” you interrogate him jokingly.

“of course, it’s my job. it’s what i do best. i’ll make you see!”

“use me as motivation then. you can’t mess up, okay? you have to do well, jungkook! you better not make a mistake! my eyes will be focused on you only!”

his face is reminiscent of a deer caught in the headlights— the headlights being your wide, threatening eyes.

he releases a shaky sigh in dramatic fashion. “i don’t feel motivated, though? i’m getting pressured?”

you wheeze; the plate over your lap tilts along with its contents.

“this is tough love!”

jungkook nearly staggers to his feet. “…love?”

you roll your eyes, small corners of your lips still cheekily lifted. “was the french toast good?”

jungkook is interrupted before he can form a response.

“but if it tastes like shit, just lie to me!”

“what are you talking about?!”

oh my god, you’re too fucking good at making him laugh.

“you’re eating it too! you know it’s delicious!”

“maybe you got a bad batch!”

—

“i’m going to the laundry shop across the street. i’ll just be a minute.” you announce, hauling a laundry basket to the living room.

your strained grunts prompt jungkook to look up from his phone, and eventually to stand up with urgency and relieve you of your heavy, heavy burden.

“shit, how heavy is this?”

you’re not given a chance to protest as the basket is immediately stolen from your grasp; your lips part open but no words come out.

“i’ll come with you!”

“well, hopefully not more than twelve kilos.”

it’s definitely heavier than usual; mainly comprised of the thick and layered clothes you’ve been wearing to shield yourself from the unforgiving cold.

“let’s go.”

jungkook wraps his hand around your wrist, gently tugging. the butterflies in your stomach wakes up earlier than spring’s arrival.

“this thing is bigger than you.”

an extremely obvious exaggeration.

“i’ll be the one to carry it.“

—

jungkook wears a cap and a face mask underneath his hoodie, eyes barely even visible in his all-black getup for the public to see; and somehow you also find yourself with a scarf around your neck, pulled up over the bridge of your nose.

when the year 2017 rolled in, you predicted that more crazy, life-altering stuff would happen. it has been an on-going theme, a relentless domino effect that has brought you to your knees time and time again. but you never would’ve fucking imagined that this is how you would be wrapping it up. how the hell did you cross paths with a famous idol, and why is he carrying your laundry basket right now?

“wait here for a bit.” you bring both hands to the basket’s handles, coaxing him to let go. “i’ll just bring it inside.”

“are you only dropping it off? that’s expensive!”

“what?” you stare at him in bewilderment, not expecting him to utter such statement at all. “you’re talking like you’re not rich!”

“i’m not! and still,” jungkook becomes flustered underneath his disguise. “it’s good to be practical. anyway, we have a lot of time.”

“you sound more like a mom than my mom did.”

“shhh!” he shushes you, putting a finger over his face mask. “let’s just do your laundry ourselves.”

“why would you do laundry right now? you’re supposed to be resting in the first place!”

a tug of war ensues infront of the laundry shop. strangers doesn’t know better. you look like a married couple bickering over who should take responsibility of the chore.

“____, just let me, mhm? i’m a pro at doing laundry too! we’ll be done before you know it!”

“how are you good at everything? honestly, it sounds like a scam!”

“how dare you doubt me?” he gasps in offense. “i do my own laundry!”

“seriously?” you quirk an eyebrow.

“i’m serious!”

“i don’t think i believe you, though…”

“if you search online, you-” your voice echoes in his mind, and subsequently, jungkook cuts himself off.

‘it feels like cheating on a test. it’s more fun learning about you from you.’

“oh, nevermind. let’s go inside already. i’m freezing!”

“jungkook!” you whine, stomping your feet on the ground as you refuse to let go of the basket despite jungkook beginning to head inside.

“why?” he copies the childishness of your tone, and although you can’t see his face, the crinkles at the corners of his eyes tell you enough.

“we can’t…”

the adorable sight of you appearing to be so shy is foreign to him. he can’t help but to chuckle. “why not?”

your lips form a pout.

“my panties…”

you bring a finger to point at the basket.

“they’re in there too… i was only going to drop them off today because you came with me…”

“ah…” jungkook awkwardly freezes, unblinking. “wait, you’re right?”

why didn’t he think of that? he’s a fucking idiot. of fucking course. what if you take things the wrong way and you’re creeped out by him now?!

“fuck, sorry. i’m sorry. i wasn’t- um, i swear i wasn’t trying to…”

his tongue becomes tied, struggling to search for the words that won’t make him sound like a damn pervert.

yeah, way to go, jungkook. you’re not the fucking boyfriend yet and you’re ruining your chances.

“did i make you uncomfortable? i’m sorry. it probably looked li-”

“hey, breathe, calm down. it’s alright, jungkook.”

you giggle in amusement, placing a hand over his chest— his heart. it’s meant to ease him, but the knowledge that you’re feeling his racing heartbeat only causes it to further intensify. he swallows the lump in his throat, dumbfounded by the turn of events. he wants the ground to swallow him whole, but he also wants to stay in this moment a little while longer.

“it’s alright. i’ll go bring this inside then i’ll treat you to lunch at the restaurant over there! don’t run away from me, okay?”

—

“the yukgaejang looks good.” you utter absentmindedly, admiring the spicy beef soup with plentiful vegetables from afar. “i’m jealous of you.”

the other tables are already having a feast while you and jungkook are waiting for your take-out to be prepared.

“then you should’ve ordered it too.” jungkook scolds you lightheartedly. “should i go?”

“no! i’m not good with spicy food. spice makes me cry.”

he smiles softly. once again, you complete the picture from his eyes. “what is there to frown so sadly about?”

“i feel like i’m missing out.” you complain, the pout on your face almost permanent. “spicy food is like one of the trademarks of korea, you know? but i can’t handle it!”

“so cute…” jungkook has decided to give in to his impulses, it seems— the evidence is him pinching your cheek for the very first time, and with the discovery of its delightsome softness, it will definitely not be the last.

“oh, oh, oh! an eyelash!”

his doe eyes glisten with pure wonder and excitement, and the air in your lungs becomes suspended when his hand moves to tenderly cup the side of your face. as he is absorbed in capturing the tiny eyelash that has fallen and glued itself on your cheek, your mind reels with the size of his hand, the sensation of his innocent touch against your neck.

“aaand-” jungkook takes your hand, passing on the eyelash to your index finger. “there you go. make a wish!”

your eyes flicker down, and none of you speaks for a moment or two.

a wish…?

what does one wish for when they have given up on wishing for miracles?

“did you do it?”

you peek at jungkook, nodding. at last, you blow the eyelash away, outside the window, where it becomes one with the snowflakes that came from the same sky where wishes are supposedly granted.

“what did you wish for?”

“i’ll tell you when it comes true.”

—

jungkook eats so well— you feel full just by watching him eat. so when he asked you, eyebrows knitted and legs bouncing, if he could have more rice, you were left with no choice but to plug in the rice cooker for the second time today. you cooked only enough for two meals today: brunch and dinner for one. you’re more than happy to have given him the dinner portion. you like that your apartment is providing warmth for another soul, despite the old times that it housed ones that ended up haunting you.

“are there any more chores to do? while we wait for the rice?”

you gaze switches from him to the living room.

the boy who was knocking at your door is now vacuuming your floors.

you sit on the couch with your legs hugged to your chest, chin propped on your knees. an unexplainable feeling swims in your chest, but your heart calls to welcome it. not to be delusional, but technically, isn’t this a marriage proposal?

it falls on dear ears— the infuriating sound of the cheap vacuum cleaner your landlord lended you and never came back for. underneath it is jungkook’s mellifluous voice, humming and singing, and it’s all you can hear.

the only use you knew of honey is the magic it does with tea for a sore throat. when you learned about his demanding occupation, he is all you can think of in relation to the elixir. since then, you’ve been taking the god awful amount of honey your pesky neighbor provides without any complaints.

this is nice… this is good. you are glad that you opened the door.

—

after a hearty and satisfying meal, you and jungkook retired to your previous spots infront of the television screen. more of the snacks he bought for you ended up being shared. near your stacks of books are colorful food wrappers and half-empty glasses of water. two mediocre yet entertaining movies later, you tell jungkook that you should pick up your laundry before the shop closes in an hour. however, after he has excused himself to the bathroom, he is greeted by the sight of you peacefully asleep on the sofa.

once more, a new side of you is laid bare, and his affection grows. he doesn’t know when he can admire your face this close again without melting from your stare.

heedful of disturbing your much deserved rest, he carefully places a pillow beneath your head, and he pulls down the blanket you’re wrapped in to cover your cold feet.

with one last stolen glimpse, he grabs your key and receipt from the bowl and leaves.

—

“is it time for you to leave?” you delicately rub at your eyes that are still half-closed; voice quiet, barely there.

you were awoken by the front door opening and closing, but nothing has quite registered to your fuzzy brain yet, except for the coat that you neatly kept and is already re-worn by its owner.

and he knows you’re most probably just sleepy, but the way you’re gazing at him as if you’re sad to see him go makes his heart clench.

“no, i picked up your laundry.” he enlightens you, consciously speaking with refined tenderness, as to preserve the serenity that has enveloped the atmosphere. “i can stay until eight. is that okay?”

you release a weary sigh, nodding. “of course… and you’re such a nice friend, thank you.”

he plops down on the sofa, filling the jungkook-shaped space beside you.

tired… you’re so tired… despite the given privilege to finally sleep to your heart’s content, you’re still so tired. your forehead lands softly on his shoulder, and unbeknownst to you due to your stupor, jungkook’s breath hitches— the polar opposite of the steady rise and fall of your chest. you make him swoon. he deliberately ignores the fact that you just called him a friend.

you peer down at the floor, past the curtain of your disheveled hair, slowly blinking. those ridiculous toe socks… you giggle in secret.

“jungkook?”

“yes?”

“are you cold?”

“freezing.”

you lift your head and he knows— you have to be playing games with his heart, bringing the temptation to kiss you so painfully close. “do you want some tea?”

—

the performance has commenced but the passionate screams of the audience still rings in jungkook’s ears as he runs backstage, chased by the staff attempting to wipe the sweat he is practically bathing in. he squeezes one eye shut as beads of sweat threaten to enter it. his chest heaves with exhaustion and his heart pumps with overwhelming adrenaline. most of the time, this job doesn’t feel real. he feels high. this is the textbook definition of a dream.

“where’s my phone? please? does anyone have it?” he yells in the midst of the chaos and clamor as he completely strips off his in-ears.

a hand reaches towards him with the device, and his expression of gratitude gets lost somewhere among the repetitive reminders of the remaining time before they should have returned to their designated seats.

he allows the hair and make-up stylists to do their jobs, him as their doll in need of a retouch. on the other hand, he impatiently waits for his phone to power on.

the tapping of jungkook’s foot ceases, and from his glowing reflection on the vanity mirror, the clueless people surrounding him witnesses love strike.

guess my eyelash wish worked like a charm. your performances went really well

and you looked so cool on stage ☺️

merry christmas jungkook ❤️

“jungkook-ah, what are you smiling at?!”

seokjin cackles. jungkook didn’t even notice him roll his chair so close. he then decides to play dumb to tease their youngest one.

“wow, who is this ____ you’re texting?”

“hyung!” jungkook panics, hissing underneath his breath. “lower your voice!”

“ouch!” seokjin yells, rubbing his arm that was hit as a punishment.

he allows a moment of silence.

his expression goes blank and he avenges himself.

“ah!” jungkook gasps as the slap on his thigh resonates, forced to be ripped away from overthinking a text message. “hyung! you better start running!”

Draft: i know it’s late.. but can i see you later?|

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taglist in the reblogs! send an ask/dm if you want to be added (or removed) :D

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#jungkook #jungkook fluff #jungkook angst #jungkook drabble #jungkook scenario #jungkook imagine #jungkook one shot #jungkook fic #jungkook fanfic #jungkook au #jungkook x you #jungkook x reader #bts fluff #bts reaction #jungkook smut

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ggukiepie · 9 months

Text

one of your girls (jungkook x reader) (part 1)

we don't gotta be in love, no i don't wanna be the one, no i just wanna be one of your girls tonight ~ i wanna take your light inside dim me down, snuff me out ~ give me tough love leave me with nothin' when i come down

pairing: fwb!jk x oc, brief jimin x oc

tags: smut, angst, a little bit of fluff (like teeny tiny)

warnings: two smut scenes, kissing, marking (hickeys), fingering, brief handjob, protected sex, slight dom!jk, sub!oc, praise, dirty talk, grinding, edging, oral (f. & m. receiving), throat fucking, dacryphilia, spit kink, brief masturbation (m.), squirting, brief anal play, back shots, cum shot, multiple orgasms (you'll see), aftercare

word count: 5.8k

a/n: been in my feels lately i had to write it out lol; wrote this in one sitting my hands actually hurt omg; inspired by the song "one of your girls" (ik don't roast me idk why it's stuck in my head fml); if this gets taken down then bye bye i literally just wrote it here directly lmaooooo; anw enjoy !!!! part 2 / drabble i (flashback)

..••°°°°••..°°••....••°°..••°°°°••..

You knew what you were getting yourself into the night you said yes to Jungkook. You knew you'd fall for him, be under his spell. You knew you'd end up getting hurt. You prepared yourself, you really did, yet you were still surprised when you woke up each morning and he wasn't beside you in bed. You felt your heart break a little bit more when you saw him with another girl, whether she'd be one of your friends or a complete stranger to you.

You tried to guard your heart. Reminded yourself to prepare for the worst. Forced yourself not to fall, not to be blindsided. I'm just having a little fun, you told yourself for the nth time.

jk: u busy tonight?

you: not really! just writing a paper that's due next week

That was sent hours ago and you mentally cringe at your reply. You always find yourself oversharing to Jungkook when you didn't even need to. You wanted to make it seem like your whole situationship was just casual. Like you didn't care. He rarely shared much about his personal life and so should you. But that hardly happened. You didn't want him to think that you cared, that you were clingy or waiting for him to text. You didn't even wait five minutes before replying and he hasn't even texted back.

You know what his text means. He wants to fuck and that's it. But he doesn't say it outright. No, never. He wants to make it seem like he cares, that he wants to know how your night is going. But he just wants to know if you're free to fuck and once you reply, he'll keep that as a reminder in the back of his mind, like he has a mental list of girls he can sort through at the end of the night when he's bored or when he wants to have a little bit of fun.

You know you're just one of his girls on his roster and you're fine with that. You're not his girlfriend and he's not your boyfriend. Though it does seem like that on some days, which is when you get the courage to not reply to his texts. When you try to shut him out and move on. He usually shows up outside your lecture hall with a cup of coffee in hand, bunny smile on his face as he waits for you to walk into the hallway. Like he's waiting for you, picking you up from class like a good and loving boyfriend.

It's all for show and it's only to get himself on your good side again. It works every time. You don't question yourself anymore. Jungkook likes the chase, likes the adrenaline of going after girls and trying to get them to fall for him, or sleep with him, or whatever. It's all the same to him.

You sigh again as you check your phone, hoping for a reply but knowing he won't text back. It's a Friday night and he's probably at some party. You go through your texts and open the conversation with your best friend.

jihyo: see u later! im picking u up so u better be ready >:(

You can't help but laugh at her insistence. Jihyo knows what you're going through since you tell her everything. You tell her you don't care though, that you're not looking for a relationship right now and your "thing" with Jungkook is just casual. But you know she sees right through your lies. It's even more obvious when you ghost all your friends and lock yourself in your apartment every night. She's trying to make you forget and move on and have some actual fun so you indulge her every time.

You get ready in less than an hour and actually put some effort into your appearance. You're not sure which party you're going to but you won't be surprised if Jungkook will be there as well. Maybe if you look hot enough he'll choose you tonight.

You hear a knock on your door and open it immediately, finding Jihyo laughing at something her boyfriend has just said. Most of the time you end up hanging out with her and Mingyu because she's always dragging you with her to keep you from being lonely. You don't mind it though because they're fun people to be with. Even though Mingyu is Jungkook's roommate and best friend. But Mingyu isn't anything like Jungkook. He looks at Jihyo like she's hung up the stars and moon. Loves her with all his heart and doesn't leave her second guessing. You always wonder why him and Jungkook are friends when they're so different.

Jihyo turns to smile at you, but it's still the lovestruck smile she gave Mingyu just seconds ago. You know you have the same kind of smile reserved for Jungkook. You wish you didn't but at the same time you're glad you do, like you have a part of yourself only Jungkook can see. Even though he doesn't do the same.

"You look so hot tonight!" she squeals as she pulls you in a hug. You laugh and roll your eyes, making eye contact with Mingyu as he nods his head in greeting. Jihyo steps back and grabs your hand, dragging you out your apartment so fast you barely have time to lock the door behind you. "Let's go before all the good drinks are gone."

It's a short but fun walk to the house where the party is being held. You find yourself laughing with Jihyo and Mingyu the whole time. They're the type of couple that doesn't make third wheeling a bore.

Loud music blares in your ears the moment you step inside. You feel your heels sticking to the floor. A typical frat house throwing a typical Friday night party. You immediately take shots with Jihyo and Mingyu. You need it to be able to survive the night since you already feel yourself tensing up at the possibility of Jungkook being in the same place as you.

You spot your other friends and hangout with them for the rest of the night. It's when you're playing beer pong with Jimin as your partner do you see Jungkook at the other side of the room. He's talking to some girl which is nothing new. It shouldn't phase you but it does. You thought you were going to be his pick for the night since he texted you a while ago.

You feel your heart fall at the sight of them, your chest physically hurting that you make Jimin throw the ball twice for the both of you since you can't focus. You feel all the fun and happiness slowly leave your body. You feel your stomach churn at the way he's got her trapped against the wall, tattooed arm placed beside her head, mouth whispering right against her ear. She's smiling and giggling at whatever Jungkook is telling her. You wish that were you.

"Forget about him," Jimin mutters in your ear. He's watching your beer pong opponents take their turn as you're watching Jungkook and the girl.

You shake your head at Jimin, turning your head to smile at him just to make it seem like you're okay. Just like Jihyo, he sees right through you.

Jimin's another close friend of Jungkook. They're not so different. Jimin likes to sleep around but he makes it clear that he doesn't want anything serious. Always nice and gentle with the girls he sleeps with. Jungkook makes it seem like you're his and only his. You wonder again why they're friends.

"Seriously, Y/N," Jimin says, a little bit of urgency in his tone. It's probably the look of longing on your face that raises concern in your friend. Everyone sees how broken you look when you catch Jungkook with another girl.

"I know," you say after a while. You talk just a little bit loud enough to be heard over the music. "Jungkook and I just sleep with each other. It's casual and that's it."

You hear Jimin sigh. He nods his head and it's his turn to throw the dirty ping pong ball. You've had this conversation with him and Jihyo numerous times already, sometimes it's the both of them and sometimes it's on separate occasions. You say the same thing every time. You think your friends are starting to give up on you. Maybe you should as well.

You force yourself to have fun for the rest of the night, always trying to be in a room where Jungkook isn't. You're not sure if he's spotted you. You don't know which hurts more—him not spotting you because he doesn't even bother looking for you in the crowd, or him spotting you but not talking to you because you're not his choice for the night. Either way, he doesn't care. You know he doesn't but you wish you did. You thought you'd catch his attention with the black dress you're wearing. Or with the way your hair is styled. But it doesn't work and you tell yourself that it's okay. You always see him in your peripheral though, either talking to someone or flirting with that girl.

You decide to leave when you see Jungkook leaving as well, fingers tangled with the girl's. She looks like a giggling mess and you can't blame her. Everyone falls for Jungkook's charms. You try not to dwell on the fact that they're going to have sex.

It's Jimin who walks you home. He can tell you're sad so he talks about his day and his classes, avoiding Jungkook's name even though you're positive that they hung out today. Jungkook's intertwined in so many people's lives it's hard to leave him out. But Jimin makes an effort just to distract you. You're grateful for it though and he keeps up the act all the way to your apartment. He asks if he can use your bathroom and you say yes, mindlessly changing into your pajamas once the bathroom door closes behind you. You thought you'd have a little bit more time to finish changing but you suddenly hear Jimin swear behind you. You live in a little studio apartment so there's not much room to hide.

"Oh fuck— Shit," he says. You turn around laughing to see him with his hand over his eyes. "Sorry," he mumbles.

You're in your underwear but you don't mind. "It's not like you haven't seen me like this before," you chuckle.

"Still," he reasons.

Because you're stupid and heartbroken and hurt, you walk up to Jimin and gently grab his wrist, bringing his arm down to his side. You look at him looking at anywhere else but you. Eventually he looks down at your body for a split second and you laugh at him.

"We shouldn't," he whispers.

You shrug your shoulders. "Just a little bit of fun, right?" you ask with a smile on your face. "Like old times?" you giggle.

Jimin lets out a scoff but it's more of a laugh. Like he can't believe you're both doing this again. "You sure you're not drunk?" he asks as he makes eye contact with you. Bingo. You got him.

"Nope," you say sweetly.

"But Jungkook?"

You roll your eyes to mask the hurt. "Don't care."

Jimin looks at you intently to make sure you're not bluffing. While you wait for his answer you unclasp your bra and let it fall down your shoulders, exposing yourself to him. His eyes widen at the sight.

"Okay," he breathes out. He suddenly holds you by the waist to place you on the kitchen counter. It has you giggling at him.

"Eager?" you ask when he starts kissing your neck. You feel him drag his teeth across your skin, like he's thinking if he should mark you up or not. You stretch your neck out even more and feel him biting at your skin, sure to leave a bruise.

"Just excited," he mumbles against your neck. You feel him smile.

You unzip his pants while he's busy sucking your nipples. He's hard already when you start pumping your hand up and down his cock.

"Feels good, baby," he moans in your ear. You're still wearing your underwear but Jimin doesn't mind, just pushes it to the side to insert two of his fingers inside your pussy.

"Oh," you choke out. He finds your spot right away and rubs his fingers against it. He doesn't make you come, just fingers you to make sure you're prepped. It's quick when he takes his fingers out and grabs the condom in the back pocket of his jeans. You watch him tear the packet open and roll the condom down his length.

You both don't say anything else as he pushes his cock past your tight walls. Doesn't give you a moment before he starts pounding, his skin slapping against yours.

It's always like this with Jimin—just quick and easy and no feelings attached. You both don't do it much, it happens at the most random times. Usually when you want to forget or when he's stressed from school. And after this you're both back to being friends. It's never awkward. You wish it were like this with Jungkook instead.

"Jimin," you moan when he starts rubbing your clit. "Gonna come."

"Go ahead, baby," he breathes out, placing a soft kiss on your cheek and leaving his lips there. You push yourself to release and Jimin follows right after. You're both breathing heavily when he pulls out, taking off the condom and throwing it in the bin. He zips up his pants and starts looking for something on your bed. You're still trying to catch your breath when you feel a shirt being put over your head. Jimin's sweet like this—does aftercare in the most platonic way possible.

"There," he says after helping you wear the shirt he found. He doesn't know it belongs to Jungkook. You don't think he minds if he does though.

"Thank you," you say quietly and give him a small smile.

"Anytime. I'll see you around, okay?" He kisses your forehead and you watch him leave your apartment.

The silence engulfs you and you think you should feel disgusted with yourself—that you're pining over a guy but you just had sex with another. With his close friend out of all people. But you push the thought to the back of your mind as you jump down from the kitchen counter and walk into your bathroom. You're just like Jungkook, you tell yourself. Just casually sleeping around and nothing else. He doesn't care and you don't either. You feel a teeny bit better.

You take a warm shower to wash all the remnants from tonight. You actually take your time just to clear your jumbled up mind. It's almost 30 minutes later when you step out and check your phone while you're drying off, heartbeat stopping at a text you've received almost an hour ago.

jk: u up?

jk: hey reply to me :(

jk: coming over

Your eyes widen at the last text. It was sent just 10 minutes ago. You don't know where he's coming from but the campus isn't that big so he'll probably be here soon. You quickly finish drying off and change into comfortable clothes. You hear a knock on the door the moment you finish changing. You take a deep breath before walking to the door and opening it.

You notice Jungkook's wearing the same clothes from the party but his shirt is a bit wrinkled. You think he just came from the girl's place. Probably fucked her and is here now because he's not satisfied. You should feel disgusted and mad but you're not. You're no better. You just slept with his friend.

"Hi," you mutter.

He smiles at you and leans in to kiss you on the lips. "Hey, sweetheart." It has you swooning.

You step to the side to let him in and he walks straight to your bed, sitting down to take off his shoes before lying down comfortably. You follow him and sit down on your bed right by his waist. He stretches out his arm to drape it over your thighs and you start tracing his tattoos absentmindedly. This is your usual routine.

"Did you stay in all night?" he asks. Just a little bit of conversation before he does what he's really here for. At least he has a little bit of decency. You don't mind though, it makes you think that he cares about you when he asks things like this.

You shake your head and smile at him. "Nah, Jihyo and Mingyu dragged me to that frat party." You can tell he's trying to hide his surprise.

"Oh, I didn't see you there," he mumbles.

"It's okay." You shrug. "There were a lot of people."

"We could've played beer pong together, I know you like doing that every time you're out."

Your heart clenches at his remark. You're surprised and hurt every time he remembers little things about you. "I was with Jimin, don't worry." Jungkook doesn't know the double meaning to it.

He nods and runs his fingers across your thighs. "Missed you. Sorry I didn't reply to your text earlier, got caught up in something." You know that's a lie. "Just got back from the party too, that's why I came here late." Another lie.

You nod and smile as if you believe him. And you force yourself to because it's easier than knowing the truth. It's silent for a moment before he mumbles c'mere and brings you on top of his lap.

"Missed this," he says quietly as he squeezes your thighs. His hands trail up your waist till he's squeezing your tits beneath the shirt you're wearing. You start grinding on his cock, getting out of breath too quickly. You missed this too. It's been a week since you last had sex with Jungkook which is a long time for the both of you.

"Kook," you pant. He's pinching your nipples knowing that's where you're most sensitive.

"I know, sweetheart. Take your shirt off for me, hm?"

You nod your head dumbly and do as you're told, watching Jungkook stare at your body. He stops moving beneath you and you're about to ask what's wrong when he brings his hand up to touch the hickey on your neck that Jimin left.

"Who's this from?" he asks. You can't tell if he's mad or just curious. Jungkook isn't showing any emotions on his face and you're starting to get nervous.

"Just..." You think if you should tell him the truth. You look into his eyes and try to see if there's any semblance of care. You don't know. You really can't tell. Then your eyes trails down his body, to his neck and the wrinkly white shirt he's wearing. There's a red stain on the collar and you know it's lipstick. From the girl he slept with earlier. "Someone," you finally mumble.

"Someone?" He continues rubbing the spot gently until he presses down on it with his thumb. He doesn't press down too hard, but it's with enough force to have you hissing slightly.

"It's from Jimin," you finally say. He doesn't say anything but raise an eyebrow at your reply. You don't know if he already knows that you and Jimin have slept together. He doesn't look so surprised, or maybe he is and he's just really good at schooling his expressions.

He makes eye contact with you again and you feel his hand going to the back of your head, grabbing a handful of your hair to press your lips against his. The kiss feels urgent and rushed, his tongue instantly slipping in your mouth and tangling with yours. You're on top of him yet you feel defenseless as he holds you by your hair and kisses you hard. You let Jungkook do as he pleases and forget about the little conversation you just had. You start grinding on his cock again and he reciprocates this time, hips moving against yours.

Before you know it, he rolls you over and pins your arms above your head. You stare at him with wide eyes and he smirks at you in return. He holds your wrists with one hand and takes off your shorts and underwear with the other. He's fully dressed while you're not and you know you're at his mercy. He knows this too as he spreads your thighs apart with his hand.

"Keep your hands there," he whispers. You hold your bed frame for good measure. You just want to please him. He trails kisses down your body, from your neck to your nipples to your tummy. He stops by your thighs and you feel his breath against your skin. You squirm beneath Jungkook to get him to do something, to touch you and pleasure you. He shakes his head, still with that damn smirk on his face. He starts kissing your thighs, close to your pussy just to tease you.

"Didn't know you and Jimin have a thing going on," he says against your skin. You shiver at the vibrations his voice provides.

You feel Jungkook bite down on your inner thighs. "We don't," you choke out. He scoffs and starts kissing your pussy. Just light kisses that start making you crazy because you just want his mouth on you. "We're just friends," you say weakly.

He looks up from where he's laying between your legs. "Like us?"

Us.

You know what he means but at the same time you don't. You're friends with Jimin like you're friends with Jungkook. But you don't long for Jimin like you do for Jungkook. You don't yearn for Jimin the same way, don't look for him in every place you're at, don't pine for his affection or his touches. Jimin isn't like Jungkook and you both know that. You just don't know if you're different from the other girls Jungkook fucks.

"No," you say truthfully. It's said with defeat and desperation because you know he's not going to touch you till you answer him. "Not like us."

You know Jungkook won't pry anymore because he finally starts licking your pussy, starting with your outer lips until his tongue is inside your hole licking every crevice. Then he starts sucking your clit and that's when you truly lose it, legs going around his head to keep him against your cunt.

"Fuck," you almost scream. You're so close already that you should feel embarrassed but you're not. Jungkook knows your body too well. No one holds a candle to how good he eats you out. "Please," you whimper.

"Please what, sweetheart?"

"Please make me come!" you beg. "Need it, need it so much." You starting grinding your hips against his mouth.

"You're so desperate," he chuckles. It's said meanly but the comment flies over your head. You don't care anymore; you just want some sort of release. "But not yet."

You suddenly feel cold because Jungkook removes his mouth from you, standing up and getting out of the bed to remove his clothing. You continue holding the bed frame above you because you want to be good for him. You watch him strip his clothes off till he's naked just like you, tattooed hand wrapping around his cock.

It's long and thick and it splits you open every time he fucks you. You really don't know how you manage to take him every time.

Jungkook is so mean and unfair with the way he's teasing you right now, pleasuring himself while you lay on the bed. You're about to open your mouth to complain when he finally nods his head, motioning you to get up. "Kneel. Hands behind your back, okay?"

You nod your head and get in position on the bed, head tilting up to look at his cock. It's so hard and the tip is already leaking. You just want your mouth around him.

"Open," he says.

You open your mouth and stick your tongue out, just the way Jungkook likes. As expected, he spits directly into your mouth and you swallow right away.

"Good girl. Now suck."

He brings his cock to your lips and you immediately start sucking. You push your length all the way in till you feel him at the back of your throat.

"Gotta take all of me in, pretty. Or else I won't fuck your little pussy."

You know Jungkook takes his threats seriously so you back up a little to catch your breath before taking him in your mouth again. God, he's so big and thick your jaw is already starting to feel sore. But you power through and keep taking him in your mouth until your nose touches his tummy. You try not to gag around him but it's no use. You also feels your eyes tearing up.

Jungkook doesn't care you're struggling. In fact, he loves it because he's got that stupidly handsome smile on his face. He strokes your cheeks for a while and you try to even out your breathing.

"I wanna fuck your throat, sweetheart. Can you take it?" he asks sweetly.

You know it's a rhetorical question but you nod anyways, as much as you could with a dick down your throat.

"Let me in then."

You close your eyes and relax your throat even more. Jungkook holds your head then and pushes you towards him even deeper. You're helpless since your hands are behind your back. You gag again and start feeling lightheaded.

"There we go," he finally says once his whole length is in your mouth. You feel the tip down your throat. You're struggling so much but you try not to move. You just want to please him. "Gonna move now," he mumbles and starts moving his hips. You let him fuck your throat for God knows how long. You're full on crying when he stops and withdraws his length halfway out your mouth. You take the time to gasp for air and you even cough a little, head bowing down to regain your breathing. You faintly hear Jungkook laugh above you.

"I'm not yet done, love. Was just feeling nice enough to give you a little breather."

You nod your head and look up at him, mouth opening wide to let him know you're ready again.

"You just let me do whatever I want, huh?" he chuckles. You're not sure if he means something else but to you it does. You willingly let Jungkook do anything to you. Even if it results in heartbreak.

He stares at you for a while and spreads the spit and precum that's on your lips. "So messy." Then he's back to inserting his length inside your mouth. The glide is smoother this time since you're already prepped. "There we go," he groans out. He stays still and feels the imprint of his dick on your throat. "Look so pretty for me."

Jungkook starts moving again but thankfully his pace is slow this time. You're sure you'll have a sore throat by tomorrow.

"Keep your eyes open, okay? Wanna see you cry."

You look at him while he's fucking your mouth, looking at the way his cock moves in your throat. You're starting to lose your breath and you think Jungkook could tell as well because he grants you reprieve and steps back. You're coughing more this time, hands catching yourself in front of you. You barely get enough time to regain your breathing before you feel Jungkook grabbing your head and bringing your lips to his.

"Did so good for me," he says against your mouth.

You're trembling in his hold and you grab his arms to steady yourself. "Fuck me please," you try to say but your voice comes out hoarse and ragged.

He kisses your cheek and then your jaw. "I will, don't worry," he coos. "Always gonna give you what you want." Another lie. You know that's not true.

You're putty in his hands as he maneuvers you to the position he wants to fuck you in, which is on your hands and knees with your ass high in the air.

"Just like that," he whispers. He pushes down on your shoulders even more so that you're wide and open for him. He starts rubbing your pussy and you can't help but moan out loud. "You're so wet, sweetheart. All from sucking my cock?"

You nod wordlessly from your position on the bed. "Jungkook!" you scream as he plunges two fingers in your pussy. He's ruthless as he fucks his fingers fast and hard, hitting your g-spot right away. "Please," you cry out. You're so wound up and tense and you just want to come already but he won't let you.

You hear Jungkook chuckle from behind you. "Still so tight, baby. Thought Jimin stretched you out already." You're about to reply but you feel his thumb press against your rim and your senses go haywire, mind going blank because you're so overwhelmed.

"Please, please," you beg quietly. You're crying again and you'd do anything at this point to get Jungkook to fuck you. He withdraws his fingers from your holes and you hear the crinkling of plastic behind you. You turn your head slightly to see him slipping a condom on. Jungkook has never fucked you raw and you never asked why because you already know the answer. You'll get hurt hearing the truth anyway.

He holds your hips to steady you. He rubs the head of his cock up and down your folds. "You want this?" he asks roughly.

"Yes. Please."

Finally, finally, Jungkook pushes his cock in your pussy. It doesn't take long because you're so wet he slides right in to the hilt.

"You feel so good around me." He stills for a moment and you grab your ass to spread your cheeks even more.

"Please move, Kook."

You hear him groan. "God, baby, you're filthy." He starts fucking into you and your mind goes blank. You feel his thick cock slide in and out, the tip already kissing your cervix.

"Feels so good," you mumble incoherently. Jungkook fucks you quick and hard, holding your hips so tightly you know it's going to bruise. You feel his balls slap against your clit which adds even more pleasure. You feel yourself getting close again and arch your back.

"Can I please come?" you ask through your moans. "Please let me come, Jungkook. Please—"

"Come," he finally says. It's the only word you need to hear before you let go, that coil in you snapping and bringing pleasure all over your body. You don't know you're moaning so loudly you're almost screaming. You feel your pussy just gush and it gets so wet and sticky you're surprised Jungkook doesn't slip out. It's so filthy that you hear squelching noises as well. Your orgasm goes on for so long you don't know how you're still holding yourself up.

"You creamed my cock so much, baby," Jungkook says. He slows down his pace but he's still moving so you can ride out your high. "Got me wet and even your sheets."

You barely hear him and there's just a buzzing sound around your head. Your body feels so heavy and you just want to collapse but you arch your back even more for Jungkook.

He laughs. "Think I fucked you stupid." He increases his pace again and you just kneel there and take it. "Gonna make me fucking come," he growls as his hips snap against yours. "Fuck." He fucks you some more and you groan every time he hits your g-spot.

Suddenly, he pulls out so fast. "Don't move," he groans. You stay in place and watch him remove the condom off, hand going to stroke his cock as he brings himself to his release. You feel his come on you, right on your pussy and asshole. "Fuck, baby," he groans. You feel even stickier with his load on you. Then he bends down to kiss your neck, and then your cheek, and then a gentle one on your lips.

"You okay?" he asks quietly. His arm goes to wrap around your waist and you slowly start sinking onto the bed.

"Mhm," you mumble and try to keep your emotions at bay. You always feel so overwhelmed after sex with Jungkook. You let a few tears fall down your cheeks but it's the kind of tears of relief from an intense orgasm.

Jungkook presses his front against your back, not caring that his come is still on you. He starts kissing your face again then rubs his nose up and down your throat. "Just breathe, yeah?" he says quietly. You nod weakly against his hold and do just that. The both of you say nothing as you try to calm your racing heart.

You don't know how many minutes pass by until Jungkook stands up. You don't have the strength in you to move your position on the bed or ask where he's going. A few minutes later you feel a wet rag on your back. You let Jungkook clean you up while the both of you still don't say a thing. Then he's moving you on the bed again so your head is on the pillows and he's right behind you, lying down comfortably to be the big spoon. You feel him kissing your head.

"Sleep," he mumbles against your hair. With Jungkook holding you and with his steady breaths guiding yours, you fall asleep right away.

..••°°°°••..°°••....••°°..••°°°°••..

You don't know what time it is when you wake up but there's still sunlight peeking through your curtains so you suppose it's still morning. You turn to face the other side of the bed only to find it empty. You don't know what time Jungkook left, if he stayed the night or left the moment you fell asleep. You're used to it already but it doesn't mean you're not hurt. Your heart constricts at the empty space beside you. You move again to lay on your back and cover your face with yours hands, letting out shaky breaths while trying not to breakdown. God, maybe Jimin was right. Just forget about him.

But it's hard not to. It's hard to forget about him when you have sex constantly, when his touches are gentle but also rough. When he wants you to reply to his messages and when he wants you against his body. It's hard because he's friends with your friends. It's hard when he takes care of you after every intense orgasm. It's hard when he makes it seem like he wants you just as much as you want him.

#jungkook #jeon jungkook #jungkook one shot #bts one shot #jjk one shot #jungkook x reader #jungkook x you #jungkook x oc #fuckboy!jk #fwb!jk #jungkook smut #jungkook angst #mine #sab writes #jk #fwb!jungkook #fuckboy!jungkook

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jeonjcngkook · 9 months

Text

˚ ༘♡. 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 ೃ࿐

a 7 part jjk drabble series based on the explicit version of ‘seven’.

part 1: 1. monday: sęx in the workplace • - “got you skipping work and meetings”

pairing: seven!jungkook x f!reader (afab) genre(s)&au(s): pwp, non idol, slice of life, established relationship, smut, fluff, minor tiny angst warnings & smut warnings: swearing, nicknames & petnames (f rec - sweetheart, slûût / m rec - sir) , mäking out, bigdicc!jungkook 🍆 👅 , dôm!jungkook, sùb!reader, bossy jungkook, petting (m rec), slight vôyêürism, slight exhibitiønism 🫦🫦, neck kisses, fingëriñg (f rec), orãl sêxx (m rec), dïrty talk, office sēx, desk sęx, window séx 🪟, nīpple / tït play, mild strêngth kįñk, śîže kîñk, brêáthè płâŷ / äsphyxätįøn, hâîr tûggïñg, unprotected séx, mentions of safe words / tapping out, koo wears pretty necklaces that hypnotises oc 😩, he cüümms on her bøøbssgdjsn 🫂🥵🫠 w/c: 4.6k rating: 18+ banner: @caelesjjk

taglist [open]: - COMMENT ON SERIES MASTERLIST OR SEND AN ASK! - empty blogs will not be included & minors will be blocked. AGELESS BLOGS WILL BE IGNORED

note1: sorry, life got in the way a little but here we go - this is part 1; monday of 'seven ways to sunday'. note2: thank you to @tattookoo for looking over this ♡

Your heels click against the hardwood floor as you make your way down the hallway towards your small office. Behind you, your boyfriend Jungkook laces his fingers with yours and keeps up with your pace, his heavy boots making just as much noise as your heels.

Eventually, you both make it to the end of the corridor and you halt to rake through your bag for the key. As he waits, Jungkook turns back down the walk space which is filled with cubicles for interns and other members of staff — looking to make sure nobody watches you both enter together. Confirming that the coast is clear, he is quick to press himself up against you, his lithe fingers circling around your waist as he dips his head down to your neck and lavishes you in sweet, tiny pecks.

With your key now retrieved from the dark bottomless pit of your handbag, you insert the key with a shaky hand, twisting once, twice and at all long, the door swings open.

The second you both make it through the entrance, Jungkook kicks the door shut with his heavy boot and clicks the snib from the inside, locking it indefinitely from any possible intrusions.

Jungkook is all over you not even a moment later, hoisting you up into his arms and you instinctively wrap your legs around his delicate waist. His hands rest underneath your ass as he starts to squeeze your ass through the fabric of your skirt.

There is no time to waste as you lower your head towards his own to press your lips against him with urgency. Your tongue skirts along Jungkook’s pillowy lower lip and immediately he grants you access and your tongues are dancing a wicked fiery dance. The kiss is hungry and carnal; lips and tongue and teeth fighting against one another.

A low guttural growl sounds from Jungkook as he walks you both towards the grey marble desk in front the large glass panes inside the office and you swallow his sounds with your mouth, grinning into the kiss at his reaction.

Swiftly, he sits you down on top of your desk and positions himself in between your legs giving him the opportunity to press himself into your core, his hardening length underneath his blue jeans giving away his lust for you.

You break the kiss and pull away from him for just a moment to take him in and my god he’s a sight to see.

His outfit for your lunch date is casual. A simple white tee with a heart design etched into the fabric in your favourite colour — blue. The shirt is tucked into a pair of loose fitted low-rise blue denim jeans and fastened by a leather black belt with a large silver facing which you can’t help but grab onto to pull towards you with every chance you get. The outfit itself is completed with a black figure hugging leather jacket, that gives his body that broad, built effect which in return makes your mouth water for the man.

There’s always something about Jungkook that makes your heart race in your chest every time you lay your eyes on him. He’s sexy and his aura is filled with confidence and he knows it and yet he is still so humble and down to earth. He never fails to make you feel like you’re the greatest, smartest and most beautiful person in any room. Jungkook would bend himself backwards to make sure you know how incredible you are. His priceless prized possession.

“Thank you for lunch, it was delicious,” you praise his choice.

He leans back into you and closes the gap, his lips lingering teasingly but not quite making contact. “It was definitely delicious,” he pecks you on the lips. “Although, there is something else that I’ve been very ravenous for.” Jungkook confesses against your lips and his words fill you with warmth as he smirks and places his hand at the back of your neck to keep you in place as he bites down on your lower lip. “Been wanting to fuck you in this office for months now.”

You, on the other hand, shiver at his words and try to ignore just how much that one comment turns you on. What Jungkook doesn’t know is that you have also had the exact same wish.

“Unbutton my blouse, Jungkook,” you instruct and he doesn’t need to be told twice. He shuffles you further onto your desk so he can use his hands to reach the small buttons.

Jungkook takes one step back and you watch with blown out eyes as Jungkook’s nimble fingers start working on the buttons of your blouse, from bottom to top.

A gust of cold air is all you feel against your skin before ‘click click click’ on the hardwood floor beneath you both is heard. Looking down, your blouse buttons scatter around the office as Jungkook tears the material straight down the middle.

“You tore my shirt!”

“I’ll buy you a new one,” his palms move underneath the chiffon material at your shoulders and shimmies the blouse to your elbows before he roughly tugs the cups of your lace bralette down, exposing your nipples to the cool air of your office.

Jungkook’s lips latch onto your neck and licks a wicked stripe from your collarbone to the middle of your throat. You’re hyperfocused on the wet warmth of his tongue and nip of his teeth at your skin and the pressure along the column of your throat where he paints your body in beautiful blossom marks. His teeth nibble into your flesh before his soft tongue lavishes the swollen skin, inciting a hiss from off your tongue.

“Fifteen minutes,” you whimper, “I’ve fifteen minutes before…before the s-staff meeting, oh my god.”

Your hand hurriedly finds their way to his hair, giving it a forceful yank as his mouth marks your neck as his. At this, Jungkook growls and the sound immediately travels south to your core, lifting your hips to chase any friction that will help alleviate the pressure in between your legs.

Jungkook detours towards one of your tits, leaving kisses and a trail of his saliva down the valley of your breasts. Jungkook palms your right tit roughly as his mouth brings your nipple in between his teeth and pulls at it gently. He looks up at you and watches as your chest rises and falls with his ministrations. You sharply pull once again at the roots of Jungkook’s lavish onyx locks and he releases your nipple with a wet, glistening sheen of his spit on it before giving the other nipple the same attention and repeating this over again.

Once more, Jungkook brings his lips to yours and kisses you bruisingly, his tongue sweeping over your lower lip as soon as he makes contact with you. Jungkook trails away from your lips, leaving you breathless and gasping for more as his tongue drags over your jawline and begins kissing his way down to the marks he previously left on your throat mere moments ago.

Warm huffs of air are felt against your skin as he follows a trail to your ear, sending chills over your body. “How about you skip work and your meetings and let me fuck you senseless right on this desk and call that overtime,” Jungkook concludes his statement with a buck of his hips, causing his clothed cock to grind into you harder.

His words stir something deep within you at his proposition, your heart racing and a quiet hum of approval leaves your mouth as you grab at his belt loops and drag him towards you.

Quickly, you rid Jungkook of his jacket, the heavy outside wear landing at his boots in a heap. Your hands bunch the fabric of his t-shirt at his hips before they glide up his sides and up and over his raised arms to display his beautifully flourished body. With the removal of his t-shirt, your eyes drift to his delicate decolletage where sits two thin stunning chain necklaces clasped around his neck.

Your hand gently touches him through his pants and you feel him twitch against your palm as you give him a tight squeeze. The most beautiful airy moan falls from his parted lips and you feel your cunt clench at the sound. As you continue to squeeze, Jungkook shudders at your touch and his eyes darken and become lust filled as they flutter closed.

"Fuck sweetheart, all the way through lunch, all I was thinking about is how good your mouth will feel sliding over my cock, the load I have to give you is going to linger on your tongue and remind you of me all damn day," he purrs, nipping at throat. "Take it out,” he refers to the bulge in his trousers.

“What if… — someone could walk in at any moment,” you tell him yet the lust filled thought of getting what you want clouds your moral sense of judgement as you watch Jungkook walk behind your desk.

“Don’t you like that though? Knowing we have a live audience?” Jungkook sits himself down in the office chair that you occupy days in and days out. “Come on, get on your knees and take me into your filthy mouth.”

You do as you're told, lowering yourself onto your knees in front of your desk chair that Jungkook occupies and you work to undo the button of his jeans before deftly grasping the metal zipper and slowly pulling it down — the procedure comes to you so easily having done this act countless times. Jungkook lifts his hips and helps you tug the denim down his legs, not bothering to take them all the way down, instead opting to leave them half way down his legs.

You palm him one last time through his underwear before you lean your head down to lick a wet stripe over his clothed cock. His hips buck towards your mouth at the contact as a small hiss falls from his lips. Your smirk is playful as you reach for the waistband of his boxer shorts, pulling them to join his jeans and releasing him.

“I thought you were scared someone would walk in and see us?”

His dick springs free from the clothed confines and slaps against his toned tummy and you relish in the sight of cum smearing across his skin as it continues to twitch. His cock is as gorgeous as the rest of him. Deep set veins run along the underside of his length, flesh warm and responsive to your touch. His head is glistening with a soft flow of precum that pools and threatens to dribble down the valley of veins.

“I guess I don’t care as much as I thought,” you smirk salaciously.

Jungkook hums in response. “That’s fucking right, sweetheart — because then everyone inside of this building will know you only belong to me.”

With a bite of your lip and a teasing raise of your eyebrow, your hand tightens around his shaft and you watch his head lul back. You're left breathless as the sun casts a halo over Jungkook from through the bay windows behind him. His skin is blissfully golden and a sheen of light sweat is beginning to coat his skin — and you know that you’re the one causing such a reaction which spurs you on further.

“Kiss the tip,” Jungkook negotiates with you like he’s leading this one to one meeting. “With your tongue.”

Obediently, you give the tip of his hard cock a couple of seductive kitten licks and light pumps before sealing your lips around his pretty mushroom head. Your actions elicit Jungkook to open his mouth in pleasure as he lets out a throaty whine as your mouth takes him in a few more inches.

"“Open your mouth and take me deeper." He watches you between his legs, as you lap obediently at his cock.

Your lips part further, warm breaths of air fanning over his flushed head. Not wanting to keep him waiting any longer, you take as much of his thick cock as you can in one go, jaw fully slacked open to accommodate his size.

“You can't go one minute without my cock inside you, can you?" Jungkook says through gritted teeth. He reaches down for you, his ring clad fingers tracing down your cheeks and back again before tangling his hand into the roots of your hair, twisting the strands around his fist and guiding your head back.

When you eventually get used to his size, you start sucking him off with intent. Every ridge and vein on his colossal cock is felt as your tongue swipes over his length, hollowing your cheeks to take him further down to his base. You use your hands to stroke the remaining length of his dick that your mouth can’t reach. Every lick and suck of your mouth on him results in obscene, wet noises, gagging filling the empty spaces of your office.

“Good fucking girl, take it, fuck, your mouth was made for swallowing my cock in this office huh?” Jungkook soothes, fucking his hips up every few words to emphasis you being a cockwhore for him and him alone.

You hear the sound of his desk chair sliding across the floor as he gives you your next order. "Stand up."

"Yes, Sir."

You rise on shaking legs, the expectancy of what’s about to come causes warmth to bloom in your chest. You’re aching for him in every manner of the word. A whimper passes your lips as you stand still in front of Jungkook, watching as he stands in front of you and towers over your frame.

The title of being called sir in your office goes to his head and he doesn’t try to hide the estranged moan at your submissiveness towards him. Jungkook roughly grabs at your hips, pulls you towards the window overlooking the city skyline and turns your body so your back presses into the cold glass.

Delicately, he noses at your shoulder and lowers his hand to your thigh through the slit in your midi length pencil skirt and traces his fingers across your skin. Seconds later, Jungkook reaches the apex of your thighs and cups your cunt in his hand and applies the faintest pressure over the material of your underwear.

“Try and keep quiet, unless you want your boss to hear you begging to be fucked during work hours,” Jungkook articulates with a slap to your exposed ass before caressing the searing skin for a brief moment only to land another slap directly on the same spot.

You can hear the rush of blood in your body loud and clear in your ears as your arousal for Jungkook builds like a wildfire inside you. You love it. “Wan’ everyone to know I’m yours…” you mumble weakly.

Jungkook lowers one hand down your body until he reaches your pussy. With skillful fingers, he immediately dips two long slender fingers inside your hole and fucks into you with precision — hitting that sensitive spongey spot over and over perfectly as you bite back a foul moan before the working environment outside hears you from inside your office.

“Why am I not surprised? My filthy slut getting off on being fucked senseless in front of her subordinates, now who’s really in charge.”

Wet slick drips from your cunt, running rivulets down his fingers and into the palm of his hand. The wet sounds Jungkook coaxes from your core is lewd but is simultaneously music to his fucking ears. The feeling of being stretched open and wrapping around him causes your eyes to roll back as your orgasm approaches and teeters on the edge of washing over you.

“I’m about to let everyone in this establishment know who it is you belong too, who it is you submit yourself too every fucking night, who’s really the boss in this building.”

Jungkook tears his fingers out of your cunt and your mouth opens in a ‘o’ and your eyes widen as your orgasm is ripped away from you. But before you’re able to scold and cry at the loss, Jungkook lifts you up into his arms and your legs wrap around his waist on their own accord.

He reaches a hand in between both of your body, grabbing at the base of his cock and slaps his cock against your clit, once, twice, thrice. Your body jerks in his arms at the sensation and arousal floods your cunt once more. Noticing, Jungkook places his cock in between your lips and rocks his hips back and forth to collect your arousal as lubricant on his cock, spreading it with his hand and lines himself up at your entrance.

“Please… please Jungkook, please, I wa — I need you,” you all but beg, your head falling back onto the glass behind you, exposing your neck to the man before you who leans down and kisses at the column of your throat.

“So fucking wet.” Those are Jungkook’s last words as he pushes himself past the clenching muscle, breaching you so deliciously. You can’t help but claw your nails at his shoulders, watching as tracks of red fiercely contrast against the blackened design of his upper arm tattoo.

“More, give me more, Jungkook,” you whisper.

“You’ve always been so hungry for me,” Jungkook praises behind gritted teeth as he pushes himself further into you until he bottoms out without resistance.

Both of your breathing becomes shallower as Jungkook stills inside of you. He leans in to you and kisses your lips tenderly, a juxtaposition to the previous roughness he’s bathed you in for the last ten minutes. Your tongue sweeps over his lower lip and plays with the duel rings that sit against his plush lower lip and Jungkook opens his mouth and lets you slide your tongue with his to explore each other's mouths.

You’re both sweating now, you can feel it against the window behind you as you find it becomes easier to slide against it as Jungkook begins to rock his lips into you against it. Jungkook on the other hand looks devastatingly gorgeous — perspiration clinging to his shoulders and chest, glistening like the most expensive jewel you had the pleasure of retaining.

“Hold on to me,” he orders into the kiss and your arms that are wrapped around his neck tighten as he lifts you both away from the window and turns you to sit you down on your desk as he keeps him sheathed inside of your snug cunt.

You lean yourself back onto your palms, keeping your legs wrapped around his waist to keep him as close to you as possible. Jungkook looks down at you from above as he begins to thrust into you languidly. With every thrust, the necklace around his neck swings back and forth towards your face and back into his chest like a metronome hypnotising you under his spell.

“Tell me, who owns this pussy, huh?”

Jungkook hits all of the right spots in you with such pinpoint accuracy that all you can do is cry and beg for more, begging him to not stop. “Answer me when I’m talking to you.” His strokes turn punishing as if his cock can force the words out of you.

“M’all yours, Sir,” you choke as your body dissipates into sheer pleasure, blinding you and causing words to die on your tongue.

He’s not done yet though. The word ‘sir’ drips from your lips, bathing the small office space in honey and he’s bathing in your sweetness. It goes straight to his dick and drives him to fuck you the way that you deserve. Hard, fast, mercilessly. You cry out as your boyfriend fucks you like his favourite toy that he owns and feel yourself tightening around his hard length.

The room becomes littered with the scent of sex, sweat and perfume, knowing that the minute the door opens, it’s going to be evident what’s played out.

“I have a m-meeting in 5 minutes!”

Jungkook grabs at your lingerie underneath your shirt and pulls the cups down and watches as your tits spill out just for him. He leans down and latches his mouth onto a nipple, grazing it in between his teeth and pinching the other with his thumb and forefinger. “That’s bold that you think you’re walking into that meeting,” Jungkook sneers. “Nobody but me gets to see you like this.”

Knowing he’s right, you don’t push the conversation any further. Instead, you sit up onto one of your palms once more and use the other to press against Jungkook’s sweat glistening chest and he slows down as you reach for him.

“Are you okay?” He asks with slight concern, coming to a full stop but keeping himself inside you. “Do you need a minute? Was I too rough?”

Your fingers nudge at Jungkook gently and he moves back from you to let you stand up. As he does, his cock is unwrapped from you and slaps back against his stomach and coats himself in a mixture of your slick and his pre-cum.

As you stand tall in your heels, your hand reaches for Jungkook’s hand and you turn your back towards him and rest your head into the crook of his arm before bringing his hand to your throat.”

“Not rough enough, Sir,” you jest, teasing and testing him.

The raven haired man’s fingers twitch around your throat at your words. He uses his other hand to guide himself back to your entrance from behind this time.

“Need you to take a big breath, going to hold your throat right tight, sweetheart,”

“Yes,” you nod your head the best you can considering the position you’re in, words breathless already. Jungkook does as he says and untightens his hold and lets you take it a large gulp of air to your lungs,

“Ready?” He makes sure that you’re comfortable. “Tap out if you need to, remember?”

Once your consent is given, Jungkook makes do on his promise and tightens his hand across the sides of your neck, restricting the airflow in the most pleasurable way.

Breath play isn’t something that you’re shy too, having both done it numerous times with each other in the bedroom, but right now is one of the wildest you’ve taken it.

Turning your head the best you can, you face him and Jungkook uses this moment to tighten the hold on your throat and he eagerly fucks into you harder than before and pulls you up towards him. Your back arches deliciously into him and his fingers can’t help but squeeze at the sides and then let go in tiny increments — teasing and testing you this time.

Vision blurs as his thrusts turn fierce and wild and his hand remains stiff around you. You try to ignore the throb of your clit in favour of redirecting your attention to the drag of Jungkook’s cock inside of you, setting you ablaze with every swift fuck. Every time he reaches deep within you, your nails dig crescent moons into his wrist as you continue to breathe through your nose for limited air.

Jungkook stares down at your kiss bitten, swollen lips as you take the skin in between your teeth to try and conceal the plethora of moans that threaten to fall from your tongue, holding back on letting the office know that the highly respected head of finance is currently being used as a cock sleeve for her boyfriend behind closed doors .

He smirks at your pout and takes your chin in between his thumb and pointer finger. “Tighten yourself around me.” Jungkook, nearly out of breath, wraps a hand around your leg and props it onto the desk, opening you up like a flower and watching as your sweet white nectar flows coats his cock in the new position.

Jungkook looks like a sin-incarnate. Head thrown back in pleasure as you continue to tighten and clench around him. The sun still casts a crown of light over him as the muscles in his upper arms swell under his tattooed skin when he pulls you into his cock. His abdomen shines with the sweat that he worked up fucking you like a wild animal who is desperately trying to be tamed by the alpha male.

“Are you almost there?” Jungkook sounds fucking done, his hips jerks and his jaw clenches; a sign you know all too well that he’s so close to finishing.

You nod desperately. You’ve been waiting for this moment since you both walked into your office twenty minutes ago. Your body shakes and your tears build up in your eyes. It’s all too much, too consuming and yet not enough either.

“Good fucking girl, all mine. Come for me,” Jungkook insists as he unwraps his hand from your throat. Your high hits you all at once as your body sucks in as much air as possible and your body falls forward on shaky legs, your desk breaking your fall as you limply set your body down.

“Jungkook!” You sob his name over and over like a filthy prayer. Your cries pierce through and you both know that everyone within on the other side of the walls has heard you shriek for your boyfriend. If they didn’t know what was going on before, they do now. Not caring who hears you, you continue to scream as your orgasm ripples through you, tears spilling out from the corners of your eyes.

“What do you say?” “Thank you, Sir,” you give up being quiet and scream out the title having earned it.

Jungkook’s breath is laboured as your pussy continues to suck him in, becoming harder for him to move as the tightening from your orgasm wraps around him which only makes Jungkook fuck into you harder, the force of his hips snapping into you causing your desk to screech under the wooden flooring. You feel his hips thrust against you in a broken rhythm, his own pants begin to turn into soft whines.

“Fuck, get on your knees, I’m gonna come…” Jungkook snarls as he pulls out of you and watches you lower yourself onto your lower half for him. Jungkook wraps his hands around his cock and uses your cum to aid him in jerking himself off. Darkened eyes stare down at you as you bat your lashes at him, your tits rising and falling with every breath you take.

Hot, white, sticky ropes of cum shoot from his reddened cock as he releases himself all over your chest and watches as it pools and slips down towards the valley of your chest, your clavicles and neck. Some of his seed soaks into the material of your blouse.

After what feels like thirty seconds, Jungkook’s cock stops twitching and begins to soften in his hand. He takes a step over to you and rubs his cock through the messy concoction on your skin, smearing it all over your skin, watching it glisten under the lights of your office ceiling.

Jungkook reaches for your hand and you gladly accept it, letting him guide you over to the sofa at the side of the office where today's sextivities had first taken place.

You laugh as you both set yourself down, you curlling into the warmth of Jungkook’s body.

“What’s got you giggling?” Jungkook questions with a smirk, lifting a hand up to his hair to run through the strands, ridding them from his sweaty forehead.

“Nothing… I really did just skip out on this meeting to have sex with my boyfriend in my office,” your laugh picks up.

This time it’s Jungkook’s time to laugh as he takes in your words. “Yeah, you did,” he agrees. “After this, be prepared to skip out on more meetings because this dick is the only appointment now in your calendar for the foreseeable.”

2K notes · View notes

gretavangroupie · 24 days

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The Ripe and The Ruin - (Chapter 1)

Pairing: Jake Kiszka x Reader, OC x Reader

Word Count: 14.3k

Warnings: Language, Alcohol, Smoking, Angst, Unwelcome Advances, Kissing.

Find the Playlist Here: Apple Music | Spotify

A new series in collaboration with my talented co-writer @gretavanmoon.

"Like all good fruit, the balance of life is in the ripe and ruin."

JAKE POV

You absentmindedly swirl the skinny black straw around in your glass, scoffing to yourself as you wonder why the bartender put a stirrer into your Whiskey in the first place. It didn’t need to be stirred. You took it straight. It was fine on its own. Regardless, you sipped around the straw, letting the oaky liquor trickle down the back of your throat.

It wasn’t that you hated flying. It was more that you hated being alone with your thoughts for extended periods of time. Only your phone or a book to occupy your brain, but you knew that only worked for so long. Eventually you’d be left alone to tumble down into those dark, dusty memories that would torment you until you touched down in whatever city you were slated to be in that day.

You hear Josh’s voice, instinctively causing you to turn your head, watching as he and Daniel stand in front of the camera recording whatever video the social media team planned for the day. You gracefully bowed out of that process all together, the team knowing not to approach you about an idea unless they knew it was something you would agree to. Usually though, it wasn’t. You turn to look at Sam on your right, seeing his gaze fixed upon the two of them. Both of you were now watching them as they played along with the skit, a huff of secondhand embarrassment sizzling through you as you sip from your glass. You’d never be caught dead doing that.

Fools. How is anyone ever supposed to take us seriously if all we show them is this?

“You ready for another few months of this shit?” you mumble, your lips barely parting from the edge of your glass.

Sam snickers as he turns back to you. “No. But that’s the job isn’t it?” he answers, swallowing down a gulp of beer, turning to look at you.

“I’m hitting that wall, too.” you answer, meeting the eyes of his girlfriend, Lyla. She sends you a sympathetic look as she squeezes Sam’s arm, giving him the little bit of reassurance he needs. “S’been a shit few weeks.”

Sam doesn’t say anything, instead pursing his lips together and slowly nodding his head as he peers down into his empty glass. Everyone knows better than to indulge you in your misery at this point, vowing not to pick at the festering wound. It’s still fresh and you’re still too volatile.

“Well, we’re going to your happy place, right?” Lyla asks with a hopeful smile.

“Yeah, yeah we are,” you answer, taking another long pull of Whiskey. It was clear she didn’t know the reason it made you happy in the first place was because of the memories you made there with the person no longer around.

You turn your head ready to fall into those memories you’ve been pushing away for weeks, but fate has other plans as you spot your production team walking towards the boarding gate. They look frantic as they talk to each other, their eyes flicking up and down from their phones in their hands. Paul, your band Manager leads the group, finally slipping his phone into his pocket as he spots the gate. Next to him is Corrine, the Production Manager talking on the phone, balancing it between her ear and shoulder as she follows Paul. Wes, the Tour Manager continues to talk to Paul as they step into the waiting area, but behind him is someone you don’t recognize.

She’s looking down at her phone, unaware that Wes has come to an abrupt stop in front of her. She runs into him just enough that it gets his attention, a profuse apology falling from her mouth. You laugh a little at the exchange, wondering who this girl is, and why she is with your team. She’s dressed like the rest of them, casual, but still comfortable for a day of travel. A slouchy white long sleeve shirt, a little too thin for the cold January weather, a brown leather backpack, worn and well loved, and a pair of olive green pants that hug her ass just a little too well for 10AM on a Thursday morning. You find yourself unable to pull your eyes away from her, a magnetizing feeling sucking you in the longer you look at her. She laughs with Wes, a bright smile lighting up her face causing an unwelcome twinge in your chest. It’s when she fully turns though, allowing you to see her whole face through the curtain of tousled waves, that you find yourself needing to know who she is.

You swallow nervously, licking your bottom lip as you turn to Sam. “Who uh, who’s that?” you ask, nodding towards the group. “With Paul, Wes, and Corri?”

Sam turns around in his barstool, looking across the busy walkway to the group standing at the gate. “Oh, um…” he pauses, assessing the situation. “She’s with Paul, so that must be our new runner.”

“What happened to Lucy?” you ask, letting your eyes drift back to the mystery girl.

“She got engaged and moved to Scotland or some shit, I don’t remember. Ask Josh,” he laughs.

You hum, trying to remember the email thread where Paul’s new assistant was approved. What was her name…

“You know her name?” Lyla asks, looking at Sam.

Yes, Lyla. Yes.

“Um, I think it’s….Y/N. Yeah, yeah, Y/N,” he answers confidently, snapping his fingers as he speaks.

“So she’s the new Lucy…” you hum, flipping your sunglasses down over your eyes.

“Guess so. We’ll see if she can hack it,” he laughs, sliding his card to the bartender.

You turn back to look at her, this time your eyes concealed. She is rocking back and forth on her feet, looking around as she hugs her arms across her chest. She seems nervous, pushing her hair behind her ears every few minutes. You’re positively taken by her, unable to peel your eyes away from her every move. You can’t help but study her, and you briefly wonder if it's the alcohol rushing through your brain that has you so focused on her.

The gate agents’ voice blaring through the intercom system snaps you from your thoughts, announcing that your flight was ready to begin boarding. You look to Sam, who is signing the check, and nod your head in silent agreement that you should head over. You toss back the rest of your Whiskey, letting out a sigh as it warms your chest. You grab your black leather backpack and sling it over your shoulders, straightening out your shirt before following Sam across the walkway to the gate. With your glasses still down, you step into the waiting area, watching people line up around you.

Josh, Ty, Mia, and Daniel appear behind you, startling you a bit as you fumble around in your pocket for your boarding pass. Their conversation is loud and grating, but you tune them out. You check your seat assignment as you move forward in the line, repeating it in your head over and over so you don’t forget it. You try not to pay attention to the pretty mystery girl five people ahead of you, but you just can’t seem to take your eyes off of her. You watch her disappear down the jet bridge as she talks to Paul, and before you can even register it, it’s your turn and the gate agent is scanning your ticket. She sends you on your way with a smile, and as you make the long walk to the plane you wonder if the girl in the green pants is going to make this tour just a little bit more interesting.

—

HER POV

3E. 3E. 3E.

Your eyes scan the row of numbers at the top of the cabin, finally catching sight of your assigned seat. You slide into the aisle seat, tossing your backpack to the floor as you let out a sigh of relief. You made it in one piece. You weren’t late, and everyone seemed to like you so far.

You take a look around you, admiring the plush seats and ample legroom. You’d never flown first class before. You felt a little out of place as you looked at the people around you. Thankfully it was filled with team members you knew, and the band members and their partners, but still you knew you didn’t belong up here. You kicked your bag beneath the seat in front of you, pulling your shirt sleeves over your hands before reaching up to adjust the air vents that were blowing far too hard. A small shiver left your body as you spun the vents closed, sitting back comfortably in your seat as you waited to see who your seat partner would be.

Your phone buzzed on your lap, a text from your best friend lighting up your screen.

Ruth

10:57am: How many hours is the flight again?

You smile as you quickly text back, running the numbers in your head.

You

10:58am: I don’t know, like 7 or 8 hours? You’ll be fine. Read a book or something. I’ll text you when I get there. But it will be late…or early? I think? There is a big time difference.

Ruth

10:59am: Ok, be careful.

You lock your phone and shove it under your leg, your eyes darting to the aisle as more people pass you on their way to their seats. You couldn’t believe your first leg of tour with them was taking you across Europe, allowing you to see places you’d only dreamed about. It wasn’t the job you were worried about, you could do that in your sleep. It was the uncertainty of being in another country with people you didn’t really know.

Getting to know the bands you worked for was a precarious thing. Always walking the thin line between friend and employee. You knew your place though, and you knew where that boundary lied. Your eyes refocus as someone stops in front of you, dropping their hands. As you look up you see Jake, one of the band members staring back at you.

“I’m…right there,” he says, gently pointing to the seat next to you.

“Oh, right here?” you ask, genuinely curious how you were seated next to a band member and not with a crew member.

“3F? That’s what this says…” he asks, checking his boarding pass. You nod and stand, letting him slide into the seat. He drops his leather backpack to the ground with a thud, letting out a sigh of relief, much in the same way you had.

You resettle in your own seat, buckling your seatbelt and pulling it tight across your lap. Your heart is still pounding as you try to calm your nerves, suddenly feeling put on the spot next to your boss. Or– your boss's boss. Shit.

You realize that you know practically nothing about this band, about its members, and really even much of their music beyond their hits. You planned to spend most of this flight acquainting yourself with them, learning their likes and dislikes before making a fool out of yourself in front of them in the green room. You don’t know if you should speak to him, and truthfully you’re a little hesitant since that day at the office, catching him and Josh in an argument.

You didn’t even know they would be there as you went in to sign your paperwork, but to your surprise they were, standing in the middle of the office playing around on instruments and talking. You made a beeline straight for the management office, mostly unseen, and quickly signed your paperwork. Paul went over some of the timelines and the things you would be responsible for as you took detailed notes on your phone, not wanting to miss a single thing.

Though, all of that came to a screeching halt as the sound of a chair skidding forcefully across the concrete floors pulled you both from your conversation. From your seat you watched through the small office door as two men moved towards each other, while two more intervened to break up whatever was about to happen.

You then learned from Paul that the two people that were arguing were the twins, Jake and Josh, and that the other two were their younger brother Sam, and their honorary brother Daniel. You observed in shock as the two of them shouted profanities at each other from either side of the piano, both red faced and worked up over something.

Paul quickly walked you out the front door with an apology and a laugh, and that was the last you saw of the band and its members, until today.

Out of the corner of your eye, you try to get a good look at him without him noticing. First impressions have always been a big deal to you, and since your first impression of him was nothing short of off-putting, you decide to try again. Give him the benefit of the doubt.

Worn-in black pants, cuffed at the ankle, a wrinkled beige button up that only conceals half his torso, a thick dark navy overcoat, and a stack of heavy silver necklaces. Oh, and blue-tinted sunglasses. His cologne… now that will be sticking around in your mind for a while. Clean, woodsy, a hint of musk but still kind of sweet.

You hear him clear his throat as he fidgets with his things, putting them all in their places as he finally settles into his seat. He reaches down into his black leather bag that appears to be well-loved, and pulls out a set of wired earbuds. They’re tangled and bunched, and you can’t help but smirk as you watch him try to untangle them. His fingers pull through the twisted white wires, and before you can offer your help, he reluctantly tosses them back down on top of his unzipped bag. “Fuck it,” you hear him mumble under his breath. He huffs again and leans back, tapping his fingers anxiously on his arm rests.

You let yourself drift back into your own thought as the plane takes off, going over the hundreds of miniscule things you know you’ll have to accomplish as soon as the plane lands. It’s quiet in first class, something you aren't used to with flying on the regular. The peacefulness that comes along with the drone of the plane and the light conversation between everyone is almost enough to help you relax a little, if not for the damned cool air still blowing through the vent above you.

You shiver a little, cuffing your hands over the ends of your shirt to pull it in more closely to your body. Why you had chosen to forgo a heavier jacket in the middle of winter, you truly don’t know. You decide to distract yourself a little, pulling up the string of endless emails that lie in waiting on your phone, getting a nice head-start on your duties before you have to hit the ground running.

Jake has been sitting beside you quietly for about an hour now, alternating scrolling his phone every few minutes and looking out his window. The cloud cover is heavy, so being able to see even a glimpse of the ocean below you is a lost cause. You listen as he sighs, crossing one of his legs over the other and folding his hands in his lap.

Should you strike up conversation? No, he probably doesn’t care to speak to you. But is it rude not to? You’ve already been sitting here for over an hour…

Just as you decide to open your mouth to speak, the plane hits turbulence. The cabin shakes and rumbles, and you can feel your stomach fall. Your hands grip the arm rests with white knuckles as the plane passes through, your eyes gripping shut as tightly as your palms on the arm rests.

Finally, after what feels like forever the plane evens out again, and you hear the pilot come over the intercom to apologize. You finally let the breath you were holding free from your lungs, and you open your eyes to see Jake with his head leaned low in front of you.

“You okay?” he asks, an eyebrow cocked.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Just…don’t really enjoy this part much.” you admit, running your sweaty palms over your pants.

He sits back in his seat once he notices your calmness return. “Me neither, to be honest. No matter how many times you hit turbulence on a plane, you never get used to it. I don’t care what people say.” he says with a sweet smile. You can tell that he was coming down from an anxious episode just the same as you.

“No joke…” you agree, suddenly wanting a drink even if it was before noon. You push the tiny hairs away from your face as you regain a hold on your bearings, picking up right where you had left off before the turbulent air sent you into a spiral of doom. “I–I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself before, my name’s–”

“Y/N.” he cut in, extending the tips of his fingers out to offer you a friendly handshake.

You let your hand slowly come up to meet his, suddenly uncaring that it was probably still clammy. “Yeah, that’s me. It’s nice to meet you.”

For the five seconds your bodies connect, and the even shorter few seconds that his honey brown eyes meet yours, you feel like you were worried for nothing. This guy is nice. Maybe he’ll be easier to talk to than you thought…

His hand disconnects and flies to his chest. “I’m Jake.”

You nod. Of course you already know his name. “Yeah, um…guitar. Right?”

He smiles harder this time. “Yup. That’s my forte, at least. Have you um, ever been to Europe?” He brushes his hand over his nose a few times as his eyes dart back and forth from the seat behind you and back to your face, unable to hold eye contact. Is he nervous?

You turn your body a little more toward him. “No, actually. This is my first time. But I hear good things…”

“Oh shit, you’re gonna love it. Especially this time of year. Things move pretty fast when we get there, but we always try to explore as much as possible. See some sights.” You can tell that he’s truly excited about this excursion, and to be completely honest, you found yourself wanting to hang on his every word.

“Anything in particular?” you press, wanting to hear the gritty rich sound of his voice again.

You let him talk on and on about the places he wants to see, and the places that they had already been, even bringing up a few older photos on his phone as he describes their past trips. You try not to look as he scrolls, but his camera roll is full of tons of scenic photos and videos, landscapes, mountains, waterfronts… and of course a few rogue photos of guitars and guitar parts. You wonder if he’s planning to make little vlogs.

“Italy is my favorite, I think. So much history there. I could’ve stayed for six months if they’d have let me.” Your shoulders are pressed up against each others’ now as you watch his thumb glide over the multitude of media, speeding through the less important ones to get to his favorites. Strange of him to trust a stranger this much to watch him scroll his personal camera roll. He obviously doesn’t have much to hide, even if this is crossing that boundary line…

“The people are great, the food is great, the wine, oh god, don’t get me started on the wine…” he chuckles, and you feel yourself bumping your shoulder against his a little as you laugh along with him. “The terroir is fuckin’ phenomenal, obviously. It’s like a different world.”

“I like a moscato every now and then.” You add, trying to throw in your two cents on your crumbs of wine knowledge.

He returns with a scrunched nose. “Hmm, a bit sweet for my taste…So, Y/N. What’s your story, how’d you end up with us?” he asks, switching to cross his other leg over, now.

You swallow, unsure of how to explain years’ worth of ups and downs you’d gone through to a rockstar. Your boss. You decide to keep it short and sweet, he didn’t need to know everything.

“Well, I spent my entire youth attending a small private school and private high school, so I came up quite the determined and disciplined kid. Kinda sheltered.” You turn again in your seat, tucking one leg up underneath you. “But, I ended up moving away from home and away from family, been in this business for almost, eh, six years now?” You go on, and he listens intently. “Guess you could say I’m a pro at making things happen out of thin air.” You give him a long wink as you snap your fingers together.

His eyebrows shoot up, and he finally gives you a hundred-watt smile. My god, he’s…

“A-ha, so you got all the good hookups, huh?” He asks, running his fingers over his chin as his cheeks turn the palest shade of pink.

“S’what the runner does, isn’t it?” You pull your eyes back down to your lap. “Get you everything you need, right when you need it?”

You bring your eyes back up to his and watch as he swallows hard, his mouth hanging open for just a split second before he catches himself. “Yeah, ehm, I suppose it is. We’re not too bossy, though. Josh can be, but.”

“So I’ve heard, he’s kind of a…diva?” You hadn’t done too much research on them, honestly. You hadn’t had the time. But, what few tiktoks and musics videos you had managed to see were fairly telling of their personalities.

“He is. He is.” Jake laughs. “Don't let him fool you, though. He’s a big softie with an attitude problem. We all kind of are, honestly.”

“You’re a softie?” You press with a teasing tone. “From the few videos I’ve seen of you playing guitar, you look a little intimidating…”

“Me? Intimidating?” He clicks his tongue. “Don’t believe everything you see on the internet, Y/N. It’s dangerous…” he growls the last word, and you can feel your insides ripping themselves apart just at the sound of his voice. You have to pull back, now.

“All the runners we’ve ever had did extensive research on us before they came on tour, did you not do that?” he inquires, throwing you off a bit.

You don’t really know how to answer, so you tell the truth. “Honestly Jake, no, I didn’t. I’ve toured with a few other bands in my career, and I did that. I researched them, learned all things I thought I needed to know so I didn’t go in blind. And, this time around, I did a little bit, but I kind of wanted to meet you all for myself. Get my own versions of you.”

“Hm.” He responds with an understanding nod. “Well, you’ll be the first.”

“Speaking of,” you go on, candidly glancing around the cabin and deciding to go ahead and ask the question that’s been nagging you. “Everyone else is seated with someone, wonder why I’m not with the rest of the team.”

“What, you don’t wanna sit by me, Y/N?” he asks with a shred of a grin.

“No no, it’s not that.” you laugh. “Just—“

“Normally I have someone with me, but…we’ve recently…gone our separate ways, I suppose.” He trips over the words a little, stammering through them like it was the first time he’d admitted it.

“Oh… I see.” you pause, “That’s…never an easy thing.”

I wonder if that was why he was so snippy that day at the office when you saw him fall off his rocker?

“Eh, s’alright. Win some, lose some. We had a good run.” He says as he waves off the question. “So, you say you’ve been doing this awhile, you must really miss whoever you’re leaving at home.”

Skating around the question, aren’t you, Jake?

“No, I’m single, if that’s what you’re asking.” You bite your lip as he doesn’t stop you from elaborating further. “I’m pretty independent, I like structure and uniformity. Growing up I wasn’t allowed much time on my own to have hobbies outside of school and practice. Strict parents. The job has kept me pretty adhered to that mindset, even in my personal life, so.”

His eyes flick to yours and he squints them a little, as if he’s collecting every single one of your words and hanging them in a closet in his mind. He’s trying his best to figure you out, you can see it on his face. But why? He shouldn’t care…you don’t matter.

“I can respect that.” He nods again. “My brothers and I, we grew up in a fairly religious household. Was great, don’t get me wrong. Really formed our roots but, as we got older and started to see the world, we kinda got away from it. Began to start seeing things in a different perspective.” He sucks his teeth, as if he’s recounting a hard memory. “Kinda why we moved to Nashville. We knew we had to break away if we wanted the band to be successful.”

You nod in understanding. “I mean, it worked, didn’t it?”

His laugh fills the cabin as it bounces off the walls, a sweet chuckle that makes your heart rate pick up. You could listen to him laugh all day long.

“S’pose it did.”

“The fuck are you two over here laughing at, huh?” Suddenly Josh’s curls are squished between your seats, his cheeks pinched together as he speaks. “I’m trying to get some shut-eye but I can’t from all the babbling—”

Jake places his hand over entirety of his twin’s face, pressing him through and back into his own seat. “None of your business, fuck off.”

You laugh at their antics, knowing in the back of your mind that you had better get used to it. You feel the air kick on again, fiercely blowing the freezing cold air directly onto you. You shiver a little, balling yourself up and pulling your sleeves closely in toward you again.

“You want my jacket?” Jake asks, already starting to pull it from his shoulders.

“No! No no no, thank you, but I’m fine, really.” The last thing you need is that right off that bat. A bad look. Day one. Nope.

“Seriously, I run naturally hot. Take it.” He replies.

“Oh yeah? Hence all your layers?” You tease, repositioning in your seat.

“It’s a fashion statement, thank you very much.” He bites. “All about comfort for me.”

Gotta change the subject.

“So tell me something I should know about your brothers. Something that would give me brownie points if I wanted to say…impress them with my craft service skills…” you press, giving him a new challenge.

“Wow um, let’s see…” he brings his fingers to his chin and thinks hard, and you can’t help but feel endeared by the fact that he truly wants to help you out. “Josh stays away from chocolate and dairy and sweets and all that, but his guilty pleasure is those cotton candy flavored grapes. Weird, I know.”

“Oh my god, those are so nasty!” you laugh, but still take note.

“Danny would be over the moon if you surprised him with salsa verde Doritos, and Sam drinks kombucha more than the normal human should.” he finishes with a stern nod.

“Got it. I think I can make most of that happen, aside from the grapes…”

“He would kiss you right on the lips, I’m telling you.” Jake giggles again, and you notice how he lights up when he talks about them.

“So Josh is the dramatic softie, what about the other two?” you ask.

“Sam’s kinda serious but he’s playful when he wants to be. Sneaky, too. Daniel’s always into something, always busy. Man doesn’t like to sit still,” he concludes, and you commit it all.

“And what about you?” you ask, feeling your stomach flip for some reason.

“I thought you said you wanted to get your own versions of us,” he quipped back, parroting your words from earlier. Damn, you had said that.

You toss your hair behind your shoulder. “I did but…You’ll tell me all about them, but not about yourself?”

He crunches his lips together as his eyes scan your face. It makes you a little uncomfortable, how hard he’s really looking at you, but you let him. Stopping him would be a sin you weren’t ready to commit just yet.

“That’s right.”

The two of you drift off into silence again as the minutes tick by, thankfully not being embarrassingly interrupted by Josh anymore. You decide that you want to listen to some music, so you reach into the pocket of your bag and pull out your AirPods, slipping the left one in first followed by the right. You pull up your music and begin flipping through your playlists, searching for something to match the relaxed tone of the hour. Truly, you feel like you could easily drift off to sleep.

You find a nice quiet playlist and curl up in your seat, halfway reluctant you didn’t take Jake’s jacket, but also proud of yourself for saying no. You’re fucking freezing.

You turn your head to the side and close your eyes, ready to drift off into another world.

You’re jolted awake by turbulence, the plane shaking again as you wake up and get your bearings. “Shit,” you breathe as you sit up straighter, remembering exactly where you are. You notice that in your slumber, your head had fallen against Jake’s shoulder. Fuck. Fuck fuck.

The turbulence only lasts a few seconds before it evens out again, and the calmness returns to your body. You glance at Jake, seeing him looking a little drowsy and shaken, too.

“Jake, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do that, why didn’t you wake me? I—”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I kinda dozed off, too,” he replies, stretching his arms high above his head without a care…not like he didn’t just have a stranger asleep with her head on his shoulder.

You look down, noticing that in the time you had drifted off, Jake had covered you with his coat.

You panic, scrambling a little as you work to pull it from your body before anyone notices.

His hands are quickly on yours, stopping your action. “Leave it, Y/N. You were shivering in your sleep…you can’t tell me you aren’t cozy right now…” his voice is barely a whisper, and the warmth of his hands grazing overtop of yours, even for a second, is enough to give you a whole other type of chill.

“Yeah, I—I am warm…” you can’t deny that your body temperature has increased by at least a couple of degrees, and your fingers don’t feel like they’re going to get frostbite anymore. The jacket is heavy, heavier than it looks, and it smells like fresh pine needles and woodsy body soap. Just like…him?

“See?” he growls, backing away. “Just stay put.”

Stay put? You want to bite back with something that will put him in his place; you explicitly told him you didn’t want his jacket, and he covered you anyway. While you were unconscious. While you couldn’t turn down the offer.

…But you’re so warm, now. Your tense muscles are finally relaxing. The frigidity of the space has suddenly turned into a toasty furnace with a crackling fire.

Okay, but just until we land…

“What are you listening to?” Jake asks as he stretches again. You turn your phone for him to see, showing a generic playlist of Peaceful Sleep Songs lighting up your lock screen.

“Agh, no, what is that shit?” Jake snatches your phone from your hand, quickly flipping the screen to unlock with your face before he begins shuffling through your playlists.

“What are you doing?!” you yelp, reaching for your phone back. He raises his free hand to the air, stopping you from taking it.

“Aht aht… I’m finding you something better to listen to. Don’t worry about it.” You suddenly hear the quiet music in your ears switch to something else, something you knew for a fact you hadn’t ever heard before. You give it a second as he turns the volume up a few notches, and you realize that it is most definitely brand new to you.

It’s a solemn, tense-feeling piano beat, followed in by guitar. Lyrics only come in after a minute and a half or so. It sounds like growling, deep and hollow and a bit scary, but beautiful nonetheless. He’s watching your face as you experience it, quickly pressing pause as the song comes to a close.

“What was that?” you ask, realizing you had really enjoyed it.

“That was a song called Intro, by Alt-J. I know you’ve heard of Alt-J.” he says as he goes back to work on the phone.

You slowly shake your head from side to side. “Can’t say I have, actually.”

His jaw goes slack as his eyebrows raise in disbelief. “What? Like, never?”

You feel your cheeks turning pink at the thought of a literal rockstar calling you out on your lack of music knowledge.

“I don’t think so! That’s not what I normally listen to…don’t judge me,” you laugh, reaching for your phone again.

He swats your hand away. “Ohh no, little fledgling. You’re listening to this. This is the good shit…” he presses play again as a twinkling high-pitched voice comes through your ears. It’s just jumbled words, no backing music or tune. The acapella strikes you as strange at first, until the end when it changes tone a bit, and it’s almost as if the lyrics are giving you advice you didn’t ask for. Warning you of something new and exhilarating, or better yet, dangerous and foreboding. It almost feels as if a black cloud has overcome you, only for a split second, letting you feel the nonexistent pokes and pinches that come along with the emotion of worry.

The song flows directly into another now, one layered with a lot more sound, and it pulls you from that odd headspace the previous had put you in. You lean over the armrest, looking at the screen to see the title Tessellate. You’ve never heard anything like this kind of music before, and you wonder why Jake chose this particular artist.

“This is one of their more popular ones, like radio popular, but it’s still one of my favorites on this album. Here in a second you’ll hear it slow down—”

You stop him by pulling your right earbud out, shoving it in his hand. “Shh, you can talk me through the songs later. Let me listen.”

He shuts his mouth, giving you a sweet grin as he takes the bud, placing it in his own ear and pressing play again. You continue on through the album, each song something brand new to you, a genre you’d really never delved into but wish you had, now. It’s enthralling, different, and full of sounds that make your mind sway and swim through mixtures of color and gray.

You watch as Jake’s fingers tap along exactly with the beat of each song perfectly, down to a tee. The words don’t make much sense to you, and you can hardly distinguish what the singer is saying, but you know that Jake will give you a rundown of it all as soon as time allows him. You don’t know much about him, but his persistence is already apparent. You glance to see his eyelashes hitting his cheeks, his head barely bobbing side to side as he feels the music. You find yourself envious that he can draw inspiration and act on it, turning it into art of his own, whereas all you can do is sit back and listen to it.

Every couple of minutes he perks up from his meditation and adds new songs from their other albums onto the little playlist he’s started for you. You can’t quite make out what he’s titled it, but you can tell it's an emoji of some sort. His thumb flips and flies with precision across your screen as he scrolls and adds songs, and you have to admit, you’re a little excited to get your phone back and learn just what he’s creating for you. Especially for you.

You take a quick deep breath as you recenter yourself, catching your eyes drifting over his hand as he grips your phone. The veins in his hand roll over his knuckles, and you can just barely see the scuffed and calloused ends of his fingertips. Dial it the fuck back Y/N, remember the rules.

“Oooh, this is another one of my favorites,” he remarks, his mouth fairly close to your ear as he tries not to raise his voice over the volume of the music. He turns the screen a little so you can see the title, Taro. “You haven’t— You didn’t come to any of our shows last year by chance, did you?”

You feel a big pang of guilt shoot through your chest, remembering that you had actually been invited by some friends to see them way back when, but you’d turned the invitation down, not knowing who they even were at the time. You shake your head from side to side. “No, I didn’t.”

“This is one of the ones we play to the crowd before we go on. We all love it, it’s a sad, sad love tale based on true events. That’s the cool thing about this group, their lyrics are never really about what you think they are. They’re storytellers, a bit like Josh is, if you think about it. Their themes and over arcs are just…mind blowing sometimes.” Jake’s voice is a tiny murmur in your ear as your shoulders lean on one another’s again, still very taken with the music flowing through your ear. “We grab a lot of inspo from them, sonically and melodically…” You can feel his breath on your cheek, and you find yourself wondering what it would taste like…

“Here, read along with the lyrics. Try not to cry.” He hands your phone back, letting you keep up with the words floating down your screen. And he’s right, it’s heartbreaking without even knowing the context.

“Wow…That was really beautiful,” you choke, realizing the depth of the story of the song.

“Yep. Good shit, I told you.” He whips his hand around and takes the phone back as the next song comes in and warms your bones up again. You can feel the bare skin of his elbow brushing against yours, realizing that he was telling the truth about being naturally warm-bodied. Suddenly you don’t feel so bad about cuddling up under his coat.

He opens your contacts app and adds himself, placing the sword emoji beside his name. He smirks as he hands the phone back.

“Added your phone number, huh?” you ask rhetorically.

He sucks his teeth as he cracks his fingers. “Yep. How else will I let you know what I might need? Plus, never know when you might need to call me.”

—

You watch the signs overhead illuminate, a gentle tone ringing through the cabin as the Captain starts to make an announcement. You pause the song and pull your AirPod out, watching Jake do the same.

“Hey folks, this is your Captain speaking. Just want to let you know we will be landing in Hamburg shortly. I’d expect to be on the ground in the next ten minutes or so, putting us about fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, so sit tight and we’ll have you on the ground in a few. Attendants please prepare for arrival.”

You turn to look at Jake, shrugging as you slide your AirPod back into the case. He raises his eyebrows and drops his jaw. “But we aren’t done! Wait! Hold on!”

He grabs your phone again, and from what you can see he is adding more songs to your playlist. You watch as he scrolls through various different albums by different artists, adding songs as quickly as he can. You smirk as you catch sight of the emoji he’s chosen, the chick icon, a playful nod at his earlier fledgling comment. He peeks over at you every few seconds, trying his best to hurry so you can pack up your things, but in a last effort you watch as he adds himself as a collaborator to the playlist.

You raise an eyebrow to him as he hands your phone back to you, shrugging with a soft laugh. You feel your insides swirl at the sight of his smile, and you turn your eyes to your phone scrolling through the songs on the playlist. You turn back to him and nod, a silent agreement that you will listen just as you feel the plane starting to land.

“I wanna keep adding songs for you to listen to, fledgling. If you want me to, of course…”

You nod. “Of course I do. School away, Jake,” you reply with an air of playful annoyance.

He chuckles. “I plan to.”

As you brace for the landing you grip your hands into the arm rests, letting go of the soft worn in corduroy fabric you’d been playing with for the last hour. Your eyes squint closed as the plane touches down, jolting everyone forward in their seats. Jake grabs his phone as the plane slows down, flashing his screen at you to show a local time of 12:13AM.

“I see some jet lag in our future,” you smile, sliding his jacket off of your arms. You fold it the best you can and hand it back to him, almost sad you have to give it back to him. “Thanks again for that.”

“Oh yeah, no problem.” He accepts it graciously from you, letting out a soft breath as he unfolds it and slides it back over his shoulders. It fits his personality well, soft and sturdy, worn in and weathered. He flips his hair out from beneath the collar, a barely there smell of peppermint passing through the air. You pull your gaze away from him just as you see his cheeks start to blush from your gaze. You lock your phone and stick it into your backpack at your feet, wondering how in such a short amount of time Jake has managed to infiltrate your thoughts so completely.

JAKE POV

As she turns to grab her bag you open your phone, tapping on the notification that she has added you to her playlist. You accept the invitation with a sly smile before sliding your phone back into your coat pocket. It smells like her now, soft and floral, very different than anything you were used to. Your mind was already circling with things you wanted to add to that playlist when you got a minute, finding it was harder than you thought to think of songs on the fly.

The first few rows begin to file out of the plane and you watch as Paul stands and turns to look at Y/N, motioning to her to meet up with him after she got off the plane. She nods her head and slides her backpack straps over her shoulders, waiting for her turn to stand.

“For jet lag…You know…Um, Benadryl,” you offer, your voice a little soft and unsure.

She turns to look at you, pinching her brows together in question.

“When you get to your room tonight, take a Benadryl. Should knock you out until the morning and help you get on a normal schedule. Works for me, at least.” you finish, nodding to her as the people in front of you stand to leave.

“Thanks, Jake.” She smiles and nods, sliding out of her seat to walk down the aisle.

You watch her as she walks up the jet bridge towards the gate, seeing Paul waiting for her in the doorway. The two walk together through the airport, finding it fairly quiet at this hour as most of the flights have landed for the night. You push your sunglasses down onto your nose just as you feel Josh walking up behind you.

He gives you a gentle nudge in the side to get your attention. “You good?”

“Yeah, yeah. Easy flight,” you answer, still listening and catching bits and pieces of whatever Paul is saying to Y/N, prepping her for the hotel check in and details for the morning. She is typing notes on her phone as she walks, barely looking where she is going, clearly trusting Paul to look out for her more than she should.

You tune out Josh as he rambles on about the flight, Ty jumping in every few words with a retort or a laugh. Your eyes don’t seem to leave her though, watching her talk, watching her walk, shit, just watching her. You can’t seem to shake it. You’d never met anyone like her before. Someone you were so instantly taken with. You wanted to know every single detail about her.

You feel Josh’s hand as it comes up to your chin, pressing it upward and forcing your jaw shut. “There, you seemed to have dropped that.”

You turn to him angrily, knowing what he’s insinuating, giving him a hard elbow to the arm. “Fuck off, Josh.”

He laughs and pushes you with his shoulder, readjusting his backpack on his other shoulder. “Just an observation, that’s all. Can’t say I blame you, though.”

“Oh are you talking about Jake and Y/N?” Sam interjects, stepping up on your right side in a lanky stride.

Josh nods, laughing slightly, wanting to keep this banter going. Asshole.

“Can you two knock it off, fuck,” you growl, hoping she can’t hear them. Your eyes are locked in on her again, and much to your relief she is talking to Paul and can’t hear a word they’re saying.

“He didn’t shut up the entire flight. Lots of whispering and giggles from up there. I didn’t sleep at all. But I did hear his monologue about the genius of Alt-J for the fourth time this year.” Josh quips, earning a laugh from everyone around you.

“Fuck you again, Josh,” you spit, annoyed at his lack of respect.

“Damn, so you’re trying to scare her away, then?” Sam teases, giving you a sideways grin.

You shake your head and push past them forcefully as you step off the escalator into baggage claim, not wanting to engage in this conversation a second longer. Especially because you were afraid they might be right.

—

“Shit, not again,” Danny mumbles as you all approach the baggage claim area, immediately noticing a group of fans obviously waiting for your arrival. You take a deep, preparational breath as you can’t help but run into them on your path to the carousel.

“Let’s just get it over with,” you hear Josh complain as he puts on his faux-happy face. You all love meeting fans. Truly, watching their faces light up when they see you is something that is unparalleled. But coming off of a long flight and already feeling the effects of the time difference, starving, and ready for a drink usually puts all of you in a mood that is generally irked overall. But you always suck it up; this is the life you signed up for.

This time though, unlike most encounters with fans, is enough to make your general irritation quickly turn into intense aggravation. They swarm you, hugging and pulling and invading your spaces in an extremely unwelcome attempt at meeting each of you. You feel surrounded, and unable to get to your luggage in time before it rounds the carousel again. You keep your cool, just as you always do, curtly smiling and pulling away as your body instructs you to. You pause for quick photos as your eyes search the spinning luggage again. You see your brothers out of the corners of your eyes doing the same… quick ‘hellos’ and ‘nice to meet you’s’ as the crowd just seems to get bigger and bigger.

Just as your eyes finally fall on your suitcase, you hear a loud clack as you turn and notice someone has knocked Sam’s phone out of his hand. It lands face down on the tile floor, likely cracked and scuffed from the people crowding around you all. You watch as Sam’s face turns up in annoyance, his eyes closed as he composes himself.

“Okay, that’ll be enough!” You hear Dean, your security, bellow across the crowd. “Please step away, no more photos, no more photos…” Dean makes his way into the center of group, quickly dispersing them. You give Sam a quick look that says, ‘get your phone, let’s go’, and soon enough you’re rolling your suitcase through the middle of the crowded room.

You see Y/N in the crowd, finding her to be a little flustered from the encounters, but alright nonetheless. You lock eyes with her as she mouths, ‘Are you okay?’, and you nod her off with a look of, ‘Yeah, this happens all the time.’

Your team is surrounding you as you quickly walk through the hallway toward the exit, ready to hop into an unmarked van and zip away to your hotel. You’re still being followed as you make it through the back exit doors.

When you’re finally safe outside the pickup area, everyone breathes a sigh of relief. “Fuck, that was a bad one.” Danny says. “Sam, how's your phone?”

“It’s ok, just a little scuff in the corner but it’ll be fine,” he answers, scanning his eyes over it.

“Guys, keep your phones on, Wes will be texting you tomorrow with where we’re headed next. Get some sleep and something to eat.” Paul instructs as everyone loads their things into the vans. Y/N is standing nearby, and you can tell that she feels a little out of place as she awkwardly crosses one ankle over the other. You take a quick opportunity to knock your elbow into her side, feeling comfortable enough to do that now that you’d sat together so long on the plane, but she’s avoiding eye contact. You hope she doesn’t feel uncomfortable around you.

“Hey, thanks for letting me jam a little with you on the plane,” you say sheepishly. “Sorry if I overstepped any, but I really think you’ll like the music I added for you.”

Finally her composure opens a little. “No, no! You didn’t… overstep. I’m actually excited to hop in my big cozy hotel bed and listen again.” Her words make your stomach fall with nerves, but you quickly suppress it.

“Y/N, you ready?” you hear Wes ask her as he passes by, heading toward another van.

“Yep, all set!” she answers as she follows him through the dwindling group. She hops into another van, and you worry she’ll be staying at another hotel. For a second you think you won’t see her as much if she is. You climb inside the van and slam the door closed behind you, seeing the group of fans with their phones pressed to the windows of the airport. You plop back down into the middle seat beside Josh, and finally take a full breath of relief.

“Fuck! I swear to god if I’m getting sick again…” Josh says as he bangs his head against the headrest behind him. You scoot sideways on the van’s bench seat, staying as far away from him as you can.

“Are you serious?!” Danny says from the seat behind you. “You need a mythical medicine man or some shit.”

“It’s fine, I’m fine, just feel a little congested. I’ll send Y/N out on her first mission for some meds after we get settled in the hotel.” Josh answers, and you keep yourself pressed against the van’s window, purposefully turning your back to him. Can’t have that again. You realize, though, that of course she’ll be in the same hotel as you, management always is.

The vision of a worried Y/N replays in your mind, seeing her face full of concern as the fans did all but ambush you earlier. You shake the thought, suddenly having a realization that, most likely, everyone else is having, too.

“I think we should amp up security,” you blurt. “No offense to Dean, but he’s only one guy. There are more than ten of us…” you’re met with a little bit of silence, so you press on. “Just while we’re over here, at least. We’re going to be separated a lot, and I think it would be a good idea if Dean wasn’t being pulled in all different directions.”

“Don’t you think we should have thought of that before we got over here, Jake?” Josh counters.

“I’ve actually been thinking it for a while. Today just…made me feel like it’s necessary, now,” you respond quietly. What could it hurt? You have the funds, and a few extra eyes on you and your team couldn’t be a bad thing.

You hear a collective sigh from your brothers, until Sam finally speaks. “Yeah, I kinda felt a little overwhelmed when I dropped my phone and it got kicked away from me. First world problems, I know, but—”

“But someone could have picked it up, and ran off with it. Gotten access to your private information. Stepped on it and shattered it. We’re probably just paranoid, but I don’t know. I don’t think it’s a bad idea…” you suggest.

“I like the idea.” Josh adds. “Wish we would have talked about it sooner, but I’m sure Paul could get something arranged for us. Those security companies are always looking for overseas gigs.”

“Daniel, you agree?” you ask, twisting your body to the backseat.

“Yeah, I do, actually,” he decides.

“Good. It’s settled, then. We’ll talk to Paul first thing in the morning,” you say, happy with your decision of bringing it up. All you can see is a memory of Y/N’s scared face replaying over and over in your mind, and you just can’t seem to shake it.

You quickly curse yourself, you’re in no headspace to be worrying about a woman right now. You’ve gotta keep your head on straight. Tour hasn’t even started yet, and you’re already letting a new girl give you butterflies. You audibly scoff at yourself as you lean your elbow on the window, looking out at the bustling streets outside. You throw your earbuds in, letting the tangle of cords just be what it is, and you pull your phone out to switch the volume up. Of course, Alt-J pops onto your screen the second you look at it, and you wonder if she’s already listening to them, too.

The city lights are twinkling through the light drizzle of rain, and you finally feel your bones starting to settle into tiredness. Though your mind is racing with excitement to play shows, you let yourself ignore the thoughts and relax into the music blessing your ears. Some room service and a down comforter is calling your name.

—--

HER POV

The shrill sound of your hotel room telephone wakes you from a half-sleep. What the hell? What time is it? You don’t remember falling asleep, but the loud TV and the lights still illuminating the room signify you must have accidentally dozed off.

“Hello?” you answer, realizing that no matter the time, duty calls.

“Hey, Y/N. It’s Paul. Sorry if I woke you…”

“No, you’re fine. I’m awake,” you lie.

“Cool. Um, Josh was wondering if you’d run to the pharmacy down the street and pick up the meds I just texted you. He said he would go get them himself, but he’s doing a lung steaming treatment or… something. I dunno. But if you don’t care, here’s your first assignment! I know it’s late, but the pharmacy is apparently open all night.”

You glance at your watch and see that it’s already nearing 1:00AM. “Sure! I don’t care at all. Tell him I’ll have them to him ASAP.”

“Will do. Hey, turn your location on for me and Wes, okay? Be safe, thanks again,” Paul hangs up the phone before you can say goodbye, and within seconds you’re crawling out of bed and putting your pants back on. Your stomach growls as you realize you fell asleep without eating anything. You make a plan to make a quick trip to the pharmacy, deliver Josh his medicine, then go back out to find something to eat before you end up eating the bag of peanuts you stuffed in your bag on the plane.

You take a second to check your messages, finding you have three unread messages from Ruth. In the mess and confusion of the day, and the time difference, you’ve been thrown for a loop. You shoot her a quick few texts to let her know you’re alive and well, but you leave out the sweet little detail that you’d shared AirPods with the guitarist of the band you’re touring with. You’d get into that part later.

The walk to the pharmacy is short, thankfully, and you find the things Josh needs without much of an issue at all. The city is still fairly crowded with people at this hour, and you make sure to track your steps backward just the way you came to get back to the hotel. Your stomach rumbles again, and the smells coming from the various restaurants around you have your head spinning with hunger.

A few quiet knocks on Josh’s hotel room door bring him to answer it within seconds, and his warm composure instantly makes you feel welcome. “Y/N! Thank you so much, seriously. I need to knock this shit out before it gets any worse, and I think you just saved the day,’ he gushes as you see clouds of steam pouring out of his cracked bathroom door, and smell the sweet scent of herbal fragrances as they waft through your nose. “You have any trouble finding the place? Google said it was close by…”

“Anytime, Josh. And no, actually. It was right around the corner,” you answer, handing him the bag of meds.

“Good. Well I won’t bother you again, you heading to sleep?” he asks with a warm tone.

You bite the inside of your lip as your stomach screams at you again. “No, I passed a little pub on my walk, and it smelled amazing as I walked by. Think I’m gonna go have a drink and get something to eat. I’m starving.”

“Go feed yourself, love. Enjoy the city. We’ve got a long day tomorrow!”

“Will do, see you tomorrow!” you say as he closes the door.

“Thanks again! See ya!”

You make your way to the elevator and down to the bottom floor, digging your phone out of your pocket to check your location and make sure the pub is still going to be open at this hour. A quick search for Le Marmitone tells you the kitchen doesn’t close for another hour, so you pick up your pace and head straight for the pub.

The wind and rain have picked up a little bit, and you thank yourself for adding a few layers on before you left your hotel room earlier. The cold air bites at your cheeks as you meander through the people still out walking the streets, and the smell of the food drifting on the wind draws you straight back to the pub. Upon entering the double doors, you find that it is actually a nice restaurant with a bar.

You grab a seat at the corner of the bar, glancing to the coolers and shelves to see what your drink options are.

“Evening madame, here is a menu. Can I get you a beverage?” a man in a sport coat asks as he hands you the shiny white menu. His accent is thick, but you can understand him fairly easily.

“Hello. Could I have a whiskey soda and a water, please?” you ask as you remove your heavy jacket and hang it over the back of the stool. You look over the menu choices and decide on a bowl of soup and a sandwich, more of a lunch option, but a steaming hot bowl of soup sounds exactly like what you need right now.

There are a few people still scattered throughout the restaurant, most closing their tabs and leaving for the night. There are a few patrons still at the bar, stuck in conversations with one another or watching whatever game is playing on the big screen.

The bartender sets your drinks in front of you as you tell him your food order, and you pull out your phone to begin fishing through emails and making your daily checklists. The Whiskey drink is strong, but not too strong, and you let yourself enjoy the immediate warmth it sends coursing through your veins.

You fill your stomach up as far as it will allow you, and you decide that one more drink probably won’t hurt, as the place doesn’t close up for another hour. You’re enjoying yourself, basking in the calm before the storm that is going to hit promptly at 10AM tomorrow.

“‘Scuse me, sir. I’ll take one more drink and my check, please,” you alert the bartender. He nods and turns to concoct your drink and print your tab. When he returns, he plops a bright red maraschino cherry onto the top.

“Gentleman at the end of the bar says this one is on him, ma’am.” He places the white slip of paper in front of you as he removes your dishes, and disappears. Your eyes slowly drift to the left, landing on an older gentleman who had been lingering at the end of the bar since you’d gotten here. His friends have since left, leaving him to finish off a few more rounds by himself.

He smiles hard when you notice him, and slides off his stool, stumbling his way toward you. You feel your heart rate pick up as he approaches you, and you remember that you do have mace in your purse, should you need it, Ruth’s one request.

“Hello, lovely. Enjoy that drink on me this evening,” he slurs with a heavy accent. He sits down in the stool beside you, and suddenly you’d rather not have that second drink, after all. You glance at the drink, and back to him, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable in his presence.

“Um, thank you, really. But I—I’ve actually got to go. It’s getting to be later than I thought…” you lie, pulling out some cash from your purse to pay the bill.

“Nonsense! Have the drink, beautiful. Tell me, where are you from? Your accent tells me it’s somewhere far away from here…” he presses, pushing the drink toward you. His hands are giant, and covered in dark hair. He has a beard of the same color that reaches almost down to his stomach, and you can smell the alcohol radiating from his breath.

“The States,” you say bluntly, avoiding eye contact with him as the bartender is nowhere to be found. You immediately kick yourself for not telling Dean where you had run off to, all by yourself. You know better than this.

“Obviously, sweetheart. But where?” he asks.

“Um, a small town, you’ve probably never heard of it,” you go on, beginning to pull your jacket on and leave the money on the bar top. Suddenly the man’s hand is on the back of the stool, holding it steady as you try to turn it.

“I’d like to hear all about it, love,” he growls, and you suddenly feel very intimidated. There is no one else around, no other patrons at the bar, you couldn’t feel the presence of another human or employee running about, and you contemplated making a run for it.

“I promise I’m not here to scare you, just talk. That’s all I’d like to do…” he goes on, backing his hand away from the chair as he notices your panic. Finally, the bartender makes his way back, but instead of taking your check, he continues cleaning and re-stocking for the night. You’re alone, and uncomfortable. Why did you do this to yourself?

Suddenly you remember that Jake put his number in your phone. You know you can’t get a hold of Dean at this hour, especially since you didn’t tell him you were going anywhere. You can’t make that bad of a first impression before your first day even really happens.

You quickly turn your attention to your phone, trying to figure out what to do, but then it hits you. You type in the name, taking a deep breath before sending Jake a risky text as a last ditch effort.

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing here alone, hmm?” the man asks as you turn away from him to type as quickly as you can.

You

1:47AM: Jake, are you awake?

Your foot taps nervously on the floor, the man next to you doing everything in his power to corner you into this seat. A text bounces back after a minute, and you feel your shoulders relax just a touch.

Jake 🗡

1:49AM: How did you get this number?

You

1:50AM: You put it in my phone today on the plane. Are you busy?

Jake 🗡

1:51AM: Oh, hey. No, I’m just getting ready to go to bed, why what’s up? You okay?

You

1:52AM: No. I don’t think so. I hate to ask this, I know it’s late. Is there any way you could come meet me? I left to get something to eat and didn't tell anyone and this guy here has me cornered into my seat and I don't think he is gonna let me leave alone.

Jake 🗡

1:53AM: Share your location, I’m leaving now.

You

1:54AM: Thank you. I owe you.

“Did you hear me sweetheart? I said, are you expecting someone?” the man asks, a sly grin on his face as he leans closer to you.

You quickly glance back down at your phone, sharing your location with Jake and hoping he can find you. You lock your phone and put it in your purse, pretending you’re a lot less anxious than you actually are.

“Actually, yes, I am. My…boyfriend is on his way. He’ll be here in just a second.” you lie, doing your best to speak confidently. “I should probably step outside to meet him.”

“No, no, stay, you haven’t touched your drink,” he says, gesturing to the glass of alcohol. “I know a place down the street, stays open late, too.”

You feel your skin start to grow clammy, the man's intentions suddenly becoming very clear. Your heart is pounding as you try to talk your way out of the situation. You clear your throat, and just as you start to speak you see the front door of the restaurant open. Jake steps inside, looking side to side, his eyes quickly scanning the entirety of the restaurant until he locks eyes with you.

He nods to the host at the door as he walks toward you, wearing the same clothes from earlier but now his hair is a little messier. You know he got out of bed to do this.

You instantly stand from your seat as Jake steps up, reaching towards him as he settles himself between you and the man.

“Hey baby, you finally made it,” you coo, your pleading eyes locked on Jake’s as he wraps his arm around your shoulder in a welcoming hug. You can smell him, the cologne lingering on his coat. The same coat that was wrapped around you only hours ago.

He pulls away and drops his arms to his side as you turn to him. You stare at him just a second longer, hoping he can hear the words you are screaming in your mind. He blinks and turns to look at the man before letting his eyes flick back to you.

“Yeah, yeah, of course babe, sorry I was late,” he pauses, turning to face the drunk man beside him. “Who is this?”

You let out a small breath of relief as he silently agrees to play along with you. “Oh, he came over from the bar. He sent this drink over, but I just can’t drink it. I already had one and you know I work in the morning,” you answer, hoping he is understanding what you’re trying to say. “Do you want it?”

He looks so effortless standing there with a hand in his jacket pocket. He tilts his head and scrunches his nose just a bit before answering, “Ahh, nah…It looks like a watered down well pour and I just had one myself before I got here. I’m alright. We should probably get going though, we have an early day tomorrow and it’s fairly late already.”

Yes.

“Oh, you two are terrible liars. He isn’t your boyfriend, is he sweetheart?” the man asks, scoffing at Jake. “You should come with me, I can show you the city better than this fool.”

“That’s an awfully brazen assumption, sir, I must say.” Jake argues, pulling his hand from his coat pocket and grabbing yours. You suck in a harsh breath feeling his fingers lace with yours. Fake or not, there was definitely a new feeling swirling through your veins.

“Look at her, she’s flustered. This woman hasn’t ever been touched by you. It’s written all over her face.” he continues, looking Jake over.

“Your boyfriend, your husband, he isn’t any of those things. I don’t see a ring on your finger, and I don’t know how they do things where you’re from, but in this country, you my dear, are fair game.”

You want to snap back. The audacity is astounding. You start to step forward, ready to lay into him, but you feel Jake’s hand squeeze yours and you know he’s telling you to follow his lead this time.

“She is with me, sir,” Jake spits. “And it would be in your best interest to back off.”

“Oh, is that right?” the man counters, standing up from his seat, giving him a few good inches over Jake. Jake didn’t falter though. Of course he didn’t. He knew that didn’t matter.

“Kiss her, then. If she’s yours, kiss her,” he quips.

“Absolutely not, I don’t have to prove anything to you, and quite frankly sir, it’s none of your business,” Jake snaps, you can tell he’s starting to get mad, his hand gripping yours a little harder. “Let’s go, babe.”

You stand firm next to him, not letting your face show a single waiver of emotion as the man waits to see if you’ll crack. Jake starts to walk away pulling you behind him, but before you can move the man grabs your other arm, taking both of you by surprise.

“Stay, sugar. Let a real man take you home.”

Jake snaps his head around, hearing the words fall from the man's drunken mouth. For a minute you’re scared. You don’t know how Jake is going to react, his jaw is hard set and his nostrils flared in anger. You hear him curse under his breath as he shakes his head.

“You know what? Fuckin’ fine…” he challenges, looking at the man then to you, nodding just enough for you to notice.

Just as you feel the anxiety of what he is about to do bloom in your chest, he reads your body language, letting a sweet and quiet ‘S’okay’ slip from his lips.

Your eyes widen a little as you realize what’s about to happen, but take solace in the fact that he’s likely just as nervous as you are. He stops, pulling you in towards him as his hand grabs at your waist.

His fingers grip into your hairline as he tilts your head just enough to deepen the kiss. His tongue swipes over your lips, hot and wet as your hands slide up his body to rest on his chest. You kiss him back, you’re trying to sell this as the real thing, but also partly because you just want to. You try not to think about that part too much as you let your tongue flick against his just for a second before pulling it back. You feel the vibration on your lips as the softest groan leaves his mouth just as he pulls away from you.

Your lips are wet with the taste of him and your chest is heaving as Jake rubs his lips together and clears his throat. He turns to the man who is standing there staring at the two of you, a bit of challenge in his tone as he speaks. “You good now?”

The man scoffs, mumbling a curse as he bats at the air between you. You feel yourself relax in Jake’s grip as the man turns to walk back to his original place at the bar. A quiet ‘fuck’ leaves Jake’s mouth as he turns his attention back to you, stepping back and releasing his grip on you.

His eyes search yours just as yours search his, both of you unsure what to say. Instead he looks over to the man again, nodding his head to him as he grabs your hand again and guides you towards the door.

“You okay?” he asks, opening the door and letting you walk out into the drizzle. You pull your jacket closed across your front, the cold air chilling your skin.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m okay. Thank you– for that,” you murmur as he steps up next to you. He grabs your hand again, lacing his warm fingers with your cold ones, taking you by surprise.

“Oh, it’s okay now Jake, he isn’t following us,” you offer, looking over your shoulder to check. He doesn’t drop your hand though, in fact you feel his fingertips brush across your knuckles, sending a whole different kind of chill through your body.

“I know,” he answers, smiling shyly as he peeks at you out of the corner of his eye. You’re positive he can see the blush that has taken over your cheeks, your mouth suddenly dry, and your mind unable to form a response. You feel the butterflies swirling around in your stomach as you walk towards the hotel, the rain starting to taper off finally.

“You can trust me, you know,” he says, his voice sincere as he guides you around puddles.

“I barely know you, Jake,” you smile, bumping your shoulder into his.

“For now,” he answers, squeezing your hand in his.

He opens the door to the hotel lobby, the warm air instantly hitting you. Jake drops your hand, your fingertips brushing against his. You kind of miss it, in a way you definitely shouldn’t be.

“Thank you again, for doing all of that. I’m really sorry. I fucked up, I won’t make that mistake again,” you say, watching him press the button for the elevator. Your eyes linger on his lips, a little pink from the cold air outside.

“It was no problem, I promise. Stop apologizing,” he pauses, motioning for you to step into the elevator. “Let me walk you to your room, what floor?” he asks, his finger hovering over the buttons.

“Oh, no it’s really okay, you don’t have to do that. I promise I’m good now,” you stammer, watching his lips turn up in a huff of laughter.

“Y/N, what floor?”

“Nine,” you squeak, your eyes fixated on the dimple in his cheek. You feel your skin growing warm just from looking at him, you feel like you might burst into flames just at the thought of how his lips felt on yours. Did you imagine that whole encounter? No way all of that just happened.

“Me as well,” he says, pressing the button as the doors close.

The two of you ride up in silence, casting each other the occasional glance every few seconds. His tongue darts out to wet his lips and you're positive you stopped breathing. The elevator chimes as it reaches the ninth floor, and you nearly jump out of your skin at the sound.

He smiles at you again as the doors open, gesturing for you to walk ahead of him. “Your room number?”

“Um, I think I'm 924, all the way down,” you answer, your heart jumping in your chest.

He nods his head and puts a hand into his pocket. “Alright, I’m just up here in 915, but I’ll walk you down.”

“Jake you really don’t have to, you can just–”

He turns to you and laughs, shaking his head again. “Just let me.”

“Fine.” You huff a breath, pulling your own keycard from your purse. He walks only a step behind you, both hands in his pockets now as you step up to your door. You tap your key to the lock and hear it beep, signaling for you to enter. You turn to look at Jake, seeing a softness to his face you hadn’t noticed until now.

“Thank you, for…being such a gentleman,” you say playfully, smiling at him.

“My pleasure, Miss Y/N. There is some chivalry left in the world…” he answers, bringing his hand up to rub at his lips.

You start to enter your room, and hear him speak again, this time very quietly. “We’re not all bad.”

You turn around to see him shifting his weight still rubbing his fingers over his chin as if he expected you not to hear him.

“What?”

He hesitates as he makes eye contact with you, clearly shocked you heard him. You can tell he wants to say something but he’s holding back. Maybe you’ve spooked him.

He shakes his head with a smile, as if telling himself whatever he wanted to say was stupid. He pulls his phone and his keycard from his pocket and grips them in his hand. “Nothing, nothing, um, have a good evening. I will see you in the morning, I suppose.”

You nod once, giving him a sweet and appreciative smile, “See you in the morning.”

He lingers for just a moment, eyes locked on yours before flicking down to your lips. He catches himself and looks back at you before turning to head down the hallway. You shut the hotel room door and twist the lock, letting out the breath you had been holding with a gasp.

You spin around, letting your back press against the door as you sink down to the floor with a barely audible squeal. Holy. Shit. What the hell was that?

Pull yourself together Y/N.

You grab your purse and stand up, digging through it as fast as you can in search of your phone. You have no earthly idea what time it is in Nashville but you don’t care as you pull up your texts with Ruth, and begin furiously typing.

You

2:34AM: Without going into detail I definitely just kissed the guitarist 🫢

You toss your bag onto the chair and change into your pajamas, your blood still rushing around in your body as you try to calm your nervous system. A text bounces back, and you know it’s her.

Ruth

2:40AM: WITHOUT GOING INTO DETAIL???? KISSED? I just got to my desk!!!! I’m here. I’m sat. I’m listening. I want every single detail in a five paragraph essay with MLA formatting.

You

2:42AM: Lol it is 2:40 in the morning. I will call you tomorrow, which is really still today for you, but kinda tomorrow for me? I don’t know this is confusing but I will call you and give you the full run down because we also shared airpods on the plane and he made me a playlist? Love you goodnight!

Ruth

2:44AM: AIRPODS? A PLAYLIST??????

2:45AM: Y/N NO! GET BACK HERE

2:45AM: Okay. Hang on, I’m googling him. I need to see this man’s face

2:46AM: Wait there’s two guitarists

2:46AM: Ok one is the bassist HELLO?? You kissed HIM?! Aldjsfklsk

2:48AM: It’s totally fine and I am being so normal about this. Talk to you later, if I haven’t pulled all my hair out by then! I’ll be creeping his insta all day! Goodnight!

You laugh as you read her onslaught of messages, knowing that she is likely going out of her mind with possible scenarios. You make your way into the bathroom, washing your face and brushing your teeth so that you can positively melt into the bed and sleep until your alarm forces you awake. You’re patting your face dry as your phone buzzes on the bathroom counter, but the noise it makes isn’t one you’re familiar with. You hang the towel on the ring and pick up your phone, seeing a notification come through that is brand new to you.

‘Jake Added A Song to Your Shared Playlist: 🐥’

He what?

Now?

Your blood runs cold just seeing his name on your phone after…well…whatever that was.

You turn off the bathroom light, hesitantly sliding your finger across the notification, and letting it bring up the playlist. There at the very bottom you see that a new song was added two minutes ago. But not just any song, no. You know this one. You know this one well. You tap on the song hearing the familiar and haunting guitar riff of ‘Kiss Me’ by Sixpence None the Richer start to play through your phone speakers.

You can’t help but to laugh, a smile of shock has your jaw hanging wide open as you stand in your giant fancy hotel room, listening to what you consider to be a fairly romantic song sent straight to you from none other than your knight in shining, well, corduroy, armor. You couldn’t even picture him listening to this song, and somehow that almost made it a little better.

As the chorus plays you fall backwards onto your bed, the fluffy white sheets enveloping you as a giddy feeling swirls through your chest. He’s thinking about me. He’s thinking about that kiss. You felt guilty for thinking about it, but now? Now you weren’t feeling so guilty. He liked it just as much as you did, clearly.

Jake Kiszka liked kissing you.

You.

What?

You couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off of your face if you had to. You didn’t want to. This was quite possibly the most thrilling thing that has happened to you in months. Years! You had all but forgotten about creepy bar man at this point, but god you have half a mind to walk right back into that bar and shake his hand.

But, you knew you had to calm down. Take a breath. The song came to a close, leaving the hotel room silent. Your mind was still swimming in bliss, replaying the feeling of his lips on yours, the way his hands held yours, the way he smelled, the way his lips tasted, oh god… He was thinking about your kiss. He all but told you so.

You were also thinking about that kiss. He wanted you to know he was thinking about it. How can you– Oh. A sly grin spreads across your face as you type into the search bar.

You find the song you’re looking for, your thumb hovering over the add button as you try to talk yourself out of doing this. It could end badly, terribly, really. He is technically your boss, and you know you shouldn’t be doing this, but. Hey, you’re just the runner. You smile as you watch the little box pop up reading ‘Added’.

Your heart starts to pound. Did he get a notification? Is he asleep? Did he see it? Will he understand? Since when did you start communicating with people through song titles?

You rush back to the playlist scrolling to the bottom and smiling as you press play on the new addition to your shared playlist. It's mere seconds before ‘Do It Again’ by Steely Dan starts to play and you laugh, knowing you are absolutely crazy. Do it again, of course you wanted to do it again. God he probably thinks you’re such a loser. Plot twist, you are, but he doesn't have to know that yet.

You listen to the song, plugging your phone into the charger and turning off the lamp. You’ve always loved Steely Dan, it reminds you of your dad, but then again who doesn’t it remind of their dad? The song comes to a close, your giddy feeling finally starting to wear off as the exhaustion starts to step into its place. Your eyes feel heavy as you roll towards the nightstand to set your alarm, groaning at how soon it’s coming. You lock your phone and settle into the pillows, letting out a content sigh as you recap the day in all of its insane glory.

Your phone buzzes on the nightstand, the glow illuminating the room for just a brief second. You freeze as you stare up at the ceiling, almost too scared to look. Did he add another song? What if he changed his mind? What if you overstepped? Oh god. You should not have done that. What were you thinking?

You suck in a breath as you grab your phone, nervously tapping the screen that shows no new songs added, but a text from Jake.

Jake 🗡

3:04AM: I fully intend to.

Oh, he definitely saw it.

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cryinginmyroomsposts · 1 month

Text

Svt as specific tropes cuz I am in a writer's block

a/n: these are purely personal opinions/ imagines. not proofread!

Scoups: enemies to lovers (I'm talking dagger to the throat enemies to "who hurt you" pipeline. scoups and his competitive petty ass would be perfect with an equally competitive and hot-headed oc. I'm talking sizzling chemistry, extreme frustration to tooth-rotting fluff)

Jeonghan: Frenemies to angst to friends to lovers (light-hearted frenemies until one day Jeonghan takes the joke a little too far which leads to angst and years of no-contact. A chance encounter during lowest times leading to a soft adult friendship evolving to a soft and chaotic lovers pipeline)

Joshua: strangers to comfort person to lover (he gives me a feel-good coming of age feels so I'll take a storyline with the heartbroken or worn down oc finding comfort in Shua who could be a stranger or a kind colleague. a full "we helped heal each other" and then moving away due to circumstances only to realise that you need your comfort person)

Jun: holiday romance (nana tour Jun vibes. two strangers in a random city who decide to spend a week having the utmost fun and never meet again... but of course fate brings them together and the angst of reality to eventually finding a balance in the paradise of their holiday whirlwind and reality... it's giving romcom)

Woozi: Best Friends pining for decades (A very soulmate-ish friendship. Woozi and oc are so extremely obvious about their feelings but are oblivious to the reciprocation- it's also obvious to everyone around them. The angst of "what-ifs", and ofcourse songs written abt the feelings, to angry confessions and happy endings. this one includes a lotttt of angst and dozens of bangers mixed with peak domestic behaviour and two ppl so attuned to each other like old married couples)

Hoshi: Accidental dance partners Hoshi and oc (might sound basic but I'm a dancer and it's a very indulgent trope... so yeah! I'm thinking college team dancers in competing teams are forced to pair up for a competition. Out-of-the-world chemistry- can't keep eyes and hands off each other, late night talks, "non-date" date nights and ofc anger issues(performers, duh!). Lots of parties, angst and eventually confessing. She falls first but he falls harder)

Wonwoo: second-chance romance (I think Wonwoo, I think angst(sorry wonu) and second chance. oc and wonu having whirlwind honeymoon phase until oc pushes him away. lots and lots of angst- confused wonu not knowing how to help oc. both of them miserable without the other... until Wonwoo can't take it anymore and makes oc lean on him for support. very gray and grounded in reality romance)

Dokyeom: Small-town romance (sunshine Lee Seokmin as a charming small-town business owner helping big-city-return troubled oc deal with life and falling in love? sign me up for the hallmark movie! Seokmin and his golden best boy smile healing hearts as always)

Mingyu: Arranged Marriage Trope (once again, a very self-indulgent imagination...Oc who doesn't believe in love after a heartbreak, Mingyu who accepted his destiny and never loved anyone. A very practical arranged marriage with both consenting parties. An agreement to stay "partners" and "friends" because they "Can't force feelings". Domestic life leads them to break every rule- written and unwritten... angst rising due to pasts and insecurity... oc's fear of abandonment, Mingyu's fear of attachment... a minor separation and major realisation... their very own happy ending at last! Mingyu Best Husband Agenda forever)

Minghao: Rival Artists with secret identities dating each other (Minghao dates the pretty stranger on a dating app, agree to keep things casual but lo behold they are falling fast and hard... all is well except both have secret identities as artists who are rivals. they love each other but hate the other's alter-ego... ofc this leads to miscommunication and angst, lost ways and breakups. but this is my imagination so they end up together after everything and conquer the art world)

Seungkwan: Celebrity Fake dating trope (Seungkwan would eat that shit up! Two A-list celebs: Seungkwan and oc, who appear together in a show and fans go crazy for their chemistry but they don't pay head. oc gets caught in a false accusation, needs a distraction- agencies make oc and Seungkwan fake date... on-camera they r perfect but off-cam it's all awkward... planned appearances to becoming friends, trauma bonding... sexual tension rises, life gets complicated, lots of angst later they end up dating happily)

Vernon: Falling without meeting each other (two online friends, fake names but authentic friendship across continents fall for each other without ever meeting other. against all odds they end up seeing each other eventually and staying together... this gives me old cinema vibes but in modern times, Vernon is so Vernon that only he'd be fitting)

Dino: High school fake dating (imagine Dino as Peter Kavinsky from To All The Boys I've Loved Before... a popular softie boy agreeing to fake date the silent girl, the only twist is Dino has been in love with her since middle school, he fell first and harder- a full simp! Very romcom coded angst and happy endings ofc- i just know Dino will make a perfect romcom male lead)

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doukeshi-kun · 10 months

Text

𝙣𝙞𝙠𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙞 + 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙙𝙖𝙙

featuring ⨳ nikolai gogol, gn!reader + oc!daughter

contents ⨳ fluff, slight slight angst, reader isn't mentioned a lot, established relationship, the daughter is oc

notes ⨳ this is from the conversations in discord with friends who have collective baby fever and thirst for dad!nikolai in one random day

Nikolai is more than happy to pick up his daughter from kindergarten. Usually, you would pick her up since you have a small break just enough time for you to grab your daughter, buy her food and send her home. Nikolai's not home usually at four, busy with his shady business. So when you call him to go and pick up his daughter, he is over the moon.

He is already waiting by the car, eyes looking for his adorable daughter walking out from the gate. He is just casual, with a white button-up, rolled-up sleeves and a pair of black pants. But that's still enough for some people to take several glances at him.

Nikolai ignores their attention — he's only thirsty for the only person he loves the most, his beloved — you.

After about five minutes of waiting, he finally sees his daughter walks out of the gate. She is looking at the ground. Her white braid is hanging low and her green eyes are dull. She is clutching her red schoolbag, a bit tense.

Nikolai is a sensitive person — especially when it comes to emotions. So he certainly notices his daughter is acting weirdly. Yes, she's visibly distraught with her thoughts when she accidentally walks past Nikolai's car.

“Mari,” he calls.

His daughter, Mari, flinches out of her thoughts and turns around. Nikolai smiles and before he could crouch and opens his arms for her, she already runs straight into him, bumping into his legs.

“Papa!”

Nikolai chuckles, smiling affectionately. He pats her head — she is short, obviously, just reaching his knees. Nikolai crouches and hugs her, giving a smooch on her cheek.

“Papa pick me up?” Mari asks as her tiny hands hold his face. Nikolai coos, overwhelmed with the adoration in his heart. He nods.

“Yes, malyshka,” he replies as he pinches her cheek, making her whine in annoyance. Nikolai only laughs before he stands up again and opens the car door. He bends to help Mari to take off her school bag. There's a charm of red pompom hanging on her bag, similar to Nikolai's hair tie.

He puts the bag under the seat and then he picks her up, getting her onto the seat. He reaches for the seatbelt, putting it on her. “Comfy?” he asks and when she nods, Nikolai smiles proudly to himself. Before he closes the door, he kisses her forehead once.

He gets into the driver's seat and turns on the engine. He drives out from the kindergarten area, sometimes taking a glance at his still disturbed daughter.

“Rough day at school, malyshka?” he asks.

“Hm...” she nods a bit, stroking her braid sadly —that trait is very similar to what Nikolai would do when he's sulking towards you.

“Wanna tell me?”

“Papa... am I... am I ugly?” she asks, lips quivering and Nikolai almost brakes abruptly at the question. He frowns and immediately parks his car on the side of the street, looking at his daughter.

“No. No, you aren't ugly. What nonsense! Mari, you are the cutest girl in the world! The most adorable, the prettiest, the most glamorous!” Nikolai says. “Who said that?”

She's smiling at her dad's words but she's starting to sob. “T-These boys in my class... called me ugly and weird... They say meanie things! And... and then they touched my cheeks and...”

“They what?” Nikolai grips the steering wheel and has to internally exhale a deep breath without sighing out loud to his daughter.

“They say bad words to me... And they touched my cheeks...”

“.... Did they hurt you?”

“O-One of them... like... pinch it...”

“Does the teacher says anything?”

She shakes her head.

“Do you know their names? The boys?”

She says three names.

“Alright.”

Nikolai takes out his phone and types something in it. But not long before she tugs his sleeve. He turns to her and she looks scared.

“Papa... are you angry...? Y-You're scary now...”

Nikolai purses his lips — bad habits come up again. He suddenly remembers the frustrated words from his colleague — “Gogol, can you behave well? Your whole presence is scaring my customers. My God, why are you here in this casino anyway?”

Nikolai swallows hard. Of course... He was a very dangerous person several years ago. He made horrendous, gruesome and grotesque crimes. He killed people left and right. All to just reach his extreme ideals.

And now he's here, almost ten years later, having a family. Does he deserve this? After murdering a lot of people, taking them away from their families — and now he is having one, himself. Does he even deserve to have a family? Is he deserving of this future he's trying to live in when his past is constantly trailing in his shadow? Will this guilt follow him to hell and eat him slowly from inside? Will he find himself caged again? Will the freedom be out of his reach?

“Papa!”

Nikolai jumps at Mari's high-pitched scream. He looks at her and she's crying — she looks worried and she is panicked when she sees her dad being silent. She doesn't know why but she cannot help but feel a very scary feeling from his silence.

“Papa, a-are you sick? P-Please, I'm scared..!” she cries and Nikolai's heart breaks at her tears. He realizes he just daydreams about his inner chaos while his daughter needs him. This feels just as hurt when his beloved spouse is crying to him. Nikolai unbuckles her seatbelt and carefully picks her up to sit on his lap.

He hugs her, kissing her head.

“I'm okay... I'm okay, shh... Don't cry, okay? I'm not sick, alright? I'm just distraught.” his voice is soft and soothing as he strokes her hair — just the same as his. Her eyes are also just like his, except her face resembles her mother more.

“I just don't like what the boys did to you. I promise, I promise they won't hurt you or touch you or call you names anymore.” Nikolai looks at her and she stares before slowly nodding back. He smiles at her again.

“If they touch you anymore, you say what?”

“I say 'No'.”

“Good. Then, what else? What did papa teach you?”

“Then... you say.. uh.. I have to... kick their balls!”

Nikolai laughs and his laugh is contagious enough for the spirited girl to giggle. “Yes, you got it right! And then, if they touch your cheek, you will do this...” Nikolai forms a loose fist and slowly gestures it to her cheek, poking her skin with his knuckles. “Pow.” he says, playfully.

She grins, looking at him contently and follows his step. She clenches her tiny fist and pushes it to Nikolai's cheek. Though Nikolai does not even feel a thing, he purposely turns his head sideways, according to the direction, just to show Mari that she 'punches' him.

“Good girl! Yes, like that. And do it harder to them! Like really hard! That's called, a punch.”

"A... pun. Pun!”

Nikolai cackles, eyes almost close at how hard he smiles at his daughter's cuteness. “Okay, malyshka. That's close enough. Now, do we wanna get desserts? To cheer you up? Ice-cream or waffle?”

“Both!” she claps her hands excited. She's already imagining a thick waffle with drizzles of chocolate sauce, and two scoops of vanilla ice-cream topping the delicacy.

“Okay, let's go! I know bestest place for a waffle and ice-cream! Anything for you, okay?” Nikolai says before he puts her back to the seat and buckles her seatbelt.

BEEP!

“Goddamn!” Nikolai looks in the mirror, seeing a car honking at him before passing him. He clicks his tongue. “What the hell is his problem, dude?”

Mari gasps and slaps his hand. He looks at her, pouting, already he can listen your voice scolding him for saying bad words in front of the kids. “Bad words! Baddie words! Papa cannot say that!”

“I did not say anything.”

She gasps. “Gaslighting!”

“Where the hell did you learn that?”

©doukeshi-kun 2023 — do not copy, plagiarize and repost my works to any platform, more @cherikolya

if you like my works, consider buy me a ko-fi!

#道化師-jest❃ུ۪ #bsd x reader #nikolai x reader #nikolai gogol x reader #bsd imagines #bsd fluff #nikolai imagines #nikolai fluff #nikolai headcanons #bsd headcanons #bsd nikolai gogol

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photmath · 4 months

Text

Goin' Home | Dominik Szoboszlai

Pairing: Dominik Szoboszlai x OC

Summary: Left with no other options, a reluctant Nori drives home with Dominik and Dominik accepts being her date to a wedding.

Word Count: 11k (I got carried away)

Warnings: FLUFF, SLOW BURN, shy Domi, angst, kinda miscommunication trope, lots of dialogue, kissing, mentions of feeling less desired, brief vomit spell, cursing, brief alcohol mention, typos

Note: Nori is only mentioned as having longish hair and that's all, no other PHYSICAL characteristics of her. She/her pronouns.

Nori has a dilemma. With her car deciding to break down on the street and her having to call Trent to come rescue her at a petrol station, she still has no clue how she is getting home. Winter break was just around the corner and they were all set to be back home within a week. Taking the train wasn’t a bad idea, except the most straight shot seemed to be the night train but no one trusts the night train. And don’t even get Nori started with the suggestion of flying.

Now, Wanda, Nori’s best mate, is trying to convince her to let Dominik drive her home.

“Just ask Dominik,” Wanda hisses. Nori grabs Wanda’s arm to stop her from opening their reserved study room. Dominik and Camila are already inside going over their last units for their biology exam.

Nori purses her lips, shaking her head, “No, I think I’ll just wait until the train leaves.”

Nori and Dominik were not exactly the closest of friends despite being a part of the same friend group. When they were first introduced to each other on Halloween, they hit it off. But then hours later, Dominik slammed a plate full of whip cream into Nori’s face and things haven’t been the same since.

Wanda rolls her eyes, “You know that’s not a good idea, Nori.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Trent trots up to the two girls, a grin on his face as he opens his arms wide to hug them both, “How’s it going?”

“I’m trying to get Nori to see if Domi can take her home on Friday but she’s not budging,” Wanda sighs. Trent turns towards Nori, his nose bumping into her ear, not realizing how close he is to her.

He chuckles, letting go of them, “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”

“Of course you’d say that,” Nori grumbles, adjusting the part of her jacket sleeve that Trent crumbled.

“You still haven’t forgiven him?”

“I have, it’s just…” she quiets, not daring to admit her problem with Dominik to Trent, one of Dominik’s best friends.

Trent shrugs, “His family moved to your hometown this year, and he’s driving back so it wouldn’t be out of his way.”

Wanda eyes narrow as she faces Nori, “Are you still upset? He’s apologized so much since then, and I mean, he’s shown that he’s a good guy.”

“We aren’t close guys,” Nori mutters, finding a different excuse. “And that’s an almost five hour drive.”

“Tryin’ to save you money,” Trent says, gripping Nori’s shoulder assuringly. “If you don’t want to ride with him, then okay, but I can ask him and I’m sure he’ll say yes. Or you can ask him. Either way, he’ll probably say yes.”

“Okay fine,” Nori relents, shrugging off Trent’s arm and opening the door to the study room herself. Dominik’s standing near the white board, clasping the dry-erase marker he has in his hand closed, eyes darting up at the three of them. His eyes linger on Nori’s, a barely-there smile teetering onto his lips.

“Oi,” Trent nods to Dominik, “can you take Nori home on Friday? She lives in your neighborhood.”

Dominik raises his eyebrows in surprise, “What? She does? You do?” Nori’s cheeks grow with heat as she takes a seat next to Camila, giving her a side hug.

“Yeah,” she says casually, looking up at him. “My car is in the shop, but I can just ride the night train—but they wanted me to ask.”

Trent and Wanda roll their eyes while Dominik taps the marker against his hand in a nervous fidget. He lets out a small cough, “Oh…uh, yeah I can give you a ride.”

“Great!” Wanda chimes with exaggeration, Nori ignores it as she pulls out her laptop. Dominik glances at Trent and he gives him a cheeky grin, making Dominik’s cheeks burn red but it’s not like Nori sees it. She hasn’t looked up at him since telling him about her car. And she most likely wasn’t going to look at him again for the rest of the session.

Trent waits until the girls leave—well more like gives them a head start to meet them at the ground level of the library because there is no way he was letting them walk in the dark to the car park—to talk to Dominik.

“You should tell her,” Trent says to Dominik.

Dominik blows a raspberry, “She won’t even look at me.”

“Would you after that Halloween party?”

Dominik shoves his laptop into his bag harshly, not even caring if it slips out of its protective sleeve. He tried to get Nori’s attention all session, tried to ask her questions about her studying and help her out, but she wasn’t having it. She never did. It was getting useless to keep trying when she clearly wasn’t interested.

He sighs, “I already apologized, I didn’t know it was her in that costume. I would have never done that if I knew it was her.” He tugs at his hair, swiping through the dried gel. “Ambushing me by asking if I could take her home, seriously?”

“I did it that way you two could talk. It’s starting to become obvious that you two don’t like each other,” Trent retorts. “I rather not have to listen to another study session with you pathetically attempting to talk to her.”

“She doesn’t like me.”

“Just give her time.”

Dominik shakes his head as he opens the room’s door, holding it open for Trent. “No, she doesn’t like me and I want to stop embarrassing myself. Maybe she had a little crush on me, but it’s gone now. Or maybe she never did.” He rubs the sleepiness out of his eyes with the heel of his hand. He told Trent that Nori was cute, and Trent was reluctant at the beginning, but now he seemed to be serious about playing matchmaker.

“I mean, you hit her kinda hard,” Trent recounts.

Dominik lets out a loud groan, “Stop bringing it up, I’m already mortified as is. Can we drop it? Because I’m done with whatever this is.”

“No, no, c’mon, Dom,” Trent says, latching onto his shoulder. “One more try.”

“It’s been a month!” Dominik shrieks. “And now this car ride is just going to be awkward—”

“No it won’t.”

Dominik shrugs Trent off of him while entering the lift. Dominik drives his fingers through his hair again, trying to shrug off the humiliation and unease coursing through his body. The night wasn’t done of course, they were going to have a movie night at the girl’s apartment and if it wasn’t for Trent, he knew he wouldn’t have been invited.

Dominik still couldn’t forget the tightness of his chest when he heard Nori crying in his bathroom. Or how hard it was to swallow because his throat had felt as if it was swelling. Trent hadn’t even glanced at him after he struck the paper plate filled with whip cream onto Nori’s face, he was immediately shoving him in order to get to her. The chorus of ooo’s that rang through the room made Dominik chuckle. And that’s all he had thought about it, that he smashed the plate perfectly onto their face. It wasn’t until he went up to his bedroom did he see that they were all crowded in his restroom trying to clean a bloody nose, and that it was Nori sobbing on his sink. Trent didn’t even let Dominik into his own restroom, shutting the door on him, but Dominik could hear the sobs through the door.

Dominik had met her earlier that day, absolutely awestruck with the way she carried herself throughout the day of the pumpkin patch she organized for the local little kids. He had only known what Trent told him about her, and said that she would come to his “ugly costume” party that night, but he hadn’t seen her that night. At least he thought he didn’t. He didn’t realize she went all out and dressed up as an old, bald man from some reality TV show.

There was a competition that night, in which anyone could pie the ugliest costume. Dominik had gone first—and last—having already picked out Nori’s costume when she walked into the apartment as the one he would pie. He had commented about it being so ugly but also one of the best, and then when Nori least expected it, he pied her.

Trent pulls Dominik out of his trance, “Are you still coming to movie night?” They exit the lift, spotting the girls waiting for them at the exit with coffees in their hands.

Dominik glances down, “Yeah.”

Trent bumps into his shoulder, “She’ll forgive you, bro.”

He nods absentmindedly, watching Trent meet up with the girls while he lags behind.

She shouldn’t, is all Dominik can think of in response. If it was something that still bothered her almost a month and a half later, maybe it was for the best to give her the distance she sought out for. Everyone knew it was Nori underneath the costume, except him, and to do something like that to someone like her, it was criminal. She was sunny, full of energy, and kind. Only cried during sports matches and sad movies.

Jude’s tall frame jogs towards Dominik, a sloppy grin plastered on his dimpled cheeks, “Hey.”

“Did you finish your assignment?” Dominik asks. In Jude’s hand is his crumpled up writing assignment.

“Yeah, just in time,” Jude swings his bag around to place the papers inside. “What’s up with you?”

“Nothing.” Jude gives him a hard look and Dominik groans, “I’m taking Nori home on Friday.”

Jude gasps, his dark brown eyes widening, “What—really? And she’s okay with that?”

“I’m not sure. Feel like I was her only option.”

Jude chuckles and shakes his head, “One thing about her is that she’ll find a way, so maybe you were the second to last.”

Dominik rolls his eyes, “That’s exactly what I was.”

The two of them don’t catch up to the rest of the group as they walk. Jude lets out another laugh, “It’s funny because you’re usually so cocky and confident, but when I see you with her, it’s like you’re someone else. A kicked puppy that just got thrown out in the rain.”

Dominik glances at him, scoffing, “That’s not true. I just know I make her uncomfortable and I rather her not keep on feeling that way.”

“You don’t make her uncomfort—”

“Yes I do,” Dominik interrupts. “And you and Trent keep saying I don’t, but it’s the truth. You don’t have to make me feel better. I messed up, and I don’t know what would necessarily make her ‘trust’ me again because that was fucked up.”

Jude sighs, slinging his arm across Dominik’s shoulders, “If you made her uncomfortable, you wouldn’t still be here. We would have kicked you out of the group, swear on it. She knows you didn’t know, she’s just still a little hurt. She hadn’t known you for long and that kinda made an impression on her.”

Great, he wanted to mumble to himself. He eyed Nori from the back, her walking freely and at ease with Camila and Wanda. She didn’t care who heard her loud laugh in response to something Wanda said. He knew if he were to join her, she’d become much more reserved and not say a word.

He shakes his head, exhausted from feeling like shit. He nearly trips over a rock as Jude jogs up to them. Jude’s words helped but didn’t do much to ease the ache in his shoulders.

Movie night goes without any hiccups, the girls cuddling up on one sofa while Trent and Jude are in the other. Dominik resorts to sitting on the floor, sandwiched between Trent and Jude’s knees but his mind is far from the movie. Nori can’t help but to glance at Dominik every couple of scenes, his eyes always staring blankly ahead at the coffee table and never the telly.

Nori doesn’t know how much more she can stomach the idea of him just staring off into space. He doesn’t seem well and her first instinct is to ask him if he is okay.

After the movie finishes, the two of them get left in the kitchen alone. Dominik washes the dishes while Nori dries them with a towel. Camila and Wanda went to Camila’s bedroom because she needed help with an outfit; Trent and Jude went outside to take the rubbish out.

Nori can make out Dominik’s tensed shoulders, he hasn’t looked at her the entire night. Not that she was taking count, but, still it was never this tense.

She sets down the dry plate, gathering another wet dish, blurting, “Are you okay with driving me home?”

His dubious eyes bore into hers immediately, making her look down at her hands. She sees the nod of his head in her peripheral vision. “Yeah, I am okay. Are you okay with it?”

She forces out a smile as she peeks up at him, his gaze already on her mouth. “Mm-hmm, I’m okay with it. I will probably have to pee in the third hour though.”

He lets out a small snort, heart quickening with each response, “We can stop.”

Silence falls between them as he rinses the last bowl of popcorn. She catches herself staring at his hands one too many times, mindlessly watching them as soap suds form around them. He lets out a small chuckle as he catches her, but she plays it off as just waiting for him to finish rinsing the bowl.

“So, why did your family move all the way over there?” she questions.

He shrugs, “Work. My dad works out in the docks, not really sure what he does though, fishing maybe?”

Nori laughs, “Who really knows anyway?”

Dominik cheeses and this time Nori blushes. She can’t remember the last time she’s ever felt this nervous talking to someone. She can’t tell if it’s just from him or the way his eyes seem to soften every time he looks at her. But that’s crazy right?

Dominik hands her the last dish and gives her a gentle smile when her hand accidentally lands on top of his wet hand.

“Sorry,” he nervously chuckles. The dimple hidden in his beard catches Nori’s attention, taking her another selfish second to peer at it as it deepens the more she looks at him.

Dominik is suddenly grateful that he skipped shaving this morning or else Nori would’ve seen the ruby-red blush spilling onto his cheeks. But Nori’s suddenly blinking rapidly, grabbing the dish from him, drying it off, and then placing it into its spot in the cabinet. Whatever spell she seemed to be in was gone the second Trent and Jude returned from outside, and it had taken Dominik aback at just how quick she flipped.

By the time Dominik turned back to look back at where she was standing by the sink, the space was empty and the sound of her door softly closing seemed to resonate like cymbals crashing in his head.

She was always so fast when the opportunity to avoid him arose. How stupid of him to think a small conversation in the kitchen would change anything; she was just being nice.

Her palms are grimy with sweat as she waits for Dominik to make his way to the girls’ apartment. Her coat unzipped despite the freezing weather because of how anxious she became once he texted he was on the way. They hadn’t spoken much after movie night, only exchanging waves in class and in the study room.

And her mother deciding to text her midway doesn’t help ease the shakiness of her hands:

Accidentally wrote down that you’d bring a date for your aunt’s wedding. I tried to change it but the reservations were strict so please try to find someone so they don’t ask about the empty seat beside you. K, I’ll see you when you get here, love you.

Nori wants to scream, no she actually does scream without realizing Dominik had walked up behind her.

“You okay?” His voice is fairly calm.

Turning around to see him, his eyebrows are jutted up in concern. What she doesn’t expect to see is his ungelled hair and trimmed beard. He had been growing a bit of a scruff the past few days but usually he shaved it off completely, never trimmed. And his hair, it was always gelled, always. She didn’t even know his hair was curly when it wasn’t done.

“Uh—yeah, I’m good. My mom texted me.”

He raises his eyebrows again, his mouth opening but then flattening into a smile, “Hah…I understand.” The chilled air makes him tug onto his brown coat tighter as he grabs Nori’s suitcase and holds out his hand for Nori’s backpack. “I got it, you can get it in.”

“Thank you,” she purses her lips into a tight line while giving him her bag. She hops into his very expensive black Range Rover that makes her feel a little out of place.

Dominik loads up her suitcase without much strain and then rounds to the driver seat. After adjusting the controls of the car, he starts the drive, glancing towards Nori every couple of seconds.

“If you want to change the air, go ahead, just click that,” he points to a button. Nori doesn’t even pay attention, distracted with the ring on his finger. Seriously, who was he right now? Has he always worn a ring? Rings?!

“Um, okay.”

He lets out a snort, “You don’t have to be so tense. I’m a safe driver.”

“Sorry, I don't think you’re a bad driver if you get that impression,” she murmurs, furrowing her eyebrows slightly but then gaining her voice, “I’ve never been in a car with you driving anyway. I have no idea.”

He nods his head, “I will be extra careful.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that,” she ends the awkward exchange with just that, slightly scooting away from him.

Her mother’s text still rang through her head, knowing she had no one to bring along. Most of her close friends at home were going to be either out of town or with family and she didn’t want to rope them into her own family affairs.

She lets out a low scoff as her phone vibrates in her hand. Dominik chooses to ignore it instead of commenting. Meanwhile, another text from her mom:

Bring a boy this time? I’d love to see you with one of those boys from your school.

She couldn’t hold in the dramatic eye roll and locking of her phone as she rested her head against the headrest. They hadn’t even been driving for two minutes and she was already stressed.

“Did you forget something?”

“No.”

“Something is wrong?”

“No.”

Dominik glances at her and then shakes his head briefly, opting out of asking her another question that would go unanswered. Shuffling through his cup holder, he grabs a wooden toothpick and sticks it in between his teeth, hastily turning up the music.

This was useless, he reminded himself.

About an hour into the drive, Dominik can’t take the silence anymore. It was tense and way too awkward for two ‘friends.’ Every song seemed to be wrong that he kept skipping them, and it was starting to annoy Nori. She wasn't going to say anything but at that moment she wished she had her headphones.

Dominik cuts the music, “Can we talk?”

Nori looks at him, her face full of apprehension, “Yeah.”

“I know you said you forgive me for what happened on Halloween, and I really am sorry, but I don’t think you have actually…forgiven me.” He takes his chance to look at her and almost winces at her shocked expression. He licks his lips, “I’m sorry about that night. I didn’t—I didn’t think it was you—”

“Dominik,” she interrupts. “I know. I do forgive you.”

He rests his hand on the bottom of the wheel as he sinks further into his seat, “But you ignore me like…like you hate me or don’t ever want to see me again.”

Nori bites onto her tongue before she spits out anything rash. She lets out a shaky breath, “I’m sorry I acted that way around you. I have been hesitant to forgive you because that was kinda humiliating. Camila had to dig whip cream out of nose with a cotton swab and I bled all over Trent’s costume.”

He throws his head back with a muffled groan, “I’m sorry.”

A spurted laugh erupts out of Nori as she slaps her hand over her jaw. Dominik’s shocked face only makes her turn away, trying to stifle her laugh.

“Nori?”

“I’m sorry,” she quiets and then bursts into another fit of laughter. “It’s okay to laugh, it was disgusting but it hurt so much. My nose was in so much pain that we went to the doctor’s just to make sure it wasn’t broken.”

Dominik frowns again, not knowing that they took her to the doctor’s office. Even though this was probably the first time Dominik has made her laugh, he still felt guilty. But what really causes his heart to lurch is the brush of Nori’s hand on his arm while she attempts to stop her giggling. He has to grip the steering wheel tighter.

“Okay, okay,” she stops and turns towards him. Her hand is still touching the fabric of his sweater, making him swallow.

“Okay?”

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever noticed you with your hair not done. Who are you trying to impress?” Nori nudges and Dominik stares at her in bewilderment. He can’t believe who was in the car with him right now. She wasn’t at all the Nori he had been around with, but she was the kind around Camila and Wanda. He only recognized it because he had seen her like this when he would be standing behind them in line waiting for class but they hadn’t noticed him yet.

He suppresses a smile, proud to finally get on what seems to be her good side. A nervous feeling erupts through his stomach as he turns back to the road, “Um, no one. I’ve had it like this before, but you didn’t notice it.”

“I would have noticed.”

“Would you though?” he looks at her with a sly smirk, one that makes her cheeks grow warm immediately. He chuckles, “Didn’t think so.”

A wistful smile forms on his face after she removes her hand from him, her warmth leaving the spot feeling cold.

“So, we are good?” he questions.

Nori nods, “Yes, Domi, we’re good. You know, you should style your hair like that more often, I like it.”

He has to look out of his mirror to play off the smile that creeps onto his face, but Nori notices it.

During the third hour, Dominik pulls over to a petrol station so that Nori could relieve herself while he fills his tank. But judging by the dingy white exterior of the building, he advises her to wait for him.

“It’s fine, I can go by myself.”

“Just wait,” he calls out, shutting the door. Nori huffs while opening her door and hopping out, stretching out her limbs and walking towards where Dominik was. His dark brows furrow at her, his tongue peeking out between his lips, “You’re gonna freeze.”

“So I should go pee now then.”

“Or get back in the car.”

She groans, “I’m going to go pee.”

“Nori,” he warns, his voice laced with finality. His gaze is hard, jaw clenched, and maybe that look would’ve worked on someone else but Nori is too stubborn. The second Dominik turns his back to her, she’s off trotting into the store. Him too oblivious to notice.

Nori beelines to the restrooms while Dominik frantically hurries up, cursing at himself because the pump decided to take forever. Ultimately, he leaves it running and jogs inside. He figures she is still using the restroom because he couldn’t have been that long but then he hears a yelp. At some point while Nori was grabbing a coffee, a man with a bearded braid appeared behind her and grabbed ahold of her elbow. When she went to pull her arm back, his grip only tightened.

She doesn’t even have time to say something because he’s pried off of her and then shoved into the coffee machine seconds later.

“Holy—” she gasps at Dominik’s demeanor. She can only make out a glimpse of his hooded dark eyes because he steps in front of her. His hand scrambles for hers and clasps tightly with her fingers, not even slotting his hand correctly into hers. He wasn’t going to let her slip out of his grasp this time.

But Nori can’t see the lunge the man made towards Dominik, only Dominik’s free arm suddenly swinging across his body. Then one of the workers yells at the two of them and they quickly scatter outside.

“Did you just punch him?” She yells as they go flying through the doors.

“I said wait for me!”

“He was like 50 years-old!”

“Does that matter?” he shrieks, his grip on Nori’s wrist is tight even though he can feel her tugging away. Nori can tell by his pinched eyebrows that he’s ticked off, and despite Nori trying to play it off, she flinched when he raised his voice. Dominik sighs, loosening his grip and rubbing her wrist with his thumb. “Did you use the restroom?”

She nods, “Yeah, and your lip, it’s bleeding.”

Dominik touches his bottom lip with his hand, feeling the warmth spread onto his fingertips. He curses and ushers the two of them back into his car. He quickly undoes the petrol pump and gets inside. Nori is uncrumpling a wad of napkins from her jacket, making him chuckle.

“Really?”

“Here,” her eyes widen as the blood seems to be oozing out. There was even some blood coating the bottom row of his teeth. She doesn’t give him the napkins, instead leans over the console and presses the napkins to his lips.

Dominik’s cheeks flush at her being close, but also at the look she’s giving him. She’s worried but focused on the task. The corner of her bottom lip is tucked into her mouth as she concentrates on dabbing the cut.

“He hit you?”

“Scratched me,” he draws out. His voice is hoarse and throaty, Nori looks up at him. His eyelids flutter as she makes eye contact; it isn’t very noticeable, but Nori wasn’t going to miss something like that. Especially not when his brown eyes seemed to be gleaming with the reflection of the light on his dashboard.

His Adam’s apple bobs, “Did he hurt you?”

“No,” she assures. “I’m sorry for not listening to you. I should’ve waited.”

“It is okay.” He attempts to give her a smile but half of it is covered from the napkin. She draws the napkin away and for the most part the bleeding has stopped.

Nori notices his bright pink knuckles and bends down to give them a better look. They didn’t look too swollen but the skin was cracking with tiny red dots.

“I’m fine,” he says, noticing the way her eyes squint.

“I have lotion.”

“What?”

She shuffles around in her purse, “It’s moisturizer, won’t take the pain away but perhaps some of the crackiness.”

He lets her trace her fingers over his knuckles, his lips tugging into a smile at her gentle touch. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you,” she looks up at him. She hadn’t realized how close she was to him, their faces only inches apart. She drops her gaze to his lips—to his cut—and he shamelessly looks down at hers. He wants to lean in and kiss her, imagining himself slotting his hand on her neck. She isn’t sure what she is focusing on: his lips or his cut.

Either way, he was handsome this close up that she chokes on her own spit as the realization dawns on her. The sound of a car honking behind them also sends her flying back into her seat.

By the time they arrive at her house, they go through Dominik’s entire playlist. It’s entirely in Hungarian but she doesn’t mind. They chat some more along the way about their plans for the break; Dominik most likely helping out his dad on the docks and Nori getting through this wedding.

Noticing her mom’s car parked in front of her house, she silently prays that her mom doesn’t come trodding out of the house to meet them. She has always done it before so Nori shouldn’t have expected anything different when her mom comes out waving with an identical smile as Nori’s.

“Sorry,” Nori whispers to Dominik as he hauls her luggage from the boot of his car. Before Nori can respond, she is pulled into a bone-crushing hug from her mother.

“Nori-baby, I’ve missed ya’,” she cheeses. “OH! You brought a boy! Is this the boy?”

Dominik’s facial expression lights up with a smile as he introduces himself. Nori doesn’t even have time to clarify her relation to him before her mother gives him a hug. Dominik gives Nori a confused but cheery grin as he bends down to rest his head on her shoulder briefly.

“Call me Nat. Oh come on, it must be cold,” she beckons. “Come come, so I can show you the right shade of blue for the wedding. I already bought your dress but I’m sure he’ll need a matching tie.”

Her mother grabs Nori’s hand and Nori peeks back at Dominik while getting dragged inside. He laughs, a gust of wind blowing through his curls as his head falls back. Her luggage is tucked in his hand, backpack swung across his shoulders, jogging up to catch up to them. He wasn’t in a rush to get home anyway, after all, he realized his home was just two streets over.

Her house is taller than it is wide, much different than his, but it’s a traditional home with her neighbors at arm’s length apart. Brown furniture with holiday decorations cluttering the living spaces but it feels cozy. There’s a skinny staircase tucked into the corner that he assumed led to Nori’s bedroom.

Nori pries her hand away from her mom as she says, “How about you go get the dress while I help Dom with my stuff?”

Her mother nods and Nori finds Dominik in the living room looking around. His eyes linger on a photo of her younger self, his head snapping in her direction when he hears her shoe scape against the floor.

“Hey,” he smiles.

“Sorry about this. If you need to leave, go ahead.”

“Don’t apologize, it’s okay. She’s kinda like you,” he says and she smiles. “And I’m not in a rush or anything.”

Although Nori wishes he was. She nods, “Hmm, okay, well let’s just take this to my room.” She pats the suitcase and then stretches her arm out for her backpack. He hands it towards her and follows her upstairs, careful to not let the suitcase hit the picture frames that are plastered on the wall.

“Cute house,” he chuckles.

“Shut up.”

“It is cute. A lot of pictures of you.”

“Please stop looking.”

“You were cute,” he says but she knows he isn't finished. “I wonder what happened.”

She turns towards immediately, making him clutch onto the rail as he peers up at her, a shit-eating grin on his face. “I’m going to push you down the stairs if you say something again.”

“You wouldn’t,” he taunts.

“Dominik.”

“Nori.” That stupid smirk sandwiched between his dimples only grows as each second of silence ticks by. She rolls her eyes, turning around and going to her bedroom.

Dominik speaks again, “I know you said something about the wedding, but your mom—”

“She thinks you’re my date.”

“Your date?” He raises his eyebrows, leaning against her bookshelf. His tall frame next to the column of romance and erotica books make her cheeks warm. No boy had ever stepped into her room and she could only pray that he wouldn’t get curious and start looking at the book titles.

She sighs, “During the car ride, she told me to bring a date for the wedding and I got upset because she told me at the last minute, especially when everyone already has plans to be with their family. And then she texted again to bring a boy this time. I usually rope in Trent during these situations but I know he’s busy.”

Dominik nods, crossing his arms, “So she thinks it’s me?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Okay,” he shrugs. “When is the wedding?”

“Wait, you can’t be serious. I was just going to tell her the day of that I couldn’t find a date—”

“I can do it,” he repeats as if it were no big deal. “I have a gray suit at home, probably do need a blue tie though.”

“Dominik—”

“When is the wedding?” Nori’s jaw juts open when he walks towards her with a smirk. He stops when he’s only two steps away.

“Um, in three days.”

“Okay. I’ll be here then.”

“You don’t have to do this.”

He shrugs again, “It’s just a wedding, they are fun.”

They are fun.

That’s what Dominik said about the wedding but Nori wants to vomit. Her hair hadn’t come out the way she envisioned, and her makeup seemed to be wanting to torment her every step. It didn’t want to blend correctly, didn’t want to shine, didn’t want to give her a spark. It was all a mess. Her dress zipper now getting stuck was going to be her final straw. Really. It was.

She lets out a shaky breath as the rapping of a knock comes from her bedroom door. She doesn’t have the energy to reply ‘one second,’ just wanting to bask in the silence.

But it doesn’t last long because Dominik’s heavy books come trodding in. Looking up at the mirror, Nori watches his confused eyes search the entirety of her bedroom, concern growing through his facial expression, before he finally lands on her figure through the gap of the restroom door. His relief is short-lived because he notices the way she’s hunched over the sink, knuckles taut as she grips the other edges of it.

“Don’t,” she warns as a wave of nausea hits her. His blue tie slides off one shoulder as he rushes to her side.

“We have to leave in ten minutes.”

“I need a minute.”

The entirety of her dress is unzipped from the back, making him gulp. The top of what seemed to be lacy underwear caught his attention that he—

“Dominik.”

“Sorry,” he looks up at her, his cheeks flushing red. “Sorry. Uh—do you need help?”

“I’m about to throw up.”

“What?”

“Go away,” she groans. “This is going to be gross.”

“You’re sick?”

“Will you just listen to me?” she pleads and Dominik stops at the desperation of her voice.

He looks at her through the mirror, her eyes beady and only then did he realize how exasperated she looked. “What?”

“Get me a glass of water, please. Downstairs.”

He nods, tossing his tie onto her bed as he rushes out. He has no idea where the cups are stored and opens nearly all of the cabinets until he finds them. Grabbing some ice, and then pouring water into it before heading back upstairs.

The sink is running by the time he returns to her bedroom. He sets the glass down next to her and gawks at her hair pulled up with a clip.

“Did you…?” he asks, voice full of concern.

She nods, grabbing the glass and gulping it down immediately. “Thank you.” Fanning herself with her hand, she explains, “I’m stressed out. I don’t ever throw up because I’m stressed unless it’s really bad and this morning has just not been a good morning.”

“How can I help?”

Nori’s vision clears, finally being able to take in his look. His hair is gelled and combed, beard trimmed, and—is that a slit in his eyebrow? She furrows her eyebrows and turns away, feeling bile rise in her throat.

“God, that is disgusting.”

“What?” He steps towards her but she holds out her hand. Her hand slips underneath his suit jacket and lands on his stomach.

“That line in your eyebrow.”

“It’s not that bad,” he mumbles. She couldn’t be serious, he had worked on the eyebrow slit for half an hour.

“Dom.”

He erupts into a laugh, “Did that—did that make you gag?”

She looks up at him again and on cue, gags.

He laughs loudly, “I know I should be offended but I’m not.”

“Stop looking at me.”

“Well don’t look at me then if you’re going to keep gagging.”

“Why would you do that to your pretty face?”

He blushes, stuttering, “You think I’m pretty?”

“Everyone does.”

“Yeah, but…not pretty. Hot, maybe.”

“God, don’t get full of yourself.”

He lets out a giddy laugh, “You called me pretty. C’mere.” Dominik slips the hand on his abdomen to his waist and wraps his arms across her shoulders.

“I’m going to puke!”

“No, you aren’t,” he chuckles, his laugh vibrating in her ear.

Nori pulls her head away from Dominik’s chest so that her makeup doesn’t transfer onto him. She gets a glance of her still unzipped dress from the mirror and groans.

Once she pulls away, she turns around, “Can you help?”

Dominik’s easiness and cockiness immediately diminishes. He isn’t sure where he can pinch her dress that isn’t below her bum, but he was going to have to. He gulps as his fingers brush her zipper, trying to ignore the white thin material of her underwear.

Nori isn’t in a better state, having held her breath since she turned around. The feeling of his fingers brushing the back of her thigh riddled her body with goosebumps and an unfamiliar feeling pooled in her stomach.

And god did he take his time zipping up the dress. He goes painfully slow as he inches the zipper higher and higher. By the time he’s finished, Nori fans herself again and Dominik, without thinking, blows air onto the nape of her neck to cool her down. He watches as the goosebumps ghost her skin and smiles. His eyes meet hers and the way she looks in the dress makes him choke.

“You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she spins around, trying to forget the feeling of his cool breath on her neck. It makes her feel tingly inside and after the hectic morning and vomit, she doesn’t need that feeling. “I’m going to brush my teeth and then we can leave. You, uh, you look good too, despite that.” She points up to his eyebrow with a teasing smile, he snorts.

It was intrusive to cut his eyebrow again. He hadn’t done it in a couple of years but after seeing a couple of old photos back at home he decided to give it another shot this morning. After Nori’s reaction, he was never going to do it again.

“I’ll wait in your room,” he whispers. Nori quickly meets him after she’s done and takes the tie that he fiddles around with. He grumbles, “I don’t think I’m doing it right.”

“You aren’t,” she responds and a lazy smile falls onto his face as she stands in front of him. Her hair is down and styled in a way she had rarely done it. He had seen it once before at a banquet, and he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her that entire night.

Nori tugs him closer with his tie, making him tumble towards her, “Woah.” His comment goes ignored as she slots the tie into the knot she created, pushing it up towards his neck, he places his hand over hers to take over.

“I’m not sure how tight you want it.”

“Thank you,” he smiles. He looks down at her and a giddy but nervous laugh escapes out of him. He watches the way her eyebrow twitches with amusement. “Okay, are you ready?”

The two of them race out the house in order to make it to the venue on time. He opens his car door for her while she gives him instructions. The more she thought about it, she wasn’t sure what to introduce Dominik as. They still hadn’t discussed what the plan was except him already being labeled as her ‘date’ by her mother.

But she doesn’t have much time to ponder because they arrive with two minutes to spare before the doors of the church close. Dominik takes her hand and jogs while Nori tries her hardest not to break her ankles in the heels she wore. Dominik’s roaring laugh ring through her ears as he leads her down the corridor.

They sit down in the back but Dominik won’t stop laughing despite slapping his hand over his mouth. Nori hit him on his arm to shush him, but it only made him lean closer to her as he stretched his arm around behind her. Nori’s hand settles more on his thigh than hers but she’s too nervous to move it, not like Dominik minds her touch anyway.

After the exchange of the vows, they get up to take the walk to the reception and Dominik instinctively holds out his arm for Nori to wrap hers inside. Nori’s mother finds them midwalk, “Oh, look at the two of you, how cute! Come come, I need to introduce you to some family.”

Nori wants to protest that they should wait until they are inside but she is sent flying by her mother’s grip. Dominik’s tumbling right beside her, chuckling in her ear.

As predicted, Nori’s mother introduces Dominik as Nori’s ‘boyfriend,’ and Nori would’ve corrected her but Dominik is so smitten to meet Nori’s family, taking their hands and greeting them with a bright smile. Nori wants to throw up. He is playing the role so well, slipping his fingers into hers and pulling her close after meeting her family.

After they finish, Dominik leans down towards her ear, “Your family is nice.”

“And they all think we’re dating,” she sasses.

“What is wrong with that?” He pulls out her seat for her and scoots his seat closer to her.

“Nothing,” she says. “Except when they ask about you again, I’ll have to tell them we broke up.”

He clutches his chest, “You are breaking up with me at a wedding?”

Nori breaks out into a laugh as Dominik feigns hurt. “You’re right, I probably shouldn’t say those words at a wedding.”

He chuckles, next time he would her boyfriend and it wouldn’t be just for a day. He slings his arm over her chair and smirks to himself.

Two hours and a meal and a couple of drinks later, Nori and Dominik were on the dancefloor dancing as if her dress wasn’t centimeters away from having a mishap. Dominik tried to get her to slow down but she was having too much fun with her cousins and some of her aunts dancing. She wasn’t drunk or tipsy, but she had some alcohol in her that Dominik had thought otherwise. She was just excited to dance, that’s all.

“I have to pee,” she yells into his ear as he slides his hand against her waist. He nods and leads her towards the restroom, both of their shoes clacking against the floor. “Are you having a good time?”

The purple glowing lights against his diamond earring has her staring at him for longer than usual. A line of sweat lingers near his temple, his proximity almost overwhelms Nori but also gives her a sense of comfort.

“Yeah I am, they have pálinka.”

“What’s that?”

“Hungarian alcohol.”

“Oh,” she opens the door and holds it open for him. It was a single-use restroom. “You can drink more if you want, I don’t mind driving us back.”

He nods, “I should be sober by then.” It goes without saying when Nori pulls her hair up and turns around in front of him for him to unzip her dress. He does so and exits the restroom, waiting until he hears a small voice that she was done. He had only been out there for a couple of minutes but the air seemed to shift once he came back in.

Nori’s dress is still unzipped and her back exposed as she leans over the sink. But her gaze. Her gaze is hard as she looks at him through the mirror, making him gulp as he locked the door. He treks slowly and stops barely a foot away from her.

“You look so good in that black,” she comments. He brushes off the blush he feels because he can do flirting. He can flirt, right?

“I like the way you dance,” he replies.

“What do you like about it?”

“You dance so,” he glances down at her shoulder, “carefree. Not caring what other people think. It’s beautiful, the way you look so happy. I mean, your dress was almost falling but you fixed it and kept going.”

She laughs and he swears he feels his knees buckle. Her eyes gleam within the mirror and it makes him so unsteady that he masks it by zipping her dress. His nimble fingers delicately pinch the material and drag the zipper to the top. Nori leans back, bare shoulders pressing into his chest. His hands rest on her hips as he hesitantly looks up at the mirror.

“I’ve never—” she stops abruptly, Dominik gives her waist a squeeze for encouragement. He rests his chin against her shoulder, Nori not even fazed with his prickly beard or trying to reel away. “I’ve never…been kissed before.”

He wasn’t sure what he expected to hear but it certainly wasn’t that. The confusion is etched on his face he pulls back and looks down at her, “What? But—” It wasn’t even her age, it was that she was so beautiful. That all he would overhear were guys trying to ask her out. Asking Trent, and even him once, if they could ask her out or knew if she was single. Dominik knew that Trent never shot down a guy’s pursuit either, letting them know to go ahead, heck, he would say the same thing.

She shakes her head, “It’s never bothered me because who would I even kiss? But today my cousins were all telling me how hot you were and that of course I’d bag someone who's ‘so hot’ because I’m ‘so pretty.’ And I kinda found it all so foolish because you and I aren’t dating, and they know I’ve never kissed someone so they think I’ve done it all now…I’m starting to feel a little guilty for lying.”

Dominik steps towards her again, his hands firm on her hips, standing up straight. He feels like he needs to exude some kind of confidence so that it transfers to her.

Nori speaks before he can, “I know I’m pretty—that sounds really dumb, but I know that I’m—that I’m okay, but still.” Dominik watches the way her shoulders droop and he impatiently waits for her to finish talking. He didn’t like listening to her beat herself up about something. She continues, “I’ve never had a boyfriend. Never been on a date. Never even held hands! And I know it’s foolish, but my cousins would be the first to know and I’m almost certain they know I’m lying.”

“Okay, wait,” Dominik interrupts the second Nori pauses. “Just wait. You are beautiful, super—like—I can’t even think in English—beautiful. Any guy would be lucky just to even get a glance in their direction from you. Any guy. You know Trent and I, guys come up to us all the time to ask about you and we tell them to just go talk to you.” Dominik’s words were coming out so fast as he tried to stop Nori from feeling bad. “And your cousins, I’m sorry for making you lie to them. I can apologize to them, make it clear that we haven’t done anything.”

Nori rests her head against Dominik collar bone again, her mind forming more thoughts than she can keep up with. Somehow, Dominik’s words disappointed her. It didn’t make her feel wanted. She had heard about guys coming up to Trent, some made it her way but they were never ‘great’ guys. And despite Dominik’s efforts, it only made her feel worse.

‘Any guy,’ but not necessarily him.

Oh. Oh, she’s going to vomit. That’s what it was. It was Dominik who was making her feel so nervous, so dizzy, the reason her stomach fumbled, and the reason she seemed to want to clench her thighs when he touched her.

Nori pushes his hands off of her, forcing herself to get off of him. She ignores Dominik’s confused face in the mirror, looking down at the faucet instead. She couldn’t think of Dominik that way, not when he made it clear that he didn’t see her that way.

“Nori?” His voice is soft, so low that she thinks she imagines it. “Are you okay?”

“Can you leave?”

Dominik feels heat creep behind his neck, “What?”

“Can you leave?”

He fumbles over her fragile voice, his heart skipping a beat. He wants to comfort her, wants to ask her what’s wrong—

“Dominik, please, can you leave?”

“Yeah,” he sputters out. “Yeah, I uh, I can.”

He stumbles out of the restroom, bumping into someone on his way out. It’s an old family friend of Nori’s, a guy around their age.

“Dominik, right?” he asks, and Dominik’s mind is so clouded from Nori’s sudden change of emotion that he can barely muster a nod. “I’m Danny. Nori’s old friend.”

“Nice to meet you,” Dominik mumbles, clasping Danny’s outstretched hand.

Danny pulls Dominik’s hand, forcing Dominik right into Danny’s ear, “So, was it a good fuck?” Danny whispers.

Dominik pushes him off, “What?”

“C’mon, we all saw you go in there with Nori.”

“What the fuck—”

“We had bet y’all wouldn’t last until the night,” Danny nods to a group of guys and Dominik’s stomach churns. Danny holds out his hand for Dominik to clasp, and Dominik can barely think as he weakly takes Danny’s hand. “The way she had your hands on you, you just won me a twenty.”

Danny walks away and Dominik restrains himself from following him and the group. The boys clap Danny once he returns, raising their glasses at Dominik.

He thinks about storming up towards them, grabbing them by the collar and telling them to leave Nori alone, and he turns in their direction, head hot as he sees them laugh, but the restroom door opens and Nori comes out, looking surprised to see Dominik still there. She gives him a curt smile and walks off.

That small exchange clears Dominik’s rage.

He follows her down the corridor but the second she walks onto the dancefloor, he loses sight of her. Too many bodies to make out where she went, he heads to the bar.

Seriously, what the fuck was going on?

“Drive safe,” Nori’s mother says to Dominik. Nori hasn’t mumbled a word since she entered his car. Her heels are in her hands as she peers out the window.

And he really has no idea what he’s doing. One second they were good, the next, Nori is turning away from him after avoiding him the rest of the night.

Nori, on the other hand, just wanted to rip this dress off. It felt too suffocating, poking her in all the wrong places, and too tight, like the lies she buried herself into. Her cousins believed her, but she would soon have to tell them the truth. She couldn’t stomach lying to them for more than a day. Besides her cousins, her aunts and uncles would come up to her during the dance and tell her how they were so happy Nori met someone and that he was making her happy. It was sickening.

As Dominik pulls up her driveway, he debates on following her inside, “Do you need help taking off your dress?”

Nori glances at him, her exhausted eyes make his throat hitch. She nods, grumbling, “What do you think?”

She hops out of his car and he huffs as he turns it off, following closely behind her, “You know, I don’t really know what to think right now. I’m so confused that I—I’m just really fucking lost right now, Nori.”

Nori doesn’t look at him as she keys her front door. She opens it wide enough for Dominik to follow behind her. His hair is ruffled and his blue tie and suit jacket long gone. Hairs peak out through his unbuttoned shirt, and Nori would’ve ogled if she wasn’t so damn exhausted and over with it for the night.

She walks upstairs silently, his heavy footsteps a step away from hers.

“I met Danny.”

Nori freezes, slowly turning towards Dominik, “What?”

“After I left the restroom, I bumped into him. He thinks we had sex.”

“And what did you say?” She crosses her arms. The two of them stand in the upstairs corridor, Dominik leaning against the staircase post.

“I didn’t get to say anything because he walked away so fast.”

Nori swallows, knowing that Danny would spread a rumor to anyone who heard and she certainly didn’t want her mom hearing that she—allegedly—hooked up with Dominik in the bathroom at her aunt’s wedding.

“Look, I’m sorry for what I said in the restroom,” Dominik rubs his hand on his face. “I don’t know if that made you upset, and if it did I’m sorry.”

Nori nods, realizing her silence was only confusing Dominik more and that wasn’t necessarily fair after all he had done for her in the past couple of days, “It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize.”

“Was it something I said?” He walks towards her, sticking his hands through his hair.

She nods again, looking at his chest instead of his eyes. She coughs, “I don’t want just any guy.”

“Oh,” he pauses. “Okay, I’m sorry.”

She turns towards her bedroom and pulls her hair up with her hands, Dominik follows behind her. He peels down the zipper again for the final time of the night, a somber feeling in the air.

“You, um, you look really pretty in the blue,” he comments. “My favorite color on you by far.”

Nori feels her throat tighten, the urge to turn around and just spit it out at him forms but she doesn’t. He’s saying all the right stuff, but what, means it all as a friend?

“Dominik,” she blurts, surprising herself as she turns around. She couldn’t keep a secret for long anyway. His eyebrows raise, falling slightly when she doesn’t respond. He stands there, waiting for her to say something but she doesn’t.

Dominik would rather dig himself into a hole and never come up than to be in this awkward, uncomfortable bedroom. He takes a step back, fists shoving into his pockets, “Have a good night, Nori.”

Nori decides within that moment that she isn’t going to let the awkwardness linger for another day, but she also feels her heart shatter.

“Is that what it is?” Nori asks, catching Dominik off guard at how loud but shaky her voice is. “Everyone thinks I’m pretty but no one sees me as—” She stops suddenly.

Dominik’s eyebrows pinch together, “As what?”

“Desired.” Dominik’s eyes grow wide but Nori continues, “No one wants me. No one wants to have sex with me unless what, it’s a bet? Yeah I heard that conversation, Dominik, why did you leave that part out?”

He isn’t even sure what to respond to first, but he’s gasping for some kind of dignity, “I—”

“I mean you certainly didn’t deny it, and so what, were you ever going to tell me?”

“Wait, I didn’t bet on you,” he corrects.

“I know you didn’t, but you didn’t correct Danny. After I had just told you I had never been kissed, do you seriously think I’ve had sex before?”

Dominik freezes, “He caught me off guard, Nori. I was already so confused after leaving the restroom. You—after I said what I said, you got upset, and it made me confused. Then I run into him and it’s like I can’t even understand what he’s saying. I swear all I could think about was punching him and I couldn’t think of words.”

“Punching?”

“Are you kidding? After what he did, Nori? Making a bet with his friends?” Dominik nearly flaps his arms. “I was going to do it. Was about to walk towards them too, but then you opened the door.”

Nori stares at him quietly, trying to connect the dots while Dominik sighs, almost too exhausted to plead his case too. It was nearing four in the morning, and Dominik would love to spend more time with Nori, but not like this. Not when they’re both seconds of being frustrated with each other.

And Nori would feel embarrassed after just telling him that she’s a virgin, that she feels less-desired, but she doesn’t. She doesn’t know why, but she doesn’t feel that way in front of him.

“Thank you,” she sighs. “For not going punching him and causing a scene, but also for your words.”

He winces, “Not like they seemed to help much.”

“Yeah, but, it was thoughtful.”

Dominik doesn’t feel right leaving her after the conversations they shared, it doesn’t seem like everything that needed to be said had been said.

He scratches his neck, almost groaning at the words that find his brain because he knows he can’t convey them in a better way, “I…you know how you said no one wants you?”

Nori flops on her bed and buries her head with her hands, “God, that sounds so pathetic”

“What?” Dominik comes up to her and drops to his knees slowly. He doesn’t care about how much her wooden floors seem to make his knees ache, just that she would listen to his words.

“It was so dumb—”

“No it wasn’t,” Dominik says, his voice firm. “It wasn’t. Look, we haven’t necessarily been on the best of terms, and when we do, it feels like we sometimes go back to square one, but I like you, Nori. Not in the friend way, in the ‘I want you to be mine one day’ way.”

Nori’s throat bobbles as she peeks at him through her hands. He lets out a nervous chuckle, gently prying her hands from her face and clasping their hands together.

“I’ve liked you since the day we met, which hasn’t been great since you’ve ignored me the past month after I almost broke your nose—” Nori laughs and Dominik’s chest squeezes at his confession but also her joy. “I’ve been trying to make it up since then. I just didn’t want to make you feel pressured, it’s why I hadn’t made a move. First, I didn’t want you to feel like you owe me something after I gave you a ride. You don’t, nothing at all. And then after telling me you haven’t been kissed before, I backed off because I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Nori feels the tears well up in her eyes, blinking them away before they can spill. Dominik’s gentle eyes bounce between hers, his thumbs stroking her the mountains of her knuckles.

“Thank you,” she musters. If he was going to be honest, she needed to too. “I got upset in the restroom because I realized I liked you. It was right after you said that any guy would be lucky to be looked at by me, and I got upset because it wasn’t you.”

Dominik chuckles, “I’m the luckiest guy right now, looking right at you.”

Nori laughs, wiping the tear that fell, and then wrapping her arms over Dominik’s shoulders, burying her head into his neck. He hugs her back, his hands slipping through her unzipped dress and landing on bare skin.

“Thank you for giving me another chance,” he presses his lips to her temple gingerly, leaving a chaste kiss on her skin before squeezing her tighter. He kisses her exposed shoulder a few times.

Nori pulls away from the hug and Dominik raises one, questioning eyebrow at her. It’s the eyebrow with the slit and for whatever reason, Nori finds that as the cutest thing she’s ever seen in that moment. She chuckles, kissing his slitted eyebrow. His eyes narrow as smiles, cheeks bubbled up in Nori’s hands.

And she does it, she presses her lips against his and it’s fast. Very quick and nervous. Dominik’s laugh vibrates underneath her hands as he bats his eyes bashfully, “Nori…maybe a little longer wouldn’t hurt.”

She nods, initiating the next kiss as his hands relax at her waist. He wasn’t going to make the next move, only wait for her. Her lips are still hesitant when they meet his, and his lips part in a smile. She giggles, finding more confidence to press her lips harder against his and Dominik has to stand up in order to not fall back, but god he’s been waiting for months for this moment.

She pulls away, “How was that?”

“Better,” he cheeses, pecking her nose. He sits down beside her on her bed, “So, our first date, I was thinking about a night by the docks? At the restaurant that’s there?” Nori listens to his next words but she’s so infatuated with the way he speaks, the way he’s so emphatically enthused and passionate. “Oh! And we can hold hands as we walk down them.”

She chuckles, slipping her hands into his and pecks his cheek, “Okay. I’m excited for it, but can you please help me out of this dress now?”

Nori had no idea what she was doing or if she was walking in the right direction. Their first date wasn’t until a couple of days laters but Nori had to see Dominik. And the docks, they were so windy, the wind battering her hair as she walked alongside the pier. She had seen so many, so many different boats and god she really hoped these last few piers she’d find Dominik or else she’d feel really stupid.

She clutches onto her coat tighter, going up on her tippy toes to look at the men working on the boats and docks. They all had hats and blue jumpsuits, some with wet suits. And ugh, what if Dominik and his dad were in the water and wouldn’t be back until later? She should really just call Dominik instead of trying to surprise him.

There was only one dock in her hometown, but it was so long. She realized that quickly once she started the walk.

A whistle comes from behind her, she tries to ignore it but then another comes, short but loud whistles. She turns around, seeing a blue jumpsuited-figure standing meters away, so far that she can’t make out who they are very well. They give her an overly-enthused wave, hand flapping across their head.

But Nori can make out the wavy curls and Dominik’s bright smile. She chuckles, heading his way while he meets her midway.

“Hi,” he cheeses, pulling her into a hug, his arms are tight as they wrap around her waist.

“Hey,” she shies.

“Surprised to see you here,” he chuckles. “My dad said he thought he saw a girl walking the piers, I just said she was probably going to take pictures somewhere and I look up and it’s you.”

Nori takes in his outfit, black boots, a zipper kind of jumpsuit that he would slip into. The zipper is unzipped to his abdomen, displaying the black shirt he wears underneath. He looked so much different than what she was used to. No one had the pleasure of seeing him like this back in Liverpool, just her.

“Nori?” he questions, eyes glinting as he dips his head towards her.

“Sorry, this outfit.”

He shuts his eyes, “It’s a part of the job—”

“No, it’s cute!”

Dominik lets his hands linger on her waist, chuckling, “You’re a terrible liar.”

“It’s cute,” a hand of hers slips between them and pinches his dimpled cheek. Pressing herself up to her tippy toes, she kisses him briefly on his cheek, a goofy grin on her face that Dominik’s knees buckle for a second. She pulls back, digging into her purse, “I brought you something.”

Dominik’s eyebrows raise in surprise, “Me?”

She nods, “Yes.” She pulls out the tiny bottle of pálinka and hands it to him. “I know you didn’t get to drink it at the wedding, and I’m not saying to drink it now, but I saved one for you.”

He laughs, “Aww, Nori, this is sweet, but I told you you don’t owe me anything.”

She shakes her head, holding her hands up, “I’m not taking it back, and I know you said that but it’s just a little something. I don’t owe you anything, I know.”

Dominik grins, stuffing the bottle in his pocket. He would’ve spotted Nori in a room of crowded people, and that’s exactly what it felt when he saw her walking alongside the pier. Her here just for him. He really wanted to pull her for a proper kiss.

He peeks back at the docks his father was at, confirming that it was out of his view. As soon as he turns back to face Nori, he pulls her in for a hug and picks her up, spinning her. She lets out a yelp, clinging onto shoulders.

“Thank you for coming,” he exclaims, “I’m really happy to see you.”

Once he places her back on the ground, his hand slides behind her ear and pulls her in for a kiss. It’s sweet, chaste, and has Nori fumbling to catch up to his movements because his lips were engulfing hers.

She wouldn’t mind doing this again, not at all.

-----

Note: If you made it this far I love you so much and you are so cool and deserve the best itw, especially after putting up with Domi's sloppy performance. Brave soldier. (:

#dominik szoboszlai #dominik szoboszlai x oc #dominik szoboszlai fanfic #dominik szoboszlai imagine #em.writes

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juvenillia · 8 months

Text

~ Death of Peace of Mind ~ Masterlist

Simon 'Ghost' Riley x fem!Reader

photo credits go to very talented @ave661

Summary: After the traumatic past that comes with the job of being a soldier, you change your aspects and ideals. The only bad thing is that there are suddenly four men that totally turn your point of view and things starting to get out of your so well beloved control. Especially one masked man to be honest.

Disclaimer: NonCanon! Even when a few things from the remake timeline did happen. Things can easily get changed or carried away through the story or seem a bit off. If I step a line pls reach out to me and educate me. English isn't my first language, and almost nothing here will be beta read.

A/N: I’m just a needy gremlin for this man, and my weakness is damn slow burn strangers/enemies to lovers 》 Concept post 《 This will be mostly reader inserted but also contains aspects of OC. You'll get a last name, a past and stuff. Hope you don't mind. If you have any idea of improvements and stuff, just reach out. Won't bite.

CW/TW: I'll always give proper warnings before each chapter, but to mention a few: canon violence, mentions of death, loss, guilt, cursing, ptsd, trauma, jealousy, toxic relationships, angst, self-harm, smut, noncon, and more

Songs: Sleep Token - Rain | Bad Omens - Death of Peace of Mind

Status: ongoing | started 13.09.23

Read on AO3 | Last update 11.04.2024 | new chapters irregular, but I keep updating

chapter index:

00: tired [prologue]

01: news

02: too close

03: friends

04: bonding

05: defeat

06: start

07: names

08: dreams

09: change

10: time

11: silence

12: wait

13: call

14: weak

15: teasing

16: lieutenant

17: complicated

18: casual

19: luck

20: cold

21: broken

22: shadow

23: trust

24: lie

Tba

taglist: open

@yyiikes @saffronimagines @originaldeerhottub @illuminwtesz @killergoddess97 @kaelaiscool @spiritndrain @anothersimpsblog @backupgal @hungryhungariann @victoriazynui @ohworm-writes

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athanza · 12 days

Text

Starlett - Part 2

Cooper Howard/fem!OC (not self-insert)

Tags: Hurt/comfort (sort of?), non-allowed romantic connection, lots of tention, pre and post war drama, some Cooper dad fluff because why not ♡

Warnings: Mentions of domestic abuse and (no graphic scenes or descriptions of that nature), angst, canon wasteland violence

This branches out from canon but I thought it was a cute story idea so I had to write it. Enjoy! ♡

Part 1 | Part 3 | Final part

2296

The harsh sun was setting now which meant he needed to find somewhere to settle in for the night. The rickety second floor of one of these buildings would be the best option so he'd have a good vantage point if something were to happen.

As he searched for the right building he began to hear muffled screaming coming from further in the crumbled town. At first, he couldn't give a rat's ass, but he needed to know if it was a big enough threat for him to keep moving.

It didn't take long for gunshots to begin ringing out through the ruins, but they were only from 3 separate guns...then 2...then 1.

As he reached the area where the shots were coming from, the sounds of a pissed off Yao Guai became apparent, and there was one singular person left to fight it off but she looked like she was badly injured.

"You son of a bitch!!" She yelled when her gun jammed and the wounded beast readied itself for another charge.

As it lunged at her one more time a shotgun shell slammed into the side of it's head and it went down, a pink mist left in the air for a moment as the rest of it's brains splattered to the ground.

The woman turned to where the shot came from to see Cooper walking casually towards her, unable to see his face very well in the dark. She pointed her now un-jammed rifle at him just in case.

"Those things'll kill ya." He quipped.

"Yeah, no shit." She replied, wincing at the pain from a gash on her side.

He cocked his head a little. Her voice sounded familiar.

"Why don't you put down that gun so I can cut myself some bear hide and be on my way?"

She scoffed. "So you can shoot me in the face and steal all my shit? No thanks cowboy."

That was it, the confirmation he didn't think he'd get.

"Irene?" He said.

The woman paused briefly, then aimed her gun properly. "How do you know my name?"

He stepped a little closer so that the light from the lantern on the ground could illuminate his face.

It took her a moment but she recognised his eyes and immediately lowered her weapon.

"Cooper?"

2077

A scream woke Cooper up in the middle of the night and he instinctively got up and ran to his daughter's room.

"Daddy!" Janey cried when she saw him.

He came over and hugged her tightly. "Hey, hey, it's ok, it was just a dream, you're ok."

She cried into him for a moment before spluttering "Why don't you and mommy love each other anymore?"

That caught him off guard. He had no idea what to say and it hurt so much hearing her say that.

"It's not that we don't love each other honey, it's just..." He tried desperately to search for the right words. "Well...your mom and I just disagree on somethin' really important and we tried to figure it out but it was too hard."

"What did you disagree on?"

"Well...that's grown up stuff baby girl."

She sulked quietly, putting her head back on his chest.

"We still love you very very much, that hasn't changed at all."

"Is it my fault?" She asked and his heart broke.

"No baby girl, no, not at all. None of this is your fault."

"I know I haven't been doing my homework, and I don't always feed Roosevelt when I'm told and-"

He cut her off, kneeling beside the bed so he could look her in the eyes. "Janey," he held her hands. "None of this is your fault. Your mother and I loved you since the day we found out we were gonna have you. And when you were born, we looked at you and we just cried and cried.

I have never been prouder or happier than I was in that moment. And you know what? That hasn't changed a bit, not even a little."

Janey smiled, her face still wet with leftover tears.

"Really?" She sniffed.

"Yes." Cooper chuckled, scooping her up and hugging her again and she giggled. "Now, how about a hot chocolate, with double marshmallows?"

She smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

She hugged him as he carried her downstairs. "I love you daddy." She said.

His chest burst with warmth and happiness and he smiled. "I love you too sweetheart."

The next morning, Janey was watching cartoons on the TV while eating her breakfast and Cooper sipped greatfully at his cup of hot coffee, having not gotten much sleep.

He smiled as he heard his daughter giggle at the TV, her mouth full of cereal, and sat down at the dining table with his newspaper.

But just as he sat down the loud ringing from the telephone rang out through the kitchen and he sighed heavily.

"I'll get it!" Janey yelled and ran over, hoping it was her mother. Her face dropped when it wasn't her mother's voice she heard on the other end of the line. "Yeah he's here, I'll put him on."

Cooper looked up at her tone and she held the receiver out to him. "It's for you dad."

He walked over and took it, kissing her on the head before she went back to her cartoons.

"Hello?" He said.

"Mr. Howard, it's Irene. I'm sorry to call you at home but I need your help."

Her voice told him it was serious. "What's wrong?"

"You were right. About Frank. I know we barely know each other but I need somewhere to stay for the night before I go to my mother's up in Sacramento. Lee...Lee doesn't know."

"I uh..."

"...no, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have bothered you." She said.

"No, no, it's ok. I'll make up the guest room for you."

He could hear a faint sigh of relief in her answer. "Thank you, so much, I owe you one."

He gave her his address and they hung up.

"Who was that dad?" Asked Janey.

"A friend from work. She needs a place to stay tonight so she's gonna stay in the guest bedroom. You'd like her."

She kind of shrugged in an uninterested way and took another bite of her cereal, her attention back on the TV.

He hoped no one sees Irene at his house, that's the last thing he needs in the papers, especially now.

Part 1 | Part 3

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hyunfilms · 10 months

Text

blue side of the sky (lmh) | five.

♡ spotify playlist | series masterlist

—summary: waking up after 3 months with no recollection of your past, your friends do what they can to help you remember. except, they omit an important piece to the puzzle - afraid you would remember the heartbreak and hurt all over again.

—pairing: lee know x f. reader

—genre: (18+) exes to lovers, bestfriends to lovers au | fluff, angst, (eventual) smut

—word count: 5.3k

—chapter warning: cussing, jisung being his worried and overprotective self, small argument between minho & jisung, another deep look into minho's feelings about everything, minho dance session which should be a warning itself, smut but not super descriptive smut (implied oral - m. receiving, doggy style), also a look into minho and kat, flashback scene at the end highlighting a core, painful moment for minho, crying, oc is in a coma during flashback

"Hi." You answer the phone call coming in as you make your way to your first pottery class.

"Cielo! Are you at class now?" You chuckle.

"About to be."

"You didn't answer my text." You can hear the pout through Jisung's tone.

"Sorry, pachi. I was gonna get to it as soon as I got inside the store. What's up?"

"I asked if you found anything to wear yet. For Yuna's?"

"Oh, no."

"Wanna go look after class? I'll meet you."

"I'm, um—" You pause a bit as you enter the store and greet the boy re-stocking items at the front.

"You're.. what?"

"I'm actually hanging out with San afterwards. He said he'd go with me to check out some dresses."

"You're.. hanging out with San?"

"Yes?" You let out a small sigh due to the unexpected response from your bestfriend. You felt nervous, and even more scared. Maybe you shouldn't have agreed to hang out with San. "Pachi, you told me to go for it. Should I just cancel and go with you—"

"No, no. I know I said that. I'm sorry, cielo. I didn't mean it in a bad way. I'm glad you're hanging out with him and stuff! Seriously. I just didn't expect that day to be today."

"I don't exactly have much time to find a dress."

"Yeah, I know. You'll find something and you'll look great in it, though! Is he gonna meet you after class?"

"Mhm."

"Okay, good. Well, enjoy yourself, okay? Don't think too much and just go with the flow."

"I know, I know."

"Well wait, let me back track." Jisung lets out a sigh. "I'm sorry. Are you ready to hang out with him? I hope I didn't pressure you too much."

"No it's not that. I think I'm ready. I mean, it's casual and super harmless, right?"

"Of course. He seems cool. But if he does try anything that you aren't ready for, just call me."

"I'll be fine. Thanks, Ji."

"Alright. Send pics of what you find!"

"I will." Your bottom lip pokes out as you end the call and tuck your phone back into your bag. This morning, you felt your confidence growing. You had been confident enough to agree to a hang out with San, even though he reassured you that there was no pressure. But the call with Jisung had you second-guessing everything.

Were you really ready for this?

You know Jisung meant no harm behind anything he said, but it was hard for you to not overthink. The only thing getting you by is the reminder that you have to experience these things to continue learning and settling back into the world; to continue living.

You couldn't be stuck in one place forever.

"Are you okay, miss?" You look over to your right and see the same boy from the front stocking up some of the shelves near the pottery classroom. You hadn't realized you zoned out and stopped in your tracks before entering the room.

"Oh. Yeah, I am." You chuckle shyly. "Sorry. Was lost in thought."

"No worries, just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Thank you." You give him a small smile before finally entering the classroom. It's only supposed to be for 6 people, and you only see one other person already sitting at a wheel. You take the seat opposite from her, giving her a small smile when she glances up to look at you. She returns the smile, but her attention shifts back to her phone.

It doesn't take long before the rest of the wheels are filled and class is starting. You feel incredibly shy, but everyone in your class seems to be down to earth and just as eager to get their hands dirty. At first, you feel shy. You're barely working on the clay as much as the others are, but you remind yourself that you work at your own pace. When it's time to throw, it's a bit of a struggle before you finally find your own rhythm; receiving small praises from your instructor as she comes to your aid every now and then.

You're making a basic pot. Something to start off with, something easy.

It's fun.

You're happy you decided to move forward with class, paying some money for a membership to use the classroom during open hours. Class takes an hour and a half today, but the classroom remains open for anyone who is interested in doing another piece before the kiln gets loaded in a class or two. You wish you could, but as soon as you let your pot sit on the rack to completely dry, you catch wind of San walking around nearby aisles. He sees you looking over and he waves, a huge smile plastered on his face while you continue to clean up your space. When you've finally gotten through the last items and tidied up, you quickly wash your hands and grab your things to meet San in the store.

"Hey!" He waves enthusiastically. "How was class?" He digs his hands into his pocket while he waits for your response.

"It was good! Fun to get back into it." San nods.

"I'm glad. It's always satisfying to get back into things you've enjoyed." He nods towards the entrance. "It's beautiful outside. Ready to shop for dresses? You can tell me more about class while we walk."

"Sure." You chuckle. "What have you been up to today?"

"Well, I started off my day super early. Went to the gym before work. Got lots of things done. Now I'm here." He gives you a small smile. Over the course of texting San, you find out a few key details about him:

One, he has a younger sister and a cat that he adores. He's very family-oriented and takes everything family-related very seriously. He met JJ and their friend group in college, and they've stayed close ever since then. He also adores his friends to bits; it's quite cute. He says their personalities are all different, but they mesh so well.

Two, he was the definition of someone who took every single opportunity [especially in college] and ran with it. He aced his classes, participated in campus-wide activities and student government, volunteered, took internship after internship— that being what lead him to a huge opportunity overseas right after graduation to learn side by side from a principal architect. Years of doing so led him to a full-time position with their office back here at home.

Three, he is handsome, and he is incredibly sweet. He's laid back and caring; it's very easy to see why he gets along with people.

It's easy to talk to him.

So easy, that time flies by when you're with him. After a long, ongoing conversation about how the days have been, you've already popped into a few shops; slowly pulling hangers apart from each other to get a better view of the dresses— no particular dress catching your eyes just yet.

You eventually do find two dresses in the back of a new store you popped into that look fantastic on the mannequin, however, you feel like it'll be a different story when you try it on. Jisung says the wedding is at a hotel near the oceanside two hours away. The colors are hues of sage, green, browns and pale golds, and you're already excited to see how everything will turn out.

One dress is a taupe satin dress with a high slit, spaghetti straps and a cowl neck-line. The other is a sage satin dress with an asymmetrical high slit. They're almost similar in style— you're just not sure which color [or fit] would look better on you. San can tell you're unsure as you look at both dresses side by side, hands trailing down the fabric.

"Those are really pretty. You should try them on. You'll look great in either of those." San smiles.

"They're not too.. simple?" San shrugs.

"No. I think they're perfect for the wedding." You give him a small smile and nod, walking off to dressing room. San finds a little cushion to sit and wait on, scrolling through his phone while he patiently waits for you to be ready. He's not expecting you to show him the dresses, and quite frankly, he hopes he didn't come off that way. He does believe you'll look good in whatever option you choose, and his opinion doesn't matter much at the end of the day— it's truly whatever you feel good and comfortable in. Of course, San thinks you're gorgeous. He really couldn't help himself that day he walked into the café and saw you. Of course, his end goal would be to take you on a date and see where thing goes. But, the thing about San is that he knows about your accident. He knows the overall gist of things that have happened, but he doesn't know the fine details like your friends or JJ might know. It's not his business anyway, and he'd rather not go back to that moment in your life. So, he doesn't ask. He'll let you open up to him about it once [and if] you're ready. But, he knows. And he knows this isn't a priority for you right now, which is completely understandable.

If things happen, things happen. If it takes time, it takes time. Until then, he will continue to get to know you and be a friend.

"San?" San is pulled out of his thoughts when he hears you softly call his name behind the dressing room door.

"Yeah? You okay?"

"Yeah, I just.. is it okay if I show you the first dress?"

"Of course, whatever you're comfortable with, Y/N."

"I just need you to see them and give me your honest opinion, okay?"

"Always." He hears the door handle jiggle before you swing the door open. You've tried on the taupe dress and you shyly come forward, hands fidgeting with the fabric of the dress. San sits up a bit as his eyes light up, nodding in acknowledgement with a small smile. "That color looks great on you."

"Is the dress okay? It feels a little too much." You fiddle with your fingers. "I feel like I can't comfortably move with how high this slit goes."

"The angle too, hm?" He nods. "It looks great, but if you're not comfortable, then maybe the next dress will feel better?" You nod.

"Yeah, maybe."

"It's fine Y/N, don't force yourself if you aren't 100% on it." You give him a small smile before walking back into the dressing room to try on the other dress. You also aren't expecting much with this dress, but as soon as you slip it on, you smile at yourself in the mirror and take it in for a moment.

It feels perfect.

The slit is also pretty high, but it's not asymmetrical and at a weird angle so you can still move around comfortably. It fits nicely on your body, your figure, and the fabric isn't too heavy. Taupe color is beautiful under the light, and it's easy to pair.

"I really like this one." You say softly and San lets out a small chuckle.

"That's good. I'm glad you do." He watches as you walk out and nods in agreement when he sees how much more relaxed you look in the dress. "You look beautiful. That dress is the one!" You shyly chuckle at him.

"Yeah, I think it is, too."

"Are you set on it, or do you still wanna look some more?"

"No, I'm pretty set on this." San stands with a smile.

"Nice, it's perfect. We can go eat somewhere after, if you'd like?"

"Oh yes, please. I'm starving. I'm sorry I dragged you along on this." You say as you shut the door and start to get changed.

"No, don't apologize. I meant it when I said I didn't mind. I'm happy to accompany you." San scratches at his temple and nervously laughs. "I honestly thought we'd take much longer, so I'm a little relieved we can eat now." You laugh and gather your things, handing the other dress to the staff member before walking to the cashier.

Afterwards, San takes you to a bbq spot out of the central downtown area, roughly a 15 minute drive out. You get seated pretty quickly even though the restaurant is becoming packed by the minute. It's not too loud, but it is bustling; with busy workers and people engaging in fun conversation over beer and soju. In the middle of grilling the meat and telling you his Spain experience, you get a call from Jisung— the constant vibration on the table pulling you away from San's story.

"Sorry. It's Jisung." San chuckles and shakes his head, placing a few pieces of samgyeopsal onto your plate.

"No, please. Go for it." You give him a small apologetic smile before picking up the call. Jisung is at home, bored out of his mind and a bit worried. He knew he needed to give you time to do your thing, but as dinner time was approaching, he couldn't help but check in. He just needed to know that you were okay and at least enjoying yourself.

"Pachi."

"Hi, sorry." He says. "I didn't hear from you for awhile so I just wanted to call." You chuckle a bit.

"I'm okay."

"Yeah? That's good to hear." He furrows his brows at the background noise. "It's kinda.. loud? Where are you?"

"Eating with San."

"Oh, okay. Did you find a dress?"

"Sure did. Oops, I'll send pictures to you after." You did remember to snap a few photos of the dresses you tried on earlier.

"No worries. It's not too crazy there, right?"

"No. I'll be okay. We'll be done soon."

"Okay. Please text me when you get home."

"I will."

"Love you."

"Love you too." You softly set the phone down and look at San. "I really am sorry about him."

"No, it's okay." San shrugs. "I get it. He's your bestfriend and he cares about you alot."

"Too much sometimes." You tease, though you try to hint at the fact that you are very grateful for Jisung no matter what.

Meanwhile, Jisung finds himself getting hungrier by the minute, finalizing his delivery order that shouldn't arrive too long from now. He's home alone while his roommates are all out, so he tries to pick up where he left off in God of War: Ragnarok to make time fly by. The delivery food actually comes a half hour later, with Jisung shutting off the game before darting down the stairs to grab his food. Just as he's bringing it in, he sees Minho pull up and park— leaving the door slightly ajar for when he walks in.

"Yo." Jisung quickly looks over his shoulder as he continues to unbox his delivery food, quickly greeting Minho as he walks into the kitchen. "Surprised you're home early."

"Surprised you're home since you're usually taking all the food at Y/N's and Uncle Adrian's."

"That's not true at all and you know it." Jisung looks at Minho while he chuckles at him and grabs a glass for some water. "Seriously, why are you home early?"

"I just wanted to come home early and not do something for once. Catch up on sleep. Be lazy."

"We can play, if you want?"

"Eh." Minho shrugs after drinking some water. "Maybe later."

"I'm also surprised—" Jisung shakes his head. "Nevermind."

"Say it."

"No, you'll kill me and Y/N isn't around to save me."

"What, she's still in class?" Minho asks with a chuckle, confused at how long your pottery class actually was.

"No, she's out shopping for a dress."

"Alone? Shouldn't someone be with her if she's gonna be out for a bit?"

"Someone is with her." Jisung mumbles as he pours some of his soup appetizer into a bowl.

"And it's not you?" Jisung shakes his head. "Chan?" Jisung shakes his head again. "Seungmin? Why on earth would you leave her with Seungmin, though?"

"I didn't leave her with Seungmin. I didn't leave her anywhere, she just had other plans." Jisung grabs his food and tries to head up to his room. Which, he successfully does, but Minho is following closely behind. "Gonna watch some streams since you don't wanna play, see ya—" Minho kicks his foot out to stop his door from closing.

"Why are you acting so weird?" Minho nods at him and furrows his brows. "You're the one who told me to stop being weird when it comes to Y/N, you little hypocrite."

"I'm not being weird!"

"You are!"

"She's in good hands, alright? It's fine."

"She's with San, isn't she?"

"I never even said anything. "

"See, you're being fucking weird for no reason."

"Well, I don't know? It's kinda weird to tell you!"

"This was your idea in the first place, remember?" Minho sighs and crosses his arms. "I just wanted to know if she was okay. Besides, how do you know if she's in good hands with San? He doesn't even know anything about her like that."

"You really think JJ wouldn't have said anything to him?"

"I don't think so?"

"He's one of JJ's really good friends, I think he might know some portion of it."

"Then, he's not any better than you and I, is he?" Minho cocks his head to the side and looks at him.

"Please don't do that." Jisung sighs. "She's fine, okay? He seems cool. I think we can give him a little more than that."

"What's your plan behind this one?"

"Don't even say it like that, dude. For real." Jisung's brow is slightly furrowed, though this is something he fully expects from Minho. "I just thought it'd be cool for her to hang out with other people too. It doesn't hurt."

"Hm." Minho hums as he turns on his heel and walks towards his room.

"Where are you going?"

"Change of plans. Gonna head to the studio and work on some stuff."

"Wait, you're not upset, are you?" Jisung pouts a bit. He really didn't mean to make Minho upset even though he knows you're still a very sensitive subject to him. Plus, Jisung doesn't want this to spiral out of control. He'll give you some time, but he will tell you everything. He will.

"Upset?" Minho slings his bag over his shoulder and gives him a tiny pursed smile. "No. Can't be." There's a drip of sarcasm in his tone because of course he can't be. There's so many truths, feelings, opinions, clinging onto that statement alone. He's trying to convince himself that he can't be, but also, he knows this is the response he'd immediately get from everyone around him. And he hates that.

Because no matter what, they will never understand you two. They will never understand the thoughts, the feelings, that occupy his mind day in and day out— especially since the accident happened.

He feels.

No one seems to know that.

But to simply answer Jisung's question, yes. He is upset. He really hopes you're okay and that San is taking care of you. It's the least he can fucking do after charming you the way he did. He's upset because of many other things, he's upset because he finds himself dwelling on the past much longer than he needs to. He finds himself sinking into all the 'what if's' — finding it hard to focus on his present, to look forward to his future.

He's constantly sinking, with nothing in reach.

He heads to the studio just like he tells Jisung, but he doesn't have class. There's nothing scheduled at the studio, so there shouldn't be anyone around.

It's fine.

That's what he needs right now, anyway. Space to do his own thing, space to dance out all the frustrations. Space to shake off all this shit.

When he gets to the studio, he parks his car and unlocks the door with his own key; tossing his bag off to the side as he steps into the room. He instantly connects his phone to the speakers, blasting his more upbeat playlist throughout the room. He stretches as the mirrors vibrate to the beat of the song currently playing, lights dim and barely illuminating the space.

He lets everything go.

He just needs to, momentarily.

He lets the vibration sink through his body, letting it flow through in waves— just like with everything that's been happening. It's the only way he's been able to process. He has some choreography he needs to finish up before next class but that's the last thing on his mind right now.

The first wave, Minho felt numb. He couldn't believe how everything happened so quickly. You were just in front of him— only to be snatched away hours later. He wasn't sure what to do, how to gain power to change time, didn't know what life would be like with you. It was all too much to process knowing you were almost taken from him completely.

The second wave, Minho was angry, upset, frustrated; all the time. He had no outlet, and as fucked up as it sounds, this is how he brought Kat closer. He felt empty, he felt angry with himself, he felt like he needed some validation. Something to tell him he wasn't entirely at fault, that he was still a person who could be needed, wanted; that he wasn't a bad person although he did need to take ownership for some things at some point.

The third wave that he's currently riding, Minho has nothing else to give. Nothing else to process. He feels useless, powerless— he can't change time or bring anything back. There is simply nothing there and he doesn't know how to work with that in order to move forward. What can he change, how can he do better, when no one believes he can change and do better for you? No one wants to give him that. And quite frankly, they're slowly convincing him that he can't even give himself that.

Maybe it'll go back to the first wave and he'll go back to being numb. But Minho doesn't know what's worse— being numb because it's too much to process, or being numb because there is nothing else to process; nothing else to change, nothing to hang onto.

He doesn't know if he'll ever bounce back from this.

Minho is so into his thoughts as he dances without a strict choreo in mind, sweat dripping down his face as he takes a moment to catch his breath. He sits with his back against the mirror, regulating his breathing after consistently moving his body. He takes a quick sip of water, eyes darting to his phone lighting up on the counter. The vibration is cutting through the music, making Minho groan in annoyance at the interruption.

kat: roommates are gone

kat: lonely af

kat: can you come over? )):

He thinks about this, and to be honest, he still feels pretty shitty. It's a terrible excuse, but who else can he run to right now? Kat makes him feel good. Kat makes him feel better, at least, enough to push him through in the meantime.

minho: be over in a bit. at the studio.

Kat, however, will never be you. She temporarily fills the void, but she will never be you.

From before, from now.

kat: can u stop by for some food?

minho: i'm only coming by for a bit. i have to be up early tomorrow.

kat: yeah ofc whats new

Minho rolls his eyes as he sets his phone aside and continues to dance around the empty studio for a bit until he feels somewhat content. He drags his duffle bag to the separate staff locker room, quickly using the shower before changing into a fresh pair of sweats and a hoodie. He ruffles his damp hair a bit as he walks out into the fresh night air, tossing his bag into the trunk before making his journey to Kat's apartment.

At this point, he's not entirely in the mood to see her. But, he's here just like he says— and he only plans to stay for a quick minute before he's rushing home.

Just like he says.

"Oh, you really didn't stop by for food." Kat snickers a bit before stepping aside to let him in.

"Why would I when I said no?" Minho confusingly chuckles a bit. "Told you I was only coming for a bit. I'm beat."

"Uh huh." She says. "I missed you." She pouts. "I barely heard from you today." He watches her as she wraps her arms around his neck, kissing him on the lips even though he barely returns the effort.

"I was busy."

"You could at least tell me that." She whines as she laces her hand with his.

"Sorry." Is all he can say even though he doesn't really mean it. She is not you; from before, from now. "I'll let you know next time." He follows up and uses it as leverage to kiss her again. "I'm here now, aren't I?" He says in between kisses, sinking into her touch and her lips when she lets out soft moans against him.

This is right where he needs her to be. This is the release he needs, the temporary void he needs filled.

She knows what this is, for the most part. She knows Minho could never be serious with her, though she tries. Hoping one day, he will. Hoping one day, he'll finally move past you and give her a shot.

But, he won't. He never will. And if the accident taught him one thing, it's the fact that he will never, ever give you up again.

She takes the lead and rushes him to the room, clothes flying in all directions until they're decorating the floor. She pushes him onto the bed, legs dangling off the edge while she crouches down and wraps her lips around his length. He hisses a bit, fingers laced in her hair as he pushes her down more, and more.

More;

'Till she takes all of him.

He can't deny that it feels amazing, but he doesn't wanna leave it at that. He's not always a taker, only if Kat reassures that she wants to please him and him only. So, before he feels himself reaching his peak, Minho gently tugs her head off— praising her as he gets her on all fours. He's not wasting any time, no. He enters her and bottoms out quick, finding the perfect rhythm in no time.

He needs to get out.

He doesn't necessarily take his time as much as Kat wants him to. She's screaming his name like a mantra, head pushed against her pillow while Minho continues to do his work behind her. It doesn't take long before she's like putty in his hands and he's stupidly pulling out to spill his seed all over her ass, back.

He needs to get out. Now.

So, he comes back down from his high, regulates his breathing and hops off her bed. He's quickly throwing his clothes back on while Kat is confusingly doing the same. She's asking him why he's been doing this lately, and he doesn't really know how to explain to her that he's just feeling more and more disconnected to this whole thing— to her. She's still continuing though; arms crossed tightly against her chest as she follows Minho out to the door, tears threatening to spill over her bottom lid. He's not focused on her, to be honest, and he's exhausted. Not much is registering for him besides his lazy 'I'm sorry's' and 'I'll spend more time with you the next time I'm over.' But the one thing that does snap him out of everything is when Kat asks—

"It's because of Y/N isn't it?" He stops in his tracks right as he's about to swing the door open and turns over his shoulder to glare at her. "Ever since she woke up—"

"Don't." He says sternly. "You don't get to do that." His jaw clenches. "Do me a favor and don't bring Y/N up again." He swings the door and slams it shut, suddenly feeling emptier than he did before he got here.

Maybe this wave would be the hardest.

☁︎ FLASHBACK | HOSPITAL

"Are you going to come with us to the hospital to visit Y/N tomorrow?" Minho shakes his head at Seungmin.

"Probably not. You guys can go without me." He says softly as he scribbles some notes into his notepad for the small, upcoming café renovations.

"You sure?" Seungmin softly asks and all Minho can do is nod without meeting his eyes. Seungmin lets out a soft sigh before he grabs his keys sitting on the dining room table. "Gotta head back into the office really quickly to drop something off. See you later?"

"Yeah." Is all Minho says, still avoiding contact until Seungmin is out of the door. He lets out a deep sigh, dropping his pen onto the notepad.

He doesn't even remember what he needed to write.

He checks the time on his watch, hand close to hitting 4 o'clock. He groans to himself, shutting his notebook before grabbing his own keys from the other end of the kitchen table.

He hopes he doesn't regret this.

Though, he kinda does when he slaps the visitor tag on his sweater and proceeds to your room. Then, it grows when he stands at your doorway and sees you lying perfectly still on your bed. He digs his hands into his pockets and remains there for a moment, afraid to move closer, yet his feet aren't taking him away from your room. He musters up the courage about a min later, slowly walking towards your bed side.

Even through all the pain and hurt you've been through, you still looked so, so angelic.

"Hey." He says, close to a whisper— voice slightly cracking because he doesn't know what he's feeling right now as he looks at you. Is he angry at himself for coming here when things were't changing anytime soon? Is he angry he could've done better? Is he angry for the way the universe is playing such a sick fucking joke on him right now?

Because you're in reach and out of reach at the same time.

Minho gains more courage to pull his chair closer to your bedside so that he doesn't have to lean too far to get a good look at you. The only sounds filling the room are the beeping machines and the people passing in the hallway outside.

"Y/N." He calls your name as he gently brushes the hair back and away from your face. "Hope you're doing okay." He feels so stupid. Why would he say that? His thumb caresses your cheek before it slides down to your hand. It isn't too cold, but the warmth in your body has subsided.

The warmth in your body is fighting to stay.

"I-I—" He pauses to lick his lips. "I miss you." No response. "God, I miss you." He feels the tears welling up and his head drops. He holds your hand tightly and squeezes, hoping he can feel anything on your end.

But, nothing.

"I'm so sorry." He whispers just as he's remembering every detail about you, the moments he's shared with you, the feelings, your touch—

The way you smile, the way you laugh.

The way you always kiss his fingers and look at him in pure adoration.

The way you bring the sun and blue skies into every room.

"I fucked up and I'm so, so sorry." He continues to whisper as he cries harder, head falling near your lap as he continues hold your hand. "I'm so sorry." He repeats.

He should've kept his word.

He should've done better.

He should've protected you.

"I should've done better. I shouldn't have let you go, and I'll never forgive myself for being so fucking stupid." He looks up at you through his teary eyes before returning his head back near your lap. "I get it. I would never want you to be in pain. Or, to hurt. All I want is for you to be okay. But, if you can at least hear me right now—" He pauses as his crying intensifies. "Please don't give up on me. I know I fucked up and I know I have no right to ask you for this, but please don't leave me." It's barely audible through his crying, but he's hoping it will somehow reach you. "Please don't leave me."

☁︎ END

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"To Know You Again" Chapter 2 - A Kiss Long Awaited

Pairing: Neteyam x fem!Omatikaya OC

Summary: “Do you remember our last night here? The night before my family left?” The warm, rumbling timbre of Neteyam’s voice washed over her. “Yes,” Naia whispered. How could she forget?... She had replayed the memory of his lips over and over numerous times. One corner of Neteyam’s mouth lifted in a small smile as his eyes tracked over the delicate bridge of her nose and over her steadily flushing cheeks. His gaze stopped to rest on her lips, “You gave me something that night. I think it's time I returned it."

An exploration of what if Neteyam had to leave a girl he was close to behind when his family fled to the reefs to seek refuge. AU - Set 7 years after TWoW, exploring the many emotions and the eventual romantic reunion between Neteyam and his love.

Warnings: Adult content 18+, MDNI Content: Romance, drama, angst, fluff, sexual content, smut, soulmates, bonding. Word Count: 7.4k

Previous Chapter 1 - Homecoming

As recognition dawned upon Naia at the intruder’s identity, her fright quickly turned to annoyance at being startled out of her slumber. The delicate points of her ears, which had sprung upright in momentary surprise at Neteyam’s presence, flattened again and she hissed, “You skxawng! Why would you sneak up on me like that? That’s such a kurkung (asshole) move!”

Neteyam chuckled at her gutsy and impertinent reaction, “Still feisty, I see. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Straightening to full height now that she perceived she was in no danger, Naia’s eyes ran over his form again. Shit, he had gotten big...

Neteyam had always been lean, even in his younger years, due to his natural athleticism and active lifestyle. However, the breadth of his chest and the strapping strength in his arms was a change and it triggered an involuntary flutter of feminine appreciation in her stomach. He was taller than she remembered too.

Neteyam cleared his throat quietly and Naia’s eyes shot upward to his face. The youthful softness it had once possessed was gone now, his cheekbones high and his jawline more angular. A roguish smirk was playing across his features and Naia caught herself then, realising she had been staring.

“Are you going to put the pointy thing away?” Neteyam teased lightly, grinning widely when he saw Naia sheepishly re-sheathe the small dagger she was holding in its case at her hip.

He had noticed her staring, but Neteyam would be a hypocrite if he did not admit to doing the same. Naia looked very different. Her facial features were familiar, but her hair was longer now, braided neatly down to her shoulders and the rest of her had certainly filled out nicely. He made a conscious effort to check himself and ensure his gaze did not linger for more than a moment on the pleasing curves of her breasts and hips.

Now that the flare of her annoyance had died down, Naia found herself rather tongue-tied in Neteyam’s presence. Eywa, she did not know what to say or do…

“You didn’t come with the others to say hi earlier,” Neteyam broached quietly.

Naia swallowed and her eyes met his again, “Sorry, I was busy with Entu. How’d you know I’d be here?”

Neteyam shook his head and shrugged casually, “I didn’t actually. I just wanted to stretch my legs after flying for almost two days before going to bed. I wasn’t really going anywhere in particular and I guess my feet naturally started retracing old paths.”

Naia gave a barely audible gasp. He remembered this was their spot… Did he remember the bond they shared all those years ago too?

“Did I give you that much of a fright? You’re very quiet.” Neteyam’s voice was sincere and gentle concern coloured his features.

The beads in Naia’s hair rattled mildly as she gave a soft shake of her head. She gave an awkward laugh and apologised, “You did give me a scare, but it’s alright. Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude. I just-” Naia paused mid-sentence then, thinking of what she wanted to say and how to phrase it, “I just can’t quite believe you’re here. It’s been so long. I don’t really know what to say.”

He grinned toothily at her, the pointed tips of his canines peeking out from behind his upper lip, “Smart-mouthed Naia, lost for words huh? That’s unlike you. You called me a moron and an asshole only a few moments ago.” Neteyam took a few steps towards her then, closing the distance between them, “How about a nice greeting?”

Naia’s heartbeat sped up at his approach and the flutters erupted again in her tummy. A greeting? Her mind spun with what she should do. Should she shake his hand or-?

Thankfully Neteyam solved her dilemma for her. She saw him hold his arms out slightly from his sides, palms open in an unspoken request for a hug. Oh.

Self-conscious nerves fizzled through her and her limbs felt slightly numb. Her legs instinctively carried her forward nonetheless and she slotted herself against him, winding her arms around his slender waist. Neteyam’s arms enveloped her smaller frame and Naia rose onto the balls of her feet so she could rest her chin over his shoulder.

Naia need not have worried.The awkward tension within her disappeared the moment her body met his and she melted into his embrace.

It was as if their skin remembered, their muscles and flesh moulding to each other like it was the most natural thing in the world. Neteyam’s skin was a blissfully warm contrast to the chill of the night air and Naia turned her head inward to tuck her cheek against the flat of his collarbone where it met his shoulder, her nose skimming the skin of his neck. His scent was familiar and her eyes slid shut to the gentle thud of his heartbeat.

Something clicked into place in the depths of Neteyam’s being and his heart whispered “home”. The years he had spent through the Long War in the reefs of Awa’atlu suddenly felt like a distant memory and the recollections of his past in the forest, and with Naia, came flooding back to him. Like the rest of his family, he had been forced to adapt to life at sea and he had done so successfully, eventually becoming Metkayina. However, the voices of his Omatikaya ancestors had never stopped calling to his soul, nor had the sound of Naia’s voice.

Holding Naia against him, he dipped his head to murmur by the pointed shell of her ear, “Oel ngati kameie, Naia. I’m happy to see you.”

Naia’s heart soared with joy and she could not suppress the wide smile that stretched across her lips. Still feeling somewhat shy, she uttered her own greeting into the crook of his neck, “I see you, Neteyam. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.”

The motion against her was soft, but the gentle press of Neteyam’s lips against the crown of her head was unmistakeable for what it was. The buzzing flurry in Naia’s stomach spread upward to her chest as her many emotions frolicked within her. He had not forgotten her. He was here… he was home now.

However, the part of Naia that looked after her self-preservation cautioned her not to get ahead of herself. Neteyam may have missed her, but it did not mean he felt the same depth of affection towards her that she did for him.

“You’ve shrunk. You’re shorter than I remember.” Neteyam joked.

With a huff of laughter, Naia stepped back a little to face him, “No I haven’t! I’m taller than I used to be actually. You’ve just grown more exponentially than I have, both upward and outward.” She unwound her arms from around him and planted her hands on his biceps, giving them an experimental squeeze, “By Eywa, what did they have you doing out there? Throwing massive chunks of coral reef around?”

Neteyam snorted, joining her in laughter, “No, but regular swimming against strong ocean currents will do this to you.”

“Are you back for good?” Naia queried, keeping her tone carefully measured even though her heart was bursting at the seams with hope.

“Yeah, I am. The forest has always been my home.” Neteyam breathed in response. He walked further into the grotto and cast his eyes around the space. It appeared exactly as he remembered it. He spotted the nest of blankets in the corner and the purple fabric of what looked like his old flying shawl. He smiled to himself before his gaze purposefully sought Naia’s out again, “My heart has always been here.”

***~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***

Eclipse was coming to an end and the mellow light of morning was beginning to brighten Neteyam’s surroundings. He skulked silently through the various cloth pavilions and tents of High Camp, making for the shelter of his own family’s newfound lodging in the distance. Naia’s family shelter was on the opposite end of the camp and they had parted ways at the grotto with the joyful relief of a ‘see you later’ rather than a ‘goodbye’.

He and Naia had stayed up for a good portion of the night talking and filling each other in on the long years that had passed in-between. The comfortable amity they had shared in the past had returned with ease and they had fallen into their old ways of teasing and joking as if he had never left. It was just like old times; well, mostly.

Neteyam felt blood heat his face in mild embarrassment and he smiled wryly to himself. Perhaps the only difference were the moments of light tension that charged between them when they realised there were certain old habits they used to do that were different now, because of the resulting sensuality that came with being grown. Curling against each other to sleep was one such example.

Nevertheless, they had fallen asleep at some point, not quite touching but still lying alongside each other amongst the blankets. Neteyam had awoken later to a diffident smile from Naia as she had risen to stretch her limbs.

Reaching the cloth flap of his family’s shelter, he carefully curled the fingers of one hand around an edge and parted it slowly. It was mostly dark still in the first section that expanded out from the entryway and he stepped inside as quietly as he could. To be fair, Neteyam did not know why he was sneaking in like a teenager not wanting to be found wandering after hours. He was an adult now; he could do as he pleased with his nights.

Rounding the corner of another section of the shelter, he was met with firelight and the perceptive eyes of his parents. It should not have surprised him. They were both early risers. Murmuring a muted greeting, Neteyam sat to join them as they partook in an early breakfast of savoury rolls.

“How’s Manaia?” Neytiri asked coolly, her eyes never leaving her food as she gingerly peeled the leaf-wrapping back to take another bite, although a knowing smile was dancing on her lips.

Busted.

Neteyam did not feel too mortified, thankfully. His parents were aware after all of how he felt for Naia. He had missed her horribly for many, many moons when they had first moved to Awa’atlu. He had been reclusive and uncharacteristically short-tempered with his siblings, and it was not until the start of the Long War that he became distracted enough by the calamity of war to take his mind off her.

“Naia’s good. She’s not tsakarem anymore.”

“Yes, your grandmother informed us. Apparently she refused to be betrothed to Tupou.” Jake piped up.

Neytiri was very amused by the sentiment and she cackled softly, “Not surprising. If she is still as vivacious as I remember her to be, then a partnership between those two would be like adding oil to a bonfire in all the wrong ways. Leylani is a much better fit, she’ll keep Tupou’s arrogance in check without riling him.”

Jake eyed Neteyam from across the small fire in the hearth. The revelation was a small win. It would certainly complicate matters for his son if Naia was affianced to another. Feeling meddlesome, he posed his question, “So, are you going to give Manaia your soul-gift?”

Neytiri spluttered at the indelicacy of the intimate question, chastising her mate, “Jake! You do not ask about such matters, even to family!”

“Hey, you started this conversation!” Jake retorted with a snicker, gently batting Neytiri’s hands away as she reached out to try and twist one of his ears, “Besides, he was with her all night.”

“Talking, Dad. We were just catching up.” Neteyam smirked and shook his head, chuckling at his parents’ playful antics. His father’s question was indeed very personal, but he knew his father meant it rhetorically and was only stirring the pot to annoy his mother.

Neteyam thought of the elaborate necklet and pendant that lay tucked in its little pouch with the rest of his belongings. The Metkayina had a tradition where every individual would craft a gift for their intended mate; a soul-gift. It was intended as a proposal of sorts and a promise of the eternal bond they would share in Eywa. A soul-gift could be anything; a weapon, an article of clothing; an ornament; but it was often an intricate piece of hand-crafted jewellery.

An image of the necklet adorning Naia’s neck with its twisting pendant nestled atop her breasts came to Neteyam, and it caused a wave of heat to bloom in his chest as well as elsewhere. His heart had rejoiced at being reunited with her last night and she certainly seemed as elated by his return. There was definitely physical attraction between them, but did her heart call to his like his did to hers?

Neteyam was sure Naia had loved him once, a long time ago. The memory of her kiss had besieged him ever since. It had taken him by surprise on their last night together before his departure, and the thought of leaving her love behind had been too painful for him to acknowledge it. Afterward, he wished he had kissed her back.

“Tarsem has not rostered us on any duties for the next few days to give us time to rest and acclimatise again.” Jake’s voice brought Neteyam back to the present, “I imagine it’ll be the hunters and warriors that you want to re-join?”

Swallowing the last piece of his savoury roll, Neteyam nodded firmly, “Yes, definitely.”

“I’ll see to it that Tarsem is aware of that. He wants me back on the elders’ council and there is a meeting at the week’s end. Apparently he has much to discuss with me.”

Neytiri raised a questioning brow, “Already? You just returned and the people are at peace now. I can’t imagine what would be so pressing that he requires your immediate advice.”

Cocking his head and blowing a long breath out from between his lips, Jake shrugged, “He said it was something to do with the clan hierarchy.”

Neteyam was beginning to zone out as his parents continued their conversation. The fact that he was not expected to join in the clan’s duties at current sounded wonderful to him. His scratchy eyes reminded him of his weariness. Two days of flying followed by a night of not much sleep meant that slumber was beckoning to him.

He would see Naia again later that evening and the warmth of anticipation tingled in his chest. Bidding his parents a good day, Neteyam moved farther into the shelter where the sleeping area was and promptly collapsed onto his sleeping mat. His last thought before sleep claimed him, as always, was Naia.

***~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***

Leylani looked across the tsahìk’s hut at Naia, observing as her friend continued peeling the batch of kllpxiwll (lionberry) fruit they had gathered earlier that morning without so much as a peep from her. The purple flesh of the lionberry fruit was incredibly sour and not good for eating, but the large seed that lay within its flesh could be boiled and the resulting broth made into a syrup that eased fever and aches in the body. Getting to the seed was an infuriating endeavour though due to the fruit’s tough orange skin, which was waxy, spiny, and very difficult to remove.

Leylani knew this was one of Naia’s least favourite things to do as a result, and there was usually an abundance of huffing complaints from her when she had to complete the task. However, today she appeared lost in her own world, and every now and again a shy smile would flit across her full lips at whatever her thoughts contained.

Naia had been similarly distracted every day this past week and judging by the timing of it, Leylani was willing to bet that her thoughts were centred around a certain someone. A certain young man who had recently returned to the clan and promptly set all the hearts of the young women aflutter with his strapping frame and fetching good-looks. Leylani knew Neteyam and Naia had been close companions in their youth though.

Finishing her own task of brewing a new batch of yanabark tincture, Leylani grinned impishly and left her station to join Naia where she sat. A bit of harmless teasing was in order.

Naia did not even look up when Leylani plopped down next to her. Tittering softly, Leylani nudged her friend by pressing the side of her thigh against hers, “You’re in a good mood, sister.”

“Am I? I’m not sure what you mean.” Naia replied coyly, turning her attention away from her chore to acknowledge Leylani with narrowed eyes. Naia knew where the conversation was going and she did not want to be ribbed.

“You’re so happy even battling with the kllpxiwll fruit has not spoiled your day!” Leylani continued with her good-natured pestering. Naia was usually brimming with quick-witted sarcasm, but Leylani had discovered in recent days that if there was one topic of conversation that made her squirm dumbstruck, it was Neteyam. It was a fun change to be able to give Naia a taste of her own medicine. “Has Neteyam gone from swimming in the reefs to swimming in your thoughts?”

Naia’s head whipped upright, frazzled, with wide eyes and steadily flushing cheeks, “No!”

Leylani threw her head back with an unbridled peal of laughter at her friend’s response, which she knew was a fib, “Oh mawey, it’s alright! I’m only teasing you, but I don’t blame you Manaia. Neteyam is charming and very handsome.”

The last sentence had been delivered in a sing-song voice and Naia ground out her reply through gritted teeth, “He’s a good friend.”

“Mm hmm.” Leylani’s tone made it clear she was not convinced, but she put her poor friend out of her misery and pursued the topic no more.

There was a disturbance at the hut’s entrance and the cloth flaps parted to admit three of the fisherfolk women, followed by a clucking and fussing Mo’at who hurried to get her healer’s things. Two younger women were supporting an older woman between them, who was hobbling into the hut on one foot. The drops of crimson that she left behind her in a trail was evidence of her injury.

“Come Roha, sit! I need to stem the bleeding.” Mo’at quickly ushered the older woman onto a soft mat, motioning for the woman to place her leg in her lap.

“Oh it looks so painful!” One of the younger women gasped, cringing at the sight.

“Don’t worry yourself, daughter. It’s only a cut foot.” Roha reassured, “I was careless. I didn’t see the jagged edge on that rock by the river.”

Mo’at worked quickly, applying pressure using one hand with some clean cloth while the nimble fingers of her other hand uncapped a small pottle containing a strong-smelling salve, “It’s a deep cut though. You’ll be limping for a while and no more wading or swimming until the wound seals over. I’m sure there will still be plenty of fish and clams gathered for meals even with one fisherwoman down.”

Roha chortled huskily and cast a pert grin at Mo’at, “Ah I’m not worried about our gathered stock being depleted, tsahìk. If your grandson wasn’t a warrior, I’d have him working with us fisherfolk permanently! His breath holds are incredible. He gathered an entire satchel of riverweed and river clams in half the time it would take one of us to do it!”

Mo’at smiled, “Well, the reef clans live and breathe the ocean. I daresay holding your breath for extended periods is a life-or-death skill out there. Was Neteyam helping you today?”

“Yes, his warrior duties don’t start until tomorrow and he was looking for something to occupy himself with this morning.”

“We were wondering if he was alright at first. He was submerged for so long. If it wasn’t for the fact that we could still see him swimming we would’ve gone down after him.” Roha’s daughter added blandly.

Roha let out a mischievous cackle then, her eyes crinkling in the corners, “He’s quite the sight for sore eyes. I’m sure some of the women would not have minded giving him breath to resuscitate him if needed!”

Naia shook her head with a roll of her eyes and she made a renewed effort to block out the conversation. She did not need to be reminded that Neteyam was appealing enough that he could have his pick of all the women if he wished. Naia’s curdling mood must have been obvious as Leylani giggled at her green-eyed expression.

Yet still it’s you he spends his evenings with… Naia’s brain supplied encouragingly. It was true. Neteyam had spent every evening in her company since his return. Naia pressed her lips tightly together to suppress another girlish grin that threatened to jaunt its way across her lips.

They passed the evenings together mostly talking and laughing, either in the grotto or walking amongst the lush woodlands below the mountains if they fancied a flight out on their ikran too. Neteyam told her stories of his family’s time with the Metkayina; about how they had learned the way of water; about how Lo’ak had been the only one to bond with a tulkun and had chosen to stay with his mate Tsireya instead of returning to the forest; about the harrowing years fighting alongside the sea people on the oceanic side of the Long War.

In contrast, Naia did not feel like she had anything interesting to tell him. She had studied conscientiously under his grandmother when the role of tsakarem was still hers, learning to heal and commune with Eywa. The Long War had felt like a never-ending nightmare for Naia, where the tsahìk’s hut was always full of the injured and dying, and a healer’s job was never done.

Neteyam had enlisted her help the other evening with shearing and re-braiding his hair. He had shorn the sides off in the typical warriors’ fashion, leaving only a thick cluster of braids running down the middle of his scalp and trailing around his queue. Naia’s fingers had deftly woven a selection of beads into his hair as she had worked. Some of the beads were from her own personal collection of embellishments, a detail that made her stomach flutter with happiness at the thought.

Another nudge from Leylani broke Naia out of her contemplation and she realised it was the end of her work day.

Only last meal to go and then she would see him again.

***~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***

Pumping her legs harder and willing her burning muscles to carry her faster, Naia cursed herself for this inane endeavour. In her spirited mood, after a refreshing evening flight on their ikran, she had challenged Neteyam to a race on foot from the mount where the ikran roosted back to the grotto. She had thought that perhaps the years of swimming and oceanic living might have dulled his dexterity at forest-life, but she was wrong.

The smaller mountain top where the ikran rookery was situated was not far from High Camp. However, one still had to scale down the precipice of it, traverse across the suspension of arching boughs that connected it to the base of High Camp, and then climb the myriad of vines to reach the flatter summit of the stronghold. From High Camp, they still needed to make their way towards the secluded collection of caves where their grotto was to ‘win’ the race.

Naia’s eyes stung slightly from the rush of the night zephyr that blew past her. More than just a little ahead of her, Neteyam leapt, loped and climbed with the lithe grace and muscle memory of someone who had never left the forest. He was striking to behold as he moved, the power in his body apparent in the rippling strength of his physique. He was a warrior and male. She was a healer and female. Profession and biology alone should have told Naia that this was an uneven contest from the get-go.

By the time Naia caught up to Neteyam at the mouth of the grotto, he was not even panting anymore. A radiant smile spread across his face as she jogged up to him, her chest heaving as she fought to catch her breath.

“Damn you and your muscles, and your natural athleticism!” Naia sputtered, bending forward to rest her hands on her knees to ease the stitch just below her ribs.

Deep laughter echoed, the sound bouncing off the rocky walls and reverberating around in the collection of small cave systems. Neteyam made a show of flexing his muscles then, curling his biceps and twisting this way and that, posing haughtily. He snorted during his next breath, “Is this a good impression of Tupou?”

Naia coughed, choking on the hearty laugh that burst from her chest at the remark. Indeed, she could never tell if Tupou was stretching like he said he was during his warm ups, or if he was modelling instead for the females around him before he departed on his patrols or hunts. Clearly even Neteyam had picked up on Tupou’s pretentious habit.

Though his hair now resembled Tupou’s and the rest of the warriors, Naia silently observed that she found Neteyam much more physically appealing than she did Tupou. Both men were handsome with physiques that would make any woman fantasise of doing unchaste things, but where Tupou’s face was hard with an air of superciliousness to it, Neteyam’s expression was warm and his eyes gentle.

Watching as Neteyam turned to stroll into the grotto, Naia took the opportunity to appreciate his burly frame. Not that he had ever been skinny before, but his new muscular form made her hyperaware that the boy she remembered was gone, replaced now by a grown man who embodied the very essence of what she considered male. Desire unfurled low in her abdomen and her mouth turned dry, and a very feminine part of her clenched involuntarily in yearning. She bit her bottom lip sheepishly. Oh Great Mother, do not forsake me…

Following Neteyam into the grotto, Naia murmured her thanks when he held a waterskin out to her to drink from. The cool liquid quenched her thirst delightfully and moistened her parched throat. Letting her head loll backward, she gave a gratified moan before lifting the waterskin to her lips again to take another swig.

It was a completely natural and innocent response on Naia’s part. However, Neteyam schooled his expression into one of composure when the sound of her moan shot an unbidden spear of lust through him. Her striped cobalt skin was dewy with a light sheen of perspiration and the sight of her with her head tipped back, her eyes hooded, brought to mind some of his very personal imaginings of her in very particular situations. Her scent was also incredibly enticing and it impelled him to take her in his arms and press his nose into the crook of her neck.

Six long years he had spent away from her; six long years of envisaging what she would look like if he ever saw her again and how she would feel in his arms. Now that his wish had been granted and Naia stood corporeal before him, his hands itched to touch her and his mouth watered with longing to kiss her.

Setting the waterskin down by the nest of soft blankets, Naia grinned puckishly and crouched down by the small make-shift hearth in the grotto. There was a small oil lamp burning in the corner, but the nights were getting chillier now as they moved into the cooler season and a small fire would provide both better illumination and warmth. Sitting down and crossing her legs, she piled pieces of kindling and dried greenery before her and grabbed two coarse stones, “You might still outrun and outstrip me physically, but I can still build a better fire than you can.”

Neteyam chuckled and agreed without dispute, letting Naia go about the task. She certainly got his fire going…

Settling himself down against the blankets, he stretched out on his back with a bolster roll under his head. The grotto brightened considerably not long after when Naia succeeded in igniting the hearth. Sticking her tongue out at him, she twittered in triumph and moved to join him. Stepping over his reclined form, she eased herself down to sit against the grotto wall. She reached for the purple flying shawl and drew it over her knees.

“I can’t believe you still have this.” Neteyam said, catching one corner of the shawl between his fingers, “It’s so old now it’s almost threadbare.”

“Just means the fabric isn’t scratchy against my skin.” Naia quickly countered, but she mustered up enough courage in the next moment to admit softly, too shy to meet his eyes, “And it reminded me of you.” It also smelled of you once… She left that sentiment out though. She had cried the day the shawl stopped smelling of him, when she could no longer detect his scent in the soft fabric.

The air charged around them with a taut tension. It was not uncomfortable, it just held a silent sense of the unfinished, of something more that needed to occur. Neteyam wished he had brought a physical reminder of Naia with him when he had left. He had departed with empty hands and a hollow heart, with nothing but his memories of her and a tingling recollection of her soft lips against his.

Naia brought her eyes upward from her lap and found Neteyam’s eyes squarely on her. His eyes of green-gold were framed by dark lashes and something sparked within their depths as he held her gaze. His eyes dropped just a fraction, looking at something a little lower on her face. Naia licked her lips nervously. She swore he was looking at her lips…

A bright flare of something arced overhead, visible through the fissure in the grotto’s ceiling. Several more flashes followed, a shower of light blazing across the blue-black canvas of the night sky.

Naia gasped in surprise, her glee plain in her voice, “A star shower!”

Neteyam shuffled over to his left to make room for her. The best view through the crevice in the ceiling was where he was lying, “Come over here, quick!” He gestured with his right arm for Naia to lie beside him and, in her excitement, there was no hesitation as she stretched out alongside him. He adjusted his arm so it was cushioning her shoulders and Naia carefully rested her head against his shoulder while she gazed skyward.

Star showers were fleeting and did not last long. They were also rare occurrences. It was said that anyone lucky enough to witness the flitting of the stars through the sky would be granted their heart’s utmost desire.

The stars burst their way in brilliant streams overhead and Naia was only dimly aware that she was smiling. The phenomenon was delightful and nestled against Neteyam, with the skin of his shoulder warming her cheek, Naia felt the happiest she had been in a long time.

Neteyam’s eyes remained skyward, but he was distracted. Every one of his other senses was buzzing with keen attentiveness to the feel of Naia’s body pressed to his own. Her even breaths prickled by his ear, her scent tantalised his nose, his skin tingled with aching heat where it met hers and his tongue wanted very much to taste her.

Star showers were supposed to bring good luck and the thought encouraged Neteyam. He and Naia were close, but it was time to test the waters of what more they could be to each other.

As quickly as it had come, the starry marvel ended and Naia turned her head slightly to look at Neteyam, “That was so beautiful.” She gave a small intake of breath when she found him already watching her intently.

“You’re so beautiful, Naia.”

Flinching a little in surprise, Naia’s wit was quick to bite back her growing awkwardness at his comment, “As beautiful as a star shower? Your eyesight is deteriorating, Neteyam. Careful, you might miss your target during tomorrow’s hunt.” There was no way he meant what he said, surely. His mother was beautiful; Leylani was beautiful. Naia had never felt anything more than plain.

Neteyam could see Naia mentally talking herself out of his compliment and he was not having it, “You’re barely a hand’s width from my face, I think I can see just fine. Why do you doubt my words?”

Squirming at his direct line of questioning, Naia turned her head and made to shift away from him and from his query, but Neteyam was quicker than her. Rolling onto his side towards her and propping himself up on one hand, he brought his other arm down on her other side in a loose cage. Stuck, Naia’s back lowered softly to the ground again within the enclosure of his arms and she peered noiselessly up at him.

“Do you remember our last night here? The night before my family left?” The warm, rumbling timbre of Neteyam’s voice washed over her.

“Yes,” Naia whispered. How could she forget? She had replayed the memory of his lips over and over numerous times.

One corner of Neteyam’s mouth lifted in a small smile as his eyes tracked over the delicate bridge of her nose, over her steadily flushing cheeks and over the gentle glittering of her phosphorescent freckles, “You gave me something that night.”

Shivers ran across Naia’s body, not from the cold, but from gradually rising anticipation as Neteyam’s face continued its descent towards hers. Did he remember? Was he talking about what she thought he was? She had no words. She was entranced by the unfolding situation.

Neteyam lowered himself onto his elbow on one side, his torso aligning with and pressing flush against hers again. His lips were a soft caress against one of her ears, “I think it’s time I returned it.”

Naia’s lips were parted and her breaths were coming in small pants. Neteyam’s musky scent permeated her nostrils and it was alluring in its potent masculinity. Her next breath left her in a shudder when she felt him stroke his nose over the hot skin of her cheek and his lips brushed the corner of her mouth.

Neteyam felt as if they were suspended in time, just the two of them alone in the universe. He pulled back a little to regard Naia, giving her one last chance to stop him from crossing the line they had so carefully toed for the last week. There was no coming back from this. If she responded the way he hoped, he would never let her go again.

Naia had dreamt of this moment for years… Heart hammering in her chest, she shifted just a fraction towards him.

That was all the permission Neteyam needed. Leaning down, he sealed his lips over Naia’s. The years of longing burst in their chests, thrill spearing outward from their hearts as they finally gave in to magnetism between them and let their ardour consume them.

A blazing but pleasurable heat besieged Naia as she dissolved into the kiss. Neteyam was everywhere around her and she felt like thick nectar liquifying as his lips and tongue continued to lead the carnal dance with hers. Great Mother, Naia had never been kissed like this before. She had never been kissed at all.

Naia knew that was by her own choice. She had never found any other man appealing enough to want to kiss him. She had seen other young couples kissing passionately, unashamed of the fact they could be seen, and she had often thought it gross. It did not look pleasant; it looked like they were trying to eat each other’s faces and she did not understand it. She understood it now. She was drowning blissfully in the fervent heat of Neteyam’s mouth.

Neteyam shifted again, moving his body so it almost entirely sheltered hers. It gave him better access to her face and neck this way and he gave a satisfied growl when he felt Naia’s thighs part to cradle his heavy weight against her. Tucking his head into the crook of her neck, he proceeded to lavish open-mouthed kisses against her sensitive skin, delighting in the way she gasped and arched against him.

Naia wound her arms around his neck and desire coursed unrestrained through her veins. It pooled most heavily in the vee of her thighs and the most secret part of her pulsed in want. She knew she was not the only one aroused though. Naia might not have any practical experience in this field, but she was a healer and she was well-educated in how bodies worked.

Neteyam returned his attentions to her mouth, his lips resuming their dance with hers again and Naia instinctively squirmed, rocking herself against the hard ridge of his erection. He broke away from the kiss as her movement elicited a sharp hiss of enjoyment from him. Exhilarated by his passionate reaction, Naia continued to repeat the motion. She surprised even herself with her own brazenness. She relished in the feel of his arousal against her core and appreciated the way his expression contorted in pleasure.

This woman would be the death of him… With a firm hand on her hip, Neteyam stopped her with a hoarse chuckle, “Naia, stop.” He pressed a chaste kiss to her lips then and rolled back onto his side.

Naia was in a happy daze. Perhaps she was dreaming. Maybe she would wake up soon and discover it had all been a wonderful dream. If it was then she did not want to wake up…

“You’re not asleep.”

Oh, had she spoken her thoughts aloud?

Another chuckle rumbled in Neteyam’s chest and he delivered a playful nip to the point of Naia’s ear that was closest to him, hard enough to hurt a little but not break the skin.

“Ow!” Naia squealed, pushing against his chest in mock anger.

“Can’t feel pain if you’re dreaming.” Neteyam teased, leaning in to soothe the hurt he had inflicted with a kiss to the same affronted ear. His expression turned grave then as he held her gaze, “Why did you think you were dreaming?”

The awkwardness returned and Naia fidgeted nervously. By Eywa, he was full of deep questions today… She could be truthful with him though. She knew Neteyam would never judge her, but admitting her feelings for him had not waned in seven years was a vulnerable fact.

“I didn’t think you felt that way about me.” Naia confessed quietly, avoiding his eyes and choosing to stare instead at the darkened sky overhead, “You didn’t kiss me back that night. Great Mother, I felt like a fool after. I thought I’d misjudged everything.”

Neteyam’s heart gave a distressing squeeze at the realisation that Naia had spent all these years thinking her feelings were unrequited. All because he had been too stunned and too selfish to respond the way he had wanted to. It had been too painful for him to acknowledge her feelings that night, and he had neglected to even consider how his inaction would affect her.

Shaking his head, his expression contrite, Neteyam cupped Naia’s cheek and turned her face to him, “I’m sorry. I was an idiot. You surprised me when you kissed me. And then I was too scared to acknowledge it because having to leave you felt so much worse if I acknowledged that there was more between us.”

A wet giggle left Naia and she mentally cursed the unbidden sting of tears in her eyes. She did not know whether to laugh or cry. The lump in her throat prevented her from talking.

Neteyam filled the silence instead, “I was miserable for a long time. Then the Long War happened and I was miserable for other reasons too, but there wasn’t a day where I didn’t think of you.” He gently dragged the pad of his thumb over her lips and down her chin before daringly resting the flat of his hand over her heart, feeling the soft swell of her breast beneath his palm, “I feel deeply for you and I want to get to know you like this.”

Naia’s chest brimmed with happiness and relief. She had yearned for him for so long and he was here now, saying to her what she had only imagined him saying in the past. She rolled inwards, snuggling into the warmth of his neck and chest and she felt his arm come to press her to him.

I love you. The words were there, resounding in her heart and a breath away from leaving her lips, but Naia pressed her lips to his chest instead. She would keep those tender words to herself, lest she frighten him away with her ardour.

They had all the time in the world now to explore where this would go. What was the rush?

***~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***

Muffled voices carried from within his family’s shelter as Neteyam approached it. He heard another deep voice speaking, not his father’s, which meant they had visitors.

He and Naia had kissed a little more afterward and when things had begun to grow heated again, he had stopped them with the lame but not untrue excuse of needing to get back. His warrior duties started tomorrow and it would be a strenuous day of hunting. He needed a good night’s sleep to ensure he was rejuvenated and fresh for the task.

The very male parts of him had wanted to continue, but things were progressing too quickly and he did not want to scare Naia. Not she appeared to mind… The thought brought a salacious smirk to his face.

“Ah, if it isn’t the man himself! Speak of him and he appears as if summoned!”

Neteyam was greeted with four pairs of eyes across the hearth as he parted the tent flaps and entered. Finally amidst them, he realised the booming voice that had just spoken was the olo’eyktan, Tarsem.

“Oel ngati kameie, olo’eyktan.” Neteyam greeted automatically, bringing his fingers to his forehead before splaying them outward in their traditional greeting.

Tarsem gestured for Neteyam to join them in the circle, “I’ve just been debriefing with your parents and grandmother after tonight’s council meeting. There is much to discuss.” There was a meaningful gleam in Tarsem’s eyes and while it was not malicious or lacking warmth in anyway, Neteyam found it slightly disconcerting. Judging by the clan chief’s earlier comment, they had evidently been speaking of him before his return.

Glancing in turn at his father, mother and grandmother, Neteyam was disappointed to find no reassurance in their doubtful expressions.

Straightening her spine, Mo’at offered diplomatically, “Tarsem perhaps you should let my son and daughter speak to Neteyam of the proposition later in private?”

Tarsem was not convinced, “Why? It’s a good proposal!”

Neteyam saw his father wince slightly and Jake stated, “Brother Tarsem, I’ve already told you that I will not reclaim my position as chief of the Omatikaya. That mantle is yours to keep and by tradition, your successor should be one of your own blood.”

Spiny pinpricks of foreboding tingled in Neteyam’s gut. The contrast in demeanour between Tarsem and his family at whatever proposal they spoke of did not bode well.

With a sigh and shake of his head, Tarsem clapped a heavy hand over Jake’s shoulder, “I can’t force you to resume your position if you so vehemently decline, brother, but I’m glad you have agreed to be my right hand. However, the matter of my son is more severe.”

Getting increasingly uneasy as time went by, and annoyed at being spoken of as if he was not present, Neteyam asked, “What is this proposition about?”

Tarsem appeared pleased and he took a deep inhale, his lean chest and shoulders expanding with his breath. Eyes gleaming with approval, he regarded Neteyam, “The clan council has proposed for you to reclaim your birth right. You will succeed me as olo’eyktan of the Omatikaya clan. I’m sure Leylani will find this favourable. You’ve always had a far firmer head on your shoulders than Tupou has and you’ll be a better partner for her overall.”

Neteyam was speechless. What?... Reclaim his birth right and lead the Omatikaya with Leylani by his side?... No.

***~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***

Author’s Note:

Did this chapter make your heart go 'squeeeee'? It certainly made my heart do that as I was composing it. I swear Neteyam and Naia are too cute. But oh the clan dramas, we had to have some clan drama...

Pour your hearts and minds out to me, my dear readers! Tell me what you're thinking and feeling.

Chapter 3 - A Choice Already Made

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