#hung out with friends last night and it was super nice and we all kinda wrecked our voices by playing games and karaoke | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dolce-cavill · 1 year

Text

wish you were here

captain syverson x fem!oc

12.8k words

summary: after an unexpected phone call from her best friends brother, not even thousands of miles of separation can stop new feelings from developing

🎧 Click here for the fic playlist

warnings: mentions of war/deployment (idk if that needs a warning), language, fem!oc but no physical description given, small age gap (6 years), use of pet names (mostly darlin), mentions of alcohol/drinking, angst, implied smut, if i missed anything let me know!

i headcanon his first name to be travis so that is the name i will be using

closing my book and tossing it onto the nightstand, i rubbed my eyes as i flopped backwards onto the bed. glancing to the left, the red glow of the clock stared back at me displaying 1:57 am. i’d always been a night owl, but i’d recently fallen into the habit of staying up far later than usual, sometimes being chased by the sunrise by the time i finally got ready to sleep.

swinging my stiff legs over the edge of the bed, i padded down the hall to the bathroom. after brushing my teeth and washing my face, i switched off the light and began to walk back to my bedroom, when i heard my phone ringing. i thought it was odd, as it was seldom that anyone ever actually called me rather than just texting, nevermind the fact that it was two in the morning, and immediately worried that the strange occurrence meant something was wrong. moving faster towards the ringing phone, i noticed the number wasn’t saved in my contacts as i picked up the call, bringing the phone up to my ear.

“hello?” i greeted the unknown caller, pacing nervously around my room.

“hey…layla?” the voice was familiar, but not one i had heard in years, nor expected to be on the other end of the call.

“…travis?” i asked. travis syverson was my best friend beths older brother, who was currently (at least as far as i knew) stationed in iraq; perhaps one of the last people i would’ve guessed to be calling me at this hour, if at all.

“yeah,” he laughed. “sorry- i …. beth didn’t answer and yours is the only other number i could remember, ya know, from you an’ her always hanging out,” he explained. it had been about six months since i had last seen him, at one of the going away parties beth insisted on throwing every time travis was deployed.

“no need to apologize,” i assured. we had never been super close but we did spend a lot of time together considering how growing up i basically lived at their house with how much i hung out with beth. “it’s nice to hear from you.” i admitted. “how are you? is everything okay- i mean all things considered.”

“i’m alright- you know me. same old same old here; we’re tryna help and we’re getting shot at for it,” he sighed heavily. “sorry, i don’t need’a scare you with that crap.” the anger in his voice leaving as he spoke. “what did you get up to today?” i laughed lightly.

“i’m gonna bore you ta death,” i teased, thinking of how mundane my day had been.

“darlin’ lemme tell you somethin’- i am surrounded by nothing but sand for fuckin miles,” he insisted, and i laughed again.

“okay okay,” i surrendered. the nickname probably would’ve made me blush if we weren’t from the south; it was just something i’d gotten used to him calling me. “i did the dishes, i went to the grocery store-“

“what’d ya buy at the store?” he asked.

“uhh just cereal.. coffee creamer… fruit. do you regret asking yet?”

“no- over here things are so crazy it’s kinda nice just to hear about everyday things ya know?” i smiled sadly.

“i hadn’t thought of it like that.” i admitted. there was a comfortable silence for a moment before he spoke again.

“shit i didn’t wake you up- did i?” he asked, as if he had just considered the almost ten hour time difference between us. “what time is it where you are?”

“it’s around two in the morning,” i laughed. “but no you didn’t wake me up; “remember beth used to always fall asleep first at sleepovers and i’d just be stuck sitting awake by myself.”

“yeah i remember- you’d come bother me, wanting to see what i was doin,” he laughed.

“you make me sound like an annoying little kid,” i replied, and he laughed again. i pictured him in my mind, at least how he had looked when i had last seen him, his hair cut short since he was shipping out but his beard still intact. i thought about how his blue eyes crinkled when he laughed, and imagined they were doing that now.

“you were; you and beth,” he snickered. “you grew up to be tolerable at least,” he teased, and i could tell he meant nothing mean by it.

“yeah well you’d stopped bein’ fun to bother when you stopped playing video games and started working out all the time,” i countered.

“yeah but ain’t i more fun to look at now?” travis had always had an aura of confidence to him that i admired, and i had to admit; he was damn good looking. around the time i was 17 i had started developing a little crush on him. nothing too serious, but i definitely noticed that he had been putting more work in at the gym. however, if the fact that he was my best friend's brother wasn’t enough for me to never mention it, the fact that he was 23 at the time and probably thought of me as his little sisters friend and nothing else was.

before i could agree or disagree, he spoke again.

“hey i gotta go- other people gotta use the phone, but it was nice talking to you, layla.” i found myself feeling slightly disappointed that he had to go so soon, but i understood.

“yeah; it was nice to hear from you,” i admitted. it wasn’t a long conversation, but i enjoyed it nonetheless. “if beth ever doesn’t answer again…”

“i’ll call you,” with that the line cut off, leaving me wishing i could’ve told him to be safe at least, although kind of redundant considering where he was.

i sighed contently as i set my phone down, switching off the light and crawled under the covers. thoughts of travis flooded my mind as i tried to fall asleep, secretly hoping that i would hear from him again soon.

it was only a week or so before i heard from travis again, this time around 9pm as i was getting ready to leave work. there were only about 15 minutes left in my shift when my cell phone started to ring in my pocket, and i glanced at my coworker who was stood at the counter next to me. she nodded as if to say “take the call,” and i gave her a smile as i walked to the break room so customers wouldn’t see my on the phone.

“hello?” i answered as i shut the door and sat down at the small table.

“hey darlin,” travis’s voice drawled through the phone, and a smile spread across my face. “how was your day?”

“it was alright, i’m just finishing up at work. how about you? are you having any luck winning over the locals yet?” i teased lightheartedly, knowing he wouldn’t take offence to it. he laughed deeply on the other end of the line.

“na- no such luck just yet,” he admitted. “we’re tryin though, that's what matters. is now a bad time? if you’re at work i don’t wanna keep you-“

“no it’s okay- you’re more important. we’re just about closed up anyway.” i answered honestly.

“i’m flattered,” he chuckled. “you still working at that cafe- the one on main street?” i was a little surprised he’d remembered.

“yeah- it pays the bills. they’ve expanded the menu since you left to have some deli sandwiches and stuff so i even got a pretty good raise earlier this year.”

“i’ll have to try them when i come home,” he replied.

“you talk to beth lately?” i asked, wondering if she ever answered his call after last week. i hadn’t told her that i had talked to travis; there was no specific reason- it just hadn’t come up when i saw her last.

“yeah i called her yesterday and she actually answered,” i could hear the smile in his voice as he teased his little sister. “you see her recently?”

“i saw her the other day- she’s picking me up from work any minute now actually,” i explained.

“she doing okay? i mean- she tells me she’s fine, but i know it’s always been hard for her when i leave,” he asked, in a sincere manner; as her older brother he had always been protective of beth, and me as well by association.

“she sure does know how to worry. but she’s good-honestly. she got her hair dyed the other day; it’s kinda of a copper colour now,” i smiled. “and we both worry about you when you’re gone.”

“you worry about me?” he teased mischievously. i felt heat rise to my cheeks.

“of course i do.”

“i appreciate it but i’ll be fine- always am.” he said, trying to reassure me; but as much as i wanted to believe him i couldn’t shake the anxious feeling in my chest. i thought of how last time we spoke he had to hang up rather quickly, so i decided to say what i wanted to say before i missed the opportunity again.

“just- stay safe okay? as much as that’s possible i mean?” i pleaded. he chuckled softly.

“i will darlin’ - since you asked so nicely.” he promised, and my chest tightened again knowing that it wasn’t something he could really guarantee. i didn’t have many people in my life that i cared about, or that cared about me, and i couldn’t bare the thought of losing any of them. “i gotta go- i’ll call you soon.” he said, and once again i found myself wishing we had more time to talk.

“i’ll look forward to it,” i replied.

“goodnight darlin,” he said, before hanging up the phone. i set my phone down on the table and ran my hands over my face, letting out a sigh. my eyes snapped open at a knock on the door, and my coworker lisa, peeked her head in.

“i’m locking up- can you come count the till?” she asked. i nodded, putting my phone in my pocket and following her back to the front of the store. she locked the front door and closed the blinds as i counted the cash in the till, making sure it had the correct amount and taking out any cash we received today.

“not that it’s any of my business, are you seeing someone and you haven’t told me?” lisa asked playfully. she was one of the nicest people i knew, and wasn’t someone to pry, so i knew she was only trying to make friendly conversation. i shook my head, slightly confused.

“no- what makes you think that?” i asked, curious as to what gave her the idea that i, who had been single the entire time i had known her, was dating someone.

“i was just wondering, since your eyes lit up when you got that phone call earlier. i thought maybe it was someone special,” she explained. i blushed- had i really seemed that excited? of course i was happy to hear from travis, but i hadn’t realized it had been written all over my face.

“just an old friend. we reconnected recently,” i answered truthfully.

“mhm.” she hummed teasingly. “if you say so.”

“lisa-“ i protested, although i knew she was only joking. “he’s just a friend.”

“i’m sure he is.” she smiled. somehow, even though she was only a few years older than me, lisa always seemed to know more than me, her few years of seniority she had over me making her wiser than i was. “it’s nice to see you happy though.”

“you say that like i’m usually not,” i laughed.

“i didn’t mean it like that.” she defended, and i think she was worried she had offended me. “i just meant i’m happy for you if you’ve found someone, and even if they’re just a friend, they must be something pretty special for you to look that happy just to hear from them.”

“i know- it’s okay lees.” i smiled. “and yeah- he is pretty special.” deciding that i needed to stop thinking about him, i tucked the now counted cash into an envelope and carried it back to the office. when i returned to the front of the shop, i saw beth’s car outside, and glanced at the clock- 9:02pm; perfectly on time. i grabbed her a muffin from the display case (they would be thrown out tomorrow anyway) and said goodnight to lisa, as we both left the shop.

“you can tell me more about this mystery man tomorrow!” lisa called as i opened the passenger door to beth’s car. i silently wished she hadn’t said that, since i knew beth would ask me about it if she heard, which to my dismay, she indeed had.

“hey- how was work!” she asked enthusiastically as i shut the car door and did my seatbelt.

“it was good- not too busy but not slow enough to be boring. the last hour was pretty quiet though,” i answered. it had been a pretty good day, even if i wasn’t sure i wanted to tell her what made the last 10 minutes so enjoyable. i knew she wouldn’t mind me talking to travis- that wasn’t the issue, since deep down i knew lisa was right- and my teenage crush had never truly gone away. how was i supposed to explain to my best friend that i thought i might have a crush on her brother? and that he had been calling me from across the world instead of her?

“what’s this i hear about a mystery man?” she teased, and gone was any false hope i had that she hadn’t heard was gone. i shook my head.

“nothing- i was texting my cousin and lisa got the wrong idea,” i lied, and she seemed to believe me.

“nathan? is he asking for money again?” i laughed at her. it would not be unusual for my cousin to ask for money, but i didn’t want to throw him under the bus and have her call him out; i would get too caught up in the lie and not be able to dig myself out.

“no, not this time actually.” thankfully she didn’t ask anymore questions, and the rest of the car ride was spent listening to her talk about her day. i didn’t mind, but beth tended to talk more than she listened. i tried to pay attention, but as i stared out the window, looking at the stars whizzing by as we sped down the road, my mind couldn’t help but wander, thinking of a different syverson sibling than the one sat next to me.

three months went by, with travis calling me almost once a week, as he still called beth as well. a few weeks after he first called, it came up that i hadn’t told beth that we had been talking.

“i haven’t mentioned it either, now that i think about it.,” he replied when i told him it hadn’t come up. “maybe for the best- she might think i’m tryna steal you from ‘er.” i wasn’t sure what he had meant by it, but regardless, it made my stomach flip with butterflies, and i was grateful he couldn’t see that i was blushing.

“are you trying to steal me from her?” i decided to tease him a little, our conversations having become perhaps the slightest bit flirty recently.

“if i wanted to i think i could, don’t you darlin’?” i laughed. yes, you could, i thought, feeling slightly guilty that i had spent more time lately talking to him than i had my best friend.

“i don’t know, you know how protective she is,” i argued.

“you think i’m not? i’m worse than she is.” that shouldn’t have made the blush on my face darken, but it did. “remember when you were dating that guy- what was his name?”

“ben?” i groaned, remembering my first boyfriend from high school. he ended up being a total arse who dumped me after i wouldn’t sleep with him.

~ flashback ~

beth and travis had been throwing a party since their parents were away, and i had brought ben as my date. we had been together for about a year, and when i wouldn’t go with him to one of the bedrooms upstairs he flipped. the alcohol in his system made things worse, and when travis heard him yelling at me, he had threatened to kick his ass.

“oh look, layla, your boyfriends here!” ben yelled, shoving travis, which didn’t even make him stumble.

“what are you talking about?” i asked, tears threatening to fall from my eyes, the liquor making me a little more emotional.

“oh come on, i’m not stupid, you’ve obviously got a crush on him.” ben spat. “i bet you’d fuck him if he asked, or maybe you already-“ travis swung his fist into bens face before he could finish his sentence, sending the smaller man crumpling to the floor.

“travis what the hell?!” beth yelled, not having heard the conversation, only coming in from the backyard in time to see the fists start flying. travis picked ben up off the floor by the front of his shirt, slamming his back into the wall.

“you shut the fuck up- you don’t talk to her like that. get out of my house before i really kick your ass,” travis threatened, and ben sniffled, a trickle of blood coming from his nose as he huffed, before turning and leaving with his ego bruised to match the one that he would surely have on his face tomorrow.

“are you alright? what happened?” beth asked, coming over and wrapping her arms around me. i nodded, looking at travis who still stared towards the door after ben.

“thank you,” i said, and travis finally looked at me, with an anger in his eyes i had never seen before. his gaze softened when his eyes met mine.

“i’m gonna get some air,” he said, before walking out of the house, the door slamming behind him.

“what happened?” beth asked again. i sighed.

“ben was being a dick, and travis punched him,” i explained, leaving out some of the details since i was embarrassed. “i’m okay beth- i promise. i’m just gonna go check on him.” she let me out of her grip, quickly getting pulled away by some of the other guests as i went after her older brother. i found him sitting on the front step, and cautiously sat beside him. he glanced toward me to see who it was, and seemed to relax a tiny bit. his eyes locked on something down the street, and i looked to see ben drunkenly stumbling down the sidewalk, not having made it very far from the house yet, but far enough that any conversation had wouldn’t be heard.

“what are you thinking about?” i asked. travis sipped the beer he was holding before speaking.

“i’m thinkin’ about whether or not i should go after him and beat the shit out of him for what he said to you,” he answered, and i appreciated his brutal honesty.

“he’s not worth it,” i said, trying to convince him not to get himself in trouble, especially on my behalf. “is your hand okay?” i asked, gently grabbing his large hand in mine and inspecting his knuckles, a layer of red forming over them already.

“you’re worried about my hand?” he laughed. i couldn’t help but laugh with him. “are you okay?” he asked more seriously. i nodded, placing his hand back in his lap and tiredly leaning my head against his shoulder.

“thank you,” i hummed, my eyes closing, suddenly exhausted, and the alcohol starting to give me a slight headache. his arm pulled me closer and i felt his press a kiss to the top of my head.

“anytime.”

~ flashback end ~

“yeah i remember- he turned out to be a dud, huh,” i joked.

“i’ll say.” there was a hint of anger in his voice, as if he was remembering the same night you were.

“i’ve never seen you as angry as you were that time you punched him in the face.”

“he deserved it,” he said, defensively.

“i don’t disagree, travis.” i assured him, worried i had given him the wrong idea. i’m not sure if i was just feeling vulnerable, but what i said next was something i never thought i would share. “he was right though- i did actually kinda have a thing for you back then.” that seemed to change his demeanour for the better, his voice no longer angry, now more surprised.

“you did?” he asked. “shit, that would’ve been nice to know at the time,” he mumble the last part, so quiet i barely heard him, and assumed i heard him wrong, and decided not to ask him to repeat it.

“yeah, i mean i was like 16 and you were my friends cool older brother,” my face was red as a started to regret mentioning it, but thankfully he didn’t make a big deal of it.

“are you saying i ain’t cool anymore?” he laughed. “oh shit, times up darlin’- i’ll call you soon,”

“okay- stay safe, travis.” i said. it had become a habit of saying it every time he had to hang up, as pointless as it was to say.

“will do.”

as i set my phone down on my dresser, i realized just how deep of shit i was in. i was falling head over heels for my best friends brother, who was halfway across the world; with no idea when (or if) he would be home again. the thought of travis never coming home, of getting the news from beth that something bad had happened to him kept me up at night. what made it worse was that no one knew how much i had grown to care for him in the last few months. what had started as friendly conversation had quickly developed into playful flirtation, or at least i thought it had. maybe i was delusional or maybe he was just bored, and he would come home and pretend it had never happened, or he’d tell me i got the wrong idea all along.

these thoughts kept me up most of the night, and i surely had dark circles under my eyes when i walked into work the next morning. lisa, never one to miss anything noticed right away and gave me a worried look.

“honey, have you been sleeping alright?” she asked, pouring me a coffee from the pot she had already made for the morning rush. i knew it would be useless to try to lie, as it was quite literally written all over my face.

“not really. i’ve just had a lot on my mind lately,” i answered honestly, just leaving out any details. i sipped the coffee, clocking in on the till and tying my apron around my waist.

“i won’t pry, but if you want to talk about anything you know i’m here for you,” she offered. usually i would’ve brushed her off, but considering the person i would usually talk to about this kind of thing was beth, and i couldn’t tell her, i actually thought about asking for lisa’s advice.

“thank you. i really appreciate it, lees. maybe after work?” i think she was surprised i actually wanted to talk about it, but she smiled and nodded.

after we closed down the store, the door locked and the blinds closed, lisa took off her apron and carried two coffees over to the table i was sat down at. i thanked her as she placed one in front of me and sat down.

“what’s on your mind, layla?” she asked. i took a deep breath.

“you remember a few months ago, i said i had reconnected with an old friend?” i asked, not sure if she would’ve remembered. she nodded, paying close attention.

“well, we’ve still been talking all this time, and i think maybe it’s becoming more than just friendly,” i explained, omitting details once again. she didn’t know a ton about my friends outside of work, but i didn’t want to reveal too much and have her figure out who i was talking about; it was unlikely but i wanted to be careful nonetheless.

“is that a bad thing?” she asked.

“not necessarily, except we have a mutual friend who … i’m not sure how they would react if things became romantic between us,” i explained. “and this person is also far away, so it would be long distance, at least for now.” lisa nodded, considering what i had said.

“i see. this mutual friend- don’t you think they would want the two of you to be happy?” she asked. i thought about it. beth was one of the most understanding people i knew, she could be feisty at times, but she always seemed to want the best for others around her. however, i still wasn’t sure if she would like the idea of me being romantically involved with her brother, especially after we’d been talking behind her back for months.

“i do- but the circumstances make it… difficult. this friend doesn’t know we’ve been talking again.”

“did the person you’re talking to do something to hurt your friend?”

“no- nothing like that,” i sighed. “i don’t know how to properly explain without you knowing all the details.” i admitted.

“you can tell me as much or as little as you want, i promise i won’t judge you and it won’t leave this room. i won’t pressure you for more details but i agree- it is difficult for me to understand the situation completely without knowing more.” as much as i didn’t want her to be right, i appreciated her honesty.

“you swear you won’t tell anyone?” i pleaded. she promised again, and i took a deep breath.

“okay. so the guy, he’s… beth’s older brother,” i admitted, my eyebrows scrunching together as i winced, saying it out loud made it worse i decided.

“i see,” she replied. “is that all?” i laughed audibly.

“isn’t that enough? i’ve known beth since we were 5, and now i maybe have feelings for her brother.”

“did you ever have feelings for him before now? or is this completely new?” lisa asked.

“i mean i had a crush on him as a teenager but it was nothing serious- he was too old for me at the time. but things are different now and - ugh i don’t know talking to him just makes me feel so warm inside. is that weird?” she giggled.

“no, it’s not weird. how did you two start talking again? you said he’s far away?”

“he’s stationed in iraq,” i explained. “which means that i worry about something happening to him all the time,” i sighed for the millionth time; it did feel good to finally get some of this off my chest. “he called me one night a few months ago. he said beth didn’t answer and my phone number was the only other one he could think of - from when beth and i would hang out all the time and call each other. that was about a week before he called me here that day and you asked about it.” i felt a weight off my shoulders, now that i wasn’t keeping all of this inside, and i knew that i could trust lisa not to tell anyone. she seemed to be taking in all the information for a moment before she spoke.

“layla, i think you’re worrying too much about this. worrying about his safety is understandable, and unfortunately there’s not much i can say to make you feel better in that regard. however, i will say- i don’t know beth very well but from what i’ve seen and from what you’ve told me about her, she loves you very much, and i think she would be happy for you. can you think of any reason she wouldn’t want you to be with him, other than the fact that he is her brother?” i considered what she said.

“no, i can’t. if he was just a guy i’m sure she would be happy for me. he’s funny, protective- and i think i’m really falling for him, lees.” i admitted.

“does he know you feel this way about him? and does he know you’re so worried about beth finding out?”

“no- i mean maybe he knows i’m interested. the last few weeks we have definitely been a little more flirty when we talk, but we can never talk for very long, usually just 5 minutes or so. i told him last night that i used to have a thing for him and i thought he said something like it would’ve been nice to know at the time but i may have just heard him wrong,” i sipped my coffee again. “then after we got off the phone i couldn’t stop thinking about the likely possibility of him never coming home-“ i choke on the words as i said them, and tears fell from my eyes.

“oh honey,” lisa said, getting up and coming to my side of the table, wrapping her arms around me in a hug. i cried into her shoulder, as she held me in her arms. “i can’t imagine how hard this is, but i think you need to tell him how you feel. keeping this inside isn’t good for you, and as much as i appreciate you trusting me enough to tell me, there isn’t much i can do to help, that’s up to you and him; and beth.” i nodded.

“you’re right, of course.” i laughed, as she once again proved she was wise beyond her years. “what if he doesn’t feel the same way?”

“that’s unfortunately a risk you have to take, but from the little bit you’ve told me, he sounds like a great guy, and i’m sure even if he didn’t feel the same way, he wouldn’t be a dick about it.” that didn’t make me feel a whole lot better, but i knew she was right; if travis thought it was weird for me to have a crush on him, he probably would’ve said something last night when i mentioned that i had a thing for him before. at least, that’s what i was telling myself.

“thank you lisa, i feel better now that i’ve talked to you about it,” i admitted.

“you’re so welcome, layla. feel free to keep me updated if you want, but i think you’ve got this.” she smiled. “do you need a ride home?” she asked. i shook my head.

“no, i drove today. i’m supposed to hang out with beth tomorrow; maybe i’ll work up the courage to tell her. i think it might be better to wait until i know for sure what’s going on between travis and i though.”

“he has a name!” lisa teased playfully. i giggled.

“if you ever need to talk, i’m here for you layla.”

“thank you. the same goes for you- but i think you’ve got your life together way more than i do.” we both laughed, and i hugged her one more time before heading out to my car and driving home.

three weeks went by with no word from travis, and it was safe to say i was losing my mind. the endless possibilities of why he hadn’t called had me pulling my hair out; had something happened to him? did i freak him out when i said i used to have a thing for him and now he didn’t wanna talk to me? any confidence i had gained from talking to lisa had dwindled away as i sat waiting for the phone to ring every night.

beth had invited me for dinner tonight, and as much as i didn’t want to go, i knew i needed to get out of the house. i finished getting ready, not putting too much effort into my appearance, but enough that it looked like i had been sleeping like a normal human. i drove the short distance to her apartment, and after she buzzed me into the building, ai took the elevator up and knocked on the door, a bottle of wine in my hand.

“hey! come in,” she greeted with a smile on her face. i shut the door behind me as beth took the wine from my hand so i wouldn’t drop it. she pulled me into a hug, as she always did, and i reciprocated it happily. “how have you been?” she asked.

“i’ve been okay,” i answered. i couldn’t really tell her that i’d been stressed about her brother for the last few weeks, so i decided not to elaborate. “how about you!”

“i’ve been good- just working as usual. i finally got a huge project finished at work this week, so we’re gonna celebrate!” i smiled as she opened the bottle of wine and poured each of us a glass. “the project at work was a nightmare- i’m so glad it’s finally over. what’s new with you?” she asked, sipping her drink. i shook my head.

“nothing, just working as well. there’s one regular who keeps trying to ask me out, he won’t get the message that i’m not interested.” i rolled my eyes. he wasn’t an unattractive guy, just not my type; besides the fact that i was interested in someone else already.

“maybe a date wouldn’t be a bad idea,” beth said, which took me by surprise.

“he’s not my type-“

“no i didn’t mean with him- but when was the last time you went out with someone? or were even interested in somebody?” she asked. she was right, i had been single for a while. there were a few guys i had dated in my early twenties, but never anything really serious, all of the relationships fizzling out after just a few months, if not less.

“i don’t know- i don’t know if i’m really looking for that kind of commitment right now,” i tried to brush off the subject.

“i didn’t say you had to marry someone, i just thought it might be nice for you to meet someone,” beth clarified.

“i know. i’m just not really looking right now.” i answered honestly, leaving out the tiny detail that the reason i wasn’t looking is because i had already found someone i wanted.

“what about you? how are things with you and jacob?” i asked, once again thing to change the subject from me to her; which with beth, always worked.

“things are going well actually. he’s really sweet, and he’s a good listener, which we both know you need to be to put up with me,” she laughed at herself and i smiled, happy that my best friend had seemingly found a good guy. they had been seeing each other for months now, and i had met him once or twice before, but never had any extended conversations with him. “i’m gonna order pizza- i think i have a coupon somewhere,” she said, as she got up and began to dig through one of the kitchen drawers.

“sounds good,” i sipped my wine again, not wanting to rush through the glass as i still had to drive home and i didn’t plan on drinking more than one.

it was around 20 minutes later when the phone rang, and beth got up to grab it off the counter.

“it’s probably the pizza- i told the guy to buzz this suite when he gets here,” she explained before greeting the person on the other line with a simple “hello,” a surprised look came over her face, before she spoke more cheerfully. “hey! god it’s really good to hear from you, i was starting to worry,” she said, and my heat skipped a beat. “i’ve been good, how about you?” i couldn’t hear the person on the other side of the call, but i was pretty sure it wasn’t the pizza delivery guy. whoever she was talking to, they carried on a short conversation before beth’s phone buzzed in her hand, signaling that she’s received a text. “oh shit, i ordered pizza and the guy just texted that he can’t buzz up to get in the building since the line is busy- i’ll have to run down and grab it.” she said, after glancing at the message she had received. “sorry to run away on you travis- i would make him wait out there but it’s cold outside. layla is here, i know you guys aren’t close but do you wanna talk to her?” suddenly i was being handed the phone as beth called over her shoulder that she’d be right back, before running out the door with her keys in hand.

“hello?” i answered, putting the phone to my ear.

“hey darlin.” travis’s voice sounded through the phone, and i felt the butterflies in my stomach again.

“hey travis. it’s really good to hear your voice,” i said honestly.

“yours too. i’m really sorry i haven’t called, baby, things got a little crazy over here and we had to go silent for a few weeks.” he explained, and i was so in shock to hear from him i almost didn’t catch the nickname.

“i’m just really glad you’re not hurt… or-“ i trailed off, not wanting to say it.

“i’m sorry to put you through all this. i hope you haven’t been too worried,” he sighed. “what have you been up to?”

“just working mostly, nothing too exciting. beth and i were just having a girls night to celebrate a project she finished at work, but i’ll let her tell you about it when you talk to her next.” i didn’t want to steal her thunder, since i knew how excited she was to have done it.

“is she back yet?” he asked, lowering his voice a little.

“not yet, but i’m sure she will be any minute now- why do you ask?”

“does she know about us yet?” he asked, and i froze.

“us?” i asked hesitantly, not sure if i was reading too much into his choice of words.

“layla, i really like you. i’m sorry if that’s weird but-“

“it’s not weird.” i assured him, feeling like i was on cloud nine. “i really like you too, travis.”

“that’s a relief.” he said, laughing slightly. “believe me, i am so happy to hear you say that, but i don’t think we should tell beth, for now at least.”

“i agree- i don’t know what she would think,”

“i think she would tear me a new one, for stealing you from ‘er and all, but i think eventually she’d come around,” he joked. i could see that, but i still worried about how she would react. “i mean it though, layla- i wanna give this a try,” he said seriously.

“so do i, travis,” i heard the door opening down the hall, and beth walked in with the pizzas. “your sister is back, i’ll let you say hi to her again.” i said, getting up to trade the phone off to her. she was still far enough away that she wouldn’t hear travis on the other end of the call, which i was grateful for as he spoke softly.

“alright, darlin’. i’ll try to call you tomorrow,”

“okay,” i smiled, as beth turned the corner into the kitchen and i handed her the phone, taking the food from her as she used up the last minute or two travis had with the phone.

“i hope you didn’t bore her while i was gone.” i smiled to myself as beth teased her older brother, my back thankfully turned to her so she couldn’t see the blush creeping over my face. i tuned out the rest of their conversation, before she said goodbye and set the phone on the counter again, as i turned around with plates from the cupboard.

“sorry to leave you stuck talking to him, but he doesn’t get to call very often, so i didn’t want to just hang up.” she joked, and i couldn’t help but feel extremely guilty. i was part of the reason he didn’t call her as often, and i wondered what he had told her if she had asked why his calls were less frequent. i knew he used to call her almost every week, but now that usually i heard from him once a week, i wondered if he still got to talk to her as well.

“it’s okay- it was nice to hear from him actually,” i said honestly, although she didn’t know just how happy i really was to talk to him.

“it’s been a few weeks since i heard from him actually, i was starting to worry a little.” she admitted, putting a slice of pizza on her plate. i felt the guilty feeling again, wishing i could tell her i knew how she felt. it was kind of funny, in a sad way; here i was sat next to my friend, both missing the same person, and i couldn’t talk to her about it. i wanted to comfort her, and tell her i understood, but i knew that it was for the best to keep what travis and i had a secret, at least for now.

“i’m glad he’s okay,” i agreed. “do you have any idea when he’ll be back?” i asked, but she shook her head.

“not really. when he left they said anywhere from six to eighteen months, so it could be tomorrow or it could be a while longer. i guess we’ll just have to wait and see. he’s been gone almost a year now.”

“that’s a long time,” i commented, not knowing what else to say. she nodded.

“enough talk about travis though- i don’t wanna be bummed out all night. i’m just glad i finally heard from him. and it’s nice he got to talk to you- i think he gets bored of talking to me sometimes, which is fair. sometimes we don’t have anything to update each other on when he calls.” she laughed. i smiled, feeling a little better knowing that she was happy with the idea of us talking; without the romantic feelings at least.

we both finished eating our pizza and chatted about our lives, just catching up and joking around, until i had to get going.

“you’re sure you don’t wanna just stay over? i don’t mind.” beth offered, and i considered it, but eventually shook my head.

“i would, but i have to work early tomorrow and my uniform and stuff is at home. next time.” i promised. she smiled and hugged me goodbye. i drove home, feeling conflicted. i was very happy with how things were between travis and i, but i felt even worse now about lying to beth, since i had now done it straight to her face. i sighed heavily as i pulled into the garage of my apartment building before heading up to my suite.

i crawled into my bed, still in my jeans and sweater, and started to cry. i cried because i missed travis, and i cried for my best friend, who was also missing her big brother, and for how awful i felt for keeping secrets from her.

my eyes were puffy when i looked in the mirror the next morning, my makeup from last night in streaks down my face. i hopped in the shower, the hot water helping me relax a little. i washed off the traces of makeup that the shower didn’t, the cool cloth thankfully taking down the swelling of my eyelids at least a little. i managed to cover the rest of it up with some concealer and mascara, before grabbing my gab and heading out the door.

lisa thankfully didn’t comment on my appearance when i arrived, just said a friendly hello as i walked to the back to get my apron on and wash my hands to start working.

it was pretty steady with customers for the first few hours, and i didn’t notice one of the regulars lingering around the counter even after getting his order. i looked up to see that it was the guy who kept asking for my number, and i sighed.

“was there anything else i could get for you today?” i asked, in my best cheerful customer service voice.

“actually, i really want to order your number, but i don’t see it on the menu….” he trailed off, and i had to fight the urge to roll my eyes.

“i guess you’ll have to order something else then,” i would usually politely decline, but i particularly wasn’t in the middle to entertain his advances today.

“damn… i was really craving a date with you.”

“i’m flattered really. but i’m not interested.” i said finely but still polite enough to hopefully not piss him off too much. lisa seemed to notice him not leaving, but was with a customer and couldn’t come check on me, so she gave me a glance as if to ask if i was okay. i nodded at her, and turned back to the customer, who was still trying to convince me to go out with him.

“again i’m really flattered, but i’m just trying to do my job. and not that it’s any of your business but i have a boyfriend.” i told him, getting annoyed with him at this point. he looked a little shocked at how stern my voice was.

“you could’ve just said that at the start.”

“me saying no should be a valid reason, i shouldn’t need to be with someone for you to accept that i’m not interested.” i defended. he seemed to finally get the message, and took his coffee and left, shaking his head as he walked out. the store was basically empty now, as lisa wrapped up the transaction with her customer, who thanked her and dropped a small handful of change into the tip jar.

“why don’t you go on your break? the store’s quiet enough and you deserve a breather after having to deal with that guy,” lisa suggested, walking over to me. i nodded, grabbing a cookie out of the display and heading to the break room, sighing heavily as i sat down. with impeccable timing, my phone started to ring in my pocket, and i saw travis’s name flash across the screen.

“hey!” i answered cheerfully, my mood improving greatly just from his call.

“hey baby, how is your day goin?” he asked. i smiled at the nickname once again, deciding that i liked the way it sounded coming from him a lot. my smile faltered slightly as i thought of how my day had been so far.

“it’s alright; i’m just on my break at work after one of our regulars kept asking for my number.” i sighed.

“do i need to come back home and kick his ass for you? because i will if you ask me to,” he said, and he almost sounded serious.

“no- it’s okay. i told him i had a boyfriend and he finally got the memo that i wasn’t interested.”

“boyfriend huh? what’s he like?” he joked, and i could tell he knew damn well that i had meant him, and i was grateful he didn’t make it weird that i had called him that. we hadn’t officially put a label on things yet after all, having only confessed our feelings last night, but i don’t think he minded.

“he’s tall, very handsome, built like a tank- but he’s very far away right now,” i replied, and travis laughed.

“he sounds like a keeper,” i could hear the smile in his voice. “and i’m sure he can’t wait to get home to see you. did you have fun at beth’s last night?”

“i did. i definitely didn’t expect to hear from you while i was there. we talked about you afterwards- she really misses you. i wish i could tell her i miss you too.” i admitted. i didn’t want to make him feel bad for keeping our blossoming relationship a secret, but i also didn’t want to lie to him and give him the impression that i enjoyed lying to her.

“i know darlin’- i want to tell her about us too, i just don’t know how or when. i hate lying to her too.” he said, and i felt a little better knowing he felt the same way i did. “i have some news- and i don’t know anything for sure yet so i don’t want to get your hopes up, but it sounds like we might be finishing things up here soon. maybe just a few more weeks to fix the pump station and then the village’ll have water again.”

“that’s great, travis!” i exclaimed. “does that mean you might be coming home soon?” i asked hesitantly.

“it’s possible- i don’t know anything for sure yet, though.”

“keep me updated?” i asked.

“i will, baby,” he assured me. “i really miss seeing your face. i know things were different before- i mean things are different now, but…”

“i really miss you too,” i confessed.

“i gotta give up the phone now, but i’ll try to call soon, okay? and if that guy gives you anymore trouble you tell me okay?” he added, causing me to laugh.

“i will, i promise.”

“good girl,” he said, before hanging up. i couldn’t help the smile that was plastered to my face. travis had a habit of calling when i needed to talk to him most, and he definitely cheered me up. i quickly ate the cookie i had grabbed before heading back out into the store, which was still pretty quiet thankfully; i would’ve hated to leave lisa on her own during a rush.

“hey, you look like you’re having a better day already- was the cookie really that good?” she asked as i joined her behind the counter again.

“i talked to travis-“

“that explains it,” she smiled. “you finally heard from him?” she asked, knowing that i hadn’t heard from him for a few weeks.

“yeah, i actually talked to him last night too. i was at beth’s and he called her, but she had to run out so she passed him off to me. she had no idea how happy i was to talk to him, and we kinda confessed our feelings for eachother.” i admitted.

“that’s great- does beth know yet?” she asked, and i shook my head. “that’s okay; one step at a time, right?”

“exactly. and travis knows how i feel about lying to beth, he feels the same way i do. i’m sure we’ll tell her soon,” i explained. “i called him my boyfriend,” i blushed.

“what did he say!” lisa prodded excitedly.

“he didn’t seem upset about it,” i smiled, and she hugged me.

“oh layla, i’m so happy for you,” she insisted, and i couldn’t stop smiling. i felt like a teenager again, talking to her friend about her crush at a sleepover or something, and i had to admit, it was kinda fun. “now hopefully he comes home soon, so you can introduce me to him.”

“yeah, hopefully he does.”

two more weeks went by, and i was counting the days obsessively, since i had received the news from travis that he would be coming home in a month. that meant i would only have to wait three more weeks until i would get to see him. he had told beth as well, and she had told me, not knowing that i was already aware.

“what kind of cake do you think we should get for the party this time?” beth asked. i was at her apartment, helping her plan the welcome home party.

“hmmm - what kind is travis’s favourite?” i asked.

“i think just vanilla- he kinda stopped eating junk food and stuff when he started working out to join the military,” she recalled. i remembered when he had first mentioned it, beth and i had thought he was joking, or at least wouldn’t actually go through with it; we realized pretty quickly he was actually serious about it. we were about 19 when he actually left for the first time, and it was really hard for beth, and it was difficult for me, even back then.

“i think that’s a pretty safe choice. there won’t be too many people, right?” i asked. usually when beth threw going away / homecoming parties it was only a few close friends, and i was hopeful that would be the case again this time. i was nervous about having to hide the fact that travis and i were dating from more people, and i knew that the fact that i would have to act like we weren’t together was going to be a little difficult. regardless, i was still looking forward to the party, and i had offered to help beth with it this time around. thankfully she was happy to have my help, and wasn’t suspicious of why i was interested.

“no, the same as usual. i’m considering inviting jacob, but travis doesn’t know him, so i’m not sure if it would be awkward,” she admitted.

“i don’t think he would mind. have you told travis about him yet?” i asked, knowing that i had mentioned that beth was seeing someone to him, but i wasn’t sure if she had told him herself.

“yeah- he gave me the whole ‘if he hurts you i’ll kill him’ speech,” she laughed. “i swear i’ve never met anyone as protective as he is. i wonder what he would do if you started dating someone,” she said. i puzzled look crossed my face.

“what do you mean?” i asked her.

“well he’s always been just a protective of you as he is of me, maybe even more. he never punched any of my boyfriends in the face to defend my honour.” she said lightheartedly.

“i’m sure he would’ve if they deserved it,” i laughed, kind of surprised she remembered that.

“ya know, i actually kinda thought maybe he had a crush on you after that night, but i guess not; i’m sure he would’ve said something about it if he had.” my heart was beating incredible fast, and once again i was happy to be turned away from her so she could see how warm my face was getting.

“i doubt it- i’m sure he was just being a good friend,” i tried to brush it off.

“regardless, i know he cares about you.” she said. “and i hope he finds someone someday, i know his job makes things complicated, but i want him to be happy, you know?”she said genuinely, and i smiled at her.

“i’m sure he will; he’s a great guy. any girl would be lucky to have him.” i replied.

“you will find someone too, layla. i know you said you’re not looking right now, but one day i mean, when you’re ready,” she assured me, and i pulled her into a hug.

“thanks, beth. i hope you’re right.” she wiggled out of my grip and continued looking at the website of the bakery she had found online, at the various cake options.

“hey, if you both get really desperate, maybe you and travis could get together,” she teased, and i tried to just laugh it off. “you guys might actually be a good couple, now that i think about it.” i was more than relieved to hear her say that, and at that moment i really did think about telling her about travis and i. i ultimately decided against it, not wanting to let the secret out without asking travis first. i’m sure he wouldn’t have been mad, since we both wanted to finally tell her, but i figured better to be safe than sorry.

“you think so?” i laughed.

“yeah actually,” she said, more serious now. “oh! look how pretty this cake is!” she said, thankfully changing the subject as she pointed to a cake on her laptop screen.

“that is really pretty- wow,” i agreed. it was a white cake with plain white frosting, but there were cherries on top and space to add writing if you wanted to.

“i think i’m gonna order it,” beth stated, and i nodded.

“i can help you pay for everything- i’m sure with all the food and everything these parties can get quite expensive.”

“you don’t have to do that-“

“i want to, beth. what can i pay for?” i insisted. she seemed to think for a moment.

“actually, there is something you could do.”

“for sure-“

“my boss wasn’t able to give me the day off for when travis gets home, so would you be able to pick him up from the airport? i know it’s a lot to ask-“

“it’s not a lot to ask beth. i’ll do it.” i smiled.

“thank you so much, layla. it’s only about an hour drive so it shouldn’t be too bad.” she explained, although secretly i was happy that i would be getting at least a little bit of time alone with travis. it would maybe make it easier to pretend we were just friends if i got to see him one on one first.

“i’m sure it will be fine,” i assured her.

“you’re the best,” she smiled.

“anything for you,” i replied. little did she know how happy i was with the task i had been given.

it was a few days before i heard from travis again, and i got to tell him that i would be picking him up at the airport. i would’ve kept it a surprise, but i hate surprises, so i decided not to just show up when he was expecting his sister.

“hey baby,” travis’ voice sounded through the phone, bringing a smile to my face.

“hey you,” i replied, sitting down on my bed.

“what are you up to?” he asked. i always appreciated how he was interested in my day.

“i was just looking through my closet for something to wear for when you come home.” i answered honestly. i wasn’t planning on dressing too fancy or anything, but i obviously wanted to look nice.

“yeah? whatever you choose you’ll look great, darlin’. what are the options so far?” he asked, and i was surprised that he sounded genuinely interested.

“i’m trying to decide between a dress or jeans and a sweater. did beth tell you the slight change in plans?”

“she didn’t; should i be nervous?” he laughed.

“no need to be nervous. she wasn’t able to get the day off when you come home so she asked me if i could pick you up from the airport,” i explained. “if that’s okay with you- i mean.”

“of course that’s okay, darlin’. in that case, as much as i’d love to see you in a pretty dress, you’d probably be more comfortable driving in jeans, yeah?” i blushed, and agreed.

“you’re right. thank you,” i replied. “beth and i had an interesting conversation the other day actually.”

“you’re scaring me again, layla,” he teased.

“we were talking about relationships and stuff; she’s worried about bringing her boyfriend to the party when you get home- since you don’t know him,” i explained.

“i’ll have to ask her if she’s bringin’ him, then she won’t feel weird about it.” he noted. he really was a good big brother, and i could tell he really cared about beth having jacob there if she wanted to. “was that all?” he asked.

“no, actually. she started talking about how she hopes both you and i find someone someday, and then said if we don’t we should just get together- she’s decided we’d make a good couple,” i smiled.

“that’s great- maybe she won’t be too upset when we tell her we’re already together then. unless you already told her?” he asked.

“no, i thought about it, but i didn’t want to without asking you first. i didn’t think it would be fair.”

“i appreciate that. she’ll find out soon enough; i don’t know how i’m gonna keep may hands off you when i get home,” he admitted, and i felt my face getting warm.

“yeah? well, we’ll have an hour in the car on the way from the airport….” i trailed off.

“you’re killin’ me, baby. i don’t want you to get the idea that that’s all i care about, but you’re not making it easy to not think about,”

“don’t worry, i’m thinking about it too.” i confessed. i wanted more than anything to be able to kiss him, to touch him, just to have him close to me.

“how many days we got left?” he asked.

“seventeen,” i said. “sixteen if you don’t count today,”

“the longest sixteen days of my life,”

“i know,” i sighed. “i can’t believe it’s almost been five months since you first called me,” i admitted.

“has it? best decision i ever made. in a way it feels like longer, but shorter at the same time,” he said.

“yeah, i know what you mean.”

“but hey, if four months can fly by, so can two weeks,” he said, and i tried to be as optimistic as he was.

“you’re right. i just really miss you,” i admitted.

“i miss you too baby,” he said; and i decided i would never get tired of hearing him call me that. “i gotta go, i’ll call you soon, okay?”

“yes, sir,” i replied, to which he was silent for a moment.

“lord, you really are tryna kill me,” he groaned, and it sent a shiver up my spine.

it was gonna be a very long two weeks.

it was finally the day, travis was coming home. i had talked to him the night before, and he let me know when and where to meet him at the airport. his flight was supposed to arrive at noon, so i was out the door by 10:30 in the morning to make sure i was on time to pick him up.

getting dressed in a pair of comfy jeans and a dark red sweater, and just doing some casual hair and makeup, i had breakfast and got on the road. i had spent the majority of yesterday stress cleaning my apartment; as travis and i had decided that after the party we would sneak back here, since his house had been empty the whole time he was away, and wouldn’t be in a state to host guests; not that i cared.

my hands hurt from gripping the steering wheel so tight as i parked at the airport, about 30 minutes before travis’ flight was supposed to arrive. i sat down outside the baggage claim area and checked my phone to see a text from beth.

let me know when you’ve picked him up! and thank you again! 💖

i smiled, replying to let her know that i would, and that once again, i didn’t mind. i tried to calm my nerves as the minutes ticked by, travis’ flight now only supposed to be 10 minutes away. i had to remind myself that while things were different between us now, he was still the same travis i had known almost my whole life, and i didn’t need to be nervous around him. it helped a little bit, and i managed to turn my nerves back into excitement; finally i was seeing the person i dreamed of being near for months.

when finally about 20 minutes later he came into view, his large backpack over his shoulder, i felt my eyes start to water. i had promised myself i would try not to make a big scene in public, and i intended on keeping that one. when he was finally within reach, he set his bag down and pulled me into his arms, picking me up off the ground, and my arms looped behind his neck.

“hey baby,” he said softly, and i found it incredibly hard not to cry; finally being in his arms after so long. it felt like home.

“hey,” i replied, not letting go of him for a solid minute. he finally set my feet back down on the ground, and pulled away to look at me. i’m sure i looked like a mess by now, my eyes wet with tears that i was trying desperately to keep in. his hands went to the sides of my face and the pads of his thumbs gently wiped the droplets from my eyes.

“don’t cry darlin’- im here.”

“im just really happy to see you,” i confessed, hugging him again, this time my arms around his torso. his large biceps almost fully encased me against his chest, as he kissed the top of my head.

“i love you, layla,” he said softly into my hair, and i could’ve melted on the spot.

“i love you too, travis,” i spoke, my voice muffled by his muscular chest, but i could tell he heard me, since his arms tightened around me. he loosened his grip on me enough that i could look up at his face. his eyes were even more blue than i remembered. his beard was longer than when he left, but it looked like he had trimmed it recently, probably before flying home. his hair starting to grow out as well, no longer buzzed short, and i could start to see the start of his curls coming back in. “can i kiss you?” i asked timidly, and a smile broke out on his face.

“of course you can, baby,” he answered, and tilted my chin upward with his finger gently, until my lips met his. i had kissed people before, but it was never like this, and i realized that i had never felt for anyone the way that i felt for travis. when he kissed me it felt like i was breathing air for the first time, like our lips were perfectly molded to fit together. when we separated, travis placed a gentle kiss on my forehead.

“ready to go?” i asked. he nodded, swinging his backpack over his broad shoulders and taking my hand in his. “i have to text beth and let her know i found you.” i said remembering that i told her i would message her once i had picked him up.

“any chance you could tell her we can’t make it to the party?” he joked, and i smiled, hitting his chest playfully. “i’m only joking- sorta.”

“there will be plenty of time for just us later. your sister and your friends missed you too, ya know,” i teased. the guest list for the party included beth, jacob, and a couple of guys travis had been close with in high school and stayed in touch with after graduation.

“i know, darlin’,” he said, dropping my hand as we got to the car in the lot. “can i drive?” he asked.

“you don’t wanna just relax? i don’t mind driving.” i assured him.

“i haven’t gotten to drive a normal car in over a year, and you already drove all the way up here. you get to be the passenger princess from now on,” he smiled, extending his hand for me to give him the keys. i smiled, placing them in his hand and letting him open the passenger door for me to get in, making sure i had all my limbs in the vehicle before shutting the door. he adjusted the seat to accommodate his height and got in the driver seat, quickly adjusting the mirrors before placing the key in the ignition. “ready?” he asked, to which i nodded.

the drive was nice, an old lynyrd skynyrd cd playing quietly through the speakers, as travis drove with one hand on the wheel, the other placed on my thigh just above my knee, occasionally giving it a gentle squeeze.

“have you thought up a lie for why you need to take me home yet?” i asked him. “do you think people will be suspicious if we leave together?”

“not since you picked me up, no. we could just say you’re driving me to my own place. no one’s gonna check if i’m actually there or not.” he suggested.

“we run the risk of beth offering for you to spend the night at her place though.”

“that’s true. we could tell them the truth,” he suggested. that was always an option.

“it’s up to you. i’m fine with what you want to do, but if we tell them there’s gonna be a million questions… meaning we’ll have to stay longer…” i let my sentence trail off. “which seems like a shame, when there’s other things we could be doing instead.”

“fuck- yeah we can’t tell them-“ he decided quickly, and i giggled. “that’s the most beautiful sound i ever heard.” he stated, looking at me and smiling. i kissed him quickly, so he could turn his eyes back to the road. we were nearing beth’s apartment now, and i realized it meant for the next few hours, travis and i would have to act like we were just friends. it was definitely doable but that didn’t mean it was gonna be easy, especially since now he was looking at me like he was about to pull over and tear my clothes off, which i honestly wouldn’t have minded.

“ready to pretend to be platonically acquainted?” he teased, as if reading my mind, and i sighed.

“yes- but not looking forward to it.” i admitted.

“we’ll tell them soon, i promise. okay?” he said, i knew he wasn’t happy about it either.

“okay,” i said, defeated. i finally had him and now i had to act like i wasn’t head over heels for him.

“good girl,” he hummed, squeezing my thigh again. okay, that definitely didn’t help, i thought. we pulled into the parking lot at beth’s apartment complex, and travis kissed me softly before we got out of the car and headed inside.

the party was now nearing an end, and as happy as i was to see beth and travis reunite, it had been as anticipated; very difficult to act like we weren’t together. the food and cake had been great, and i was feeling the tiniest buzz after the wine cooler i had earlier, but i had to pretend i was too drunk to drive home so travis had an excuse to give me a ride. we had decided that was the best option to get us both out of here.

“you okay, layla?” travis asked, walking over to me, where i pretended to sway a tiny bit where i stood. i nodded.

“yeah, i’m okay. i think i’m gonna head home though. it’s really nice to have you back,” i said, which was the truth. he gave me a friendly looking hug, and i walked toward the kitchen to say goodbye to beth. i found her tidying up some of the snacks left on the counter.

“hey beth, i think i’m gonna head home - it’s been a long day,” i said. she smiled.

“thank you for coming! and for picking travis up for me, you’re a life saver.” she pulled me into a hug, which i returned; i truly loved my best friend.

“it was no big deal,” i assured her. i turned around to see travis walk into the kitchen from the other entrance and leant against the doorframe, smiling. “he insisted on driving on the way back here anyway, so i only did half the work.”

“i appreciate it regardless, darlin’,” he laughed. i said goodnight to the siblings, and pretended to stumble a little as i walked toward the front door to put my shoes on.

“are you okay to drive, lay?” beth asked, and i assured her i was, but bumped into the wall lightly to sell that fact that i was supposedly a little tipsy.

“let me drive you home, layla.” travis offered. i started to protest, but he interrupted me. “it’s the least i could do, after you picked me up today.”

“thanks travis,” beth said, deciding for me that it was a good idea; thankfully she didn’t suggest me staying the night like i worried she might.

“ready to go?” travis asked, sliding his boots on and taking the keys from my hand. i nodded, saying goodbye to beth as travis led me out of the apartment, a gentle grip on my shoulder as we walked down the hallway. once we got in the elevator, travis barely waited for the door to shut before pressing his lips to mine, and i returned the kiss eagerly. my back hit the wall with a soft thud as he stepped toward me, effectively pinning me in the corner of the small elevator car.

“i swear, that was the longest 6 hours of my life,” he breathed, forehead resting on mine as his hands fiddled with the bottom hem of my shirt. “you’re a pretty good actress, you actually looked tipsy for a minute there,”

“i’m motivated,” i answered, pressing my lips to his again, only separating when the elevator beeped to say the we had arrived at the main floor. the door opened and he led me to the car, before driving to my apartment with the help of my directions, his hand on my thigh once again, this time higher than before, causing my heart to beat quickly. after the longest 15 minute drive ever, we pulled into the parking lot of my apartment building, and travis parked the car before walking around to open my door for me. taking my hand, we walked to the front door, his lips dancing across my neck and shoulders as i fumbled with the keys trying to unlock the front door.

“you’re very distracting,” i chastised, finally unlocking the door and leading him inside. it was just a single flight of stairs up to my unit, and i quickly unlocked that door as well, before we tumbled inside. i dropped my purse to the floor and travis shut the door, my body positioned between him and it as he locked the door and kissed me again. my hands found his chest, sliding his jacket off his shoulders and letting it fall to the floor, and pulling him closer by the belt loops of his pants. he groaned into the kiss, before pulling away slightly.

“you’re not actually drunk, right? i don’t want to-“

“no, i’m not. i only had one when we got to the party.” he nodded, before his lips found my neck, leaving lazy kisses up to my ear, as he toyed with the bottom of my sweater again, silently asking to remove it.

“travis…” i whined as he gently nipped at the skin on my jaw, his tongue soothing the sting of his teeth.

“are you sure? it’s been a while, darlin’- i can’t promise i’ll last very long..” he hesitated, his hands at the button of my jeans, waiting for permission to go further.

“i’m sure travis,” i reassured him. “i need this.” with that he kissed my lips again, and let me guide him to my bedroom.

i laid next to travis, our legs entwined under the sheets keeping our bodies covered, my head on his chest that rose and fell quickly as we both caught our breath. his arms wrapped around my waist as i moved to face him, placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

“i love you,” i said softly.

“say that again darlin’” he smiled, his eyes closed.

“i love you,” i repeated, and he looked at me, before kissing me deeply. i laid my head back down on his chest, and one hand gently caressed my hair, the other delicately drawing patterns on the bare skin on my hip.

“i love you too baby,” he replied, and i felt more content than i ever had; in the arms of the person i loved most in the world after being apart for so long. a thought crossed my mind, which made a sinking feeling grow in my chest.

“do you know how long you’re home for?” i asked him quietly, afraid of what the answer might be. he sighed.

“you really want to talk about that right now?” he asked.

“i knew going into this that your job wasn’t gonna make this easy. i want us to be honest with each other. and i want you; that means everything that comes with you,” i explained. he held me tighter.

“i don’t know for sure, but usually 3-6 months.” he said. i obviously wished it could be longer, but i was just happy to have him home with me for any amount of time. “we can worry about that later though. we gotta worry about something a lot scarier first-“ i looked at him, my eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, not sure what he meant, but he just smiled.

“we have to tell beth about us.” he said, his tone serious as if he had said we had to climb a mountain.

“i think that’s doable,” i laughed, the happiest i had been in a very long time. “but not tonight; i want you all to myself for one night.” travis kissed me, and i smiled against his lips as his arms held me close to him, and i could feel his heart beating against mine.

“you’ll have me for as long as you want, darlin’”

#henry cavill #henry cavill characters #captain syverson #sand castle netflix #sand castle #captain syverson playlist #syverson imagine #syverson fic #captain syverson imagine #captain syverson fic #henry cavill fic #henry cavill imagine

190 notes · View notes

chamomiletealeaf · 2 months

Text

A Personal Rant

In September of 2022 I met a guy who I liked so much it physically hurt. He was my first and only guy friend and I think that’s why I got so attached to him. We worked together which is how I knew him. We hung out outside of work, he modeled for my photography, and we talked every day. We became super super close and I told him I liked him one day and he rejected me nicely. It hurt so fucking bad and may have been my first heartbreak even if it wasn’t reciprocated.

We stayed friends though and still kind of are, but he got promoted (because of me btw) and then his ego inflated to the point where he’s such a dickhead now. He liked that I liked him because I think it boosted his ego and confidence as well. So he’s a jerk because of me. Being friends with him and loving him so much got to his head and now he’s no fun. He saw how much better I was than him and he tried to play off my achievements as not that serious because I think he was intimidated I was more successful than him. He saw a girl like me liked a guy like him and it made him arrogant like he’s hot shit. It’s my fault he’s the way he is.

Anyways, he recently got a girlfriend, which is fine, because I’m pretty much over him now. A coworker told me last night and showed me pics of them together.

She’s a nursing major, white, looks 13 (she’s 19 and he’s 20 and so am I) and she’s also a lifeguard. He was telling me about her and tbh she seems really boring and she looks like every other white girl I’ve ever seen but I was being nice. I don’t want to be that girl best friend who is mean to his girlfriend for no reason, but he is really a jerk now, so it’s not like I want him anymore.

However, I still feel upset. I think the reason is because I tried for over a year to get him to like me. I tried so so hard and liked him so bad that I cried a lot and would not let go of the possibility that one day, I would maybe get him, and he would change his mind. And here comes this girl he met on Tinder, who got him so easily. Something I wanted so bad for so long that I fought so hard and did everything I could do to get was just… handed to some other girl who honestly seems to be a super boring person. I’m sure she’s nice but still.

I straightened my hair, (I’m part black so my hair is really curly) I wore makeup every time I knew I’d see him, I’m white passing with blue eyes so I would wear black eyeshadow to accentuate that, and I would wear clothes that were in some way revealing to maybe change his mind about me. I would do things I knew he liked in girls even if it wasn’t truly me. And even then, it wasn’t enough. He says it wasn’t me, it was him, and that I was pretty and nothing was wrong with me, but the types of girls he likes says otherwise.

It’s just really upsetting to me that something I wanted so bad for so long and did everything I could do to try and get it was just spoon fed to someone else who didn’t even want it as much.

I know I’m better than him in every way. He doesn’t have any dreams or aspirations and works at the restaurant I work at. He’s boring now. Doesn’t do anything other than work and brag about how he never even clocked in. I’m glad he found a girl on his level because honestly, I think I intimidated him.

No guy has ever been interested in me. I think I’m too mature and have too many aspirations and drives for them to keep up with. I’m also not much of a beauty standard. My hair is extremely curly, my nose doesn’t turn up all cute and small, I have ethnic features that aren’t considered “pretty” where I live (I live in a very white neighborhood in the suburbs of New York city), I have a bump on the bridge of my nose kinda like Lady Gaga’s, which I kinda like, but I know it’s not a beauty standard where I live, and I’m not very skinny. I’m naturally a bit bigger in every way. It’s just my build.

Maybe one day I’ll find a man who sees me just as beautiful and appealing as the beauty standards, and I won’t have to fight to be noticed anymore. One who would support me and find my aspirations inspiring rather than intimidating.

#rant

7 notes · View notes

udon-udon · 11 months

Text

haven’t had the time to sit down and kinda recap the mamamoo concert trip so here we go, i’ll try to keep it short!

Landed in SF and had a friend take me around San Jose for a lil bit! Went to Trader Joe’s for the first time ever LOL and then got to the place I was staying at. Unpacked and got ready for the next day which was concert #1 day. Went to a really cute cafe that had some local artist stuff for sale, I bought some stickers hehe. We then headed to a mall to kill some time before heading to In N Out with our other friends. Had my first In N Out experience and laksjdflskjd im in love. We headed to the concert at about 5pm ish and the merch line was long af alksjdflaksjdf but managed to snag a sweatshirt, and 2 tshirts, i really splurged. The concert was amazing, I’m still shellshocked, cause I’m so used to seeing them via a video or something buT THEY WERE THERE IN PERSON!!! Anyway I’m still shook. I also lost my hat that I’ve only ever worn once so I’m sad about that... Got home at around 12am ish and we ate in n out yet again cause it was the only thing opened around LOL. In N Out twice in a day? Would do again honestly. That night my travel friend and I only had like 2 hours of sleep though cause we had to get up at 5am for our Lyft to the airport alskdjsalskdf We made it on time though!

Our flight to LA was 7am to 9am, and once we landed, we got picked up by another friend who showed us around Little Tokyo and Koreatown! I loved Little Tokyo so much aaah. Bought Mamamoo’s Purple album (blue vers.) and Mamamoo+’s Act 1 Scene 1 at a kpop store. Got dropped off at our airbnb at around 3pm and met up with the airbnb gang in which i didn’t know half of, but they were chill people! Always nice to meet more fellow moomoos. We went to a well known gopchang restaurant for dinner that night, and apparently a ton of kpop artists went there too cause they had their autographs etc. Good stuff. First time trying gopchang and it’s definitely an acquired taste. I’ve heard it doesn’t all taste the same so maybe I should try some more if i ever go to korea again. That night we slept very well haha

The next day was concert #2 day! Travel friend and I managed to sleep in while the others went to do their own things. 3/8 of us regrouped at the airbnb and walked to the restaurant that we wanted to eat at (which was kinda full so we ended up going to another nearby restaurant). We ate coco curry and then headed to the concert venue! lasklaskd A friend of ours made a poster that for some reason wasn’t allowed in so she snuck it through and I had to be the one receiving it LKJASLDKJF mission impossible shit right there. The concert was just as amazing and aaaahhhhhhh I have no words to describe IT STILL FEELS SURREAL. We tried waiting after the concert for Mamamoo’s cars to come out and THEY DID. but they didn’t roll down their windows like they usually do and they went the other way we were standing LMAOOO twas a good effort i guess. At least their car passed by us HAHA. I got a video of it. We then got home at like 12-1am and then ordered tacos and drank til 5am cause they bought way too much alcohol;;;

Next day was our last day here, in which I split with the airbnb gang to hang with some other friends. I heard that the airbnb gang’s adventure was very stressful and i wish i was there to witness the chaos but thankful i didn’t have to experience it LOL. hung around another area of Little Tokyo I didn’t go last time, and then went to Nucleus, a local artist gallery BUT IT WAS CLOSED AND I WAS SAD. It looked super cool too which makes it even sadder :( Oh well. Then got dropped off at the airport at about 3pm (which was really early), but my airbnb gang were there shortly after cause some of them had their flight at 5:30pm. My flight buddies just sat there and chatted til 8pm, our flight aaaand on the flight we went. Got home at about 11:30pm ish and the end : )

#adventures with udon #i never thought i'd be able to use the moobong in my life after i bought it #BUT HERE WE ARE #udon sees mamamoo

6 notes · View notes

ithinkabouttzu · 1 year

Note

Hello my dear!! Since you were stuck between 2 for my TP ship, i thought I'd put in for Round 2 please haha 🤭 You already have my description! I'm so excited to see what you come up with!! 💖

Tysm for all the hard work & time you put in!! 🫶🏼

Yes thank you for your request again lovely!!! 💗

I ship you with….

Eugene Sledge!

song recommendation: Beautiful- Bazzi

- Okay I Think we all kinda saw this coming tbh 😭like you guys just make so much sense together, it would almost be wrong NOT to ship you with him LOL

- i’m sensing a bestfriends to lovers trope for sureeee

- you guys would probably meet each other through mutually friends, like his friends are friends with yours and one day out you guys end up all meeting up and hanging out, when he met you though, his jaw would be to the actual floor, he would think you are so beautiful and angelic, like an angel almost “Hi, I’m Eugene” with the biggest doe eyes everrrr, he would be so nice and cute that whole day, like if you need anything ever he would be at your beckon call

- by the end of the day when you guys parted ways, Sid would be teasing him like “Genes gotta crush” and he wouldn’t even try and protest against it, because, well, he does in fact have a huge crush on you, and to sid, genes silence said a lot about how much he really liked you, “why didn’t you ask her out then if you really liked her?”

- After a little conspiring between the two boys, they both came up with the conclusion that he would ask you out the next time all of you guys hung out, and sid would be his official hype man (ofc)

- When the time came and it was time for him to ask you out, he completely froze, like he couldn’t say anything, the fear of you rejecting him completely held him back from saying anything to you, at the end of the night you’d ask him, “Are you mad at me? Did I do something? You haven’t talked to me all night”

- And that’s when he knew he really fucked up, that last thing he ever ever wanted was for you to think he was mad at you, “no, no never, i j-just-” and that’s when you finally shut him up with a kiss, funny thing is, sid had already told you prior about Genes crush on you and the plan to ask you out, “If he gets nervous just kiss em or something!” and so that’s exactly what you did

- actually the cutest couple ever, you guys would be so good for each other, and both of you even the other one out so well, like yin and yang, you both teach each other how to be better people and those kinda relationships are always so healthy!

- let’s also talk about how good of a bf he is to you, like he’s so secure and warm, whenever you’re having a bad day, you can always go to him, plus he can definitely understand when you have bad anxiety sometimes or really just all of the bad things that do come with ptsd, you guys would be each others rock in moments like those

- Gene is the walking definition of, “ If he wanted to, he would” because this man never fails to try and make you feel like a queen everyday you’re with him, yk how some bfs will start to get “comfy” after awhile and completely forget to bring flowers, or open doors, or any of the little things like that? yeah gene will ALWAYS do those things for you, he proves that chivalry is not dead yet 😭

- Dude we all know gene doesn’t really like fighting, like bar fights are overrated as hell to him, but say you guys are out at a bar or something, and snafu makes a comment abt you that makes you extremely uncomfortable, Gene is literally gonna beat the shit outta him, like no one talks about his bae ever, even if they might not expect it, he will get ACTIVE for his girl 👏🏼

- it might not be super visible, but gene is sooo passionate for you, like he would honestly do anything for you, he would take a bullet for you if he had too, his love for you runs DEEP and he shows that to you everyday in so many different ways

- you make this man NERVOUS, like you are so sexy and fun, you give him a full on fever sometimes, and he is constantly wondering to himself how he landed such a pretty girl like you

- and don’t even get me started on when you are dancing around him, or wearing some sort of revealing clothing, his whole heart literally stops, no words can come out of his mouth, The expression on his face is pure awe, his face would get as red as his hair, and he would suddenly get so shy, like he would be starstruck seeing you like that

- you guys would be a dog family, it would be so cute, just like you guys settling down on the country side, with a bunch of animals, maybe even a few kids, y’all’s family would be so nice and warm to be around, everyone in the whole community would like you guys

- some nights, it’s hard for him to sleep, his ptsd really comes in unsteady motions, and some of those times are at night, right before he goes to bed, and when that happens you guys usually stay up together and talk about all sorts of things, just to take both of your minds somewhere else and maybe on some nights you guys will even go out for a drive, and just enjoy the nice night breeze

- both of you are always willing to stand up for what’s right, that’s why you guys are such a good couple, if someone is being mistreated and one of you see it, one of you is gonna say something, while the other is going to be backing them up 100%

- canon: okay imagine you and gene have a kid, and that kid comes home with a black eye or something, and they tell you and gene that they’ve been getting bullied at their school, you and gene will IMMEDIATELY go up to that school looking for that kid 😭 Gene will be the one trying to talk to the faculty, like cussing them out, while you’re trying to find the little shit that punched your kid LOL

- okay, so here me out, but i think you would introduce him to true crime, and true crime series and stuff like that, and he would enjoy it so much, on each others free time both of you could watch a whole season of a true crime series if y’all’d wanted to

- canon: one night, while you guys are out at a bar, you are just dancing, having a ball, but for Gene, he hasn’t danced ONCE, all bc he is a little mortified to embarrass himself and doesn’t want you to think he’s weird, you would say something like later into the night “Why aren’t you dancing with me?” and he would be like “I don’t really know how to” and you would be teaching him all the fun dances and dance moves, and by the end of the night he’d thank you for helping him get out of his comfort zone

- on special occasions, or even on random days, he would write you a small romantic poem, it would be so nicely written and heartfelt, that’s one of the little special thing he does for you, because you are so special to him, this man loves you with his whole heart and would do anything to see your beautiful self happy

Thank you again for your request lovely!! I hope you enjoy!! 💛

#the pacific #the pacific ships #eugene sledge

3 notes · View notes

pr3tty-wh3ny0ucry · 1 year

Text

1.23.23

I didn’t sleep last night :/, I hate when I don’t sleep. It makes me feel extra crazy. Around 5:30 I went to get starbucks. I was scared I was going to crash, needed REAL coffee to stay awake. COLD BREW is always a favorite. After starbucks went to class #1 (color theory). Realized my project was shit. it’s ok because I am going to re- do it anyway.

I have perfectionist qualities but lack the motivation to make my work look the way I want it too. This always leaves me feeling like I’m a failure, wasting my money and leaves me with the feeling that i’m not good enough to be at the school i’m at. I put SO much pressure on myself, more then anyone realizes I think… it’s killing me. I need to remember to take a step back and remember that not everything has to be perfect. I need to remember to take things one step and a time. I don’t need to GO GO GO all the time, that’s not heathy for me.

After Design i went back to my dorm room, I was planning on taking a nap but i didn’t. I called my mom. She asked me how I was. I responded. “Tired and hungry”. Shockingly she sent me $15 to go out and get food. I was NOT expecting this what so ever but was thankful, I was planning on eating at a dining hall and that was the last thing I wanted to do so it was nice to go out and grab lunch ALONE. I went to a place called M cafe or something, honesty i can’t remember. But it’s on BAY and is a french cafe

Alone time is very important to me, I feel like if I can’t do at least one alone activity a day I start to feel trapped and overwhelmed by the people around me, I LOVE my friends. They are a lot sometimes.

After i got lunch I went to my second class. Drawing. This class is stressful because my teacher moves SO FAST. not much happened but I definitely did not have all the work i needed done, to be done.

After class I went to starlandia and to get vapes with a friend. I’m his driver for the week in exchange for @dderall, that’s kinda funny lol. I went back into my dorm room to shower and relax. The shower was nice. I feel clean now

My roommate and our other friend came back to the dorm so we could go and get food. The food was decent. Better then usual but not great, dining all food is mid at best. Sometimes it is hard to hang out with this friend. It hurts because I have genuine feelings. I’m not sure if he sees me the same, or as just someone he can get with when he’s drunk and bored. this makes me feel gross sometimes.

We went back to our room and just all hung out. The same friend I went to starlandia and to get vapes with came by as-well and he was with a girl on our floor. This girl made me cry once but i was also so cruel to her so I look past it. I think they like each-other. But don’t tell anyone, This is just a working theory I have because they just MAKE SENSE to me

Everyone left, Now I am here. I should be sleeping, it’s been over 24 hours, my eyes are heavy but I can’t sleep.

I am super exited for tomorrow because it’s wine night in the park. GOODNIGHT <3

2 notes · View notes

seafoamchild · 2 years

Text

it's been so nice outside. the leaves are changing and the air is crisp. i don't like the cold. but the autumn sunlight is lovely and warm. i went to the farmers market today and got apples and cheese and tomatoes and lettuce. and i saw the wood ducks again. they bring me so much joy.

i totally forgot i was invited to kelsey's wedding reception yesterday. she's not exactly my friend, she's lora's friend and i've hung out with her in group settings a handful of times, but i was still invited to the wedding months ago and i totally fucking forgot lol. i made plans to go over to luke's last night and then i was like fuck i have to make an appearance at this wedding, so i did go for like 45 minutes but i was not feeling social and i didn't want to make small talk with people i don't know and it was just mehhhh. so i did an irish goodbye and went to luke's, which was probably a huge faux pas but honestly whatever, no one actually cared about me being at that wedding i don't think. i had a nice time with luke, we just talked and cuddled and watched tv and laughed and ate popcorn and had very good sex. again it was like, i like you and i like chilling with you, but i don't like you THAT much. i feel content with our relationship right now. mutual respect and attraction but no dependence.

after that, i went to the wedding afterparty because i felt bad about dipping earlier, and it was kinda fun even though i was pretty sober and everyone else was fuckin wasted. i forced myself to socialize a little bit. it was also interesting to be at a house party full of people in their 30s. i can't even remember the last time i was at a party. and now i remember that i don't like parties very much. i don't know why i am feeling so shy and antisocial these days, yet i keep finding my schedule booked solid with social plans. i kind of want to camp by myself for a few days and not see a single person.

today i went over to matt's house, the 34 year old bro i've been seeing. i mostly just wanted to hook up with him. chilling with him is kind of fun but he is exhausting, he's so extroverted and all over the place and is constantly showing me pictures and songs and going on super long tangents and then he forgets what he was even talking about and it's just a lot to keep up with. he is very nice and sweet though, but omg i could neverrrrr date him exclusively. we finally hooked up for the first time tonight and i was honestly not that into it. it wasn't bad, i just didn't feel the way i hoped i would. i felt kind of self conscious and just not all that turned on. not what i expected at all, since i do find him very attractive. but it is what it is. so god frickin dammit right? i was hoping i would find someone other than luke to hook up with, but it seems that luke is still the only dude i really enjoy having sex with. i guess it's fine, but it can't be that way forever. oh well. one thing at a time.

#journal

0 notes

ginasneesby · 2 years

Text

Kiwi Gee SqueeGee part 1

As mentioned in the previous post (written in 2020) I headed to the airport to await the arrival of 4 tired and laden friends; LJ, Mo, Andy and Alessa. The flight was a little delayed, so I did end up waiting quite a while in the airport, all the while racking up the parking, but it was so nice to see them all come through arrivals! I had slightly overestimated how big my car was, but people and bags tetrassed in we drove back towards my place, pointing out sights on the way back, that couldn’t be seen because the suitcases were covering their faces – but the thought was there! The first hostel was down the road from my place, it was roughly mid-afternoon when we got down there, and I wanted to stave off the jet lag, so we dropped off belongings and strolled down to the centre of Devonport for a pint and some nibbles at The Patriot. Later, we headed into town to meet Viv and Andy for dinner on their last night, a quick catnap for a couple of my companions on the 10 minute ferry ride, and we stuffed our faces with pizza. The chat coined some phrases that stayed with us for the whole trip; I can’t remember the context, but I think it had something to do with the spider massacre - ‘I like what you’ve done with your hair.’

The first full day we spent going around Devonport and Auckland, we started up Mount Victoria to see the blazing sun shining across the city centre and the obligatory ‘can we all fit on the gun’ picture. Another short ferry journey took us into town and a scenic walk along the waterfront of the viaduct and the silo park before deciding to go into the Maritime Museum. (I got crazy strong memories of having been there before, in 2008 maybe?) The evening plans were to go up the Auckland sky tower, we had planned the time to get a good view while still light but then also see the sunset and city lights come on, as it had been clear and sunny all day, we were primed for a beautiful view. In true Auckland style, the weather completely shifted and low cloud cover blocked all the windows; you couldn’t see anything outside. Undeterred we hung around for a bit and eventually there were some gaps in the clouds which meant we got our view and took some quick snaps. We returned to the hostel for a quick dip in the hot tub, a great booking had it not been the first couple of nights, but as everyone started to flag pretty quickly; we called it a night.

Ideally, after such a long flight, you kinda want to start slow and take a few days to settle, but with such a short timeframe we didn’t have that luxury. So, day 2 we drove down to the airport to fly to the South Island, quick panic after realising I forgot to check oil levels since the road trip and discovered the dip stick was dry, however, the local garage filled me up and we didn’t lose much time. Then getting to the airport to discover time doesn’t exist for domestic NZ travel and we could just take our food and open drinks through security and basically just stroll onto the plane anyway. The flight to Queenstown is not very long, so pretty soon we were on the other side picking up our hire car/tank, I can’t remember what type it was, but it was massive and super comfy with a great engine to get up and over the snowy peaks! Our first activity booking was the following morning near Franz Joseph which is 4+ hours’ drive up the west coast, I took the first stint driving which involved mountains and snow but did lead to some incredible views towards the Southern Alps. It was still cold enough for the ranges to be topped with snow and there was a bit on the ground as we went up and over Arrow Junction, but thankfully not enough to hamper our journey which was already long enough! I had a NZ sim card with data so hadn’t bothered to download any music as I figured we could just Bluetooth and play whatever people wanted to listen to on Spotify, forgetting that the South Island is basically unpopulated and covered in mountains, so the little signal there is, couldn’t get to us… No music? No worries when you’ve got me and LJ in the car, a quick rendition of ‘Joseph, Pharaoh’s number 2’ lead to recreating the whole of Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat start to finish, word for word. Alessa, who didn’t know the show, was thrilled; and now doesn’t need to see it. A fairly uneventful journey, minus a few squashed possums (seriously I tried to steer away when I spotted it and it jumped under my wheel) we found a random roadside pub to grab something hot and filling before getting to our destination around half 9/10.

We woke bright and early the next morning and wandered down to the wilderness tour centre who loaded us up in the van and took us to Lake Mapourika for a kayak. The water in this lake was freezing, almost black in colour due to tannins from the surrounding forest and super reflective, when those reflections involve snow-capped mountains including Aoraki or Mount Cook you’re thankful for the photographer that comes with the excursion. We were in 2 person Kayaks which meant I shared with a person from another group, but I got to sit in the back so free reign to not paddle. I think going across the lake and back was something like 8km worth of kayaking, so I was thankful for the opportunity to not pull my weight! On the far end of the lake, the water tapers into the Okarito River which is surrounded on each side by bush, within this bush is a kiwi sanctuary for the Rowi which only live here and have a population of about 600 total! We did not see any as it was the middle of the day, and they tend to burrow underground, but it was nice to know they were there. We kayaked back across the lake, halfway across we were given the opportunity to bunch our canoes together and stand up for a photo if we wanted. I didn’t wanna fall in, but other brave souls got up and were rewarded with an amazing photo with reflective lake and Aoraki backdrop. With another 4 or so hour journey back to the Queenstown area, we didn’t want to hang around too long but couldn’t be in the area of a glacier without seeing it. We grabbed some simple lunch bits from the supermarket in town and hopped in the car to the Franz Josef glacier walk. A gentle wander through the woods for about 25 mins and we came upon a great spot to sit and eat our lunch while looking at a glacier – can’t say you do that every day huh!? The drive back was similar length minus a jaunt over the mountains as we decided to spend the night in Wanaka, we had plans to head further East the next day, so it seemed sensible. On the way back however, we had to make a few stops as we were going through Mount Aspiring national park, there were some beautiful walks over rivers and through bush to stretch our legs and get some fresh air. We didn’t wanna go all that way past such gorgeous surroundings and experience it from the car window! Our hostel in Wanaka was right on the lake, with mountain views and we found a local pub (brewery I think) for dinner and a couple of pints which, as one of the drivers, I appreciated!

Next morning, we got on the road pretty early so we could get to our destination in good time, we were meeting a tour guide at a café in a tiny town called Twizel. We got there in time to grab breakfast although that then took ages to come and the guide arrived before we ate, it didn’t appear to be an issue though as they sat with us for 15 mins or so while we finished eating. Heading outside we noticed there were some other people on the tour waiting in the van already, I’m not sure our guide told them what was going on, so they just had to wait 15 mins… Anyway, fed and watered and excited we jumped in the van and drove out to our location. What location? Well holy shit, we were heading to the middle of nowhere up the road which is a famous site from multiple movies but particularly the filming location of the battle of Pelennor Fields from Return of the King!! You know, the bit with Gandalf and his shining staff scaring off the Nazgul, or the big fight with the riders of Rohan coming in and smashing shit up and then the big elephants smashing them up. Anyway, it is a prime filming location for a number of reasons, the main ones being there is nothing man made around to see or hear and it’s got incredible and different views in all directions. Our tour guide had obviously been doing this for a while and was fully kitted out with replica weapons, flags and dress up costumes (ears, helmets and cloaks) which we took full advantage of. We spent a good few hours walking around, comparing views to screenshots and hearing BTS stories, plus taking amazing photos because as discussed, EVERY BACKGROUND WAS INCREDIBLE!! Eowyn is my soul mate, so I was totally in my happy place. To finish the tour, we got in the car and stuck our heads out the windows to recreate the horse stampede from the battle of Pelennor where the background performers rode down the hill at around 80mph – we obviously weren’t allowed to do this on a horse, so we did it out the window of a car screaming ‘Death!’ Yea we’re nerds, what of it! The whole thing was awesome, with the most beautiful views and being fully immersed in LOTR stuff, which… most of my companions were equally excited about. Alessa, having never seen the movies and not a theatre kid, thought we were already a bit weird and this topped the pile, but she was a good sport and joined in, although she drew the line at elf ears.

Its not often you find yourself with a day of leisurely driving through incredible scenery like the South Island of NZ, but that’s what we had as our next destination was less than 2 hours away. We made the most of having the car and an easy schedule to stop for photo opportunities with all the bright blue lakes and mountain-scapes that dot this part of Canterbury. It was the right time of year to be in that area as the taller mountains were still topped with snow, while the roads and surrounding area was starting to warm; I hope my photos can do it justice! When planning this trip, I told my friends there are so many things to do and you have the time frame so please pick whatever you want and we’ll make it work, I did not expect top of the list to be a little coastal town called Oamaru. The town is famous for 2 things, the steampunk HQ and the blue penguin colony; but it became so much more!

We were booked into an Air BnB called ‘Swaggers’ run by a seemingly friendly woman called Agra (you know like Viagra – her words) and her very cute dog Laika – Agra as it turns out had a lot of thoughts and feelings about her guests ranging from motherly love to kicking them out 5 minutes before check out time, all at the same time. Firstly, we arrived a little early and that completely threw her off as she was busy painting her roof, we were happy to settle in, maybe take a wander around the small town centre and then head down toward the penguin colony for our evening plans. However, Agra wanted to take us around town and give us a tour in her car, we couldn’t all fit but that didn’t bother her as she just told Andy he couldn’t come; and off we went! Now when I say small town centre, there are 2 parallel streets which would take about 20 minutes to walk up and down slowly, but what better way to see it than to be crammed in a car. Joking aside it was very sweet of her to show us around and explain some of the sights we were likely to see, such as ‘all the penguin shit’ and ‘some Chinese’, finished off with claiming Andy would be no good as woodwork so he couldn’t help her do her roof; I’m sure he would be gutted if he was with us. The penguin colony was about 20 minutes’ walk down the hill on the waterfront and there appeared to be a café/restaurant right next door, they ask you to be there at an exact time to watch the penguins returning from their day as sea and coming onto land to settle for the night. Its obviously difficult to determine when the penguins will appear, but they don’t want them getting spooked or put off from coming back by people moving around; so, we were expected to arrive on time or not be admitted. At the time of year we were there, this was an early start, but we were all pretty hungry having not eaten since breakfast, so we walked down leaving just enough time for a quick dinner next door. Clearly, we could have done with this being a stop on our tour as the restaurant was closed for renovations, too hungry to wait what could be hours for the show to be done we quickly turned around and speed walked up that hill to the car; 15 minutes later we were back in our seats with drive through McDonalds in tow.

The penguin show was so cute, you all huddle quietly in the stands and watch as the ‘rafts’ of floating birds slowly climb the rocky shorefront and appear over the lip before scurrying into their respective houses. There are bright lights shining out over the area they walk but the type of light cant be seen by them so it doesn’t disturb them, they ask you to stay silent so as not to frighten them and you can’t take videos or photos, you know some knob head would leave his flash on. So, you sit in the dim light and watch as about 100 of these tiny penguins appear, nervously glance around and then waddle across to find their homes and mates; I may have surreptitiously got a video or 2(without flash). After they had all come in we were allowed to walk around the site, on raised walkways so the penguins could still dart about under our feet; there was a lot of noise at happy homecomings. We headed out for a couple of beers at a local pub, arranging to meet one of the lads I had met in Queenstown a few months earlier. Without wishing to draw attention to it, I didn’t stay at the air bnb that night, the only reason I mention it is because of Agra’s reaction, which was extreme. I was dropped back early ish and wandered in through the open back door, Agra, spotting me arriving starting exclaiming that she thought I was missing and had been out looking for all of us in the car over night. I ensured her we were safe, and that actually my friends had returned the night before, around 11pm, had she not seen them. She said she had popped her head in and seen people in bed so knew we were ok (so why was she out looking for us?) and when I said how did you know I wasn’t around then, she said ‘I didn’t I just saw you come in’ (so was she out looking for me without knowing I was missing?!) The whole things was a bit strange, but I left her to it and started getting ready to pack up and check out, my friends pointing out to me that its not really normal for your bnb host to come check on you in the night; but as we were on the way out we didn’t mention anything. About half an hour before check out time, Agra bursts into the married couples room and starts commenting on them still being in bed and then proceeds to turn off the wifi so we didn’t have a reason to hang around – which is a shame as it had been such a restful morning… we swiftly packed the car and checked out.

The plan for the next day was the make our way back to Queenstown stopping at a number of places along the way, the good and bad thing about NZ highways is that there are few other roads options, so you have to follow the dog leg; however, in this instance it led to some great discoveries. We started by staying in Oamaru and visiting the little boutique shops and Steampunk HQ which were all a little bit peculiar, I have no idea how this town became the steampunk capital, but they definitely took it to heart. The road out of town took us south along the coast in the direction of our lunch spot which had been recommended to me, a little seaside ‘shack’ called Fleur’s Place which happened to be very near the Moeraki boulders so we stopped there too. The Moeraki boulders are huge spherical stones that cover the beach, I’m sure there’s some simple explanation for how they came to exist but it does look pretty alien. We took some good pics on and around the boulders and then jumped back in the car for a short journey round to the edge of what I assume is Moeraki point or something similar for lunch. This little restaurant was so sweet, it was all wooden and covered in seaside decorations: some fishing stuff, some seashells, some nets, but hung with care - not tacky. We all tucked into super tasty food, and an exceptionally good gin which I wasn’t able to enjoy as I was driving, but I was told it was amazing. At the bottom of the little spit of land you come to the Katiki lighthouse which is situated in a sort of ad hoc nature reserve, technically it says no entry after 5/6pm but with no one authoritative around, and some visitors still walking round and taking photos inside the reserve, we felt we could also go in.

We ended up seeing so much wildlife there including seals and some quite endangered penguins, I think they’re called yellow eyed penguins, which only seem to live in that part of NZ. The view across the water as the sun was setting was pretty sensational so we were glad to have ignored the no entry signs and gone in and we only walked around for about an hour before leaving anyway. Last leg of the journey was a couple more hours and took us into the centre of Queenstown where we were booked in the same hostel I had stayed the month previously. We found a car park nearby as we were keeping the car for a couple more days and settled in for a few exciting days around Queenstown. There is so much more to tell, but this has already got quite long so I’ll stop there and continue in the next post – which I’m determined will be sooner than 2 years time!

#newzealand #south island #jet lag #devonport #auckland #queenstown #franz josef #glacier #kayaking #wanaka #twizel #lord of the rings #oamaru #blue penguins #moeraki boulders #fleur's place #katiki lighthouse #yellow eyed penguin

0 notes

drunkjaked · 2 years

Note

is it tmi for me to ask how things are going with your irl fwb? you don't have to answer if it is

yikes.. we’re in our friends no benefits era rn 😭😭😭 we hung out on thursday? maybe wednesday last week and it was super fun i really love our relationship in that i don’t feel awkward around him when we call things off - he went on vacation w his friends on saturday night and they’re away for like 10??? days so we’ll see what happens when he’s back home 🤷 but i kinda have a lot going on atm and it’s really nice to have him as just my bff, we talk a lot more when we’re not messing around so i’ve kinda missed ??? him in a weird way idk if that makes sense 🫂 it’s not tmi don’t worry at all bae 💌🫀

#anonymous <3 #saxophonist 💌🫀

0 notes

xpeachesncream · 3 years

Text

lowkey (jjk) | 02.

⦿ boo’d up in the daytime

⦿ mackin’ & hangin’ in the nighttime

↳ series masterlist

summary: in order to pass organic chemistry and pay off your car damages from an accident, all you have to do is help the nerd, jeon jungkook, with a few things: pretend to be his girlfriend and teach him the ways of dating.

pairing: popular!reader x nerd!jjk

genre: college au, fake dating au, friends (with benefits?) to lovers au | fluff, angst, smut

words: 3.2k

warnings: cussing, implied sexual content/mature language, kissy-kissy koo, mentions of a boner, mention of sex and cum, seokjin’s still toxic

note: posting this chapter a little early since it’s butter weekend, plus the last part of liquid courage should be up sat/sun. still sticking to my schedule in my faq though, srry loves! i’ll do my best to update as soon as i can. 💗

tags: @taegularities @jimidol @miinoongi @bluesharksandfish @ggukkieland @unicornbabylover @thebeebi @preciouschimine @ladyartemesia @moonchild1 @jikookiekosmos @marcoazz2 @kootaes @wearenot7withu @codeinebelle @bigbootyjoonie @thisartemisnevermisses @maichiverse @ppeachyttae @fairysunooo @secretlycrazyhummingbird @yukiehyukie

"I heard you were in an accident last night, babe. Are you okay? I'm so sorry I got mad at you yesterday." Seokjin comes towards you, cupping your face to look at every inch, every detail. You move away from his hold, backing up to give yourself some space.

"Seokjin, I told you to stop calling me that. Jesus. I'm fine. Don't need you to check up on me."

"Are you really gonna keep that up? I said I was sorry."

"Okay, and? I heard you."

"Really, that's it? Y/N, why are you being like this? What's the real reason?" He follows after you as you make your way to the library. To say Seokjin was persistent is an understatement— he was persistent for the wrong reasons. Like, keeping you close so he had you to fall on when things went wrong with another chick, his safety net.

"Because this is done, I don't know how many times I have to tell you. I'm tired of you doing this so, please. Just go." You slightly turn towards him as you climb up the stairs.

"I wanna work this out with you. Don't push me away. Let me help." You don't respond. He watches as you adjust your bag strap and wave at Jungkook. Seokjin chuckles and grabs your wrist gently, making Jungkook suddenly hop on defense as he balls his fists. Like he could do shit. Seokjin would probably wreck his ass with those broad shoulders.

Still. He hated how much of an asshole he was to you.

"Wait, what the fuck?" Seokjin laughs his rare, deep laugh that he uses when he's caught off guard. "You're hanging out with nerds, now?"

"And if I was, that would be none of your business." You snatch your arm away while glaring at him. You shake your head and continue walking towards Jungkook, relieved Seokjin finally left you alone today. Probably off to tell Namjoon, Yoongi and his friends how much of a bitch you've been and that you actually left him to hang out with a nerd.

Sunmi knows you're being tutored. However if that wasn't the case, she would question you, but she never take their side on shit. She remained loyal to you, and always supported you through whatever. That's why she's remained your bestfriend until this day. The senior chicks Seokjin and them hung around with though? Questionable. As long as Sunmi was by your side and you by hers, you both didn't care much for getting close to them.

"Hey, sorry you had to see that." You say as you sigh and set your bag down alongside of you on the long table.

"It's alright." Jungkook replies softly. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Thanks." You give him a tiny, tightlipped smile. "So, should we get right into tutoring, or should we talk about the details of our deal? I have all afternoon." Luckily, it was quite loud in the loud section of the library. No one cared much to listen in to your secret deal with Jungkook, nor did anyone care because it was Jungkook.

"I do too. I guess, whatever works for you?"

"Let's get this tutoring over with first then iron out the rest." He nods.

"Sure." He pulls out his notebook. "Tell me, what are you struggling with?"

"Everything." He does a small head tilt.

"I doubt that. I'm sure you understand some things."

"No, you don't understand Jungkook. I'm legit drowning. I don't know what I'm doing wrong or where I'm lacking." Jungkook simply looks at you, lips pressed together before he nods. You're not lacking anywhere, he thinks. You're really not. The subject is just shitty and the spawn of the devil.

"That's okay. Well, can I go over some basics? Throw in some tips?"

"Yes, please. Lead the way. I need you." You chuckled, but it makes the heat rush to his cheeks. He hopes you don't catch the rosy tint creeping up on them, so he instantly grabs at the whiteboard near your table and starts to go over the very beginning, the very basics of this semester's OChem class. Maybe a bit from last semester, but last semester wasn't entirely that bad compared to this one.

He didn't expect you to be all that engaged for some reason, but he should have known you'd ask questions left and right, taking the black whiteboard marker from his hand to practice what you've learned with him watching and guiding you from your side. You were always focused, always so determined. You were incredibly smart. Incredibly beautiful.

Honestly, Jungkook go on for days.

The both of you hadn't realized it was nearing close to 5PM and neither of you had really eaten much since lunch. You sit, feeling pretty good about your first session with Jungkook. You feel a little bad having kept him for so long over OChem, realizing you still had things to iron out with him.

[sunmi] 4:34pm: hey babe, not gonna be leaving for a bit. i forgot i had to work on this psych project with jennie. you okay with leaving around 6/7?

"Crap."

"What's the matter?" Jungkook glances at you as you continue to stare at your phone and scroll away.

"Sunmi isn't leaving until later. I'll probably be stuck here for a little longer after you leave." You put your phone down, now resting your chin against your palm, nails slightly digging into your cheek.

"I-I can give you a ride, if you'd like? Plus, we still need to talk.. about stuff." He shyly says.

"Jungkook, that's too much to ask for."

"It's really not a big deal. How far do you live from campus?"

"Maybe a 10 minute drive, the next exit off the freeway." He shrugs.

"I'm going in that direction too."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. We can just talk on the way home."

"Would you be willing to stop by for dinner? We can talk then. Maybe it can be considered our 'first date.'" You joke with a small giggle.

"Oh, sure. Yeah." He gives off a tiny, nervous laugh. "Where did you have in mind?"

"Can we get.. hm—" You hum. "Fire Wings? Down the street?" He almost feels intoxicated watching how your eyes gleam under the light, how they brighten and widen when you mention food. You were cute, and you didn't even know it.

"Only if you tell me what flavors you get." He tries to get smart, which makes you laugh. He made you laugh.

"Is this judgment day? Gonna see if you should call quits on our deal before it even starts?"

"Maybe." He goes along with it.

"Okay. Garlic Parmesan and Dragon." You pack up your things before shooting him a look.

"Okay, solid flavors." He nods. "I guess we can continue on."

"You're funny." You giggle as you both throw your bags onto your backs. You stay in your position until Jungkook comes to your side so you can walk by him. You don't know much about him, but he has a soft demeanor and he makes you feel comfortable. You had only seen him a couple of times across campus, not really noticing him much in class either. You feel a little bad knowing you didn't even try being that he sat behind you, but better late than never I guess? Maybe there was a reason for all of this happening. The way he tutored you today was insane, too— he was super smart, but broke it down perfectly, was patient. He was patient.

No wonder Dr. K loved his ass.

"What about you?" You picked up the conversation.

"I usually go for a dry rub and Garlic Parmesan."

"I haven't tried any dry rubs."

"You can try one of mine later."

"Okay." You suddenly remember to shoot Sunmi a text before she comes looking for you everywhere on campus. Jungkook stays silent beside you, allowing you to do your thing without being too overbearing or nosy.

But, he honestly can't help but glance a few times.

[y/n] 5:11pm: sorry just saw this, hitching a ride with my tutor. don't worry about me! ty ily, have fun working on your project.

[sunmi] 5:13pm: tutor, as in jeon jungkook?

[y/n] 5:15pm: yeah, he offered.

[sunmi] 5:16pm: okay, that was nice of him. if he tries anything tho i'll beat his ass. text me when u get home?

[y/n] 5:17pm: don't worry about him, he won't lol i will.

[sunmi] 5:18pm: kk love u b

"Sorry." You say, tucking your phone into your pocket. "Had to text Sunmi."

"That's okay. You two are really close, right?"

"Yeah, since high school."

"Cool." At this point, Jimin, Taehyung and Hoseok are coming out of the café at the same you two are passing.

"What about you, where are your friends?"

"Um." He sighs, trying to avoid his friends obnoxiously waving and calling him from the distance. You glance over from behind his figure, chuckling a little bit. "That's them."

"Cute. You all are really close, too?"

"Ya, I've known Jimin the longest though." You smile and wave at them, causing them to gasp and whisper amongst each other with huge smiles on their faces.

"I'll need to meet them if we're gonna do this thing for real. Do they know?"

"Yeah kinda."

"That's okay. We should probably work on keeping it between us though." He nods.

"Okay, but. Can we save meeting them for later? They're a bit.. much." You smile.

"Sure."

"D-do I have to meet Sunmi?" You nod.

"If you wanna make this believable, yeah."

"She's kinda scary."

"Jungkook, she's not gonna bite your head off. She just has that look, but I promise she's sweet." That look, that resting bitch face. Really, you could be biased because it's Sunmi. She really only had issues if she felt disrespected. Other than that, she meant well. Same with you— you've been accused of being intimidating and having the same look but you don't mean any harm by it.

"Okay." Jungkook unlocks his black 2016 Honda Civic and pops his bag in the trunk. You do the same, while Jungkook goes to open the passenger door for you.

"Thanks." You smile sweetly at him. He climbs into his seat, hitting the button to start the car and sighs. The music in the background starts to play, and it sounds mellow, soothing— like it came straight out of a fairytale. His eyes widen as he rushes to lower the volume before shyly looking at you.

"Sorry."

"What, no. Don't be. What is this?"

"A Final Fantasy lofi mix." He begins to drive off as you turn the volume back up.

"It's nice. Pretty relaxing."

"Ya, it's nice to listen to after a long day." He pushes his glasses up at the light.

"Do you have family here?" He nods.

"I do. My mom and dad live about an hour away. I'm the only child. What about you?"

"Same. They're probably 30 minutes up north."

"Do you live alone?"

"Yeah, I live in a studio. It's actually my coworker's. She bought the space to rent it out. She lets me rent it for pretty cheap though."

"That's nice."

"You?"

"I live with Jimin. Our parents are close."

"What about your other friends?"

"Hoseok is dorming, and Taehyung would rather live back home with his family and commute. He's close to them. He'll crash at ours or Hoseok's from time to time."

"Are you close to your family?" He nods as he turns into the plaza lot.

"I suppose, yes. I'm just really quiet overall, so they think it's hard to read me sometimes." He parks and you watch as he shuts the car off with the same button. "You?"

"Yeah, I'm really close to my mom. Dad, a little questionable."

"Why, if I may ask?" He comes to open your door again, causing you to give him a small smile.

"He, um. Just got into some stuff." He watches as your body tenses while you fiddle with your fingers waiting in line.

"It's okay, don't think about it. I won't ask again."

"It's okay, Jungkook. Really. Maybe another time?" You look up at him and he nods. He stands way taller than you, almost at Seokjin's height, if not the same. He likes to wear baggy, dark clothing and doesn't do much to fix or style his hair.

He's simple, but in a good way.

You both order your food with Jungkook going first so he can grab a table afterwards. Before he could pay though, you offer to cover him for dinner as your way of thanking him for driving you home. You make your way over to the table he snags, Jungkook silently sitting at the high table with his legs pressed together and his hands clasped tightly on his lap.

"You okay?"

"Ya, why?"

"You look tense."

"Sorry. It's not everyday I have dinner with Y/N." You smile.

"Stop, relax." You watch as he slightly eases up. "So, this deal." He nods. "A month?"

"Yeah, I suppose."

"We have to convince people it's real or else people will know something weird is going on." You look at his hand, now resting on the table. "You're gonna have to hold my hand and kiss me, you know?" He swallows the lump in his throat. Shit, he thinks. Don't know if I can actually pull this off?

A kiss?! Fuck.

"Y-yeah."

"When was your last relationship, Jungkook?"

"8th grade." Your eyes widen.

"O-oh, now I see."

"What's that supposed to mean? It's terrible, I know but I—"

"No, no, no. You're good. It's totally okay, it doesn't matter. I'll just have to teach you to make it look realistic and not.. awkward." You perk up again. "Not saying that you are though, okay."

"I know."

"So, are you.."

"Am I..?" He cocks hid head to the side in confusion.

"Like.."

"Just ask Y/N."

"Are you a virgin?"

"I don't know." You furrow your brows.

"Huh?"

"Look, this is gonna sound really embarrassing and I don't know if I'm even ready to tell my fake girlfriend about it."

"Just say it. We have to know things about each other." He sighs.

"I— ugh." He groans. "I did it with my girlfriend at the time. Or I guess my ex because we had broken up and this was sometime during freshmen year in high school and she came onto me out of nowhere at a mutual friend's pool party. But it was weird because we were just hormonal kids and I was just curious so I slipped myself into her only to slip back out right after because—" He's rambling, but you're doing your best to keep up.

"Because?"

"I-I, ugh. Y/N." He shuts his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Are you really gonna make me say it?"

"Jungkook." You lean a bit to try and catch eye contact.

"I came right away." He says just as the worker puts down your food and takes the number from your table.

"Ohhhhhhh." You say as you nod slowly. "Okay."

"You can just run now." His head hangs low as he slowly slides his chicken over in front of him, causing you to chuckle.

"I'm not going anywhere. It's okay. Stop that."

"It's pathetic."

"No. Besides, I know you'll get better overall, and you'll find someone who will rock with you till the end. We'll work on this."

"Thanks." He says, feeling comfortable around you. You were quick to reassure him and smile at him, he felt himself melting in his seat. Yeah, you were too good for Seokjin.

"You'll have to come to parties with me. Club events. Events in general. It won't look right if I'm always going without you."

"Okay. Can I bring my friends?"

"Sure." He nods. "What do you do in your free time?"

"Play video games and listen to music. Read comics, manga. Build lego sets with the guys."

"Cute." You smile.

"You?"

"Hang out with Sunmi, or just watch movies on my own at my place. Read. Eat by myself. Explore by myself. I value my alone time."

"It's nice." Jungkook's familiar with it. Even if he had his friends around, he truly liked being in his own peace when allowed. "What about outside of the public eye?"

"Hm?" You hum.

"Do we hang out?"

"Yeah we can." You nod.

"Cool." He smiles.

"Is my car gonna be a lot of work for you?"

"Don't worry about it, it'll be good soon. Just might take a bit cause I need some parts to make it look brand new again."

"I really can't thank you enough." He shrugs.

"Only trying to help my girlfriend out." He boldly says, causing you to laugh.

"Confidence is peeking through already, are you sure you need me?" You joke. The rest of the evening, you continue to talk to Jungkook about pretty surface level shit— what you like, dislike, overall experience in high school and college so far. It was a nice, harmless conversation, one where you were starting to see how warmhearted Jungkook really was. How real and laid back.

None of the shit in Seokjin's group. It was refreshing, a breath of fresh air.

Once dinner had finally finished, Jungkook was on his way to drop you off. He had parked in an empty guest spot, offering to walk you up just to be sure. At the door, he took a peek at how clean your studio was, mainly soft colors of white and cream taking over, with plants scattered around your living room area. The hallway in was sandwiched between your kitchen area and another wall, Jungkook assuming your bed was on the opposite side of it. He awkwardly stands at the door, afraid of overstepping.

"Well, goodnight Y/N. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Hey, wait." You smile and come close to him. He swallows, his mouth suddenly feeling dry when he feels your breasts press against his chest. "First lesson— give me a kiss."

"Right now?"

"Jeon Jungkook, we're doing this tomorrow. People are gonna have to see this at least once while we're together." He nods and presses a quick kiss against your cheek. "Not bad, but a little longer?" He complies and presses another kiss, leaving his pillowy lips against your cheek for a little longer before pulling away. "Perfect. Now here." You point at your lips before crossing your arms.

"Y/N, I—"

"Don't be afraid, just do it. I won't kick you in the balls or anything."

"It's not that. I just don't think I'm a great at this stuff."

"Okay." You tippytoe and gently grab his jaw while you lean towards his face. "Just relax, okay? Don't think too much of it." He stays silent, doe eyes constantly on you as you continue to inch forward.

Sparks. Just sparks everywhere for Jungkook.

He feels your soft lips against his and he relaxes, moreso because he feels like he's lost all senses being this close to you. Taking in your scent. Kissing you.

"There." He stands still, still trying to process the kiss. "Not bad. We'll get better over time, but at least that looks believable. Just—" You put his hands down as they were about to fall onto your hips during the kiss, but they fell short. "Let it happen and hold me, okay?" You smile. "Night Jungkook."

"N-night." He stutters as he watches you close the door. "Fuck." He whispers to himself when he realizes he's now sporting a boner. "Jungkook, what the fuck is this?!" He continues to whisper to himself as he waddles down your hallway.

838 notes · View notes

robinofgothamcity · 3 years

Text

♡ "the next time i see you, it'll be in hell" / "you're the best thing that's ever happened to me"

♡ pairing: connor kent (superboy/RotS) x fem! reader

♡ note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes / i was listening to 'esa hembra es mala' by gloria trevi so if you do speak spanish, that's a song rec while you read this fic. if you don't, listen to 'hermit the frog' by marina instead!

"connor please, you're giving ME a headache and it's only seven in the morning," his friend, jake, spoke as his hands covered his face, "wait, shut up, who is that?" connor asked, seeing you with a few friends.

jake sighed, "that's ( your name )," he spoke softly, "she's friends with everyone here. some like her, some can't stand her. it all depends on how she feels with you." you were schools resident 'popular' girl and had a bit of a following among your class.

"i'm gonna go talk to her," connor said. his friends eyes widened, "connor no!" jake screamed, grabbing his friend and pulling him back, "she's a complete bitch, don't do it!" jake exclaimed as he could tell that everything he was saying was going over connor's head.

you fixed the newspaper that had superboy's face plastered on the cover, "i just think that superboy could beat robin if i'm being honest. PLUS he's attractive because you can actually see his face," the day old conversation between you and your friends about who was the better sidekick struck up again and anyone who knew you knew how much you adored superboy.

"hey ladies," you turned to look at the boy, confused on who he was as you had never seen him around school. you gave him a small smile, "uh, hi?" you asked, "do i know you?"

the boy who approached you was wearing sunglasses which threw you off considering your school didn't allow anyone to wear them inside the building. you looked to his other friend, recognizing him as someone you had in your Calc class.

"just wanted to introduce myself, i'm connor," he said, giving you a sly smirk. you shook his hand, half awkwardly, "please i'm ( your name )," you replied as you saw the way connor gave jake a wink, "is there something you wanted or?" you asked again, not knowing why he was still here.

"no, just wanted to say hi to my future girlfriend," you let out a laugh, catching everyone off guard, "please, as if," you replied as you grabbed your friends and walked away, kind of taken back by the new boy.

"he was kinda cute," one of your friends said as you rolled your eyes, "uh, not really? kinda weird if you ask me," you replied, looking down at the newspaper, "well, i'm going to class, see ya," you said, walked towards your AP Lit class.

you sat down in the front, immediately talking to the friends you had in the class. it wasn't even five minutes later when connor entered the class, immediately smirking when he saw you. you growled, instantly annoyed at his expression.

"ah, so you've met the resident new boy?" you nodded as your friend giggled, "he's really nice. made more than a friends already," she said as you shrugged, "okay and? he had a lot of nerve coming up to me and telling me i'd be his future girlfriend," you replied.

she let out a belting laugh, "yeah, he told meghan from fifth period the same thing," you saw connor walking up to your desk and before he could make himself comfortable next to you, you instantly put your leg on the chair, "don't even think about it," you said, not even looking at him, "the desk in the back is available though," you smirked as you watched your teacher roll her eyes at your attitude.

connor bent down to your level, "don't gotta be so hostile, sweetheart, i know you like me," he whispered before getting up and leaving.

your friend, looked at you, laughing at disbelief at both of your attitudes. you rolled your eyes, trying to pay attention to the discussion as you could feel connor's eyes on you almost the entire time.

throughout the weeks and going into months, your relationship with connor didn't change. he arguably became the biggest pain your ass from the beginning of the day until the final bell rang. he managed to befriend a few of your friends which meant that you were around him at times.

you sipped your coffee as you were reading the newest article on superboy, "ah, ah, ah, what do we have here?" connor asked, taking the magazine from your hand, "superboy fan, huh?" he scanned the cover, a smug smirk coming onto his face as you snatched the magazine back.

"yeah, someone who's actually useful in life," you replied as he walked with you to your locker. he had never saw the inside of it and taken back by the amount of photos you had....of him, "aww, don't be that way, sweetheart! maybe one day superboy will actually give you a chance," he joked.

your annoyance instantly shot up as you slammed your locker and walking away, "see ya later sweetie!" he screamed. you stopped in the middle of the hall and flicked him off, "the next time i'll see you, it'll be in hell!" you yelled, storming off to class.

you walked into class, sitting down as your friend, henry, walked up to you, "hey babe," he said, a warm feeling crossing your face at the term of endearment, "hey henry, what're you up to?" you asked, seeing him looking at you, a bit nervously now.

"i was wondering if you were free-," before henry could say anything else, connor walked up behind him and tapping him on the shoulder. he had heard the conversation between the two of you and knew exactly where it was heading, "uh, she's not interested, better luck next time," connor stated, surprising henry with his sudden angry attitude.

henry knowing he didn't want to risk the chance of getting his ass kicked walked away from the conversation as you stared at connor with rage in your eyes, "what do you want?" you seethed as you saw connor's smirk playing on his face, "you weren't actually entertaining him, were you?" he asked in disbelief, "i literally hate you with every ounce of my being," you blurted, finally sick of connor's attitude.

his mouth hung open as you got up from the desk, "do me a favor and PLEASE leave me alone, that's all i ask," you stated as you walked out of class and deciding to ditch for the rest of the day.

"told you she was gonna blow up," jake informed as he sat down in his seat, connor still standing in place, taking in everything you had said. he knew he was being a bit of an ass but he didn't know you were that angry with him.

connor knew he had to make this up. he genuinely did like you and he didn't want to ruin his chances with you because of his shitty attitude. throughout the class period, he picked his brain for ideas until sirens went off in his head.

SUPERBOY.

he knew you were practically in love with his alter ego and he knew he could use superboy as a way to persuade you into giving him another chance. that is if he played his cards right.

you reluctantly showed up the next day, trying to avoid connor as best as you could. you were talking with a few friends, gossiping about the fight that superboy and robin had against a few low level villains in metropolis last night.

"hey, look at connor," jake whispered, seeing his friend practically beat up. you were taken back by his appearance as he had a few bruises on his arms and legs, "are you okay?" jake asked connor.

connor shook his head slowly, his body still recovering from the night before, "what were yall talking about?" he asked, trying to redirect the conversation. everyone looked to you, "someone was gushing about superboy, so please, if you'd continue," meghan said playfully.

"oh shut up, like you don't have robin posters all over your room," you retorted as you watched connor struggling to stay upright, "all i'm saying is that superboy remains the best sidekick there is. did you see the way he walked out of that fight scratchless and look at robin, he nearly died," you continued.

meghan instantly retorted as you noticed how eerily silent connor had became. you turned over to him, about to say something sarcastic towards him until he flopped on top of you, passing out completely. you looked down at him, "connor?" you whispered, "hey connor, wake up," you whispered, shaking him a bit.

"take him to the nurse!" jake yelled at you as you grabbed connor by the arm and pulling him against you, "fuck off, he's heavy as hell," you breathed, trying to steady his weight against you before walking slowly towards the nurse.

you made the walk to the nurse but by the time you made it, connor had woken up, "don't take me to the nurse, please," he whispered, "what are you talking about?" you exclaimed, "you clearly aren't okay and you don't look okay either," you added on.

he steered the two of you to the family bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit, "clean me up here, i really don't want to be questioned right now," he said, nothing cocky or playful in his voice. you sat him on the toilet, bending down to clean his face first, "hey, is everything okay....you know at home?" you asked.

he laughed, shaking his head, "these injuries aren't from my guardians if that's what you're wondering. i kinda got into a fight last night," you stared at him confused, "did you lose or something? these injuries look horrible," you replied.

"course i did, just took a nasty beating before i won," he said as he flinched at the rubbing alcohol hitting his arm. you muttered a sorry as you put a band-aid on a few of his cuts, "listen, i wanted to say sorry for acting like a prick," connor muttered a few minutes later.

you were taken back by his apology, "i knew i was being an ass but please don't take this as me joking but you're actually the best thing that's happened to me since i transferred," you remained silent, not knowing to respond as you put the last band-aid on his knee.

"and if i could have a second chance, that would be super dope, ya know?" he tried to say without sounding nervous, "you better not be joking, kent," you threatened, putting your finger on his chest and shoving him a bit.

connor flinched back in pain as you muttered a sorry, "i'm not joking, i'd really like to take you out for coffee sometime," he asked as he grabbed your hand and gave it a kiss. you agreed as you responded with a kiss on his cheek, "also, i had this lying around my room and figured you'd like it more than i would," he dug into his backpack and gave you a magazine.

your eyes widen seeing what it was. it was the magazine that superboy first appeared in and you had analyzed a few signatures of his to know that it was his signature on the front, "did superboy sign this?" you practically tried to contain your excitement as you ran your finger over the sharpie.

connor nodded, "i met him one time after he saved a few people in metropolis last year and got him to sign the magazine. i figured since you like hm a lot more than i do, you'd take care of it better than i would," overwhelmed with excitement, you grabbed connor by the neck and kissed him.

connor was taken back by the sudden kiss but awkwardly responded with another kiss as you held the magazine close to your chest, "i can't thank you enough for this connor," you whispered, your lips still on his a bit. he chuckled, "just meet me at the coffee shop near the school and that'll suffice," he replied, giving you another kiss before slowly getting up.

"now lets get to our second period before we get marked truant again," he grabbed your hand and held it as softly as possible, "you know how much shit our friends are gonna give us, right?" you said, laughing a bit. connor nodded, "nothing we can't handle," he replied as he squeezed your hand in reassurance.

#dc x reader #dc imagine #dc #superboy x y/n #superboy x reader #superboy imagine #connor kent #connor kent imagine #connor kent x reader #connor kent x you #comics

196 notes · View notes

whydoyouwantmyname · 2 years

Text

Imagine Tony figuring it out……

“Hey Daddy.” You whispered into the phone, as you sat on set, the lights bearing down on you as you sat beside a smashed car, a baseball bat besides you. Your eye makeup smeared down your face, yet your red lipstick was perfect, your hair as natural as it had been in forever.

“Hey baby, so I was thinking you haven’t been to the new compound yet, or seen the team in a while. So your mother…”

“Step mother.” You corrected in a joking matter, knowing that Tony already knew you adored Pepper.

“Pepper and I were thinking that you could come up, and have a BBQ, just you, me, the team in the big, open field.”

“I would love to Daddy.” You started, trying so hard to hide the ping of pain that was trying so hard to escape, “But I’m super busy with this album release.”

“It’s been 6 months.” Tony stated, as your eyes glasses over, tears threatening to fall, as you whispered, “I know, and once this is all over, you, Pepper and I can go somewhere nice, like Hawaii.”

“I love you.” Tony replied, knowing that you weren’t going to let him win this debate, cause just like your old man, you were stubborn. All he could do was hope that you didn’t hear his heart break over the phone.

“I love you too. But hey, can I call you later, I’m kinda in the middle of a shoot.”

“Of course baby.” He replied as you hung up, and looked at the director, “Can we run that take again, I don’t think I was upset enough.”

—————————————————————————

“Sir it is about to start.” Friday’s voice boomed over the speakers as the team gathered around the television, Wanda was flipping through the channels looking for the late night talk show as Vision and Peter bickered over the importance of popcorn. Rodney was pouring drinks, as Bruce and Natasha stood in the corner whispering. Thor had already claimed the corner of the couch, while Bucky slowly walked into the space. Steve however was leaning against the wall, a strong bourbon in hand, as he watched the flickering images on the screen, he couldn’t lie that he wasn’t enthused to see your face again, even if it was just a projection of it on the screen, but he couldn’t say no to Tony Stark.

“Hey, you good man?” Sam asked as Steve casted his eyes to his recent friend, a thin smile pulling at his lips.

“Course Sam, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well for starters everyone is rumoring that the song she is debuting is a break up song.”

“She is a very popular girl, I am sure she has had a million other…”

“And secondly you wish that…”

“Wanda have you found the channel yet? I don’t want to miss her.” Sam was cut off by Tony’s booming voice, as he entered the room, Happy and Pepper not far behind as he reached over Peter’s shoulder and took a fist full of popcorn.

“Almost.” Wanda’s accent was thick in the air as the silence hung in the air after, however it lasted only seconds before she cheered, “Got it!”

“And help me in welcoming my next guest, she just released her debut single, Happier Then Ever, however before this she was a renowned scientist with her father Tony Stark. Give it up for [Y/N] Stark!”

You walked out from behind the curtain, your figure was incased in a sleeveless dark blue dress, that had a somewhat flowing, shirt skirt, your hair and makeup looked so natural, as you waved to the audience. Steve was sure that your silver heels were clicking across the stage. As you reached the couch you quickly stretched a hand out to him, your nails were painted a stunning white color with red and blue tips, and a ring sat on your middle finger. To the rest of the team it was just another ring, but it took everything in Steve to not choke on his drink, something that did not go unnoticed by Sam, who wasn’t looking at the screen.

“You want to sit down?” Sam asked as Steve nodded, both the boys taking a seat beside Bucky, who had somehow gotten his hands on a beer and popcorn.

“So [Y/N], I have to ask, why the career switch?”

“Well…” you paused, your eyes sparkled in the spotlights, but the sadness of them didn’t go unnoticed.

“I’m leaving.” She said from the doorway

“What do you mean?” Steve asked his coffee in hand in the living room, his eyes glued to the paper

“I’m leaving New York, and I’m not coming back.”

“Really, don’t you think that is a bit dramatic? I mean I know Starks have a thing for attention but…”

“Just like guys named Steve have a thing for being unfaithful.” You rebuttaled, his eyes finally lifting

“Well good luck.”

“You’re such an ass.”

“Well how do you want me to act? You already made it extremely clear that you are done with whatever we were, and I can’t stop you from leaving, cause you are stubborn.”

“You could at least try Steve… but that’s too much to ask from you, have fun with your little Shield agent.” You snapped before storming away, leaving Steve to groan into his palms.

“I just needed a change of scenery, I mean I had grown up in the city, and all I knew was my father’s engineering, and Grandpa’s business. I love my city though, and the family I have, but I wanted to try branching out on my own and making a name for myself.”

“Well you definitely did with this song, what inspired you to write it?”

“Well I figured I would have my Taylor Swift moment, and wrote it about a boy who broke my heart.”

“I have to know… who is the mystery man who was so foolish?”

“That’s all he is… a mystery. A man who doesn’t matter anymore.” You smiled, as Steve’s jaw clenched.

“Wow that’s quite harsh, if you don’t mind me asking what happened?”

“I would rather not go into detail.” You exhaled.

The keys to the door clinked into the dish besides the apartment door, and he hurried to change, scared that you would smell her perfume on his clothes. As he tossed them into the washer he caught his reflection in the glass, and saw the traces of Sharon’s pink lipstick on his normally flesh colored lips. He rushed to the bathroom to scrub it off, and hoped that Friday hadn’t accidentally informed you that he was home yet. Thankfully you weren’t in the apartment when he exited the bathroom completely cleaned off and naked. As he hurried into the bedroom he heard his phone ding from the laundry room, and chuckled thinking it was her saying she had a fun time, and couldn’t wait for tomorrow. However that smile quickly faded when he saw the picture on the nightstand, your bright shining eyes, and gorgeous smile hidden behind a thin pane of glass. He remember when you had given him that photograph, it was a picture that Peter had taken the night the Avengers celebrated you getting your masters in Computer Engineering. He still remembered the party, the way the lights danced off your skin as you spun around the dance floor with Peter, Ned, Wanda, and Sam, or how your laugh filled the room when Bruce told you a joke. He watched at the bar as Natasha handed you a drink, which accidentally dribbled out of your mouth as you two spoke of your future plans, with Clint chiming in occasionally to offer his fatherly wisdom. However it was the speech your father gave that stole the show, and when it was done you advanced to your father and hugged him tightly. Steve even remembered chuckling from the couch when you did because your ass looked amazing in your dress, and while he was glad that you and your father were so close, he couldn’t help but realize that he was the luckiest man in the room, because at the end of the day, that was his girl.

As he thought of that night, you entered the apartment, your eyes red and swollen, the makeup of the day slowly trailing down your face as you slowly closed the door. Taking a deep breath, and closing your eyes you called out, “Babe.”

“Hey doll, how was your day?” He called from the bedroom

“Wonderful, I just was helping Dad with a new attachment for the suit. What did you do today?”

“Nothing really, after my run I just drove over to Brooklyn and wandered around.” He slowly emerged into the space and saw your back was still to him, your hand still on the handle as he questioned, “Leaving so soon?”

“How’s Sharon?”

“How did you…”

“It’s all over the news Steve, the headlines…” you paused, “The headlines say Captain America and new lover spotted in the big Apple.”

“Baby, it’s nothing, just them making up…”

“There’s pictures of you kissing.” You replied, “How long?”

“What do you…”

“Steve, please stop treating me like an idiot, how long have you and Sharon been seeing each other?”

He was silent, his eyes still looking into the back of your head, “We can work this out, I promise we can fix this.”

“How long?”

“Baby.”

“HOW LONG STEVE!”

“A year.” His voice was sheepish, you and him had been dating in secret for 3 years, he had even asked you to marry him 6 months prior, yet there was just something about Sharon that was like a drug to him, and he couldn’t give it up.

“Goodbye Steve.” You replied and left the apartment as swiftly as you arrived.

“Well he clearly deserves far more than this song as punishment.”

“I agree, he should hope I don’t write a whole album about it.”

“Well this is the exclusive music video for Miss Stark’s new song.”

And then the screen went blank, and slowly opened to the Brooklyn skyline, with you sitting on a roof, by a pool. You were dressed in a black bathing suit, with matching sunglasses and a sun hat, in your hand was a Martini. As the lyrics started, you slowly got up and walked around the pool, looking into the pool water as you sang, however you quickly made your way into a doorway and sauntered down the stairs into a apartment which was numbered 7418. As you opened the door it revealed a sunlit apartment, filled with pictures, and flowers, and gave the facade of a perfect home, however Steve noticed the subtle detail of antique dog tags dangling from a frame, which featured a photograph of a happy couple, clearly one was you, but the other was a taller, blonde man. As a voice over of you singing played it zoomed in on your changing, the blue fabric of the shirt sliding down your torso with ease as you slowly walked out of frame, and the sound of the door closing.

The lights then slowly faded out and refocus to a front door opening to the outside street, the rain starting to sprinkle down as you slung your baseball bat over your shoulder as your captain America shirt slightly rose up. However as the bass dropped for the chorus, the bat went into both of her hands and collided with the windshield of a SUV. With every swing her makeup smears more and more, the emotions of the lyrics radiating through. As Steve watched he was reliving the emotions he felt that day, and how ashamed he was, however he had failed to notice that Tony was staring at him fully aware of what happened. As her frame hit the sidewalk, and the rain encased her there was a forced smile on her face, and then the phone rang, and her smile dropped as she looked at the phone.

As soon as the music video was done however Tony turned the tv off, “So you’re the reason why my daughter will never come home?”

“Well this is about to get awkward.” Natasha muttered under her breath as Peter pulled out his phone to watch the rest of the interview

“Tony, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“So let me guess, my beautiful, intelligent, amazing, talented daughter who can do anything she sets her mind to wasn’t enough for you, so you cheated. And now my little girl is refusing to come see me here, because of you.”

“Tony I don’t…”

“Stop lying, stop avoiding the question, stop defending people who take others away from me. Admit that you did it.”

“I DID!” Steve screamed, “I did and I regretted it instantly, I loved her Tony.”

“If you did, than you won’t have driven her out of my life forever.” Tony hissed, as Steve stormed out of the room.

“Ummm Mr. Stark, I know this probably doesn’t help, but she just revealed a little behind the scene secret.”

“Kid I…”

“The phone call at the end wasn’t scripted, she didn’t know the camera was still rolling when she went to answer it.”

“Let me guess it was that…”

“It was you Mr. Stark.” He whispered, “And the director liked how much raw emotion she showed when she saw it was you, so he asked her if it would be okay to keep it in the final shot.”

And with that, Tony stormed away.

#marvel #marvel imagine #marvel imagines #marvel one shot #marvel one shots #marvel oneshot #marvel oneshots #marvel fanfiction #marvel fanfic #Steve Rogers imagine #Steve Rogers imagines #Steve Rogers fanfic #steve rogers fanfiction #tony stark imagine #Tony Stark imagines #tony stark fanfiction #Tony Stark fanfic

141 notes · View notes

ticklishfiend · 3 years

Text

Cool Beans (My Hero Academia)

Pairings : Lee!Ojiro / Ler!Bakusquad (minor lee!bkg, ler!kiri with kiribaku!!!)

A/N : aaa this was a rlly cute prompt, tysm anon! took me a while to write this considering i wasn't really sure how to write for ojiro's character haha. i also don't think the toe bean thing is canon whatsoever but guess what, neither is kiribaku and u dont see me shutting up abt them do u? either way, hope u guys enjoy this!! much love <333

Summary : Denki decides to invite Ojiro to one of the Bakusquad's weekly sleepovers, and once they both arrive, is shocked to find that Ojiro has...toe beans? No way he can't investigate those! (even if they do turn out to be a bit sensitive...)

Word Count : 3651

⚠️quick heads up!! i had to add some lines after the "keep reading" so tumblr wouldn't mess up the writing! pls ignore them, they have nothing to do with the actual story!⚠️

REBLOGS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED!!! MWAH <333

. . .

“Here, just glue that last paper down and we should be done!” Denki clapped his hands together with a wide smile, his tongue poking out of his teeth in excitement as Ojiro pasted the last picture onto their poster board for the night.

The pair had been working on a group project together for the past two days, and after hours of pretty heavy research and planning, they were finally finished, and Denki could not be more thrilled to not have to work anymore tonight. He’s had a good time with Ojiro the past two days, though, and wasn’t really ready to just part ways with him just yet. He’d never really hung out with the guy much before this, and as it turns out they got along much better than he would’ve initially guessed. No way Denki was just gonna give up the chances of a new good friend.

///

“So that’s it, right? We didn’t, like, forget a chunk did we?” Ojiro asked cautiously, knowing Denki was one to often forget important details like that. The electric teen sat in genuine thought for a moment, before popping his mouth with a smile.

“Nope! We’re all good, man,” Denki stood from his spot on the floor, moving the poster over to another side of the room and picking up his bookbag, turning back around to face Ojiro who was busy putting stuff away in his drawers. “Hey, um, me and a couple others are having a sleepover in the common room tonight. Would you wanna join us? I’ve kinda enjoyed hanging out with you these past few days so I think it’d be pretty fun if you went!”

Ojiro looked at him with an almost shocked expression on his face for a moment, eyebrows raised and mouth just slightly agape. “O-Oh, um...sure!” He looked towards his bedroom door a little warily and almost like he was confused, looking back to Denki with a thumb pointed towards the door. “Is it happening, like, now, or…?”

“Oh! Uh, yeah Bakugou and Kirishima already finished their project so they’re probably down there right now, but you can just come down whenever you feel like it! I’ve gotta grab a few pillows and my blanket first but I’ll be down there in just a minute.”

“Alright then, um...I guess I’ll meet you there?”

“Sure thing, man! I’ll tell the others you’ll be coming,” Denki gave Ojiro a big thumbs up before practically bouncing his way out the door and towards his own room to grab his stuff. This was definitely gonna be a fun night.

…

It took a while for Ojiro to get his stuff together for the night, wanting to make sure he had everything so he wouldn’t have to walk back to his room in the middle of the night and risk waking any of the light-sleepers of the dorm. But, once he was sure he had everything and had hyped himself up enough to do it, he finally made his way out of his bedroom, walking towards the common area with his pillow and blanket in hand.

Upon entry, Denki’s whole little friend group was sat lounging around the common areas. Bakugou and Kirishima were cuddled together under the same blanket at the corner of one of the couches, while Mina was on the opposing side of the same couch under her own pink and purple blanket. Sero sat on his own little chair, while Denki sat on the floor on top of an orange bean bag someone must have brought from their own room. Ojiro took a deep breath in before marching his way towards them, waving his arm that held his pillow under the armpit.

“Hey guys!” Ojiro greeted with a smile, all the teens turning around to face him with smiles of their own (well, all except for Bakugou, but Ojiro took no offense to that).

“Ayyye, it’s the Tailster!” Sero chuckled from his spot on the chair, giving Ojiro a little nod in welcome. Denki hopped off his beanbag excitedly, speeding his way behind Sero’s chair to grab a purple bean bag he must’ve brought just for Ojiro’s company. He plopped it right down next to his orange one, showing it off with pride.

“Jirou let me borrow this tonight! I invited her over too but apparently she had plans with Momo,” Denki rolled his eyes playfully with a grin, pretending to gag with a finger in his mouth.

“Booooo, love sucks!” Sero heckled with his hands cupping around his mouth, chuckling when Bakugou threw a throw pillow at him from his spot cuddled up against Kirishima.

Ojiro giggled at their playfulness, sitting his pillow down beside his beanbag before sitting himself down on it comfortably. “Thanks for inviting me, you guys, seriously.”

“Babes, of course!” Mina exclaimed from her spot behind Ojiro on the couch. “We love having you around, Oji!”

“Yeah man, what she said!” Kirishima spoke up, pointing at Mina in agreement. “You’re a super manly dude, Ojiro. We were so excited when Denki told us you said you’d come!”

“Dude, even Bakugou was psyched,” Sero smirked, pointing his thumb at a now seething Bakugou.

“I was not PSYCHED you Spider-Man wannabe! He’s just less annoying than any of you bastards; thought it’d be a nice change of pace for once,” Bakugou rolled his eyes, slumping into Kirishima’s chest with his arms crossed like a pouting toddler. Kirishima just giggled at his boyfriend’s little temper tantrum, scratching at his scalp just the way he knew the blonde loved (which immediately calmed him down from any previous rage he felt towards the, quote, “Spider-Man Wannabe”).

Denki threw himself onto the bean bag next to Ojiro, TV remote in hand as he grinned up towards the tailed hero-in-training. “It’s a Disney movie night; got any suggestions as our guest of honor?”

Ojiro sat in thought for a minute, scratching at his chin as he scanned through all the past Disney films he’d watched over the years through his head. “Hm...Wreck It Ralph?”

“Oh FUCK yeah, this guy’s coming to every movie night from here on out!” Bakugou exclaimed, the compliment making Ojiro feel a little sheepish as he chuckled shyly. The others nodded in agreement, Denki getting the movie ready on the TV from his position propped up on the beanbag.

Once the movie had started, Ojiro decided he wanted to make himself a little more cozy now that he felt more comfortable around the group of other teens. He laid his pillow down on the floor, lounging back against the beanbag and propping up his feet on the soft cushion. Denki glanced over towards Ojiro when he noticed the movement, his eyes naturally gazing towards the boy’s now propped up feet. Denki gasped in excitement when he saw something he had never noticed before on the boy.

“Dude! You’ve got little toe beans!” The electric blonde pointed eagerly down at Ojiro’s feet, the tailed teen blushing slightly at the attention. Denki scooted in closer to his feet, looking intently at the little pink buds on his soles and toes. “No way, this is so cool! Can I touch them?”

“U-Uh, sure, just be gentle please,” Ojiro scratched at his neck sheepishly, unable to keep down the blush pushing at his cheeks and ears from the attention.

Sero suddenly hopped down from his spot on his chair, plopping down next to Denki to get a look at Ojiro’s feet as well. “Yup. Tailster’s got beans.”

Ojiro chuckled at the nickname before flinching when he felt a single finger touch down on the pink pad right under his toes. Denki used the pads of his fingers to idly trace and feel around the flesh, and Ojiro couldn’t help the way his toes tried to instinctively curl up at the sensation.

“They’re so soft, I could do this forever,” Denki sighed, continuing to brush little shapes into the pads. Ojiro gasped with a small jerk when he felt a nail accidentally scrape against the skin, and Denki instinctively pulled his hand back in shock. “Oh, dude, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you!”

Ojiro shook his head immediately. “No, you didn’t hurt me, it’s okay! It’s just...the uh, the ‘beans’ are a little...um…sensitive.”

Ojiro could see Sero raise an eyebrow at the word, a small grin appearing on his face as he nudged Denki in the shoulder with his elbow. “I think what Oji’s tryna say is, his beans are ticklish.” Sero glanced at the embarrassed Ojiro, Denki following suit with a large grin plastered on his face.

“Aww, that’s so cute! Kaminari, tickle his beans!” Mina giggled from her spot on the couch, Bakugou rolling his eyes at their silliness. The angry blonde pointed an accusatory finger towards Ojiro, the tailed boy’s eyes a little wide at the intimidation.

“Don’t be fuckin’ loud, Tail, I’m tryna watch the movie you picked out,” Bakugou grumbled, dropping his arm and pushing himself further into Kirishima’s chest as the red-head played with his hair soothingly.

Before Ojiro could respond, he yipped when he felt two teasing nails scratch slowly along the padding on his feet, his leg jerking back only to be stopped by Denki grabbing his ankle and holding the appendage in place.

“Ah ah ah, no getting away now, Oji! I wanna test this out a little more,” Denki chuckled, scribbling his two fingers into the bean. Ojiro gasped, quickly clamping his hands onto his mouth to muffle any giggles that threatened to burst out. Denki continued his slow, ticklish touches while looking over towards Sero. “Sero, get the other foot for me.”

“With pleasure~,” Sero chuckled, gently grabbing Ojiro’s other ankle and scribbling his fingers along the pad on his arch. Finally, Ojiro’s dam broke, muffled giggles being heard from behind his palms as he squirmed in his beanbag.

“Guhuhuys! Nohoho!” He giggled, gently pulling at his trapped feet to no avail. He really didn’t want to kick them, and was almost a little glad they were holding him by his ankles to prevent it, but at the same time it tickled so so badly and he didn’t know how much longer he could take it before he was gonna start to scream laugh.

“Does it really tickle?” Denki asked honestly, but the question only made Ojiro blush even harder behind his hands, the electric teen unintentionally teasing him beyond belief. “I’m gonna go faster, okay? I wanna test and see if it tickles more like that.”

Ojiro nodded shyly, before shrieking at the feeling of three fingers scribbling even faster along the pads of his foot, Sero’s hand still scribbling rather slowly on his other foot, but oh so teasingly.

“GYAHAHA! Kaminahahari! Guhuhuys! It tihihickles!” Ojiro cackled, keeping one hand over his mouth while the other went to grip at the side of his bean bag for support.

“Get his toes ones, you idiots. The toes always tickle worse,” Bakugou called from the couch, Kirishima giggling beside him.

“Yeah, you would know, wouldn’t you Bakugou?” Kirishima teased, pinching Bakugou’s side under the blanket and causing the blonde to yelp before hitting the redhead in the chest playfully with a frown.

Denki heard Bakugou loud and clear, moving his fingers up to scribble along the pads covering Ojiro’s toes. The poor tailed boy squealed, his kicking and thrashing getting a little more aggressive as Sero also moved upwards to mimic Denki’s tickling.

“NAHAHA! STHAHAHAP! IT TICKLES SOHOHO MUHUHUCH WOHOHORSE!” Ojiro cackled, both of his hands shooting down to clutch at his tummy that was convulsing from laughter. “PLEHEHEASE! I CAHAHAHAN’T TAHAHAKE IT!”

“Oh c’moooon Oji! You’re a hero in training! I’d think you could handle a couple bean-tickles!” Sero teased, switching to pinch at the pad with his finger and thumb. Ojiro screamed through his giggle fit, making Bakugou groan and grab the remote to turn on the subtitles.

“NOHOHO! NOHOHO PIHIHINCHING! PLEHEHEASE!” Ojiro pleaded, his eyes squeezed so tightly shut that he could see little colorful fireworks in the darkness of his eyelids. Kaminari just giggled, pinching at the boy’s big toe despite his desperate pleas.

“You’re really ticklish, man! Is it like this everywhere or just your beans?” Denki raised an eyebrow before glancing over towards his three friends on the couch. Mina squealed excitedly, knowing exactly what the blonde was implying, while Bakugou just groaned into Kirishima’s chest.

“I don't wanna moveeeee,” Bakugou whined, making Kirishima just roll his eyes with a smile. Kirishima pinched Bakugou’s side again without stopping this time, making Bakugou jerk with a few choked giggles. “N-Nohoho! Kihihiri!”

“I’ll just tickle you ‘til you help us tickle Ojiro, Kats,” Kirishima teased into the blonde's ear, who promptly scrunched up his shoulder and batted at the boy’s face.

“Fihihihine! I’ll hehehelp! Just quhuhuit!” he giggled, huffing when Kirishima finally relented. They both moved from their cozy spot on the couch, the three of them getting down on the floor next to Ojiro. Denki and Sero had momentarily stopped their tickling at this point to give the boy a breather, but still held onto his ankles firmly as to not let him escape just yet.

“Guys, w-wait, hold on-” Ojiro pleaded with a blush before being hushed by Mina.

“Sorry, Oji, but this is a tickle-friendly group! Might have to get used to it if you wanna spend more time with us!” Mina giggled, plopping down on his right side while Bakugou took his right. Kirishima sat behind him, quickly hooking his arms under Ojiro’s and pulling him back some to give the others access to his torso.

“Which we definitely want you to do! You’re super fun, Ojiro, and we wanna keep spending time with you!” Kirishima smiled, though Ojiro couldn’t exactly see it as Kirishima was behind his head. “And hey, if you really really need us to stop, our safeword is ‘koala’!”

“I came up with that one,” Denki chuckled proudly, holding a hand to his chest.

“That’s...that’s really nice of you guys to say,” Ojiro smiled with flushed cheeks, sighing before bringing his head up to face them. “Alright, I’m ready. Someone should probably sit on my tail, though; I’m really ticklish and sometimes it goes a little out of control.”

“No problem, buddy! Bakugou; tail,” Kirshima pointed with his finger extended towards Bakugou, who just rolled his eyes and plopped down on his tail. “Comfy?”

“Y-Yeah, just hurry up, I’m not sure I can take waiting any longeR-HRG! HEHEHEHAHAHA! NAHAHAHA GAHAHAD!” Ojiro cackled wildy as all the teens around him dug into his sensitive body. Mina scribbled her finger in the hollow on his right armpit, while Bakugou took a much rougher approach, digging his fingers into the grooves of Ojiro’s ribs and vibrating mercilessly. Denki and Sero continued their incessant assault upon his so-called “toe beans,” scribbling wildly with their fingernails and leaving Ojiro an absolute mess underneath them. Kirishima got a little bored just being Ojiro’s physical captor, and took to blowing teasing air along the backs of Ojiro’s ears, which resulted in him scrunching up his neck with high-pitched squeals.

“Aww, he’s so ticklish!” Mina cooed, massaging circles with her thumb into Ojiro’s armpit, making the teen jerk and writhe under her assault with vicious cackles.

“It’s fucking hilarious, he’s losing his goddamn mind,” Bakugou chuckled, moving his fingers down to pinch along Ojiro’s sides right above his hips. Ojiro screamed, thrashing under their hold with desperate cackles and pleas.

“NAHAHAHA! BAHAHAHKUGOGOGOU! NAHAT THEHEHERE!” Ojiro’s eyes were squeezed tightly shut, his body trying desperately to wiggle away from those torturous fingers that refused to relent on his sensitive sides.

“Aww, someone’s got really ticklish sides!” Denki teased, pinching at Ojiro’s big toe pad while having to hold on to his ankle for dear life so he didn’t kick it out of his pin.

“PLEHEHEHEASE! I CAHAHAHAN’T!!” he bursted, his body trying to curl in on itself from the ticklish sensations. “I’LL DOHOHO ANYTHIHIHING!”

“Looks like we’ve got a beggar,” Sero chuckled, scratching relentlessly at those little beans. “Tell you what, Oji; promise to come to our next sleepover and you’ve got a deal.”

“I PROHOHOMISE! I PROHOMISE JUHUHUST PLEHEHEHASE! NO MOHOHORE TIHIHICKLES!” Ojiro begged through his giggling mirth. Those fingers against his sides just would not let up, as Bakugou was quite the mean tickler he’d come to find out, and he really didn’t know how much longer he could stand it. It was incessant, it was torturous, it was...it was so much fun.

“Oh yeah? You wanna bring us some snacks too?” Bakugou added, one hand continuing it’s deathly ticklish attack on the boy’s sides, while the other took to scribbling along Ojiro’s stomach and pinching at the pudge when he felt absolutely necessary.

“YEHEHES! ANYTHIHIHING!”

“Hmmm...what snacks do you guys like for a movie?” Denki asked, as if he wasn’t in the middle of pinching and scribbling at his friend’s sensitive feet and making the boy thrash and cackle cries of mirth underneath him. “I could probably go for some sour gummy worms. Sero?”

“Oh, definitely some Reeses Pieces. Goes great with popcorn,” Sero grinned, looking calmly towards Bakugou who was very evilly grinning while squeezing torturously along Ojiro’s sides. “Bakugou?”

“Hot Cheetos, easy. Forget those next time and this will look like child’s play in comparison,” Bakugou chuckled lowly, Denki raising an eyebrow at him.

“Dude...this is child’s play. We’re literally having a tickle fight right now,” Denki grinned, the background melody of Ojiro’s desperate cackles making him giggle from the contagion.

“SHUT UP, SPARKY!” Bakugou yelled, which only made him drill even harder into the boy’s sensitive flesh.

“NAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEHEHEHASE STAHAHAHP! ANYTHING YOHOHU WAHAHAHNT! I CAN’T TAHAHAHAKE IHIHIT!”

“Alright, alright, just two more snacks for you to jot on your mental list and you’ll be good to go!” Kirishima hyped the cackling boy underneath him, but looked to his friends to mentally tell them, ‘give the boy a second to breathe.’ They all slowed their tickling down some, still not relenting fully, but instead reducing Ojiro to a pile of happy, giddy giggles instead of the desperate cackling cries he had just seconds before. Kirishima smiled at the adorable sound. “I’ll take...hmm...I’ll take some jerky! Mina?”

Mina stopped her assault on the boy entirely, Ojiro opening a tear-filled eye to glance at her through his giggles. “I’m more of a fruit girl, so I’ll have to go with…” Mina grinned, pulling up Ojiro’s shirt to reveal his bare tummy, her face leaning down close enough where the boy could feel her breath brush against the skin, sending goosebumps across the expanse. He sucked in his stomach much to no avail. Mina smirked evilly up at Ojiro, his eyes now wide and his mouth still spilling giggle after giggle from the slowly tickling fingers along his side and feet. “...raspberries.”

Ojiro’s eyes widened. “No! Nonono, not thahahat! Wahahait, Mina pleheh-EHEASE! GYAHAHA STAHAHAP! NAHAHAHA!” Ojiro cackled and kicked as he felt Mina place teasing raspberry after teasing raspberry along his bare and ticklish tummy, He wiggled and squirmed to no avail until Mina finally let up, sitting up and back against her hands on the floor with her own little giggle.

Everyone finally stopped their tickling, letting go of the boy’s limbs and backing off to let him breathe. Denki chuckled at Ojiro’s heaving breaths and residual giggles, patting his calf in comfort. “You okay, Oji?”

Ojiro just nodded with a giggle, holding up a big thumbs up. “Yuhup, all good here.”

Kirishima smiled widely, clapping his hands together once before patting Ojiro on the shoulder in support, shaking the boy around a little. “You did great, man! Way better than I could ever handle a good tickling!” the redhead chuckled.

“Yeah, man, you were a total champ,” Sero grinned, holding up two thumbs up to the tailed boy who just smiled back at him.

“I’ll go grab you some water from the kitchen, cutie! Get comfy on the couch, I’ll take the beanbag,” Mina ruffled his hair as she stood from her spot on the floor, skipping her way to the kitchen to grab him a glass of water. He watched her leave, seeing Bakugou stand up from the corner of his eye. The explosive teen just plopped back down on his spot on the couch like nothing had happened, unpausing the movie and making grabby hands towards Kirishima. The redhead just chuckled and obeyed the boy, getting up and throwing himself on the couch to cuddle Bakugou back under their shared blanket.

Denki just rolled his eyes at the gross lovey-dovey display, standing up and offering a hand to Ojiro. “Seriously, man, you’re getting that other spot on the couch after all that. Waaay comfier than this old beanbag,” Denki smiled as Ojiro took Denki’s hand, letting out a huff of air as he pulled Ojiro off the floor. Ojiro plopped himself down on the couch tiredly, letting out a small ‘oof!’ when Sero threw his pillow at him before laying his blanket down on top of him.

“Get comfy, we sleep in here,” Sero smiled before walking back towards his own seat. Mina finally made it back from the kitchen, handing Ojiro the glass of water with a smile.

Ojiro just sat there, almost dumbfounded for a moment at their kindness. “Um...thanks, guys. You’re all like...super duper nice.”

“Aww, babes!” Mina pouted happily, her hands shooting to her chest over the spot that contained her swelling heart. “You’re such a sweetheart, of course we’d be nice to you!”

“Can you guys shut the fuck up already? Shit, I’m tryna watch the goddamn movie,” bakugou grumbled, pouting like a child against Kirishima’s chest.

Ojiro really couldn’t have asked for a better group of friends, and he was so happy they felt the same way about him.

. . .

A/N : aaa i hope u enjoyed that!! if u did, pls consider reblogging, it helps my fic to reach more ppl!! much love to u all, mwah!! <33

#tickle fic #my fic #tickling #tickle community #mha #my hero academia #bnha #boku no hero academia #anime tickles #anime tickling #katsuki bakugou #kirishima eijrio #denki kaminari #sero hanta #mina ashido #ojiro mashirao #bakuquad #mha tickles #mha tickling

257 notes · View notes