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oxymorayuri · 4 months

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𝐶𝘩𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝟽

𝑇𝘩𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑠 »

𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑔𝑎𝑟 𝐷. 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

𝐿𝑎𝑤 ✘ ♀ 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟

Story: The princess of Tanata

(Long Fic)

➽ Click on this link to see all chapters.

Spoiler: none

Warnings: none

slowburn with plot

Wordcount: 2826

Text in italics emphasizes the reader’s thoughts

Bold and italic text emphasizes Law's thoughts *~*

You sneakily slide into the Hera Palace as if you didn't want to be discovered. On your way you get surprised looks from the servants because you are acting a bit suspicious rather than hiding well...

Curiously you look into the fireplace room and your eyes roam over the empty room, which is a bit messy. No one was awake yet, that's for sure.. It's quite early and who knows how long the pirates had fun yesterday. You lean against the door frame, feeling a little sad... You are sure that you will not find any of your guests there. At least not anyone who is awake, because you can hear soft snoring coming from your side.

Carefully you follow the noise and look behind the table, in front of the fireplace. You hold your breath briefly as you see the polar bear sleeping peacefully in front of the fireplace. Quietly you lean over the mink while absolutely enjoying this cute view. Every sound that leaves the furry lips enchants you a little more. You don't even notice how someone enters the fireplace room and approaches you.

"Oh.. Good morning princess!" A bright female voice greets you with a surprised tone. You quickly turn around with your finger pressed to your lips and silently gesture with your head towards the bear. The young woman immediately understands what you are meaning. She quietly placed the basket that she was holding, on the table next to you. With soft steps she comes closer to admire the big bear together with you, which is rolling back and forth in peace.

“He’s cute, isn’t he?” you whisper to the maid with a reddened face. She nods at you with hearts in her eyes. Behind you you can hear other servants going about their everyday duties and all the commotion causes the bear to wake up with a start. The first thing the Mink sees is you, leaning over him, looking at him in a lovestruck state. The bear blushes a little in surprise and rubs his face.

“Good morning.” you greet him with a friendly smile, which makes the polar bear blush even more.

"G-g- good morning!!!" the bear crawls away from you, somewhat embarrassed. Giggling, you straighten yourself and go to the couch to fall into it.

"You seem to have fallen asleep." - "hehe yeah it was so cozy in front of the fire.." The bear admits sheepishly. No one can take away your grin when you look at the bear. You would like to dress him in the most beautiful fabrics instead of having him wear such a strange suit. You rest your chin on one hand while sitting calmly on the sofa.

A loud rumble draws attention to Bepo's stomach, whose head is now as red as a tomato.

"Hmm, someone seems hungry!" you clap your hands together. "Camille, please have a sumptuous breakfast brought to the fireplace room." - "Uhhh, yes of course my highness but why don't you eat in the dining room?" - "Hmm, I just find it more comfortable here." Camille looks at you a little questionably after looking through the chaotic room. You just grin at her carefree.

The chaos doesn't bother you at all. If anything, you find it very pleasant that some life and chaos appear in this perfect castle...

The mess feels better.

With sparkling eyes and saliva at the corner of his mouth, the bear examines the breakfast feast.

"Go for it." you encourage him. The Mink doesn't need to be told twice and jumps in and tries out a wide variety of delicacies, that the chefs have prepared. You happily put your teacup to your lips while you watch him eat with pleasure.

One by one, pirates came into the room and joined you when you called them over. The pirates started their meal happily.

Camille, who always made sure that food was brought, almost couldn't keep up because the pirates finished the plates in no time.

"Luffy would clear the table in milliseconds." Nami remarks. You sense sorrow in her voice and look up from your teacup to her.

"Luffy…" you whisper to yourself. You remember what you saw in him. The battle of the pirates against the marines. How someone very important died right in front of his eyes... You felt this pain.. His pain! which was almost worse than the pain from the poison.

"I should go to him right after breakfast and see how he's doing." you tell Nami. “I’m coming with you!” interjects Chopper. After a very entertaining breakfast with the pirates, you decide to go to the Strawhat with Chopper.

However, before you entered the pirate's room, the door opened and Law came towards you. You greet the dark haired man in surprise. A closer look at him and you see dark circles under his eyes. His eyes rested on you for a moment before quickly finding another spot to look at.

"If you want to check the Strawhat, you don't have to do that anymore. I healed a few bruises and checked his organs. He's doing great and sleeps peacefully." He finishes his sentence quite quickly.

"Thank you Law." your genuine smile and little bow make Law freeze. He seems surprised why you're thanking him but doesn't say anything else.

"You should go down to the others and have breakfast." you try to keep the conversation going but you get no answer, just a slight nod. Beeeeetter than nothing - you think.

You quickly went back to the royal palace for breakfast with your family.

"Y/n, I would like you to go to the guests' ship today with a small group and write up a report. If you have an idea about how we can get the ship into the city, then don't hesitate to take the necessary steps. " Said Grandfather while making honey in his tea.

His gaze first over the tea, he went to Zelos. "Please prepare a small group that will accompany y/n. I want you to make Admiral Ambrosios head of the squad."

Your uncle reacts a bit confused and offended. "Father, I'm y/n's uncle and have always been her escort... It's..." before your uncle can continue whining, the king waves him away "I need you for something more important." As he speaks his last word, Zelos devours the words on his tongue. Your grandfather looks carefully across the room. The servants scurry around the room from time to time, filling up empty glasses, clearing away empty plates or waiting at each side to attend to our wishes upon request.

"I wish to speak to my family in private." He spoke a bit louder and all the servants left the dining room.

He clasped his hands together and looked at us with a serious expression this time.

"Last night a couple of runners* saw another ship floating around the island. They don't seem to be particularly close but the report says they are steadily circling the island." Firmly you cling to the armrest with both hands as your grandpa speaks. Zelos is silent and listens attentively.

"They are watching us but we don't know who is watching us." Delia makes a horrified noise and with her fingers in front of her mouth she carefully asks what that means. You can tell that the king is trying to choose his words carefully so as not to cause panic.

"I can't say for sure… I just want this information to stay between us for now." suddenly your grandfather looks at you with an intense gaze. You already know that the last sentence is especially meant for you. You look at him nervously "Hehe... yeah… I promise to the gods I won't spill anything." You look away ashamed. "So far... only the runners, Anatol and you know about it. The reason why you won't accompany y/n in the forest is because you will go south to the ancient ruins with a group chosen by me, and there you will build a temporary base." Delia looks up worriedly at Zelos, who looks determinedly into his father's eyes. "Of course my king." You look from your uncle to your grandfather, a little scared.

"I know it's a bad time..." His voice seems softer than before as he looks at Delia. "...but I assure you, my dearest, that I am not preparing to attack. Just a precaution. If we're lucky, they'll just circle the island, looking for a way out of the storm." - "I pray to the gods." Delia exhales with some relief again.

"I want you to head straight to Anatol after breakfast to put together the team for the ship recovery. He will also give you more details about the ship that was spotted. Then make your way to the ruins, with unit 7." - "Of course." Zelos answers firmly and salutes him.

"It's important that our guests' ship is recovered before anyone else sets foot on this island. Let's make it look like this island is deserted..." The three of you nod to the king.

Even if silence isn't a sound, it echoes through the room.

Your grandfather's sharp gaze makes you flinch and small beads of sweat run down your forehead.

“Back to you, my child.” You watch him quietly as he cracks his fingers.

"We'll have to ask a few questions later over tea with your guests. I don't want to insinuate anything, but it's a bit suspicious that another ship shows up shortly after they got here." He watches you carefully as you swallow hard.

"Yeah, I understand. Of course that's understandable."

You continue with your breakfast in silence and a little tensely. No one really knows what to think of the situation.

You exhale heavily and fall onto your bed.

The thoughts make your brain melt as you stare at the ceiling.

Damn it!

You put an arm over your closed eyes and try to sort out your thoughts. Inwardly you pray that the pirates aren't hiding anything and therefore aren't a danger to you.

You have to think about all the different people, about Nami's sad face and how friendly everyone seems. You think how exhausted the group was and how grateful each and every one of them was.

It's tearing you apart... Especially because you understand why your grandfather thinks that way.

He thinks like a king.

You sit up and go to your dressing table to distract yourself a bit.

Luckily I'll never become queen.

You admit to yourself in front of the mirror while combing your hair.

You would probably make the wrong decision.

Grandfather is always in control. He is always so calm and confident despite all the crises. As you think about what an praiseworthy king your grandfather is, you think of your mother. You carefully pick up the picture in front of you.

What would you do mom? Would you have helped the pirates?

It hurts you that you will never get an answer.

On the way to tea with your grandfather and the pirates, you come across Nami, Sanji, Zoro, Law and the Polar Bear.

Nami waves happily at you and you take your dress in your hands and run over to them.

"Hey guys! Are you the ones drinking tea with me and Grandpa?" Nami nods at you with a grin and Sanji moves between you and her to get on his knees.

"You look ravishing again, my highness. As if created by the gods." He places thousands of small kisses on the back of your hand. You stare rigidly at him while one of your eyebrows twitches uncontrollably.

"Sanji time out!" Nami shouts and punches him.

"Uhm, princess?" says the bear, a little shyly.

"My name is Bepo and I wanted to thank you for the wonderful breakfast..." You can't believe these bright people could be bad people who would intentionally put us in danger. You don't know why, but your gut just screams that they are good people.

Hopefully you aren't blinded by your curiosity.

"I'm very glad you enjoyed it, Bepo." You lightly stroke the bear's arm.

"Well then... are you ready to meet my king?" With both arms on your hips, you stand in front of the group and they nod resolutely at you.

When you arrive at the pavilion, you see that the king is not there yet. The servants set the table and assign the guests their seats. You take your usual seat at the short end of the table and look a little nervously at the empty seat across from you. The King's seat.

Your nervous looks don't go unnoticed and Law, who's sitting to your right, clears his throat.

"Does the king know we are pirates?" You look at him in surprise.

"I strongly assume that he knows. I found out yesterday that nothing goes unnoticed by him." A little tired at the thought of last night's dinner, you stretch your arms forward and place your chin in both of your hands.

"I advise you not to lie or hide important things. I have no idea how he aaaaaaalways knows everything, if it's not clairvoyant abilities then I don't know what is." At the end of your sentence, you look sideways at Law, waiting for his answer.

"I see, we'll keep that in mind."

After a short while and some tense small talk, your grandfather finally appears. You promptly get up from your seat and the others do the same after you give them a small hand gesture. The king goes to his seat and looks at you all with an unreadable expression.

"I greet you, my dear guests." - "I greet you, my king."

You give your counterpart a slight bow and the others mumble a little hello and bow too. Your guests look at you somewhat questioningly because they don't quite know what to do while everyone is standing. "Take a seat." At the king's words you take a seat and the others follow suit. The king inspects the guests while the servants set the table and pour each one a tea of their choice. The calming scent of your tea lets you breathe in deeply. You're just waiting for the king to start the conversation.

"My name is Leandros and I am the King of Tanata." He says with pride.

“Please introduce yourselves.” One by one they introduced themselves to the king and you looked from face to face a little tensely.

"As you may have guessed, there is a reason why I called you here. Aside from wanting to introduce myself and get to know you, there is something we should discuss." And with this introduction the conversation began. The king asked those present a few questions to get an idea of the crew and when his mind was satisfied, he revealed the problem.

"You have to consider how striking it seems to me that another ship is circling the island... It's been a few years since we had "visitors" and now we've had them twice." You can tell the pirates don't really know who it could be. They admitted that they cannot rule out the possibility that they were being followed.

You look to your right again and watch as Law looks thoughtfully into the distance.

"I still can't imagine how anyone could have followed us from the battlefield. Our ship is a submarine and we were so deep in the sea that it's actually impossible." The king thoughtfully strokes his beard.

You're glad that the situation has developed in a good direction. It is clear that your grandfather does not suspect the pirates. Their explanation seems plausible so far and you hope that he believes in their innocence too. With the experience and knowledge of the pirates, you discuss the topic with the foreign ship.

“Can you tell what kind of ship it is?” Nami asks.

"So far the runners have not been able to identify anything more precise. What is certain is that it is not a ship of the marines."

The conversation went better than expected and your posture became more and more relaxed. The king asked a few questions out of interest in the pirates and their story, which were answered without hesitation and pure honesty.

Suddenly the king's butler came running.

"My king. Please excuse the interruption, but I have something to tell the princess!" Giles bowed deeply to the king.

"Rise and speak Giles."

Before the butler turned to you, he bowed again.

"The boy is awake!" he said somewhat panicked.

*= A unit that observes the island and surrounding areas

If u liked the chapter let me know in the comments :3

See you next time, kiss kiss ♡

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peterman-spideyparker · 2 years

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Mr. Russo (Billy Russo x Secretary!Reader)

Author’s Note: I’ve had this fic and other Billy Russo stories in my drafts for ages, and I figured while I was working on other Daredevil and Moon Knight fics, I’d throw in some of these older ones that I’ve never posted. I think the original intention was for this to be longer and a multi-part series, but I don’t like that idea anymore. I cut about a thousand words, and I might include those as a bonus separate part--I’m not sure yet. Enjoy! :)

Summary: Working for Billy Russo wasn’t a challenge like most people would expect. You know how to do your job and how to do it well. One late night of working allows something about your past come to the surface, changing the trajectory of the relationship you share with your boss.

Warnings: Fluff, Billy softening up, angst (mentions of crappy experience in New York and the foster care system/Billy Russo being brooding and sad/hurt and rage/delicious tension), implied smut, cursing, mentions of addiction (drugs/alcohol)

Other Characters: Frank Castle

Word Count: 5,495

Another day in the books. Although everyday at Anvil is never the same, it can get a little monotonous. You answer the phone, respond to emails, draw up contacts, and do whatever Mr. Russo needs.

Oh, Mr. William Russo.

Intelligent, suave, cultured, and the definition of sex on two legs.

He works so hard in his business, and he cares about what he does. Anything that you can do to make his day less stressful, you’ll do it, and that definitely came in handy today, even if it still is a late night for him. You catch a glimpse at the clock on your screen—7:14pm. With a tired sigh, you hear him shuffle some papers around and push his chair out, moving a short distance to slide on his coat. You hear the click of his Italian leather shoes move closer to where you sit, and you smell his expensive cologne in the gentle breeze he brings by. You watch him as he walks with a purpose when he stops in his tracks, turning around to address you. “Do you ever even go home?” he asks.

“Sir?” you ask, unsure where he’s going with this.

“You’re always here before I get here—no matter how early—and you always stay after me. I just don’t get it.”

“I do my job,” you tell him. “It’s that simple. I do it, and I make sure that I do it well.”

“You also deserve a break—a life. Don’t you have friends around to go out for a drink or anything?”

“No, actually,” you admit. “Last friend I made in New York was one from when I got here. She then took 180 dollars from my wallet and ran away, making me scrape by for food for the rest of that week. My family isn’t nearby, either, if that was your next question. Work—this—is all I have, really.” Oh God, do you sound pathetic.

“Where is your family?” Mr. Russo asks, slowly moving back to your desk.

You scrunch up your bottom lip in a frown and shake your head. “I don’t know. I grew up in the system. I’m assuming whoever my parents are, they live in the Boston area, since that’s were I grew up.”

His expression softens to something to one that you have only seen twice before. It’s not quite pity, but it’s deeper than sadness. “You grew up in the system?” he asks softly.

You give a small nod. “It changes you pretty quickly.”

“It does.” His lips part like he wants to say something more, but he presses them in a tight line and sticks his hand in his jacket pocket, his eyes swirling with a mix of emotions.

“Is there anything I can do for you before you leave, Mr. Russo?”

He blinks a few times before he shakes his head. “N-No,” Billy breathes. “Have a nice night, (Y/N).”

“You too, sir.”

There’s flowers on your desk when you walk in the next morning. How are there flowers on your desk?

“Hello?” you call into the office, sliding pepper spray out of your purse. “Anyone here?” Dead silence. Nothing looks out of place except for the bouquet, and after a quick sweep of the office, you see that you are alone. You look through the flowers and don’t see any card. Logging into your computer, you quickly pull up surveillance to see who delivered these. Your jaw drops when you see Mr. William Russo himself walk in at four in the morning with the same giant vase of flowers to your right. You lean back in your chair, your brain not really comprehending what you just saw. After a few minutes, you move towards the beautiful assortment of white gardenias, yellow lilies, red tulips, and magenta lilacs. You stick your nose to the flowers and take in a perfume of scents that make your chest happy and bring a smile to your face, and that smile remains on your face as you get to work and organize Billy’s day.

“Mornin’,” Billy says with a nod, walking a few hours later, not acknowledging the assortment on your desk.

“Morning,” you respond as he moves closer. “Thank you,” you say just before he enters his office. You don’t need to turn around to know exactly where he is—about a stride and a half from being in the doorway to his office, his right foot mid-step. “They’re beautiful.”

He doesn’t respond, but he takes a minute before he continues his gait into his office.

The rest of the day proceeds as it normally does: you respond to client emails, answer the phones, do other office work, and hand Billy files, briefing him before his meetings.

“Have a nice night, (Y/N),” he says, adjusting his scarf on his peacoat as he walks past your desk.

“You too, sir,” you say. “And remember you have a 7:30 meeting tomorrow morning at the Four Seasons with Thaddeus Ross to discuss security for the SHIELD weapons conference.”

“Thank you for the reminder,” he says, turning to look at you, flashing you the faintest of smiles. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Well, considering you built this company from the ground up, I think you’d manage.” His smile grows a hair bigger. “Safe travels, Mr. Russo.”

The next few weeks proceed as they usually do, but you are dumbfounded yet again when you walk in Monday, about a month after you found the flowers on your desk.

“Morning,” Billy says, placing a coffee cup on your desk as he walks by. “Sweet cream cold brew, right?”

You turn in your chair and look at him, confusion and surprise written all over your face.

“Yeah,” you say. You notice he has a hot cup for himself in his hands. “You hate Starbucks.”

“I needed some extra caffeine this morning,” he shrugs.

“So the ‘shit-water jet fuel’ is what you were craving this morning?”

He nods, taking a sip of the drink in his hand. “Exactly,” he answers after he swallows. You can tell he still hates the brew.

“Well, thank you for thinking of me,” you say. “If you find yourself needing some more caffeine, just let me know and I’ll make a pot.”

His face says I’ll be taking you up on that in five minutes, but his lips say, “Thanks, (Y/N).”

The next morning, there is a bouquet of blush colored peonies, white gardenias, and purple roses on your desk.

“Vultures today, huh?” Billy says as he comes out of his office and to your desk, placing some outgoing mail in your organizer, adjusting some of the flowers in the assortment of roses, chrysanthemums, and asters. “That phone hasn’t stopped ringing all morning.”

“It’s the political season,” you hum as you shift your gaze upward. “All the big wigs want the best security money can buy. You’ve made it clear that you and your people are the ones for that job.”

“You know how to flatter a man,” he chuckles, shaking some nuts you’re snacking on in his hand before plopping them in his mouth.

“While you’re here,” you say, picking up a few slips of paper, handing them to him in an ordered fashion. “These are those calls back you were waiting for, these are inquiries from the three biggest politicians running for Senate, this is a message from Frank wanting to know if you’re on for dinner at Karen’s, and these are the Ulrich files you were waiting on.”

“Thank you, paperwork Santa,” he says, moving his gaze to quickly examine what is in front of him. “And here I thought it was gonna be a slow day.”

“Around here? Unlikely,” you grin.

He is about to say something more when he turns his head to the ringing of his direct line in his office. “Sorry,” he apologizes. “We’ll talk more later.”

You turn back to your computer in astonishment. We’ll talk more later? Is this the same Billy Russo that hired you? And does he mean casual talk or work talk? He would have made it clear, wouldn’t he?

“Anvil, this is (Y/N),” you say as you continue typing a contract on your desktop.

“(Y/N), hi,” you hear Mr. Russo say on the other end of the line.

“Is everything alright, sir?” you ask, spinning around in your chair and watching your boss give you a little wave through the industrial loft windows.

“We’ve been over this, you can call me Billy,” he reminds. “We’ve known each other long enough.”

“Sorry, it’s a force of habit.” You have to suppress a blush. “What’s going on?”

“I just got off of a call about that veteran’s fundraiser,” he says, and you shift to flip through the calendar.

“The one on Saturday night?”

“Exactly. They asked me to present an award and introduce a speaker that night. So in addition to networking and schmoozing, I’m gonna need to do some more things.”

“Let me know what you need to have ready, and it’ll be good to go by Friday night.”

“Actually, I was hoping you’d come with me Saturday. With my upgrade in duties, they gave me a plus one.”

What? “I appreciate the invitation, but I don’t know if I have anything black tie like that,” you say.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll have it all taken care of. So can I take that as I yes?”

“Y-Yes,” you stutter. “And—.”

“Perfect, you’re the best,” he says, having up the phone with a click.

Did your boss just ask you out? Or is this really just a work engagement?

When you come home from work on Friday, you see a black dress bag hanging off a garment rack with black bag hanging next to it. Locking up and putting down your things on the table by your door, you slowly move over to it.

“Told you I had it taken care of,” the note reads on the bag.

“What did you do, Russo?” you breathe, undoing the zipper. Inside, there is a stunning pine green gown. You look at the label and your mouth drops open: Oscar de la Renta. Taking it out of the bag, you see that it has a v-back, but has fabric coming off of each shoulder to give it a kind of cape effect. You feel like you’re moving in slow motion when you dare look over at the jewelry bag on the right next to it, seeing Harry Winston embossed in gold lettering. Carefully, you take it off of the hangar and peak inside, seeing three boxes neatly arranged. Placing it on your breakfast bar, you pull out the large necklace box, opening it to reveal both a sparkling diamond necklace and its matching earrings. Shocked, you pull the other two boxes out and find that they are the corresponding bracelet and ring. As you look down in disbelief, you catch a Louis Vuitton shoe box at the bottom of the rack.

You sit down on the barstool, lightheaded about the luxury that is around you. As if on cue, you see Billy’s contact light up on your phone.

“I’m assuming you’ve seen what you’ll be wearing tomorrow?” he says after you pick up.

“It’s way too much,” you say. “I appreciate it, but all this is more—it’s too much.”

“It fits the event,” he shrugs off. “It’s a ritzy event full of high-rolling investors, contributors, and other people within the top one per cent. Trust me, you’ll fit right in.”

“I just . . .”

“It’s a lot?” You swear he’s smiling like a devil on the other end.

“A hell of a lot.”

“If it makes you feel any better, the jewelry is on loan,” he says. “But the dress and shoes are yours to keep. Oh, and before I forget, you have an appointment to get your hair and nails done tomorrow with Donna at the Marigold Spa. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Before your brain can think to ask him more, he is off the line, leaving you stunned in your apartment.

“Who is it?” you call from your apartment, responding to the rap at the door.

“Your chariot has arrived,” Billy says through the wood.

“I’m almost ready,” you say, nearly falling over as you try to put on the heels standing up. “Come in! It’s open.” You hear the door open and shut, and the click of expensive shoes against the vinyl floor.

“You know, for someone that works for a security company, leaving the door unlocked isn’t secure,” he teases.

“I knew you’d be over soon and I was still getting ready,” you say. “Just a courtesy.”

“To robbers.”

You chuckle as you successfully gain your footing in one of the shoes. “There’s water in the fridge if you’re thirsty,” you start as you slide on the other shoe, throwing a few last minute things in your clutch, and taking one final look at yourself in the mirror.

“I’m good," you hear him chuckle in a low timbre as you clack your way out of your room. “Thank you, though.”

“Alright, I’m all set to go,” you say as you enter the main living space.

Billy turns toward you and stands stock still. His eyes slowly look over your body from head to toe. It’s as if he’s drinking you in.

“Wow,” he finally says, his dark eyes twinkling in the lights of your kitchen.

“Well, the guy that picked it out has really good taste,” you say with a small grin and a blush rising up from your neck to your cheeks. “Thank you.”

He continues to look at you for a little while longer before he realizes that he’s staring.

“These are for you,” he says, holding out a bouquet of burgundy, cream, and lavender roses. “A little thank you for agreeing to come.”

“They’re beautiful,” you say, smelling them. You move to find a vase, getting the flowers settled before walking back towards Billy.

He puts out his arm for you to take.

“Shall we?”

“I still can’t figure out how you manage to do it,” you say as you walk beside Billy after he schmoozes the last of the big-wigs in tuxedos.

“Do what?” Billy asks with a lift of his eyebrow.

“Work so well with these upper-crusty people. Some of them very clearly just a face at this fundraiser and don’t care the same way you do. I don’t know if I could do that.”

“Unfortunately, that’s just what the business is sometimes,” he sighs. “But then I remember that Anvil gives veterans an outlet when they get home—a legitimate career. Then it makes the schmoozing and pretending to care about their Hamptons houses easier.”

“That’s a great way to think about it,” you say softly.

“Sometimes that’s all you can do.”

Instead of walking to the direction of your table, Billy leads you to the edge of the dance floor.

“Care do dance?” Billy smiles.

“I can’t promise that I won’t step on your toes,” you say, feeling a blush prick at your cheeks and your ears.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll have the band play something slow.”

You wouldn’t be surprised if his Marine-trained ears could hear how hard your heart is beating.

“How can I say no to that, then?” you say with a small smile, your mouth suddenly very dry.

Billy takes your hand and leads you in. As if the band knows, the song shifts to something slow. Billy holds one of your hands in his while the other rests on the small of your back, his palm spread wide, securely holding you as you both move across the floor.

“And here I was thinking you had two left feet,” he grins.

“Well, I guess it helps that it’s not a formal ballroom dance,” you blush. Seriously, he has to know how fast your heart is racing right now.

“Is this what you thought you’d be doing with your life?” Billy asks as you slowly move in a circle. “Being a secretary, dealing with executives and government officials, and going to charity fundraisers?”

“Isn’t it every little girls dream?” you smirk, quirking an eyebrow.

He chuckles, twirling you to the music before he pulls you back into frame.

“No, really,” Billy whispers. “What did you want to be when you were younger?”

You think about it, but only briefly. “An author, I think. With all the time I spent in the system, I always tried to figure out how I could get out or what it would be like when I did. I’d just write about it. It moved from that to creating these different worlds and different people that were everything that I wasn’t and everything that I couldn’t be. Those are what made me happy. Scholarships from those stories is what got me through college to get my undergrad.”

There’s something soft in his eyes, tender even, as he listens to you talk about your childhood dream. It’s soul-churning and completely devastating in every sense of the word.

“What about you?” you return. “I’m assuming that the military wasn’t six-year-old Billy’s dream.”

“No, it wasn’t,” he admits. “I wanted to be a baseball player. But there were things that happened when I was a kid . . .” He clears his throat. You’ve touched a nerve.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—.”

“No, it’s okay. Saying that my childhood was shitty is an understatement, but it made me who I am and brought me here. In a way, I think the Marines was the only thing that made sense for me.” He gives you a gentle smile, pushing away the dark cloud that emerged on his face. “And just think: without it, we wouldn’t have met. And I don’t know about you, but our time together makes me happier.”

Your heart stops and leaps into your throat. He has to just mean as a coworker—maybe just even someone who isn’t an ex-Marine that he gets to see to break up his environment. You can’t let your mind go to these conclusions. It’d just be a disappointment, and he’s my boss. Still, you find yourself unable to look away from his hypnotic gaze, the tenderness in his expression making you melt. The song stops and he drops the frame, and you let your eyes flutter a few times so you can adjust your head out of the haze he has placed you in. Billy keeps his hand in yours as you stand, pointing his head towards your table.

“C’mon,” he says. “I heard the steak was supposed to be amazing.”

“Did you have fun tonight?” Billy asks as you hand him a bottle of water, his elbow cooly leaning against the island.

“Surprisingly, yes,” you admit, taking off the heavy jewels. “I don’t know, I hear fancy fundraiser, and I don’t think ‘party.’”

“That’s cuz you’ve never been to a Billy Russo fundraiser,” he smirks.

“I guess those are the only ones worth going to, then.”

“You know, I’m really glad you came tonight.”

“You are?”

“You sound surprised.”

“Oh,” you blush, but a nagging question starts to echo in the back of your brain. “I-I didn’t mean to. Just tired.”

“Well, if that’s the case, I’ll let you be for the night,” he says with a soft smile, giving you hand a gentle squeeze on the island before he moves away. “See you Monday, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart.

Okay, that’s it.

“Are you only being nice to me because you found out I grew up in foster care?” you blurt as he walks towards the door. There’s no turning back now. “Before, you’d never say more than you needed to to me, and now for five months, you’ve gotten me flowers, you ask about my day, you know my coffee order, and you left me an insanely gorgeous gown and jewelry to wear to a fundraiser that I wasn’t supposed to go to in the first place.” You pause for a moment, processing that you’re probably running a bond that you’ve wanted for a long time, not to mention your job, probably. “What’s changed?”

“You know I grew up in the system?” he asks, his head turned to the side while his back is still to you.

“I do,” you answer. You had done some deep digging when you were applying for the job, trying to find out as much about the company and its founder as possible.

“Then you should realize that I sympathize with you. Pouring your life into something to move yourself as far away from your past as possible.”

“What I’m really hearing is that all of this from the last few months has just been pity,” you say bitterly, and you try to push away the feeling of tears stinging at your waterline. “And if that’s what this job has turned into, then I don’t need it. I know my worth, and it’s more than that—than whatever this is.”

Your statement causes him to spin around so fast you think he’s gonna get whiplash. He strides over to you so quickly you almost can’t process it. He drops his keys to the ground before kissing you hard, one hand on your waist as the other holds onto the back of your head. He almost knocks you off your feet, but his hands on your body assure that it can’t be a possibility. Your hands rest on his shoulder as your lips move against him, kissing him back just as urgently. His beard tickles a little, but you’re not moving in a way that makes it scratch. When Billy finally pulls away, you’re both left panting for air.

“It’s not pity,” he clarifies. “It’s admiration. I had always thought you were some brown-noser with daddy issues, but you always had this integrity and determination. And then . . .” he trails, his eyes intent and glassy. “I know that drive you have, and that fear of being a disappointment. Hell, that’s how I got here. I wanted to show you that we’re not that shit that happened to us. I wanted to show you that I care.”

“It’s a hell of a way to show it,” you say quietly, looking at his big brown eyes. “I, um . . .” you swallow hard and let emotion contort your face, reeling your feelings in before you continue. “Every time someone finds out, they treat me differently. I really didn’t want you to be one of those people. You might not have thought so, but the way you treated me before made me feel like I finally had a place, y’know? I had a purpose to do something. That I was needed and wanted.”

“I know,” he nods.

“I guess I’m just confused why now.”

“You’ve been my secretary for four years. You know things about me that I don’t even know all the time. You know things about me that you don’t need to know, but you care enough to. I’ve always wanted to know those things about you, but . . . I’m not great at communication with people that—.” He stops to clear his throat, furrowing his brows together. “The only good relationships I have are with Frank and Curtis, and that’s because we’ve been through hell and back with and for one another. I didn’t know where to start with you, because you just come in and you’re like this . . . force to be reckoned with. I guess that finding out we had something in common made me think I could know you better.”

Billy tucks some stray hair behind your ear as he looks at you. “I don’t want to go back to what this was before,” he says softly. “I like this. Having a friend. Connecting with someone. And . . . I like to think this has the potential to be more than that. Than friends.”

“Well, I guess I need to know if you kiss all your friends like that.”

A small smile spreads across Billy’s face. “Just the ones that use lemon shampoo and look good in designer dresses.”

“I’m not fired, am I?” you whisper. “Because I think a kiss like that is some kind of HR violation.”

“Not if you don’t want to be,” he responds. “I will say, though, the job market is tough right now.”

“Is this something we can do?”

“I’m willing to make it work if you are.”

You nod your head. “Let’s try it.”

Billy leans back in for a kiss, this one more gentle that the last, but just as deep. Your arms wrap around him and settle on his back, and you feel him lift you up slightly as he pulls you into him.

“We’re gonna do this slowly,” he breathes, brushing his nose against yours, his chocolate eyes staring into your soul.

“Okay,” you quietly agree. “Slow.”

“We have different definitions of slow,” you hum as Billy presses a kiss to the back of your naked shoulder.

“Trust me, I wanted to, but I have a thing for brunettes in designer dresses,” he says, dragging his hands down the bare curves of your body in post-sex bliss. “And it looks just as good on the floor as it did on you tonight.”

You laugh as you roll onto your back, your head resting on his shoulder.

“Hi,” he says with a dreamy look on his face.

“Hi,” you say, returning his gaze. He leans down and presses a soft, tender kiss to your lips before resting his cheek on the crown of your head. You lay like this in blissful silence as his fingers play with yours, the pale moonlight trickling into your bedroom through the curtains. You think he has fallen asleep—and you almost have—when he shifts a little on the mattress.

“Did you ever think of finding them?” he asks quietly. You know exactly who “them” is.

“I did find them,” you say. “I found out all about them, too. A little after I told you about growing up in the system, actually—curiosity got the best of me.” You think about what you know, and the silence weighs heavy in the bedroom. “My father was an alcoholic, and my mother used all kinds of drugs. They had a short and nasty relationship and split before I was born. My dad worked on the docks, showed up one day drunk, hit is head, and drowned. Based on his obituary, I was six when he died. My mom sobered up around that time, got married, and lives in Cape Cod.” You feel hot, angry tears sting at your waterline. “Two kids, and a freakin golden retriever.”

“And I’m guessing you don’t want to reach out?” he asks carefully.

You scoff. “No. Didn’t want me then, won’t want me now. I’m a part of that past that she worked to forget. I don’t want to go near her with a ten-foot pole. Besides, if she wanted to know me, she’d find me. She’d find a way. And she hasn’t. That says all I need to know.”

Billy wraps his arm around you and pulls you close, pressing a long kiss to your forehead.

“She’s missing out on the best person that I know,” he whispers.

Too emotional to respond, you snuggle into him and nuzzle your head into the crook of his neck.

“Have you?” you whisper. “Found yours?”

“I found my mom,” he swallows. “She chose meth over me—she safe-havened me. From then on it was group homes.” He’s quiet for a moment. “I think I’ve made my peace with it all. Can’t change it. But it made me who I am, and I’m okay with who I am.”

You don’t ask any more onto the subject. Instead, you snuggle in closer to him.

“For what it’s worth,” you breathe. “I really like who you are, too.”

Billy turns so you’re huddled together chest-to-chest, his arms holding onto you tightly, kissing your forehead before tucking your head under his chin. You fall asleep to the sound of his beating heart.

You practically jump out of your skin when you feel a pair of arms loosely wrap around your middle.

“Jesus, Billy,” you sigh. “You really don’t make a sound if you’re not wearing Italian leather shoes.”

His laugh comes out as a hum as he places a kiss on the back of your neck, right on a bundle of nerves he found out about last night.

“I woke up and you weren’t there,” he murmurs into your skin. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” you grin as you turn the waffle maker.

He kisses your neck again before resting his chin on your shoulder. “I thought the guy was supposed to make breakfast.”

“Not in my house,” you say, running your fingers through his hair as you move to flip some bacon. “My place, my job to make you some food.”

“Fine,” he sighs, moving from you, but not before placing a light smack on your rear. “But I make the coffee.”

“You want any eggs?” you ask.

“Nah,” he says, pouring coffee grounds into the filter. “This all is more than enough. I don’t usually get to enjoy this part.”

“Well, if we’re gonna make a habit of this, it’s something you better get used to.”

You finish making breakfast in harmony, exchanging sections of the newspaper as you eat.

“Wow,” Billy chews, taking a sip of his coffee. “You’re destroying the crossword.”

“It’s a talent,” you smirk as you pause before filling in the rest of your answer. “Now, is it ‘ei’ or ‘ie’ in Steinbeck? I can never remember.”

“I guess you got cocky too soon,” he smiles.

“Yes, and I’m big enough to admit it. Which is it?”

“I’ll tell you, but it’ll cost ya.”

“Oh?” you say as his hand slides into mine, silently inviting you to get up and sit in his lap. You do, and his free hand squeezes your thigh.

“It’s gonna cost you a kiss,” he hums.

“Mm, you run a hard bargain, but I think I can afford that,” you smile, biting your lip as you press your mouth into his. It’s tender, and even with coffee in your systems, there’s something sexily sleepy about the embrace.

“It’s ‘ei’,” he breathes, his lips brushing against yours before placing another kiss on you lips.

“Thank you,” you say, filling in the squares and placing a soft kiss on the freckle just below his eye. His hand then gently holds your cheek, bringing your lips down to his. The kisses grow more needy, and just after he adjusts you so your legs straddle his lap, his phone starts to ring. Reluctantly, he pulls away and looks at his phone.

“Shit,” he hisses before he answers. “Hey, Frankie.”

“Brother, where are you?” you hear Frank ask through the phone.

“Yeah, no, I’m on my way,” he sighs. “I just got a little held up this morning.”

“Mm, yeah,” you hear him chuckle. “Where’d you find this one?”

Billy looks at you with warm, sparkling eyes. “I think she found me.”

“And the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes that day.”

“Yeah, shut up,” he chuckles. “I’ll be there soon.”

Billy hangs up to avoid any more snark over the line from his friend, but not before kissing you once more.

“I didn’t realize it was this late,” he sighs. “I’m sorry. I gotta go.”

“I know: ten o’clock runs with Frank, every Sunday. And if you go by the office, you have some extra workout clothes there so you don’t have to run in a tuxedo.”

“Nothin’ gets by you.”

“Nope,” you smile, popping the ‘p’.

You get up from his lap and begin to clean up the table while Billy moves back to your room to get his clothes.

“I will trade you one dress shirt for one very soft and fluffy robe,” he offers when he comes back into the kitchen, your Hello Kitty robe hanging from his finger.

“I guess I accept,” you sigh dramatically. You slide Billy’s shirt off of your body and hand it to him as he slides the robe onto your shoulders.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asks, adjusting the collar on your robe.

“Tomorrow,” you nod. “Have fun with Frank.”

“Somethin’ tells me I’d be havin’ more fun here.”

He leans down to kiss you, repeatedly procrastinating his delay with each punctuation of his lips.

“Okay,” he kisses. “I’ll see you—.” Kiss. “—tomorrow morning—.” Kiss. “—bright—.” Kiss. “—and—.” Kiss. “—early.”

You giggle as he takes you in for more kisses. You pull away from his reach, only to be swept back in for one final kiss.

“I really gotta go, now,” he sighs, tucking hair behind your ear.

“I know. I’ll see you soon.”

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#billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo fluff #billy russo angst #billy russo smut #billy russo x you #billy russo fanfic #billy russo fanfiction #ben barnes #billy russo punisher #the punisher #the punisher netflix #the punisher disney+

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cosmic-kaden · 1 month

Text

{ Your Call }

Ship: Jude X Kaden

Words: 1,634

cw: none what so ever! :D

Summary: It was just a phone call…

If you're not a self-shipper please dni, I have anxiety.

Silence. Dead silence rang out through their apartment or at least it had felt that way, if they paid closer attention to the everyday things they've tuned out they would hear cars passing on the street and the sounds of birds chirping but right now as far as they were concerned. It was silent.

They stared, sitting on their couch as they stared downwards, not to their coffee table that held their coffee, headphones, or the empty water bottle that sat inches from the edge of the table. No, Kaden was staring at their phone. It had been about a week since Kaden had the mishap at the beach. it had been a week since they met him. A week since they discovered he left his phone number in their new sketchbook.

Kaden wanted to call, to see him again, to talk with him more and get to know him. He was charming in every sense of the word and he seemed exceptionally sweet. Even though he was a stranger Kaden couldn't shake him from their mind. Kaden knew this wasn't going to happen the other way around, he didn't know their number, all he knew was their name.

Kaden reached over and grabbed their phone, they had programmed his number into it already and they scrolled down their contacts until they found 'Jude' They hesitated. What if it wasn't a good time? What if it turned out to be a fake number? No, Jude didn't seem like the type to do that but then again, what did they know? He was a stranger to them still.

Kaden sighed heavily and closed their contacts, they stood to their feet and shoved their phone into their pocket. How many times were they going to do this? Stare at the phone and get so close to calling but ultimately chicken out. Maybe a walk would clear their head and give them some courage?

It was one of Kaden's favourite pastimes. Taking long strolls through the neighbourhood whenever they felt off, sad, stressed, you name it. The weather was perfect for it too, light wispy clouds, bright blue skies, and the sun was shining so brightly. The moment Kaden stepped outside they sighed softly, the warm breeze felt nice against their skin. They popped on their headphone and turned on their tunes, their feet moving on their own.

As Kaden walked they loved to people watch sometimes, their mind conjuring up what a specific person might be doing or where they might be going but they didn't do it always, especially when they were sad because it usually just reminded them of how alone they truly felt.

Kaden shoved their hands into their pockets, their hand lightly gripping their phone as their mind once again debated on calling him or not. What would they say to him? Kaden's plan was to 'call him' but not plan after that. Kaden wasn't the best when it came to conversation but they also knew that with the little time that Jude and them spent together, they found talking to him to be quite comfortable.

"Fuck-" Kaden cursed to themselves as they walked. They didn't have a plan. No plan meant no call. Kaden was great at mentally beating themselves up over things like this.

Kaden got back to their apartment building and let themselves in. They trailed to their mailbox and lightly smacked their head against the boxes that adorned the wall as they lazily slipped the key into the keyhole, turning it to open it up.

"Rough day?"

"You could say that-" Kaden turned their head, drawing their attention to the source of the voice and it felt like their entire body went cold for a moment before heating right back up almost instantly, their eyes widened and mouth hung agape, they felt their heart sink into their stomach. "J-Jude!?"

Jude leaned down a little and tilted his head curiously at the person who seemingly knew his name, it was hard to see their face because their eyes were obstructed by their hair and when he finally realized who it was he grinned. "Kaden! Right?" He chuckled softly.

"Right! What are you doing here!?" Kaden lifted their head and straightened up Jude following suit, Kaden's heart rate was suddenly quickening, they were feeling many things all at once. Nervousness, happiness, excitement.

"I live here." He hummed, placing his own key into his mailbox and opening it.

"What!?" Kaden laughed softly which earned a small chuckle from Jude. "That's insane."

"What are the chances of that happening hm?" Jude smiled, in all honesty, he was feeling pretty much the same thing Kaden was with the added bit of anxiousness. He was sort of hoping they would have called him but when he heard nothing he assumed either they hadn't gotten around to using their new sketchbook or they simply were not interested in seeing him again.

"Well, I guess this solves my problem.." Kaden mumbled more so to themselves but Jude picked up on it and raised a brow.

"Solves what problem?" he asked softly, as he sorted through his mail, tossing out the junk flyers and placing the important one into his bag.

Kaden peeked into their own mailbox and just saw flyers. They grabbed them and tossed them into the recycling bin and gave a small shrug. "I was debating on calling you actually.." Kaden said lowly, they felt embarrassed to say it for some reason.

"Oh? You were?" Jude perked up, his gaze now intently on Kaden. "So you did find my number~"

"Mhmm.." Kaden nodded. "I'm not the most…sociable of people. I never know what to say or how to say it if I do think of something. My plan was to call but had nothing else after that." Kaden laughed sheepishly, their eyes glancing to the ground, they were pretty embarrassed at confessing that.

"Well that's a bit of a relief" Jude hummed, he closed his mailbox and leaned against the wall. "I thought maybe you didn't find it or that maybe you weren't interested in seeing me"

Kaden wanted to hell 'hell no, of course I wanted to see you' but they realized how weird that might sound so they refrained. "I found it as soon as I got home" Kaden chuckled softly. "As for not being interested well, I'm just socially awkward~ It was nothing against you."

Jude and Kaden both laughed a little at that but Jude understood and he couldn't have felt more relieved that it wasn't because Kaden wasn't interested. He stood up straight and took a little step towards Kaden, not close enough to get into their bubble, he remained at a respectable distance.

Kaden soon realized that his son wasn't with him to which they assumed straight after that he was probably being watched by someone else in Jude's family.

"Are you busy right now?" Jude asked, shoving his hands in his pockets, a small smile tugging his lips.

"Nope, I have nothing planned." Kaden hummed.

"Want to go get a coffee or something?" Jude asked, hopeful that Kaden would possibly say yes, once again his own feelings seemed to have reflected Kaden's. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to get them out of his head ever since they first met but he wouldn't admit that out loud, for now, he was content having Kaden around.

"Sure~" Kaden nodded, their own smile pulling to their lips. "oh!… I still don't know how I'm going to repay you for the bag-"

"Pay me back by having coffee with me." Jude hummed softly, as he gave a little shrug. "I'm easy to please."

"Coffee does not equal the bag!" Kaden huffed playfully. "That was an expensive bag~"

"Well then it looks like we're going to have to spend a lot of time together until the amount of coffee reaches the amount of the bag~" Jude flashed them a smile and winked playfully, his tone was teasing and Kaden couldn't help but laugh.

Even though Jude was most likely joking, Kaden couldn't help but feel the race in their heart and the rush of excitement they felt at the idea of spending more time with this man. They couldn't pinpoint it exactly but they just felt an odd sense of comfort around him, he gave off a very comforting aura and his personality was drawing Kaden ever closer.

"You know, I'm going to take that seriously then." Kaden grinned, following Jude as he started to walk towards the entrance, pausing his movements to allow Kaden to catch up.

"I mean…" Jude trailed off, a small subtle flush of his cheeks had Kaden looking at him quizically. "We don't just have to go for coffee…if you want..we..we could go do other things as well…"

Jude, looked to Kaden and a small grin tugged to his lips. "your call~" he teased.

Kaden felt a blush creeping up to their face, their stomach took flight with butterflies and they looked up at him. "Oh.. y-yeah…" Kaden had to bite back a smile when he said it was their call. "we could do other things as well.."

To which Jude smiled and started to head out the front door with Kaden, side by side.

Kaden could hardly believe that just hours ago they were stressing out over making a phone call to him and now here they were, talking about seeing each other in the future. What were the chances of them running into each other in the same building? Kaden felt like they were in a cheesy little romcom but they weren't going to complain, there was an obvious attraction between the two and Kaden was excited to explore these feelings even if they led to absolutely nowhere; Kaden was happy.

tagging: @ama-ships || @heatobrienswife || @lysandreslittlechatot || @kylars-princess || @dragonsmooch

#Trying to cheer myself uuuppp gaaaaahhhhh >o<#I think I'm fallin'#Jude 💞#my writing;

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rjmartin11 · 27 days

Text

Earth Angel, Heavenly Boy Part 4

Pairing: Angel!Elvis & OC!black!female

Summary: After a nearly fatal car accident, a mysterious man saved the life of a young woman who believes the young man is more than what he seems.

Word Count: ???

Warnings: Bad dreams, mentions of angels, slowburn

Author's Notes: Welcome to Part Four!

If you like this chapter, like, follow, repost, and comment!

・┆✦ʚ♡ɞ✦ ┆・🪽・┆✦ʚ♡ɞ✦ ┆・

Noel feels like she's flipping over in her car once more. She sweats in bed as the memories play horrificly in her mind. She can hear the wheels squeaking across the wet roads once more. She hears the glass shatter in her ears as it scratches her skin. She feels the pressure of the air bag as it tries to protect her from impact. She feels the steering wheel force itself down on her leg. She relives the excruciating pain that came with the moment as her leg snapped in three places. She feels her right wrist snap. The recalls the moment as the driver's seat forces her chest forward, breaking a rib. She was dying. She was dead.

She sees the small light in the distance and walks to it, yet she's pulled back to the pain of life. But there's no more pain. She's comfortable and warmth life a security blanket. She feels stronger than before. As she comes to, she feels sometime strange. It's like someone is... kissing her gently back to life.

Noel forces herself awake. She catches her breath as she wipes the sweat away from her brow. Then her fingers trace her lips as she recalls the lips that were once there. She didn't imagine it. She knows she didn't. She was kissed back to life. The one who kissed her had blue eyes. He was that close to her.

Noel gets out of bed and looks for her pencil and sketch pad. She plays her music as she begins to draw he hero's eyes. They're not large. His eyes were hooded but not sinister. They're heavenly. There was a glow about them. A peace beyond her comprehension. A peace Noel yearned for deeply in her everyday life.

Noel sketched page after page until she felt that she got his eye just right. Forty-two pages of eyes and the final page reminded her of Dr. Carpenter a little bit. An oceanic haze of turquoise made her heart swell with comfort.

Before she knew it, it was seven o'clock in the morning, and she needed to call her boss to let her know she wasn't coming in. Her boss was quite understanding and kind about it. Noel got the next five days off to recuperate herself.

She takes another shower and brushes her teeth in preparation for the day. She makes a few phones to her family, telling them about her car accident. Her mama is frantic and doused with anxiety. It takes Noel at least thirty minutes to calm her down.

"As long as you're safe, baby girl," she says.

"I'm just fine, Mama. I love you," Noel says, reassuring her.

"I love you, too."

After talking with her mama, Noel calls her car insurance company to file a claim. Being that it wasn't her fault, Noel could get a new vehicle in no time. But for the next two weeks, Noel can have a rental car to get her from A to B.

She cleans her apartment and gets her bills in order, seeing if she has room for that Italy trip she's dreamed about. She still has some saving to do, but she's closer than she was.

She goes in the kitchen for a snack and looks at Dr. Carpenter's card on the counter. Maybe she should talk to him. The thoughts of life haven't plagued her mind since she was a teenager.

All of a sudden, her phone rings.

"Hello?" She answers.

"Noel? Hi, it's Zeke," he says.

"Hi. Yeah, I remember you. The cutie from the fire department," she flirts.

Zeke laughs at her jests.

"That would be me, yeah. I was wondering if you're free tonight for dinner?"

Noel blushes at this question.

"Maybe. Why do you ask?"

"Would you like to go to dinner with me?"

"I'd love to go to dinner with you. Where are you taking me, and where do we meet?"

"It's this little bistro off the counter of Locura and Bedlam. Meet me there by seven," he tells her.

"Locura and Bedlam? Got it."

"I can't wait, Noel. I'll see you then."

"Yeah, see ya then."

They hang up the phone, and Noel ponders on the word Locura. It's something unique about the word. She can't focus on it too long, knowing she needs to go pick up her rental car.

Noel takes the city bus to the local Enterprise. She gets to look at the from a different point of view. Before the accident, her life was nonstop. Rush, rush, rush. She didn't notice how much the city had changed around her. New restaurants. More office buildings. She prides herself in noticing things that others may miss, but now she's the one who's missing things.

The bus slows itself down as it approaches an accident. The passengers of the bus shift their focus on the sad spectacle. Noel was already sitting on that side of the bus in shock. She can't believe her eyes.

As everyone else sees the paramedics doing their jobs, Noel sees what she believes to be souls of the dead. She sees a translucent little girl with a teddy bear patiently wait for someone. Then, a translucent woman walks up to the little girl and the walk hand ns hand into a source of light.

Noel takes a breath and looks at the ambulance. The blood body she sees is the same woman she saw walking with the little ghost girl. Could it be that they walked into the afterlife? The light of heaven? A tear falls down from Noel's eye to her cheek. It was a sad sight, but it was also a sense of peace to it. It still perplexes her.

Twenty minutes later, Noel gets to the Enterprise rental car dealership. She did most of her paperwork online, so the dealership only needed a few signatures. They handed Noel the keys to 2019 Nissan Rogue. As she sat in the driver's seat of the vehicle, Noel just couldn't get the image out of the mind.

She picked up her phone and decided she'd make one phone call before driving off. As the phone rang, Noel hoped that she made the right decision to call.

"This is Dr. Carpenter."

Taglist: @missmaywemeetagain @beeandheroddobsessions @headfullofpresley @everythingpresley @epforeverohyes @vintagepresley @pianginferno @powerofelvis @ab4eva @foreverdolly @searchingforgravity @thatbanditqueen @daffieapple @18lkpeters @dkayfixates @epsgirl @richardslady121 @literally-just-elvis-fics @eptodaytommorowforever @vintageshanny @iloveelvis @dreamingofep @aliypop @littlehoneyposts @msamarican

#elvis #elvispresley #elvis fans #romance #elvispresleyseries #elvis x oc #AngelElvis #Angels

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lyranova · 10 months

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May I request a thought of mine I have that is what would happen if all of the black bulls and golden dawns time travel to the day of Yuno and Asta magic knight exam entrance exam but with a twist that is Yuno and Asta aren't the ones who time travel but Leo and Mimosa are the one who time travel instead of them. Thank you

Hiya! Of course you can, I apologize if there’s typo’s or if it’s worded weird or confusing. I’m having to use a computer right now due to my hands and I don’t normally use a computer. But I hope you all enjoy~!

Word Count: 887

Warnings: None

———

Leo and Mimosa didn’t know how they got here, but somehow they had time traveled to the past! They had gone on a joint mission together to check out a dungeon that supposedly contained some ancient artifact, and at first when they cleared it they hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary. But when the two had suddenly walked out of the dungeon they had found themselves in the middle of the Capital. At first they had thought they had maybe been teleported back to the city, but upon closer inspection they realized they had in fact been teleported, but to a completely different time!

At first Mimosa had panicked while Leo had been excited, saying it wasn’t everyday you got to time travel! But eventually they were able to calm each other down to begin looking for a way to get back, even though they didn’t know where to start.

“ Maybe my big brother would know?” Leo had suggested and Mimosa agreed, it wouldn’t hurt to ask Fuegoleon for help.

So the two had begun to walk in the direction of the Crimson Lions base, but as they did they began to here people talking excitedly about the Magic Knights entrance exam that was going to be happening in a few minutes.

“ Should we go and check it out?” Leo had asked, and he pouted when Mimosa had firmly said ‘no’. “ But if the Entrance exam is today then that means that’s where my Big Brother is, doesn’t it?” Leo pointed out and Mimosa’s eyes widened in surprise.

“ So looks like we’re going to the Entrance exam!” Leo announced as he grabbed his cousins hand and began to drag her towards the Arena.

That was how they ended up in their current predicament.

Leo had gotten so excited about watching Asta and Yuno during the Entrance exam that he had accidentally blown their cover and now people were staring at the two in confusion, including Fuegoleon.

“ Mimosa, Leo, what are you two doing here? Weren’t you already accepted in your squads of choice?” He asked with a frown, causing the two to look at each other for a moment.

“ Well you see-.” Mimosa began but Leo cut her off.

“ I heard that a kid with no mana was taking the exam today, and I thought ‘How cool would it be to fight against that guy?’ so I decided to drop by and see if the rumors were true and maybe even fight against him!” Leo announced excitedly and Fuegoleon and Mimosa both raised their eyebrows.

“ What are you doing? We need to hurry up and find our way back home!” Mimosa whispered angrily at him, Leo just shrugged before he smiled at her.

“ We gotta keep up appearances too though, otherwise they’ll get even more suspicious.” Leo whispered back, causing Mimosa to roll her eyes. This was just an excuse to fight Asta and they both knew it.

“ Alright,, I accept your challenge! Let’s do this!” A voice suddenly shouted from the crowd, and when the cousins turned towards it they saw a much younger Asta walking towards them with a bright smile on his face.

“ Alright let’s do this! You’d better not hold back!” Leo said with a bright smile of his own as he hit his fist against the open palm of his other hand.

“ Wait Leo stop!” Mimosa called after him, but he ignored her and continued walking towards Asta.

“ Great we’re never going to get out of here!” Mimosa said with an exasperated sigh. She and the others moved away from the center of the arena and after a few minutes the two began to spar.

The match lasted quite a while. But eventually the match ended in a draw, much to everyone’s shock but to Leo and Asta’s dismay. Mimosa sighed in relief as she walked over to the two young men.

“ A man that was such a good fight, you’re definitely worthy of being my rival!” Leo said proudly as he smiled brightly at the past version of his friend.

“ ‘Your rival’? I already have a rival though,” Asta said as he turned to look at his childhood friend Yuno. “ But I guess it couldn’t hurt to have another rival! Especially one as strong as you!” Asta added brightly as he held out his hand, which Leo took gladly.

“ C’mon before you accidentally spoil the future!” Mimosa interrupted as Leo opened his mouth, she grabbed his arm and began to drag him away as Asta just stared at them in confusion.

“ ‘Spoil the future’? What did she mean by that?” Asta mused quietly to himself as they disappeared through a wooden door.

“ He’s always been great hasn’t he?” Leo asked quietly as he and Mimosa walked down the corridor. The woman nodded with a soft smile on her face.

“ He has. It just took everyone a while to realize it.” Mimosa said as she turned to look at Leo.

“ It didn’t take me long to realize it though!” He argued and she giggled at his outburst.

“ It didn’t take me long either. I meant it took everyone else a while to figure it out.” Mimosa clarified and Leo nodded in agreement.

Soon the two found Fuegoleon, explained the situation to him, and figured out a way to get back home.

———

Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

#asks #anaveragefan0411 #black clover #black clover fanfiction #black clover oneshot #leopold vermillion #mimosa vermillion #asta black clover #black clover asta #black clover mimosa #black clover leopold

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iltaimpi · 9 months

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{I ought to draw the Twins soon. If only obligations weren't in my way.}

{Well, until I draw them fully, here's them in the background of this image:

Nero and Laurie Bousfield, also known as the Bousfields, Bousfield twins, or simply The Twins, are two young Stand Users April has the misfortune of being housed with. They're around 11 years old, both orphans, and both suffer delusions despite their age - the things that having a Stand and a fucked-up backstory will do to your psyche, am I right? In any case, I don't know who the fuck's supposed to be taking care of these kids (April included), but they're not doing a very good job of it since April seems to be the one trying to control these two.

Nero, pictured on the left, and Laurie, pictured on the right, have an interest in causing trouble, horror movies, Disney, and scaring the absolute fuck out of April.

Nero's Stand is also pictured above, holding the broken toaster. Named 「Rotting Fantasyland」, it is a small humanoid Stand whose main ability is simply to cause any tech to malfunction; that is, to make any technological device function in any way it's not meant to be functioning; which in essence gives him great control over technology. Nero likes to use this ability just to mess with people, particularly if he can use it to scare someone - like turning the lights off to get closer to someone before the lights go back on, horror-movie style.

Nero himself is a very odd and somewhat antisocial boy. He ofttimes deludes himself, and seems to believe himself to be very powerful and dangerous. He finds entertainment in tormenting and scaring others, and is protective of but harsh towards his sister. Has a morbid interest in taking innocent things– such as children’s characters– and twisting them into something dubious. Tends to act condescending towards others, and if he ever feels disadvantaged or endangered, he will do everything to invert those feelings to emulate superiority and power. He believes himself to be possessed by demons or cursed—but not by 「Rotting Fantasyland」, which he knows is a Stand. Sometimes he carries small devices to use as improvised explosives or fire projectiles in an emergency situation.

Laurie is a bit odd, but less antisocial than her brother. Her delusions seem to manifest in mainly the form of paranoia, believing herself to be infested or possessed, and being somewhat neurotic as a result. She doesn’t know what it is, but she is absolutely convinced there is something inside of her, feeding off her life energy. Though outwardly calm, she tends to get rather jittery the longer she’s away from home. She often talks very casually about things that could go wrong or how the person she’s talking to could possibly kill her. She does not avoid people, however, and treats this dread and paranoia as an average everyday occurrence. Tends to do things even if they cause her more anxiety, but complains about pain quite easily—even if it’s nonexistent. Believes her brother to be as dangerous as he claims to be. Usually nicer to others than him, though.

Her Stand, not pictured, is (as of this moment) called 「Cracknight」. It has an ability in thematic contrast to 「Rotting Fantasyland」, it replaces organic bits with other organic constituents. This is typically done in the fashion of, for example, exchanging a leaf for a lung. A leaf doesn’t match the size of a lung, but when this is done, a lung crafted of leaves will replace the lung, which will be removed from the body in the process. Over time, assuming no further damage is done, the leaf-heart will begin to turn into what is functionally a real heart. This comes with a drawback: her fucking bones. Her health is shit and she constantly has to replace failing parts with other constituents using her Stand... and, given her paranoia, perhaps she replaces things when it's not exactly necessary.

}

#ilta puhuu #jjba oc #fan character #jojo oc #jjba fan stand #jjba fan character #fanstands #The Bousfield Twins #Laurie Bousfield #Nero Bousfield

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reikeip · 2 years

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Crossroad ♱ Curse 4

Location: Outside the Hasumi Temple

Keito: Hey… Why are you making such a racket, at a temple no less, you rascal.

Koga: ♪~♪~♪

Keito: (...Huh? When I heard the timbre of a guitar, I thought it must be Sakuma-san, but I was wrong. I’m pretty sure this is the first year that tails Sakuma-san constantly, though.)

(I’ve got him on record for breaking the school regulations on multiple accounts, such as being tardy, causing property damage, and walking his dog on campus. I think his name was Oogami Koga.)

(He breaks the school rules without reflecting on his actions, and the majority of the time runs away to avoid receiving any sort of punishment, yet despite this…)

(That guy submits honest written apologies, putting my complaints with his attitude aside.)

(I don’t know what conclusion to draw from him. I mean, what kind of reason does he have to visit my house?)

(My family’s temple sits atop a mountain. I wouldn’t take him as devout, nor the type to climb all the way up our stone stairway to pay homage.)

(And I don’t think he’s lost either, the surrounding area is empty.)

…Hey. Oogami, was it? What are you doing here?

Koga: ♪~♪~♪

Keito: Quit playing that guitar at once. Not only is it noisy, but this level of disrespect is beyond the limit of what’s acceptable.

Koga: ♪~♪~♪

Keito: Ignoring me, are you now? You’re hopeless. …I could call the police on you if I wanted, you know?

Koga: Hah! If I was afraid of the police, then who am I to sing rock n’ roll!

If you really wanna stop me you’re gonna have to use some brawn! C’mon, I’ll take you on as an opponent any day! Kyahaha☆

Keito: Don’t yowl and howl. …I presume you’re aiming for Sakuma-san, yeah? Unfortunately, that guy has yet to show up.

It’s not like we made a formal arrangement to meet, there’s a possibility he won’t even turn up today.

After all, that person frequently fills his mouth with lies and absurd jests to mislead others.

Koga: Huh? You complainin’ about Sakuma-senpai’s way of life? In short, you’re pickin’ a fight with me! I’ll kill youuu!

Keito: You… Hm, you admire Sakuma-san?

Koga: …!? T-that’s crazy talk! I-it’s not that I like him or anything like that!

Keito: You don’t have to hide it. It’s obvious.

I can’t stomach that person’s everyday behavior, but as idols go, I’ve never seen better. Obsessed fans like yourself are not uncommon.

Well, it’s my first time seeing someone obsessed enough to put him off.

He said, “Dunno why, but feels like whenever I turn ‘round, he’s right up in my business. It’s creepy.”—you’re startling him. Show some restraint and don’t follow him around.

Koga: I-it’s not like I’m a stalker or anything!

And I’m not chasing him around with half-baked feelings! Don’t you dare lump me in with the groupies!

One day I’ll be just like him! No, I’ll reach even higher!

‘Cause if you climb above him, then you’re standin’ on top of the world, right? Do ya think there’s a problem with that!? Huh?

Keito: I take no issue with that. However, it’s best not to expect that you can rival that person. Even if it desperately tried until the end of time, it wouldn’t matter, the moon’s beams could never draw even with the rays of the sun.

Koga: Shut uuup~! I don’t care what aaanyone else tells me or thinks. The first time I saw that guy live was the moment I found my path in life, and my heart’s set on it.

I stumbled upon it without meaning to, but I found it!

I’m an idiot, so I don’t really know all the complicated bits!

But if I put in all the hard work to get even closer to that guy, I’ll be a better me than I am now!

I’m sure of that much! So that’s why I've been strumming away at this guitar with all my life! You don’t get this at all, outsiders should just butt out!

Keito: I, for one, would prefer to disregard you. But as you can imagine, I can’t just leave you as is when you’re kicking up a fuss at my house.

Hm… Hold on a second. I’ve thought of a perfect way to drive you out.

Koga: What? Gonna treat me to a cup of tea then politely request that I take my leave?

I won't fall for that sort of trick, you know! Today Sakuma-senpai is going to teach me to play the guitar, and until then, I ain’t leaving!

Keito: You came here for guitar lessons?

Keito: This is just something I happened to hear from Sakuma-san, but… I thought you were introduced to a decently popular band, and you’ve been doing activities with them at the underground livehouse, no?

Keito: Did you fail to get mesh with the band and have a sort of falling out?　

Koga: Hell naw~! That band has my thanks. They actually take shit seriously when it comes to music, so I’ve learned a lot from them!

But, I still want Sakuma-senpai to teach me!

You can’t just lazily throw a substitute at me an’ tell me “you’ll have to make do with this”, I ain’t gonna accept that!

Bring Sakuma-senpai out! I know from one of my band mates he’s comin’ home from overseas to this here temple!

Keito: Like I said, that guy has yet to show himself. …Ah, I see. So this is where I’d stored it.

Oogami. It seems that for you to listen to someone, you must first recognize them as superior to you.

If that’s the case, this will be simple. I shall make you experience first-hand that I am of a higher rank than you.

Koga: Ehh? Youuu–Don’t get all cocky just ‘cause you’re Sakuma-senpai’s favorite!

Ya look like you’ve never touched a guitar in your life, yet ya got the nerve to look all self-assured!?

Keito: I’m not a fan of guitars, but this guy here is my forte.

Koga: Huh? What kinda instrument is this, like some cute little guitar?

Keito: A shamisen.[1]

Koga: I’ve heard of that, it’s a cursed instrument ya make by murderin’ cats, yea? Well ain’t that punk rock~!

Keito: I have quite a few things to say in retaliation to that. But since it seems tactless speaking to you with words, I’ll let my performance do the talking instead.

Observe. The result of Sakuma-san’s training, my string technique.

♪~♪~♪

← previous | all | next →

A shamisen 三味線 (meaning three-strings) is a three-stringed Japanese instrument traditionally made from cat (or dog) skin.

#koga oogami #keito hasumi

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365runesoftheamalgamations · 2 years

Text

Random Writings pt.2

a small write inspired by and written for this prompt from @writing-prompt-s. c:

words, sentences, prompts thoughts will be presented in blue!

warnings: mentioned death, drowning/falling mentions, talk of bodies, talk of death, mild mention of puking let us know if anything needs to be removed/added. c:

*~*~*~*

June 5

No one goes into the sky anymore. I think it's a fear thing, one of those innate fears of falling from the sky that no one was actually aware of until it could happen. Kind of like being on a giant skyscraper without a single ladder or safety net, so if you fall, you just… don’t stop. At least, that is what everyone thinks now. No one really found the end of the sky, you know? It wasn’t really ever a problem. I mean, I think we all kind of enjoyed the sky being ABOVE us rather than BELOW us. Bc now, the beaches are empty, the houses abandoned. Now, no one comes near the end of the world. The sky was endless, and that draws a different kind of torture and horror when you can fall into it, rather than from it.

*~*~*~*

June 18 Clouds are weird. They stay underneath our feet now, hugging the beaches like a fog that never rises. It's weird, seeing the clouds. Bc like… you know, like, knowing you could touch them, if you were brave enough to leave the water? All of those movies where heroes and people touch the clouds and run their hands through them seems so much closer now. But no one wants to go onto the beaches now. No one wants to get near the edge of the skies, and clouds. I wonder if we should call them cliffs now? Not so much beaches as just dropoffs, at least not in our perspective anymore. But most people aren't brave enough to even enter the sandy fields. And those that have tried, haven't come back.

*~*~*~*

July 2 They started calling it reverse drowning. It seems weird, I guess, if you think about it? That with the switching of the sky and ocean, came the weird concept that our bodies treated each like they were switched as well. Bc like, we breathe water and sink into the skies. It’s weird, bc it doesn’t feel like that. The water feels so weightless, you can still jump, even though you hover, sinking slowly back onto the ground without incident. And with that change, came the slow realization that we no longer could breathe in the air. … They used to find bodies everyday, when it first switched. It was bad times, for everyone. Especially Mom. She used to be a lifeguard - I loved sitting on her guardpost thingy and just watching the waves and the people and the sky - but she quit after one week led to bodies “washing up” on the beaches in the tens. I guess I was lucky she kept me locked up in the house right after the switch. I remember seeing the news, hearing about the bodies, but Mom refused to let me see anything close to the coverage. I know it was bad though. Mom was puking that whole first week.

*~*~*~*

July 10 Sea storms are a lot more dangerous now. They pull you out, throwing you into the sky. No one really thought much of it until the water seemed to DRAIN into the dropoffs. A few of the houses closest to the beaches got dragged off. Kind of like a hurricane, or tsunami, only in reverse. I saw it with my own eyes. I never got it out of my head. Just the idea of seeing someone being dragged towards the beaches, the water screaming louder than any wind, and even your body, tethered and secure. being lifted from the ground like you were nothing more than a piece of wood. I remember being pulled out to Ocean by the waves. I used to love the thrill of the drag, the anxiety of the pull that would threaten to take me back home. Now, it feels like the wrath of some kind of god that wants nothing to do with us. Throwing us back into the sky to die without remorse.

*~*~*~*

July 13 I STUCK MY HE

should we continue this?

#amwriting #prompts #writing prompts #writingcommunity #writerscommunity #writings #creative writing #writing community #Oceans #Skies #Inverted Environments #cw: death mention #tw: death mention #tragedies #journal entries #abrupt ends #to be continued?

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recordingsofanoddcity · 10 months

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Asbriel Volitare: A semi immortal being that is known as “A Guardian”, a being that protects people and other living beings. These beings are sent from above to keep peace on the planet they are sent to. Asbriel was sent to protect Torontonians, as they are experiencing these weird paranormal activities. He arrived with many others, and because of this, he decides to stray from his mission. Asbriel decides to go undercover as a human. He works at a bubble tea shop nearby a college, so it’s easy for him to get money and not be caught, as other Guardians tend not to take breaks. While working there he meets another character called Leo, a simple college student who gets bubble tea every other day. The two become close rather quick after Leo decides to try talking with Asbriel, and his cold demeanour leaves him the closer they get.

Stuff: I would like to think if he were human, he would be Brazilian. I did draw him for my Instagram, but I don’t like his design very much so I’ll have to change it. I like to think his vocie would be similar to that of the fox from the little prince movie or Howl from Howls moving castle. I say that personality wise, is very stern and cold. Where he is from, work is life, if you’re not working, you’re useless. He doesn’t know much about affection or compassion, which is what Leonardo teaches him. Him and Leo at the point of this show, were friends for a year. Asbriel crosses paths with our main cast through Florence, as they work at the same bubble tea shop. They become friends because Florence took quite a liking to the reserved quiet man who has been working everyday shifts, and seems to never be heard of outside of work. Through that, Salem starts to speculate, as it’s odd that he practically ceases to exist after work hours.

This is all I have planned, please ask questions!!

#ROAOC #podcast in the making #recordings of an odd city #original podcast #original character #Creepylps44

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bazmichaels · 2 years

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College - Part Four

The fall of my senior year was a big deal for me. I was going to finish my classes, play unbelievable tennis, and get my diploma, all with my love by my side. Things did not go as planned. The fall semester actually went fine. I had a great class in planetary astronomy, and I did well in it. But I discovered a problem with my academic calendar right around this time. I was required to take a Physics class called Optics to complete my Astrophysics degree. It was not very hard, compared to other Physics class, and it would be very useful for astronomy. The problem is that the Optics class was only offered (get this) once every other year at 2:30 in the afternoon., with labs at the same time on alternating days. That was not going to work for me or any other spring sports athlete. After some analysis, I found that I was closer to getting a degree in Mathematics than I was to finishing my Astrophysics degree, because the Optics class wasn’t offered for 2 more years. A straight Physics degree was even farther away, since I had already taken the Astronomy classes, and I had the same Optics class problem. Because of prerequisites, it would take me 2 extra semesters, though, for the Math degree. The smart move would be to quit tennis and take the Optics class in the spring. That is not what I did. (So, by logical deduction, I am not smart.)

I came into the tennis season in shape and ready to challenge for a top-6 spot, even if I didn’t have a scholarship. Coach True had been able to recruit players this time, so he brought in some talented players, but they were young and beatable.

I doubt if Coach True did this on purpose or not, but we wound up with a collection of goofballs and wackos on the team this year. It was fun.

Look at the spaz on the far left. That wasn’t a gag shot – it was just Brad’s everyday personality. He and fellow freshman Matt Peterson were like a comedy duo that walked around together all the time. I hear Brad is now a successful attorney in the Bowling Green area.

Rob Spencer was in my dorm in the same hallway, and we got to be great friends. He was from Silver Springs, Maryland, around the DC area. He was kind of high strung, but full of passion. His main passions when I knew him were tennis, Kool and the Gang, and following the Washington DC professional football team (I’ll say that I am strongly pro-name-change and leave it at that). As time went on, we came to a mutual appreciation of new wave music – in particular, the Stray Cats, the Romantics, and Oingo Boingo. On the weekends, when most of the campus went back home (for some reason), we would take the opportunity to blast Stray Cats music out one of our dorm room windows and sing along at the top of our lungs. Nobody ever complained. Rob is now a distinguished Physics teacher and tennis coach at T.L. Hannah High School in South Carolina. If you’ve ever seen the movie “Radio”, you may recognize the name of that high school. Come to think of it, just add teaching physics and he’s still got the same passions as back then.

I played well in the fall. I had some success against the new recruits in head-to-head matches. I was also doing well against the guy who was our #6 player last year. There was a lot of back and forth. The coach decided to consider pedigree when coming up with the initial order of the lineup and give preference to the guys he gave scholarships to, but he said the bottom of the lineup was subject to change as the season progressed. I was the de facto #7, with no serious challengers from below me, so I wound up playing several matches at #6 and #5. I even played a #3 match in the last match of the season.

We played in a couple of tournaments in the fall with an open draw. I remember one match I played against the #1 player from Murray State. The Murray State Racers, from Murray, KY, had been an OVC foe, but somehow, were head and shoulders better than everyone else in the conference in tennis. These guys somehow had a recruiting pipeline to Sweden, and had a bunch of Bjorn Borg wannabees, plus some other studs they got because of their reputation. So, I took on their #1 guy in this tournament, and I started off even with him. He was a smaller guy from Sweden who didn’t have much power (but famously ran marathons). I hit a few winners against him early, so I felt like I had a puncher’s chance. I really didn’t. After taking a few games to analyze my shot selection and my strengths and weaknesses, he began to anticipate my every move, and was able to run down almost every shot I hit. If I tried to go away from the strength of my game to cross him up, I’d miss or give him an opening because he forced me to play my weakness. If I tried for too much pace when attempting to hit a winner, I was likely to miss it; too little and he’d run it down and put it back in play. It was neither the first nor the last time I felt confident in warmups, but walked away a broken, defeated, carved out shell of a man.

Tennis, when played at a high level, is the type of game that exposes your soul to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to bask in the glory of victory, if only for a fleeting moment. It is a one-on-one battle of wits that also demands maximum effort from every muscle, fiber, and nerve in your body. It is a sport played with deft hands but ultimately won or lost with the feet and the mind. It is a game of strategy in which you must not think during the point but focus solely and completely on the ball. How can that possible work?

Well, your brain has two modes: the analytical mode and the subconscious mode. Your analytical mode is good at solving problems, doing calculations, forming hypotheses, etc. When it starts trying to tell your body what to do in the middle of a point, it’s way too slow and imprecise to be useful. You might get away with it as a beginner playing a beginner, but it will never catch up to the speed of the game at higher levels. Let’s say you’re returning serve against a guy that can pump it in there at 130mph. If you use your analytical mode, it could go something like this: You tell yourself “His toss is where it usually is when he goes up the T, so I’ll start moving my body parts in that direction; body parts, ho! ok, now he just hit the ball, and it’s going where I thought it was going to go. Yippee! Oh wait, there’s no time for celebrating – we still must hit the ball; let’s see, that’s a forehand; turn your shoulders that way; oh, don’t forget the hips; I guess no time to step forward, we’ll just stay open with the feet; alright, swing toward the ball…now! Go! Come on, hips, you need to start the swing; do I have to tell you everything? You made us whiff and look bad. I hope no one was watching us. Yes, well obviously he saw us. I meant, …, never mind.” Your analytical mode sucks at hitting a ball.

Your unconscious mode, however, just needs to focus on seeing the ball, and, miraculously, your unconscious brain will fire the right nerves to cause your muscles to move in the correct sequence to be able to hit the ball with the center of the racket you’re holding at just the right time. It can even direct your return into the open court if your visual cortex detects an opening as it’s tracking the projectile speeding toward you. Your analytical mode needs to be analyzing patterns and formulating strategies. What’s working and not working for you – for your opponent? How quick is your opponent side-to-side – moving forward – moving backward? Do they get back to the center of the court quickly, or do they lag? Can you hit behind them as they scramble back into position? Can they handle a high backhand? Do they have a side that’s stronger than the other? Is there an advantage for either of you at the net? Can you get a lob over them? The analytical mode simply needs to feed its preprocessed information to the subconscious mode, and it will handle the shot making. At this level of tennis, you need both modes working optimally in conjunction with each other. The trick is that the analytical mode needs to operate completely in the background, letting the subconscious mode oversee the all the movement and reactions. I was still in the process of getting these modes separated and coordinated properly, and of shoring up my analytics department.

We seemed to have the core of a good young team, but there was a new wrinkle that all the sports teams had to deal with this year. We switched conferences from the Ohio Valley Conference to the Sun Belt Conference. This was a move made to give the basketball team a higher national profile, but it was a kick in the gut to the tennis team, since the new conference members were much better at tennis than the ones in the OVC. These were teams based in the South, including two teams from Florida – South Florida and Jacksonville. We figured it was going to be a tough year, just based on the tougher competition. It was.

Finally, it was time for the season to start. We started with an indoor match against Murray State. They beat us 8-1. Next was the Kentucky Invitational, which was also indoors. There were some heavy-duty teams from the Southeastern Conference. We finished 7th of 8. Hmmm. Finally, we headed to the deep south, with the first stop in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s sweet home of Alabama. I’ve been there a few times now, and with all due respect, that place is awful. Remember, I said with all due respect. The highlight of the trip was on the way down, Coach True pulled the van off onto an off ramp in the middle of nowhere to check the engine, which didn’t sound right to him. We piled out of the van and stretched our legs. There was no one around, so some of us took the opportunity to alleviate ourselves of excess fluids. Suddenly, we saw the clown prince of college tennis, Brad Hanks, running full speed across the field next to the highway. I’m sure his tongue was hanging out of his mouth, flapping in the breeze. Those of us from north of the Mason-Dixon line said, “What the heck is he doing?”. The southerners all told us that he was cow tipping.

Sure enough, he was heading straight for a cow standing in the field. As he not-so-stealthily approached the cow, it woke up and galloped away. Brad peeled off and headed for another cow, which also galloped away. This pattern continued until it was time to pile back into the van. Nary a cow was tipped. A disappointed but unscathed Hanks returned from the pasture, and we were on the road again. We continued our trek south and played a school called North Alabama. They were worse than us, and we skunked them 9-0. I was once again the #7 guy on the team, so I played North Alabama’s #7. I didn’t know that he was really one of their best players but was ineligible because he had just transferred in from another school, where he had won a Division III national championship the year before. The top 6 guys finished off their opponents quickly; meanwhile, I was in a knock-down-drag-out battle on Court 7. We went three sets, and both teams were watching us and cheering us on. I remember I broke the strings on both my Prince Woodie rackets, and I had to borrow a teammate’s racket to finish the match, even though it was a different model of racket than mine.

I won the match in a nailbiter, and I apologized to the team for making them wait to get back on the road. While I was glad to win a tough match, I was originally discouraged because it seemed like I was quite far behind the top 6. Then Coach True told me about that guy’s situation, and I felt good about the match.

Then we went from North Alabama to South Alabama. That was a whole different ball game down there. The Jaguars of South Alabama were in our new conference, and they were much better than us, skunking us 9-0. But (this was very exciting for me) I saw an ocean for the very first time as we were driving through Mobile, Alabama, heading toward the school. We didn’t drive along the coast, or stop to walk on beach or anything, but I saw it out the window of the van, kind of in between the buildings in the downtown area, and it was more like an inlet than the wide open seas. It seems so trivial to me now, but I remember it was a big deal for me then. After getting smacked around by one team, it was on to Southern Mississippi University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi for a huge early season tournament, where players from a wide variety of schools could beat us up.

There were big, highly ranked teams there. Several teams from the SEC. The team I remember most was Vanderbilt University out of Nashville, Tennessee. Vandy was a hoity toity rich kids’ school, and their number one player that year was Chris Evert’s brother, John. Chris Evert finished as the number one female player in the world a total of 260 weeks in the 1970s and 80s, including 1981 and 1982.

Our team was sitting around on the grass, waiting for the next player to get called, when the Vandy team came over and sat close to us. Evert was kind of a celebrity and had a group of guys around him that were peppering him with questions. The most obvious question, was, of course, did he ever play his sister, and how he did against her. Well, Chrissy was an elegant player who had impeccable ground strokes and footwork. She was a backboard who just never missed and a sharpshooter who placed her shots with precision. Her brother John, and all the top men’s college players, were physically imposing beasts. They crushed serves, came in behind them and crushed volleys. They crushed service returns. Crushed groundstrokes. John crushed Chrissy when they played each other. No Battle of the Sexes TV special needed there.

This tournament had its own draw for each lineup slot from 1-6. I didn’t get to play as a number 7, so I just watched. It was high quality tennis. Once all our guys were knocked out of the tournament, we took off for a dual meet at the University of Alabama at Birmingham – the Blazers (“Ball me, Blazer!”) – another school in our new conference, and they also gave us a pretty good thumping. We limped home and took on some regional opponents, before heading back out to a tournament at Southeast Missouri State (SEMO) in Cape Girardeau, MO. We had seen those guys at other tournaments we went to, and we went to their place the previous year, so we got to be friendly with those guys. We came in second of six in that tournament. Pretty good. We followed that up by beating Michigan State and Louisville (two schools you’ve heard of). I had another situation against Michigan State where I played a guy that was way too good to be playing #7. He was their #3 guy, but he was academically ineligible. I didn’t know that when he was running me all over the court.

Next was the Kentucky Intercollegiate Championships. This was a tournament for all the Division 1 schools in Kentucky. It was in this tournament where finally, someone rolled an ankle, and it was my time to shine! Wow – that sounds mean when I say it out loud. Regardless of how I feel about it, the simple fact was that Scott Underwood, our #2 singles player, turned an ankle during his first-round match. He was able to finish the match and continue in the tournament, but coach decided he needed to rest and treat his ankle between his singles matches. So, I stepped in and played #1 doubles. I had become a better doubles player than a singles player, and Scott was a baseliner who struggled a bit at the net. That may have factored into the coach’s decision. I took the court beside our #1 Ken Putlak to face off against the #1 doubles team from the University of Louisville. Putlak and I hadn’t played together, but we knew each other’s games and we had the same coach. It didn’t take long before we anticipated each other’s moves. Covering the open court when the other one left to poach. Moving back together to retrieve a lob, and back up to net together to resume the attack. We held our serves effortlessly – placing kick serves up the T or slicing them out wide – poaching returns with sharp volleys into the open court. Service breaks are always harder to come by, but we kept the pressure on and won in straight sets. On to the second round. I had never faced a top-tier doubles team, but I felt naively confident that we could take the tournament.

In a shocking turn of events, however, a momentous basketball game wreaked havoc with the tournament. Our little tennis tournament was taking place at the same time as another tournament called the NCAA Basketball Tournament, and, as it happened, the Louisville Cardinals and the Kentucky Wildcats were set to play each other for the first time in something like 25 years. If you’ve never lived in Kentucky, you literally have no idea how huge college basketball is to the people there. And the two gas giants in the basketball solar system are UK and Louisville (WKU is a distant 3rd). As an example of how serious people are about college basketball in Kentucky, virtually all the tennis players who were from Kentucky forfeited their matches in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Championships if they coincided with the big game. And all their coaches let them! I’m not kidding. My doubles partner in the tournament was a proud native of Louisville, Kentucky, and, as such, forfeited or next match and knocked us out of the tournament – and everyone was ok with that. I looked outside the window at the tennis courts during the game and there were just a handful of matches going on. The Swedes from Murray State were doing quite well against the South Africans from Morehead State (that’s the real name of a college in Kentucky – feel free to insert a joke hear if it’s the first time you’ve heard of it.). Louisville won the basketball game 80-68 to advance to the final four, by the way. We finished 5th out of 10 in our tennis tournament, if anyone cared, and we proceeded to lose our next 5 matches as we stumbled into our conference tournament.

The Sun Belt Conference Tournament was in Charlotte, North Carolina, hosted by the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. It was our first year in the Sun Belt Conference, and we had only played two of the teams in our conference that year, so we were in unfamiliar territory. On the one hand, we knew we were walking into the lion’s den, on the other hand, it was a lovely drive through the Smokey Mountains out to North Carolina. I was a senior and was apparently the most responsible person on the team, so Coach True let me trade off with him driving the van out there and back. The drive was peaceful and beautiful. It was also totally against NCAA rules, but the statute of limitations ran out long ago.

Even though I had played some matches at #6 and even #5 that season, I wasn’t scheduled to play in the tournament. I was on the lookout for any kind of leg, arm, back, or shoulder injury during our guys’ first round singles matches so I could slide onto a doubles team. No such luck. I watched the #1 singles matches on the first day, and it was impressive. Putlak played this dude from the University of South Florida who was nationally ranked. It was like watching a professional match on TV. It made me wonder how great the top players in the world were, because they would chew up and spit out these guys who were playing such great tennis. I think it comes down to the speed of the game. Not just being fast around the court but being quick and always on balance so you can get to the next shot. And having the shots that can make the game speed up for your opponent.

It reminded me of a day that year when Andres, a player from Chile that was on the previous year’s team, came by practice to hit while he was here in the States visiting friends. The previous year, we were good hitting partners because we were both lefties that hit a lot of hard topspin strokes. He had been down in South America playing on the professional tour for the past year. When we took the court to practice, I couldn’t even return any of his groundstrokes for about 10 shots until I got used to the ball exploding off the court so much. He had learned to add more spin to his shots to get them to explode off the court so that he could compete on the pro circuit. He probably didn’t even realize how much his strokes had changed since a year before. I never figured out the secret – I’m sure there’s a heavy dose of mental training in there, too – but I knew I wasn’t going to make a living playing tennis on tour. I was very grateful for the experience I had playing in college, though.

We were in Charlotte long enough to hit the town for a while one night. Putlak and I took the van out. Danny, the other senior, didn’t feel like coming along. We didn’t have much time before our 10:00 curfew, anyway. But Ken and I strolled into a night club and walked up to the most attractive pair of ladies in the place. The diminutive, dimpled, lothario asked if we could sit with them. They naturally said yes. We talked for a bit. Told them why we were there. Asked them about Charlotte. Then a slow song came on, and we paired up and hit the dance floor. My partner melted into me, and we were feeling the feels. Then the song ended. Putlak and I looked at our watches, nodded to each other, and said goodbye to our lady friends, leaving them standing there, dumbfounded, and bothered – curfew. Soon, the tournament was over for everyone. It turns out goofy Brad Hanks did the best of any of us in the tournament, at the #3 position. The following year the team took up cow tipping as an integral part of their training regimen. *

* No, no they didn’t.

After the conference tournament, we had one more match. Putlak had focused all his energy on the tournament and was too spent to play a meaningless match to end his career. This was my time to shine – again. I played #3 singles against Louisville. I lost. I felt like I was right there with the other guy, though, and I had a good chance of winning. I also played doubles – I think it was #1 doubles. From the start I felt like we were going to win, but the tides changed late in the match, and we lost a close one. And so ended the 1983 tennis season. I had one more year of eligibility, and some time to decide if I would give it another shot.

That spring was also an interesting semester academically. I took the senior level Astrophysics class. It involved all sorts of calculations about astronomical bodies, planetary motion, mass, acceleration, rotation, electromagnetism, etc. The final for this class occurred near the end of the tennis season, but we were still practicing. The final was open book and open notes. It consisted of 5 questions, and we were required to show all our work. The test started at 10:00am and I was late for tennis practice at 2:30pm. I ran from the classroom to my dorm room and from my room to the courts.

I got an 85% on the test, and I was very happy with that score. I forget exactly what math courses I took that year, but they were getting complicated. I was having to put more and more work into them., but my grades were holding up.

#memoir #college

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adhamhocaoimh · 2 years

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“Everyday the sandwich guy shows up to the office at about 12:00. He offers a wide selection of sandwiches from the very traditional (tuna, egg salad etc) to the more esoteric.

An esoteric sandwich? What can an esoteric sandwich taste like? It is through him that I discovered the "sabich". A sabich is a sandwich traditionally eaten by Iraqi Jews on Saturday morning (the Jewish Sabbath).

It might be the most delicious sandwich I have ever eaten in my life. It's a delicious combo of hummous, techina, hard-boiled egg, pickles, parsley and fried eggplant shoved into a pita. Elsewhere in the world it's known as Babi Jan. Apparently about forty-somewhat years ago an Iraqi Jew ran a small kiosk in the Israeli city of Ramat Gan and served up these delicious sandwiches. The name of the guy was Sabich (It's like being a Smith in Iraq) and he was the only person in the country making the Babi Jan so everyone started referring to the sandwich as a Sabich.

I love the food here. Nothing can be more satisfying than a fresh falafel stuffed with all the goods. I love the ethnic food. The soul food of the Jewish people. There are hundreds of these places all over the country. Most of them were started by women 40 years ago whose sons now run them. The mothers (now grandmothers) still meddle and can be seen in the kitchen nearly everyday. My favorite place of all time is called Mordoch and is located near the Mahane Yehuda open-air market in Jerusalem. The Mordoch family are Kurdish and serve the best kubbeh soup in the entire country. Kubbeh soup is a meal unto itself. There are two kinds - red and green - Red kubbeh soup has a tomato and beet base. Green (commonly known as Chamutzta) is a really sour soup made with swiss chard and a ton of lemon juice. The star of both soups however is the Kubbeh itself. Kubbeh are bulgar dumplings filled with meat and spices. I have consistently had at least one bowl of kubbeh soup a week in the past five years.

Mahane Yehuda might be one of my favorite places in the entire country. It has such an old school feel to it. It features tons of fruit and vegetable stalls, fresh fish, and aromatic coffee, thousands of spices, butchers and baked goods. The merchants are constantly yelling. On Fridays, the prices get cheaper and cheaper as the Sabbath draws closer with merchants trying to sell as much as possible before the Jewish Sabbath begins. I shop at the same merchants every week. When I was a soldier and was doing my shopping there, the amount of free stuff I received was unbelievable. I once went to this prepared food place and ordered a small chicken and a couple of side dishes. I was in uniform and I guess it struck the owner as odd that I was buying food for one person. Friday night dinner is to Jews as Sunday dinner is to Italians. Tons of family and even more food. The owner asked me why I was buying such a small amount of food. I told him that I was a chayal boded, translated as a lonely soldier - a soldier who doesn't have any family in the country. He then invited me to his house to eat with his family. In America, this would be viewed as odd, even a little dangerous. Not so here. It's quite common to have strangers over for Friday night dinner. The only reason I didn't go was that I had just finished my most difficult week of basic training - called war week - and just wanted to eat something, shower and sleep for 24 hours.

I have never experienced anything like Mahane Yehuda in America and its really a shame. The closest I thing I have ever seen was The West Side Market in Cleveland which had a lot of character and was somewhat old school in a middle America sort of way. But it ain't my market and they don't serve kubbeh soup there.” • 2005

4 small eggplants (with soft, edible skins)

2 tablespoons oil

2 eggs (hard-boiled and sliced)

1/4 cup hummus (store-bought or homemade)

1/4 cup tahini sauce

Israeli salad

2 tablespoons amba sauce (or more to taste)

Salt (to taste)

Freshly ground pepper (to taste)

2 pita rounds (cut in half)

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snelbz · 2 years

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Every Other Weekend {7}

Summary: Rowan was just looking for a night of fun after his divorce. Aelin was looking for one last reckless moment before selling her soul to her everyday grind of 9-5. Neither had any idea of just how much one night could change somebody’s life.

Warnings: Mature content throughout. Language, sex, drinking, etc. Explicitly NSFW will be labelled at the beginning of chapters containing NSFW content.

A collab with @theladyofdeath

Aelin was packing up for the day when Phillipa, the principal and, more importantly, Aelin’s boss, peeked her head around the corner.

“Busy tonight?” She asked. Aelin couldn’t tell if it was a loaded question or not, if it was business or pleasure.

“No,” Aelin answered, hesitantly.

“Good. The PTA has asked that you attend tonight’s meeting at six.”

Aelin blinked, still not having moved from her original spot. “The PTA?”

Phillipa shrugged. “Wouldn’t hurt to get to know some of the school’s parents a little more. I’ve heard good things about this group. Might even be fun.”

Aelin doubted it, but agreed nonetheless. She had three hours until six, three hours to unwind and wait anxiously to find out what this group of rich parents wanted from her.

She felt like she was going to throw up.

Glancing at the clock, Aelin knew that there was no way Rowan and Ollie had made it home yet.

Fitting the phone between her ear and shoulder, she sat down in her chair and flipped through the drawings her class had down at the end of the day. She had just found Oliver’s rendition of a puppy and was chuckling softly when Rowan answered.

“Hey, beautiful. You on the way home?”

“Not quite,” she sighed. “Don’t order me anything for dinner tonight. Principal Spindlehead just asked me to stay for the PTA meeting tonight.”

There was a beat of silence before Rowan asked, “Why?”

“I’m not sure,” Aelin replied, flipping each drawing over and re-writing each students’ name on the back and dating it. “But I don’t know how late they go, so I-.”

“You’ll be out at seven-thirty, at the latest,” Rowan interrupted.

That took Aelin back. “How do you know?”

“Because Maeve is on the PTA. She has been since we enrolled Ollie there in preschool.

Oh gods.

“Belittling people is something she’s good at, she joined the PTA at the first opportunity given.”

Aelin was certain she was going to be sick now.

“Hey,” he went on after a minute, when it was clear she wasn’t going to respond. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“Yeah,” Aelin said, uncertainly. “I’m sure you’re right. Not exactly how I want to spend my night, though. I’d rather be snuggled up with you boys on the couch watching a movie.”

“Yeah, we’ve gotten used to you around here,” Rowan said, and she knew he was smiling.

Since Maeve found out they were dating, they’d gotten even closer. It had been a few weeks since the fiasco, but Aelin had stayed at Rowan’s, Oliver knowing and all.

And she was pretty damn happy.

“I’ve gotten pretty used to being there,” she said.

“I’ll still order you food, yeah? I’ll keep it in the fridge until you’re done. Call me when you’re on the way home.” Aelin smiled at the word, but Rowan was clearing his throat. “To my…you know…house. We’re not…just call me when you’re done.”

Aelin laughed quietly. “I will.”

They said their goodbyes, Ollie hollering his from the backseat, and Aelin hung up.

Which left her to do nothing but wonder and worry until the meeting started.

She tried to keep her mind busy, went ahead and got her holiday lesson plans organized for the upcoming few weeks. It was almost winter solstice, and Aelin couldn’t wait to decorate her classroom, couldn’t wait to celebrate with her kids.

Or with Rowan.

They’d decided they would take a long weekend as their gifts to each other. He was going to ask Maeve to keep Oliver the night before her scheduled weekend and go up into the mountains to Allsbrook. The small mountain town was lit up during the holidays and Aelin had always wanted to visit.

After re-organizing her classroom, Aelin checked the clock, finding it was nearly 5:45. She took a deep breath and grabbed her purse, heading for the auditorium.

It was already full of people, mostly women, dressed to impress and huddled into groups. Aelin spotted Maeve near the stage but pretended not to as she sat near the back and waited.

A few minutes passed before the president of the PTA sat on the stage behind a desk and a mic and called the meeting to order. Everyone else sat near the stage but they didn’t seem to mind Aelin being off on her own.

If anyone else even noticed.

They talked about a few miniscule things before diving right into the list she had before her.

“We’ve been asked to do a fundraiser for the Winter ball…”

Aelin tuned out again. She didn’t care much about the ball. Fourth and fifth grades went every year with a parent as their date, but Aelin’s students were a few years off from that yet.

“Now to bring up the concern of some parents in the kindergarten class.” Aelin’s eyes snapped up. “Maeve, you’d like to lead this discussion?”

Aelin watched as Maeve stood and made her way up onto the stage. When she was before the mic, her eyes went straight to Aelin.

“It’s come to the attention of a few members that some of our kindergartners aren’t being taught proper manners and respect, as laid out in Staghorn Prep’s handbook,” she said, folding her hands in front of her.

There were a few murmurs from some of the parents but Maeve went on. “Miss Galathynius has been having the students refer to her as something other than her last name, and a few of the parents find that inappropriate. Which, of course, isn’t even the most inappropriate thing Miss Galathynius has done.”

Aelin wanted to melt into her seat as the auditorium turned as one to look at her.

Maeve was trying to single handedly turn the entire school against her.

“What, exactly, has Miss Galathynius done that is so inappropriate, Ms. Mallory?” the president asked, eyebrows raised as she looked between Maeve and Aelin.

Maeve didn’t bat an eye. “Miss Galathynius is having inappropriate relations with a parent of one of her students.”

The president raised her brows. “And how do you know of this?”

“Because he is the father of my son,” Maeve replied, simply.

For a moment, the auditorium was silent, but then the president said, “This seems like a personal matter, Ms. Mallory, considering there’s nothing in the handbook about parents dating teachers. Changing her name, however-.”

Maeve’s lips thinned. “Are you truly telling me that her name is worse than the fact that she’s dating a father-.”

“This is not the situation we discussed prior to this meeting,” the president said.

Philippa stood, and Aelin was glad she’d befriended the woman in her first few weeks in town. “Miss Galathynius and Ms. Mallory’s ex-husband have both spoken to me and the headmaster personally about the relationship. I’ve also spoken to Oliver, as well, which I’m sure you’re aware of, Ms. Mallory. They were both up front about their relationship and Oliver is not being given any preferential treatment.”

The murmuring around the room started anew, but Aelin couldn't tell if it was a good or a bad thing.

“Right,” the president nodded towards Aelin in the back. “Miss Galathynius, would you like to say anything?”

There were quite a few things she wanted to say to Maeve, but she would keep them to herself for now. She nodded and stood, stepping into the aisle and walking towards the front so nobody would have to crane their necks to see her. Pausing in front of everyone, Aelin cleared her throat.

“As Ms. Mallory said, my boyfriend is one of my students’ fathers. We met prior to the school year, and I wasn’t even aware he had a son before he walked into my classroom on the first day of school. I’d be willing to sit down with anyone who has any questions or concerns, should you wish to seek me out.”

Short, sweet, and to the point. She swore she could see Phillippa smirking from where she sat.

The president nodded. “And, regarding what you have your students call you?”

Rolling her eyes, Aelin looked directly at Maeve. “My students call me Miss Aelin.”

“And why don’t they call you Miss Galathynius?” She asked.

Snorting, Aelin turned to the president. “You try to teach ten five-year-olds how to say Galathynius.”

She heard more than a few chuckles from throughout the auditorium, but the only thing Aelin noticed was Maeve’s icy stare on her.

“Fair enough,” the president said, trying to hide a smile of her own. “Is there anything else you’d like to bring up, Ms. Mallory?”

Maeve gave the room a tight lipped shake of her head as she went off the stage and took a seat.

Aelin left, fuming.

She could count on her hand how many times she had been so furious throughout her life. She had been humiliated. Maeve had tried to bring her down in front of her place of employment, a school that she loved.

And she had no fucking right.

Aelin loved Rowan, loved him wholly and in a different way than she had ever loved anyone else, but the thought of dealing with Maeve forever? The thought pissed her off even more.

She would do it, of course.

For Rowan.

For Oliver.

But it didn’t mean that she wouldn’t express her frustration, wouldn’t stand up for herself and not be used and abused by a woman she hardly knew.

For a moment, Aelin considered waiting for Maeve to come out, to finally have the conversation they should have had weeks ago, woman to woman. But Maeve had been ignoring her, wouldn’t respond to her emails requesting a time to sit down, would walk right past her when she was picking up Oliver. She couldn’t ignore her if she waited by her car, but she knew Maeve would twist that into how she somehow felt threatened by Aelin. So instead, she got in her car, sent Rowan a text letting him know she’d be there soon, and sped off, stopping by her house to change.

On the drive to Rowan’s, she called Lysandra, who picked up on the second ring. “Hellooo, bestie.”

Aelin answered with a dramatic groan.

“Your day went that well, huh?”

“I don’t even know where to begin telling you about how my day went,” Aelin said, then realized that was the whole reason she had called her best friend to begin with. “Maeve.”

“Ah,” Lysandra replied, as if the name alone made it all made sense. “Tell me when and where and I'll kick her ass.”

“You threaten to kick a lot of ass but I’ve never seen you swat a fly,” Aelin said, chuckling. Lysandra laughed, but Aelin was shaking her head. “I just…don’t know what to do.”

“About Maeve?”

“Yeah,” she said, simply. “I love Rowan, Lys, but I cannot stand this woman.”

“In your defense, I don’t think anyone can stand that woman,” Lysandra responded. “Are you having second guesses because of it?”

Aelin hated herself for hesitating. “No. I want to be with Ro and I want to be there for Ollie. I just don’t know how to do all this. Not with her. It’s still new territory.”

Lysandra sighed and Aelin could practically see the way Lysandra was idly twirling her long, dark hair around a finger. “Unfortunately, Ace, I don’t think there’s a magic fix for this one. You’re dating a guy with a kid. Short of a genie and three wishes, there’s going to be an unhappy ex waiting in the wings.”

As she merged off of the interstate, Aelin gave Lysandra an overly dramatic sigh. “Why are you literally always the voice of reason?”

“Because I love you and want what’s best for you,” she quipped. “And Rowan is definitely what’s best for you. He also, coincidentally, loves you almost as much as I do. So ignore Maeve, pretend she doesn’t exist, or let me know when we’re TPing her house, but no matter what, remember that he chose you, not her.”

They hung up as Aelin was pulling into Rowan’s driveway and he was at the door before she could even knock. “Hey, how was it?”

Smiling even though she still didn’t quite feel like it, she said, “Hi.”

Rowan pressed a kiss to her cheek as she walked in and then her legs were being squeezed as Ollie ran to her. “Hi, Miss Aelin!”

Maeve’s words from the meeting clanged through her. Proper manners and respect. Inappropriate.

“Hi, Ollie.” She’d hesitated, but he didn’t notice before running back into the living room.

Rowan, it seemed, had. “What happened?”

They walked into the kitchen, where Aelin made a beeline for the fridge. She opened the doors and found not only a bottle of her favorite wine, but also a bottle of whiskey, bless him.

He shrugged when she glanced at him over a shoulder. “I wasn’t sure what kind of mood you’d be in after the meeting, so I wanted to be prepared.”

Shaking her head, Aelin reached for the bottle of wine and got a glass from the cabinet before opening the bottle and pouring a glass.

Rowan hummed and said, “So it couldn’t have been that bad if you’re choosing wine over whiskey.”

She took a large drink, exhaling before she said, “Maeve brought up our relationship in front of the entire PTA and Principal Spindlehead.”

Rowan stilled and asked, “She did what?”

“She told the PTA that our relationship was inappropriate and I had to defend us,” Aelin said, taking another long drink. She continued to give Rowan a recap of the whole thing and for the entirety of it, he remained quiet but she could tell he was filled with anger with every word she spoke.

“I don’t want you to worry about it,” Aelin added when she was done. “Don’t bring it up, don’t retaliate. I just…it was embarrassing.”

“Honestly, you can’t expect me not to do anything,” he replied, green eyes simmering.

“I expect you to do exactly that.” She drained her wine and sat the glass down, turning towards the counter. “Because calling her, yelling at her, that’s exactly what she wants you to do, Ro. She’s trying to get a rise out of us-.”

“She’s trying to make you lose your job!” he interrupted.

“But we won’t let her win,” she went on, pretending he hadn’t even spoken. “She can’t win if we refuse to play her game.”

Rowan could see it then, that he wasn’t the only one livid about the events that occurred at the PTA meeting.

He should have been there, should have assumed that Maeve was going to pull some bullshit like this. The timing of the meeting was too perfect to be coincidental. She’d been too quiet the past few weeks, had hardly even acknowledged that either of them existed.

He should have seen this coming.

“Besides,” Aelin began, cupping Rowan’s face in her hands. At her touch, he began to relax. “Things are good with the three of us.” She nodded to Oliver playing with his trucks on the living room rug. “I don’t want him to be put in the middle again. We saw how that went last time.”

Rowan closed his eyes as he nodded. “I know. I get it. You just don’t deserve to be treated like this.”

“I can handle it,” Aelin promised. “If she’s our only obstacle, we’ve got nothing to worry about. We’ll be just fine.”

Rowan nodded again before turning his face to plant a kiss in the middle of her palm. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she breathed, and she was beginning to realize that she had never meant those words more than she did when she said them to Rowan. “Now, what did you get me for dinner?”

Despite himself, Rowan laughed. He went to the fridge and pulled out a to-go box from Luca’s and opened it up.

“You know me so well,” she smiled, taking the box from him.

While she heated her chicken parmesan up, Rowan began setting up a movie, knowing it wasn’t long before Ollie would be dozing off. She ate in the kitchen, listening as Ollie gave Rowan his running commentary on how he thought Simba would do as king one day. Chuckling as she rinsed her plate, Aelin listened for a few more minutes before joining them. She sat down on the other side of Rowan on the couch, but Ollie was climbing over him to wedge himself between the two. Rowan could only shake his head as he wrapped his arm around Aelin’s shoulder, pulling them both in tightly against his side. Out of his peripheral, he could see Oliver holding Aelin’s hand. His thumb was idly bushing back and forth over her palm, and her head was resting against Rowan’s shoulder.

She was right. What they had going was good, damn near perfect, and he wasn’t about to let Maeve ruin that for them. Rowan pressed a kiss to the top of Aelin’s head and basked in the moment.

The movie was just about over when Rowan glanced down and found Ollie’s eyes closed. He nudged Aelin, who glanced down, eyes softened and smiled. Scooting over just a bit, Rowan softly shook Ollie’s shoulder. “Hey, buddy, time to go to bed, okay?’

His dark eyes opened and he nodded, leaning heavily onto Aelin. Rowan chuckled, but rubbed his back. “Let’s go upstairs and get ready for bed and tucked in.”

With sleepy eyes he looked up at Aelin and then back to his father. “Can Miss Aelin tuck me in?”

Rowan looked to Aelin, deciding to let her answer for herself. She looked from Rowan to Oliver and smiled.

“Sure. Come on, buddy.”

She picked up the sleepy boy bb and carried him up the stairs to his bedroom. By the time she walked into his room, he was asleep on her shoulder.

“You know,” Aelin said, into his ear. “I’m pretty sure you still need to go potty, brush your teeth, and put on your pajamas.”

Oliver groaned. “Too sleepy.”

“Dad's rules,” she crooned.

Oliver sighed and wiggled until he was on the ground, groggily walking across the hall to the bathroom. He came back a moment later with an empty bladder and clean teeth. Aelin helped him pick out his pajamas before excusing herself to give him some privacy while he changed.

A moment later, Aelin was sitting on the edge of Oliver’s bed with a book in her hand.

“Ready?” She asked.

With a yawn, he nodded.

She went with one of her classic favorites, one she was delighted to see on his book shelf.

Opening the book, she began, “If you give a mouse a cookie, he will ask you for some milk…”

Not even ten minutes later, she was walking down the stairs. Rowan had changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt and was wearing a telltale headset that Aelin knew connected him to Lorcan. He was focused on the television in front of him, not even noticing Aelin as she headed into his bedroom down the hall. She changed into comfy clothes of her own, a pair of sleep shorts and one of Rowan’s University of Wendlyn sweatshirts and padded back into the living.

At the sight of Aelin’s bare legs, Rowan’s eyes flicked between the television and his girlfriend. “Hey, I gotta get off after this game.”

Aelin assumed Lorcan must have said something about how he had just gotten online, because Rowan sighed and promised he’d get on earlier the following evening.

At the end of the match, true to his word and to Lorcan’s dismay, Rowan did shut down the game console and wrap Aelin in his arms. “Ollie fast asleep?”

“Didn’t even make it to the mouse’s nap,” she replied, resting her cheek against his chest.

Rowan chuckled, spreading out his long legs on the couch, Aelin’s legs draped over his. “He’s always been a good sleeper.”

“Well, you sleep like the dead, so that doesn’t surprise me.”

Rowan’s laughter huffed along the top of her head. “He really likes you, you know. Talks about you all the time, how much he loves having you around. He’s lucky to have you. We both are.”

Aelin didn’t know why tears were forming in her eyes, but they were. She whispered, “I’m the lucky one.”

His arms around her tightened as he laid his cheek on the top of her head. His fingers swept through her hair, relaxing her more and more until she had fallen into a deep sleep, her body wrapped around his.

All night, even after such an eventful day, all she could dream about was just how lucky she really was.

#rowaelin eow #every other weekend #snacmc every other weekend #snacmc eow #snacmc collabs #throne of glass #rowan whitethorn #aelin galythinius

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chaeryybomb · 3 years

Text

TRAITOR

pairings: female reader x lee heeseung

summary: you thought lee heeseung was the best boyfriend you could ever wished for. but they did warn you about long distanced relationships. at first, you convinced yourself that it was just your insecurities taking over. but your gut feeling has never been wrong

genre: college au, lovers to exes, fluff, angst, sad ending

featuring: kang hyewon, shin ryujin, lee chaeryeong, lee daehwii, yang jeongin & zhong chenle

word count: 10.4k

warnings: breaking up, mentions of insecurity and cheating, arguments, strong language

the sour series masterlist

Setting down the final box on the ground, you released a sigh of relief and stretched your arms upwards. The satisfying sounds of your joints popping gave you a sense of relief as you stretched. Then you felt a pair of arms snake around your waist. You smiled as you took in his familiar scent. You reached up to touch his neck as Heeseung pressed a kiss to the side of your head.

"Thank you for your help, lovely," he mumbled in your hair.

You turned around in his arms and clasped your hands behind his neck, toying with the back of his hair. Lee Heeseung was looking at you with pure love in his eyes and you couldn't be more happy. "I can't believe we're both finally in university," he said, squeezing your waist.

"Hmm yeah, finally out of high school," you hummed. "It's sad that we didn't get into the same university though," you cupped his left cheek, rubbing his cheek lovingly with your thumb.

Heeseung nuzzled into your hand, slowly drawing you closer. "I can always drive to your dorm, it's just a three hour drive from here."

"Or I can drive to you," you replied.

He scoffed, "Yeah if you get your driver's license," he teased.

You rolled your eyes and softly punched him on the chest before pushing yourself away from his embrace. "Listen, not all of us can miraculously pass on their first try okay," you defended yourself but Heeseung just laughed at you.

Although you tried to act like you were mad at his joke, you couldn't wipe the smile off your face as you sat down on his bed. Currently, the two of you were in Heeseung's dorm. You wanted to help him move in before you had to leave. Heeseung and you were high school sweethearts, the school's loveliest couple. And you've been together ever since then. Today marked a new milestone for the both of you as you had finally graduated from high school and now both of you were accepted into different universities.

The both of you had decided to do what's best for each other and went to different schools. It was for the sake of your future, you didn't want to cause a commotion just because you guys were three hours apart. Plus, it was just three hours. Heeseung could always come visit you and video calls were a thing. You're friends were scared that the both of you wouldn't survive a long distance relationship but you had faith in each other. And that was enough.

Heeseung was lucky to have a room all for himself, whereas you had to share a dorm with two other girls. His room was small but big enough for one person. You knew Heeseung was a simple man, if it had a bed and a table, that would be enough for him. A knock on the door caught your attention, you suddenly remembered that you guys had left the door open when you were moving boxes.

Outside the door stood a pretty girl with long blonde hair. She was really pretty, you noted. She looked so natural as a blonde as well, you couldn't help but thought. The pretty girl sent both of you an awkward smile and waved. You stood up and walked to her, somewhat excited to make a new friend.

"Hi!" You greeted her with a smile, you felt Heeseung behind you.

"Hi," she mirrored your smile. "I'm Hyewon, I'm from the room next door," she pointed out.

"Oh! I'm Heeseung," the taller boy introduced himself. "And this is my girlfriend, Y/N," he smiled at you.

"It's nice to meet you, are you both music majors too?" Hyewon asked. It was common for Hyewon to ask that, considering the university Heeseung applied for is known for their music stream. Heeseung was extremely talented, being blessed with a heavenly voice and all. It was his dream to pursue a music career. Thanks to you, he found the courage to do so,

"Oh no, just him. I don't actually go here," you immediately told her. "I actually go to George University instead."

"Oh! So you're a theatre major then," Hyewon said, surprising you a bit. You nodded in return and Hyewon's smile seemed to grow wider. The university you applied to was quite well known for its theatre arts course. "That's so cool, I'm a theatre major too!"

Your eyes lit up in excitement and you stepped closer to the blonde, eager to learn more about her. But before you could ask her anything, your phone chimed. You gave her an apologetic look before checking your phone. "It's my mom, she's asking when I'll be home. I still have to pack up," you said disappointed. You really wanted to talk more with Hyewon so the both of you could geek out. (And spend a bit more time with Heeseung.) Hyewon looked disappointed too that you couldn't stay longer.

"Let me drive you home," Heeseung started to move to get his keys but you placed your hand on his arm to stop him.

"Nah, it's fine," you shook your head. "I can take the bus home."

"Then I'll walk you to the bus stop," Heeseung said with determination. He was gonna make use of whatever time he had to spend it with you, even if it was for five seconds.

You realised that there was no way of rejecting him, so you just chuckled and said, "Alright, let me grab my bag then." But Heeseung was already one step ahead of you as he had already gone to get it for you. You sent another smile to Hyewon. "It was really great to meet you, Hyewon. I hope we can talk again soon," you told her.

"Likewise Y/N, have a safe trip home," she bid you goodbye before returning to her room.

Heeseung appeared behind you once again, sneakily slipped his fingers through yours and pulled you out of the room. He locked the door with your bag on his shoulder, he looked like he had the intention of not letting you hold it.

"C'mon," he tugged your hand and you giggled, falling into step with him.

The walk to the bus stop felt quicker than it should be, much to your dismay. The bus stop was empty besides the both of you. As the two of you stood under it, you mindlessly swung your intertwined hands back and forth. Heeseung laughed at your action. He released your hand and you looked up curious on why he did it. Heeseung moved so he was standing behind you and wrapped his arms around you, effectively back hugging you.

Your lips tugged upward at the position you were and you held onto his arms. Slowly, he started to rock you back and forth. "I'm gonna miss you," he suddenly said.

You couldn't help but let your smile falter. You were gonna miss him too, you're gonna miss him so much. "This is the first time where we'll be so far apart, I think I might die without you," he rubbed his face into your hair as you laughed at his words.

"I'll call you everyday, Hee. I promised," you assured him with a pat on his arm. The taller boy only hummed in reply but you felt him move his arms to your middle so he could bury his face in the crook of your neck. You giggled when you felt him peppered small kisses up around your neck.

"I love you," he mumbled before pressing a loving kiss to the top of your head.

"Love you too," you leaned back into him.

Just in time you saw the bus in the distance, which meant your time with Heeseung was ending. As the bus slowed down in front of you, your boyfriend finally reluctantly let you go from his slip. "I'll see you soon, okay?" you promised him. He nodded and leaned down to give you one more kiss before you entered the bus.

Sitting down, you waved from the window and he gave you a smile. Oh god, you already missed him. Heeseung watched as your bus left the station. You sighed, leaning back into the seat. This was the beginning of a new chapter of your relationship, and you have faith that the both of you will be okay.

"Thank you," you said to the barista as she handed you your coffee. With your free hand, you pushed the front door open. The November breeze welcomed you once you stepped outside, your coffee warming your fingertips. Your phone then started to ring in your pocket. You fished your phone out and a smile crept onto your face when you saw the contact name.

"Hello, love," Heeseung greeted as soon as you picked up. You smiled at him, holding your phone in front of your face.

"Good morning, Hee. I just got my coffee," you showed him your coffee like it was a little trinket. Heeseung laughed at your child-like action. The second semester was almost ending and your relationship was still going strong. The both of you were consistent with the video calls and text messages. You'd be calling him at the end of every day and the two of you would talk about your day till one of you fell asleep. (Spoiler: It was usually you.)

And now your second semester as a couple is ending, the both of you had decided to retreat back to your hometown during the break like you did during your first break. So you could bask in each other's presence and visit some old friends. It was slowly starting to become a tradition and you couldn't ask for anything more.

"So, how was your audition?" Heeseung asked as you walked past a group of band kids, sending them a smile as they waved at you.

At the mention of the audition, your smile turned into a pout. "Rejected, as usual," you sighed. You have auditioned for almost every play in your school but you were always rejected or chosen as a background character if you were lucky. You knew that there were a lot of talented students in your school, but you felt dejected each time.

"Sorry, love. I'm sure you'll have better luck next time," Heeseung told you with a sad smile. "I wish I could hold you right now."

You looked at him with a sad gaze, "Me too, Hee." You couldn't lie that long distance relationships were hard, everyday was spent through a screen and you yearned to be next with him physically. During the first few weeks, you told yourself that you would get used to it after a while. Spoiler alert, you still haven't gotten used to it. "But enough of that!" You said, waving away the depressed aura and taking a long sip from your coffee before letting out a sigh. "Our break is coming up and I can't wait to see you."

At the mention of the break, you noticed how Heeseung visibly flinched. His eyes suddenly weren't looking at you anymore, averting his gaze to the side instead. "We are going to be seeing each other, right?" You inquired. But you were met with silence, you stopped in your tracks when Heeseung didn't say anything. "Hee?"

"Actually, Y/N," he started to say and you felt your heart sink already. He didn't call you "love". Some may say you were being dramatic, but Heeseung only used your name whenever something was serious. You're not going to be able to see him during break, your mind told you. You knew it was the most possible outcome, but you hoped that you were wrong.

"I'm not going back during break."

And there it was, what possibly could have been the worse news for you. "Oh," was all you could say, your fingers tightened slightly around the plastic cup before you plastered on a fake smile. "Well, there's always next semester," you assured him, but it felt more like you were reassuring yourself. This was going to be your first winter break without Heeseung.

Heeseung smiled at your reply, a twinge of sadness in him but he brushed it off. "The reason is cause a senior from the film department asked me for help," he explained. "You see, there's a music video competition and he asked me if I could write a song for it."

Your eyes lit up in excitement. "No way! So they're gonna shoot a music video for your song?"

Heeseung nodded with a big smile. "Yup! It's such a big project, like they're bringing in some of the theatre kids as the actors and we're gonna start filming, like next month."

"I'm so happy for you, love," you told him truthfully. Internally, you were scolding yourself for feeling sad that he wouldn't be free during the break when he has something big going on in his life. Stop being so selfish, your mind scolded. Of course you felt a bit blue but this was a big opportunity for Heeseung, imagine if they won the competition. He would finally get some recognition for his music. And the fact that the senior chose him to write the song meant that people were already starting to appreciate his songs and his voice. You were being selfish, like a child.

As Heeseung continued to tell you about the project, you resumed your walk back to your dorms. You listened to him intensively, capturing every small detail in your heart. It was rare for you to see him speak so passionate. Music was his passion, his safe place. You knew that and you wanted him to live a life where he could make his dream a reality. A singer on the bright stage with thousands, no, millions of fans to appreciate his vocals.

You managed to reach your dorm just as Heeseung was being called for off screen. A feminine voice was calling from him and you easily recognised it. "Is that Hyewon?" You asked.

A few seconds passed and a familiar looking pretty blonde came into view. "Y/N? Y/N, hi!" The blonde waved at you enthusiastically, Heeseung was slowly being pushed out of the frame. You could tell he was scooting over to make space for Hyewon. An uneasy feeling slowly sprouted in you when you saw how Hyewon and Heeseung were sitting too close, but you shoved it down when the blonde girl grinned at you.

"Y/N!"

"Hyewon!" You responded with the same enthusiasm, which made the two of you burst into a fit of giggles.

"I'm so sorry for disturbing your time but Chan is looking for you," she apologised, the last part directed to your boyfriend.

"Ah, it's okay, I understand," you said.

"I'll talk to you later, okay? Love you," Heeseung said once Hyewon was out of frame.

"Love you too," you replied and your phone screen turned black, your reflection staring right back at you. You were frowning. With a sigh, you stuffed your phone back into your phone pocket to unlock your front door. Your coffee was now cold in your hands and the uneasy feeling from before was slowly creeping back in. You did not like it one bit.

Chaeryeong and Ryujin thought you were being dramatic, they were right in a way. But you were too busy missing Heeseung to be bothered. You missed his warmth, his voice, the way his hands perfectly fit yours when he held them. you missed the way you laid your head on his chest when he sat behind you, you could always hear his steady heartbeat. It always lulled you to sleep in seconds.

You let out a long and loud sigh as you flipped onto your back on your childhood bed. You had returned to your hometown one week ago, which also meant another week without Heeseung. Your best friend and roommate, Chaeryeong, was the one who drove you both home. The last time you saw her was when she dropped you off at your parents home. And you've been dwelling in your Heeseung-less days ever since.

Reaching over to retrieve your phone, you moved to open your chat with Heeseung. The last text message from him was from this morning. It was just a simple "good morning" text, and you replied with the same message except you added a heart emoticon at the end. And the message was on delivered. Not even on read. You don't know which one was worse.

Your phone suddenly dinged and you immediately sat up straight, thinking it was Heeseung. But your shoulders sagged in disappointment when you saw it was just a message from Jeongin. If Ryujin had seen you right now, the short hair girl would have called you a "lovesick fool". She was right, of course but still.

[2:42 pm] jeongin: guess what

[2:44 pm] chenle: what

[2:44 pm] jeongin: guess

[2:45 pm] chenle: no

[2:45 pm] chenle: just tell us

[2:46 pm] jeongin: g u e s s

[2:46 pm] chenle: n o

[2:46 pm] jeongin: guess goddammit

[2:48 pm] ryujin: jeongin i stg

[2:48 pm] ryujin: i will break ur kneecaps just tell us

[2:49 pm] jeongin: ugh fine theres a amusement park and i wanna go

[2:50 pm] chenle: its winter

[2:50 pm] jeongin: yeah and

[2:50 pm] jeongin: is there snow? no

[2:51 pm] jeongin: so therefore, amusement park

[2:51 pm] ryujin: i-

[2:52 pm] chaeryeong: where is it

[2:52 pm] jeongin: its like a 2 hours away from here

[2:54 pm] ryujin: and who tf would be driving us genius

[2:55 pm] jeongin: y/n bc she loves us

[2:56 pm] y/n: since when

[2:56 pm] chaeryeong: and shes alive, great job jeongin

[2:57 pm] chaeryeong: u pulled her out from her depression

i[2:58 pm] y/n: hey im not depressed >:(

[2:59 pm] ryujin: hm sure

[2:59 pm] y/n: >:(

[3:00 pm] y/n: also i dont have my drivers license yet dumbass

[3:01 pm] jeongin: ah right i also forgot y/n cant drive

[3:01 pm] jeongin: ryujin it is

[3:02 pm] ryujin: whAT I DID NOT AGREE TO THIS

[3:03 pm] chaeryeong: lets meet up at jeongin's place then

[3:03 pm] chenle: cool with me

[3:05 pm] ryujin: HEY DONT IGNORE ME

[3:04 pm] y/n: sure!

You stifled a laugh as you read Ryujin's message. Then, you switched to check your chat between Heeseung and you. It was still on delivered. Maybe he's just busy with filming and recording. Yeah, he's probably busy. Stop being so selfish, Y/N.

Yang Jeongin just had to choose the coldest day of the year to go to the amusement park, didn't he. You silently thanked yourself for dressing up in an extra layer, unlike Chenle who looked like he was about to die from frostbite. Whereas Jeongin had a huge grin plastered on his face as he looked at the Ferris Wheel ahead. You rubbed your hands together, bringing it to your mouth to blow hot air at it. You heard the car door slam shut behind you and Ryujin walked next to you.

Families lined up at the ticket booth, laughter and chatter filled the atmosphere. You spot some couples around the area as well, the sight of them tugged at your heartstrings. You wished Heeseung was here with you, he would've wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel with you.

Chaeryeong linked arms with you and Ryujin, leading the two of you to the entrance. The boys already beat you guys to it, you realised. Once Chenle handed you your ticket, you were immediately dragged to the first ride that caught Jeongin's eye.

After a couple of hours, you found yourself resting on the bench with a cup of hot chocolate at your side. Your social battery was empty and you didn't know where the rest of your friends had gone. Ryujin may have mentioned going to the restroom, you're not sure, you were too tired to keep up. So here you were, on the bench next to the Teacups Ride.

You watched as the visitors walked past you. Some were students with their friends laughing as if it was their last day on earth, children giggling as their parents lifted them up in the air and couples sharing a loving look. You fiddle with your phone, debating whether you wanted to text Heeseung or not.

The both of you had called each other last night. You couldn't see him but his voice sounded tired. You felt bad for calling him. Maybe it was for the best if you didn't. You picked up your hot chocolate, the warmth spreading through your fingers as you blew on it. Your body relaxed once you took a sip, enjoying as the warmth spread through your body. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed a very familiar looking coat.

You saw a couple walking together, he was wearing a coat that looked identical to the one you gifted Heeseung last year during Christmas. It was almost as if that was Heeseung, well his back kinda looked like his and Heeseung was about that height as well. But it couldn't be him, his school was almost three hours away from here. Plus the girl beside him was blonde, she kinda looked like Hyewon.

What are the odds of those two being here, you laughed. But when those two stopped in their tracks to look at the Ferris Wheel, your entire body froze right there and then. That was Heeseung and Hyewon together. What were they doing here?

Your body reacted immediately by standing up. Heart beating rapidly, you were about to walk towards them when you saw Heeseung laughing at something the blonde said. A gnawing feeling grew in you, he was laughing with her. He was at the amusement park with her. Not you. Her.

And he never mentioned anything about going to the amusement park, let alone the same one you were going to. Your feet stayed glued to the ground as you watched them get into one of the carts. Why was he here? Why didn't he tell you? Why was he with her? Why? Why? Why?

You saw Hyewon stopped from getting into the cart and she stretched her hand out while she looked up in the sky, Heeseung following her. It was snowing. It was the first snow. And Heeseung spent it with Hyewon, while you watched from the sidelines. They looked like an actual couple. Snow started to fall, your hot chocolate was losing its warmth and jealousy filled up instead. The noise drilled out of your ear so all you heard was a low buzz, your gaze burning on the two. You didn't notice Ryujin walking towards you.

"Jesus, the line was so long that I-" Ryujin stopped mid sentence, her eyes following the direction of your gaze. "Y/N?"

You walked past her without saying anything, chucking the drink into a trashcan.

Your phone felt heavy in your hands as you paced around your room. You knew your eyes weren't wrong. It was Heeseung and Hyewon at the amusement park, you could tell it was him from a mile away. After that incident, you went to find your friends and told them you wanted to go home because you weren't feeling well. It was partially a lie anyway, you didn't feel comfortable. You don't know what you would do if you had stumbled upon them.

Thousands of questions echoed through your mind. And you couldn't bear to ask Heeseung. You knew you had questions but you didn't know what to ask. Why didn't you tell me? Why were you with Hyewon? Why wouldn't you tell me?

Your phone suddenly rang, causing you to jolt in surprise. The phone screen lit up with his name in bold. He was calling you. Without thinking, you accepted the call.

"Hey, love," Heeseung's smooth voice greeted you.

"Hey," you replied, making sure your tone was steady. You were silently grateful that it wasn't a video-call so he couldn't see the nervousness in your eyes.

"How was the amusement park?" He asked.

You bit your thumb, hesitant to answer. Should you tell him that you saw him today? "It was fun, a lot of people thought," you hummed, moving over to sit on your bed.

"You know, funny story. Today we actually went to an amusement park too," he suddenly said and you froze on the spot. "They decided to film there so we went there in the afternoon, it started snowing too!"

You felt a weight was lifted from your heart. So it was just a pure coincidence. Heeseung never planned to go to the amusement park, he just went with what they said. "It would've been funny if we bumped into each other, don't you think, love?" He laughed but you couldn't find the energy to laugh along.

"Yeah," you mumbled, leaning back into your pillows. He was there to film for the music video. He's busy with the music video. It's always for the music video. You trust Heeseung, don't you?

Winter break went by like the cold breeze and now cherry pink flowers occupied the empty branches. Flowers were blooming from the left and right, the cold winter was now in the past and you welcomed (the still cold) spring into your arms. Which meant you left whatever uneasy feeling and doubts in the past.

You were currently in Heeseung's dorm. Today was a big day, it's the day where they were gonna upload the music video and Heeseung wanted you to be there to watch it with him. Heeseung picked you up from the bus stop and then took you out for lunch. Thankfully it was the weekend so you could stay for the night.

Heeseung was at his desk, his thumbs typing away as he laughed silently at his phone. You wondered who he was texting. Maybe he's texting Hyewon, your mind taunted. You shook your head to drive the thoughts away, you were not going to be paranoid. You already left the bitter feelings in winter, you agreed with yourself that you'll leave it behind. You trust Heeseung.

"Who are you texting?" Yet the question slipped out of you either way.

"Huh?" Heeseung looked up, like a deer caught in headlights. "Oh, uh no one," he quickly said, turning off his phone and placing it on his desk. "I think the music video is uploaded," he added before you could question him more.

He moved to his bed, where you were sitting. You scooted over to make space for him as he sat next to you with his laptop propped on his lap. He clicked into his senior's channel, Jeong Yunho, you took note. And there it was, the music video, uploaded forty five seconds ago. You let out an excited noise once you saw it.

"Not for sale," you read the title out loud. Heeseung had a proud look on.

The music video started off with a frame of Heeseung and Hyewon facing each other, then he handed her a note with the words "Not For Sale" on it. The camera then panned out to film the sky where the title appeared again in bold, and the song started to play. The song had a bubbly beat to it and Heeseung's angelic voice accompanied it. The music video was filled with pastels and some scenes were filmed at the amusement park. Specifically, at the carousel. There weren't any scenes of the Ferris Wheel though, you noted.

The video ended with Heeseung and Hyewon holding hands as they face the sunset, while the camera slowly zooms away from them and into the sky. The last scene was a black screen with all the credits listed out. When you saw Heeseung's name being credited for writing the song, you felt a sense of pride inside of you. Your boyfriend wrote this song, of course you're going to be proud.

Once the video ended, you threw your arms around Heeseung. Heeseung laughed as he wrapped an arm around your middle and the other holding onto his laptop. You planted a big fat kiss on his cheek and he tightened his hold on you.

"The song was so good, Hee! I'm so proud of you, babe," you complimented him, one hand reaching up to ruffle his hair while the other cupped his cheek.

Heeseung smiled and leaned into your touch. "Thank you so much, lovely. This song means a lot to me," he kissed your nose. "I actually thought of you when I wrote this song," he confessed.

You blinked at him, your heart beating faster as you processed his words. You were kneeling on his bed as he looked up at you, pink dusted on his cheeks. Instead of saying anything, you threw yourself onto him, tightly wrapping your arms around his torso to buried your head in his neck. Heeseung let out an "oof" when you knocked him back onto his bed, his laptop on the edge of his bed.

"I love you," you mumbled.

"I love you, too," he said. His hand reached up to stroke your head as the both of you laid there in each other's embrace.

A few minutes passed and Heeseung tapped on your head to get your attention. "Hm?" you hummed in reply.

"I need to go pee, love."

"No," you said stubbornly, tightening your arms around him.

"Please, love. I'll be back fast, I promise," Heeseung told you, looking down on you.

You lifted your head to rest your chin on his chest as you narrowed your eyes at him. "Hng, fine," you pouted before you rolled off him.

"Thank you, lovely," he pecked your lips before pushing himself off his bed, not before moving his laptop to his desk.

You watched as Heeseung left his dorm to go to the restroom. You stretched your arms upwards, making grabby hands in the air before sitting up. You reached over to his desk, which was next to the bed, to get your phone when you saw Heeseung's phone lit up. You knew you shouldn't have looked but when her name was in bold white, you couldn't look away.

[4:47 pm] hyewon: can't wait to do it again hee!

"Can't wait to do it again?" You read the message out loud. Can't wait to do what again? And since when did Hyewon called him "Hee"? That was your nickname for him. The bitter feelings from winter crept back into you like the cold seeping in through the crack of your window. Why did you feel so uneasy whenever Hyewon was alone with Heeseung? Was there something going on?

No, they're just friends, Y/N, you reminded yourself. Just friends.

The door opened and your eyes snapped up to see Heeseung returning from the restroom. Suddenly, you wanted to get out of here. You don't know why, but that text message from her just rubbed you the wrong way and you wanted to get out of there before you say something you regret.

"Ryujin just texted me that she needs my help," you lied. You stood up to grab your coat and bag from the chair.

"Woah, woah, what's with the hurry?" Heeseung took a hold of your wrist as he looked at you. But your eyes didn't meet his.

"Ryujin has an emergency, she needs my help," you said again, this time firmly.

"Oh," his grip on you loosened and you pulled your hand back to you. "I'll drive you back-"

"No, it's fine," you cut him off. "I-I'll take the bus home. I'll call you tonight," the words rushed out of your lips and soon enough you were out of his door.

You did not call him that night.

You ignored Ryujin's questions when you reached your dorm, she didn't press on. Now it was Sunday morning and Ryujin had left for breakfast. You felt bad for leaving Heeseung like that and ignoring Ryujin when she just wanted to help you. And you knew you should've talked it out instead of walking out. Sighing, you curled deeper into your blanket.

After a few minutes, you threw your covers off and sat up. Maybe some warm breakfast would make you feel better. So you went down to the cafeteria to see your friends all huddled up at the corner.

"Y/N, just in time!" Jeongin called out. Curious, you walked towards them and saw that they were watching Heeseung's music video.

"The song is so sweet," Chaeryeong cooed, leaning onto you.

You let out an awkward laugh, not quite sure what to feel because of the act you pulled yesterday.

"It has almost two thousand views. I bet you must feel so proud, huh," Chaeryeong said.

You bit the inside of your cheek as you nodded. Now you feel even more bad, Heeseung wrote this song for you and you should've stayed at his dorm to celebrate with him. Instead, you left because you saw one text message without context. You were being a bad girlfriend, you should apologise to him.

"Who's the other girl? She's really pretty," Jeongin suddenly asked.

"Ah, that's Hyewon. She's his neighbour," you explained.

"Hyewon? As in Kang Hyewon?" Daehwii suddenly said. He was passing by when he heard you say her name and pulled a chair across Jeongin. You nodded. "Oh, I know her," he casually said.

You tilted your head to the side. "You do?" Jeongin leaned forward. You heard Ryujin mumble "simp" under her breath, and you bit back a laugh.

"Mhmm," Daehwii nodded and pulled out his phone. A few seconds later, he showed his phone screen and it was Hyewon's Instagram. "I went to the same high school with her, she was really popular. All the teachers said she had the face of an actress. There was a rumour that she even got scouted by an entertainment company."

Ryujin reached over to grab his phone to scroll through her account. "Woah, she has like two hundred thousand followers," she said in amazement. You leaned closer to Ryujin to check, Hyewon sure was popular.

"Yeah, she's a free-lance model and I think she models for smaller brands," Daehwii added.

You couldn't help but feel very small next to her. She was beautiful and she had somewhat of a reputation in the entertainment industry, a rising model. Imagine what kind of connections she could get for Heeseung…

"I bet Heeseung wrote this song for you," Ryujin suddenly said, smoothly switching the topic back to the song.

You felt your cheeks to warm up at her words. Sheepishly, you nodded. Your friends immediately reacted with a chorus of "ooh"s and Chaeryeong playfully nudged your shoulder. "Fuck Romeo and Juliet, I want what these bitches have," Jeongin quoted and the rest of you fell into laughter.

After breakfast, you and Ryujin strolled back to your rooms with your arms linked together. She was telling you about what happened when you weren't here yesterday. "And then he said and I quote "sometimes bullying is okay" just as a family was walking by, the mom was literally glaring at us," you laughed as she told you. "And then- oh," she stopped, and you stopped as well. She was looking ahead of you so you followed her gaze.

"Heeseung?" His name left your lips before you could even process the whole situation.

Heeseung waved awkwardly at you, internally wincing when you used his full name. You and Ryujin exchanged a look before Ryujin pushed you towards him. You stumbled right into his arms but you took a step out of his arms, you rubbed your forearms instead.

"What are you doing here?" You asked him.

"Ah," he rubbed the back of his neck, "I wanted to surprise you since you left early yesterday. I hope you were able to solve Ryujin's problem."

At the mention of Ryujin's "emergency", you stiffened because you didn't mention that you had used her in a lie. You could feel her eyes on you and mentally hope that she got the message.

"Uh, yeah. It was solved," Ryujin replied with an awkward chuckle. "Actually, I forgot I had to meet up with Chaeryeong so it was great seeing you, Heeseung." You turned around and mouthed a "thank you" at her and she gave you a look as if to say "we are going to talk about this later".

And then the two of you were left alone in the empty hallway. Was it always this awkward?

Heeseung stood awkwardly in your room. This was the first time he looked so out of place. Usually, you were the one at his dorm. He doesn't come over to yours that often since he was more busy than you. So it truly was a surprise when you saw him outside your door.

"So, uh, how are you?" He asked.

You hummed in reply. "I'm doing fine," as you sat down on your bed.

"Great! That's great," he coughed while he played with his fingers.

And then the awkward silence returns. You knew it was your fault for walking out yesterday, you probably made him think he did something wrong. When really it was just you refusing to communicate. You gripped your sheets, your mind running laps on what to say. But he beat you to it.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Your eyes snapped up to finally meet his eyes, he was looking at you with brown innocent eyes. Your heart broke a bit at the sight. "It's not you," you assured him. "It's…it's just me," you told him truthfully.

Heeseung looked at you with confusion, he didn't understand what was wrong. He wanted to help but he didn't know how. So instead, he slowly moved to sit next to you. When you did not move away, he took it as a sign of permission. So he took your hands into his, slowly rubbing circles on top of your hand.

"I'm sorry," you whispered.

"Love, what are you even sorry about?" He softly asked.

"I saw you at the amusement park that day," you confessed.

Heeseung's fingers stopped moving. "Oh," was all he could say. You bit the inside of your cheek, the atmosphere shifted but you can't read him at all.

"I'm sorry," you whispered again because you didn't know what to say. "Ever since that day, I've been feeling weird whenever I see you with Hyewon and I don't like it."

"Love," he softly cupped your cheek to make you look at him, "are you perhaps jealous?" he asked with a teasing tone. You shifted your gaze to the side, you were jealous but you were reluctant to admit it. But your avoiding eyes already sold you out. Heeseung chuckled and brought you into his embrace. "There's nothing to be jealous of. Hyewon and I are just friends," he assured you.

His voice was genuine when he told you and you felt a sense of relief hearing him say those words. You fell forward to hug him and Heeseung immediately accepted you. He planted a kiss on the top of your head and sighed. "Next time we're gonna be honest with each other, okay?"

"Okay."

Heeseung was right, honesty was the key to maintaining a healthy relationship, Heeseung has been nothing but truthful to you since the start, and you allowed yourself to be overwhelmed by your insecurities instead of talking it out. This reminded you of when Heeseung once shut you out because he didn't want to burden you.

He hid his passion for music from you because he thought you would react like his parents, against him. He refused to tell you the truth which left you confused and hurt. Did I do something wrong? The question was constantly in your head. It wasn't until you forced it out of him, and it was the first time you saw his composed figure break down in tears. You embraced him and assured him with comforting words, you loved him at his worst.

And you told him the exact same words: "Next time we're gonna be honest with each other, okay?"

Exam season was the most painful time of your life. Everyday was the same routine: wake up, eat, study, sleep and repeat. You're starting to spend more time in the library than in the comfort of the dorm. Heeseung was just as busy as you, the both of you rarely have enough time to check up on each other. But you tried and so did he.

You plucked out your earphones and let it fall into your lap as you stretched your arms upwards. Chaeryeong and Ryujin were scattered around your shared room, with the latter laying face down on her bed. The three of you had spent your entire morning studying for your own examinations. You had sent Heeseung a quick good morning text before telling him that your phone will be on silent mode until you were done.

That was six hours ago. You pushed your laptop away from you as you reached over for your phone. You smiled when you saw your first notification was from your boyfriend.

[8:15 am] hee <3: okay remember to stay hydrated love! and take some breaks in between!!!

"Look at her, smiling all lovey dovey and shit," Ryujin sneered at you in disgust as she lifted herself onto her elbows.

You stuck your tongue out at her before typing a reply.

[3:52 pm] y/n: guess who's done studying??

While waiting for his reply, you decided to scroll through Instagram. Tapping through people's stories, you stumbled upon Hyewon's one. (She had followed you a few weeks ago.) Your thumb pressed down on your phone screen as your breath hitched. It was a photo of Heeseung, it looked like he was in the library and he was reading a book. The words "with mr. hardworking" positioned above his head. You tapped through to the next slide and it was a candid of Heeseung looking up at her with a smile, his hand outreached to grab her phone. This time the words "oops, got caught" were written on the side. You checked and saw it was posted ten minutes okay.

You frowned at the two photos. You knew Heeseung said they were just friends, but you couldn't shake that uneasy feeling away. Your mind was telling you that they weren't but your heart was with Heeseung.

"Who's that?" Chaeryeong suddenly asked.

You jump, startled. Since when was she behind you? Chaeryeong ignored your expression and leaned towards your phone. "Isn't that Heeseung? Who's he with?" She asked.

"Hyewon," you answered.

Ryujin crawled over to plop down next to you, her curious eyes peering up at your phone. "The same girl we saw at the amusement park?" The short-haired girl asked.

You looked down at her, shocked. You never told her about what you saw last winter. Ryujin understood your expression and rolled her eyes. "I'm not dumb, Y/N," she said.

Chaeryeong looked between the two of you with confusion. "Did something happen when we were at the amusement park?"

"Y/N saw Heeseung and Hyewon getting on the Ferris Wheel together."

"Ryujin!"

"What?" She shrugged at you. "We did see them there and it was the reason you were upset," she stated with her arms crossed, now sitting crossed legged next to you.

Chaeryeong gasped beside you and placed her hands in front of her mouth. "Do you think he's cheating on you?"

"Chaeryeong!" Ryujin hissed at the other girl. "Heeseung isn't the kind to do that," she defended him despite what she said before, "right, Y/N?" Ryujin nudged your elbow.

You opened your mouth to defend your boyfriend but no words were said. You bit your lips, Heeseung wouldn't be the kind to cheat, right? Then why were you hesitating? You wanted to agree with Ryujin and say that Heeseung would never cheat on you. So why were you doubting him?

"I'm just saying, long distance relationships never work out. Like Yeji and Soobin, they broke up like six months later," Chaeryeong shrugged innocently and leaned back on her hands as she spoke.

"But that was different, Yeji never really liked him anyways!" Ryujin countered.

"Vivi and Haseul! Everyone thought they were gonna last but they broke up the moment Vivi went home, and they were together for four years. Four years, Ryujin!" The younger girl exclaimed. "Point is, long distance relationships rarely work out."

Before Ryujin could retort, your phone lit up and all three of you looked down. It was a notification from Heeseung.

[4:01 pm] hee <3: hey sorry i was with taehyun

The three of you blinked at the message, Ryujin and Chaeryeong exchanged a look. While you just stared at the notification, refusing to tap into the chat. Did Heeseung just lie to you?

Something shifted in your relationship, you could tell. Calls with Heeseung were now cut short and text messages got short. At first, you blamed it on the upcoming exams and you told yourself that Heeseung was equally busy as you. Sometimes you were too tired to send a text because all you wanted was to sleep but when you tried to give him a call, he always brushed you off with a "I'm busy" text.

Text messages now never got past the "how was your day" before he said that he was going to sleep. Ever since that day with Ryujin and Chaeryeong, you turned a blind eye to the text message. Maybe he really was with Taehyun, you wouldn't actually know.

But that's the thing, isn't it? You would never know what really happens because you're not there with him, your mind taunted you. You shook away the thoughts and tried to be positive. Exams had ended a few days ago and Chaeryeong suggested that you should surprise him with a visit.

So here you were, on the bus to Heeseung's university. You could barely contain your smile, it's been so long since you last saw him and you just missed him so much. You could imagine how happy he would be to see you. An hour later, the bus came to a stop and you thanked the bus driver before boarding off.

Tightening your coat around you, you looked at the road ahead of you with a determined look. You were gonna surprise Heeseung today. And nothing was going to stop you from doing so. You reached the entrance of the school and sent a friendly smile to the security guards.

You made your way towards Heeseung's dorm, your feet have walked this path multiple times. You were familiar with these hallways. Soon enough you reached his door, you patted your clothes and fixed your hair before raising your fist. Your hand hovered in front of the wooden door, Heeseung was one door away from you. Knocking precisely three times on the door, you took a step back and clasped your hands behind you. You couldn't wait to see his smile when he sees you.

"Surprise!" You said, doing jazz hands the moment the door opened.

"Y/N? What are you doing here?" Heeseung asked you.

You blinked, slightly lowering your hands. Heeseung wasn't smiling at you like you thought he would be, instead he was looking down on you with furrowed eyebrows. His hair was dishevelled, like he ran his fingers through it multiple times and he wasn't opening the door fully, like he was blocking something.

"I was going to surprise you, since exams are over and all-"

"Why didn't you text me beforehand?" He cut you off.

You narrowed your eyes at him and crossed your arms, annoyed that he was questioning you instead of being happy to see you. "Because it was a surprise, Hee, that's the whole point. I wasn't supposed to tell you, surprises don't work like that."

Heeseung opened his mouth but cut himself off with a sigh, he turned his head around to look inside then back at you. "I didn't mean it that way, I just wished you would've told me before," he repeated with a softer tone this time.

You frowned and dropped your arms, you shouldn't have listened to Chaeryeong. Maybe you should leave, the next bus would be in two hours. Heeseung was still leaning against his door, you couldn't see past him. "Whatever, I'll leave then," you mumbled and waved him off, turning on your heel to walk away.

"Y/N! Wait!" Heeseung called after you but you ignored his calls and just continued forward. The taller boy caught up with you and grabbed your wrist.

You tried to shake him off but his hold on you was strong. "Let me go," you said through gritted teeth.

"No, you're mad," he said.

"Of course, I am! I wanted to surprise my boyfriend after not seeing him for weeks but he doesn't even look happy to see me!" You sneered at him, still trying to shake his hand off your wrist.

Heeseung's hands moved to hold your shoulders instead to keep you in place, forcing you to look at him. "Hey, I didn't say I wasn't happy to see you. I am happy to see you, okay? It's just that today's a busy day, love," he explained to you softly.

You stopped squirming and sighed. "Sorry, I just…I just really missed you okay," you told him. You overreacted and got mad at him without letting him explain himself. "Sorry," you said again.

Heeseung smiled warmly at you and pulled you into a hug. "It's okay, love," he planted a kiss on top of your head. You rested your chin on his shoulder and returned the hug.

Then, you watched as a certain blonde walked out of Heeseung's room. Hyewon stepped out of his room and waved at you with a smile. Was Heeseung hiding her? You slightly pushed Heeseung away and he took a step back in confusion. He turned around to see Hyewon and then back at you.

"Hyewon and I were working on a project," he quickly explained.

"Yeah," the other girl nodded in agreement. "If I had known you were coming today, I wouldn't have bothered Heeseung," she said.

"Ah, no. I'm sorry for interrupting the two of you," you apologised, slightly ducking your head. You're not sure if you meant the apology. Should you be sorry that you interrupted them? But Heeseung was your boyfriend.

"Well, I'll leave you two be," Hyewon smiled at the both of you before walking away.

You watched as Heeseung smiled at her and how his eyes followed her figure until she disappeared down the stairs. You bit your lower lip and clenched your fist together, feeling uneasy in your chest once again. Your hand reached to tug on his sleeve and he finally looked at you, like he forgot you were there in the first place.

He moved to hold your hand and lead you into his room, not before smiling softly at you. Instead of the usual feeling of butterflies in your stomach whenever he smiled at you, there was a sinking feeling. Because he smiled at Hyewon the same way. Your lips raised a small smile for him but it didn't reach your eyes. He doesn't seem to notice.

The door closed behind the two of you and you swung your arms before clasping your hands behind you. "So, what was Hyewon doing here?" You tried to ask naturally.

Heeseung wasn't looking at you when he replied, "She was here for a project," he hummed.

"What project?" You continued to ask more.

"For school," he simply replied, taking a seat on his bed.

You leaned against his desk while nodding your head. "Ah, so you're helping her?"

"Uh huh."

"Ah, didn't know you guys were this close…"

"Well, we are neighbours so it's just natural that we grew close, you know," he shrugged.

"Close enough to get on the Ferris Wheel with," you muttered under your breath. You thought Heeseung wasn't able to pick up what you said but his eyes snapped to look at you. You gulped, knowing you were caught.

"Love, I already said that we were there for the music video shooting," he told you with a tired sigh.

"I know, I know but I can't help feeling jealous, Hee," you explained yourself.

Your boyfriend sighed exasperatedly as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I already told you that we're just friends, there's nothing to be jealous of."

"Well, you would be jealous too if your boyfriend didn't mention that he was going to the amusement park with you and you found him hanging with another girl!" You scoffed sarcastically.

"I already told you it wasn't planned, Y/N. Why don't you trust me?" His voice was slightly raised when he spoke the last sentence, his expression was begging you to drop the topic.

But your stubborn self refused to let it go and stood up straighter. "Because you're making it really hard to trust you."

"What?" He looked at you in disbelief as he stood up as well. "How am I the one being hard right now? You're just being paranoid and you're letting your insecurities get the better of you!"

"Can you blame me?!" You raised your voice at him. Anger clouded your eyes as you begged him to understand your point of view. "We're so far apart and we rarely get to talk to each other and you're always brushing me off! It's almost like you're cheating on me with Hyewon!"

Heeseung groaned in frustration and dragged his fingers across his face. "How many times do I have to tell you that we're just friends, Y/N? Hyewon literally has nothing to do with this! I don't get why you hate her."

"Cause you talk to her while we're together," you knew that sounded childish and selfish but you were blurting whatever that came to mind.

"Oh, so now I'm not allowed to talk to other girls?" He curled an eyebrow at you while crossing his arms.

Your words were caught in your throat. "I didn't mean it like that-"

"Then what do you mean, Y/N? You never acted like this before," Heeseung rubbed his temples.

"Because!" You threw your hands out in frustration, trying to convey your words out, "I don't know what's happening in your life because we're not in the same school and I'm scared that you're cheating on me with Hyewon!"

Heeseung knitted his eyebrows at you, you don't know if it was from confusion or annoyance, maybe both. "Cheating? No, you just don't trust me! Never once did I doubt your relationship with Jeongin, so why are you doing this to me?"

"Don't bring Jeongin into this," you sneered at him, "you knew Jeongin since we were in high school. Hyewon is a completely different story. You…you look at her like…you're in love," your voice slowly died at the end, it was the final hit on the nail. You looked up at Heeseung, his eyes widened at your words.

They said the eyes are the window to your soul. Brown guilty eyes just stared at you, because you were right. Heeseung couldn't figure out his feelings and you just did it for him. Your boyfriend was falling out of love with you and he was falling for someone new. And you watched as he realised it right in front of you. You swore you heard your heart crack.

He held his head and took a step back from you, silence fell upon the both of you. "I-I think you should go," he managed to say.

"Yeah," you croaked out, your throat was swelling up. You walked past Heeseung in hurried steps and out the door to the stairs. You never saw how Heeseung dropped to his bed with his head in his head as guilty tears slowly rolled down his cheeks.

God, you wished he had thought this through before you went and fell in love with him.

You haven't talked to Heeseung since that day, you knew that your relationship was over but your heart refused to believe it until those words came from Heeseung himself. A dark cloud hung over you and your friends didn't dare to ask. You felt betrayed by him.

You loved him at his worst, but that didn't matter. He gave you his word, but that didn't matter too. You were bitter, angry, devastated, heartbroken. But you couldn't cry, your heart was full of tears yet nothing came out. A single piece of tape holding back your fragile heart. A small sign of hope that you were wrong and Heeseung still loved you.

In the middle of a cold winter day, you were nestled between your warm sheets. Chaeryeong and Ryujin had left for lunch, not before promising to get you something. In the midst of your dark covers, your phone screen lit up and caught your attention.

[2:23 pm ] hee <3: We need to talk, I'm outside your door right now.

What? Your head snapped up to look at your front door. There's no way he was standing outside right now. Gulping, you pushed yourself up and walked to the door. Your hand hesitated, hovering right in front of the silver door knob. You already knew what was coming. Taking a deep breath, you opened the door.

The same brown guilty eyes looked at you, and the little white lies from before all came crashing down at once. You stepped to the side to let him in and closed the door. Your back was facing him, you refused to look at him. Your hope was wavering, you don't know if you accepted it or not.

"I'm sorry," he was the first to break the silence. you still refused to turn around. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Lies, lies, lies. You shut your eyes closed, your hand was still on the door knob, holding it tightly.

He inhaled a deep breath before saying his next words, "This is the end."

The words pierced your heart and it started to fall apart. This doesn't feel like a break up, it was the end of your story. It was him telling you that he was removing himself from your life. Falling out of love hurts, but losing a friend is the worst.

"Do you still love me?"

"What?"

"Do you still love me?" You finally turned around, your glossy eyes looking right at him.

Without a heartbeat, he said, "No."

And when you were alone again in your room, your heart finally shattered and the tears poured out like a waterfall. You fell to your knees with your hands clutching your heart, ugly sobs escaped from your lips. You were crying out the pain as big fat tears dropped onto the wooden floor,

Chaeryeong and Ryujin nearly dropped the food when they found you broken on the tear stained floor.

Two weeks later (after being forced to get out of bed by Ryujin), you found your friends huddled at the same place of the cafeteria like when the music video was released. They were surrounding Daehwii with their heads ducked, whispering to each other.

"What are you guys doing?" Ryujin's voice caught their attention and their heads lifted to see the both of you, eyes widening at the sight of you.

Everyone exchanged nervous glances whereas you and Ryujin were left confused. You tilted your head to the sign to show that you were confused while Ryujin raised an eyebrow as if demanding an explanation. Chaeryeong shoved Daehwii's shoulder and gave him a look, silently telling him to break the news.

Daehwii nervously looked between you and his phone before sighing, his shoulders dropping. Instead of saying anything, he showed you his phone. Ryujin reached over to take the device from him before you could see anything and squinted her eyes. The short haired girl inhaled a sharp breath and looked at your friends, finally understanding what was happening. She then looked at you, deciding whether she should tell you or not.

"What?" You asked her, your eyebrows furrowed as your patience was running thin. What were they not telling you?

But instead of telling you, she showed you. The phone screen displayed an Instagram post with a person holding hands with someone else. The caption was a simple "with him". At first you were confused on what it had to do with you, then Ryujin tapped on the post to show you the person tagged in the post. Heeseung's username appeared, your eyes travelled up to the owner of the post and it read Hyewon's name.

"Oh," was all you could say.

Your gaze averted down and you don't see how your friends exchange worried glances. "Y/N..." Chaeryeong softly called out to you while she walked towards you. She angled her head to look at your face with her arms around you.

Your mind was a mess, it took him two weeks to find someone new. No, not someone new. It took him two weeks to go off and date her. He talked to her when you were together. And you knew if he truly loved you, there was no damn way he could fall in love with somebody that quickly. Ryujin and Chaeryeong embraced you but you felt numb. He betrayed you. And you knew that he'll never feel sorry for the way you hurt.

"He cheated on you," you heard Jeongin say, but you shook your head as you tried to rub the tears away.

"Guess he didn't cheat but he's still a traitor," Jeongin rephrased.

The girls hugged you tighter when you let out a choked sob. Jeongin was right, he didn't cheat but he was a traitor. You played dumb but you always knew that he'd talk to her, maybe did even worse but you kept quiet so you could keep him.

God you wished that he had thought it through, before you went and fell in love with him.

a/n: this took so long to write and i wrote more than i expected. thank you for waiting and reading this, see y'all in "drivers license"!

#chaeryybomb; the sour series #enhypen #lee heeseung #enhypen imagines #enhypen x reader #lee heeseung imagines #lee heeseung x reader #heeseung #heeseung imagines #heeseung x reader #enhypen angst #lee heeseung angst #heeseung angst #kpop imagines #enhypen scenarios #lee heeseung scenarios #heeseung scenarios

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