#free my boy butters he did nothing wrong

[dogbrainedd]

sp au posting AGAIN follow @/returnofthedeadsouthpark on instagram for more BANGER art!!!!!!!!!

#south park #southpark fanart #pip pirrup fanart #pip pirrip #pip south park #butters stotch #butters stotch fanart #sp fanart #butters south park #eric cartman #eric cartman fanart #south park au #sp au #eric cartman south park #uhh more tags erm #gay demons go crazy #dip real #free my boy butters he did nothing wrong

[strawwritesfic]

Sanji Vinsmoke x Female!Straw Hat!Reader: Wrong

Summary: It may be hard to believe sometimes, but there really are people out there that already appreciate the person you are.

Rating/Tags: T (Mild language; lethal chef!reader; not canon compliant; Going Merry; pre-time skip; discussion of gender roles; Nami/Sanji/Reader; Nami & Reader; one-sided Sanji/Nami; Usopp & Luffy; Usopp & Luffy & Nami; Usopp & Luffy & Reader; birthday present)

Challenge: “160 Collective Drabbles” challenge by BobaPop on Lunaescence Archives.

Tag List: @imaginesfire​

Wrong

Where you came from, people had certain expectations of women. What a little girl had to grow up into was set in stone. From a young age, your entire lack of interest in learning your “trade” (as it were) caused no small amount of consternation in your island village. You never cared much…until it was far too late to go back and listen to your mother when she tried convincing you of your place in life.

But Mother of the Leviathan, you wished you could that night. The Going Merry’s kitchen had never once looked worse. You had thought—while the actual cooking was going on—that you were doing okay. Now that you had a moment to breathe and look at what you’d done, you realized that you were far, far from doing okay.

“What’s going on in here?”

You stiffened, only to relax once you saw Usopp and Luffy’s heads peeking into the room from the hall. Usopp gave an exaggerated sniff with his lengthy nose before he stepped inside.

“Something smells good,” he said, rubbing his hands together.

“Did you have a fight in here, [Name]?” Luffy asked as he followed, put his hands on his hips, and regarded the damage you’d done to this typically pristine part of the ship. “You should have called! I’d have liked to see you go toe to toe with someone like this.”

“I’d like to see whatever it is you’re cooking,” Usopp put in. “Unless you lost it in this mess.”

Indeed, Usopp’s worry was a legitimate one. Nothing in the kitchen remained its typical color or texture. Eggs dripped from the ceiling. Butter stuck to the wall. The table at which the crew often ate breakfast together was two inches thicker from a buildup of flour. Knives, spoons, beaters, and bowls littered the counters and filled the sink. Neat cooking had never been a skill of yours, but add in the constant rolling of the boat on the waves? Forget it.

Despite the near-universal coating of icing across the surfaces of the room, it didn’t take the two boys long to find the food. 

“Aha!” Luffy cried triumphantly. He had only just lifted the small, circular cake off the counter when you snatched it away from him. “Hey!”

“Don’t you dare,” you said, shoving him away with your free hand.

“That’s not fair,” he said. “Finders keepers!”

“I never lost my cake. I knew where it was the whole time.”

“But then why would you make food at not let us eat it?” said Usopp.

“Because it’s not for you.”

“Who else would you make it for?”

“I want cake!” said Luffy, falling to his knees in front of you.

“Just let us taste it!” Usopp insisted as he pulled on your sleeve.

“Cake, [Name]!”

“Cake! Cake! Cake!” they chanted in unison.

All the fuss came to a grinding hall when the door to the kitchen slammed open. A few globs of batter fell from above to pelt you, Usopp, and Luffy in the heads. None of you noticed, as you were all staring in horror at the person who had joined you.

"What the hell is going on in here?” Nami asked in her quietest (and thus most dangerous) voice.

The danger, as usual, did not register for Usopp and Luffy. “She started it!” they exclaimed, and pointed in your direction.

“I didn’t!” you said as Nami turned her sharp eyes toward you. “They’re trying to eat the cake I baked!”

“You made this awful mess? Do you know how much food costs?”

“It’s for a good cause.”

“Yeah,” said Luffy. “My stomach. C’mon. Cough it up.”

“I already told you that it’s not for you! Or you,” you added at Usopp’s greedy smile.

“You better not have wasted all this for yourself,” Nami said.

What was this, gang up on [Name] night? “It’s for Sanji,” you snapped, unsure which of them you felt most annoyed with. Nami, you decided, when she stared blankly back at you.

“Why would you make Sanji a lousy cake when he can make himself one that’s edible?” she asked.

By then, Luffy and Usopp were so determined to get the morsel in your hands that the three of you were locked in a constant series of wrestling maneuvers. As such, you weren’t thinking hard enough about not giving Nami information she didn’t need to avoid doing so. Lifting your cake as high above your head as you could manage, you said:

“It’s Sanji’s birthday.”

This didn’t make her expression any less blank. “So?” she said, doing absolutely nothing to save you from a fight that you both knew you wouldn’t win. 

You gaped at her. Although you’d always suspected your crew-mate of heartlessness, you’d never have believed she could be so callous toward Sanji, the guy that practically worshiped the ground she walked on!

“So you’re his friend,”  you said. “You should do something nice for him!”

In your moment of incredulous anger, Usopp grabbed the cake and let out a triumphant shout. You smashed a fist into his head. He tossed the cake into the air with a yelp.

“Oh, no!” you squealed.

“Oh, yes!” cried Luffy.

“Back off,” Nami said as she caught the cake and shoved Luffy roughly away. 

Her passing the food back to you surprised you as much as it did the boys. Some of this unusual display of kindness was dented by the fact that right after she got it safely in your hands again, she placed her own on either side of her copious hips to scold you. 

“If Sanji wants me to buy him something for his birthday,” she said, “he’ll have to give me the money himself. As for you, all this wasted food will be paid for, and—”

“What happened to my beautiful kitchen?!”

Even Nami started this time. Sanji stood where she had left the door open, and his eyes blazed with a furious fire as he peered around the ruined room. What he must have thought was going on, with Usopp weeping on the dirty floor, and Luffy still making rubber-armed grabs for the cake, and you covered head to toe in batter was impossible to say. 

Luffy and Usopp launched immediately into hasty explanations, only for each to receive a blow to the head from Nami.

“You two shut up!” she snapped.

“Nami, my love!”

Sanji’s demeanor did such a complete one-eighty upon his spotting Nami that your insides curdled. He hadn’t noticed you at all, of course, just your mess and beautiful, smart, feminine Nami, as usual.

She shot him a radiant smile. “You’re not supposed to be in here.”

The hearts in his eyes vanished. “Huh? But it’s my kitchen.”

“Sure, but now you’ve gone and ruined [Name]’s surprise.”

“[Name]? What?”

Sighing, Nami pointed to where you stood by the stove, still holding the stupid pink-frosted cake with the stupid red icing heart drawn sloppily across its top. 

Sanji followed her finger all the way to you. Your appearance did not earn any exuberant flirtations. In fact, seeing you in the kitchen—a room you avoided unless he was already inside cooking—only seemed to make him confused.

“[Name]?” He blinked, then seemed to remember why he’d burst in there to begin with. “Did you do this?”

Nami didn’t give you an opportunity to respond. One of her hands gripped your shoulder like a vice seconds before she pushed you toward the doorway. “Why don’t you go show him what you did, and I’ll clean up in here?”

“I can’t let you do that, Nami!” Sanji protested. “You’re too valuable to waste on manual labor!”

“Hardly. Now go. Now.”

Even he couldn’t argue against the hard smile on her face. As soon as he’d turned to leave, she directed that smile at you. ‘You’ll pay for this,’ she mouthed. 

You didn’t doubt it. Nami got no arguments from you, however. As you followed Sanji into the hall, he touched you on the forearm and jerked his head toward the stairs up to the deck.

“Let’s go,” he said.

“We’ll come, too!” 

Usopp and Luffy leapt after you. They were not fast enough to avoid Nami, though. She was pulling them backward even as you and Sanji stepped out into the starry night.

“Where do you think you’re going? You’re going to help me with this, or so help me I will make your lives a living hell,” she said.

“But Nami!”

Usopp’s whining stopped abruptly when the door to the kitchen shut behind you. You and Sanji were alone. Wordlessly, he stepped over to the railing. The gentle ocean waves lapped against the ship’s sides, just out of sight in the darkness. Maybe he wouldn’t notice if you tiptoed off to bed. It wasn’t too late to throw the cake overboard and call it a night, was it?

He looked right at you and held up a box of cigarettes. “Do you mind?”

You hesitated, then shook your head. 

As he turned his gaze back to the water, he patted the spot next to him. “Come on up."

“Huh? Oh.” 

Against your better judgement, you joined him there. Moonlight illuminated Sanji’s face, and you remembered just why you’d fallen head over heels for him from the very start. Everything about him was beautiful in a way no man from your home was—not that he looked like a woman. No, if you had to pick something to compare Sanji to, it would have been an angel.

The waves, invisible below, sent puffs of salty mist into your eyes. At least this gave your rapid blinking an excuse. You could feel a nasty crying jag coming on, and you didn’t exactly want the man standing next to you to notice. It was your fault that you’d thought baking Sanji a cake might get him to show you the same sort of affection he showed the only other female member of the Straw Hat crew.

Speaking of Sanji, he lit a cigarette in silence and lifted his eyes toward the half-moon that hung in the sky. The familiar smell of smoke washed over you. You had to struggle not to relax in this comforting scent that so reminded you of the one male you’d ever wanted romantically. Your mother had been more right than even she’d been aware of when she had told you you were headed straight for heartbreak.

So wrapped up in self-pity were you that you didn’t much notice your companion shifting his gaze to the side of your face. After all, it didn’t matter if you looked better with a smile than a frown, did it? No matter what your expression, Sanji wasn’t going to notice how badly you loved him.

“So what is it that you’re hiding over there?” he asked.

Your head snapped toward him; you could feel the blood rushing to your cheeks as you hastily moved your cake behind your back. 

“Nothing!” you said a little shrilly. It didn’t take a genius to work out you were lying, though, and Sanji was no simpleton, no matter what Zoro claimed. 

He slowly rose his visible eyebrow in reply. "So you didn’t just hide whatever it was behind your back?”

“Nope!”

“And whatever it is you hid behind your back wasn’t the surprise Nami mentioned?”

“I don’t know what she was talking about,” you blustered. “It’s late, and I was hungry, and I didn’t want to bother you, so I decided to make myself a snack, and Luffy and Usopp got in the way, and Nami…”

You trailed off in the wake of his continued calm. That sort of look would have been unnerving coming from anyone. Coming from Sanji while you babbled on like that was even worse. He seemed to wait for half a minute to make sure you were really done making excuses before he pressed a soft hand to one of your shoulders. Your throat sealed shut at once.

“It can’t be that bad, [Name].”

You looked at your feet. “It is.”

“Show me anyway.”

“You’ll hate it.”

“No, I won’t.”

Silence stretched between you. A furious struggle raged inside your mind. So much work had gone into this cake that it would be a shame to feed it to the fish. On the other hand, Sanji had already made it clear that his feelings for you weren’t going to change. Giving him your badly-made cake would only make him ashamed of you. You’d have to leave the crew, go back home, settle down with some beefy, hairy Zoro-type that had never heard the word “chivalry.” That would kill you.

“F-Fine.” Steeling yourself for the worst, you thrust the cake into his chest. 

He caught the parchment paper wrapping before the icing dirtied the front of his suit, then lifted the bundle to his face to get a better look in the dim light coming from the lanterns swaying above the Going Merry’s deck.

“You made a cake?” he said, sounding shocked.

With your arms wrapped tightly around your upper body, you looked back toward the black ocean. Would jumping in make things easier? Or would Sanji make things all the more awful by jumping in to save you? 

“It’s your birthday,” you answered. You refused to look at him, no matter how badly you might have wanted to. “I wanted to do something nice to celebrate.”

“How do you know it’s my birthday?”

“Because unlike some people around here, I listen when people talk.”

“No one else got me anything. I don’t even think half the crew knows it is my birthday.”

You turned toward him, clutching even harder at your shoulders. The night was warm for March, but underneath your clothes, your skin had erupted in goosebumps. It was time to turn in—or cry yourself to sleep, whichever came first. As Sanji continued to watch you, with your ugly little cake laid out in his palms, you stepped past him in the direction of the bunks.

“Where are you going?” he called after you. 

It took several seconds for you to arrange your features into a forced smile. Only then could you bring yourself to face him.

“Forget it, San,” you said. After great effort, you managed to untangle your limbs. “It’s gonna taste like shit anyway. You know I can’t cook. See you tomorrow. Happy birthday.”

One last, fluttering wave, and then you were off. This time you hardly got a single step toward bed before Sanji’s voice stopped you once again:

“Wait!”

His tone had such urgency in it that you spun on the spot. He had not moved, but all of a sudden his eyes blazed with an intensity you’d only ever seen directed at other women (and occasionally Zoro, when he did something to purposely piss Sanji off). Those eyes bored into yours, keeping you rooted to the wooden boards underneath your feet. Then, without speaking another word, Sanji spat his cigarette into the water, lifted your cake to his face, and stuffed the entire thing into his mouth.

You let out a stifled exclamation that was not entirely without reason. Even as you clapped your hands over your lips, he doubled over. Before you could get back to his side to administer the Heimlich maneuver, however, he straightened to show you the enormous smile he now wore.

“Delicious!” 

You stared at him. His expression didn’t change. After a whole minute spent like this, you realized:

“You’re lying.”

The smile flickered. “No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“How can you tell?”

“Your face just turned the same color as Zoro’s hair.”

For a second, Sanji looked like he wanted to keep arguing the point. You opened your mouth to prevent this, but you didn’t have time to form so much as a sentence. 

His smile faded into a faint grin, and he said, “Will you hold on just one minute?”

You could hear the sound of food hitting the waves even from several feet away. Over the continued noise of Sanji retching, you walked back to him. Your arrival was met with him standing back up as he wiped a shaking arm over his chin. The whole situation might have been funny—if you had not been at fault for it.

“I’m so sorry,” you told him.

He frowned. “What for?”

Really? He really intended to make you come right out and say it? As if this day could get any worse.

“For making you a death cake for your birthday,” you mumbled.

Normally, Sanji’s laughter relaxed you, made you feel better. That night, nothing could. All your brain kept bringing up was that you never should have taken Luffy up on his offer to leave your island with him and his crew. Better that you had stayed at home and learned to be a real woman. You might not have been happy there, but you also would not have been as miserable as you were that very moment.

A nudge to your side brought you back to the present, along with the assurance of, “Come on. It wasn’t that bad.”

“Don’t lie to me again!” Your waspish retort surprised you quite as much as it did Sanji. Frustrated, you dragged your nails through your hair and took a deep breath. When you next spoke, it was in a tone only slightly more conciliatory: “Why did you eat it? You didn’t have to do that.”

The longer he stood blinking at you, the more agitated you felt. Pins and needles ran along the inside of your skin. Surely he ought to have had an answer ready. You were about to storm off when he finally said:

“You looked like you were about to cry. I can’t let a lady cry when it’s in my power to make her smile!”

Just like that, your jaw fell open. It was your turn to stare, your turn to make Sanji uncomfortable. Not long after, he shuffled his feet and squinted.

“Did I say something wrong?” he asked.

Lucky for his nerves, it took you only as long as it took you to swallow to answer, “You think of me as a lady?”

His brow furrowed. “That’s what you are, isn’t it?”

“Not like Nami. You don’t look at me the same way you look at her.”

This seemed to confuse him all the more. “You and Nami are different kinds of ladies.”

“I know that. That’s why you don’t see me as a woman. And now you definitely won’t ever, because I almost killed you with a dessert.”

“[Name].”

Your flailing about did not occur to you until Sanji stopped it with a hand on either of your cheeks. You both were almost nose to nose in short order.

“You are absolutely a woman, just as beautiful and smart as Nami, only...different. She didn’t make me a birthday cake, but you did. That’s special. Okay?”

How else could you reply but with a nervous, exhilarated squeak?

The noise was enough for Sanji. Much to your disappointment, he released your face from his grasp. Never in a million years would you have dreamed that he wouldn’t leave right after that, but he didn't. He flashed you another smile to boot.

“Now, what do you say we head back to the kitchen and see what’s there to make a second cake with? I lost my dinner back there!”

Eagerness and shame warred inside you. His words were not a love confession, but neither had he rejected you entirely for your lack of cooking abilities. What was more, he wanted to spend more time with you—not to help Nami clean, but to help you learn.

“Are you sure?” you asked timidly, unable to believe your luck.

He nodded. “I’m sure.”

“Then let’s go!”

To think, only earlier that day, you’d thought Sanji couldn’t see you as a woman at all. You’d thought he loved Nami more than he loved you. You’d even thought baking would change his mind. As it turned out, it hadn’t needed to. You’d been wrong about how he’d felt about you all along. Maybe he wasn’t in love with you, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t grow to be someday. Now you knew you had a chance to complete, all you could say was…Nami had better watch out.

#fan fic #straw writes #reader insert #second person pov #challenge fic #one shot #request #sanji #sanji vinsmoke #one piece #sanji x reader #sanji x you #sanji x y/n #sanji vinsmoke x reader #sanji vinsmoke x you #sanji vinsmoke x y/n #one piece x reader #one piece x you #one piece x y/n #one piece reader insert #sanji reader insert #sanji vinsmoke reader insert

[nighttimescribbles]

my 🍬 nonnie...

i've had to make a separate post to answer your ask bec the tumble space did me wrong and deleted the post (with your lovely ask and my answer) when i tried to add a video to it 😭 i only wanted to show you my pinterest food board 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 maybe i'll post it separately instead

fortunately, i was able to save what i'd typed up, so it seems we haven't lost the thread of our conversation after all! 😊 this is what i wrote before tumble space decided to make a huge snack out of it:

nonnie!!! 💕 NEVER apologise for taking time to respond! you've got so much on your plate omg please relax and know that you're always welcome to come on here to talk/vent/chit-chat in your own time and at your leisure ❤️

so coincidental that you mention brown butter cookies because i just saw a recipe for it not too long ago! i can't remember if i saved it (prolly not) but i have been hoarding quite a bit of cookie recipes these days on the excuse that i need to "expand my reliable cookies portfolio" 😂

and are you me @mayo??? because. i, too, am a mayo fiend! over here we have a popular brand that sells sandwich spread, the original flavour of which is like a cross between mayo and ranch dressing 😂 i am soooo addicted to it (it's tangier than mayo and has chopped pickles) but even then, sometimes, a girl just needs good ol mayo! i keep trying to think beyond tuna mayo and always come up with nothing, so i'm super stoked to have mayo mashed potatoes to add to my roster of mayo-able food! thank you for sharing your mum's secret! 🥰

AYOOOOOOOOOOO how cute is that cat???? and so clever, too! and the way he kneaded his tail? which looked like it kept trying to escape??? 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 ngl the bg music + the face of that kitty KILLED me 😂😂😂😂😂 little naughty's nanny cajoled me into buying him socks some time ago so we came home from our walk bearing the cutest little itty bitty polka dot socks. unfortunately, they were displayed stretched around cardboard so when i unpacked the socks they turned out just a wee bit too small. didn't stop us from putting it on little naughty anyway. he was sooooooo weirded out he bucked around like a kid goat and kept trying to shake free of his socks. it was sosososooooo funny i have to see if i can still scrounge up that vid to show you 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

cats make lovely companions for the right person! before we had a dog, i used to have de faco cats who came over for mealtimes and treated our place like their bed and board hostel 😂 one of them gave birth underneath our outdor sink and was so comfortable with us she let us handle her kittens all the time. one of those kittens was a super sweet black and white one who liked to sleep inside a laundry tub. when i got home and called his name, his tiny head (and tiny ears and bright, bright eyes and pink nose 😭) would pop up over the rim and he'd let me turn him on his back for belly rubs. 🥲 he was suuuuuuper warm, too, and a purring machine. by the time we finished with our nightly belly rub, my legs where he lay on would be toasty! i miss that smart alecky boy and will be over the moon happy for you if you ever wind up getting a cat. they adopt the people they like so quickly, even if they're not "officially" pets 🥲

i've never heard of memrise but good on you for learning and askjdfasduf for your trip!!!!! SK is beautiful and the food is gooooooood (especially their strawberries!!!). like istg i don't think i had a single bad meal there! most memorable one is prolly the grilled chicken. it's like samgeupsal but the tenderest, juiciest chicken with the most addictive dipping sauce. ❤️ i hope you're able to try it (and lots and lots of other korean food) when you go! ((their convenience store ice cream is also gooooood))

after your bakefest, mystery man better prepare himself and his heart for a siege! bet he'll be so inundated with goodies he won't know what hit him! 😂 but joking aside, please take those birthday days off to treat and enjoy yourself! just a little over a month's wait and then ✨rest and relaxation✨ i wish you a beautiful birthday week full of loved ones and great adventures! ((and when it's all over, come back and tell me all about it so you can relieve it all over again! 🥰))

//and now i'm gonna post this before it meets with any other unpleasant accidents

#asks #🍬 nonnie #my sweetest nonnie

[visd3stele]

Self care for Sirius - gn reader

- I tried a gender neutral reader for the first time, how did I do? Man, I really hope it's not offensive or bad representation. Let me know if there is anything wrong here. Spread love 💛

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summary: when Sirius is in distress, reader helps

A/N: I really tried to.make it short. It didn't work. But I like it!

TW: light mention of bad home situation/ child abuse (seriuosly, blink and it's gone), reader on Sirius' lap, but nothing explicit or sexual

!This fic is not reviewed, might contain typos!

Spring Break. Y/n loved this time of the year. Not because the high hills of Scotland mountains lighten up with vibrant green and patches of flowers that fight through stone and rock. Not because they'd live in a castle just like they imagined when a little child: freely and burdened by no responsability. Not even because y/n's birthday, summer baby, was just around the corner. Y/n loved spring breaks for the peaceful silence that wrapped up Hogwarts into a crystal ball of fairytales come to life and magical childhood dreams. Never during the year was the castle school so empty. Kids always stayed behind even on Christmas and summer. But for some reason, the two weeks of free spring sooshed them all away.

Well, not exactly all, y/n had to admit. They had to share the long hallways, feasts that doesn't shriek in size compared to any other time of the year, Quidditch fields and a common room with no other but the marauders. Which would be fine, if not for y/n's growing crush on one of them. They knew those boys for six years already, been in so many troubles with the marauders, they can't remember how their room from home looks like, but knows the detention class like the back of their hand. Yet somehow, Cupid decided to tense his bowstring and point his golden tip arrow towards their heart.

"Oi, y/n, come're mate," James shouted from somewhere down below. Y/n was wandering aimlessly through the school, their feet bringing them to one of the open corridors, suspended in the air. And to the marauders, which they were not avoiding.

"Hurry, up, y/n! Merlin, one would say you're avoiding us, aye?" Peter's laugh made y/n roll their eyes, but sprinting towards them to dissamble his acusation.

"Of course not, Snitch brain. We're the only ones at Hogwarts, it'd be imposible to avoid you."

They hopped over the last three steps and landed in front of the boys who came to greet them. "What are you up to?" Y/n asked, though when their eyes scanned the trio, they realized something is wrong. "Where's Sirius?"

James looked down, lifting a hand to rearrange his glasses. As Sirius' best mate, more like brother to be honest, Potter would deffinitely know the most about y/n's crush. But it also means he won't talk. Peter would follow his lead, as always. Pettigrew went so far as to run past them, shouting he'll bring butter rolls for everyone.

Remus was the only one left to answer y/n's burning question. They didn't want to let the boys know how much they care about Sirius. How jealous they get because there are others closer to him than them. But y/n knew how much the marauders liked to go on adventures when there was no one to prank and even worse no one to witness it. And if Sirius Black missed the opportunity to do some mischief with his friends while one would say is impossible to get in trouble, meant whatever happened brought him down.

"Remus John Lupin, why is Sirius not here?"

"Sorry, y/n, but it's no' my story to tell. 'tis no worse than when he ran from home, but he's still no' feelin' himself."

Y/n pursed their lips. "Where is he?"

"Common room."

"Would id be okay if I go to him?"

This time it was James who answered, looking them up and down sternly as if deciding on what he should do. "Yes. Go. We'll be in the kitchen with Wormtail."

"Make sure we'll bring some rolls to you two soon." Remus said as the two boys departed.

Y/n's mind raced through every possibility they could imagine: his parents coming after him, the Ministry forcing him to go back to Grimmauld, his crazy cousin deciding to wipe out the blood traitor from more than just a tapstry. But Remus said it wasn't that bad. And they had to trust it to be the case, despite their worried, enamoured mind.

In the midst of all the chaos that was their brain, y/n glimpsed one hopeful thought. Why did the marauders left them alone with their mate? Of course, Remus implied they'd come to the Gryffindor common room soon, but James would have never dismissed a hurting Sirius. None of them would have. So why let them go to him?

Y/n shook their head, intenting to rid themself of the theories and daydreams of a fool in love before they hurt themself. Or worse, embarass themself in front of Sirius.

"Hi there, grouchy. 've heard someone sunk your ships. Well, second mate y/n y/l/n reporting to duty, sir. Ready to rebuilt the naval." They joked, but Sirius only sketched a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He was pacing when y/n opened the door, tossing one of his obsidian and silver rings from one hand to another. Y/n always wondered about that particular ring, shaped as a thick snake with its tail in its mouth. So uncharasteristic for roaring red and golden lion Sirius Orion Black. But as nor the boys, nor the girls brought it up, y/n put in on the list of things they weren't privy of in his life. A painfully long list.

"Can you sit with me on the couch or do you want to walk a path through Mcgonagalls carpet? I'm sure Minnie won't mind... too much. But still."

Sirius nodded, yet again too, well, serious for y/n's liking. As soon as he sat, y/n crossed their legs up in front of them and turned to face him. "So, wanna talk, or..."

Black straight locks, thin and dense, moved around Sirius' face when he shook it. Not in negation, y/n realized a few seconds after, but in tiredness. "My brother," the boy said so soft they could better hear the troubled ponding of his heart than his words. The wizard, unable to resist seated too much in his state, jumped up, sliping the ring back onto his finger. In its place, needing to work something with his hands, Sirius reached to trace a small two stars tatto on the right side of the base of his neck. So close to where his jugular pulsed with life and, currently, nerves.

Y/n waited patiently for their crush to continue speaking, willing themself to focus on Sirius' issue, not on his long, piano player fingers against his skin. They chastied themself when their mind begin to wonder how soft it really was, or how would those fingers, caressing up and down Sirius' neck, feel on their own.

"I left him, y/n." The raw, strangled cry took them by surprise. Y/n never understood the relation between the Black brothers: one as fierce and wild as a stray flame that could warm a group of campers or set a dangerous forest ablaze and the other as cold and calculated as the unforgiving ice, to heal burns or to swallow ships. They always thought the wizards only ties are their family, and since Sirius showed them the middle finger as adieu, y/n believed the siblings to ignore each other. Not that they'd talk much at Hogwarts before, anyway. But they were terribly wrong.

"I left him with - with those monsters! I knew nothing of Reggie the whole summer and didn't even try to reach out and now..." He trailed off, a horrified expression carved on his face.

"Sirius," y/n walked towards him. They placed an unsteady hand on his shoulder and squized once. "I'm not even sure you could've reach out. It'd've put both of you in a worse situation."

Sirius gulped and nodded, fully agreeing, though stubbornly believing there must have been something he could have done. Not a single tear fell from or dwell in his wide, stunning eyes. Yet the grey stood out due to red veins webbing on the white part and purple bruises from the lack of sleep. How long has he been like this?

Almost frentic, he turned to look at y/n, with a force that took them by surprise. "Reggie has the mark, y/n. He's fourteen and I left him to be mauled and manipulated by, by," but no word was strong or vile enough to express his feelings. And y/n understood that.

" 's okay, 's okay. 'twasn't your fault, you hear? Not yours. You're still a child, Sirius. There's nothing you could have done."

"No, no, there is. I didn't see it, but now I do. I could've..." but y/n cut them off, gently and firmly. "Great Godric! When did you sleep last?"

"If I'd've slept, I'd've missed thinking hours, y/n. I found so may ways I could have, should have, saved Reggie."

"Sirius. Stop! Listen to me, you'll go take a nap and we can talk more after."

"But..."

"No. Nap. Now!"

°•▪︎~▪︎•°

Sirius slept until lunch next day. He woke up famished, with normal looking eyes and seemingly refreshed. But he still wasn't himself. His mind still pondered obsessively over all the ways he failed his little brother and the solutions he should have found.

"D'you know what always helps me relax when I'm stressed over somethin'?" Y/n asked once the two of them got up from the table and made it back to Gryffindor tower. All alone.

Sirius humphed a reply, but gave them his whole attention.

"A self care routine. Wanna try?"

When Sirius shrugged, but made no attempt to dismiss the idea, y/n grinned - though a bit forcefully - and pushed Sirius on the couch. They returned seconds later, arms filled with brushes, pencils, little cubic bottles that read nail polish and face masks.

Y/n sat next to Sirius on the couch. "Ready?"

"To relax? No. But go on, let's try it."

"Hey, a well rested and calm mind is more helpful than panic."

And with that, they threaded their fingers through his hair, tieing it in a loose bun at the back of his head and plucked one of the masks to aplie it on Sirius' face.

"How does that feel?"

"Ticklish." He still wrinkled his face, eyebrows drawn together in concentration to inward conversations, but his voice became lighter with laughter. It may have been just his body reacting to the tickling sensation, but to y/n it was a good start.

"Alright, we keep that on for fifteen minutes. Can I paint your nails while we wait?"

"What color?"

"Your pick, obviously!" They tried to match their voice with the roll of their eyes. "I've got black, red and purple."

Sirius whistled mockingly. "Such a variety, y/n. How am I supposed to choose?"

"Shut up, Black." Y/n playfully scoffed. They weren't one for long nails and bright colors, nor for heavy make up. But it didn't mean they didn't enjoy the relaxing moments when their mind focused only on the brush sliding over their nail, or the eye pencil moving atop their lids.

Fifteen minutes later, Sirius' nails shone a dark shade of purple and he asked if he could paint y/n's too. After they took his face mask off, they gave him permission to play with the black nail polish on two of their fingers. He made a mess of their skin around the nails, but the color managed to dry, at last, and it didn't look half bad. Y/n beamed when they caught Sirius' shoulders slumping down from their tension.

While he was working on their finger, y/n allowed themself to indulge in a few moments of simping over the sixteen years wizard in front of them. His tongue stucked out as he tried - and failed - to color inside their nails' edges. Few strands of hair snaped out of their hair tie prison and cupped his face, shading his features until only his eyes glittered grey and happy. Sirius seemed to forget his worries, at least for the time being, and y/n couldn't have been more pleased with themself.

Sirius was blowing over their painted nails, wiping the color off their skin when y/n bowed their head as well, meaning to give some advice to the boy. It wasn't enough that his touch on their hands made their heart loose control, but the current proximity completely erased any coherent thought as well. So they just stood there, staring at no other than Sirius Casanova Black. The very wizard who turned all the heads when entering a room and had more hook ups than y/n bothered to remember anymore.

"What's next?" Sirius suddenly asked, raising his head a bit so that now, his and y/n's foreheads were almost touching. Y/n gulped. Breath caught in their throat and became irregular. "Uh, uhm," they gestured helplessly around the pile of stuff they brought in earlier.

To their relief, Sirius' curiosity got the best of him. He didn't seem to notice how flustered he made them, or y/n's awkward stumble over their words. He examinated with upmost attention the small mountain of things sprawled on the floor and picked one up.

"That's an eyeliner, right?" When they nodded, Sirius admited " 've always wanted to try one." He smirked up at y/n. "Help me?"

Getting a better grip of themself, they agreed, jumped on their feet and walked in front of Sirius. The problems was, if they towered over him to draw the black lines around his eyes, they'd shadow his face, making it impossible to work. So y/n tried something else. They knelt in font of Sirius. But now, they couldn't reach his face comfortably enough that their hands wouldn't shake. "D'you wanna try it yourself? I can guide you," they sighed defeated.

Sirius put on a thinking face, pretending to debate over their offer. "Know what, y/n?" He said eventually. "I have a better idea." And he scooped them up in his lap, their legs on each side of his hips.

Y/n's face resembled a cartoon's one. Eyes comically wide, face unusually red and if one looked closely, heart shaped butterflies circled their head. "Is everything okay, y/n?" Sirius teased, but when they didn't answer, he asked seriously "Is it not... sorry, should've make sure beofore..." he tried to lower them on the couch.

"No!" They shouted. Then clasped their hands over their mouth bashfully. "I mean, no, it's... this is good. I like it."

The wizard smiled, not a mischivious grin or a teasing smirk, but a genuine content smile. That made y/n laugh breathlessly. Wetting their lips, they traced the outline of Sirius' eyes with the thin tip of the eyeliner.

The moment felt more magical than any spring break they've lived so far. More like a fairytale than wandering around the castle on their own, pretending to dance at balls at midnight and fight the wretched at night. Until...

"What on Merlin's dirty socks?" Y/n and Sirius jumped apart, startled. "Is that make up, mate?"

"Y/n's cure for stress."

"What is it, Potter? Wanna be next?" They smirked, not even annoyed he ruined their monent. Now, y/n believed there might be more to come.

#gender neutral reader #gn reader #sirius black x reader #sirius black x you #sirius black x y/n #young sirius black #sirius orion black #sirius black #x reader #x gn reader #sirius x y/n #sirius x you #x you #x y/n #the marauders era #the marauders #young james potter #young remus lupin #young peter pettigrew #messer #moony wormtail padfoot and prongs #x gender neutral reader #young sirius imagine #sirius imagine #sirius oneshot #sirius fluff #sirius fanfiction #young sirius x reader #my fic #my writing

[weirwoodking]

I feel like that if Jon was a girl, she'd be hated so badly by the fandom for everything she was loved for as a male

Oh, yeah, of course. Jon (and the other male characters) gets away with feeling emotion in a way that none of the female characters do or would ever be able to do.

I was going to do this in a separate post, but your ask gave me the perfect opportunity to do it right here. I took the liberty of compiling a few Jon excerpts, and switched the name “Jon” to “Dany” and the male pronouns to female pronouns.

And then she heard the laughter, sharp and cruel as a whip, and the voice of Ser Alliser Thorne. "Not only a bastard, but a traitor's bastard," he was telling the men around him.

In the blink of an eye, Dany had vaulted onto the table, dagger in her hand. Pyp made a grab for her, but she wrenched her leg away, and then she was sprinting down the table and kicking the bowl from Ser Alliser's hand. Stew went flying everywhere, spattering the brothers. Thorne recoiled. People were shouting, but Dany did not hear them. She lunged at Ser Alliser's face with the dagger, slashing at those cold onyx eyes, but Sam threw himself between them and before Dany could get around him, Pyp was on her back clinging like a monkey, and Grenn was grabbing her arm while Toad wrenched the knife from her fingers.

—Jon VII, AGOT

Ser Alliser seized Dany by the arm.

Dany yanked away and grabbed the knight by the throat with such ferocity that she lifted him off the floor. She would have throttled him if the Eastwatch men had not pulled her off. Thorne staggered back, rubbing the marks Dany’s fingers had left on his neck. "You see for yourselves, brothers. The girl is a wildling."

—Jon IX, ASOS

In the end Halder and Horse had to pull her away from Iron Emmett, one man on either arm. The ranger sat on the ground dazed, his shield half in splinters, the visor of his helm knocked askew, and his sword six yards away. "Dany, enough," Halder was shouting, "he's down, you disarmed him. Enough!"

No. Not enough. Never enough. Dany let her sword drop. “I’m sorry,” she muttered. “Emmett, are you hurt?”

Iron Emmett pulled his battered helm off. "Was there some part of yield you could not comprehend?" It was said amiably, though. Emmett was an amiable man, and he loved the song of swords. "Warrior defend me," he groaned, "now I know how Qhorin Halfhand must have felt."

That was too much. Dany wrenched free of her friends and retreated to the armory, alone. Her ears were still ringing from the blow Emmett had dealt her. She sat on the bench and buried her head in her hands. Why am I so angry? she asked herself, but it was a stupid question. Lady of Dragonstone. I could be the Lady of Dragonstone. My father's heir.

—Jon XII, ASOS

“Men say that freezing to death is almost peaceful. Fire, though…do you see the candle, Gilly?”

She looked at the flame. “Yes.”

“Touch it. Put your hand over the flame.”

Her big brown eyes grew bigger still. She did not move.

“Do it.” Kill the girl. “Now.”

Trembling, the girl reached out her hand, held it well above the flickering candle flame.

“Down. Let it kiss you.”

Gilly lowered her hand. An inch. Another. When the flame licked her flesh, she snatched her hand back and began to sob.

“Fire is a cruel way to die. Dalla died to give this child life, but you have nourished him, cherished him. You saved your own boy from the ice. Now save hers from the fire.”

“They’ll burn my babe, then. The red woman. If she can’t have Dalla’s, she’ll burn mine.”

“Your son has no king’s blood. Melisandre gains nothing by giving him to the fire. Stannis wants the free folk to fight for him, he will not burn an innocent without good cause. Your boy will be safe. I will find a wet nurse for him and he’ll be raised here at Castle Black under my protection. He’ll learn to hunt and ride, to fight with sword and axe and bow. I’ll even see that he is taught to read and write.” Sam would like that. “And when he is old enough, he will learn the truth of who he is. He’ll be free to seek you out if that is what he wants.”

“You will make a crow of him.” She wiped at her tears with the back of a small pale hand. “I won’t. I won’t.”

Kill the girl, thought Dany. “You will. Else I promise you, the day that they burn Dalla’s boy, yours will die as well.”

“Die,” shrieked the Old Bear’s raven. “Die, die, die.”

The girl sat hunched and shrunken, staring at the candle flame, tears glistening in her eyes. Finally Dany said, “You have my leave to go. Do not speak of this, but see that you are ready to depart an hour before first light. My men will come for you.”

—Jon II, ADWD

“Lord Janos,” Dany said, “I will give you one last chance. Put down that spoon and get to the stables. I have had your horse saddled and bridled. It is a long, hard road to Greyguard.”

“Then you had best be on your way, girl.” Slynt laughed, dribbling porridge down his chest. “Greyguard’s a good place for the likes of you, I’m thinking. Well away from decent godly folk. The mark of the beast is on you.”

“You are refusing to obey my order?”

“You can stick your order up your arse,” said Slynt, his jowls quivering.

Alliser Thorne smiled a thin smile, his black eyes fixed on Dany. At another table, Godry the Giantslayer began to laugh.

“As you will.” Dany nodded to Iron Emmett. “Please take Lord Janos to the Wall—”

—and confine him to an ice cell, she might have said. A day or ten cramped up inside the ice would leave him shivering and feverish and begging for release, Dany did not doubt. And the moment he is out, he and Thorne will begin to plot again.

—and tie him to his horse, she might have said.

If Slynt did not wish to go to Greyguard as its commander, he could go as its cook. It will only be a matter of time until he deserts, then. And how many others will he take with him?

“—and hang him,” Dany finished.

Janos Slynt’s face went as white as milk. The spoon slipped from his fingers. Edd and Emmett crossed the room, their footsteps ringing on the stone floor. Bowen Marsh’s mouth opened and closed though no words came out. Ser Alliser Thorne reached for his sword hilt. Go on, Dany thought. Dark Sister was slung across her back. Show your steel. Give me cause to do the same.

[...]

“If the girl thinks that she can frighten me, she is mistaken,” they heard Lord Janos said. “She would not dare to hang me. Janos Slynt has friends, important friends, you’ll see…” The wind whipped away the rest of his words.

This is wrong, Dany thought. “Stop.”

Emmett turned back, frowning. “My lady?”

“I will not hang him,” said Dany. “Bring him here.”

“Oh, Seven save us,” he heard Bowen Marsh cry out.

The smile that Lord Janos Slynt smiled then had all the sweetness of rancid butter. Until Dany said, “Edd, fetch me a block,” and unsheathed Dark Sister.

By the time a suitable chopping block was found, Lord Janos had retreated into the winch cage, but Iron Emmett went in after him and dragged him out. “No,” Slynt cried, as Emmett half-shoved and half-pulled him across the yard. “Unhand me…you cannot…when Tywin Lannister hears of this, you will all rue—”

Emmett kicked his legs out from under him. Dolorous Edd planted a foot on his back to keep him on his knees as Emmett shoved the block beneath his head. “This will go easier if you stay still,” Daenerys promised him. “Move to avoid the cut, and you will still die, but your dying will be uglier. Stretch out your neck, my lord.” The pale morning sunlight ran up and down her blade as Dany clasped the hilt of the sword with both hands and raised it high. “If you have any last words, now is the time to speak them,” she said, expecting one last curse.

Janos Slynt twisted his neck around to stare up at her. “Please, my lady. Mercy. I’ll…I’ll go, I will, I…”

No, thought Dany. You closed that door. Dark Sister descended.

—Jon II, ADWD

And, of course, let’s not forget about this line:

"Well, he will not want it said that Stannis rode to the defense of the realm whilst King Tommen was playing with his toys. That would bring scorn down upon House Lannister."

"It's death and destruction I want to bring down upon House Lannister, not scorn."

—Jon II, ADWD

If these scenes had been Dany’s, she would have been called a power-crazed mad bitch who’s destined to be the villain of the series. And... people still do that anyway, even though none of her scenes come close to these Jon ones. And no, this does not mean Jon is going to go mad, of course it doesn’t. I love these Jon scenes, and I think that his bursts of anger and emotion are valid and understandable. It just shows how men/boys are allowed to act in ways that would never be possible for women/girls to behave without massive, massive misogynistic interpretations and critique.

#i hope y’all appreciate this it took me so long #also mmmm the imagery of dany having dark sister is really tasty #ask #anon #asoiaf #asoiaf meta #jon snow #daenerys stormborn #fandom misogyny #misogny #fandumb

[istumpysk]

Operation Stumpy Re-Read

AGOT: Jon VI (Chapter 48)

Jon, it’s you! Strange seeing you next, right after Ned re-lived the Tower of Joy.

Lord Commander Mormont resplendent in a black wool doublet with silvered bearclaw fastenings.

x

Some of you bear the names of proud houses. Others have only bastards' names, or no names at all. It makes no matter. All that is past now. On the Wall, we are all one house.    

Do as I say, not as I do?

+.+

A man of the Night's Watch lives his life for the realm. Not for a king, nor a lord, nor the honor of this house or that house, neither for gold nor glory nor a woman's love, but for the realm, and all the people in it. A man of the Night's Watch takes no wife and fathers no sons. Our wife is duty. Our mistress is honor. And you are the only sons we shall ever know.    

I don’t know about that.

+.+

"Are there any among you who wish to leave our company? If so, go now, and no one shall think the less of you."    

They were sentenced to the Night’s Watch? They’re all prisoners? This is like Daenerys “freeing” the Unsullied.

The appearance of choice.

+.+

The stewards! For a moment Jon could not believe what he had heard. Mormont must have read it wrong. He started to rise, to open his mouth, to tell them there had been a mistake … and then he saw Ser Alliser studying him, eyes shiny as two flakes of obsidian, and he knew.    

Unreliable narrator Jon Snow. You know nothing (ha!), Alliser is not responsible.

(Obsidian!)

+.+

Only Sam and Dareon remained on the benches; a fat boy, a singer … and him.     

Now, now.

+.+

"Samwell, you will assist Maester Aemon in the rookery and library. Chett is going to the kennels, to help with the hounds. You shall have his cell, so as to be close to the maester night and day.

I’m sure Chett will take that well.

+.+

Marsh turned his smile on Jon. "Lord Commander Mormont has requested you for his personal steward, Jon. You'll sleep in a cell beneath his chambers, in the Lord Commander's tower."                 

"And what will my duties be?" Jon asked sharply. "Will I serve the Lord Commander's meals, help him fasten his clothes, fetch hot water for his bath?"

Jon is a clever young lad, but that doesn’t mean he’s entirely clear of the blockhead Stark gene.

Personally requested you, Jon.

+.+

"Do you take me for a servant?"   

(...)

Was he supposed to churn butter and sew doublets like a girl for the rest of his days?

Now, now.

+.+

Outside, Jon looked up at the Wall shining in the sun, the melting ice creeping down its side in a hundred thin fingers.

Hundreds of icy fingers creeping down the Wall.

+.+

"I'm a better swordsman and a better rider than any of you," Jon blazed back. "It's not fair."                 

"Fair?" Dareon sneered. "The girl was waiting for me, naked as the day she was born. She pulled me through the window, and you talk to me of fair?" He walked off.

I kind of believe him, given he goes through the trouble of marrying a prostitute to bed her.

Hopefully nobody seeking their own justice takes matters into their own hands, and kills him.

+.+

"When I was little, my father used to insist that I attend him in the audience chamber whenever he held court. When he rode to Highgarden to bend his knee to Lord Tyrell, he made me come. Later, though, he started to take Dickon and leave me at home, and he no longer cared whether I sat through his audiences, so long as Dickon was there. He wanted his heir at his side, don't you see? To watch and listen and learn from all he did. I'll wager that's why Lord Mormont requested you, Jon. What else could it be? He wants to groom you for command!"    

Samwell Tarly, the brains of the operation.

+.+

"I never asked for this," he said stubbornly.    

You’re literally the only one who volunteered to be there. Lol

+.+

And suddenly Jon Snow was ashamed.     

Craven or not, Samwell Tarly had found the courage to accept his fate like a man. On the Wall, a man gets only what he earns, Benjen Stark had said the last night Jon had seen him alive. You're no ranger, Jon, only a green boy with the smell of summer still on you. He'd heard it said that bastards grow up faster than other children; on the Wall, you grew up or you died.

Jon let out a deep sigh. "You have the right of it. I was acting the boy."

You’re forgiven. It’s okay to act the boy sometimes, Jon.

+.+

When the wind set the leaves to rustling, it was like a chilly finger tracing a path up Jon's spine.

Death!

+.+

a small clearing in the deep of the wood where nine weirwoods grew in a rough circle.

Do we know the significance of nine? I don’t.

+.+

The forest floor was carpeted with fallen leaves, bloodred on top, black rot beneath.

(...)

The dried sap that crusted in the eyes was red and hard as ruby.

Fallen... Targaryens? Ruby?

Not sure what conclusion to draw from this, but I know Targaryen imagery when I see it.

Edit: Bloodraven. I’m useless, okay! Thank you @aegor-bamfsteel ❤️

+.+

"Hear my words, and bear witness to my vow," they recited, their voices filling the twilit grove. "Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come."    

It shall not end until my death.

I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children.

I shall wear no crowns.

I am the sword in the darkness.

I am the fire that burns against the cold.

The light that brings the dawn.

The shield that guards the realms of men.

Almost like the author wrote that with only Jon in mind.

+.+

Jon turned on him in a fury. "I see Ser Alliser's bloody hand, that's all I see. He wanted to shame me, and he has."    

x

The wolf had something in his jaws. Something black. "What's he got there?" asked Bowen Marsh, frowning.                 

"To me, Ghost." Jon knelt. "Bring it here."

The direwolf trotted to him. Jon heard Samwell Tarly's sharp intake of breath. 

"Gods be good," Dywen muttered. "That's a hand."

Lots of bloody hands in this chapter!

...Ned?

...you have the next chapter, don’t you?

Final thoughts:

Guys, I’m not joking, I only just now realized his name is Alliser and not Allister. Bwah!

Whatever, I’m still smarter than a BNF.

-> return to menu <-

#operation stumpy re-read #agot #jon vi

[flysafepapi]

the sin factor 12/?

masterlist

Warnings: Implied/referenced abuse, mild self-hatred, self-deprecation, just general all around angst.

Summary: It’s in the eyes, too, the same ambition and clawing desperation to be more, get more, hidden behind a carefully blank stare. He also knows that Duke has something Tommy never had although it’s more likely that it’s the other way around, because Tommy has lines that he won’t cross for reasons that are his own. Duke has no such reservations.

tagging: @zablife​​​​​​ @the-makingsofgreatness​​ @peakyrogers​​​​​​ @hb-writes​​​​​ @caelys​​​ (let me know if you want to be added on or taken off)

Breakfast is just as awkward as he knew it would be. Aside from a few muttered greetings and asking each other to pass the salt and the butter, it’s quiet. He keeps his eyes on the worn wooden table. Too afraid to look up and see the silent conversation he knows is happening above his head, to see the disapproval there. He’s never let himself want anything before, but he wants to be part of this family. He knew it would’ve only been a matter of time before he fucked it up somehow, he always did. Maybe it was for the best that he got it out of the way as soon as possible. 

“Got any plans for the day, boys?”

“I’ve got to go into the office, catch up on paperwork.”

“What about you?”

He looks up, but takes care to avoid the eyes of either of them. “I don’t have much planned.”

“Feel like giving me a hand? I’ve got a few things to move up to the attic, and my joints ain’t like they used to be.”

“Uh, sure,” Duke says, glancing at Isiah for a second. It’s the last place he wants to be, really, especially without Isiah around to smooth things over when Duke says something else to ruin the day, but he’s trying. He might not want to be here alone with his boyfriend’s father, but he wants to be the kind of person Jeremiah could look at and think ‘He’s a good one.’ He’s trying. No one has ever been worth the trouble, before. “I can do that.”

“Great. Don't worry, it’s only a couple of boxes, nothing too heavy.”

“Ah, so that’s why you wanted us to come to dinner. The truth comes out now, my father’s using us for free labour.”

He listens to their voices fading away as they leave the room, bickering fondly as they go, but he stays sitting at the table and looks around the kitchen instead. It’s tidy, if not clean, well-used is probably the best way to describe it. It’s the sort of place he can imagine Isiah sitting in, watching his mother cooking, sneaking little bits of food while she’s pretending she doesn’t notice. Worlds away from the fire he’d learnt to cook over, with food so hot it burns your fingertips because they hadn’t had forks, or plates, or a kitchen, really. He barely had a bed, most nights, and even now sleeping on a mattress feels wrong. He’s grown too used to sleeping on the ground, with just his arms to cushion his head from the dirt and the rocks. This house, far from fancy, is still too good for him to be in, and every second that passes feels like he’s leaving some sort of irremovable mark on it, like there’ll be a stain here long after he’s gone. 

“Feeling alright?”

Duke jumps a little, snapping out of his thoughts. 

“Fine. Just tired.”

“There’s coffee, if you want to make some.”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

The concerned look is why he doesn’t want to be alone with Jeremiah. Who knows what he thinks, seeing Duke sitting at his kitchen table, holding onto a mug of tea like it’s a lifeline. He’s afraid to ask, so he bites his tongue.

“Where are these boxes? Best to get it out of the way, no use putting it off.”

“Sit down.”

Halfway out of his seat, Duke freezes, and slowly sits back down. While the voice isn’t familiar, not yet, the tone is, and he curls his fingers around the arm of the chair and waits for the words he knows are going to come. That tone is always immediately followed by how he’s not good enough, or should stay away. A few memorable times, it had been followed by “You’re the son of a whore, ain’t you? This shouldn’t be too new to you, then.” The ones who had said it are dead now, but the words still echo in his head from time to time, always coupled with the phantom feeling of fingers on his shoulders and red-hot pain down his back. They’d left souvenirs, in their own way.

“I’ve heard stories about you.”

“I know.” It would’ve been a miracle if none of the rumours had made it back to Jeremiah. Finn hasn’t been quiet in his accusations that it was him that killed Mary. He’s right, of course, Duke did do it, but there’s no proof. It doesn’t stop people from listening, and avoiding him on the streets. 

“And you still showed up?”

“Yes. It was important to Isiah.”

“He means a lot to you.”

After a moment of hesitation, Duke nods. “Yes, sir.”

“You’re the first one he’s ever brought home. There have been others, I’m sure you know that, enough that I’ve lost count over the years. Why do you think you’re the only one?”

“I don’t know,” Duke says, looking down at his hands, “I wonder that myself, every day.”

“Why?”

He could leave. There’s nothing keeping him here, he doubts Jeremiah would try and stop him. Still, he doesn’t. This is the first time he’s ever cared enough about anyone to meet their parents, so it appears they’re in the same boat. There’s been other people, less and less as he grew older and realised that none of them would hold his interest for more than a night or two, and none of them have been important enough to him that he’s trying to impress their parents, and taking care of them when they’re sick, and staying awake at night thinking about what their future might look like. He’d never admit that to anyone, even if the alternative is death.

“I know where I come from. I might be Tommy Shelby’s son now, but I was no one before that. I was only ten when my mum died. No one else was around to look after me, so I had to look after myself. The first time I ever killed anybody was the doctor who refused to treat her, because she was Romani, but there’s been dozens since then. You’d be surprised about what people do, when they see a young boy alone.”

Jeremiah just looks at him, and he almost manages to keep his face blank, but there’s a small crease in between his eyebrows, like he’d been expecting to hear something simple, not all of this.

“I still remember all of them, and I remember every single one of their faces. Once she died, there was no one left to care about what happened to me, and I did things for a place to sleep and something to eat that I’ll never tell another living soul about. Things that’ll follow me for the rest of my life. Sometimes I had to go days without either of them. That’s where I come from. No amount of money from a family I never knew I had will change that, and all the money in the world won’t make me a better person. I don’t know why I’m the only one, but I know that I shouldn’t be.”

The silence that fills the room after he’s finished talking feels like a tangible thing, like it’s heavy enough to trap the air in his lungs and keep him from taking a full breath. 

“It’s all a charade, it’s just a fucking act, and one day he should come to his senses and realise there’s better people out there to choose from that aren’t anything like me.”

“He won’t.”

“I know. But he should.”

He almost asks about the boxes again, starts to say the words, but they get caught in his throat when he looks down at the table.

“Can I talk now?”

“Yes. Sorry.”

“Louise, god rest her soul, she was a good woman. Much better than me. I still don’t know what it is she saw in me, but I thank god every day she saw it, because she made me the happiest I’ve ever been. Since her passing, I thought about finding someone else, to feel a little less lonely, but I couldn’t. It felt wrong, like I was disrespecting her memory. I tried to break it off with her, more than once, before we were married. Every time, she’d tell me that I don’t get to make her decisions for her, and if being with me was going to make life harder, well then she didn’t want an easy life anyway. Isiah takes after her more than he thinks he does.”

“You think I should just let him keep fooling himself?”

“I think you should trust him to know what he’s doing, and let him make his own choices about it. It might be the best decision you ever made.”

It takes all of his effort to cup his hands around the small object Jeremiah gently drops into his palms, as if his fingers are frozen. He shakes his head and tries to give it back, but the older man pretends he doesn’t see it and stands up from the table, clapping on the shoulder lightly, as if Duke might shatter into pieces if the touch is any heavier.

“Keep it. For when you’re ready.”

He doesn’t have to ask to know it’s Isiah’s mother’s ring, sitting in the middle of his palm, glinting dully in the light.

#peaky blinders #the sin factor #oh boy okay we're getting into the more emotional side of things #i have a whole backstory planned for duke and we're slowly learning more and more about it #not a lot of it is going to be good #i set his age to ten when his mum died because i can't remember if he ever actually says how old he was on the show #so im just winging that part #i flipflopped between jeremiah being just absolutely against it because religious and being quietly supportive regardless of that #eventually went with the second option #isiah's happy so he's happy with it #sort of #there's a lot of unresolved trauma for the man his son just brought home #rip hope that gets worked out at some point (probably not though) #peaky blinders fics #duke shelby #isiah jesus #jeremiah jesus

[bvidzsoo]

Late night Drifts

 Author: bvidzsoo

 Warning: physical abuse (nothing descriptive); swearing

 Pairing: Hansol Vernon Chwe x female reader

 Word count: 18, 157

 Summary:  Being top of your class was everything your parents have ever wanted. You were the perfect daughter, however, it was only them who were happy. Your life was stressful and filled with sleepless nights studying, just to please your parents. Until one day you discovered racing, and realized, it was the only way you could unwind all the accumulated stress. And it just so happened that one day you overheard your classmate, Vernon, talking about an illegal race taking place that night. You knew it was your cue, so with rolled up cash left on his desk, you made it clear you were challenging him. He wins = he gets a date / You win = he teaches you how to drift.

 A/N: Hello, hello lovelies! And off we go with the first part of this series! I tried out something different this time, I hope it’s not weird and it’s still good, I’m a little nervous about it tbh. All the sentences in italic are the reader’s direct thoughts! I’ve never written in second person before so uhm...I hope it’s still fine. I hope you’ll like it and please let me know your thoughts. If there are people interested, I could even start a Taglist, I guess! Enjoy now!

Series M.List ~ Next Part

           When younger, you’d quietly complain to yourself about having to wake up early in the morning, around 6 am, just to have breakfast with your parents; but as the years passed it just became a routine. You weren’t bothered by it anymore, sometimes, you’d even wake up earlier than you were supposed to. Like today, at 5:30 am, your eyes were wide open as you stared up at the platinum white ceiling of your huge bedroom. You knew it was the anxiety making you feel like this, the fear of having to face your father and mother today seemed to be more intense than usually, after all, you were getting your grading sheet at school. You hated days like today, you hated getting your grades. It was horror to sit through school, anxious, only to return home to get yelled at by your father, because once again, you failed to score higher at English than Vernon. Vernon Hansol Chwe. He was your nightmare at school. It wasn’t what he did directly to you, because there were almost little to no incidents, it’s what he indirectly made you go through. You hated him, but didn’t at the same time. It wasn’t his fault, and you were aware of that, but you couldn’t help the glare or sudden anger that engulfed you whenever you looked at him. If he only wasn’t as good at English as he was, all the torment from your parents would’ve been non-existent.

You were the perfect daughter, the one every parent wished to have and every parent praised whenever they met up with your parents and you. You were perfect, in their eyes, yes. You always listened to what your parents said, you didn’t talk back or disobeyed them, and most importantly, you always pleased them and got high grades. It would’ve been a shame if you didn’t, your father was a scientist and your mother a doctor. They wanted you to become either this or that, but you, you didn’t know. You had no idea what you actually liked doing, you never really had hobbies or free time to try out different things like any other normal kid did while growing up. That is, until, you stumbled upon some abandoned race tracks and saw a woman in her car going at a high speed, drifting around the curbs, and sporting the happiest and most careless expression you’ve ever seen on someone’s face. It struck you, you never felt like that before. You wanted to feel like that so badly. You just ran away from home, with the excuse that you joined a new study group to help you out with Chemistry, but the truth was that you just needed air and time away from your overwhelming parents. You weren’t even supposed to be in this part of the city, people could smell from miles away that you were rich and just by stealing your purse, they’d make millions. But you didn’t care, because in this part of the city, it seemed like people only stared at your for what you looked like, without too judgmental looks on their faces. It was weird, but refreshing. After the woman stopped, got out of the car and ruffled her long hair, you gathered all your courage and walked up to her, and asked her to take you on a round with herself. She was reluctant, but once she saw the desperate look in your eyes, she obliged and you were inside her car, screaming your lungs out at all the sharp and harsh turns she took. It was scary, but freaking awesome. You felt high on adrenaline and when she stopped the car, her name being Lexa, you begged her to teach to drive like that. Your driving instructor never taught you about speed, but this woman seemed to know it all. Lexa was reluctant, but she complied once again, when she saw the desperate look in your eyes. And that is how you became obsessed with racing, cars, and chasing that adrenaline that made you feel free and careless. It was the only hobby you had, the only thing your parents couldn’t control in your life, simply, because they didn’t know about it. And you preferred to keep it that way, knowing well the repercussions if they ever found out. But for you to be able to attend the events and races, you needed a good car. So, when you finished last year as first in your whole high school, your father granted your wish and bought you a Vaydor G37. The car was expensive, but freaking awesome. You knew you’d be better than half of the amateur racers, even though, you were one too. But for now, that didn’t matter, as you played with your fingers in your lap, waiting for the maid to place your breakfast in front of you. You could feel your father’s sharp gaze on you, but you ignored it as you glared at the table. Your mother hadn’t joined the table yet, that’s why you weren’t eating yet.

“John told me he had to change the tires to the Vaydor,” You looked up to meet your father’s gaze, knowing he hated it when you didn’t, “It’s the third time this month. Explain.”

You gulped, but kept your expression neutral, he can’t find out, “I didn’t pay attention when I got them changed and instead of the summer tires, they put on the winter ones. That was the first time. Second time, I got a puncture while I rode back home from school, a screw was left on the road from the new construction site and I didn’t know. And uhm…I’m not sure what was wrong the third time, but the vibrations coming from the tires felt wrong, I thought…it would be best to get them changed.” But the truth was that you raced too hard and burned out your tires, all adherence gone, which made it impossible for you to ride around the streets with them.

Your father didn’t say anything as he looked at you with a hard expression, tying to decipher if you were lying or saying the truth, “Safety comes first, Y/N, don’t forget that.”

“Yes, father.” You muttered and looked up at your mother as she walked in with a wide smile. Your father looked at her and his eyes instantly turned soft and he waited until she sat next to him, to press a kiss to her cheek. He was only ever like that to her, kind and lovely, never to you. You honestly thought your father hated you because you weren’t born to be a boy, like he so desperately wanted. Yet, he never tried to have another child with your mother, you figured he had enough of you and just didn’t want to bother with raising another kid. Your mother looked at you just as the maids finally walked in with your breakfast, placing the plates in front of you. Your stomach rumbled quietly and it made your mom chuckle as your father took the first bite, and then you both followed suit. It was the same old breakfast: toast with boiled eggs, a few slices of tomato and butter. Sometimes you’d get hot cocoa, if your father was in a good mood, but most of the time you were served with orange or apple juice. Today, water with lemon was served and as much as you were craving the taste of oranges, a little switch from your usually boring routine was nice, even if so small and almost insignificant.

“When will you know your grades?” Your father asked again, voice hard and you bit your lower lip as you lowered your knife and fork.

“Today, actually.” You answered, trying to hide the tremor in your voice, but it was pretty obvious.

“Great, I will make sure to come home early then.” He said and the grip on your knife tightened as you tried to hide the anger and fear mixing together in your stomach, hating the words your father said. But it made your mother squeal as she smiled at him brightly.

“That’s amazing news, honey! Let’s go have dinner, shall we?” She was the only excited one, your father actually started glaring at you, and you realized it was because you were glaring at him. Sometimes, your control over your body slipped and you did things subconsciously.

“Yes,” Your father spoke, turning his head away from you to look at his wife, “Let’s go have dinner, Y/N should—”

“I have a study group at 18:00 today, I won’t be able to join you, I’m sorry.” You interrupted your father, not caring right now that he hated being interrupted by you, as you let your parents know in a hurry that you weren’t available today. And actually, you weren’t even lying. You really did have to study for English, you hated to say it, but you were feeling uneasy after your last exam and thought you could work on it. A new guy from America showed up two weeks ago, DK, and when you heard he offered to help out those in need, you knew you needed to sign up. Vernon was from America too, that’s why you never could beat him, he was better as he was fluent. Your mother was American too, but she never bothered to teach you much English, either too busy with work or with your father. She wasn’t a bad mom, just neglectful sometimes.

“You study so hard, my dear.” Your mother’s arm extended over the mahogany table and you extended your own arm, letting her grip it, “How about this…if you get a good grade for your English exam, we go on a small vacation this weekend?”

That actually sounded wonderful, you couldn’t help but smile, warmness filling your insides. You missed spending time with your mom, but of course, your father had to ruin it all.

“We shouldn’t…I can’t this weekend.” Of course, he couldn’t. The only important things for him were work, antagonizing you, and taking your mother on expensive dates.

“Honey,” Your mother let go of your arm to cup her husband’s cheek, “It’s not a crime if the two of us spend a little time together, it’s been long since we had a mother-daughter get-away, right, Y/N?”

You quietly nodded your head, hopeful that your father would let it slide this time, but of course, he wouldn’t, “If Y/N scores a 10/10, you can go.”

You gulped, hating how trusting your mother’s gaze was, how happy she looked, “Of course, honey, she’ll definitely get the highest score. She’s our daughter after all…”

Yes, unfortunately, I’m your daughter.

           After breakfast you quickly got dressed for school, your uniform still warm from getting ironed a few minutes before you had to put it on. You hated wearing skirts to school, but you had no other choice as it was in the dress code. You fixed your hair and painted your lips a soft pink, smiling to yourself in the mirror. Not because you were happy, but because you didn’t want everyone to see how miserable you were. You didn’t have any friends; besides Yoona, you didn’t want any more rumors than the ones already circulating around you. They said all kinds of things about you, but neither was true. They weren’t necessarily bad, besides the one calling you a freak and saying you broke someone’s hand in your freshman year; you didn’t. But people weren’t very fond of you nonetheless and you didn’t want to add onto the list of why you should be more disliked than you already were. You knew the smile looked far from genuine, but it was better than nothing, it lessened the harsh expression of your face. It probably got like that due to your father’s constant pressure hanging over your shoulders.

The car ride was silent, John stirring up casual conversation with your father from time to time, as he drove you to school before driving your father to work. Your car was still in the car-service, actually, Jihoon got a new engine that you were more than happy to test out for him. He was the one who approached you, surprisingly, after your first won race. He said he liked your car and could smell the money from miles away; he offered to help out with your car if you raced on his behalf from time to time. You seriously didn’t need the money, but it sounded like fun and it was weird how impressed everyone was by Jihoon talking to you, so you accepted out of curiosity. It took you a month to realize he was part of the Lee family, being the eldest son actually, and that they owned the streets at night when racing. He truly was the best, both at racing and fixing cars. Sometimes you’d even drop off cash anonymously at his house, when you wouldn’t need it anymore, and you had a feeling he knew but stayed silent about it. Both of you knew that he needed the extra cash from time to time.

Your attention was brought to John when he stopped the car, unlocking the doors. You were parked at the front gates of your high school, you sighed as you grabbed the doorhandle of the car. Partially you were happy to be here just because you would be away from your father and mother.

“Y/N,” Your heart jumped to your stomach when your father called out your name, deep voice booming in the car, “If you don’t score 10/10, I will have to believe you are incompetent and unable to perform well in a private high school. If you don’t raise your score by the end of the semester, your name will be cut from the family tree and I will throw you out without a second thought.”

A cynical smirk appeared on your lips as you opened the door and turned to look at your father, “You can’t throw out a minor, father, unless you want me to go to the police and press magazines. I’m sure they are buzzing to know more about the mysteriously wealthy and handsome Mr. Seo, don’t you think?”

His jaw clenched and John gulped loudly, shaking his head as subtly as he could at you, as you hurriedly got out of the car. You never talked back to your father, you had no idea what came over you, but you felt so fed up with his threats. If only he knew cutting ties with him sounded like heaven to you. You didn’t care if you ended up on the streets as long as it was away from him, you were never hungry for money or greedy for it. You didn’t care about it, you just wanted love from the two figures who were supposed to raise you. Instead, one hated you and the other one was barely ever home.

“Have a good day at work, both of you.” You bowed deeply before closing the door of the vehicle, staring at the tinted window of the backseat. You waited until John drove away and you couldn’t see the car anymore. A strong gush of cold wind suddenly blew through the area and it made you realize that you were glaring at nothing, once again. You hated how little consideration he took of your feelings and how little he made you feel. Your father truly was the devil.

            Yoona’s schedule was rather packed on Monday’s and Wednesday’s, so you couldn’t meet up with her during classes. Which maybe was a good idea, poor girl, you hoped she didn’t think you only used her to have someone to complain to, but you seriously had no one else to talk to. You loved Yoona and how open she was and ignorant to the rumors about you, she was always quick to shut others up. She was only a year older, yet she felt like a mother to you sometimes.

The day passed by incredulously fast and you made sure to take notes in each class, until it was homeroom class time. Your legs were bouncing up and down nervously and loudly as you tried not to bite your nails, a bad habit you were trying to get rid of. Usually, you weren’t this nervous, but your father reminding you of his threat this morning and your reckless answer made you realize if you indeed didn’t score 10/10 at English, you were truly fucked, and you hated the sudden ache of your stomach. It seemed like you were the only one so stressed out as your classmates kept shouting around you, joking and chatting, making your ears ring. All you could do was stare at the door anxiously, waiting for your homeroom teacher to enter this damned classroom already. But the bell didn’t even ring yet, it’s still break time, you sighed and bit your lower lip, trying to calm your nerves. You didn’t mean to, but your eyes fell on a boy and your eyebrows instantly furrowed. His right arm was resting on his desk, his right cheek on it as he slept. He looked so peaceful and carefree that it angered you more. How could he just sit there, sleep there, when you were about to get your grades? You knew he didn’t give a shit about his grades, yet he was always top of your class, breathing down your neck all the time. When you started high school, you never thought you’d meet someone almost as smart as you, and that you’ll be challenged. But Vernon…he just wrecked your life and made it a bigger hell than it already was, and tears almost came to your eyes as you couldn’t look away from his peaceful form. You were jealous and angry, wishing that could be you right now. As your eyes lingered on him, you realized, his cheekbones were high and sharp, almost hollow looking like. You hardly ever paid attention to guys, you didn’t have the time nor energy to put into them, but sometimes you caught yourself dozing off and staring at the back of Vernon’s head. He wasn’t special, far from it, he looked quite normal yet his beauty felt a little foreign, compelling. That was another reason to hate him for, and you never thought more of it, content with the current thoughts of him. You didn’t like him, but you didn’t deny that he was somewhat attractive either. Yet, your heart still started thumping quickly when Vernon’s eyes opened abruptly and made eye contact with you almost instantly, as if he knew you were staring. You averted your eyes and straightened your stance, refusing to look back at the boy, even if he continued staring at you. You never really spoke to him, you didn’t have a reason to, only greeted him in the mornings if you arrived after him…but you did greet everyone, after all. Your legs started bouncing again as Vernon wouldn’t look away and it made the hairs on your arms raise, your anxiety doubling. Why is he staring now? Does he think I like him or something? Maybe he knows I don’t like him? But your attention was brought back to the door as it opened just as the bell rang, and your homeroom teacher in walked. The voices in the classroom started dying down and even Vernon looked away from you, siting up straight in his chair. You were glad, you didn’t think you’d be able to ignore him for longer if your teacher wouldn’t have walked in. You donned out every voice that was still speaking, you even ignored your teacher’s usual speech about how grades weren’t important and that they didn’t actually reflect your knowledge about life…if only he knew what he was speaking. So, you just sat there silently, anxiously waiting for your sheet.

Which turned out to be more and more difficult as you were amongst one of the last ones, for once, making you hate the fact that your family name was ‘Seo’. You have successfully eaten three nails by the time your teacher called out your name and you raised from your chair, legs feeling a bit like jelly, as you rigidly walked up to his desk to take the sheet from him. Your hands shook and you hoped no one noticed, but when you turned to walk back to your seat, you were surprised to see Vernon squinting his eyes at you as he was watching you, once again. Did I draw too much attention onto myself by looking at him? This wasn’t the first time though, why is he suddenly so attentive of me? You ignored his burning gaze as you finally started walking back to your seat, gripping the sheet tightly in your hands. You were curios but also afraid to look. Vernon got his sheet a while ago and you tried to read his expression, but he only shrugged and placed the sheet between his notebooks, seemingly unimpressed. You were hopeful it was because he scored lower this time, but you couldn’t be very sure, he reacted the same way each time.

Finally sitting in your own chair, you took in a deep breath and opened the sheet, staring at the names of the subjects and then the grade next to it.

“Don’t forget kids, I tell you this each time, but I feel like saying this again. Grades don’t define us and you can be whoever you want to be in life, or do whatever you want to do, despite the grades on that paper—”

Your whole body ran cold as your hands started shaking hard, chest constricting as if your lungs stopped getting enough air to be able to function. Your eyes ran over and over again the same row, your brain refusing to acknowledge the information. English: 9,55. You hated what you were seeing, you hated what your teacher was saying, you hated how carefree and light everyone around you seemed to be, you hated Vernon’s gaze burning into the side of your head. You suddenly couldn’t bear sitting in that classroom anymore, it seemed rowdy and hot, your head started pounding painfully as you jumped up from your chair, knocking two notebooks and your sheet off the table. All the eyes on you made your chest tighten further and your eyes snapped towards your teacher when you heard him calling out to you.

“Miss Seo, is everything alright?” You really wanted to answer him, but when you opened your mouth to say something, nothing came out. Embarrassed and unable to take the looks you were getting by your classmates, Vernon’s confused gaze, you stepped around your chair and took off, uncaring of the repercussions. Your teacher called out your name once again, sounding more worried this time, and you glared at Vernon when he still didn’t look away, knocking onto his table on purpose, which made his pencil case and notebook fall to the floor. And with that, you were out of the classroom and running towards the girls restroom, hearing footsteps following you hurriedly. You knew your teacher sent someone after you to make sure that you wouldn’t do anything reckless, and it made you want to cry that your own teacher was more worried about your wellbeing than your own parents. You hoped the person realized you ran out because you wanted to be alone, and that they wouldn’t follow you inside the restroom, and when they actually didn’t, you broke down crying in front of the mirror, turning on the faucet to silence your sobs a little bit. I don’t want to go home.

           You hated the looks your classmates were giving you after your breakdown, but some were nice enough to check up on you. You didn’t like the attention and the fact that you had to lie to them, but it warmed your heart a bit that not everyone was heartless and mean to you. You were surprised to see your things neatly placed in your bag after you returned from the restroom with a girl, Hanna, who your homeroom teacher sent after you to keep you company until you felt better. You wanted to ask who did that, because you wanted to thank them, but decided to stay quiet and just lay low for the rest of the day as rumors of you already spread through school like wildfire. You hated it, but you tried to ignore them…and Vernon too. He shot you a questioning gaze after you got back to class, but you acted like he wasn’t even there. Your gut was telling you that it was him who gathered your stuff from the floor and placed it back into your bag, but why would he do that? You were never very nice to him, and you even knocked his stuff off on purpose when you ran out. Fed up with your constant thoughts of Vernon and what others would say now about you, you blocked everything out and hurriedly gathered your things once the final bell rang, signaling that school was over for the day. You were glad that you could finally leave this place, but your stomach ached when you remembered you had to return home, to meet your father. Running away right now sounded like the smartest thing to do, but once you left your high school, you stopped and looked up towards the sky. The sun was high up and shinning down, creating a warm atmosphere and you looked around to observe that everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Kids were laughing and hanging onto their friends as they groaned about how hard school could get, others kids were excitedly talking about what homecooked meal their mothers made, and some were just hurriedly leaving through the gates. You smiled, but it was a sad smile, because you never experienced any of those feelings. You wished your mother would be at home, waiting for you with a homecooked meal, and that your father would arrive earlier from work and praise you for your grades, deciding to take the three of you out to the arcades. But those were dreams you’d never experience, and rather than continuing to hurt yourself with such fantasies, you took off with a sigh. You followed the path that lead to the iron gates of the high school and bowed your head a little to greet the gatekeeper, who was happy to see you. Not many kids were respectful toward the old man, but you didn’t think lower of him just because of his job, sometimes you’d sneak cookies from home and share them with him. As the weather was a lot warmer than in the morning, you took your scarf off and gasped when something hit your shoulder. You were expecting someone to be picking on you, but when you turned your head and looked at the girl leaning against the stone wall, you let a chuckle fall from your lips.

“I told you to throw your garbage in the trash cans, Yoona.” You scolded the older girl, picking up her cigarette butt to throw it into the nearest trash can later.

“Yeah, whatever,” Yoona rolled her eyes, lighting another cigarette, “What the hell happened today? Your crazy classmates wouldn’t stop talking about how you stormed out after you got your grades.”

You grimaced as you leaned against the stone wall next to your friend, “I didn’t get a 10/10.”

Your answer was direct and Yoona sighed, glancing at you as she puffed out the smoke of her cigar. She knew about your parents, but not the whole truth. She only knew about them being obsessed with your grades and that they were very controlling and harsh to you. You didn’t dare tell her the other things, afraid she’d do something about it, getting you in more trouble.

“Oh, Y/N…” Yoona’s expression was sad and you melted into her hug as she put her arms around you, on the verge of crying, “If it feels too much later on, call me…or come to the races with me, you don’t have to compete or anything. Just be there.”

You hummed and circled your arms around your friend, feeling a bit better as Yoona’s familiar perfume entered your nostrils, “It’s a Wednesday, you know I can’t go out…and I have an English tutor now, we are meeting later for our first session.”

“Oh, really?” Yoona’s interest peaked as she finally pulled herself away from you, patting your cheek, “Do I know him?”

“Maybe, it’s this new guy from America…calls himself DK.” You muttered, puckering your lips at the hilarious name he went by. Yoona’s expression hardened and she scoffed as she finished her cigar, not looking very pleased.

“You know him?” You asked curiously, Yoona not being one to dislike someone.

“Of course,” She rolled her eyes and pushed off the stone wall, dragging her leather jacket tightly around her body, “He’s in my class. He’s very annoying, tries hard to befriend everyone and won’t shut up. He’s not even smart, most of the time only says stupid things—”

“Okay,” You raised up one hand to stop Yoona from rambling, throwing her an amused smile, “What did he do to you that you don’t like him?”

Yoona just rolled her eyes, displeased by how much you knew her already, “He’s all up in my business, won’t leave me alone after he heard me talking to my friend from the U.S. Fucking idiot…”

You started giggling loudly, making Yoona glare at you, but your laughter was contagious and she ended up giggling too, “You’ll figure it out, Yoona.”

“Yeah…hopefully before Johnny decides to smash in his nose.” Her tone turned sour and you gave her a pitiful look, knowing her relationship with Johnny hadn’t been the best lately. Yoona just sighed and you patted her side, reassuring her that you were there for her if she needed someone to complain to. The sudden sound of engine roaring caught your attentions and Yoona turned stiff, looking to the road, where a black car pulled up. The window rolled down and Johnny’s face came in view.

“Speaking of the devil…” You muttered quietly, making Yoona smirk at you.

“Hello, ladies.” Johnny greeted the two of you with a charming smile and Yoona looked at him before back at you.

“Want us to give you a ride home?” You appreciated her offer, but you didn’t know if your dad was already at home. He didn’t mind Yoona very much, he knew her parents, but he hated Johnny and actually forbid you from meeting up with him or with them when they were together. You didn’t want to test the waters furthermore today; you had already done enough in the morning and now with your grade too.

“No, no,” You shook your head quickly, declining her offer nicely, “You can go. I have to pick up some books either way, you don’t have to bother with me…”

Yoona nodded and took off towards her boyfriend’s car, but when she opened the door, she turned back to look at you and mouthed, “Liar.”

You chuckled and waved at them as Johnny gave you a nod before pressing a strong kiss against your best friend’s lips, leaving her with a sour expression as he rolled the window up and took off, the engine of the car creating disturbance to the pedestrians. You looked down at the other cigarette butt Yoona dropped and picked it up with a sigh, dropping it into your pocket, where the other one was. She never listened to you when you told her to throw them away into a trash can, so it became by now a routine to pick them up and throw them away yourself. You took off once again, headed home for real this time, your stomach churned nervously as you played with the cigarette butts in your pocket. Your parents knew you didn’t smoke, they stopped checking up on that since you turned sixteen, so you weren’t afraid of smelling like it. Besides, they knew most kids your age smoked and that it could just easily get into your clothes and hair when you walked by. You sighed at the thought of your parents and tried to enjoy the sun on your skin, welcomed after the cold winter you had. It was hard to walk home, because you were anxious, but the pleasant weather made you slow your usual long strides as you passed the corner of the high school and turned onto the next street. You took the two cigarette butts between your fingers and threw them into the trash can on the side walk as you walked by it, your scalp feeling itchy. Sometimes you made your ponytail too tight and it left your scalp sore, so you quickly undid the tight hold, releasing your long black hair. You thought of cutting it, it was slowly nearing the middle of your back, but your mother said a feminine woman needs her long hair, that it’s precious, and you should never wear it too short. That’s why your hair always reached your scapulas or even longer. I always wondered how I’d look with short hair…it can’t be that bad, right? Your thoughts were interrupted when you suddenly became aware that someone was walking right next to you. You became stiff and ready to speed up, uncomfortable, but when you stole a glance at the person walking next to you, your feet came to an abrupt stop. So did the person, who was scratching his nape awkwardly, looking at your guiltily.

“Uh, sorry.” Vernon’s voice was loud here, the cars and people walking by you were being loud, “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t scare me.” You answered him too quickly, body stiff as your eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah, still…” He cleared his throat and you became curious, he never really spoke to you directly, unless you were paired up for a group project during class, “I just wanted to ask you…”

You raised your eyebrows, curiously looking at Vernon, a little annoyed that he was stalling, “What?”

“Are you alright?” Your eyebrows furrowed at his question and you glanced around, feeling uneasy. Why is he suddenly so curious about how I feel? It’s really not his business.

“I’m fine, why?” You snapped, crossing your arms in front of your chest in a way to show him you weren’t too fond of this conversation.

“Just wanted to check up on you.” Vernon muttered as he kept looking at you, the sunlight lighting his features. His skin had a warm glow and he was squinting as he was standing facing the sun, his brown eyes were lighter than you had anticipated them to be.

“Well…” You cleared you throat, feeling a bit flustered, “You didn’t have to.”

Vernon hummed and nodded his head a little, biting his lower lip, an action which caught your attention, “I know…you ran out of class and you didn’t look too good. Just wanted to make sure you’re better now—”

Your inhale was sharp and it alerted Vernon as your eyes snapped back up to look him in the eyes. Your heart was beating like crazy and you knew your face turned hard as Vernon gulped; you took a step to lessen the distance between the two of you, “Stay out of my business, Vernon, you already make my days a nightmare as they are.”

Vernon’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, clearly taken aback by your threatening tone and sentence, not having expected such hostility coming from you. After all, he never did anything wrong to you…directly. He looked lost for a second, you felt bad for being so mean to him, but before he could form a sentence, you turned and rushed away, willing yourself to catch the green cross light, which would turn red by the time Vernon realized you were running away and would stop him from following you. Your heart was beating fast as you turned to look back, to see him standing at the cross dumbfounded, his eyebrows furrowed as he raised one hand as if to ask you to wait for him. You were pretty good at reading people; you had anticipated his moves. You shook your head at him and took off, Vernon losing sight of you in the mass of people walking on the sidewalk.

           You were studying in your room when you heard the front door open and slam closed. Your hands suddenly started shaking as your mother’s laughter carried through the big apartment you lived in, your father’s voice next as he answered her question. You dreaded this moment, you knew it was coming, but you were hoping it would come later. You knew your father was expecting you in his study, so, you rose from your desk and pulled your hair in a low ponytail. You glanced at yourself in the mirror and hated your expression; anyone would be able to see how scared you looked. You started glaring at yourself, trying to stop this horrible feeling brewing inside you, as you pointed a finger at yourself in the mirror.

“Stop it!” You snapped at yourself quietly, “Whatever happens, happens. Walk out there with your head up and don’t say anything unnecessary!”

When you heard your mother’s heels clicking getting closer and closer, you quickly grabbed the sheet and hurried to your door, opening it just as your mother raised her knuckle to knock.

“Y/N!” She exclaimed with a wide smile and placed her palm on your cheek, “Looking pretty today, how do you feel?”

You remained expressionless as you looked at your mother, jealous of her good mood, “Fine, I’ll go see father now.”

“Oh, right!” She exclaimed again and stepped out of your way, shooing you away, “We are supposed to leave in thirteen minutes for our date, don’t keep him up! Also, we should look for some vacation cabins in the mountains for our get-away—”

“We are not going anywhere!” You snapped and turned your head to look at your mother, jaw clenched. How could she not pick up on my mental state? How could she not read my expression when I’ve been hers for seventeen years? When she was my mother?

“Oh…” She cleared her throat, eyebrows furrowing in confusion, “Why…”

“I didn’t get the grade.” You muttered and sighed, taking off towards your father’s office. It was on the other end of the apartment and you had time to even out your expression and calm your erratic heartbeat for at least a while. When you stopped in front of the big, black, door you took a deep breath and ignored your mother, who was headed to their shared bedroom, and knocked on your father’s office door. There was a grunt coming from inside and you knew it was your cue to walk in, so, you opened the door with more force than needed and walked in, leaving the door open. He hated it, but you felt like you’d need to escape tonight, it made you feel safer. Your father glanced at his door and then at you before leaning back in his chair with a sigh. You didn’t sit as you came to a stop in front of his desk, just reached your hand out for him to take the sheet. He nodded once and took it, eyes running over the paper. Your heart started beating quickly once again and you clasped your hands behind your back to stop yourself from biting your other nails you didn’t get to in school. Involuntarily, your left foot started tapping against the floorboards of the office and you gulped as you looked straight ahead when your father’s eyes fell on you.

“What did I say?” His voice was hard, sheet crumbled up in his hands. Don’t answer him, let him scream at you, “I thought I was clear.”

When he fell silent you didn’t know what to do or say, so you just let your head hang low, avoiding eye contact with your father, “You are telling me that you’re unable to get a 10/10 at English? When your mother is American?! Is your brain perhaps too little for you to comprehend what you have to learn?! Are you dumb, Y/N?!”

That felt like the last straw. I’m not dumb, I’m more competent than you once were! Your eyes snapped up to meet your father’s, your glare melting into his, “How am I dumb? I got a 9,55, father! And I got a 10/10 at everything else! I’m top of my class and high school! What more do you want?!”

Your voice broke at the end of the sentence, and your body shook, you have never raised your voice at your father. He looked shocked for a second, but in a second also, he was up and storming around his desk to reach you.

“You ungrateful scum!” He shouted loudly, his deep voice made you jump, “I feed you! I give you money! I buy you clothes! I put a roof over your head! And this is how you pay me back? By talking back and thinking you are better than me?!”

“When did I ever say that—” The words died in your throat as the back of your father’s palm slammed into your cheek harshly. Your eyes widened as your head snapped to the other side, tears instantly sprung to your eyes. You remained like that, unmoving and quiet, fighting with your tears. I’d rather die than cry right now. Your father scoffed and you felt the sheet hit your head as he threw that at you as well, as he turned away from you.

“You have three months to fix your mistakes, Y/N. After that, I will not see you anymore in this house.” You gulped at his words, straightening once he walked away and you knew he wouldn’t hit you again. You remained in front of his desk as he walked towards his door, about to get changed for his date with your mother. A broken chuckle left your lips as you looked up at the ceiling, one single tear rolling down your cheek. Better make his life hell in those three months!

“I can’t wait to leave this fucking hell!” You hissed, unaware that your father didn’t leave the room yet. He hesitated taking his next step as he looked back at you with furrowed eyebrows, taken aback by your words.

“I wish I was never born into this fucking family.” At this point, you didn’t even care if he was still standing in the doorway or not, it just felt good to speak your mind aloud. You wanted to shout at the top of your lungs for your parents to hear what you had to say. You wanted everyone to know. I hate them. Your father gulped as he took one final look at you, his jaw clenched, before he shook his head and walked away with a scoff. All he could think of was that you were a spoiled, ungrateful brat. Meanwhile, all you could think of was the day you’d finally be able to run away. In three months, you’d turn eighteen, school would finally end, and you’d leave this shithole you hated with your whole heart. Screw them both, who gives a fuck about them anyways?

           That night you went to bed crying, which resulted in having a puffy face once you woke up. Your study session with DK wasn’t very successful and once he realized you just weren’t in the right state of mind to study, he dismissed you and set another appointment for next week, saying your English was almost better than his and that you didn’t even need tutoring. You knew that, but you were hopeful that if DK helps you out, on your next exam you’ll get a 10/10 just to spite your father before you move out. While crying, you have decided, that no matter what, in three months you were out of that place. You didn’t want to stay there anymore, you’d rent out a small apartment downtown, find a job and finish your last year of high school. You knew your mother would secretly support you and give you enough money to survive for months, but you didn’t want anything that was theirs anymore…especially their money. When you looked in the mirror to get ready for a new day, all you could do was sigh. Your eyes were big and red and you knew you’d have to spend half an hour just pouring cold water on them to make the swell go away. But when you pulled your hair in a bun, you knew the greenish-bluish bruise on your right cheekbone wouldn’t go away with cold water, you had to put on makeup. This is why you didn’t tell Yoona exactly everything about your family, especially your father, she would’ve reported it without a second thought. You disliked your parents, yes, but they were still your parents. Right now, they were everything you’ve got and you could make them suffer in different, much more effective ways. You decided to let your hair rest freely today, knowing it would offer more cover for your cheek, even if the expensive foundation and color corrector did their jobs fairly well. At breakfast you didn’t speak at all to your parents and you refused to ride with John and your father to school, taking the bus instead as you were running late a bit to be walking. You were in a bad mood all day and everyone could see it, even Yoona, who was a lot more cheerful than yesterday. She promised to hang out with you at lunch break and you were thankful, you felt like you needed to be in her presence today. Vernon was becoming plain annoying with his constant staring and his attempt to talk to you in one of the short breaks you had between classes, which alerted everyone from your class. You threw him a harsh glare and he understood that you wanted nothing to do with him, so he went back to his desk and left you alone for the rest of the day.

You were fixing your makeup before the lunch break arrived, your geography teacher let you off early today, as you stared into your small pocket mirror. You pulled your hair behind your ear as you took out the little cushion and started tapping it lightly against your cheekbone, not much of the foundation had come off, but you wanted to be sure. Especially since you were having lunch with Yoona. As you stared at yourself, your eyes looking lifeless, your ears picked up a loud voice greeting someone from your classroom. You looked up, curious, and your eyes fell on Vernon’s table. A darker blonde-haired boy, quite scrawny looking with dirty clothes, was leaning against Vernon’s desk. He looked younger than the two of you, maybe he was your age, but his complex gave him a boyish look. Vernon looked panicked as he stared at the boy, pinching his ear and making the boy cry out. A few of your classmates glanced at them, but no one seemed as invested and curious as you were. Vernon looked like he got caught doing something illegal, it definitely picked your interest. In your mind, Vernon was this perfect boy, perfect student, whom never did anything bad. Seeing that look on his face, you placed your mirror down on your desk and sneakily continued to watch them.

“Hyung, I’m just here to tell you something important!” The young boy exclaimed annoyed, earning a few more confused looks as he wasn’t wearing your high school’s uniform…or any for that matter. Is he not in school? He seems very young however…maybe he just skipped classes today? Vernon’s eyes widened and accidentally connected with yours and you quickly looked down, absentmindedly flipping through your long-forgotten fashion magazine. You felt his gaze remain on you for a few more seconds before it was gone; you peaked up at them to see the younger boy hunched over Vernon’s desk as he was articulately whispering something. Now, that made you even more curious about what they were speaking, and you looked back down at your magazine. A model you didn’t like had their picture on the page, so, you gripped it and tore the page out, crumbling the paper up. There, this should do for a good excuse to pass by them. You cleared your throat, feeling like you were about to commit a felony, and checked if anyone was watching you, but no one was. You hummed to yourself and looked around, trying to look innocent as you started slowly walking towards Vernon’s desk. Your heart started beating faster as your grip tightened on the paper and you slowed down even more once you could hear the boy’s high-pitched voice.

“Hyung, I’m not kidding! They said they’ll pay really well!” Pay well for what? Your eyebrows furrowed as you became intrigued, eager to find out more.

“I’m not racing against Jun anymore, why can’t you understand that?!” Vernon snapped quietly; his eyebrows were furrowed as he was glaring at his desk. The young boy sighed loudly and you actually stopped walking, standing just two feet away from them. Jun? Vernon is racing? Is this what I think it is?

“Come on, hyung!” The young boy whined and you jumped when something crashed in the back, the paper falling from your grip, “It’s tomorrow night, on a Friday, your mom won’t be pissed if we go racing—”

“Shut up!” Vernon’s voice was hard as you made eye contact. Your face must have said it all because Vernon didn’t look pleased, you heard something you weren’t supposed to. You cleared your throat and walked to the trash bin, feeling the little smirk creep onto your lips. Vernon races? How come I’ve never seen him before? Your thoughts became a whirlwind as you turned to walk back to your desk, eyes falling onto Vernon. He was glaring at you and suddenly you felt powerful, like you were in control of this situation. Vernon was racing Jun? Last month I beat Jun…that means…I can finally beat Vernon at something. You were suddenly pleased and even your mood got better, something you weren’t expecting to happen anytime soon. You didn’t have to think twice as the bell rang signaling it was time for lunch break. The young boy hadn’t left yet and it looked like Vernon was scolding him as you reached inside your backpack and felt around it. You gripped your sandwich first and then the cold rolled up material. You took both items out and your lips widened into a big smirk as your eyes fell on Vernon, who was busy talking to the boy. This is it. I can finally show him he isn’t better at everything. He’s not rich, I have a Veyron, it doesn’t matter what car he has, I will beat him without a doubt. You took off, gripping your things tightly as you were headed straight towards Vernon’s table. Him and the boy stopped whispering when they felt your presence behind them and they turned both to look at you. You slammed the big roll of cash on Vernon’s table, making their jaws drop as the young boy looked back at you as if you grew two heads out. You felt powerful and proud, so, with a wink directed at the young boy you brushed past him to find Yoona and enjoy your lunch with her. You knew Vernon understood your message.

           Classes passed by quickly and you were buzzing to get out of school, for once not even having thought of your parents since the incident with Vernon. You wanted to talk to him, but not at school, you didn’t want your classmates to start more unwanted rumors about you or Vernon. You might dislike him, but you didn’t want to drag him into unnecessary drama. So, you told Yoona that tomorrow you were going to the races and she was excited, telling you she’d be there too with Johnny and his crew, and that she’d cheer for you. She was proud of you and amused at the same time, she knew you disliked Vernon, so she understood how much this meant to you. It was childish, but Yoona didn’t judge you for it, even cheered you on, she could see something was wrong today. So, when you left the school gates, you walked down the street after you promised Yoona that she could drive you home tomorrow, and you turned the corner. You knew Vernon walked this way to get home, so you leaned against the stone wall of the school fence and took a deep breath in, suddenly confused why your heart was beating so fast. Am I nervous because I’m about to see Vernon? No, that’s stupid, I don’t have a reason to feel this way around him. You stood up straight when Vernon rounded the corner and his eyes fell on you, narrowing dangerously as he approached you. When he stopped in front of you, he remained silent and you rolled your eyes, opening your mouth to speak.

“I’m sure you know what I meant by that…” You trailed off and Vernon nodded wordlessly, “I’m challenging you to race.”

“I know.” Vernon nodded again, his voice seemed to be a lot deeper right now, and you didn’t even realize it when you blushed.

“I heard some rumors…” You started, trying to remain confident under his sudden intimidating gaze, “About a guy called Vernon who drifts better than Lee Seungkwan, is that you?”

A smirk appeared on Vernon’s lips and your eyebrows furrowed when your heartbeat picked up again, suddenly you felt hot standing under the sun, “It is me.”

You didn’t like the look on Vernon’s face, you felt like he knew he was making you flustered, so you took a step to be closer, “Well then, here’s my proposal…I win, you teach me how to drift. You win, I’ll go on a date with you.”

I can’t believe this is the proposal I’m making, I sound stupid. How do I know he wants to go on a date with me? Now I’m just blindly assuming and insinuating that he might like me, oh no…Your cheeks warmed up again and you hated the way Vernon started laughing, his mouth opening and showing his teeth.

“How do you know if I want to go on a date with you?” Vernon raised one eyebrow and you rolled your eyes, trying to mask your initial panic.

“Call it a hunch,” You answered back with a smirk, trying to fake your confidence that suddenly decided to disappear, “are you in or not?”

Vernon remained silent for a few seconds as his eyes ran over your face, his features softening. You bit your lower lip, feeling nervous all of a sudden as no boy looked at you like that before.

“I’m in.” He extended his hand for you to shake and you looked down at it, hesitantly shaking his hand. His grip was strong and warm, his palm surprisingly soft as it caressed yours, it was so much bigger. Your cheeks burned again and your eyebrows furrowed as you became angry at yourself and pulled your hand away, throwing Vernon a small glare. He seemed amused as you turned and stormed off, completely missing the smitten look Vernon was giving you.

           You woke up feeling excited, which was a foreign feeling, as you usually dreaded having breakfast with your parents. Last night you tried to nurse the bruise on your cheek with ice and ointment, but the colors were still there and you had to cover it with foundation once again. You let your hair hang freely once again and once you were dressed; you went out to have breakfast. Your parents weren’t in the dining room, so you headed to the kitchen, surprising the maids, and asked them to let you have breakfast there. They were hesitant but didn’t try to argue with you when they saw the genuine smile on your face; they could see how your mood was strangely good today and decided not to ruin it. After that, you skillfully creeped around the apartment, making sure to avoid your parents as you headed for school, your long strides taking you to school quickly. Yoona and you got there at the same time so you asked her to take you to Jihoon’s car-service after school, she said she’d drive you home today after all, as your Veyron was ready to be picked up for tonight’s race. Vernon seemed to be smug as he offered you a few smirks here and there throughout the day, and when you returned from the restroom, you found a protein bar on your desk. Confused, you looked around and watched your classmates, who weren’t paying much attention to you. Vernon wasn’t in the classroom and you sighed, about to sit, when Hanna waved her hand at you. You raised your eyebrows at her in question and she just pointed at Vernon’s table before at the protein bar. You understood what she tried saying and with red cheeks you slumped into your chair, crossing your arms in front of your chest. Your gaze fell on the protein bar and just as you poked it annoyed, Vernon walked in with two of his friends and his eyes fell on you. You threw him a glare and hid behind your long hair, refusing to let him see the blush on your cheeks, I blushed enough yesterday. His ego didn’t need to be further fed. You found it amusing how sure he looked of himself, you knew he was convinced that he’d win tonight, but you also knew he’d be a sore loser. You haven’t seen many people with expensive cars at the races, even if the engine is the one that counts, your Veyron just naturally was faster and better than most cars they owned. It was why you were able to win so many races until now and why Jihoon approached you in the first place. He was excited to see the new engine he installed in action tonight, he would sell it for big money if you win.

           Your parents were still out on their date when you left the apartment, you didn’t have to worry about them seeing you dressed ‘like a hooker’, as they called this style. It wasn’t even anything bad, just leather pants and a strapless crop top and your leather jacket. You wore your thick, plain, platformed boots so that you’ll seem taller but be able to drive at the same time. Once you got to the garage you smiled pridefully at your car as you unlocked it. You really loved the car; it was your most prized possession as it brought you many victories so far. Once you turned the car on, goosebumps appeared on your arms at the roar of the engine. It was humming loudly and it shook your car in the best way possible as you carefully drove out of the garage. You turned on the radio and chuckled when Yoona’s favorite song came on, rolling down the windows to let the chilly air of the night fill your car. You pulled your hair in a low ponytail so that it wouldn’t accidentally get in your face and disturb you, you were aware of what you did was dangerous. You were careful as you drove down the illuminated streets of Seoul, making sure you wouldn’t exceed the speed limit. Wouldn’t want to make your father hate you more and take your car away. You’d get there at least fifteen minutes earlier, and you’d lie if you said your stomach wasn’t whirling around due to nervousness. You gripped the wheel tightly as you shook your head, passing by a green light, trying to clear your mind. This really isn’t the time to be nervous about something that I will most definitely win. The engine change wasn’t very obvious, your car was actually a bit slower, but it still flew down the streets if you pressed the gas pedal. Jihoon assured you you’d definitely win, even with the slight change, and you promised to give half of the profit to him. Tonight, he was making good money, people would flock to him to buy this new engine which to them seemed like it was as fast as an original Veyron engine, people were easy to fool. You drove through downtown and past some warehouses, music getting carried to where you were currently, even though the meeting point was one block away. You slowed as you turned the next corner and shut the lights of the car off as the street was illuminated well enough by the lampposts but the reflectors brought by the people here too. The street you were on was a very long streets, on both sides were abandoned buildings, and cars were parked close to those building to leave space for the circulating cars, and people, to pass by. You honked softly and the mass of people in front of you started fleeing out of your way, creating a straight path for you to the start line. You slowly rolled by them, the loud music coming from different car speakers could be felt even in your car, you picked up on the slight vibrations. People who knew you greeted you with grins and tapped your turquoise car, becoming excited when they saw you weren’t about to park anywhere. They knew you were racing tonight and as you arrived to the start line, people started cheering your name. You started laughing as you turned the engine off and got out of your car, grinning at the people surrounding you.

“There you are!” Yoona exclaimed as she leaned against the front of your car, arms crossed in front of her. You chuckled and approached her, draping an arm around her shoulders.

“Did you think I’d miss tonight?”

“Nothing’s ever sure with you…” She was right and you rolled your eyes, having missed races not once because of your parents being home. They didn’t know what you did in your free time, but sometimes they’d forbid you from spending your Fridays out, even though you always said you were sleeping over at Yoona’s.

“Did you see Vernon?” You asked as you looked around, unable to see anyone familiar in the huge crowd around you. Butterflies in your stomach made you rub your tummy as you pouted and Yoona started laughing loudly.

“Don’t tell me you’re nervous?” Her eyebrows raised and you decided not to look at her, “And no, I don’t even know if he’s here. Maybe he chickened out—”

A loud roar of an engine made Yoona’s words unable to be heard and you whipped your head around, eyes falling on a red Honda Civic Type R. The windows were tinted and you couldn’t see inside, but you knew it was Vernon, no one else was racing beside the two of you for the next twenty minutes. Yoona’s eyes widened just a bit as you both watched Vernon get out of the car and you were confused when two blondes ran up to him squealing.

“Oppa!” They chorused and your face distorted into disgust as Yoona burst out laughing, leaning back as her head was thrown back. You looked at her, expression still the same, and it made her laugh louder and harder. Your eyes fell on Johnny, who was smirking, as he started approaching you, his eyes falling on Vernon.

“Brought along your Barbie dolls, eh?” He tapped Yoona’s thigh as he walked past, headed for Vernon. The two blondes clung onto Vernon’s arms and you finally looked at him, taking in his attire. He wore ripped jeans and a form fitting navy green blouse, a leather jacket keeping him warm from the chilly air. A few chains hung around his neck and his dark hair was pushed back. You were surprised to see Vernon dressed like this; you didn’t think his style would be like that. You’ve only ever seen him in his uniform and some loose gym clothes. You gulped and Yoona nudged you, eyes squinted.

“Stop staring at him, you’re making it very obvious.” She muttered as she leaned down as if she was about to whisper something to you.

“What?” You asked confused as you turned your head, Vernon just shook hands with Johnny, and you then looked back at Yoona.

“That you like him.” Yoona’s words hit you like a truck and you couldn’t help the very loud scoff that left your lips. Is she crazy? I like Vernon? Where did she get that from?!

“Did you take something before you—”

Yoona threw you a warning glare and you didn’t finish your sentence as you knew better, but your attention was back on Johnny and Vernon, it looked like they’ve known each other for quite a while as they talked casually.

“Taking her out for a tour?” Johnny asked with a grin as he placed his hand on Vernon’s Honda. Vernon nodded and untangled himself from the two blondes, a smirk appearing on his lips. Your stomach did a somersault and you gasped quietly, confused as to what that feeling meant and why you only ever felt so flustered around Vernon. Yoona can’t be right…

“Nah, I’m here to claim my prize.” Vernon’s eyes fell on you and your back straightened as you quickly smoothed your expression into a neutral one. You knew your cheeks were still burning, but it was so chilly outside, one could blame it on that. You chuckled as Johnny looked at you too, seemingly having realized Vernon was racing you tonight.

“I don’t know man,” He said with an amused smirk, patting Vernon’s back forcefully, “I’ve never seen Y/N lose before in that car.”

You couldn’t help but notice the slight envy that slipped into Johnny’s tone and it made you smirk; you always knew he wanted your car. He was pretty pissed when you refused to let him drive it, you weren’t about to let a lunatic wreck your precious car. If something happened to it and you’d had to tell your parents it was Johnny’s fault, you were sure you’d never get to see the daylight ever again.

“You’re still in, right, Chwe?” You raised your eyebrows mockingly and Vernon scoffed, opening his door.

“Why don’t you sit inside your car so that we get over with this?” You chuckled and pushed off your car, Yoona following suit as Johnny walked up to the two of you, grabbing Yoona’s nape. You watched as he stared her in the eyes, eyes narrowing the slightest at her, and Yoona’s jaw clenched as she waited patiently for Johnny to stop. You hated when he did that, tried dominating Yoona or got possessive to the point of hurting her, so you ripped your car door open and pressed down on the honk harshly. Both of them jumped and Johnny looked at you with a glare.

“Move along, dickhead, I haven’t got all night.” You snapped at him and he chuckled, releasing Yoona, who looked thankful as she pushed Johnny slightly back and walked away while shooting you a finger heart.

“Don’t crash.” You rolled your eyes at Johnny’s words and got in as he walked to the side where Yoona stood, circling his arms around your best friend’s waist. Out of nowhere, Jun showed up, holding a checkered flag. You closed your door shut and put on your seatbelt, melting into your seat. Vernon’s engine roared to life and you were quick to do the same, Jun having come to a stop between the two cars.

“You know the drill,” Jun shouted over everyone’s voice, “You’ve got 400 meters, whichever finishes first wins and gets the money.”

Vernon reeled his engine and you just smirked; eyes fixed on the checkered flag as Jun raised it. You always concentrated, how you start, is the most important thing. You can’t lose seconds and you have to be faster than the other one, it gives you already a very small but significant advantage. You gripped the gearstick and the wheel with your other hand, ready to shift it into drive. You hated how your eyes had to take a glance at Vernon and it annoyed you even more when you realized his eyes were on you. What if Yoona is right and I do like him? I do feel flustered around him. Isn’t it just because he makes me angry? A few days ago, I was convinced I hated him with all my heart. What is it that I truly feel for him then? Jun’s hand with the flag dropped and you shifted the gearstick just in a second, your foot pressing down the gas pedal. You didn’t look anywhere else as your car came to an abrupt start, the safety belt cutting into the exposed skin of your collarbones and your eyebrows furrowed as your car picked up speed in just seconds. Everything became a blur around you, all you saw was the finish line that was still far away, but you were getting closer and closer. You didn’t know where Vernon was, but having not seen him pass you, you believed he was still behind somewhere. Your stiff body almost felt relaxed, despite the contraction of your muscles to keep the car going in a straight line at such high speed, and your mind was silent. You didn’t hear anything, the radio was always off when you raced because you wanted to hear the engine, and your labored breathing felt almost relaxing. You felt in control and free, a small smile slipped onto your lips when you noticed Seungkwan standing on the side with a big checkered flag, flapping it around above him. You were close, just a few more meters. Your engine cried loudly as you pushed the gas pedal for another boost of energy, your car crossing the finish line before Vernon’s could. You let go of the gas pedal and hit the brakes, your car coming to a stop slowly but surely. People flooded around your car and your head rested on the head rest as you closed your eyes, surprised by how fast your heart was beating. Adrenaline always flooded your veins, but never this much. You opened one eye and glanced to your left, but Vernon’s car was nowhere. It confused you as you turned the engine off, undoing your seatbelt. People were cheering for you, your name leaving their lips as they tapped your car in congratulations, and you gripped the door handle to open it. Just as you pushed it open, it was pushed back closed and your eyebrows furrowed, until Vernon’s face popped up. He motioned with his finger to roll down your window and you did, still looking at him confused.

“What are you doing?” You asked, your voice loud, as Vernon threw the cash back at you, making it land in your lap.

“I lost,” His tone was hard and he looked displeased, “but you knew I would, so take your money back.”

You rolled your eyes and gripped the cash, raising it up between your faces, “I gave it to you regardless of the outcome, our deal was about something else—”

“I’m not your charity case!” Vernon’s voice turned harsh and you raised your eyebrows at him, finding it weird how pissed he suddenly was, “I’ll meet you tomorrow at noon at the abandoned sandy tracks half an hour from here. Don’t come with the Veyron, it’s not a car for beginners.”

You opened your mouth to snap at him that you weren’t a beginner, but Vernon turned around and stormed away, pushing people out of his way. You turned your head to see where he was headed, and you found his car just a few meters away from the finish line, 100 meter between yours and his car. What a dick.

           The revving of the engine was a sign that you were doing something wrong and out of anger, you hit the brakes harshly, sending yourself and the person sitting in the passenger seat forward. Your heart was beating fast as you gripped the steering wheel with both hands, your skin melting into the material of the wheel. The seatbelt was cutting into your skin too and your jaw clenched when a chuckle came from your right. You knew Vernon was smirking in amusement, very pleased to see you fail once again. You thought you’d learn how to drift quickly and easily, but here you were, almost two hours later, barely being able to make one right turn. You didn’t know what it was that made it so hard, it couldn’t have been Vernon’s Honda, you’ve driven cars like his before thanks to Jihoon; you really didn’t understand what was the matter. I can’t believe I’ve been embarrassing myself for the past two hours. A sigh left your mouth and you glanced at Vernon, who’s right arm was perched on the windowsill and he had his smirk still on.

“You suck at teaching,” You had to say something to save yourself from further embarrassment, “That’s why I still can’t do it.”

It was so amusing to Vernon that he started laughing, his mouth widening and his teeth showed. Your heart only seemed to pick up its rhythm and your eyebrows furrowed as you harshly shifted the gear to start doing another round.

“Hey, hey—” Vernon was quick to notice your change of demeanor and your fingers tightened around the shift stick when he gripped your hand, “I think we had enough for today, Y/N…especially my car. I can’t have you burning down my brakes, sorry.”

“If you’d let me come with my Veyron you wouldn’t be here complaining—”

“And risk wrecking that car?” Vernon’s eyebrows shoot up and you looked at him, his hand was still on top of yours as if he forgot it there, “Hell, I bet your parents don’t even know you race…I for sure would bite my kid’s head off if I found out they raced with a car like yours—”

“Yeah,” You snapped, eyes blazing as you glared at Vernon, what does he know about me, “That’s why they don’t know. Let go of my hand now and tell me where to drive.”

Vernon gulped and if you weren’t so angry, you probably would have blushed at his reaction. He looked down at your hands as if he realized due to your words it was still on top of yours and he quickly placed it in his lap, clearing his throat as you looked away, “I’m quite hungry, let’s have lunch.”

“Just tell me where you live and I’ll call John to pick me up—”

“No!” Vernon’s voice rose a bit and you looked at him surprised as you were driving away from the abandoned race tracks, “I mean…come have lunch with us. My mom knows where we are and she’d be really pissed if I didn’t invite you for lunch…”

Your heart started beating fast again and you bit your lower lip, trying to ignore his words and the temptation to say yes, “I can’t stay.”

“Please—”

“No.” Vernon knew it was final and that he couldn’t try convincing you anymore, but he really wanted you to stay. He was amazed by you, truth be told. He didn’t know what was so attractive about you, because you might have been beautiful, but he never really cared much about looks. Something about the way you would always look at him, he felt some hidden feelings that you desperately tried to hide from him and yourself as well. He knew you had something with him personally, he didn’t understand why, but he hoped one day you’d have enough courage to tell him. It was the only reason why he never tried getting close to you, he was afraid honestly, that you’d reject him in a very unpleasant way and he wanted to save himself from the heartbreak. He didn’t even know you raced, he never heard of your name being gossiped at the races, however, he did hear something from Chan, who worked for Lee Jihoon. But you weren’t the only girl who’s name was Y/N, he couldn’t just assume so boldly. As you focused on the road, on driving back towards the main roads, you failed to notice Vernon’s intense gaze analyzing your every movement, expression. Your bruise had faded nicely, after icing it non-stop when you were home, but you could still faintly see it. So faintly, that one would have to be really close next to you to see it, or so you thought. Vernon clearly saw it and just as he opened his mouth to question what it was, you sighed.

“Yesterday…” You started quietly, your muscles having eased now that you were just driving around casually and Vernon wasn’t touching you, “I feel like I insulted you…”

Vernon’s eyebrows furrowed as he watched you, pointing towards a street, to which you turned, “Insulted me?”

“With the money…I didn’t want to make it seem like I was—”

But Vernon didn’t want to hear it, because quite frankly, he wasn’t insulted at all last night. He was pissed, because you won. And that was only because he really wanted to go on that date with you. However, now that you’ve been alone in his car for almost two hours, he didn’t seem to mind it that much, “I wasn’t insulted, Y/N. I know you are rich and that I have less than you, but it didn’t mean anything to me.”

Your eyebrows furrowed and once again followed Vernon’s instructions, which lead to a quiet side of the city, “Why were you so angry then?”

“I was frustrated, not necessarily angry.” Your lips pulled up into a smile and you glanced at Vernon.

“I probably should have warned you I drive a Veyron—”

“I heard Jihoon sold your engine.”

“It wasn’t mine. He bought it and wanted me to show it off so that he could sell it for more.”

“Smart.”

“I know.” You found yourself glancing at Vernon with a smile, which he returned, as he pointed towards a house at the end of the street. It was a dead end, and theirs was the last house. It looked normal size, white, and had a nice front lawn. You didn’t think Vernon was poor, but the quality of the house surprised you. It had a refreshing look and definitely looked cozy just from the outside. You parked the car in the driveway, like Vernon instructed, and turned the engine off. You both undid your seatbelts and got out of the car; your eyes glanced towards the house. The window on the second floor was opened and loud music was blasting through it. A smile had pulled onto your lips without realizing and Vernon cleared his throat to get your attention.

“That’s my sister…she’s a bit loud sometimes.” You nodded as your eyes fell on Vernon, who’s hands were in the pockets of his baggy jeans, it weirdly looked good on him. Vernon’s style surprised you. It looked really cool and was actually very fitting for him, now you realized. It would be weird seeing him now in his uniform, knowing his preference in clothes.

“I’ll call John—" But just as you grabbed your phone from your jacket, the front door opened and a middle-aged lady walked out, hands on her waist.

“Look at you two!” She exclaimed in English and your lips instantly pulled into a smile, her accent sounding an awful lot like Vernon’s, “I thought you’d never come home. Come on!”

Vernon grinned at his mother and took off, but you remained put, “Uh, ma’am I’ll be calling my father’s driver to pick me up.”

“Non-sense!” Vernon’s mother’s eyebrows furrowed as she stepped down a few steps, “Hurry up inside, I just finished the soup.”

“Ma’am, I really can’t stay for lunch—”

“Vernon, go get her!” And before you could disagree more, his mother walked inside, leaving the door open for you. Your eyes fell on Vernon and you shook your head, about to dial John’s number. I really don’t want to be here right now. My father is already pissed enough at me, I shouldn’t miss lunch today…especially since we are meeting with his business partners.

“If you don’t have lunch with us, mom won’t let me help you tomorrow or next week.” Your eyebrows furrowed at Vernon’s words and you looked down at your cellphone, hesitant to put it away. Would it really be so bad if I stayed? It’s just one lunch. Besides, I most definitely don’t want to meet Mr. Kim’s son, he’s too rude for my liking. You rolled your eyes and put your phone on ‘do not disturb’, putting it back inside your jacket’s pocket as you followed Vernon inside the house.

The house on the inside was exactly how you imagined it to be. Walls white with big windows to let the natural light inside and everywhere you looked, you saw family pictures. It seemed like Vernon’s mother really liked flowers too as you could find them in every corner of the house. There was a scent of homecooked meal and it smelled so much better than the one coming from your maids at home. It was a lot warmer inside than outside, so you decided to get rid of your jacket too after you left your shoes in the doorway. You’d usually wear flip flops at home, but when Vernon gave you none and instructed to just go straight ahead while he went upstairs, you didn’t say anything about it. You watched Vernon hurry up the stairs as you walked down the hallway, humming coming from where Vernon instructed you to head towards.

“Oh, good!” It was his mom, once you stepped inside the kitchen, the scent of homecooked food was stronger. The kitchen wasn’t very big, just enough for a few people to be inside, but when you looked to your left you noticed there was a dining room, the young boy from school was there actually. He was sitting on a chair, one foot up on the chair next to him as he watched something on his phone, picking his nose in the process. It was a sight you weren’t expecting, such a normal sight you never got to see at home, that it made you laugh. You actually started laughing so hard it alerted the young boy, who’s cheeks became pink and he shoot you a glare.

“Chan,” Vernon’s mom sighed as she glanced back to see what was so funny, “He was picking his nose again, wasn’t he?”

You only nodded as you tried to stop laughing, the boy actually got up and walked towards you with a small glare. You weren’t aware that Vernon had a brother, besides, this Chan boy looked nothing like Vernon or his mother.

“I’m Y/L/N Y/N by the way,” You spoke up as Chan stopped beside you, squaring you up with his eyes, as you watched Vernon’s mother.

“Yes, Vernon told me who he was going with. Wasn’t expecting a girl to want to learn how to drift.” Chan scoffed next to you as he offered you his hand once he was done taking your form in.

“Lee Chan.” You shook his hand and narrowed your eyes at him, “And Mrs. Chwe, I told you women like to race. Sometimes there’s more of them at the race tracks than men.”

“He’s not wrong.” You approved of his words, looking back at him, “You’re not related to the Lee family, right?”

“Do I look like I am?” Chan had a sharp tongue and you scoffed, watching him brush past you, “Let me put the plates, Mrs. Chwe.”

“You should be studying, Chan, dear.” Chan just rolled his eyes as he opened a drawer and pointed at the cutlery and motioned for you to take them. You grimaced at him but proceeded to help him out, it was better than standing awkwardly in the kitchen and doing nothing.

“Studying is a luxury that I can’t benefit of.” Your eyebrows furrowed as you walked alongside Chan to the dining room, setting the plates and cutlery on the long table.

“What do you mean?” You asked quietly, noticing one plate missing.

“I don’t have enough money to go to school, Y/N.” Chan answered with an impassive voice, but you couldn’t help and notice the yearning behind his words.

“How old are you?” You found yourself asking again, something tugging at your heartstrings. Am I feeling bad for him? He deserves to have part of education like everyone else. He seems like a quick-witted boy.

“Sixteen.” Chan muttered and brushed past you as he headed for the door of the kitchen. You looked at Mrs. Chwe as she brought the pot of soup to the table, still steaming as it had been recently finished. She had a sad expression as she heard your little exchange with Chan and it suddenly all made sense. He’s here because they are taking care of him. I don’t know his home situation, but if Mrs. Chwe took him in, it must mean that he wasn’t living well before at all.

“Vernon! Sofia!” You jumped at Chan’s shrill voice and Mrs. Chwe chuckled, taking a seat at the head of the table.

“Sit wherever you want,” She offered you a smile and you chose to sit on her left, the cushion was soft underneath your bum, “Can’t believe my son just left you to yourself, where are his manners.”

“It’s alright, Mrs. Chwe.” You reassured her, sitting patiently as Chan chose to sit across from you. You internally cursed and hoped that Sofia would take the seat next to you, but you didn’t have that much luck. As the girl came into view, she raced Vernon and jumped into the seat next to Chan, leaving Vernon with a glare directed at her. You looked at Vernon and tried to keep a neutral expression, knowing all eyes were basically on the two of you. His black hair was dripping still and he had changed from the clothes he was wearing earlier today. He wore black sweatpants and a tight white t-shirt, which made your heart beat faster. You never noticed that Vernon had muscles before and you were praying to all Gods that you wouldn’t blush upon seeing the way his t-shirt sat tightly against his chest.

“Finally,” His mother said with a sour expression and Vernon chuckled awkwardly, taking his seat next to you. You tensed up when Vernon’s knee knocked into yours underneath the table and Chan just randomly chuckled, making everyone look at him.

“Nothing, sorry!” He quickly dismissed it and greedily grabbed for the ladle to pour soup into his bowl. Vernon kept his eyes on Chan and the younger boy tried to mask his chuckle with a scoff. It was weird but you said nothing as this seemed to be normal for the other people sitting at the table.

“I’m Sofia!” Your eyes fell on the girl sitting next to Chan and you offered her a genuine smile.

“I’m Y/N.” She grinned back at you and stole the ladle from Chan, elbowing him when he filled his bowl to the brim.

“I love this soup, stop it!” He exclaimed loudly and scooted his chair away from the girl, throwing daggers at her.

“You won’t leave anything for us!” Sofia fired back and you sat quietly, your body once again relaxed. Vernon’s hands on the table kept clenching and unclenching and you stole a glance at him, he was watching his sister and friend’s banter with a glare.

“Stop it, kids,” Mrs. Chwe intervened and took the ladle from Sofia once she was done, “You always serve the guest first.”

“It’s alright, don’t worry!” You quickly dismissed her words, offering her your bowl when she raised her hand, “You don’t have to change your habits just because I’m here.”

Vernon’s mother smiled as she handed you back the bowl, “You seem to be the most well behaved here, my dear.”

Your cheeks became hot and before you could dismiss her words, Chan erupted into giggles, “Of course, Mrs. Chwe! Can’t you smell the richness? I could, even from miles away—” Before Chan could finish his sentence, he cried out and jumped a bit, glaring at Vernon, who was glaring at him back. You looked at Vernon and saw how his jaw was clenched and his mother sighed, taking her son’s bowl to pour some soup for him too.

“Rich or poor, Chan, in this house it doesn’t matter, yes?” Her voice was scolding and Chan grew smaller in his seat, as if he realized he wasn’t at his real home here and apologized quietly. Once you started eating your soup, you remained quiet and listened to the casual conversations from around. It wasn’t because you had nothing to say, it’s just that habits are hard to change, and at your house no one spoke while you ate…well, sometimes your mother would, until your father would reprimand her for it. You smiled softly when Sofia talked about her recent trip with her friends to a resort not far from the city and felt a bit bad when Chan confessed that he wouldn’t be going home this month either. You didn’t know his story, but it was obvious how much it bothered him that he couldn’t be there. Vernon answered his mom when he was asked something, but otherwise remained silent like you, stealing glances that you obviously noticed but ignored in order to stop yourself from blushing.

“Did Vernon manage to teach you something today, Y/N?” Mrs. Chwe asked you just as you finished eating and your eyebrows furrowed.

“He tried to…” You muttered and subconsciously threw a glare at Vernon, “But I didn’t do much.”

“You aren’t bad though.” You scoffed and whipped your head towards Vernon, for a second forgetting that it wasn’t just the two of you there.

“Saying that now to seem nice, huh? Who are you trying to impress?” Everyone remained silent at your snappy tone and you grew embarrassed, realizing you were acting out again. It was just getting to you. The atmosphere at the table, how nice everyone was to everyone, how Mrs. Chwe seemed to know her kids and didn’t even have to ask them because she already knew what bothered them. Even Chan was treated well and Mrs. Chwe was babying him, offering him more soup once he was done even though he probably couldn’t eat more. It was obvious that everyone was cared of and loved. Hearing Mrs. Chwe calling you ‘my dear’ wasn’t helping with the void you felt in your chest. It was making your stomach ache when you thought of going home after this, after the picture of a loving family was now forever imprinted into your mind. How were you not supposed to hate Vernon now? He isn’t just perfect at school; his whole life seems to be perfect. Everyone loves him and Chan even looks up at him, Sofia seems to love to tease him and no one seems to be always pressuring him. How am I supposed to look at him without envy?

“I’m sorry, that was rude.” You apologized quickly, realizing you’ve stayed quiet for too long.

“Don’t worry, my son isn’t perfect.” Mrs. Chwe’s words were so contradicting towards your thoughts about him, “Whatever misunderstanding you have going on, I understand. Just solve it quickly so that you don’t stay with a grudge.”

“A misunderstanding even I don’t understand.” Vernon mumbled underneath his breath and you looked at him, eyes widening just a little bit. Now you felt worse and you sighed, pushing your hair behind your back.

“Oh, dear!” Everyone looked at Mrs. Chwe surprised, she was looking at you with her eyebrows furrowed, “What happened to your face?”

Your eyebrows furrowed as you touched your face with both hands, looking at Vernon out of reflex since you knew him best from the table, to see if he could see something wrong. His eyes looked into yours for a second before they fell on your cheek. Your heart seemed to come to a stop before it sped up dangerously and you just cleared your throat.

“I’m clumsy sometimes,” It was a script you memorized a long time ago, “I have a cabinet in my bathroom that’s around my height and sometimes when I wake up, I’m dizzy and happen to run into it. That’s what happened.”

Everyone but Vernon seemed to buy it, Sofia even laughed, “You should be more carefully, why did you even put the cabinet there?”

“I wasn’t the designer of the apartment.” You joked with her, throwing Vernon a confused glance as his right leg was moving up and down fast, like when you were anxious. Chan and Sofia giggled as Mrs. Chwe stood to gather the bowls.

“Put some ice on it, it’ll go away.” Her voice was soothing and you felt like her, too, knew your story was a lie; but you decided to ignore it and thank her for lunch once again.

“When is Mr. Chwe coming home?” Chan asked as he stood to help Mrs. Chwe take the bowls to the sink. He saved your curiosity and you were happy that he asked before you could.

“I don’t know,” Vernon answered with a shrug, leaning back in his chair, “He took some extra shifts.”

“Yes, because you just had to buy that expensive car to race with.” Mrs. Chwe snapped from the kitchen and you looked at Vernon.

“I’ve been earning more money ever since, mom. You can’t say I’m not trying to help you.” Vernon got defensive, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Your eyes fell on the contracting muscles and you gulped, reaching for your glass to drink some water. Sofia smirked but looked at her phone when she saw you throwing her a questioning glance.

“As if we weren’t in debt before.” The woman sighed to herself, but everyone heard it, and the cash that Vernon threw back at you yesterday felt heavy in your back-pocket. He wasn’t a charity case, he said it himself, but why not give it to him when you seriously didn’t need it? You looked at Vernon and his eyebrows were furrowed as he sighed quietly.

“Thank you for having me for lunch, but I really have to go home now.” You spoke up and stood up, Vernon following your actions. Sofia shot you a pout but she waved as you walked to the kitchen, Vernon behind you.

“You should come more often.” Mrs. Chwe gave you a pat on the head and you bowed your head, waving at Chan, but as you went to step outside of the kitchen, you stopped. Vernon walked into you and your skin tingled as he grabbed onto your arms, steadying himself. You wanted to curse but focused on what you were about to say as you glanced back, having to look over Vernon’s shoulder. He was taller than you.

“Chan, ask Vernon to give you my phone number and whenever you have free time, call me if you feel like studying a little.” Chan’s mouth fell open and you winked at him, taking off again.

“For free?” Chan shouted after you and you chuckled, weirdly not bothered that Vernon was still holding onto you.

“For free!” You called back and Chan started loudly cheering, making Vernon sigh, “You should do the same, Vernon, the poor kid makes it obvious that he’d like to study.”

“You think I didn’t try doing that?” Vernon scoffed and finally released you as you went to pull on your shoes, “He’s stubborn and refuses to listen to me.”

“I guess my beauty is enough to give him motivation then.” You said cutely and Vernon could have sworn his heart stopped beating. You didn’t notice his sudden freeze up as you grabbed your jacket and phone from your pocket.

“Your beauty…” He muttered to himself as you sent a message to John to pick you up, his answer was immediate.

“So…” You looked back at Vernon, sneakily taking the roll of cash from your back-pocket, “We are meeting tomorrow too?”

“That’s the plan, right?” He asked, his voice sounding a bit chocked up and you ignored it as you nodded. Your eyes fell on the table behind him and your heart picked up when you realized what you’d have to do. You wouldn’t have done it, not in a million years, if it wasn’t your only chance to leave the money at him. Your heart started beating fast and Vernon frowned when he saw you closing the gap between you two. You grimaced to yourself as you let your left arm circle his torso, hugging him briefly. Your right arm extended and just as you managed to drop the cash onto the table, Vernon pulled you into himself. You gasped quietly and noticed how refreshing his scent was and the back of his t-shirt was still wet from his dripping hair that seemed only damp now. The hug didn’t last for long but when you pulled back, both of your cheeks were warm and you couldn’t look at Vernon.

“Uhm, see you tomorrow!” Not wanting to hear his voice and feel more flustered, you quickly opened the door and ran down his driveway, refusing to turn back around to watch him close the door. You could still feel his arms around you and how soft his clothes were despite his body being so firm. I think Yoona is right, I might like Vernon.

           You couldn’t help the satisfied cry that left your lips as you took your forth successful turn, drifting just like Vernon taught you. You still couldn’t do it each time you tried, but this was the best you’ve done since you’ve been here so far. Vernon was proud as he gripped onto the board of the car, lips in a wide grin. He wasn’t bothered by how sharp your turns were, throwing him around in his seat even though he was buckled up, he was happy that you were happy. He’s never seen you with such wide smile before, and he was mesmerized. He never thought you could become more beautiful than you already were. Your heart was beating fast again as you decided this was satisfying enough to take a break, Vernon’s been complaining for half an hour now. You slowed the car down and stopped the engine when it finally came to a stop. You let out a breath and relaxed in the driver’s seat, feeling accomplished. You could finally do it; you were sure you needed more practice but you actually did it this time.

“That was pretty cool, Y/N.” You forgot you were with Vernon in the car and you became embarrassed as you looked at him, “Am I still a bad teacher?”

“It took me five hours in total to catch the hang of it, I wouldn’t tell anyone you’re very bright at teaching.” It made Vernon chuckle and you realized what he acted like in school was his real personality, he wasn’t faking anything like some people were. It felt nice to be around someone authentic and you found yourself staring at him. His black hair seemed to have wax on as it was twirled in locks and paired with the red sunglasses he wore it made him look very attractive. He had on some black ripped jeans and underneath his neon green oversized jumper he wore a white t-shirt, you could see the collar of it. When Vernon locked eyes with you, you quickly looked away and picked at the ends of your turtleneck; your knee-length skirt had ridden up a bit and was around your thighs, you’d have to pull it lower soon.

“I gave Chan your phone number,” You looked back at Vernon surprised, you didn’t expect Chan to actually accept your offer, “He said he’ll give you a call next week.”

“That’s fine,” You hummed and brushed your long hair behind your back, “The less time I spend at home, the better.”

You wished you didn’t say that, because it seemed like Vernon just remembered something and his eyebrows furrowed as his eyes searched your face. You did not forget to put on foundation today, so he couldn’t see anything wrong with your skin, but suddenly the area felt on fire. You hoped Vernon wouldn’t bring it up now that he couldn’t see it, but you were wrong.

“Why hide the bruise if I have already seen it?”

“I thought it wasn’t visible anymore, good you told me.”

“Wouldn’t want more people getting suspicious?” Your eyebrows furrowed and Vernon rolled his eyes, looking a little irritated.

“What happened?” You shrugged and sighed, trying to remain neutral.

“I told you yesterday, Vernon—”

“But it’s not the truth.” You rolled your eyes but Vernon’s burning gaze made you want to tell him everything. You didn’t know anymore which feeling was stronger: hatred or liking. But you wanted to tell someone and Vernon was willing to listen, maybe you felt like this because you knew Vernon wouldn’t directly go to the police like Yoona would.

“Everyone at school is jealous of me for being rich, for having everything I want and need. But I don’t have everything, Vernon. My parents don’t love, at least my father doesn’t, my mother barely spends time with me nowadays and the bruise—" You hated thinking of how you got certain bruises, your chest ached. You blocked the memories away and you didn’t think it would be this hard to say it. You were scared of how Vernon would react and what he’d think, would he see you differently? Vernon grabbed your hand and you became stiff, wanting to pull your hand away but keep it there at the same time. It was oddly offering you comfort.

“The truth is that—my father—he—hits me.” You muttered quietly and looked down at your hands, unable to look at Vernon. You didn’t want him to see the tears in your eyes, you hated being vulnerable in front of others. And now you were confused about what you actually felt for Vernon, it wasn’t helping. Vernon’s silence was making you uncomfortable and you glanced up at him, his jaw was clenched. He seemed fine, but his jaw gave him away. You knew he was angry and you sighed, pulling your hand away from his.

“Go to the police, tell on him.”

“No, I can’t do that. He’s still my father.”

“Do you even hear yourself?!” Vernon’s sudden raise of voice made you jump as you looked back at him surprised, “This isn’t a little disciplinary spank a parent does from time to time, Y/N. He’s abusing you!”

You didn’t need someone to tell you, you were well aware of that. You threw Vernon a glare and crossed your arms in front of your chest, “Thanks for stating the obvious—”

“No, don’t do that!” He snapped, undoing his seatbelt in his anger, to be able to turn towards you better, “This isn’t something that can be treated lightly, Y/N! You need to tell someone; he has to stop. He has no rights laying his hands on you, do you understand me?”

“Do you understand that I know but I won’t do anything?” You raised your voice as well, your glare becoming harsh, “If I want my life to be ruined forever, sure, I’ll go tell the authorities.”

“He can’t ruin your life for something he did knowingly that it’s wrong—” His words became white noise as you closed your eyes, trying to calm yourself. Vernon was the last person you needed lecturing from, especially since you were getting this treatment because he was better than you at one fucking subject. Your anger went through the roof and you snaped, unable to take his words.

“Shut up, it’s all because of you!” Vernon’s eyes went wide and he looked so confused, you felt bad for telling him that, “You’re better at English than I am, my father can’t stand that. I have to be best at everything. It’s why I could never stand you, unknowingly you made me hurt. And it’s a shit reason, I know, but it’s true…”

Vernon looked speechless until he started looking regretful and he grabbed your hand again, despite your glare, “I’m sorry—”

“Don’t apologize,” You scoffed, throwing him a look, “It’s not your fault. Don’t worry, I only have to put up with his shit for three more months. I’ll be moving out.”

“Does he know?” Vernon’s eyebrows rose and you scoffed again.

“Of course not. Why would I tell him? He keeps threatening me so I don’t see why I shouldn’t make his threats reality before he gets to proceed with them.” Vernon’s eyebrows furrowed as he thought and you raised your eyebrows at him.

“Come move in with us.” You weren’t expecting that at all and your eyes grew wide as you stared at Vernon. Move in with him and his family? That sounded weird, you could manage on your own too. It wasn’t that hard, right?

“I can’t, that house is already packed with you four and Chan spending his time there too.”

“Sofia would love to have another girl around the house, please?”

“Vernon, this isn’t something you get to decide. That house is your parents’ and I can’t show up unannounced, okay?” Your eyebrows rose at him and he sighed, knowing what you were saying was right.

“Fine, but think about it…” You nodded once and he took his hand off from yours, you uncrossed your arms, “Do you really hate me?”

You thought for a second as you watched him, not knowing how to answer him, because you didn’t know how you felt for him. You didn’t actually hate him, but you did envy him.

“I’m not sure how I feel about you…” You muttered and Vernon sighed, leaning back in the seat, “But I don’t think I hate you. I thought you sucked, but maybe you aren’t that bad.”

It made Vernon chuckle and when he looked over at you, your heart started beating quickly again and you blushed. If you constantly kept reacting like that it meant that you actually felt something more for him, right? Yoona must have been right, she never joked around with things like this one, and you bit your lower lip as the two of you watched each other quietly. You were always bold with others and merciless, not really caring if they got hurt by your words or not. You felt like you gave Vernon the wrong idea and now he might have been convinced that you hated him, which wasn’t true at all. You thought maybe you should be bold for once with your actions too and you cleared your throat, which made Vernon glance at you. He wasn’t making it easier but maybe if he saw you leaning in, he wouldn’t pull away in surprise. So, you leaned over the middle console and with your eyes on his lips, you tried closing the gap but Vernon was too far away. It would have been embarrassing if Vernon had not leaned in as well, pressing his lips against yours. It wasn’t as bad as you thought your first kiss would be, his lips were soft and you found that cute. It didn’t last for long either because Vernon seemed to be flustered as he stiffly pulled his head back, looking into your eyes.

“You might not be my favorite person in the world, but I think I like you.” You found yourself saying and Vernon chuckled, scratching the back of his nape as his ears and neck were red.

“Go on a date with me? Even if I lost the bet….” Vernon asked with a cheeky grin, looking just as flustered as moments ago and it made you chuckle.

“I made that bet because I knew you would lose, but sure.” It was time things took a better turn in your life and maybe Vernon was the starting point.

#bvidzsoo #seventeen scenarios #seventeen oneshot #seventeen series #seventeen fluff #seventeen angst #seventeen smut #choi seungcheol #yoon jeonghan #joshua hong #wen junhui #kwon soonyoung #jeon wonwoo #lee jihoon #lee seokmin #kim mingyu #xu minghao #boo seungkwan #hansol vernon chwe #lee chan #seventeen ot13 #seventeen vernon #vernon pairing #vernon oneshot #vernon angst #vernon fluff #seventeen racing au #seventeen high school au #seventeen illegal racing au #seventeen racer au

[starshipsofstarlord]

2k followers blurb for teen wolf!! I would love the Hale Pack watching Twilight with the reader, who knows just a little bit about the supernatural world (so, yeah, her werewolf reference is JACOB haha). Congrats on the 2k followers!!

thankyou hun!!!! 😁

Twilight

Pairings | Hale pack x platonic!human!reader

Summary | based on the request

Warnings | brief mention of nudity and drugs, fluff, ‘naive’ reader, slight bashing of Scott (as a joke, it’s not serious),

2K blurb masterlist

Quick link to my masterlist, if you’re interested in reading more of my crap 😬

The bowl of popcorn was in the space of your lap, as Isaac reached across to grab a handful, throwing some at Boyd, who only shook his head at his pack mate’s behaviour. Eric sat on your other side, Boyd beside her, as she wore a baggy grey sweatshirt, her hair up in a ponytail. She looked quite similar to how she did before, minus the acne that had miraculously healed.

“The drama is tense.” Boyd snorted at Isaac’s sarcastic remark, more so when he earned and elbow in the side from yourself. He dropped a couple of pieces of the movie snack food, sighing at the consequences of your words, before digging for another shovel of the cornels.

“It’s a movie Isaac.” Eric stated, shaking her blonde head at the unruly haired boy. “Of course it’s going to be far fetched, vampires don’t exist, much less sparkle in the sunlight.”

“Vampires could exist.” Boyd spoke, unknowing of how much was really out there. “I mean, it wouldn’t be the strangest thing in the world. As we know, this town has always had some weird shit going on.”

“I mean, Scott McCall’s a werewolf, so maybe.” You shrugged, watching as Taylor Launtner came upon the screen as Jacob Black. You stretched forwards, licking your lips at the sight of his bare torso. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, Scott is not ugly. But why can’t there be cool and mysterious werewolves like that?” Your hands gestures towards the screen.

“You mean the type that turn into big dogs, and imprint on people. Yeah, that’s so attractive y/n, let me just undress before your eyes, strip down naked, and run through the woods as a dog on steroids.” Isaac retorted, leaning his head against the bottom of the sofa, which none of you were seated on.

Instead, the lot of you were perched on the floor below the furniture, pillows and blankets piled around you, as you all sat in a tight knitted line, the light of the ever moving screen highlighting upon your faces.

“I thought you said you’ve never seen this before.” Erica quirked her cosmetic free brow, coercing the friend that she had put on the spot to stumble over his words for a reasonable excuse.

“I haven’t...” He frowned, trying his utmost to act convincing. “but what is wrong with real werewolves, they’re kinda cool, and scary, right?”

“At least as wolves, you wanna pet them and ruffle their fur, not take a razor to their face to get rid of the excessive facial hair. And not to mention, they look like they’ve had a facelift that did not lifting at all.” You smirked, unknowing of how Isaac especially took it as an insult.

That was the thing; you had been informed about Scott and his constant mess of a life, so that you were aware of the potential threats that lurked, although McCall and his sidekick were far but threatening. But they had managed to leave out a significant detail...

That they too were creatures that bade under the full moon, and Derek, whose premises you were currently on, was their alpha. The man himself, adjoined with his sour exterior walked into the room, lowering his head to silently tell Isaac to say nothing more.

It wasn’t that he and they didn’t trust you, in fact it was quite the opposite. They would each put their lives in your hands if it was crucial, but informing you of the dangers that prowled within Beacon Hills would create a shifting balance in your chances of survival.

There was no question about it, they wanted you to remain naive, and continue on with your life, as though you were a normal teenager, with little knowledge of the truth.

“What are you all doing?” The broody man crossed his arms, tilting his jaw as he watched you shuffle more buttered pieces into your mouth, innocently staring towards him, and then your eyes flickered back to the screen.

“Movie night.” Boyd shrugged, shuffling closer to Erica, and pulling a spare blanket out, offering it to his alpha, as to invite him in the evening comfort.

“We’re watching trash cinematography, that is literally making me question my existence.” Isaac leaned his head back, huffing at the ceiling, and as he breathed, you dropped popcorn into his mouth from above, which made him cough for a second, before he began to crunch into the delicacy. “Thank you.” He mumbled through his full mouth.

“It has a good soundtrack.” Erica admitted, having watched it plenty of times before she had been turned. In fact, she had been obsessed with it, watching it had been a comfort strategy for her, and now she was no longer alone whilst viewing the film series.

“The effects aren’t terrible either.” Boyd prompted, smiling as Derek joined them, but still kept a little bit of space to pursue his dominance in their golden hidden eyes.

“It’s called twilight.” You noted, focusing entirely back to the screen again, as you brought your knees up to your chin, using the bone as a head rest. “The books are better, but I suppose you don’t have much time to read.”

“Why’s that?” He asked, his black brows affirming into a light and curious frown. You shrugged, kicking your legs out and resting the crown of your head upon the sofa cushions behind.

“What with running a pack of these idiots, and keeping McCall in check, I’d say your hands are pretty full.” You blatantly stated, not thinking much of it. Though, apparently they did as all their eyes zeroed in on you, staring at you with shock. “What?”

“You know?!”

#teen wolf fanfiction #Hale pack x reader #teen wolf x reader #teen wolf #imagines #imagine #xreader #teen wolf x you #teen wolf fandom #teenwolf #teen wolf imagines #teen wolf x reader imagines #teen wolf prompt #teen wolf x platonic reader #teen wolf blurb #teen wolf reader insert #teen wolf one shot #teen wolf fic #teen wolf x y/n

[judejynerso]

Geralt x Jaskier ficrecs

MY FAVORITES

Title: Woodash and iron and leather Rating: E Word Count: 9,874 Summary: Jaskier is the only person Geralt's ever been around who doesn't smell of fear.

Title:  With a Conquering Air Rating: E Word Count: 27,880 Summary: From the kinkmeme: AU Warlord!Geralt receives Tribute!Jaskier as a sacrifice to appease him in every way possible. Jaskier has no choice on the matter and he’s fully aware of the awful rumours that have spread about Geralt and his ruthless conquests. (But we all know those aren’t legit.) A classic angst with a happy ending please! A dash of smut to heal those scars and a sprinkle of new found love!Jaskier arrives at Kaer Morhen knowing his family gave him up without a second thought, and absolutely sure that the dreaded Warlord of the North will value him even less than his own blood did. But the White Wolf and his pack are not what Jaskier expected...and if he's unreasonably lucky, Kaer Morhen might become far more of a home than Lettenhove ever was.

Title: home is nowhere, therefore you Rating: E Word Count: 18,134 Summary:  "Right, well," Jaskier says, when he halts before Geralt. Up close, he looks much more nervous. There is sweat on his brow and his collar is damp with it, and his teeth keep catching on his lower lip. "True love's kiss. There's—ah—there's nothing to it." And he bends, the utter imbecile, and kisses Geralt full on the mouth.  

Title:  The Witcher Wolf Rating: T Word Count: 11,448 Summary: It’s been two weeks since Geralt shouted Jaskier away from him on that mountain and Jaskier has been handling it like a champ by forlornly wandering alone in the wilderness with his lute. When he (literally) stumbles across an injured white wolf he decides to take a chance and see if he can help it, appreciating the irony of the situation but not quite realizing why it is that the wolf’s golden eyes look exactly like his Witcher’s...Inspired by @kayivy's lovely art on tumblr.

Title:  A Dandelion By Any Other Name   Rating: G Word Count: 3,745 Summary: Jaskier is throwing up flowers and refuses to tell Geralt who has afflicted him so. As Geralt grapples with Jaskier's impending death, he comes to terms with a few things himself.//“Who’s the unlucky woman?” Geralt asks, stepping into the firelight. Jaskier starts, dandelions spilling from his hands. He hastily brushes them away. “Gods, Geralt, must you always sneak up on me? This is why you have an image problem, you know. Don’t get me wrong, the whole tall, dark, and murderous vibe is fantastic -- really brings out the color of your eyes -- but the skulking tips you firmly into the realm of, well, somewhat unhinged.” Geralt only glares at Jaskier, waiting for him to tire himself out, and sets about roasting the fowl.“Anyway, killing my beloved won’t cure me,” Jaskier continues blithely, “so don’t even think about it. Not all problems can be solved by whacking away at them with those oversized butter knives you carry around.” He settles cross-legged next to the fire with his lute balanced across his knees and strums a few chords.

Title:  Weak, My Love, and I Am Wanting Rating: T Word Count: 2,443 Summary: Jaskier has written a lot of ballads about some woman who has stolen his heart. The thing is, he's been on the road with Geralt for the past month. He hasn't had any time to court a woman, much less have his heart broken by her. So who is this woman? The answer may shock you.//“There’s no lady,” Geralt says.Jaskier trails off. “Well, of course not,” he says instead. “I imagine a woman would take grave offense to the frequency with which we give our patronage to brothels, not to mention your unseemly habit of bathing in monster blood and other revolting gunk.” He wrinkles his nose. “Perhaps I should write an ode to your masterful powers of observation next.”“But you were talking about a woman tonight,” Geralt continues, ignoring Jaskier entirely.

Title: The Sweetest Poison Rating: M Word Count: 5,630 Summary: “And what do you want in return?  Your freedom? Your safety?”Jaskier didn’t flinch from her scorn and Geralt could see his knuckles go white with the force of his grip around the small vial.  “Save him.”The mage stared at him for a beat before letting out a burst of laughter that echoed off the wall like the flutter of vultures wings.  “All this trouble for the Witcher?” she asked incredulously, “Tell me, boy, do you really think he would do the same for you? That he cares at all what happens to the bard who follows after him like a lost puppy?”  She stepped forward, confident as a soldier preparing his death blow. “Oh, I know who you are, bard. I watched you trailing after the Witcher, eager for every scrap of affection or interest he’ll toss your way. I’ve seen the way you look at him.”Jaskier was breathing heavily now, jaw clenched tight enough that Geralt could see the muscles fluttering with effort.“Were you hoping this ill-conceived rescue mission would be enough to make him finally notice you?” she murmured with a mocking smile, “Poor little bard--always singing of love but never truly experiencing it.”

Title: live to tell Rating: E Word Count: 4,320 Summary: After what'd happened the first time Jaskier had dragged Geralt to some kind of royal ball as his bodyguard, Geralt really should’ve known better than to agree to do it a second time.

Title: unexpected outcomes; Rating: E Word Count: 3,225 Summary: "Get up here," he said like it was no big deal. Jaskier opened his mouth, closed it. "What?" he said eventually."You're obviously not going to be able to sleep down there," Geralt said. "The bed is big enough for two."/Geralt and Jaskier share a bed. Chaos ensues.

Title:  A Blessing, A Curse Rating: E Word Count: 12,672 Summary: "For a while, Jaskier doesn’t know he’s cursed. It feels like free will, going back down that mountain, just as dangerous down as the way up, and alone this time, too. The descent is fast, maybe even reckless, but Jaskier’s feeling numb and out-of-sorts anyways, Geralt’s words simmering in his mind, and at the time it doesn’t feel like he’s being pulled on by anything but his own desire to get away."Based off a post that Geralt's words on the mountain are granted by the djinn.

ART IS BY DARIA

#the witcher #geraskier #geralt x jaskier #geraskier fanfiction #geraskier ficrec #ficrec list

[pterodactylterrace]

Title: Go To Bed

Chapter:  1/1 (can be considered a follow up to Goodest Boy or a standalone. You don’t need to read Goodest Boy to understand what’s going on.)

Summary: He’s just one giant toddler when he’s been drinking

Rating: T

Warnings: Alcohol consumption. Drunk Henry. My botched attempt at a drunken British accent.

In retrospect, staying with Henry at the same time that a 'very important rugby match' was on TV, may have been a bad idea. Don't get me wrong, everyone was super polite. They were also super loud. And as the night wore on, they became super drunk. Add to that the fact that I know nothing about rugby and I wasn't having the best of times. I definitely should have tried to reschedule my visit for the next time I would be back in London. It was only a few weeks away, rugby season would be over by then, right? Did rugby have a season, or was it an all the time thing?

I could probably ask him that when he was sober. As for right now, he was several rounds deep, and probably wouldn't understand the question if I did ask. If he could even hear me. How are they all so loud? Which team was I supposed to be rooting for again? They are all probably drunk enough to not notice me leave right now. I could just walk right out of this madness and curl up all cozy with a book.

My plan went off without a hitch, easily detangling myself from the pile of dudes drunkenly fixated on the TV and walking straight out and up to the guest room. I should probably lock the door in case Henry forgets I'm here and offers the room to one of his pals. The last thing I want to deal with is a drunken stranger in my room in the middle of the night.

The door muffled their boisterous laughter and cheering well enough. I could still hear them, but I was able to concentrate on my book. I fully drowned out the noise as I immersed myself into my favorite fantasy realm for what had to be the tenth time. Once my eyes grew too heavy to force open anymore, I marked my page and clicked off the bedside lamp, snuggling down into the bed for a good night's sleep. I had the suspicion I was going to be the one making breakfast tomorrow.

What was that sound? It sounds like scratching. Is Henry's house haunted? I really needed to check if people's homes were haunted before staying with them for any length of time. When I heard it again, it was accompanied by a whimpering sound, followed by a booming bark. Good news, it was just a bear scratching at my door, not a demon! Henry probably forgot to let him out again before he went to bed.

"Shh, buddy, Henry's probably getting some much needed sleep right now." I soothed as I opened the door. Kal hopped down the hallway, whimpering and tapping his feet when I didn't follow right away. Poor boy must really have to go. "Alright, come on. Let's get you settled for the night." I sighed, following after him.

I was more than a little confused when Kal led me to the kitchen instead of the backdoor. Did Henry not give him dinner? No, he fed him before everyone came over. Was that little piggy trying for another dinner?

"Kaaaaal!" I heard a familiar voice drag out, followed by what could only be described as giggling. "Kal, ca' you ope' the pea'butter?" I cautiously peered around the island, groaning when I saw Henry sprawled out on his back, attempting to open the bottom of a jar of peanut butter. He must really be out of it.

"Henry." I called, slowly stepping closer to him.

"Abi!" He cheered, lifting his head to look at me, a goofy smile plastered on his face.

"Is there a reason you're laying on the kitchen floor?"

"I... I drop it." Henry explained, holding the jar up, only for it to tumble out of his hands once more, bouncing off his stomach. "Ouch. Not nice."

"Can you stand up? You'd sleep a lot better if you went to bed." I explained, offering him my hand to help him up.

"M' fine." Henry scoffed, abruptly popping himself up into a sitting position. He blinked rapidly a few times, trying to regain his equilibrium before turning his head to look at me. "Abi!" He cheered again, throwing his arms around me locking me in a bear hug, his face buried in my stomach. "You' so nice." He mumbled, his voice muffled by my shirt.

"Ok, save the snuggles for when you're in bed." I sighed, wiggling my way out of his grasp.

"You stay wit' me?" He gasped excitedly, scrambling to his feet and accidentally tackling me when he tried to me hug again, somehow managing to twist us so he took the brunt of the fall. "I... 'm sorry." He mumbled after a second, popping his head up to look at me, still clutched to his chest like a child with a teddy bear.

"Come on, you need to get to bed. No more tackling." I attempted again, slipping free again and stepping back as my gigantic host rose to his feet. It was times like this, when he was unsteady and unaware of his sheer mass, that I am reminded of exactly large he is. He typically carries himself very well, he is gentle in spite of his strength. When he's drunk, he's a bull in a china shop.

"m snack." He whined, looking dejectedly at the still un opened jar of peanut butter on the floor.

"Sorry buddy, I talked with sober Henry and he told me he has a strict rule about peanut butter in the bed."

"He sound' like a... stupid." Henry mumbled, leaning against the island and rubbing at his eyes.

"Now come on, big guy. Bed time." I repeated, gently turning his shoulders toward the hall and giving him a small push in the correct direction.

"'s your bed time." He grumbled, taking unsteady steps to the hallway, pausing when he reached the archway, leaning on it and looking back at me again. "You' go ta bed."

"After I make sure you're safe for the night." I compromised, shooing him down the hall again.

"I can... I can take care 'o m'self." He scoffed, pinballing his way down the hall to the stairs. "See? You' bein' dramatic." He yawned, plopping down on the third stair and leaning back against the rest them.

"And you are trying to take a nap on a staircase."

"No 'm not."

"Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill, get your ass up those stairs and go to bed, right now!"

"Tha'... tha's kinda hot." Henry chuckled, his eyes popping open to look at me again. "You bein' bossy. So lil' and bein' bossy." He continued rambling as he crawled his way up the stairs, giggling to himself the entire time. "Call' m' by m' full name an' ever'thin'."

"Keep it moving." I sighed, grabbing onto his hips to steady him when he stood himself back up to weave his way down the hall, finally shoving the giant onto his bed, relief washing over me when he landed face down, bouncing safely on the mattress. "I'll get you some water and a painkiller. Don't move." Henry groaned and shot me a thumbs up from his face down position, finally turning his head so he could breathe.

I was halfway back up the steps, Kal dutifully following me when I heard a loud thud from upstairs. Of course that stubborn man wouldn't listen when I told him to stay put. I rushed the rest of the way back to his room, rolling my eyes when I found him sitting on the floor, trying to wrestle his shirt over his head.

"Help." He whined, pausing in his struggle when he took notice of me and his canine companion standing in the doorway. Kal only huffed at his human, trotting over to his bed and curling up for the night, content his job was done.

"I thought I told you to stay still." I chastised, setting the glass of water and pill bottle down before helping him out of his shirt.

"I gotta take a piss." He grouched, pushing himself up on unsteady legs and stumbling off to the bathroom.

"I am not cleaning your bathroom if you pee on everything!" I called after him, my shoulders slumping when I heard him start swearing from the bathroom. "You just peed on everything, didn't you?"

"No! Fuckin' zipper!" He yelled back. "AH HA! I got it! Hey... Hey, Abi, I got it." He called triumphantly.

"Thank God." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. I was getting a headache of my own from dealing with this over grown toddler. "And make sure you leave your underwear on!"

"'S on!" He grouched, shuffling back in just his underwear, sending me a dopey grin. "Abi!"

"Yes, Henry. I'm still here."

"Oh 'm glad 's you." He laughed, wrapping me in his arms and leaning his weight on me. "You... you're th' bes'."

"And you are drunk." I reminded him, shuffling us around to sit him on the edge of the bed.

"So pretty." He sighed, snatching me up again and burying his face in my chest. "Mrr mmeee."

"I'm sorry, Henry, I can't hear you."

"I said marry me!" Henry repeated, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he looked up at me. "It'll be great!"

"Now I know you're trashed." I laughed, pushing his forehead until he fell back on the mattress.

"Noooo." He whined reaching for me again, though I was sure to stay out of his reach this time.

"You don't know what you're saying, Henry." I soothed, grabbing his long, muscular legs and heaving them up onto the bed.

"Yeah I do." He pouted, his hazy eyes locking on me again. "You're th' bes'. You... You're always there 'f me. Gon' marry you."

"Ok, big guy." I sighed, throwing the blankets over him.

"Stay." His voice was so quiet I wasn't sure I heard him at first, but then I heard him wiggling around in the bed before speaking again. "Plea' stay?"

"Henry, you're drunk. I don't think that's a good idea."

"Pleeeeease?" He whined, pouting back at me. "I wan' make sure you don' run 'way 'morrow."

"I won't go anywhere, Hank. Get some sleep, I'll check on you in the morning."

To say I was surprised to find Henry not only walking around the next day, but bringing me a cup of coffee before I even woke up, would be an understatement. He looked freshly showered, he had dressed himself and judging from the smell wafting through the house, he even cooked something. He really was Superman.

"Morning, Abi." He greeted, shooting me that obnoxiously handsome grin.

"Morning, Henry." I yawned, sitting up and rubbing at my eyes. "Feeling better?"

"Yes, I'm doing much better now. Thank you for helping me last night."

"I'm shocked you're doing so good."

"Well, it is almost three in the afternoon." Henry chuckled, shaking his head at my panicked look.

"Why did you let me sleep so long?!" I gasped, scrambling out of the bed like it burned me.

"I'm pretty sure I kept you up a fair bit last night. It's all a bit fuzzy, honestly, but I thought you earned a bit of a lay in."

"How much do you remember about last night?"

"Not much. I remember wanting peanut butter and you yelling at me, but not much else."

"So you don't remember asking me to marry you?" I teased, laughing when all the color drained from his face. "You know, if you wanted to be more than friends, all you had to do was ask."

Taglist: @Xxxkatxo @Weallhaveadestiny @lunedelorient

#henry cavill #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill fanfiction #drunk!Henry #henry cavill rpf

[legaciezzz]

Boy Problems

Hope x Male Reader

Genre: Chapter Fic

Request: Hi, uh so I'm new to the legacies fandom so if this request sucks.. Sorry. Could you do one where the readers a human and mystic falls high. Hopes upset that landon moving on and is lonely, the readers also sad becuase he just got dumped, so they become fuck buddies but fall for each other. When everyone remembers hope, landon tries to win hope back but she's already fallen in love with the reader and picks him over landon. Uh if you Could write smut please.. If you're comfortable that is

A/N: Welcome to the fandom! Don't worry the request is just fine!

Song: Imported by Jesse Reyez ft. 6lack

You sighed before stepping out of your car. It had been two weeks since your ex dumped, just as things seemed to be getting serious, so now you've been spending nights like these alone lately. You got out and started to walk across town square, as you made you way to the grill you noticed a girl on one of the benches, but the closer you got you could hear some crying.

"Hey."

Hope glanced up at you then quickly looked away to wipe her tears. "Hey."

"You okay?" you said.

"Yeah. Just boy problems."

"I feel that-- I mean girl problems, not boy problems." You stammered as you tried to correct yourself, which made her huff a laugh. "I'm Y/N, by the way."

"Hope."

"Hey, you know what helps with boy problems? Stuffing your face with food. I'm actually heading to the grill if you want, must be pretty chilly out here."

She looked up at you and flashed a soft smile. "I'm fine."

You nodded before heading off inside but later came back with a to go bag and a milkshake.

"Mind if I sit here?" you asked.

Hope didn't expect to see you as she looked up over her shoulder again.

"I know what you said, but misery loves company, right?"

"Thanks." she said, sliding over.

You sat down, laying the food out between you two. "I don't know what you like, so I just got you a burger and fries."

"That's alright."

“You want to talk about it? The boy problems?”

“You know, I’ve kind of spilled my guts to a stranger already.”

“Well I bet that stranger didn’t get you any comfort food.” you said,  popping a french fry  in you mouth.

“Actually, he did give me a peanut butter blast.”

“Peanut butter blast, really? I’ve always kind of thought was overrated.”

Hope raised her eyebrows with a light smile. “Oh really? And what’s your shake of choice?”

“Strawberry. And you know what’s even better than that?”  You took the lid off your milkshake and dipped another one of your fries in it. 

“What are you doing?” she laughed.

“What? It’s good, it’s the perfect combination of sweet and salty. Come on, don’t hate on it until you’ve tried it.”

She shook her head. “No way.”

“Fine, but you’re missing out.” you said, eating it.

The two sat on the bench and talked while you ate. You asked her if she was new in town so you gave a run down  of the workings of Mystic Falls and Hope nodded along to all the things she already knew and then you both got into your relationship problems. Then eventually it got late and was time to go home.

“You need a ride home?”

“No, it’s fine. You’ve already done enough, it’s all good.”

“You sure? It’s really not a problem.”

“I’m sure. I, uh,  live close to to here actually.”

“Alright then. “ you said getting up, and patting your pockets for that pencil you forgot to put in your binder. “Well I’m just going to leave my number here on this napkin and if you need a friend or anything, feel free to hit me up.”

. . .

You got home after the big fight with the stallions and was patching yourself up when Hope sent you a text asking if you were free to hang out.

"Hey. Come in."

"Hey. Your parents home?" she asked as she stepped inside, making sure she wasn't interrupting anything.

"No. My mom's working late and my dad's out with some friends, we're good." you assured her before closing the door behind her.

You made your way back to the couch to make another attempt at bandaging your hand and that's when Hope saw it along with the shiner on your temple.

"What happened?" she asked, sparked with concern.

"You did hear? There was this huge brawl between the Timberwolves and the Stallions after the game. Again apparently."

"Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, don't worry it could've been worse. Like this one guy, Aaron: broken nose."

You continued to wrap your hand until Hope intervened, taking a seat next to you. "Here. Let me help you with that." she said, seeing as you were doing it wrong.

You watched her, she was gentle and you noticed how soft her hands were. You then looked up at her and just stared for a moment.

"What?" Hope asked, catching you after she was done.

"Nothing." you said, but still somehow you couldn't take your eyes off her. She was just so pretty. You just kept staring into those blue eyes of hers, then you noticed your gaze slipping down to her lips.

To your surprise, she leaned in first for the kiss. You kissed once before pulling back, then you both dove back in. She grabbed your neck and pulled you closer while your went up her thigh. Eventually, you found yourself on top of her, your hand gliding up to her breast.

You could feel yourself growing hard as things progressed, and so could she. She broke away from you. "You have any--"

"In my room."

You two got up from the couch and went to your room where you started to strip each other of your clothes, kicking the door shut behind you.

As soon as your underwear fell to the floor she immediately pushed you onto bed, crawling in your lap. You could feel your cock getting even stiffer from her hips rocking back and forth.

You reached over into your desk drawer beside your bed and took out a condom. Hope lifted her hips up so you could slip the rubber on. She lowered herself onto you. Moans fell from both of your lips as she adjusted to your size.

She wrapped her arms around you as she began to ride you, her pace starting slow. she let out a moan which was muffled by your lips. She held on tight as you rocked your body. You felt your lips move along her jaw as your hands grabbed her ass.

"Fuck.." she groaned as you nipped at her ear.

You moved down, biting gently down on her collarbone and leaving a mark. Hope bit her lip as she started to ride harder.  You felt your lips move along her bare chest as you moved downward. You used your bandaged hand to knead her breast . As you did so Hope arched her back, moaning as you teased her. 

"Ah..yeah..." You moved your lips to her nipple, sucking on it and making her gasp.

You stopped her  a second then flipped her over onto the bed, as you did so you lost your balance and fell on top of her. You both laughed as you propped yourself back up.

“Sorry, that usually goes better.” you said.

Hope giggled as she kissed you. She pressed your body up against hers as you slid back into her. You started to thrust your hips and eventually you found your way back to the pace you guys were once at before as you felt her legs wrap around your waist.

"Mmmm.." you moaned.

"Oh fuck.." Hope whined.

You quickened your pace and a few moments later you could feel yourself coming closer to your climax.  You could also tell she was coming as her body convulsed and she dug her nails into your back. You gently ran your fingertips over her clit.

"I'm gonna..." she said in a long-winded whine as you felt her tighten around you.

You guys came and rode out your highs together. You collapsed besides her. “Wow..”

“Yeah...” Once you guys caught your breath, she got up and slipped on your shirt. “I should get cleaned up.” 

“For sure,” you said, sitting up. “It’s the second door on the right.”

She left and you took of your condom and threw it away, using a tissue to clean off the excess on you. You then crashed back on to the bed and when Hope got back, you were already passed out. 

The next morning, the both of you tangled amongst the sheets, you were woken up by a loud knock at your door. "Y/N, get up. You're gonna be late for school." you heard your father say.

You swore under your breath as you glanced over to Hope who looked just as startled as you. "I'm up." you called out.

"I'm off to work. And your mom's asleep so don't wake her up."

"Alright, see ya."

You waited for your father to leave before you and Hope started to scramble for your clothes and slip them on.

As you guys made you way to the door, you paused when you caught a glance of the kitchen. "Shit. Hey, I'll buy you breakfast on our way to school."

"it's fine, you don'––"

"You serious? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Don't worry about it." you smiled, holding the door for her.

You pulled up to the school after making a pitstop for some coffee and whatnot. You sat awkwardly quiet for a second before Hope opened the door.

"Thanks." Hope said.

"Yeah, no problem.. I had a good time last night."

"Me too... Anyways I should probably get going." She opened the door and step, grabbing her coffee, then Maya ran into her.

"Y/N, I didn't know you knew Hope." Maya greeted.

"Just giving the her a ride, that's all." you replied, flashing a friendly smile.

"And a coffee? I should let you drive me around too." she joked.

"Alright, I better find a place to park. See you guys around."

While you drove off, Maya teased Hope about you as they walked together, but Hope wasn't really one to kiss and tell.

You guys still saw each other around school, but the next time you hooked up was at a house party Maya convinced Hope to going to. You had caught her sitting on a couch as everyone else mingled. You managed to get her to loosen up and dance with you then when one thing led to another, you two ended up hook up in the bathroom.

After that you and Hope found yourselves hooking up even more, mostly when you were feeling lonely. Then because it felt good and you had grown really fond of each other. As your 'relationship' progressed, you started hooking up not just outside of school, like texting each other during class to make out under the bleachers. Soon people started notice how much you two hung out, the hickeys on your neck and how Hope sometimes wore your letterman's jacket.

There was a fine line between whether you and Hope were dating or just something casual. You agreed on labelling yourselves as friends, even though at this point you knew there was a real connection forming, but you were okay with that or at least you thought you were. There would be days where she would run off with no explanation and when she returned she suddenly started act strange around you.

"I don't know, Man, she just seems weird all the time lately. You think it's her ex?" you said to Ethan as you helped set up for the Commonwealth Day festival.

"Have you thought of talking to her, maybe?" He replied.

"Come on, no one wants to be that guy."

"Do you like her?"

"I don't know. Things are just better when she's around and I don't want anything screw it up."

"Then I think you know what you should do. Anyways, we should get to practice."

As you guys left for practice, you looked around for Hope only to find that she disappeared somewhere. This was becoming very like her now.

You kept thinking about Hope throughout the day and what you might say. You tried texting her a couple times here and there, but she didn't answer.

After you when done with you were done with your plans for the day, you went to the festival where saw Hope at one of the tables.

"Hope?" you said, taking a seat by her.

"Y/N. Hey." she said a bit solemnly.

"Where have you been all day? I tried texting you."

"Sorry. Something came up with some old friends."

"Yeah, that seems to be happening a lot lately." You sighed. "Hey, I need to ask you something."

She looked at you and just at you were about to open your mouth, you were interrupted.

"Hope?"

You both turned your heads to see a curly haired boy.

"Landon."

#hope x male reader #hope mikaelson imagine #legacies #smut

[imagine-nation20]

Just Like This

Summary: Capture the flag isn’t always your least favorite camp activity, but sometimes it is.

Requested by: Anon

Request:Hey if your still doing Percy Jackson fics/headcannons can I request Connor stoll x shy daughter of Hecate reader pls

A/N: I started writing this as headcanons, and then I got really carried away and decided to write this, oops. I’m just glad someone requested Connor. Even if I forgot about this request and stumbled upon it very late. Also, not so sure this turned out as a shy reader, since I am bad at writing shy characters.

~~~

Hecate’s cabin was the exact opposite of what you had expected when you first arrived at the camp. Instead of the dark, dreary color palette you had imagined based on the other camper’s cabins, it was surprisingly bright. White walls, with a mix of pale and dark purples. There were various decorations around, only one bed, and different magic bits and bobbles. One wall was taken up entirely by a bookshelf. Most of the books looked far from normal though, and you had only been brave enough to open the most plain looking ones as of yet.

It felt safe. It felt like home.

Still, you couldn't remain inside all day. Someone would notice, come looking for you, maybe make you do their chores. A knock at the door confirmed this thought, and you stood from your bed, moving over to the door.

It swung open to reveal the youngest Stoll brother, Connor, who looked to be in his usual state of disarray. Dark hair looking unbrushed, his camp shirt wrinkled, jeans rolled up to his calves, and his sneakers properly drenched and getting water all over the front steps of the cabin.

You raised a brow, “Do I want to know?”

Connor looked down to his shoes, “Probably not,” he admitted, looking up at you with a toothy grin.

You leaned against the doorway of the cabin, smiling down at Connor who was much shorter than you from his placement down the steps. “And I guess knocking on my door was more important than changing out of your drenched sneakers for some reason?”

“Annabeth ordered me to remind you not to miss capture the flag again,” He shrugged.

You narrowed your eyes, “Ordered? Aren’t you supposed to be some hotshot counselor? When did you start taking orders?”

Connor leaned on one of the pillars, exaggerating a ‘smooth’ aura. “Since those orders allowed me to visit my favorite demigod.”

“Me?” You asked, faking sweetness.

A meow came from behind you, and Connor’s facade shifted into a smile, “No, Mordred.”

Your cat ran out to him from between your legs, jumping right into his arms. You glared at the cat, crossing your arms. “Traitor.”

“We should be going, if we don’t want Annabeth to cut us into little pieces for being late.”

“Do you think we could take her?”

“Ha, no.”

Capture the flag wasn’t entirely horrid. Especially since Hecate and Hermes cabins were both sided with Athena that time. That means that all Connor and you had to do was lounge around where the flag was, and make sure no stray Ares kids got a little too big for their britches. So far, they had no trouble.

“Oh, oh, I spy with my little eye, something green.”

“Connor, I swear to god, if its a leaf again-”

“This is so boring,” Connor groaned, cutting you off. “Maybe one of these days, the Athena kids should get the boring job. Let Anabeth sit as a rock for an hour with nothing to do.”

The small clearing was quiet. You and Connor shared a look. There was nothing innocent in the mischievous glint of his eyes. You began to shake your head, silently telling your friend a blanket no for whatever he was thinking.

“Connor, do-” An arrow whizzed through the trees, catching you in the shoulder. You shouted out in both surprise and the sudden pain that came from the tip embedding itself into your skin. It had cut through the leather armor like butter.

“(Y/N)!” Connor shouted.

The sound of a heavy scuffle met your ears, your eyes staring up at the canopy of trees above. Footsteps, echoing beneath you through the packed dirt. Your eyes drifted over to your shoulder, seeing the arrow shaft sticking up from your shoulder. With a bit to your lip, and a deep breath, you reached over to feel the back side.

The tip of the arrow was poking out from the leather armor. Knowing that pulling it back would just cause more damage, you reached to the shaft, snapping the wooden stick off. This would give more access to movement, and you wouldn’t have to worry about knocking into it and causing more pain.

Slowly, you stood. The sword on your belt was easily drawn with a ‘shink’, drawing the attention of the Ares boy making his way towards the flag. Connor was busy with another, their sword clashing. The Ares kid smirked at you, charging with a hearty yell.

You ducked the blow, kicking out at his shin. The boy toppled forward, groaning. You hit the back of his head with the pommel of the sword, halting his movements. He would have a terrible headache when he woke up, but at least you hadn’t the stomach to repay him for the arrow wound.

“Hey, you good?” Connor’s hand was on your good shoulder, he eyes peering closely into your own. You must have been staring at the knocked out camper for too long.

“Yeah,” you lied, feeling the pain ripple through your shoulder. “I think I should go see Chiron.”

Connor nodded, reaching down to his belt for the emergency horn there. After a few events of campers in danger with no way to call, Chiron had proposed special war horns for the counselors to call for help.

“I think something is wrong,” You mumbled, looking down at the wound. It was festering a dark purple. “That’s not good.”

The horn blew, and you blacked out.

~~~

When you came too again, you were in the Apollo tent. A few other campers were held up in cots, but it was mostly empty. Outside, cricket could be heard. You must’ve been asleep for a good few hours. Your stomach rumbled at the thought of missing dinner.

Every little movement hurt, even tilting your head to look around the tent. Something cloth rustled on your head, and you went to lift your right hand. However, you found yourself unable, as your hand was pinned to the bed by a much larger, warmer hand.

Connor’s head rested on the cot beside you, his dark, curly hair spilling across the linen sheets. Soft breathes escaped his mouth, which hung open. Soft cheeks dampened by puffiness and dark purple circles beneath the lids of his eyes.

“He’s been there the whole time,” A quiet voice whispered. “Will couldn’t get him to leave.”

You looked over, spotting an injured and annoyed looking Nyssa. She looked like she had been hit by a train, and knowing the Hephaestus cabin, she probably had.

“Did he miss dinner?” You whispered back.

Nyssa gave you a weird look, “Yeah, three of them. Will had to shove a plate into his hands and force feed him.”

Your eyes widened, “Wait, three?”

“Yeah, you’ve been out for two whole days,” Nyssa looked out the flap longingly, “At least you didn’t have to be awake for it though. Harley set off an explosion in the workshop, threw me into a wall. Everyone was still scrambling around you when I got here.”

A shift beside you, and you looked down. Connors dark lashes were fluttering, his eyes slowly peeling open. The bright blue looked dulled, like it had lost its shine. They trailed up your arm, seeing you sat up slightly, eyes peering back.

He let out a shaky breath, “(Y/N),” sitting bolt straight, he gripped your hand. “Are you okay?”

“What happened, Con?”

He looked almost annoyed, though not at you, “That stupid Ares kid accidentally loaded his quiver with poisoned arrows. Don’t worry though, I accidentally laced his food with laxatives, and his bed with roaches.”

You couldn’t help the smile that stretched out over your face, “And here I would have thought you wouldn’t have had time, being here twenty-four-seven and all,” you gave him a look.

“Yeah yeah,” he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. “Listen-”

“Oh for gods’ sake, just kiss and get it over with. If I have to sit through one more awkward conversation where you two dance around each other I’ll poison you both,” Nyssa growled out, looking only mildly annoyed in reality.

You shared a look with Connor, both of you holding back smiles, “Should I tell her?”

“What? That we’ve been dating for the last two years?”

You both turned to look at her simultaneously. Nyssa looked almost horrified at the realization. Her mouth hung open, the hello kitty Band-Aid on her cheek scrunched as her face did.

“Oh Zeus’ beard, you two are just like this? May the god’s have mercy…” She muttered under her breath, laying down in bed. She moved her pillow over her head to block you out.

You and Connor shared a laugh, and with both of you stuck inside the tent after curfew, you saw no problem in letting him climb into the cot with you. It was a more comfortable and peaceful sleep for you both.

#percy jackson imagine #percy jackson oneshot #percy jackson #connor stoll #connor stoll x reader #connor stoll imagine #connor stoll oneshot

[leejungchans]

— delicacy.

juliet’s masterlist

note: words in bold are spoken in english

set in late april, 2021

summary: in which juliet makes lets dino try an australian delicacy for the first time.

a/n: idk where this idea came from but i’m not regretting it one bit bc i think this came out pretty cute 👉👈 also this gif 💔 god i’m not your strongest soldier

“Wait, how many of them are home?”

Juliet’s hand, outstretched and holding the key to their dorms, pauses as she turns to look at Chan, noting how he has gotten even more nervous since they got into the elevator.

“Not all, some of them are still at the company,” she reassures. With her free hand, she reaches for one of his, though it’s not easy with the bags of takeout he’s holding. “Besides, you’re our senior! If anyone should be nervous, it’s them,” she jokes.

“Wrong,” Chan says sulkily as she turns away briefly to unlock the front door. “When we’re at work, then maybe. But now I’m your boyfriend, not their senior, so it’s different.”

“You’re right,” Juliet agrees, as they step in and remove their shoes. She looks around the common space to find it empty. “But they like you a lot already, so there’s no need to worry. See? No one’s here—”

As if on cue, they hear one of the bedroom doors open, and Yunho walks into the living room seconds later. “Oh, hi!” he says cheerfully when he sees Juliet and Chan by the front door. “Just make yourself at home!”

“Where are you going?” Juliet asks, setting the takeout bags on the kitchen counter while she watches him put on his sneakers. Next to her, Chan takes off his mask before washing his hands at the sink.

“They sent me to go get food.”

“Who’s ‘they’?”

“Yeosangie, Wooyoungie and Jongho.”

“Why not just choose the delivery option?”

Yunho smiles bashfully. “Because we’re idiots and forgot.”

This earns a small snort from Juliet. “Okay, fair enough. Be safe!” she calls out as Yunho heads out with a wave. She turns back to Chan with a grin. “See? That wasn’t so bad, right?”

“Yeah... just seven more to go. Then again, you had to meet all twelve of them at once,” he says with a small smile, referring to his own members. “So it can’t be worse than that.”

“That’s the spirit!” she cheers, beaming at him before she grabs the bags and moves them to the dining table.

Juliet is in the middle of laying out all the takeout boxes when she hears him ask, “Uh... what’s this?”

She turns around to see Chan fiddling with the iconic yellow jar as he attempts to read the English labels. “Vegemite. Have you had it before?”

“It’s the Australian spread, right?” Juliet nods. “I think I’ve seen it before when we were on tour in Australia years ago, but I didn’t try it.”

“Do you want to?”

What was Chan supposed to do? Say no to those eyes? When they’re now ten times more sparkly?

He watches adoringly as she eagerly grabs two slices of bread from the counter and practically skips over to the toaster, popping the bread in before leaning over the machine in favour of glaring at it intensely. 

“Is that gonna make them toast quicker?”

“Oh, shush,” she says, rolling her eyes at his teasing. “Come over and help me.”

“Help you... watch the toaster?” He’s already behind her despite the skepticism in his tone, arms wrapping securely around her waist and chin coming down to rest on her shoulder.

The two stand in comfortable silence for several moments as they continue to gaze at the machine. Nothing happens other than the smell of toasted bread beginning to waft through the air.

“Still think staring at it makes it work faster?”

Juliet makes a tiny humph sound. “This toaster is an exception.”

“Mhm, sure,” Chan mumbles against the fabric of her sweater, “whatever you say.”

She cranes her neck to throw him a halfhearted glare. “You can go get the butter from the fridge if you’re so impatient.”

“No, I like it here.”

“Then don’t—shit!” Juliet yelps, flinching in his hold when the toast suddenly pops up with a loud clunk. Her cheeks flush pink when Chan starts laughing, and she wriggles out of his arms to grab a butter knife. “Stop laughing at me!” she whines, throwing open the refrigerator doors in search of the butter.

“Sorry, you’re just adorable,” he says, putting the toast on a plate before following her to the dining table.

Juliet shakes her head in mock exasperation at him, spreading a thin layer of butter onto both slices before doing the same with the vegemite when at that exact moment, Yeosang and Wooyoung walk by them.

The former wrinkles his nose when he notices what she’s doing. “Your boyfriend comes over for the first time and you’re giving him... vegemite?” he teases.

“What is that supposed to mean, Kang Yeosang? Also, we’re obviously not having vegemite toast for dinner,” Juliet defends, gesturing to the food on the table. “We bought takeout. I’m just letting him try it.”

Wooyoung snorts. “Blink twice if you need help.”

Chan glances at Juliet, now slightly concerned. “Is it really that bad?”

Yeosang grabs a bottle of juice from the fridge and pours some into a cup. “It’s the only food in the house that no one other than her touches, and we literally eat everything else. Do what you will with that information.”

She gasps, scandalised. “Excuse me, Seonghwa-oppa said he likes it!”

“Trust me,” Wooyoung interjects playfully, “he wouldn’t be saying the same if any other one of us offered it to him. He only said it because it’s you.”

“Whatever, I’m not standing for this vegemite slander,” Juliet huffs, shooing the two boys away. “Enjoy having no taste.”

Wooyoung flicks her forehead lightly before pulling Yeosang along with him, nearly causing the older boy to spill his drink. “Have fun, lovebirds!” he yells over his shoulder. “But not too much fun!”

Juliet turns back to Chan with an unimpressed expression. “You see what I have to put up with?”

He grins in response. “Maknae struggles.”

“Maknae struggles,” she agrees, holding a piece of the toast to his lips. “Well, bon appétit.”

Somewhat warily, Chan takes a bite and proceeds to chew slowly, trying to make sense of the unfamiliar taste. Juliet peers at his expression in an attempt to gauge what he’s thinking.

He swallows. “It’s good.”

“Liar,” Juliet says affectionately. “You don’t like it, do you?”

He grins sheepishly. “Okay, you got me. Not that it’s disgusting, it’s just... not bad... but not good.”

“You’re so cute,” she says, pinching his cheek gently. “You don’t have to finish it, by the way, I’ll eat it later after we finish our food.” Then she remembers something. “Wait, I have something for you in my room.”

“You can just grab it after dinner.”

But she’s already out of her seat and halfway down the hall. “No, I’ll forget later! I’ll be back in a few seconds!”

A few seconds turns into minutes as she rummages through her overflowing closet whilst grumbling to herself, the fact that she left Chan defenceless in the living room completely slipping her mind. She’s not a disorganised person, especially when it comes to her clothes and closet organisation, so she blames their hectic schedule for its current state.

Eventually, she finds his lavender hoodie squished between two of her own, and heads back to the dining room when she sees—

“Choi Jongho, what are you doing?”

He turns away from Chan to smile at her innocently, wholly unaffected by her narrowed eyes. “Nothing.”

“That didn’t look like nothing.”

“Oh, would you look at the time,” Jongho says, looking down at the imaginary watch on his wrist. “I gotta go feed my pet fish. See you!” And with that, he disappears back into his room as quickly as he had appeared.

They don’t have a pet fish.

Sighing, Juliet sits back down next to Chan. “Sorry about that, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, don’t worry,” he reassures with a soft smile. “He was very sweet, though he did give me a friendly reminder to never hurt you. But I don’t mind, it just shows that he cares about you a lot.”

She returns the smile. “Yeah... he does. They all do. By the way, here’s the hoodie I borrowed from you last time,” she says, holding out the folded garment. “It’s washed and everything.”

Chan grins, setting it down on a spare chair. “Honestly, I didn’t expect to see it again when I gave it to you.”

“Excuse you, I’m not a thief! But... does this mean I can have it?”

a/n: okay so a few years ago i went on a study tour to australia and the host family my friend and i were staying with let us try some and we both thought it was pretty good ahjshwjs 🤩

i hope you guys like the fluff in this update bc this is the calm before the storm hehehe 👉👈 anyways gn besties lemme know what you think of this 🥺💗 thank you for reading and i hope you’re doing well!!

#the way i changed the ending for this a few times bc i didn’t know how to end it 😭 #juliet the certified hoodie stealer #scenarios.juliet #ateez 9th member #ateez ninth member #9th member of ateez #ateez oc #ateez addition #ateez imagines #ateez au #ateez female oc #ateez female addition #ateez female member #kpop oc #kpop addition #kpop female oc #kpop female addition #idol oc #idol addition #female idol oc #female idol addition #kpop imagines #idol imagines #idol au #kpop au

[laffodil-daffodil]

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

The day was beatifull. The birds were singing happily, the peacefull sound of the water running from rivers near by. Everything seemed quiet, calm. Nothing could ruin the moment of peace the forest was having.

The peace, however, did not reach everything.

The sound of a door slamming closed interrupted the calm, the sudden and loud noise resonating trough the forest, cutting the quietness like a knife would do to butter.

Regulus ran out of the cabin door in a hurry, muttering scoldings to himself under his breath. Just this morning (when he was going to make himself some breakfast) he realized that he had no food left (it was obvious, he went hunting over a month ago, the fact that he was too lazy and too depressed were the things that kept him all day on his bed)

He decided to go to the nearest town, he had some money on him from when he helped an old couple out with their strawberry cultives (the couple then gave him a wood box full of strawberrys', which he ate almost inmediatly after he got home).

Regulus never went to towns or villages or cities anymore, faking your own dead didn't allowed you to go in public (being from The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black didn't help eithet). Besides, all that he needed he could find it in the woods.

Like in the books Sirius read to him when he was a kid, like a bedtime story, and he would wait patiently until Sirius tip-toed to his room as quietly as possible so he wouldn't wake up Walburga and then give her a reason to beat them up and-

He stopped himself from remembering more. He always stopped himself from remembering things from his past, from when the time things weren't perfect but they weren't hell either.

He hasn't heard of his parents for years now, and even more less from Sirius (being supposedly dead kept you from keeping track of things outside from your bubble). He just hoped Sirius was finally happy, maybe even be together with that best friend of his (Remus, was it? He couldn't remember quite well his name), he always saw how his brother looked at the other guy with eyes full of adoration, like if Remus had brought him all of the stars in the nightsky.

He hoped his parents were dead, too. They deserved it, after all the shit they made Sirius and him go trough, all of those nights awake hearing his brothers' screams, or the banging of the metal door they locked Sirius in.

And when Sirius left, when his brother was finally physically free from them (because no, Sirius would never be completly free from them, neither of them both would ever be) ,it all just got worse from there. For Regulus, that is. His skin got paler and his eyes got duller, but he felt relief. His brother (the only one he had, the one he held close to his heart, even after being ignored) was finally out of the house they called home.

Regulus noticed (since the day Sirius ran away from "home") that his skin got healthier and his eyes got brighter, unlike him.

Regulus felt relief that his brother was finally able to be freely happy, to be able to love whoever the fuck he wanted to love, to wear whatever he wanted to wear. He truly was.

But what about me, Regulus thought, as he entered the little magical village. I want my happy ending, too. He knew he shouldn't ask for more, he should be more gratefull that he finally, after so much fighting, was finally free from his parents' grasp.

So why wasn't he? 

He said an apology under his breath to the old witch that bumped into him, and while she was yelling profanities at him while picking up her groceries, he continued to walk down the crowded street.

Regulus saw, from the corner of his eyes, an old looking bookstore. He walked towards it and pushed the glass door open, might as well buy some more books, no?

The little bell anounnced his entrance to the people inside the shopp, not that anyone cared about it.

Regulus made a bee-line towards the mitology section and picked up two books. One had a deep red cover, with bold golden letters as a tittle. The other had a black cover in its totallity, (also) with bold golden letters.

He made his way towards the front desk to pay for the books, when a wood table that had the newspaper got his attention.

He didn't exactly knew why did it catch his attention, he just knew that he just had to check it out (something in the deepest part of his heart told him to do so). 

So he followed his instinct.

"MURDERER SIRIUS BLACK, ARRESTED FOUR YEARS AGO AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-TWO, WAS CAUGHT YESTERDAYS' NIGHT TRYING TO ESCAPE AZKABAN"

He what

Regulus lowered the paper a little and stared at it with incredulity. Sirius was arrested?

Sirius was arrested four years ago?

Regulus did the counts on his head. Four years ago he faked his death to be free, when he tought Sirius wasn't in fucking prison? What in the actual fuck?

He lifted the paper a little with shacky and malhourised hands, those hands that were once soft and didn't know hard work, now, those hands were covered in scars, all of them because of years in the woods, from cutting trees and building his small cabin and fighting wild animals to survive.

He did all of that to survive, all of this- he did it for himself.

He was enjoying freedom while his brother (the brother who neglected you after being choosen in a rival house, the brother who, in a far away past, held your hands on his own and looked at you in the eyes and told you everything was going to be alright) was in prison for murderer, something Regulus believed was false.

Sirius would never kill anyone, Regulus was sure of that.

But that didn't mattered, no. It didn't make any difference to Regulus. His brother ignoring him didn't changed anything, the younger still loved him with all his heart, with all that he had.

His silver eyes looked at the newspaper again, a burning fire making its way into his heart.

"Sirius Black is responsable of the death of a wizard, Petter Pettigrew and thirtheen muggles"

Okay, now Regulus was one-hundred percent sure that his brother had been framed. Regulus knew his brother would never kill muggles, besides, wasn't Petter Pettigrew one of his closest friends?

He continued reading, he needed as much information as he could find. He reached the end of the paragraph, and one or two drops of sweat appeared in his temple.

"-Black is now behind the bars again, the security involving him has increased and is now stronger than ever."

Okay, Regulus wasn't freaking out at all, why would he? The fact that his brother is in fucking Azkaban doesn't inmediatly means he will freak out, nu huh.

Because he is a calm, cool-headed individual, yes he is.

He was not freaking out, and anyone who said otherwise is a liar.

Steps resonated in the small wood cabin owned by the younger heir of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black.

Regulus swears he can hear his own hearbeats, beating in his ears and, somehow, telling him to do something, anything.

He doesn't quite know what to do, what to expect of this. This was crazy, right?

He knows it is, so why was he having second thoughts?

Do it, Reg. Just go for it, what could go wrong? A small voice says inside his head. It sounds deep and raspy, but also (for some reason) bubbly and playfull. ‘Like Sirius', he thinks.

Is it risky? Yes, definitly so. Would it be possibly worth it? He hopes so.

This is one-hundred percent a crazy, impulsive idea, but he was willing to try and give it a shot if it meant his brother would read him bedtime storys at night again.

He just wants his brother back, was that too much to ask?-

‘But it is! That lazy blood-traitor scum left you behind, for you to rot in that house, all by yourself while he had fun!’ A different voice screams at him and Regulus flinches, because it sounds so much like his mothers' voice it scares him to the bone.

"Please stop talking..." He begs to the empy room. He takes a shacky breath-in to try and get these voices of people that are not even there with him out of his head.

‘Reggie please listen to me! You have to get me out! I know you can do it, you're really smart!’ Sirius says inside his head, and Regulus can almost imagine him with puppy eyes while saying it.

‘Don't listen to that disgrace, Regulus! You are better than that, you will not hear whatever nonsense comes out of that stupid boys' mouth-’ ‘Im not stupid, you are the one in the wrong, Regulus knows-’ ‘Regulus will know best than to hear anything from you, unlike you, he knows what is best for him-’ ‘Like if you would know what is best for him-’

He feels overwhelmed, the voices are yelling at him to do things and Regulus doesn't know who to hear. He feels his heart beating faster, and he can hear his shaky breaths, and he feels the sweat in his forehead, and his hands in his ears-

"Stop!" Regulus yells, and the voices grow quiet. Hot tears stream down of his face as his knees make contact with the floor of wood.

The voices aren't talking anymore, but he still covers his ears tightly. He wants to get rid of the uncomfortable weight his chest has on it. He wants the headache that is starting to form to go away.

Suddlendly, its like he's five all over again. Just, this time, Sirius is not around to hug him.

Sirius wasn’t going to be around ever again.

Regulus tries to calm down. Breath in, breath out. He was going to be alright, he would find a way. He always does. He’s smart, Sirius always said so.

He remains kneeled on the floor for what feels like an hour, but were probably just two minutes (for him, it felt like a whole lifetime).

Regulus sighs and starts to stand up slowly, like if he went a little bit more quicker, then everything around him would dissapear in an instant.

Supporting his body on the wooden walls (he is still too dizzy to walk by himself, still too weak), Regulus makes his way towards his small bed made out of straw he borrowed (stole) and throws himself at it, exhausted of the events of today.

He has a plan, it is all clear in his mind already. And altough he is scared (of being taken to Azkaban, of dying while trying to save Sirius), a feeling he is not familiar with snuggles inside his chest. It has been there before, Regulus knows it has. (It feels like greeting an old friend who was there for you in your lowest point, but then dissapeared out of the blue. Regulus knows its name, but he can't shake its hand like old buddies would). 

And then he closes his eyes and dreams about how his life has been so far. How cold it has been, how lonely it all felt (And Regulus wishes it would had passed like a blurr, (like when you zone out in a conversation and you miss a part of it) but it didn't, and Regulus hates that).

The next morning he wakes up with a headache that forces him to close his eyes tightly.

In all honestly, Regulus feels like shit, both physically and mentally.

Feelings suck, and he would stand by that until the day he became nutrients to the Earth.

He sits on the uncomfortable excuse of a bed slowly, trying not to make his headache worse than it already is. He sits there for a minute or two, before deciding to stand up and go see if there is anything he can eat.

He believes he bought food yesterday, but he couldn't really be sure about that. Everything that he did after reading that newspaper was blank, there was no memory of something else happening after that whatsoever.

His legs are better now that he rested properly. 'There is nothing a good nap can't cure!' Regulus remembers Sirius' voice telling him one day, after Walburga went particularly rough with the Cruciatus Curse on them.

Regulus remembers, that same night, Sirius cuddled up to him on his bed, and held him tight against his chest. Regulus never got in the way when Walburga was insulting Sirius, but that time he did. It did not end pretty.

They both ended up getting tortured, Regulus more than Sirius that time.

They were ten and six at that time.

Now he realized that he, in fact, did bought food yesterday. Some bread and cheese, along with a loaf of bread that didn't look in the best condition (he couldn't really afford that much after all, there was so much a few coins could buy).

As he started cutting some of the bread, he tought about his options, about what he could do and about what was out of the question.

Regulus could only think about two viable options that would (probably) (hopefully) decrease the chances of everything going wrong.

One (this one was crazy) he could try and become an animagus. An animal form would surely help him get in and out of the prison.

Now, that option would take him months of preparations, maybe even years.

(He knows most wizards and witches with animagus form had taken several years to even figure out how to become an animagus, but he is Regulus Black for Godric's sake. He isn't most wizards)

(He is better than most, after all)

The black-haired male stands there in the middle of his tiny kitchen, a knife still in his left hand. He thinks he has an idea, someone who would surely help him if he asked. 

But in order to ask them, he would have to find them first.

Where exactly are you, Remus Lupin?

. . .

Remus wasn’t having a good morning (he never was having anything good). First, he woke up past 6 am and ended up arriving late at work (again), and his boss yelled at him for 5 minutes (again), and then, oh and then, he ended up getting fired (AGAIN), which, by the way, was the cherry on top to his shitty morning, and it wasn’t even 1 in the afternoon yet.

Now he would have to search for any jobs that would accept him, again (this was the second time in the month that he was fired from a job; in the first one he may or may not had punched a co-worker (in his defense, the bastard was talking shit about a female co-worker, and Remus just got really really angry).

And as he stomped angrily in the direction where his house was, he came to realize that he fucked this up really bad. Now he had no job, not even one kind of support to survive another month, and he sure as hell didn’t have any friends to go back to if things got more rough.

Ah, now he’s just sad.

He glanced at the plants and flowers growing at the sides of the road made of dirt, and he remembers.

Remus remembers the times when he used to be happy, when his only concern was passing his exams and not letting his crush on Sirius (oh Sirius, i miss you terribly) showing up and exposing him. When he would hang out with Lily at the library, and talk about how classes were starting to get more difficult as the days passed, or how they would gossip and talk badly about Severus ("-and have you seen his hair today?"), and they would talk and talk, and then talk some more.

Or when he would help James with his game plans, and they would stay up until the sun appeared again at the next day. Or when he would bake with Peter at the schools' kitchen at really late hours at night.

And he remembers, too, the times when he would look at Sirius and he would just get lost in his silver eyes. And Remus would look at him like Sirius was the most beatifull being in the would (in his eyes, he was).

He misses those times, he yearns for them. He wants them back, with all of his heart.

Life has always been rough for him, its just the way things are.

Because he deserved it.

(or so his father said)

Remus sees his little house at a distance. It looks deteriorated and in ruins, that house. The wild flowers are all around it, and there’s plants climbing on the walls and covering the windows.

He sees a cloaked figure standing on his porch, and Remus feels fear.

But he won’t show it, no, he won’t, ‘because fear is for cowards’ , his father would say, and the voice he would use left no room to question him.

“Can i help you with something?” Remus says, loud and clear. 

The person in black tensed, and turned around to face Remus slowly, like if they were scared (’of what?’ Remus wondered, but he kept quiet- like he always does)

Facing each other, silver and brown met.

“Oh”

The wind roared from outside, strong and merciless as ever. It made the trees dance and the leaves from them to roam free on the sky. 

The raindrops that fell from the sky were hitting on the glass of the window with force, on the roof, on the dirt. It left nothing untouched.

“How have you been, Remus?” The man in question turned his gaze from the window to the person in-front of him. The years had taken a ton from him, it seemed. Yet, the beauty he owned many years ago had not left him, no. It made him even more handsome, Remus concluded. His silver eyes (oh, his eyes were so smilar to his Sirius’-) were bright, a shine in them Remus has never seen before in the younger man. 

Remus gripped the handle of his mug of tea. The sweet honey tea with lavender inside of it warmed his hands, full of calluses and old scars, it soothed him and the pains he felt in them. “You should be dead” He says, looking at the eyes of Regulus, searching (searching?) for an answer to his one-hundred-and-one questions.

“Let me explain, Remus. Please, would you listen to what i have to say?” Regulus says, and he sounds so hurt, so exhausted and done with everything. He says nothing in response, just goes back to looking out of the window, where the wind and rain still are. Where everything follows its course.

“I faked my death...that night i-, i saw an opportunity and i took it, and then i--”

“You left Sirius” Remus says, and the voice that comes out of him sounds so not like him, so aggressive and upset and loud and so much like his voice- 

Still, Remus doesn’t back off. He looks up at Regulus and flinches. He looks so upset and angry, like Remus just did something so disgusting and wrong that he can’t take it. 

Those silver eyes (One of the distinguished features of the oh so noble and honorary Black Family) burn in his soul like silver things burns in his skin. And it’s terrifyng and powerful in equal portions.

“He left me behind first, Remus” Regulus says, his voice filled with venom and as aggressive as Remus’ voice before. “He left me behind the moment i got into Slytherin” He adds, and Remus can hear his erratics breaths over the muffled sound of rain.

They stay silent, for a while. Not wanting to fight but not wanting to talk either.

“Why are you here, Regulus? We hardly ever talked back at Hogwarts, so i can’t imagine a reason behind your visit” Remus finally says. With the new need to do something (-anything), he stands up from the badly hand-made wood chair and takes his mug of half finished and still warm tea, walking with rapid steps towards the tiny kitchen connected to the living room. He occupies his hands with cutting the remains of the bread he baked yesterday.

“I came to ask you for a favor “ He starts “,you see-- Don’t look at me like that, Remus, hear me out first” Regulus says, and stands up too.

The black haired male takes a deep breath, as if he’s preparing himself to say something difficult to speak out loud. “Sirius is innocent, Remus, i am sure of it” 

Everything goes silent from there. Remus can’t hear a thing because of the annoying ringing in his ears, and even before muffled sound of the rain is in the background now. He sees Regulus moving his mouth, and Remus is sure he is saying something (most probably something important), but he can’t hear a thing.

And Remus is so angry right now. It bubbles in his chest, from deep beneath with all of the emotions he repressed all of those years, and if he doesn’t calm down now then it’s going to explode. What could Regulus know anyways? He wasn’t even there in the first place! He was too bussy faking being dead, and hiding somewhere away from civilitation, like the stupid coward he is.

(Remus know he is a coward too, he knows it all too well. Because he knows that, (deep down) Sirius is innocent. He just hasn’t come to terms with it because he is so angry and he feels so betrayed and-- how could them leave him behind like this?) (Remus knows that he is stupid, too, because all he wants is someone to blame for the death of Lily and James and Peter-- someone to blame for little Harry slipping away from his fingers like sand)

(And Remus knows that he is a hypocrite, too)

“...--and you know, Remus, that Sirius would never do such a thing, we both know it!” Regulus says, his voice sounds more clear now, less muffled and silent. And it sounds so desperate, begging for understanding and someone to hear him out. 

“Those were his best friends, and even i -that a i wasn’t even close to him-, knows that is a fact! He couldn’t had killed them like that!” He yells, and Remus feels sick.

“...get out...” The words come out of his mouth before he can register them, just above a whisper.

“What?”

“I said get out!” He shouts at Regulus, the boiling feeling of anger finally snaps inside of him, and now he just wants someone to yell at, someone to discharge all of his repressed emotions at.

And he does. Before he knows it, Regulus is out of his house and into the pouring rain, because Remus takes his wand out of his back pocket and yells a ´Crucio!’ and fires it to Regulus, who dodges and sprints out of the house.

And Remus is all alone again, inside of that small and old house, with the feeling of anger and guilt and sadness washing over him. 

He feels his knees too weak to support him, and falls to the floor with a ‘thud!’. And for the first time since his loved ones left him, for the first time since his life fell apart, he allows himself to cry and yell.

And he feels like a little kid again.

. . .

Okay, Regulus admits, the plan did not work out like he thought it would.

Maybe he did broke the news too strongly, he kind of got angry at first. But it wasn’t really his fault, Remus said something he couldn’t even had known! His relationship with Sirius and how broken it was wasn’t any of his business.

But it’s fine, Regulus can do this on his own. It’ll be harder, but he’ll do it. 

No matter the cost.

Two years pass by and Regulus is ready to start with the second and hardest part of his plan. Getting Sirius out of prison.

It too him a whole year and a half to even figure out how to become an animagus, and the other half of the year to learn how to switch to his animal form. But he’s finally ready, and he is so excited to mend things with Sirius and be brothers again.

Now he’s standing on the port, unleashing the rope that’s tied to a boat he’s about to steal. The boat is old, but it looks solid still. Regulus wonders what kind of adventures it has lived, the people it has carried, the tales it had heard from other peoples’ mouths.

Regulus gets in the boat before it couldbfloat away from shore, and sits.

He feels the texture of the wood under him. It's cold and damp, and he can feel the old carves in the wood forming the word he assumes reads 'fishy'.

He chuckles under his breath, shaking his head side to side. Probably a little kid wrotte that.

Maybe many years ago, a family had a trip to catch fishies in this very boat. Regulus pictures a father and his youngest son, on a sunny day, in this boat. The father tries to teach his son how to catch a fish, but the child, as most little kids usually do, gets bored with the waiting and as there's no other way of entertaiment, he carves the word on the old boat.

He wishes that instead of being in this situation, in the thick, thick fog, he would be fishing with his older brother. He wishes things turned out differently.

Regulus wishes he could live his youth with his brother, instead of trying to rescue him from a crime he definitely did not commit.

Oh, Regulus wishes were so many. But those were only wishes, thoughts that are in the past now. Realities that already lost their chances to exist a long time ago.

And with these thoughts clouding his mind like the fog cloudes his vision, Regulus grabs the oars and starts paddling.

The splinters in the oar feel like nothing against his tough and scarred hands, instead of hurting him, they keep him on the real world, away from the one where he goes when everything is too much, when he loses himself.

Regulus doesn't know how many hours went by until he could see the impotent building that was Azkaban. And as he was nearing it, the waves kept rocking his small boat, threatening him to flip.

He wonders if everything he's doing right now would be enough. He wonders, as the boat flips harshly to its side and throws him off of it into the freezing water, if Sirius knows he loves him more then life itself.

Regulus doesn't fight back the cold water, not at all. Instead, he lets it settle in his bones, in his belly, in his lungs.

If being held feels like this, then Regulus decided he liked it. No one ever held him before, maybe as a baby, but as he grew older, the only one who held him close was Sirius.

Sirius... who is Sirius, exactly?

He tries to remember, he feels the name belongs to an important person, but his mind is as numb as his arms and legs feel, if not even more.

It doesn't matter, he thinks, because im dying anyways.

Life is cruel, he decides with a heavy feeling in his chest, as his heavy body sinks him deeper and deeper on the ocean.

He'll be sleeping forever next to sand and rocks and corals of multiple colours, and the black of his hair will meld perfectly next to them.

Regulus doesn't fight, but he dies with a ball of hatred and love and yearning in his heart. He'll be dreaming for eternity of wishes and unspoken words, of hugs and arms that will never hold him ever again.

Life is cruel, and Regulus Black knows it all too well.

.

.

.

.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

IM SORRY I JUST COULDN'T GIVE THE BLACK BROTHERS AND REMUS THEIR HAPPY ENDING SKSNEKEMS what can i say, im a sucker for an angsty ending.

anyways, this was inspired by this blog (https://eronlupett.tumblr.com/post/642858372635475968/i-need-a-writer) by ". and before you mentuon it, yes, i was going to writte a happy ending, i just couldn't, like, cmon on, it was right there, i couldn't resist.

i had lots of fun writting this, but it still took me almost 5 months to finish it lolz. guess i just didn't had the motivation.

let me know what you think of my witting style, or if you have any opinions, just dont b disrespectful!

byebye^^

#Remus Lupin #Sirius orion black #regulus black #lily james #lol this sucks #angst headcanon #harry potter angst #bad ending #im honeslty not sorry #im an asshole hehe #no fluff

[hansolmates]

(not) best friends 2 lovers | 03

summary; you’re on the other end of the spectrum, watching jiyu constantly pine over her best friend jeon jungkook. tvtropes lore guarantees that eventually, jungkook will grow to love his best friend back... right? pairing; jock!kook x not best friend!reader genre/warnings; fluff! college au!! roommate au! angst! language, this part is kinda ://// but totally needed. jiyu lowkey infantilizes jk  w/c; 1k a/n; ever meet someone in school and u become friends overnight or by association and u think the world of them only because u know very little about them and they only show you the best version of themselves. yea this is the part. more on what happened in p2 will be revealed in p3! enjoyy

masterpost

This is worse than when you were hiding your feelings. 

“I forgive you,” Jiyu hands you a buttered biscuit, one with homemade strawberry preserves and warm to the touch. 

You shove the whole biscuit in your mouth, not caring about the crumbs bunching on the corner of your lips. As long as you’re eating, you’re not obligated to talk. You shift uncomfortably, your butt and feet already numb from shoving it under your tiny coffee table where your makeshift tea party is happening. 

Jiyu doesn’t seem bothered, and slips yet another biscuit on your plate. It’s your third one in the span of ten minutes. This disturbs you slightly. Does she want to fatten you up so you’re unattractive to Jungkook? That’s not possible, Jungkook would find you beautiful regardless. Maybe the biscuit is poisoned? 

You chew slower, and when you finally swallow it goes down your pipe with more force than necessary you speak, “Um, thank you? But what do you mean by you forgive me?” 

“For hooking up with Jungkook, duh,” Jiyu relaxes against the bottom part of your couch, kicking her legs in the air. She points her toes like she’s in ballet, lacy white socks shining in the daylight, “I mean, I totally get it. He’s irresistible. But he’s a boy. He isn’t looking for anything serious.”  

Does Jiyu think the three of you are partaking in a love triangle? You’re on edge, especially because Jiyu’s now taken to entering your apartment on a regular basis now. Since the whole fiasco with the lingerie and the pot pie, Jiyu is now stopping by after class, tugging Jungkook off to a new cafe or watching a moving in the (shared) living room. You can’t remember the last time you sat in the living room all by yourself.  

The light has dimmed for Jiyu. Not a month ago were you helping a drunken Jiyu up the stairs to her apartment, you holding her jacket and heels while Jungkook hauls her body upstairs. It was a lovely night, a comfortable spot where your feelings for the dark-haired athlete were at an ignorable, bare simmer. Seeing Jungkook tuck Jiyu in that night, blankets all the way up to her chin, made you hope your feelings would go away so you could love and support the pair to the fullest. 

Yet hearing her right now, Jiyu reducing Jungkook to a mere boy and telling you that he just can’t help himself and chose you out of convenience, doesn’t sit right with you. The second you’re seemingly threatening to Jiyu’s position, all bets are off the table. 

“Jiyu, I’m not hooking up with Jungkook,” you say levely. 

She furrows her brows, “Then what are two you doing, just kissing?” 

“Jiyu, I like Jungkook. And he likes me back.” 

“Wouldn’t I know if my best friend likes someone?” 

This all feels so high school. From your four years at college, you’ve realized that the drama carries for miles and miles of your life—no matter where and when. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t do this,” you get up, ignoring the way the table bangs mercilessly against your knee. You get up way too fast and it makes your head throb and your leg tingle, but you don’t care. “Are you fucking with me? Scratch that, are you and Jungkook messing with me? What exactly did he tell you? Or are you lying to me again, like you lied to me about confessing to him?” 

“I didn’t lie!” Jiyu refuses to get up, posing like nothing’s wrong. 

“You omitted. Jungkook told me that you’ve confessed your love to him multiple times,” and to further punctuate your anger you add, “and have been rejected each time.” 

Normally you wouldn’t be so vindictive. Just a couple weeks ago you were plush and cotton soft to Jiyu, understanding her conflict. Now that you are given more context, more leverage and more reason to stand your ground. 

“Fuck you,” Jiyu curses, and you can’t help to hide the uprise that blooms on your lips. Seeing Jiyu crack gives you a lick satisfaction, surprisingly so. 

“Are we even friends, JIyu?” you ask exasperatedly, hands falling into your lap. “I really like you, I really do. You’re nice and sweet and I really don’t want a boy to get between us.” 

“He’s not just a boy,” Jiyu exhales, knotting her hands through the ruffles of her skirt, “it’s you that got between us, me and Jungkook were fine before he moved in.” 

“Please get out of my apartment, Jiyu,” you say, “if you want to spew bullshit about me to Jungkook, that’s fine. Because from personal experience, the truth comes out no matter what.” 

“I’m not leaving. Jungkook is going to pick me up and take me to a game night with his friends.” 

“Whatever.” 

You’re not losing brain cells over this. 

Your first instinct is to go into Jimin’s room, burrow yourself between the plush duvet and lay there until you’re one with the mattress. Jimin’s bed is the comfiest out of all the mattresses, due to the fact that his is brand new. His scent is comforting and deep, and as a good friend and roommate, lets you nap here when he isn’t around. As much as you want to call Jimin up to talk about this, you feel that you’d be defeating the purpose of stopping drama if you start to spread it. 

Does it even matter who’s right or wrong? Is it worth all this drama and potential heartbreak? -

The room is dark and envelopes you into a space of comfort. No need to smile or keep your back straight, you can just focus on your breathing and the soothing silk sheets that soak your skin. 

Pulling your phone out of your pocket, you wince as the light floods your little blanket bubble. 

You: jimin, when are u and kook free? The lease on this dorm is up once the semester ends and i was wondering when would be a good time to discuss the move

#jungkook x reader #kwritersworldnet #btsghostie #btswritingcafe #btsguild #jungkook fic #jungkook fluff #jungkook angst