#i cook for my family. i cook for my coworkers. i cook for my friends

[raviollies]

This chapter hit me like a fucking truck - because it's the first time I've ever seen someone describe loneliness/desire for friends with food....As you guys know I love cooking. I love food. It's why this manga appealed to me so much - cooking for other's is my love language. I love making meals and people eating them. It brings me joy - and eating alone makes me very sad and lonely (In my apartment I try to only eat while on call...eating breakfast alone always makes me feel lonely).

Its why I have restaurants I always wanted to try but never go - the point of a meal to me is to share it with someone. It will never taste as good alone, at least to me...I'm glad I'm not alone in this feeling, and that it got put into words. Anytime I mentioned this people told me 'who cares just go alone' afdgh

#MAN. THIS MANGA GOT ME TEARY EYED SOMETIMES #i love cooking. i love food. i love sharing it. #i cook for my family. i cook for my coworkers. i cook for my friends #whenever I eat my lunch I always offer to my cowokers every time... #and why I always try to share as many meals with my family or on call as i can #dungeon meshi spoilers

[hellodahliah]

curious question:

what is your favourite club that came with get together? why is it your favorite club?

If you have created clubs yourself, what kind of club did you create?

#nonsims #let's discuss #i don't think i have a fav #but i have played a lot with the paragon sims #and have had sims be invited to the avant gardes club #however it annoys me a bit how often they need to use the bathroom #i created a poker club for bob pancakes where he gathers all the dad in his man grotto to play poker #bob eliza nancy her husband bella and mortimer are part of an old club named copperdale class 00 #i imagine they were a friendgroup bavk when they went to copperdale and decided to stay in contact after graduating... #they friend group exist but a lot of them have grown apart #then i made a voidcritter club with some kids #and a parent club for moms who like to meet #gossip about other parents have their kids and toddlers interact and share parenting tips #and jesminder has a small private cooking group with one of my ocs... they make ethnic delicacies together #and because it annoys me how most sims have no relationships outside theor family and household i made career groups so sims with careers #would at least know their coworkers

[daiseukiis]

hii how have you been?

i miss my family 🧍‍♀️

#my mom sent me a video about once your child leaves the mom also needs them #to like be there for them when their mom is stressed when their mom misses them #and i cried for a bit bc i argued with my mom a lot #we didnt see eye to eye but i really do think my mom still thinks of me as her little girl #bc despite not being as close i am to my mom compared to my dad i felt like i had so much burdens for being the eldest and girl #so sometimes i would get upset that my brother would get some special treatment from my mom #idk now i just rlly miss her cuz i miss actly waking up to have brekkie w her #i rlly missed cooking w her b4 i didnt like it bc i thought it was bothersome but now i miss it a lot and her cooking !!! #one of my roommates are husband and wife and i helped cut up the onions and garlic for her bc she started crying from the onions #and then i just completely rmbrd how many times my mom would ask me to help her cook and it makes me miss jmy family !! #i dont rlly get homesick often but i have been in a few arguments w my husband but its like those small quarrels where we're both #tired stressed n feeling defeated like there was no wrong but mentally tapped out #i feel hella lonely tbh ion have many friends outside from me talking to my roommates or my coworkers #and i go once a month to my friends thats an hour and half away but i never mind the travel bc their family treats me well #im supposed to go today but our plans got cancelled and since the travel is far i usually sleepover we were gonna watch a movie !! #we were gonna go watch the mario movie but i might go by myself w my teddy bear #or i'll ask my coworker maybe #but yeah other than that im just trying to survive xoxo im so tired #im also getting so much free cosmetics skincare and fragrances at work that i cant even use all of it #tha shit is displayed on my shelves just cuz #but so excited for my smau heheheheh #༊*·˚ koca has heard your wish #༊*·˚ a kiss of blessing #༊*·˚ a wish upon a goddess #༊*·˚ freddie <3

[jewishvitya]

When this says Israelis don't empathize with Palestinians. A warning for racism and heavy dehumanization.

And I'm going to reiterate the reminder that I grew up in the settlements in the West Bank, I lived the most extreme version of everything.

I remember being a kid and being taught that Palestinians don't care about their children. I was taught they see their children as tools of war. A Palestinian child was a weapon meant to kill me. There were political cartoons of Palestinian mothers strapping suicide bombing belts to their children.

And so when we saw a video of a Palestinian parent grieving the death of a child, it was claimed to be a performance. The language was things like "look at how they're milking it." I was taught not to believe their grief. How far do you have to dehumanize a person, to think a parent's grief over their child isn't genuine.

When I was a teenager on my first job at a bakery, I had a Palestinian coworker. He showed me pictures of his wife and his son, and I was confronted with the fact that he was a proud and loving father to a healthy and happy toddler.

He was very kind. I was awful at paying attention to the time, but he noticed when I was working for too long. He'd make me a sandwich and tell me to take a break. He often sat with me and we'd talk. Compare kosher laws with halal, chat about similarities and differences. He taught me how to check grain correctly before cooking it.

I told my family members about him. They told me he's trying to seduce me, to steal me away, and urged me to be careful. "They can never really be your friends."

When I got married, I told him "next time you see me, I'll be wearing a headscarf" (because for Jewish religious women it's usually a married thing) and he was so unbelievably happy for me. We talked about how regal headscarves look. It's how I always felt wearing them.

I told my family members. They kinda rolled their eyes and said "maybe he's one of the good ones."

The mentality is כבדהו וחשדהו. "respect them, and suspect them." I don't see respect, but I do see how every Palestinian is treated as untrustworthy. And it's so pervasive that my child was told this by a teacher.

#riki babbles

[astrosky33]

HOW YOU CAN GAIN WEALTH

THE 11TH HOUSE AND FINANCIAL GAINS

The 11th house in astrology is known for representing friends, socialization, technology, hopes/wishes, etc. However, a lot of people don’t know it also represents material gains (which includes financial gains)

The 10th house represents your career and the 2nd house represents money, so using Derivative Astrology you count 2 houses including 10 (10,11) meaning the 11th house gives insight on money made from your career

This is an underrated placement to check for your long term career to see which career path you should go down in order to make the most money. I discuss this in my readings

ARIES 11H: You can benefit the most financially from careers where you motivate others or ones that motivate you. You would struggle financially in careers you weren’t passionate about. Careers involving courage, athletics, physical fighting/aggression, tattoos, war, heat/fire, confidence, energy, enthusiasm, and/or lust would suit you best (Example- personal trainer)

TAURUS 11H: You can benefit the most financially from careers that bring sentimentality to your life. You would struggle financially in careers that were too high stress. Careers involving material items, beauty, romance/love, art/artistry, pleasures, festivities, your voice, and/or luxury would suit you best (Example- singer)

GEMINI 11H: You can benefit the most financially from careers that let you communicate your ideas. You would struggle financially in careers that didn’t require much communicating. Careers involving literature/writing, social media, the mind, speaking, lower education, short trips, ground transportation, trading, the press, gossip, and/or math would suit you best (Example- social media influencer)

CANCER 11H: You can benefit the most financially from careers that are an emotional outlet for you. You would struggle financially in careers that make you suppress all your feelings. Careers involving emotional expression, family, homes/houses, taking care of people, femininity, the ocean, fertility/pregnancy, baking/cooking, and/or boobs would suit you best (Example- real estate agent)

LEO 11H: You can benefit the most financially from careers that allow you to be in the spotlight and shine. You would struggle in careers that you never get to express yourself creatively in. Careers involving drama, your talents, happiness, development, pride, the ego, identity, festivals, royalty, creativity, attention/spotlight, entertainment, and/or leadership would suit you best (Example- actor)

VIRGO 11H: You can benefit the most financially from careers where you can put your analytical nature to use. You would struggle financially in careers where you couldn’t seem to voice your opinion. Careers involving analyzing with reason, health/fitness, literary works, the mind, and/or routine would suit you best (Example- author)

LIBRA 11H: You can benefit the most financially from careers where you’re expressing yourself artistically. You would struggle financially in careers where you can’t have a balance of work and play. Careers involving art, beauty, fashion, harmony/harmonies, romance, pleasures, compromise/cooperation, values, and/or festivities would suit you best (Example- dancer)

SCORPIO 11H: You can benefit the most financially from careers where you use your power for good and that you feel powerful in. You would struggle financially in careers where you have no control. Careers involving transformation, mystery/crime, surgery, sex, athletics, tattoos, aggression, and/or heat/fire would suit you best (Example- surgeon)

SAGITTARIUS 11H: You can benefit the most financially from careers where you’re learning something new daily or going on new adventures daily. You would struggle financially in careers where you’re surrounded by negativity or negative coworkers. Careers involving travel, law/justice, teaching, religion/spirituality, gambling, honesty, and/or fulfillment would suit you best (Example- lawyer)

CAPRICORN 11H: You can benefit the most financially from careers where there’s stability. You would struggle financially in careers where there’s lack of consistency in your income or just in general. Careers involving business, being the boss, responsibility, confinement, restriction, old age, and/or bones would suit you best (Example- manager)

AQUARIUS 11H: You can benefit the most financially from careers where you have freedom. You would struggle financially in careers where you can’t create/invent new things and be your unique self. Careers involving technology, politics, socialization/groups/friendship, invention, film, fluctuation, rebellion, electricity, natural disasters/science, chaos, p*rnography, and/or followers would suit you best (Example- film producer)

PISCES 11H: You can benefit the most financially from careers that are an escape for you. You would struggle financially in careers that cause you lots of confusion. Careers involving compassion/kindness, spirituality, disguise, glamour, idealization, hypnotism, music, disappearance, and/or the hidden would suit you best (Example- model)

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#11th house #11th house in astrology #money astrology #financial gains #wealth astrology #wealth #astro community #astrology #zodiac #astro placements #astrology tumblr #astro chart #birth chart #derivative astrology

[moominsuki]

✎ᝰ BAKUGOU KATSUKI ; — anyone would be silly not to love you, katsuki.

࿄ ! warnings — f!reader, no warnings. so fluffy it’s sickeningly sweet.

katsuki knows that he’s a little difficult to deal with sometimes. to love is a different story altogether.

from a young age, he never really cared about what others thought about him. he wasn’t interested in friends, tolerated his family and he didn’t care for women at all. and at 16, he deemed this to be a perfect way to live.

well, now he was 22. who knew that loneliness would hit him in tumultuous spouts of self loathing and bitterness? not him, that’s for sure. he sees his friends getting into relationships and while he’s thankful that they always include him in things despite his brash attitude and sharp tongue, there’s an embittered taste on his tongue that lingers when he sees kirishima and his girlfriend.

katsuki doesn’t think he’s particularly unattractive either and women do approach him; unfortunately, they’re left sour by his mannerisms and deadpan tone of voice. at 18, he didn’t care that girls didn’t really understand him. but four years is a heck of a long time to change your view on things: things being love.

you tell him that anyone would be silly not to love him.

katsuki has known you since he was a stupid, brooding adolescent kid. he thinks it’s a blessing and a curse that you came into his life so forcefully, uprooting yourself and plopping your ass into the middle of it. he’d never tell you but sometimes when he’s on blind dates with the next girl that denki thinks is “the one,” all he can think about is you: especially when his forgettable date orders your favourite, barbecued duck noodle soup, to be exact and he remembers when you made that for him on his 18th birthday.

when you come over to his place to cook dinner and watch a film, you ask about his date and katsuki alludes to the failure of it and that she also “eats really noisily,” a pet peeve of the blond’s. you frown cutely, like you always do when he tells you about the flings that don’t go well.

“well, anyone would be silly not love you, katsuki,” you’d always say and it was routinely with the way he’d stand behind the kitchen island and you’d smile at him, eyes crinkled and shining, making a raspy breath hitch in his throat.

and when dinner was ready, you’d set out both your bowls of dumplings and duck and sometimes you’d put on a netflix show that you really like (katsuki thinks netflix sucks but for you, he’d watch paint dry); however, this time, you opt to just talking, catching up on your day and the plans for the week.

“y’know, blind dates aren’t all they’re cracked up to be anyway. statistically speaking, your soulmate is probably someone you’ve known all your life,” you say candidly, slurping noisily and katsuki watches you thoughtfully before scoffing, all bemused.

“i speak to maybe four women, including you and my ma. great odds,” and you giggle at that, making his heart jump while some soup dribbles down your chin.

“there’s someone out there for everyone, okay! and who are the other women besides me and your mom?” you raise a brow jokingly and katsuki lifts a hand to softly flick at your head.

“just coworkers. like i said, the odds ain’t great,” he grumbles and you rub at the spot on your head before resting your hand on top of his and lifting it back up to press it to your warm cheek.

“you have me! am i not enough woman for you?”

katsuki’s eyes soften and his thumb subconsciously rubs across your skin.

“plenty ‘nuff woman for me. don’t know who else could put up with me,” he says earnestly and both your eyes widen almost comically at the words that slipped out of his mouth.

he’s about to dejectedly pull his hand away when you slightly lean into his touch, “it’s like i said. anyone would be silly not to love you,” and you angle your face so your plump lips kiss into his thumb.

you decide not to comment on the reddening tips of his ears and the pink dusting across the golden specks of freckles on his cheekbones, to save him from the embarrassment.

maybe it’s the years from knowing katsuki that allows you to always say the 8 words: from seeing him transition from a brash, harsh, emotionally constipated 17 year old who was at least three inches shorter than you (he would vehemently deny the passing of time in which you would tower over him) to an almost 23 year old man, who picks you up from school most days, who’d wash your makeup off when you got too heavy handed with the liquor, who knows your order at the local chinese off by heart and who is now definitely almost a foot taller than you.

before katsuki washes up, he shyly asks you to stay the night - in his own roundabout way of being timid, which includes his heavy voice and a seldom amount of eye contact - and you normally do sometimes, with him sleeping on the couch while you take up his kingsize bed. your heart shakes a little in your chest but of course, you smile in reply and nod. you and him both know that this time, it’s different.

“we can stay in my bed… if you want,” mumbles the man gruffly and this time, you bite back a smile. dealing with katsuki meant that you didn’t like to fluster him at times where he was opening up to you, albeit in small, crumbly pieces.

you nod again and reply.

“of course.”

it’s 9:35pm on the dot when you both settle into the duvet of his huge bed and katsuki is kind of stiff, to say the least, and there’s a metaphorical wall between you two. you think he’s staring straight up to the ceiling, if his breathing pattern and the slight glow of his red eyes told you anything.

“is it okay if we cuddle?” you whisper, turning to your side to face him and you think you did something right because he breaks out of his self-doubting stupor and after a few moments, opens up his arms to your smaller body as a leg wraps around his waist and an arm drapes across his chest.

“you okay, katsuki?” you whisper again. “did i do something?” and he can hear the pout and the furrowed brow in your voice.

katsuki all but he wraps an arm around to pull you closer, “no. just go to sleep, dumbass.”

you pull yourself up and he panics a little but he can slightly make out the smug grin on playing on your lips and your bright eyes in the dark as you lean on his chest to be level with his face.

“i promise no one under the age of 45 goes to bed at half 9. you’re so lucky you have me,” and before he can ask what you mean on “having you,” you press your lips onto his and it’s ended before it even started. the taste of his mouthwash and your chapstick lingers and he’s stiff all over again.

“anyone would be silly not to love you, even if you act like an old man,” you sigh, bonking your head softly onto his and he inhales deeply, playing with the hem of his shirt draped on your body.

“don’ need anyone else to love me when i have you, right?”

he can see the smile that reaches your eyes, crinkles and all.

“you might be right about that,” you hum and katsuki leans up to nose around your jaw before locking lips with you properly.

katsuki knows that he’s a little difficult to deal with sometimes. to love is a different story altogether. but when you look at him like that: like he has the world on his fingertips, encased in ribbon and inscribed in lettering addressed just for you, he decides that he’ll never accept anything but the best.

even if he is a little bit of a grandpa. but you’d be silly not to love him.

࿄ ! — all rights reserved © moominsuki. please do not copy, translate, repost nor recommend my work outside of tumblr. this is strictly prohibited.

#bakugou x reader #bakugo x reader #bakugou imagine #bakugou fluff #bakugou katsuki #bakugou x you #not proofread #i love friends to lovers my heart is bursting #lowkey ooc but who cares #✎𓂃stamped: (my hero academia)。°˖⌕ #༝˚૮ .♡ katsuki.

[ordalya]

.

#i am in such a bad mood i spent 4 days doing nothing but mindlessly watching tv going to work on a holiday getting frustrated because i #can't choose a new pc eating irregularly or not eating at all staying in my apartment with the shades closed because too hot otherwise #not getting dressed before 3 in the afternoon and then immediately going back to bed can't supervise what's happening at work my internet #is shit or it's the bloody factory who doesn't have internet anymore nothing ever work as it should when it does it doesn't last more than #a week didn't clean the apartment didn't go outside didn't cook didn't do anything i'm tired all the time and i don't want to go to work #i'm sick of it sick of my coworker sick because nothing works like it should i don't have the time to write all the technical support #documents and the co-workers doesn't take the time to THINK or doesn't THINK at ALL so shit never get done it's me who has to do the job #instead i should be writing those FUCKING tech documents i'm not because oh no! how do i do that because oh no! she didn't do it at night #oh no! i didn't know how to do it ! you did it already a few dozen times remember when we had to do it every 4 hours ? i wanted to say to #her but no i can do it if i don't have the protocol and your memory you have it ? or you ducking left it at home ? i so tired of them i #want to change job but i'm so tired i'm so insecure i don't have the courage to answer job offer there's one who is perfect for me but no #i'm paralyzed and stuck to my bed or my couch doing nothing nothing nothing i hate myself i feel so incompetent insecure i hate myself #should i tell you the number of time i dream of k #no no no non no #i hate that i'm self pitying i know exactly why i'm in this state and i do nothing do get better i have no friends i exchange at most 2 #messages a month with my sisters and if i don't go see my parents on weekends i don't text them i 'm awful at keeping contact with everyone #even my family i hate mu self and even writing all of this selfish egoistic shit is not making me better because i'm still on my bed and #not doing things i should finish the dress and the shorts i started month ago and i don't i get frustrated every time I look at it all it's #left is the finishing touches and i can't seem to FINISH IT i hate that i'm like that starting something and never finishing it #i want to hide forever and feel nothing and the only thing I finished is my diploma in seven years instead of 5 and i don't want to go back

[khrystalsnow]

2023 Recent Jungkook Fanfics✨

Hello! It's been two years since I've posted a recommendation list for my recently read or favourite reads of the year sooo I decided to do that for the end of the year! I only have a list of Jungkook's fics because he's my bias (plus yoongi and joonie) and just love his fics🫶🏼 I will be posting a separate list for the rest of the members soon🤞🏼 (hopefully). But I hope you guys enjoy and find some really good fics to read during the holidays and all the love for the authors🤭

The majority of fics are 18+ so MINORS DO NOT INTERACT.

Legend: 🧸-fluff ❤️‍🩹-angst 💋-smut 🙊-crack/funny ❤️‍🔥-personal favourite ✒️-ongoing

jungkook & y/n are too shy to admit they like each other and it's cute but also infuriatingly frustrating by @jungshookz 🙊🧸

-quarterback jungkook and librarian y/n

the right choice by @honeytae 🧸

-friends to lovers and mutual pining, soo cute

million dollar darling by @kooktrash 💋🧸❤️‍🔥

-jungkook and model reader. Personally, one of my new favourite because I loveee old money/rich/chaebol fics🤩

close to you by @muniimyg 🧸💋🙊❤️‍🩹❤️‍🔥✒️

-y/n and jungkook slept together and jungkook can't get over it, goofy jungkook and uptight oc. This is soo funny and I look forward to the updates all the time

bonus by @aquagustd 🙊🧸💋

-coworker au where you thought that no one noticed your flustered state whenever he's in close proximity

love on ice by @btsbrat 🧸💋

-cocky hockey player jungkook and figure skater reader

cutie in the kitchen by @borathae 🧸

-married life when jungkook cooks breakfast for oc and flirts the entire morning😭

the witch sisters by @rkivepetals 🧸🙊

-heartthrob witch jungkook meeting witch reader's sisters/family

why not and how so by @bonny-kookoo 🧸(little bit of ❤️‍🩹)💋❤️‍🔥

-jungkook figuring out that oc's dirty humour, mean and bratty actions is just a front and you're just a cutie pie inside

mugs & kisses by @minisugakoobies 🧸❤️‍🔥

-sooooo cuteeee, JK barista and his way of showing his love: drawings on coffee cups

sweet nothing by @adonis-koo ❤️‍🩹🧸❤️‍🔥✒️

-oc being a pregnant guest at the Jeon Estate because of her brother

kismet by @wnderkoo 🧸💋❤️‍🩹❤️‍🔥

-bookstore owner jungkook and oc who desperately needed to get a job

angel in the marble by @venusjeon ❤️‍🩹💋🙊❤️‍🔥

-michelangelo jungkook and servant reader

laundry fairy by @borathae 💋

-neighbours au where JK comes over to help with your laundry and more

ungodly hour series by @explicit-tae 💋🙊❤️‍🔥

-college students where you need a hulu account and jungkook is a BIG TIME SIMP

#jeon jungkook #bts fanfic #jungkook angst #jungkook fluff #jungkook fanfic #jungkook smut #jungkook x reader #ReadingList

[janeyseymour]

hi i love ur writings so so much i’m so sorry this idea is rushed but i hope its enough

abbot family is trying to encourage melissa to “get back out there” and meet people after everything she’s been through. she brushes them off constantly until they stage an intervention during lunch and even barb is concerned for her work wife. melissa leaves this lunch with some big feelings because little does everyone know melissa has been seeing someone this whole time. comes home to reader smoking a joint while cooking in the kitchen and reader says something along the lines of “you look like you could use this more than me” and they make a plan together to introduce reader to everyone at a 4th of july bbq

you gonna get what you ask for 🤪 Not edited in the slightest. I got places to be and people to see

Intervention

WC: ~2.35k

It’s been a year and a half since Melissa Schemmenti publicly said no to a marriage proposal. A year and a half since the fiery redhead had gone out with anyone, and she really doesn’t have any plans to start dating again- at least that’s what the Abbott crew thinks.

The truth is, the second grade teacher has been seeing you since the night she went to the casino and bar to blow off some steam after reuniting with Gary to return his things and get her stuff back.

You were at one of the slot machines when the redhead passed by you, laughing.

“What’s so funny, Red?” you asked as you looked up at her.

“You ain’t gonna win no money that way,” the woman stopped in her tracks to tell you. “C’mon. Let me show you how it’s done.”

That night, you stuck by her side as you watched her win thousands of dollars at one table alone, clearing out quite a few men.

It’s late when she finally threw in the towel. She offered to walk you out to you car, and you took her hand in your own.

“So,” you exhaled a small cloud of smoke from the cigarette the two of you were sharing. “What are you gonna do with all that money you just won, pretty lady?”

“Take you out on a date,” Melissa had replied cooly. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at seven?”

Neither of you looked back.

That was a year and three months ago. While your side of the family knew of your relationship with the teacher (and they absolutely adore her), her crew doesn’t have a single clue of your existence or rather large presence in Melissa’s life- despite the fact that you were now living together and your lives were intertwined.

So whenever anyone at Abbott tells Melissa that they found someone they think she might fancy, she just brushes them off.

“Janine, no offense, but if you think someone is worth dating, I would find them to be-”

“Hey,” Gregory cuts her off.

Melissa just shrugs. “My case in point. Greg, you know I love you like the black son I never had, but you’re boring as hell.”

“Ava, I am not about to go clubbing with you to pick up a man fifteen years my junior,” the redhead rolls her eyes.

“C’mon,” the principal chuckles. “They fun! They’re like energizer bunnies.”

“I barely have the energy to stand and get the remote from the other side of the room,” Melissa retorts as she opens her bottle of iced tea.

“I think you would like him!” Jacob pleads. “He saw your picture and said you were fine.”

“I am fine,” Melissa states, gesturing to her figure. “And I’m just as fine without a partner.”

It’s gotten to the point that even Barbara is concerned about her friend’s adamant denial to get herself back out there. So, the day that Melissa has recess duty, she brings it up to her coworkers.

“Now listen, I am not usually one for meddling in someone else’s love life, but don’t you think it’s concerning that Melissa flat out refuses to even attempt to put herself back out there?” the kindergarten teacher asks to the faculty room.

“Weird as hell,” Ava waltzes in, but having heard the question decides to chime in. “But aye, good for Schemmenti, realizing she don’t need no man in life.”

“I just find it odd…” Barbara taps her chin. “Melissa, while one with a tough exterior, loves love. She’s always wanted someone to spend her time with.”

“Maybe we should stage an intervention,” Jacob suggests. “To really show her that she’s good and healed from the failed proposal and to get back out there.

Gregory looks mildly impressed with that suggestion. “That might work.”

They have no idea that the entire time she’s supposed to be out monitoring the children on the blacktop, she’s smiling down at her phone like an idiot talking to you.

And when she comes home that day, she fully goes through with the things you two had texted about earlier.

The Abbott crew plans an intervention for Melissa- a banner, letters, all of it. When she comes into the staff room, smiling down at a midday text you had sent her, the rest of her colleagues are standing by the couch, looking somber.

“Fuck. Who died?” Melissa’s smile drops immediately.

“No one died, Melissa,” Barbara states.

“But we think a part of you might have,” Janine says dramatically, somberly.

“What the hell are youse talkin’ about?” thee redhead rolls her eyes. 

“Melissa, dear,” Barbara says softly, calmly. She makes her way over to her friend and takes her by the hand to guide her towards the seat they had put in the middle of the room.

One by one, they read the letters that they had all written, expressing their concern for their favorite fiery Italian teacher.

“Melissa,” the kindergarten teacher finishes up. “We all love you dearly, and while we understand that it takes some time to get over the heartache that Gary caused, this is a bit extreme. We are worried.”

“An’ I appreciate the thought and care that you guys put into this,” Melissa tells them with a sigh. “But I promise youse: I’m fine. I don’t need to get back out there.” She almost adds on that it’s because she’s happily seeing someone, and has been since three months after her split from the guy that filled the vending machine.

“Just… know that we’re all here through all of your seasons,” Jacob tells her. “The good, the bad, and the ugly.”

“We do care about you,” Janine says softly, and she offers the redhead a hug. Melissa doesn’t necessarily want to embrace the shorter woman, but she goes into the arms of her colleague.

Gregory just gives her a nod that conveys his love for his coworker, to which she smirks and nods right back in his direction.

“Now, can we eat lunch?” the redhead chuckles.

As the day passes on, Melissa comes to realize just how much her coworkers care for her- their gesture, albeit absolutely ridiculous and dramatic, was heartfelt and full of love. Maybe she should just come clean about the relationship she’s in. Or she could just buy them all some Philly soft pretzels and soda instead to thank them. Yeah… that’s what she’ll do for now before she can talk to you about how the two of you want to go public about your being together.

She orders the pretzels to be delivered to the school before the day is done, and when everyone is reconvening back in the faculty room to grab their lunch bags before heading home, Melissa makes sure she’s the first one down there. She has the box on one of the tables, along with a some cans of soda. Whatever they don’t take, the redhead knows will be eaten and drank at home.

“Oi,” she calls to her friends. “Come get a pretzel and a soda as my thanks for carin’ about me so much.”

They all light up at the sight of the gesture, aside from Gregory.

“I do not like pretzels, or soda, and for that reason I will not take one,” the man says as his friends dive in. “But thank you.”

Melissa rolls her eyes. “I figured you would say that. Which is why I got you a bag of peanuts and a water.”

He looks mildly impressed and takes the offered items gratefully.

Once again, they all voice their love and care for the woman that gave them a salty treat before heading out for the night. Everyone except for Barbara. She waits for Melissa to clean up and gather her things before walking out with the woman.

“That was very sweet of you,” the kindergarten teacher nudges her friend.

Melissa huffs. “Oi. Don’t knock me like that.” She readjusts her grip on the small box of pretzels before sighing. “But it was just a thank you for caring.”

“We care about you a lot more than you know,” Barbara smiles. “And just so you know… you are a Philly eleven, and I do think you should get yourself back out there. I know it can be scary to put your heart back out there, but even if it ends in heartbreak and a few smashed in headlights, I will always be here to help you pick up the pieces.”

“I know, Barb,” the redhead says softly, so out of character. “Thank you.”

“Think about it!” the older woman says as she parts and heads off in the direction of her car.

With a sigh, Melissa unlocks her car and gets everything settled before slumping into the front seat.

Coming home with a treat, she texts you.

Is it you? You reply back.

She chuckles at that. She can practically see the smirk written on your face. You’ll see.

When she pulls in, she can smell you before she sees you. You’re clearing smoking, but she can also smell the delicious dinner that you’re making. 

The redhead makes her way into the house, deep in thought of how much her friends are looking out for her, and attempting to piece together how to approach you about the topic of coming out.

It’s odd. Your girlfriend makes her way into the kitchen and places the box of pretzels down, but she doesn’t make her way over to you the way that she usually does. Instead, she’s looking down at the food, brows furrowed and deep in thought. 

You turn the burner down to ensure that the food won’t burn or bubble over before making your way behind Melissa. You wrap the arm that isn’t holding the joint around her waist before holding it up to her lips and offering her some. Even in your somewhat inebriated state, you know something is up with her.

“You look like you could use this more than me,” you chuckle softly.

She shrugs, but does take a hit before blowing the smoke out.

“Hard day?” you ask her gently. “Need to be taken care of?”

Again, she shrugs. She doesn’t really know what to say. This is so unlike Melissa. Usually, she comes in huffing about the ridiculous antics of her boss, she bounces on her toes when she tells you the sweet things the kids had done or said, and she is more than willing to dish out the tea that was spilled in the staff lounge earlier that day.

“Mel?” you ask softly, taking a cheek in your hand and cupping it gently. You force her to look at you. “What happened today?”

She laughs softly, before full out cackling. This sudden change in mood startles you.

“Mel, babe, you’re scaring me,” you tell her. “What happened?”

She sits down and plucks the joint out of your hand. “The crew planned an intervention for me,” she tells you with a chuckle as you go back over to the stove.

You turn. “Oh?”

She nods, a playful smirk on her face.

“For?” you raise a brow. You turn your attention back to dinner. “Can I guess?”

“Sure, hun,” she laughs as she takes another drag.

  “The aggression that you email the parents with?” No. “The heeled boots hitting the linoleum tile too loudly when you’re pissed?” No. “The arson?” No. “The threats of a bare knuckle fist fight?”

“Jesus,” Melissa laughs. “When you list all of that out, I sound like a terrible person.”

“No,” you say quickly. “I love everything about you!”

“I know you do,” she chuckles. “But no. None of that.”

“Then what?”

“My love life.”

“Your love life?” you turn to look at her incredulously.

“My love life,” the redhead sighs. “They had a banner, they had letters, they had the chair in the middle of the room… everything. And for me. When I don’t even have a problem with my love life.”

“So why did you come in lookin’ all sad?”

“Not sad… just thoughtful. The things they said… it showed me how lucky I am to have coworkers that care for me as deeply as they do. So at the end of the day, I had pretzels for them to show my gratitude. And after, Barbara and I walked out together… and… how would you feel about telling people that we’re together?”

You finish stirring the food and plating it before bringing it over to the table where your girlfriend is sitting. You set the two dishes in front of her before sliding into her lap. You finish off the joint together before smiling.

“I’ve been ready,” you tell her. “I’ve just been waiting for you to be.”

“Yeah?” she asks you as she kisses your temple.

You nod before taking a bite of your dinner. Damn, between the two of you, you should open your own restaurant. “We’ve been together for over a year, living together since six months in, I don’t plan on going anywhere, and I would hope you don’t either. I think it’s time.”

“I think so too,” she says softly. “But with the end of the year comin’ up… we’re all crazy busy.”

“So we can organize something for after the school year?” you suggest. “Maybe a fourth of July barbecue?”

So that’s what the two of you do. Your girlfriend walks into school on the last day and tells her friends that she knows that don’t have anything going on for Fourth of July, and they better be at her house for a barbecue. They all look at her, clearly confused. No one- not even Barb- has been invited over to the house since Melissa and Gary broke up. Nevertheless, they don’t argue and all promise to be there.

They all come in one clump, and the faces that they make when you open the door draped around Melissa are priceless.

“This is my girlfriend, Y/N,” she says proudly. “The reason that I have been declining all of the people you’ve suggested I date, and the reason I have not ‘put myself back out there’. I don’t gotta when I have her.”

#melissa schemmenti #melissa schemmenti fanfic #melissa schemmenti x you #melissa schemmenti x reader #abbott elementary fanfic #abbott elementary fanfiction #abbott elementary

[shadowhearts-ponytail]

christmas with abby anderson!

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ masterlist ˚୨୧⋆｡˚⋆

a/n: I love winter so so much! and I love abby, so here you go!

warnings: this is just fluffy Christmas activities. there is a bit of a suggestive joke. but nothing too bad. let me know if I missed anything!

words: 1,066

abby is a Christmas girly. for sure. she loves Christmas. it is the most wonderful time of the year for her. by far. her favorite holiday. she goes all out.

abby has one of those mistletoe hats. the ones that hang mistletoe over you and another person. she wears it all the time as an excuse to pull you into a kiss. her hands on your hips as she leans down to plant a long kiss on your lips.

she has mistletoe all over your shared apartment. for extra kisses. in every single doorway. she keeps some mistletoe in her pockets to pull it out when you both are out so she can hold it over your head and pout for a kiss.

making Christmas cookies. she's a sugar cookie girl. simple. easy to make. plus, she likes decorating them with frosting after but will complain that the frosting "makes them overly sweet" when she's the one that drenched it in red and green icing and snowflake sprinkles.

she always makes cookies to give to her dad. she always makes him a big tin full of different kinds. chocolate chip, sugar cookies, oatmeal cookies, snickerdoodles, gingerbread men.

she's actually quite a skilled baker. old family recipes she knows by heart. muscle memory usually kicks in when she kneads the dough. she hums when she bakes. while she waits for the oven, she'll do a little dance if she thinks you aren't looking.

she makes fresh bread and cakes and so many sweets around the holidays. she's not one to eat sweets, but she loves making them for friends or family.

she makes enough to feed a damn army of 5,000 gren men and then sends them with you to work for your coworkers or to your family.

"no, baby. you know I hate cookies and cake. just give it to your family. or I'm sure your boss would love 200 cookies, right?"

"sure, abs. sure. whatever you say." you playfully roll your eyes at your girlfriend as she has once again gone overboard with the Christmas cookies, just like last year and the year before that. it's tradition at this point.

getting custom Christmas stockings with your names on them. the stockings mean a lot to her. getting to fill your stocking with little gifts, candies, and love notes would bring the purest smile to her face. and seeing her stocking next to yours. she loves seeing it. she's always wanted that. wanted someone to make her a stocking with her name on it.

she would get alice one and put it next to both of yours. full it with dog treats and chew toys. she says it makes you three a family.

abby buys alice a new collar every year and gets those doggy Christmas sweaters. she gets alice bones to chew on and toys and clothes to wear. that dog is spoiled rotten.

abby would want to take "family photos" with you and alice. she has alice wear one of the shirts in the photos.

she like hires a photographer, and everything. you go out to some field or somewhere nice to take professional pictures. she hangs them in your apartment and makes a Christmas card with them to send to both her family and yours from "The Anderson Family."

"I hope it's okay I used my last name. I'm sure you'll end up taking it anyway."

when she says this, you about choke on your water. "i-" cough, cough, "Yeah, that's fine, baby. I'm sure you're right." you tease with a little wink.

abby gets you small gifts every day of December up until Christmas. a small bouquet of flowers, a little handwritten note, candies. simple things. she sees it as an extra excuse to spoil you. not that she ever needs one. but she's just a sappy romantic like that.

she always wants to come home to you as soon as she gets off work to cuddle up and watch some Christmas movies, and warm up the apartment by cooking you dinner or baking.

abby probably isn't one of those people who's crazy particular about the ornaments on the tree. like they don't have to be all the same colors and shit. she would like handmade ones more. ones that were passed down in the family. sentimental ones.

she always puts the same star on the tree every year. one her dad got her as a gift. it'd very important to her. she packs it in a metal box wrapped in bubble wrap and blankets to keep it safe.

but she refuses to get on the ladder and out it on the tree. she's too scared of heights. she won't get further than the first step on the ladder.

"abby, cmon. just put the star on the tree. I'll get the ladder."

"No! I can't. what if I fall and break my neck?" she asks with puppy eyes and a big pout.

"abs are you serious? the chances of that are, like, zero!" you argue back to the muscled woman before you, "besides you're taller than me."

instead of arguing back, she picks you up in her massive arms and hoists you to sit on her shoulder.

"abby!"

"there. now you're taller. now you have to do it"

she wears boxers with Christmas prints on them. snowmen, reindeer, santa, snowflakes.

you guys are bickering about something meaningless, and to lighten the mood, she just unbutton her pants and push them down to her knees to reveal boxers with a mistletoe print on them then yell, "kiss it then!"

you can't help but burst into laughter and clutch your stomach as you double over in a fit of laughter.

abby looks at you with a cheeky grin, "still mad at me, baby?"

abby is a fanatic about Christmas lights. she likes going to the park closer to Christmas to see all the lights at night. she'd be so excited. begging to go every night until they take them down.

she brings you to the annual anderson family dinner. the first time she brought you, she was so excited, but you were so nervous.

she was practically bouncing with joy when her dad brought you into a tight hug the moment he met you. he immediately started to talk your ear off. making you feel welcome.

you are definitely invited to next year's dinner.

a/n: feedback is always welcome!

#abby anderson #the last of us #abby anderson tlou2 #abby the last of us #abby tlou #tlou #the last of us 2 #ellie x fem reader #ellie x reader #ellie the last of us #ellie williams #ellie tlou #abby and lev #abby and ellie #abby anderson x reader #abby anderson x you #abby anderson x female reader #abby anderson x y/n #abby anderson x black reader #tlou2 #abby angst #mine

[capfalcon]

i love the leverage offices, each and every season, because of what they represent and how they change the crew.

in LA, the city is very much featured. i actually had the joy of presenting a court case next to the leverage building, and i love the 12 step episode because it reminds me of my city. but in terms of the crew, it's high octane. lots of big corporations, lots of stunts and cool tricks. the office is sleak and dark and sort of exactly what you'd expect from a bunch of high priced thieves hidden offices. it also symbolizes their relationships. they're coworkers, right now, part of a crew, something sort of getting close to a family. i loved the taco details in the hurley episode tho, im from LA and tacos are pretty much the first thing i get whenever im anywhere in the vicinity.

and then the second office is so good!!!!!!!! the bar and nate's apartment. and i love this, especially when nate is sober in season 2, because the bar is literally like a manifestation of his demons and his choices. like elliot said, very catholic. but the fact that the crew work in his home, that's a really big step. they've become his genuine family, food in his fridge, using his shower, etc etc. and he's embraced his part in this crew more and more, doing these jobs sober, not just in pain and drunk.

the bar is also just a gorgeous setup, and boston is a beautiful city. i think it lets them sort of play with the old school charm of boston, and it's a much cozier environment, the couches rather than office chairs, nate's kitchen in the background. it also lets sophie and nate's relationship sort of blossom without having to create a new set (nate's apartment) because we already know he lives there. plus with all the jobs they do in boston, police, loan sharks, etc, it's such a perfect setup. in the bottle job, the bar is actually a real character, it has a place in the con, it's traded over.

and then portland, oh my god. such a beautiful city and i think it suited their final run well. hardison got to build his restaurant and elliot cooks for it, parker settles in and makes more friends, sophie and nate are actually together. the big bird job is so fun in portland, as well as the corkscrew job. the seasons grow and change with the setting, and i love each one of them, and what it means for the crew.

#AHHHH #leverage #nate ford #elliot spencer #alec hardison #sophie devereaux #parker

[sterredem]

Hey, I can't find if your requests are open (if they aren't please ignore this). Can you do an arthur leclerc x fem!driver!reader where she gets into f1 and he doesn't (angst!!) and she comforts him?

Unfair

First ending

Face claim: Pinterest girls/Barbara Palvin/Bianca Bustamante + other women in motorsport.

(That I use these people doesn’t mean that I know or support them, I just use them because Barbara has a lot of good pictures in the spoor and Bianca has good pictures in the car and on the podium)

Summary: The request

Word count: 2549

Warning: Angst, lying(?), happy ending, fluff at the end

A/N: this took a bit to write but u really like it. It is a bit different then the request (a bit more Angsty) but I think it is my best yet (which isn’t hard with this being my 3rd fic). I hope you enjoy and don’t forget to like/comment/repost and please give me feedback🫶🫶 Btw sorry for the long wait.

The other ending will be posted soon!

Also I hope you like the graphics, it took literally hours to make😭😭

They both knew that this could happen. That was the risk with dating your coworker in a motorsport. And especially formula 2.

So when y/n heard that next season she would drive in formula 1 with Porsche, she was really excited. Of course she was. She was going to be the first Women in a few decades to drive in Formula 1. And for a relatively new but very good team. With Porsche being in F1 since the 2019 seasons it was the newest, but unlike HAAS they were actually good.

And she was happy that she got a contract. She would drive a few of the best names of motorstoprt. And her team printable, Sebastian Vettel had promised her big things.

But when she actually thought about what this all meant she begun to get scared. She would need to tell Arthur. Arthur who always wanted to be in Formula 1. Arthur who is her best friend and her boyfriend.

How could she tell him? How could she tell him that she would get to live their dream? How could she tell him that he would drive alongside his brother before him?

This was all a mess. And the worst part was that she sined a NDA so she couldn’t tell him until the announcement was up. The only people that currently knew where; her family, her trainer and her manager.

She tried to do everything she could so she can tell him. But she just couldn’t, so she needs to live with a big secret for a few months. And when it is announced that she would go to Formula 1 she doesn’t know is he will ever forgive her.

And not only because she didn’t tell him and they promised they would tell each other everything. No but because they promised to get there together, to both get into F1. And now, Y/n would get to drive there and Arthur would be left behind in F2.

So she would need to live a secret until it was revealed to the world. The only thing she could get out of the contact is that she could tell Arthur a day before the announcement. Which she still wasn’t happy about but it was something. So when the time came to finally tell him she was a nervous wreck. Understandable.

The day before the announcement finally came. And Y/n was really nervous. So when Arthur finally came home she made some of his favourite food and got mentally ready to tell him.

And to say Arthur was confused was an understatement. He came home to his girlfriend cooking his favourite food and looking very nervous. So of course he was worried. Would she brake up with him? Dis something happen? But he wanted to wait for her to say something. And that happens after they were done doing the dishes and were laying in the couch.

“Hey Arthur can we talk?” Y/n nervously while playing with her fingers and not really looking at Arthur.

“Yes mon ange what is wrong?” Arthur asked relieved that she will finally talk about what is wrong. He tried to look at her but couldn’t lock eyes.

“Promise me you will hear me out before you react of get mad.” She said while finally looking in his eyes. But they aren’t filled with the usual adoration or love, no the where filled with nerves and a bit of fear.

“Of course mon ange. What is going on?” He asked growing more and more worried. While trying to grapple with his hand. And failing.

“So you know that PREMA is dropping me right? Well when it was announced some people reached out to me and offers me something…” she slowly said while looking at him for his reaction.

“Well one of those people was Sebastian Vettel and he offered me a place on Porche in Formula 1. And as you can understand I couldn’t refuse, so we got talking and they gave me an amazing offer.” She said while looking at his reaction. Which wasn’t the best, it got from worry to confusion to some sort of mild anger.

“So last August he gave me a contract and I signed it…” she said falling a bit silent at the end. And before Arthur could talk she began again.

“And I really wanted to tell you before, really. But they made me sign a NDA and I could only tell my manager and close family and some of the other team for legal reasons. And I tried everything, and initially I could not tell you until the announcement but I made a deal and I could tell you the day before. And now that is, so today is the day before. And again I am so sorry. Please don’t be mad.” She ranted while tears formed in his eyes while seeing him become more and more mad.

“Y/n… what? Is this some sick joke?” He asked while slowly fake laughing and looking at her with betrayal in his eyes.

“Baby please understand that I could not tell you.” She said slowly looking away.

“Don’t baby me! I know you couldn’t tell me after the contract, but you could tell me that you had an offer! And how could you take it? You know how much I want to get into F1?” He asked with betrayal in his voice.

“What was I supposed to do? Not take the offer and never get in Formula 1 just so you could have it or that we could go at the same time? And I could not tell you about the offer because I didn’t even know until I talked with Sebastian, my manager hid it from me because he didn’t want to get my hopes up!” She said now with tears going down her cheeks.

“I understand that but please! Did you even think about me?” He asked a bit louder.

“Of course I did! I just told you! I wanted to tell you the minute I got the offer! But I couldn’t because of that stupid team! I wanted to you to have a seat for F1! For whatever team, but I can’t! If I can I would give you my seat! But Arthur you need to understand that I need to think of myself sometimes! This a big deal for me! I will be the first women in Formula 1 in a few decades, and I will be the first women to be in the middle or upper field! I could be the first to be in a podium of even win!” She said now almost fully crying.

Arthur was silent for a bit while thinking about what she said. “Y/n i know all that. But you also need to understand that it is hard for me. Charles is in F1, Ferrarie dropped me, Jules and my dad died and wanted me and Charlie to drive, and now my girlfriend, who is also my childhood best friend, lied to me for months and you expect me to be okay with it? Merde Y/n you can’t expect this from me. I think I need some time alone.” He said trying to stay calm with tears in his eyes.

Y/n looked at his shocked about what he said. Did he want to break up? Did he want a part time break? Was he going to leave? She knows that she can’t hold him accountable for it, she did lie to him after all.

“Arthur please. I understand what you say. And I don’t hold you accountable for that, but please don’t leave.” She said now with them both full on crying.

“Mon amour, I won’t leave you, I am just going to go to my mom for a bit. Think about everything and then we can talk about this in a few days.” He said while wiping her tears away.

He slowly stood up and walked to there room to grab a few of his things. She still sat on the couch thinking if she should stop him or just let him go.

She decided on the later one, because it was better to give him time to think about it before things were said that they don’t mean.

A few minutes later Arthur came downstairs with a bag of his stuff. He grabbed his coat and keys and looked at Y/n again. “I will message you when I am there. Please understand that I still love you and I am not breaking up, but I just need some time.” He says with a half smile.

“I understand, please take all the time you need. And when you are ready to talk I am here.” She said while also half smiling with more tears forming in her eyes. “I love you, please be safe”

“I will” he says while walking out of the door and closing it. Y/n slowly slid down the wall with her head in her hands thinking everything over again.

Was this the right thing? Was she selfish for accepting the offer? Would she lose Arthur? Were they ever going to recover?

With all this on het mind she slowly stood up and walked upstairs. She got into the bathroom and did her night routine. After that she looked at the time and saw how early it still was so she decided to just watch some Gilmore Girls (you can chose whatever this is just my comfort series) while laying in bed trying to distract her from the argument they had earlier.

After watching it for a few hours she decided that it was getting late and decided to sleep and see what the day would bring tomorrow. The day that it would be announced.

Instagram

Liked by Susie_Wolff and 3.115.785 others

F1 BREAKING: Y/n y/l/n will be driving for Porsche the 2025 season!

We all welcome her to the grid and are excited to see her!

#y/n_y/l/n #Porsche #F1 @Y/n_y/l/n @Porsche

Comments

User1 OMG I AM SO EXITED

User2 so happy to see she got a seat after PREMA dropped her

Susie_Wolff So happy for you! I am happy to see more girls in Formula 1

Yourusername Thank you Susie! Exited to see you again!

Yourusername I am so happy and thankful for this opportunity!

User3 we got a women in f1 before gta 6

User4 So exited for more women in motorsports!

User5 women shouldn’t be in motorsports! It is a man dominated sport for a reason!

User6 why is Arthur not simping over his girlfriend like usual?!

User7 he could just be congratulating het irl don’t make a big deal out of this

User8 I agree with user7, just because he isn’t in the comments on a insta post doesn’t mean something happened. We shouldn’t speculate on there lives with absolutely no information about them at the moment.

After the announcement was finally up Y/n felt worst then the slash before. Her and Arthur still hadn’t talked. And it welt like weeks (it was only 10 hours). She missed him, missed his laugh, his boyish smile, their useless conversation for hours, his kisses and hugs. Everything.

So when she finally got a massage from him she was happy to say the least.

|———————————<3—————————————|

See you then*

|———————————<3—————————————|

For the next part there is a bit of explaining necessary. You can: keep reading this and then you have how the request is (with a fluffy ending and comforting) OR you can klick in the link and that will take you to the alternative ending (you will need to scroll down again until this part and then you have the Angsty ending)

Angsty ending

|———————————<3—————————————|

After a few more massages back and forth they decided to meet up at their house instead of the cafe. So when the next day came she waited for Arthur to come back.

After a few hours of watching Gilmore Girls she heard the front door open. She paused the show and stood up from her bed, she walked downstairs and came face to face with Arthur.

“Hey” she said a bit awkwardly. She looked in his eyes and saw that he looked very tired and had red eyes. He had probably cried, the same with her.

“Hey, how are you?” He asked with a tired and raspy voice and the French accent.

“I’m doing okay. Want something to drink?” She asked trying to fill the awkward silence.

“No I’m fine. Could we just talk? I think it is the best if we just get it over.” He said trying to get to the point as fast as he can so they could make up again. He had missed her a lot, while he was at his maman she had given his a long and good scolding for leaving her and not listening her out. He realised that it was indeed a bad choice to leave her, he was just angry and upset so he did the only rational thing in his mind.

“Yeah of course.” She said while slowly walking to the living room. She looked back at him to see if he followed her and he did. She walked to the couch and sat on one end of it, wanting him to decide if he wants to sit next to her or far away from her.

He sat next to her.

“Okay so first of I want to say I am so sorry that I left, I know it was the wrong thing to do. But I was just angry, confused and upset with everything and then I said stuff and you said stuff and I just couldn’t anymore. But now I am ready to hear you out.” He said tampering a bit while fiddling with his hands.

“I understand that and it is completely okay, again I am really sorry I didn’t tell you but I can explain it to you.” She said while looking in his eyes.

“Okay so as I said; Kate, my manager, got a lot of offers from teams after my contract with PREMA expired, but she didn’t want to get my hopes up so she told me nothing. I only knew about it when she set up a meeting with Sebastian, we talked and he had a really good offer. A long contract, good money, good car and a good team. So I couldn’t say no. But then it came to PR and telling people, I asked who u could tell and I could only tell my team and my parents, I couldn’t even tell my siblings or friends. I asked if I could tell you but I couldn’t, they wanted to keep it low-key so that it would be a big surprise. The only thing I fixed is that I could tell you the day before. So I did and you know how that turned out. I really wanted to tell you but I also needed to sign a NDA so I couldn’t tell you about the contract or the car. And this may sound really bad and it may sound like I chose a bad team but no; they only did it to protect us. Me because if it came out before there could be serious danger for me. And for you so you could many still enjoy F2 and get into you’re dream team. But now I realise that how I handled it was really wrong and I am so sorry. I hope you can forgive me because I really missed you.” She said the last part a bit out of breath.

Arthur looked to be deep in thought. He thought about everything she said. And he understood it. But now he was really upset with how he reacted.

“Mon amour I am so sorry. I should have heard you out earlier” he said while grabbing her face. “I and so sorry for how I reacted. I hope you can understand why. I as just confused, jealous and upset. I was confused because for me it came all of a sudden and upset because again why would you tell me? And I was really jealous because you wou get to be in F1 and drive with my brother before me.”

“I completely understand my love, and I understand it about the jealous part, I would too.” She said while grabbing his face.

After talking for a few more minutes they decided to go to the bedroom and watch something.

“Hey love do you want to watch that French series that you talked about?” Y/n asked while playing with his hair and cuddling.

“Yeah for sure mon amour” he said with a smile on his face. He looked up at her and admired her beauty. “You looked beautiful ma belle” he said with a slight blush.

“She looked down at his and smiles “wel thank you handsome. You don’t look that bad yourself.” She said blushing.

After watching a few episodes of the show and talking they decided to go to sleep.

But before she fell asleep she heard Arthur whisper something.

“Je t'aime mon amour, merci pour tout.” (I love you my love, thank you for everything.)

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[allysunny]

Hello. Can I request a fic with Nanami and the reader? The reader has a toxic family and asks Nanami to be her fake boyfriend at the family meeting. If possible, it could be comforting.

Faking it for the Family | Nanami Kento x Reader

Words: 5.5k

Warnings: Toxic family, mentions of weight (as in, berating and telling someone to watch what they eat), very rude comments from Reader's family, maybe some OOC Nanami? I don't know, you tell me! And please do warn if I forgot something :)

A/N: Aaaa my first Nanami request! I'm so excited about this! I love this man with my whole heart, he's my biggest anime crush of all time! Now, I do warn you, it's been a while since I've touched jjk (it was a traumatic experience, shibuya is my canon event), so if you think Nanami is OOC, then that might be why. But I can also see him being vocal when it comes to someone he cares about, protecting them and expressing his feelings - or at least trying to.

I hope I did your request justice! I'll be honest, I'm very fortunate to come from a very healthy and loving family, and don't quite know the dynamics a toxic one would have. Nevertheless, I did some research, and I hope you're happy with the final result! I also stayed up until like, 2am because I wanted to post this one before I went on a small vacation and stopped writing for a few days! Totally worth it!

“Your what?”

“My boyfriend.” You repeated firmly.

Scratch that, you were scared shitless.

A few days ago, your mother had called you, asking (more like demanding you) to come see her. According to her, only “bad, ungrateful children” abandoned their parents. According to her, you were turning into a “bad, ungrateful child”.

“You don’t call, you don’t visit. It’s like we never did anything for you, is that how you treat the people who brought you up?” She nearly cried into the phone. Victim-blaming was along your mother’s strongest talents, it always had been.

She’d also reminded you that it would be a shame if you showed up single. She gushed about your cousins, how lovely their wives and husbands were, and how you clearly weren’t working hard enough to find a man.

“It’s not like you have much to offer, dear. The least you could do is prove yourself to be useful, make sure you find a nice man and snatch him up. Perhaps if you learned how to cook properly instead of pursuing that silly passion for books… And you need to start putting some effort into your appearance! No man wants a dishevelled woman – look at how well your cousins are doing!” Then, dismissing her whole behaviour, she’d go, “You know I’m only saying this because I care about you, right? It’s for your own good.”

It made you shudder just from thinking of it.

You’d nearly glared a hole into your phone that night, considering cancelling.

You ran all options through your head.

If you pretended you were sick, your mother would just assume you couldn’t take care of yourself and visit you to do that herself.

Hard pass.

If you said you had plans, your father would tell you to prioritize the family who had sacrificed so much to give you a good life, and to stop being so selfish.

Hell no.

No option seemed good enough.

In the end, your parents would always find a way to make you feel inferior and blame you for not being able to attend. You wouldn’t hear the end of it for at least a few months.

That’s not something you wanted for yourself.

You considered your mother’s words.

Going alone seemed like a nightmare alright. But perhaps if you found someone to attend with you…

There was no significant other in your life (the nail in your coffin, just another reason for your parents to berate you, and you it’s not like you could fall in love with someone in a span of 4 days just to introduce them to the family.

And then, an e-mail from a coworker gave you a brilliant idea.

Nanami Kento was one of your coworkers.

You weren’t the closest offriends, but still – friends.

You two went out for drinks after work every so often, sometimes ordering a box of pizza to share while working overtime at the office. God knew how much you hated it, being forced to work longer than expected, but Nanami shared the same sentiment, and it made work more bearable for you.

You didn’t talk much outside of work – Nanami was a private, reserved man, and you never did have the courage to seek him out. So you settled for a few jokes at the office here and there, the occasional smile, and bringing him bread and pastries sometimes. Nanami was quite the foodie. Outside office hours, maybe a “Have a nice weekend”, or if you were feeling brave enough, a meme – it took him a while to get them, but it was amusing to get his reaction through text.

He was smart, kind to a fault, and handsome. Very much so. You knew he was single, and to be fair, you had no idea why. With those lovely, warm chocolate brown eyes and golden hair, he could get any woman he wanted. And God, his physique… You had once tripped and held onto his arm – the man was made of rock. He was a total catch, and you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t fantasized about your little overtime endeavours to end up with a goodnight kiss, or perhaps something more. In fact, you’d developed a little crush on him, sneaking away during lunch breaks to try and talk to him, catch up, or just know how he’s doing.

That’s why he was perfect.

Your parents would be appeased, and the family gathering would be much more bearable.

“It’ll just be for a night,” You continued, trying not to sound very desperate. You weren’t sure where you stood with him – were you two close enough to ask such a favour? “We don’t have to do anything physical – just maybe hold hands so they can get off my back. I’ll be forever in your debt, please. I need your help.”

Nanami looked at you curiously. You could see his eyes clearly – Nanami had foregone his glasses during lunch break. What was he thinking? Perhaps he was reconsidering his whole friendship / acquaintanceship. Maybe he was simply coming up with a way of politely declining. Nanami had always been to kind to trifle with you or mock you, God, you’re so stupid, why would he go out of his way to help someone he’s not that close with? It was idiotic to ask.

“Never mind that.” You mumbled, quickly shaking your hand, and dismissing the idea. “I’m sorry, I know it’s a weird request and we don’t know each other that well, and – “

“Sure.”

Your eyes must’ve turned as wide as saucers. Sure?

“If it would help you out and ease your mind, I don’t mind it at all.” He replies, the soft lull of his hypnotising voice making your heart skip just a bit. “I do know what it feels like to be surrounded by people you’re not fond of.”

You suppose he’s right. Every year when the company dinner takes place, you find yourself sitting in a corner, hidden from everyone else. It’s the one time of year where you two can actually talk and consider each other more than simply two coworkers. Maybe even relatively good friends.

You beam at him, bowing profusely. There were no words to describe what you felt – this man was willing to be your fake boyfriend for a whole evening?

“Thank you so much! This means so much to me, you can’t even imagine it!”

Nanami simply nods.

“Shall I pick you up at seven?”

Most often, people stared at themselves in the mirror to check their appearance, try on clothes, maybe give them an ego boost. You? You were practicing facial features.

A hard smile for when your mother told you to “Eat less – you’re gaining weight.”

A polite nod for when one father eventually said “You need to give up those silly hobbies of yours – become a real woman, a good wife.”

A dry chuckle for when one of your many cousins gushed about the wonders of marriage, and how amazing it is they got married so young, to fully explore all romantic bliss and life alongside your soulmate – or something. You never made it twenty seconds without appearing bored of your mind and making your way to an empty chair away from others.

You just hoped they’d leave you alone for tonight, or at least stop with the comments. You wouldn’t be able to handle being humiliated in front of Nanami, of all people.

Speaking of, it’s nearly seven, so you grab your purse and make your way downstairs. Your outfit is nothing bland, just like how your parents would like it. A simply yellow jumper and denim jeans – God forbid you wore a skirt too short, or a shirt too flashy in front of your family. You’d be sure to burn at the stake for that one. This outfit was simple and modest and was sure to keep them quiet for a few minutes.

A little ring from your phone broke your line of thinking.

From: Nanami Kento

I’m outside.

You quickly spotted him in his car, and your jaw hung.

He swiftly exited the vehicle, walking towards the passenger’s side and opening the door wide for you.

You don’t know what to say.

So, he does it for you.

“Good evening.” He’s looking extra dashing, with a dark blue polo shirt that hugs his figure ever-so-perfectly, and slacks. His hair is parted as usual, but it seems much more casual, less uptight, less professional. He’s once more refused to wear his glasses, so you can see his beautiful face up close.

His strong jawline, the strong planes of his face, the thin eyebrows that never did much to conceal his eyes – he looked straight out of a fairytale. The fact that he looked so relaxed, out of his business attire and clad in casual clothes, made this vision much more alluring.

“Hey,” You answered, giving him a soft smile. “You didn’t have to do this; I could open the door by myself.”

“Nonsense.” Nanami shook his head, gesturing to the inside of the car. “Shall we go?”

As soon as you buckled your seatbelt, he left the driveway. You’d sent him the coordinates before, so there was no getting lost as long as you followed the GPS.

There was a small awkward silence between the both of you – it was only normal. You and Nanami didn’t hang out that much after office hours, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that you would have no topics to discuss.

“So…” You started wearily. Might as well warn him about your family. There was no way you were letting this man meet them without being prepared. “I should warn you in advance – my family is…. Well, they’re not conventional.”

“Hm? How so?” He questioned you, quirking an eyebrow yet never taking his eyes off the road.

“They… They might make some rude comments. Or say things that make you uncomfortable. I know I told you about it the other day when I asked for this favour, but I just want to reiterate it. They’re… Well, they’re hard to deal with.” You finished. There was no other way to describe your family.

Growing up, they’d been all but supportive. Berating you left and right, making you believe you were as worthless as the trash on the street. Nothing you did ever amounted to anything. Your grades were never enough. Your passions were always overlooked – the books you read “filled your head with crazy fantasies”, the music you listened to “polluted your mind”.

If you left the house with no makeup on, your mother would assume you weren’t trying hard enough. Would say you looked sloppy and dirty, and that it was shameful to see you not even attempt to pull yourself together. And when you did leave the house looking pretty and proud of yourself, your parents would break down your confidence once more, assuring you that you’re clearly trying too hard, and that men don’t want woman who paint their faces as if they were clowns and dressed in skirts so short, they barely earned the name.

Your achievements didn’t matter. Not when your cousins earned scholarship after scholarship, brought home successful, handsome men or women, assuring the family they were well off and didn’t need to worry about much.

To your family, all it mattered was your image. To them, you were the black sheep of the family. No partner, no children, no high paying job, no success. Considering their mentality, how they still associated themselves with you was a puzzle.

Not even once did they stop to consider your feelings.

Moving out had been the best thing that happened to you.

Sure, it was hard at first.

You spent too long in front of the mirror, wondering if you looked good enough. While conversing with others, it was difficult to open up about your passions and hobbies, for fear of being shut down and dismissed.

But slowly, you’d regained control of your life. You went out when you wanted, with who you wanted. You wore the clothes you liked, without worrying about your parents’ hurtful remarks.

Nowadays when you looked in the mirror, you saw a proud young woman, as opposed to the scared little girl you saw in your early years.

Which made returning to them ever so difficult. They managed to turn you back into that frightened little girl you once were, always so afraid of saying the wrong thing, of doing the wrong thing and making them look bad. They managed to destroy all of the confidence and self-love you’d built for yourself all these years.

“I’m sorry.”

It was Nanami’s voice that brought you back to reality.

“Huh?”

“I’m sorry. Clearly, a family that treats you that way does not deserve you.” He said, matter-of-factly. Like it was the easiest thing in the world, to admit the family that spent years breaking you simply wasn’t worth your time and thoughts.

“Yeah, well.” You mumbled, looking out of the window. What could you say? In theory, you knew he was right. He had to. Other friends who knew about your past told you as much. But it was a completely different story to put that into practice.

For the rest of the ride, a silence fell upon the both of you. None attempted to break it.

“Remember our story, right?” You questioned the man next to him. He stood right next to you, tall as a tower and just as unmoving. You could never guess what was going on in that beautiful head of his.

Nanami nodded silently, turning to you.

“Are you sure you want to do this? We can make up an excuse and leave, if you want to.” He said, and for a while, you considered it. It’d be nice to ditch on your family and spend some time with your coworker. But once again, you knew how this movie ended.

Sighing, you shook your head and gave him a weak smile.

“It’s okay. It’s just for one night.”

He nodded once again.

You took a deep breath and stepped forward, ringing the doorbell.

Almost immediately, the door opened, making way for a woman none other than your mother.

She looked so… so… perfect. Annoyingly so. It made your blood boil. It reminded you of how, in her eyes, you were most definitely not perfect.

Nanami glanced at the woman in front of you. She looked like a perfect copy of you. Or rather, you were a perfect copy of her. But there was a clear difference between the two: While she looked uptight, abnormally prim, and proper, way too polished, you looked, well, natural. This woman looked like her only job was to look good, while you were an effortless beauty. He can only imagine what kind of things a woman like this could’ve told you all your life to make you so nervous back in the car.

“Honey!” She chirps in a voice he can only describe as fake. “Oh, how I’ve missed you!” She pulls you win for a hug, mumbling and muttering about how long it had been since you’d last seen her, how unkind of you that was, how you had no consideration for your family. Ouch.

“Hi mom,” Was your hushed answer as you tried your best to hug her back. And then just as quickly, tried to get away from her bone-crushing embrace. “Y-You can let go now.”

And she did, staring right at Nanami.

“Oh.” She very obviously stared at him up and down. There was no subtlety to the way she ogled him, and you felt some strong second-hand embarrassment from her actions. “And who might this fine young man be? Did you finally step up and get yourself a nice man?”

You sighed. This was going to be a very, very long night.

Nanami stepped forward, placing a warm hand on the small of your back, a hand that slowly brought you closer to him.

“Good evening, Mrs.” He said politely, offering his hand for the woman to shake. She did so gladly, showing him a perfect smiled. A perfectly forced smile. “It’s lovely to meet you.”

“Mom, this is Nanami Kento. He’s… He’s my boyfriend!” The words felt nice in your mouth, natural. It’s like he was meant to be your boyfriend. Boyfriend. That’s nice.

“Boyfriend! Oh! It’s so nice to meet you!” The woman exclaimed, pulling him inside. “Come in, come in! Of course, you’d be late – We were all waiting for you!”

When you told Nanami your family was harsh, he was picturing something very different. Maybe some unwanted jokes here and there. A comment about your major, a joke about your driving, maybe even some embarrassing childhood stories.

He wasn’t expecting this.

“It is such a surprise that our dearest [Y/N] has finally brought someone home!” Your mother announced, sending her daughter what Nanami thought was a rather sheepish smile. “I mean, at some point we thought we would be the family’s spinster, ha!” And then she sent you the most condescending smile, one that made you want to crawl into a hole and cry. Not even after discovering you have a boyfriend (well, a fake one, but she doesn’t need to know), your mother could be supportive.

“Well, I’ve always been full of surprises,” You retaliate bluntly with a tight-lipped line. Nanami slowly brought his hand under the table to squeeze yours, and when you faced him, you were met with a look that meant more than a thousand words. Stay strong. I’m with you, he seemed to silently say.

“Kento – mind if I call you Kento?” Your father interrupted loudly, not sparing you a glance. “What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a salaryman. I work in the same office as [Y/N].” Was Nanami’s response. You cringed at your father’s attempt to talk more familiarly with Nanami. It felt odd, it felt rigid, and you just knew what question would follow.

“Ah, I see. Well, I sure do hope you’re at least winning more than our [Y/N] here!” The older man blurted, shaking his head in disappointment. “We told her to focus on her studies, make sure she has a nice paying job by the time she finds a husband, but she instead decided to pursue those… hobbies of her, and ended up with a mediocre office job.” Then, as if his rude observation meant nothing, he added, “No offense. I’m sure you’re a hard-working young man, you should aim higher and consider a career in a more lucrative field. Have you tried investing, or finances? If you want to provide a better future for my daughter, you should be prepared.”

Great, now not only was he making rude comments towards you, but he was also making rude comments towards your “boyfriend”. When would this end?

“Dad.” You cut in, scowling at him. How dare he ask such questions?

“What?” He asked, shrugging. As if these types of discussions were as casual as small talk or mentions of weathers. “I need to make sure that this man will provide for you. After all, you refused to go and do something useful with your life – “

“I think what [Y/N] has done of her life is for her, and only her to decide.” Nanami chimed in. “And as her parents, you should be nothing but supportive. It’s not up to you to decide what’s useful or not.” Your cheeks warmed at that. He sounded so clear and straightforward. He managed to do, within minutes, what you had been too afraid to do your whole life.

Your father seemed to dismiss what Nanami had said, waving his hand about and muttering some incomprehensible gibberish.

While your mother fetched the main plate, the room was filled with light chatter. Nanami leaned towards you, lips softly brushing the shell of your ear. It made your heart leap to have him so close.

“You’re right. I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it through the whole dinner without throwing a plate at any of their faces.” He mumbled, hand still squeezing yours tightly. This small comment earned a chuckle from you, and Nanami smiled at the response. To anyone else watching, you two looked like a lovesick couple engaging in some light banter and gossip.

“Ah! Here it is!” Your mother gleamed, bringing in pots and pans full of curry rice, udon noodles, miso soup, and some other side dishes you couldn’t see. For all you disliked your family, you couldn’t lie – family gatherings had the best food. You had once tried to learn how to cook from your mother, but after two failed commands (in her opinion) and a whole lot of yelling, you gave up.

“You should try the curry,” you told Nanami, holding your plate securely to pour some of the food on it. “She might be a witch sometimes, but her curry is to die for.” This last part was only but a whisper, and it got Nanami to smile crookedly.

God, you loved to see him smile.

At the office he always looked so serious, so tense. Nanami hated working overtime, and no matter how nice the company you kept each other ways, you could still see the exhaustion taking over him most days, rendering him cold and distant.

Here, though?

He seemed relaxed to a fault. As relaxed as he could be in a situation like this.

“Honey!” There was your mother again. Great, you were starting to miss her unnecessary statements! “Are you seriously going to eat all of that?” She inquired, looking particularly scandalised and attempting to reach your plate.

“Yes, I am. Why? Is there a problem?” You tried to sound brave, but Nanami was quick to notice the shake in your voice and the way your hand trembled in his.

“Oh, well, honey, I just think you should be careful! Don’t wanna put on any weight, do you? I’m sure Kento here wouldn’t want you to gain some extra pounds.”

Ah, this woman clearly made a mistake.

Nanami cleared his throat and made a poor attempt at trying to conceal the anger in his voice.

“I assure you ma’am, that is the least of my concerns.” He asserted and removed your plate from the woman’s hands. “Your daughter looks amazing, and if she’s happy with herself, so am I. In fact, I think she looks particularly breathtaking this evening, don’t you? You must be so proud.”

He’d pushed your parents into a corner, and all they could do was stammer and babble and look around for any help from their relatives – help that did not come.

“I’m quite the lucky man.” Nanami gave your parents the same kind of pretentious, fake smile they gave to him, and dug into his food.

And what else could you do but smile? Mouthing a quick “thank you”, you decided to get to eating as well. Seeing your parents so flustered had given you a kind of confidence you hadn’t felt in years, not in front of them, and it felt good.

For a few godly minutes, everything seemed to go well.

You were enjoying your food, and Nanami was exchanging pleasantries with some of your cousins. It seemed almost normal, the way it was going. Your cousin Ichigo and his wife, who were both ten years older than you were particularly interested in discussing the best kinds of liquors with your friend. Hiroshi tried to rope him into a talk of cars, and Makoto expressed his hatred towards overtime.

It felt too good to be true.

Probably because it was.

After dinner, you were the first to get on your feet to help clear the table. The quicker you did it, the quicker you could get the hell out of that place.

You were loading the dishwasher, distracted by the background noise of the chatter and the news that played in the television, when your cousin Emiko approached. Emiko was her parents’ pride and joy. Unnaturally beautiful, she had no real talent other than looking pretty and finding a rich man. It didn’t matter – the family loved her for it, and you’d spent your whole entire life being compared to her.

“So! ‘Cus, do tell us, how much did you pay for him?” She asked coyly. There was something poisonous laced in her words. You supposed it was jealousy – despite being seated near her husband, Emiko had spent the entire evening studying Nanami, running her eyes through his broad shoulders and sharp cheekbones, no doubt drooling.

You sighed. There was never much you could do about Emiko. You either ignored her words or played into her traps, and both options tested your patience gravely.

“I did not pay him, Emiko. Nanami and I have been dating for a while now.” You replied casually. Somehow, you could still feel tingles where his hand had previously been. On your hand, on your waist. The memory of his lips against your ear elicited a full-body shiver from you. “And I’ll remind you that he’s just next door, so please be considerate.”

“Come on, no one else’s in here, you don’t have to pretend.” Emiko peeked at you. When she saw no visible reaction, she sighed, waving her hand around dismissively and rolling her eyes at you before turning to face the kitchen door. “Come on, lighten up. It was a joke. But you have to understand – you were never something to look at, were you?” She snickered, taking a big gulp of her wine right after. “How’d you manage to snatch up a guy like this?”

You were done.

This comment had been the final straw.

You knew Emiko to be mean, but this? Assuming you had to pay for a handsome man’s company, simply because she didn’t deem you as attractive? As interesting?

Were you simply not worthy of love?

You felt tears prickling at the corner of your eyes, but before you could try to come up with a reply, a familiar voice interrupted you.

“Actually, it was I who managed to snatch her up.” Nanami was standing by the doorframe, casting you the warmest, most lovely, most caring gaze ever. You felt warm to be looked like that, like you were the most precious thing in the world to this man. “I got lucky. When we first started dating, I wondered how the hell such an interesting, beautiful woman would ever look at me.” A small chuckle. “I still do – I don’t feel like I’m worthy of her.”

Emiko was speechless. She just stared from you to Nanami, from Nanami to you, her words somehow losing their power after this confession.

You looked at Nanami and quickly wiped away the tear that threatened to spill. Seeing this, he walked over to you, pulling you closer by the waist.

“I think you’re wrong, Emiko.” He continued, not even sparing her a second glance as his hand lifted your chin up with the gentleness of someone who holds the entire world in their hands. “Not something to look at? I mean… Look at her. How could I ever be deserving of such a beautiful woman?”

You felt heat radiate from his body, and as if it was second nature, you cupped his jaw with your hands. He was so close, so impossibly close. You could make out every single one of his eyelashes, the bags under his eyes caused by sleepless nights working, the eyebrows that were usually furrowed and deep in thought – Nanami Kento was beautiful.

And according to him, so were you.

He searched in your eyes for any kind of signal. A yes, a no. A simply gesture that could change the rest of your night (and perhaps the course of your, well, relationship forever).

It was almost imperceptible when you nodded, meeting his gaze through lidded eyes.

So he dipped his head, and softly caught his lips with yours.

You’d fantasized about this once or twice. But nothing could’ve prepared you for the real deal. Nanami was a good kisser. His lips moved effortlessly around yours, molding like he had been kissing you for years. The hand at your waist brought you close, close, impossibly close, so close that you couldn’t think of getting away – good. Nanami didn’t want you to ever leave his side.

And you kissed him back just as tenderly, afraid to ruin the moment. Your tongue swiped shyly across his bottom lip, and he gave you one of his signature smiles – reserved, contained, but 100% him.

Behind him, he could hear Emiko scoff and leave the kitchen. Perfect. He didn’t want a crowd anyways.

After pulling away for air, Nanami studied your face attentively.

Your eyes were wide and bright, sparkling with what seemed like magic. He wanted to kiss every inch of your face – your forehead, your cheeks, your nose, your lips. He wanted to kiss your soft, plush lips again and again and again. Thank God you’d invited him to be your fake boyfriend. Nanami had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to ask you out, and while this wasn’t the most conventional date, he was known for being efficient and straightforward.

“Let’s get out of here. You deserve to be kissed somewhere else.” He mumbled in that raspy voice of his that did things to you. You nodded and held his hand as he led you through the corridors.

The goodbyes were ushered, and the promises to call and come back soon were very blatantly fake. Your parents, however charmed by this man at first glance, refused to hide their scowls at this point. They did not like being contradicted. Neither did your cousins – or rather, the ones that had giggled and whispered and made smaller comments at the beginning like “Wow [Y/N], such a miracle, you finally found someone!” and “Oh, Nanami-san, when you get tired of her, please do call us – we’ll be waiting! What? It was a joke, don’t be such a downer!”.

The ride home had been quiet. Peaceful.

You refused to let Nanami go, and he refused to let you go, so you couldn’t find it in yourself to complain when he placed his big palm on top of your thigh as he drove.

Then, as you arrived to your place, he walked you to the door, silently holding onto your hand.

You gazed up at him, and then at the floor.

“So…” Why were words so hard?

You wanted to ask him a million questions. Why had he kissed you? Had he liked it? Did it mean something to him? Was it just a distraction? Is your friendship ruined?

“I hope you know it is not true.”

“Huh?” You met his eyes.

“Everything they said.” Nanami refused to let go of your hand, drawing slow circles with his thumb. “It’s not true. You’re the most fantastic woman I’ve ever known. You’re beautiful, and smart, and talented, and kind, and so many other things that I want to say but can’t find the words to.” He’d never been good with his words. But you thought he was doing a pretty good job.

Then, he shook his head, running a hand through his now slightly ruffled hair. “I wish I was better at this. My point is – you’re remarkable, [Y/N]. The way you care for others, the way you’re so unapologetically you, the way you’re not afraid to speak your mind and be heard. Those are all admirable qualities. If your family can’t see that, then it’s their fault.”

You could just stare at him in awe.

“If it’s okay with you, I’d like to take you out. On a date, an actual date. Not just some simple last-minute overtime office dinner. A proper date, just you and me.”

A date? With him?

“You can say no if you want to. I won’t force you. But I’d like to take you out for dinner. Or lunch. Or anything you want, basically, I –“ He sighed once again. “Point is. I really like you, [Y/N]. I know, I know, we don’t know each other that well, and I don’t expect you to return my feelings, but –“

“I really like you too.” You blurted out without thinking. So, all of this time, your feelings hadn’t been one sided? He too felt the same as you? All those nights at the office, all those small interactions, making the workplace an easier place to deal with, all of the jokes and giggles and antics – he cherished them too? “And I… I’d love to go out for dinner. Or lunch. Or whatever you want, really! The point is,” You gather yourself, smiling like a fool. “I’d really love to go on a date with you.”

In that exact same moment, while you and Nanami smiled at each other like two shy teenagers, the only witness to your awkward confessions being the moon and the lights from the city above you, you didn’t think of yourself as unworthy, as dumb, and useless and a no-good child. The hurtful comments made by your family were far, far away, like they’d happened a lifetime ago.

You saw yourself the way he did. Remarkable. Kind, talented, beautiful, and oh so worthy of love.

A/N: That's it! I hope you liked it! I love this man so much hehe he deserves all the fics! Thank you for the lovely request, I'm so glad I got to finally start writing for Nanami instead of simply reading!

Have an amazing day everyone! <3

#nanami kento x reader #nanami kento x you #nanami reader x yn #kento nanami x reader #kento nanami x you #kento nanami x y/n #nanami headcanons #nanami drabbles #nanami x reader #nanami kento fanfiction #nanami kento #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen x you #jujutsu kaisen fanfiction #jjk fanfiction #jjk x reader #jjk x you #jjk x y/n

[aestheticaltcow]

Cooking Class

Part of the Six Months universe.

Teaching a cooking class at The Bear, what could go wrong?

“Nat- you should’ve texted me bout this before planning it all out.” Carmy groaned as Natalie shot him an apologetic smile.

 “Mom brain?” she said, forcing a laugh to follow. She sighed before continuing, “Carmen, it’s one night. It won’t kill you. I guarantee Y/N and Mia will be fine.” 

Carmy rolled his eyes at her and asked if he could use Mia as an excuse to escape this. Natalie shook her head and offered to watch her whenever he wanted. Feeling torn between his responsibilities and his family, Carmy reluctantly agreed to teach a cooking class at The Bear the following night. As he pulled his phone out of his pocket, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of longing at the thought of having to teach some auction-winning d-bag how to make a signature dish from The Bear’s menu. All he wanted was to go home and snuggle with his girls. He shot you a text ranting about the new commitment before staring at his phone screen, waiting for your response. You disliked the message and sent him a picture of Mia playing in the sand at the park. 

Don’t worry Carm, we’ll survive without ya xo.

He rolled his eyes and pushed his phone back into his pocket before walking back into the kitchen from the office. He watched Syd assign different line cooks to different sections to best utilize their skills. He playfully bumped into her, earning a smack to the shoulder and an annoyed groan, “Paul got us really good seats for the Blackhawks game-” she started to explain only for Carmy to cut her off. He squinted at her, “You don’t like hockey. You could do this class.”

Syd rolled her eyes and ignored the judgment from her coworker-turned-best friend: “I like Paul, though. You watched all the Top Gun movies for Y/N. Love makes you do stuff you hate, Berzatto.” 

That night, Carmy walked through the front door to hear loud squeals echoing through the house. He shook his head and chuckled at the sounds of splashing and your poor impression of an elephant. As he walked down the hallway, his heart skipped a beat as Mia’s laughter became more apparent. Carmy peered into the bathroom and saw Mia sitting in the bathtub with a shampoo mohawk. He laughed and stepped into the room. You looked up at him with a cheery smile, “Hi, Daddy.” you greeted as Carmy slowly sat beside you. He kissed your cheek before turning his attention to the happy-as-a-clam toddler eagerly reaching toward him. “Woah there, princess. Let Mommy finish washing your hair first.” he explained as she shook her head, squealing, “Dada home! Dada home!”

You laughed at the interaction and allowed Mia to attempt to get out of the tub. Thankfully, she was still too little to do alone. Mia glared at the tub's edge, making you and Carmy laugh as she plopped back into the water. She refused to let you finish giving her the nightly bath she typically loved, “Mia, my princess, you can snuggle with Daddy as soon as I wash your hair, okay?” you explained as Mia’s bottom lip quivered. “I can do it, baby.” Carmy offered; he took over before you could accept his offer. You shook your head as you watched Mia happily comply. She already had that man wrapped around her little finger, and you couldn’t help but shake your head, “I’m gonna get her pjs ready.” you smiled and squeezed his shoulder with your still-damp hands.

~

“Please don’t take my sunshine away…” Carmy softly sang as he rocked an almost asleep Mia in his arms. You watched as he slowly set her into her crib before placing her favorite lovie beside her. He ran his thumb against her cheek and whispered, “I love you,” one last time before turning his attention to you. You bit your bottom lip, attempting to suppress the giggles that threatened to spill from your lips. His cerulean eyes looked you up and down as he reached toward your hips. You managed to escape his grip and scamper into the hallway. 

“Where ya goin’, baby?” Carmy teased as you stepped over the threshold of your bedroom. You thought you’d escaped him but squealed when you felt his arms wrap around your waist. Carmy pulled you closer to him and buried his face in the crook of your neck. As he mumbled something you couldn’t hear, you placed your hands on his. You stepped forward, pulling him with you, “Are you smellin’ me?” your question went unanswered as Carmy’s hands squeezed your stomach. 

Carmy let go of your waist, and you face planted onto the mattress. When the weight of the mattress shifted, you rolled onto your side to stare at Carmy. He grinned, “I really don’t want to do that cooking lesson tomorrow night.” 

~

“Hey Carmy, rich assholes are here for the cookin’ lesson,” Richie said as he walked into the kitchen. The restaurant closed after an uneventful lunch service, so Carmy and Richie could clean up and prep for the lesson. “What’re you teachin’ them?” Richie asked, pulling his suit jacket off. Carmy washed his hands one last time and quickly answered that they would make a simple risotto. Richie nodded, “I’ll be in the office if you need anything.”

“Hello, everyone,” Carmy introduced, looking around the front of the restaurant to see what he presumed to be two couples. One was a woman with dark brown hair in a modest emerald green dress around his age who introduced herself as Vanessa. With her was a slightly older man with salt and pepper hair and a trimmed beard who’d introduced himself as Nico. The other was an older, presumed married couple around Donna’s age. The woman smiled brightly and practically shook in her boots to get into the kitchen. She introduced herself as Pearl and her husband, Ernie. He seemed less excited to be there, but Carmy grinned when he noticed Pearl squeeze his hand excitedly. “I’m Chef Carmen, welcome to The Bear. I think you were promised Chef Sydney. I’m by no means as entertaining as her, but I promise you’ll learn a lot about one of our signature dishes here at The Bear.” he took a breath and looked around the room to see the woman biting her lip. Carmy rolled his shoulders back, “Risotto was one of the first dishes Chef Sydney wanted on the menu, and after a couple revisions, we now have our signature risotto alla milanese with slow-roasted seasonal vegetables and beef tenderloin… any questions before we get started?” 

As Carmy walked the group through the cooking process, he couldn’t help but notice Vanessa’s lingering glances. He tried to avoid her as he explained knife technique to the others, but when she brushed against his hip for the third time, Carmy started to pick up on her intentions. “Nessie, can you hand me the onion, sweetheart?” Nico asked, not noticing how close she was to Carmy. Vanessa rolled her eyes and obliged the request.

“So, Chef Carmen, how long have you been a chef?” Pearl asked as she stirred beef stock into her risotto. “Uh, professionally, about 15 years, but it’s always been my thing, I guess,” Carmy answered as he grated garlic for her. Pearl smiled and thanked him before verging into more personal questions. Ernie sighed and apologized for his wife. Carmy chuckled, “Don’t worry, Ernie, mine does the same thing.” 

“You’re married?” Vanessa questioned as she stepped around Nico to be closer to him. Carmy nodded, “Happily married for seven years now.” Pearl gushed at Carmy’s response and started asking about you. Ernie chuckled as he shook his head. “Pearlie, you don’t have to ask every question that pops in that head of yours.” Pearl playfully hit her husband’s chest in response, “It’s not my fault Chef Carmen here reminds me of Robbie- Robbie is my youngest. About your age, he’s in the Navy.” 

The lesson was uneventful, subtracting Vanessa’s obvious flirtation. Carmy was confused about why Nico hadn’t said anything to her. If you were hitting on another man in front of him, he’d say something. Why wasn’t Nico? Carmy pushed the thought out of his head and said his goodbyes to everyone as he walked them through the dining area. As he held the door open, Pearl said thank you one last time, and Ernie practically had to drag her out of the restaurant. Carmy chuckled and invited her back anytime she pleased. Nico had his eyes on his phone as he flashed Carmy a grin before hurrying out of the restaurant. Vanessa, on the other hand, lingered. She looked up at Carmy with big doe eyes fawning a false innocence. Carmy softly swallowed, “Can I come whenever I want?” her voice was low as she looked up at him longingly. Carmy shook his head, “That’s not a good idea.” 

Vanessa rolled her eyes and ran a finger down Carmy’s chest, “Too bad… I want to get you out of that apron sometime.” Carmy awkwardly chuckled in response. She shot him a wink as she walked out of the restaurant toward Nico, who had been holding the passenger side door of their car open for her. He looked Carmy up and down before walking around the car to the driver’s side. 

Carmy locked the restaurant's front door and went back into the kitchen; Richie emerged from the office. “The lesson go okay?” he asked, slipping his phone into his pocket. Carmy shrugged, “Yo, could you clean this up?”

Richie rolled his eyes, “Sure…you okay?” Carmy nodded and went to the lockers, removing his apron as he walked. Richie watched him; something happened, but he was too tired to deal with Carmy’s bullshit. Carmy quickly pulled his backpack and jacket out of his locker before changing his shoes and running out of the kitchen. Richie watched and wondered what was going on in that kid’s head before he started scrubbing the counters.

~

It was almost midnight when Carmy got home. You were in the bathroom brushing your teeth when he came through the bedroom door. “Yo baby, can we talk about somethin?” Carmy asked from the doorframe. You spat in the sink before turning the water on to rinse your mouth and toothbrush. “Everything okay, Carmen?” you asked as you stepped toward him. The look on his face made alarm bells go off in your head, “What did you do?” 

Carmy watched as you crossed your arms over your chest, and he stepped away from the doorframe to allow you to exit the bathroom. You glared at him as he flexed his hands at his sides, “I didn’t do anything- I promise, nothing happened, but at that cooking class, this girl was just… aggressive? She was there with her husband but was very blatantly hitting on me.” he started to explain. Carmy couldn’t look at you while he explained what had happened, “I uh- I didn’t know how to shut it down, I guess. I didn’t do anything with her, and I absolutely won’t because I love you, and I can’t lose you again.” He took a shallow breath and looked up at you. You frowned and let your arms fall before closing the distance between you.

“Carmy. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s okay.” you said as you reached up to rub his bicep. Carmy released his breath and limply wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you against his body, “I love you, baby.”

#the bear #carmen berzatto #carmen berzatto imagine #carmy berzatto #carmy the bear #carmen berzatto one shot #carmen berzatto x reader #carmy berzatto x reader #carmy berzatto imagine #carmen berzatto x you #carmen berzatto fluff #carmy berzatto fanfiction

[deakyjoe]

Somebody’s Watching Me Part 5

Pairing: Simon “Ghost” Riley x Reader (“Sarge”, she/her pronouns, British, backstory)

Category: slowburn coworkers to friends to lovers with grumpy x sunshine dynamic/idiots in love

Summary: Your relationship with Simon begins to blossom even further as you hang out alone for the holiday period.

Warnings: fluff, Christmas Day shenanigans, British slang/terminology, talks of bad family, the sister makes an appearance, awkward Ghost, domestic Ghost (hella domestic in this one), cursing/swearing, children (briefly), talks of scars, the mask is off

Word count: 4.1k (short, I’m sorry)

A/N: He’s so babygirl in that gif. Majority of the ideas for this chapter came to me during dinner on Christmas Day when I was wishing I was spending it with my favourite fictional masked military man instead of my family…

Part 6 available to read here

The plan had gone ahead. The stupid, silly plan that you’d let your friend convince you into. Simon was due to arrive at your place any second. Yes, that’s right. The two of you had actually decided to spend Christmas Day together. Lieutenant and Sergeant Extravaganza. It was going to be a disaster, you were convinced.

What the fuck were you thinking?

You weren’t thinking much actually as you dashed around your kitchen, trying to keep up with cooking timers and attempting to keep the place in order. You were failing at keeping it in order, your kitchen was a mess. But luckily you were pulled out of your panic by him arriving.

The door was wrenched open halfway through his knocking, startling Simon slightly but he barely showed it with the smallest raise of his eyebrows. His hand still hung in the air ready for his next knock.

"Eager." He grunted, handing you the bags he was carrying.

"You're late." You snapped as you turned away from him to walk back to the kitchen where you were cooking the biggest meal for two people ever. You were wearing an apron and some unidentifiable substance was splattered over your cheeks. You were unaware of it.

"You said ten. It's ten." He replied as he shut the door and followed you, kicking off his shoes in the process.

You dumped his bags in the corner of the room. "I said get here ten-ish. That means nine-thirty latest."

"You should've said nine-thirty then." He frowned as he picked the bags up again and set them delicately on your kitchen counter. "Watch it. Got some goods in here."

"Couldn't have said nine-thirty because then I'd look insane. Ten was bad enough. What's with all the bags?" The previous subject was dropped as you peered into the top of one of the bags in front of you. Your attention was so easily distracted.

He shrugged. "You told me to bring things."

You pouted. "I said bring potatoes and carrots."

"I did." He pulled them from the bag and set them down in front of you. Potatoes and carrots as requested. But the bags were still bulging.

"That's more than potatoes and carrots, Simon."

"A few extra vegetables maybe." He paused. "And your presents."

You perked up instantly. "You got me presents?"

"Be a bit rude of me if I spent Christmas Day here with you and didn't get you presents." He huffed, scrunching the bag shut when you attempted to peek at what he'd brought you.

You rolled your eyes at him. "No, I invited you. Besides, we didn't say we would."

He hesitated, shifting on his feet. "It's okay if you didn't get me any."

You scoffed. "As if I wouldn't get you any."

He didn't respond to that but instead pointed at his cheeks. "You've got a little something."

You rubbed at your face. "Got it?"

"No. Here, let me." He reached across and cupped your cheek in his large hand, finger swiping across the skin to remove whatever was there.

You could feel yourself burning at the touch. It was so unexpected from him. The most you'd ever gotten was the hooked pinkies at the Christmas party. Now he was touching your face? Of course you weren’t complaining, you were just surprised.

He looked as if he was going to say something else but was interrupted by your phone ringing, the vibration of it making it shift across the surface of the counter. His hand was removed quickly in the blink of an eye but you took no notice as a familiar name was flashing on the screen of your phone.

"Gonna take that?" Simon asked gruffly, his eyes on you as you stared at your phone.

"It's my sister." You mumbled, tentatively picking it up. Why was she calling you? On Christmas Day?

He leant forward next to you, looking over your shoulder. "Maybe you should answer. Confront her like you did your parents."

"I don't know if it'd be a confrontation."

Things with you sister were... ambiguous. You didn't know exactly what her opinion of you was. And you were scared to find out.

But you needed to decide because she wouldn't wait around for you to answer the phone forever. So you hit the green button and hoped for the best when her smiling face appeared on the screen. Shit, it was a FaceTime.

She gasped but didn't seem unhappy. "You picked up!"

"Uh, sure did." You sent an awkward smile back, not certain what you were supposed to say to her. "Umm... hey. How are you?"

Greetings. Small talk. Good.

"I'm good, I'm good! How are you? Merry Christmas, by the way!"

She was too enthusiastic for your taste. And that was coming from you. Simon secretly described you as the epitome of sunshine.

"Merry Christmas. I'm- I'm alright."

Simon's gaze was burning into the side of your face so you desperately tried to ignore him.

"Good! Listen-"

Oh, fuck.

"-I know you're not going to Mum and Dad's this year and I totally understand."

Did she?

"But I want to see you at some point. Before you're next called away. I haven't seen you in forever. You've got nieces and nephews to see as well." Her tone didn't change for a second and she seemed genuine. Surprising.

You blinked at her. "Uhh... okay."

"Okay? Really?" She asked and you nodded. "Great! Hang on, they want to see you. Kids!"

There was a scuffle on the other end of the line before four small faces were squished together to fit in front of the camera, including a tiny baby being held up at the back of the group.

"Say Merry Christmas to your auntie then."

"Merry Christmas!" They all chimed, minus the newborn, with sweet smiles full of missing teeth.

A lump formed in your throat at the sight of them. "Merry Christmas."

They all disappeared again before your sister was back on screen. "I tell them stories all the time about you."

"You do?"

"Of course, you're their aunt! I need their aunt in their lives even if you can't physically be here all the time-"

You cut her off. "I didn't think you wanted me to be."

She frowned at you. "Why wouldn't I want you to be?"

"Because Mum and Dad said-"

"Oh, fuck everything they say. I don't care what they think. You're my sister. That's all that matters." She glanced away from the camera. "Yes, Mummy used a bad word. No, you can't use it. Maybe when you're older. Go put your shoes on."

Tears were welling in your eyes so you blinked them back. "I still can't come over for Christmas."

"I know. And I understand why." She paused, a thoughtful look crossing her face. "You're not spending it alone, are you?"

"No, no. I'm spending it with a friend." You said, eyes flicking to the side to look at Simon who was listening and watching you intently.

"Ooh, is it the fella that Mum and Dad saw you with at the market?" Her face suddenly got closer to the camera, her voice lowering to a whisper.

"They told you about that?" You were surprised, thinking they'd keep it to themselves.

"Oh, yeah. I hoped you'd call since you were home. But then you didn't... so I figured I would."

"Thought it was best I kept my distance." You explained. "I didn't know where you stood. With me."

"Silly girl." She shook her head but moved on. "Is mystery man there? Can I see him?"

"Yes, mystery man is here. And no, you can't see him." You laughed.

"Ugh, does mystery man have a name at least?"

"Simon."

"Shit, yeah. They did say that. Also said he's your lieutenant. Is that allowed?" Her brows raised in accusation.

"We're just friends."

Just friends. Liar.

"Sure, you a-" She was cut off from a shout somewhere in the distance. "Fuck, we've got to go. Umm, promise to call me. Or text me. Whatever."

"Promise." You nodded. "Have a good time today."

"It'll be a struggle without you. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." You replied with one last smile before hanging up.

The two of you stood in silence for a moment after you'd set your phone down. This was the last thing you expected to happen on Christmas Day. But it wasn't unwanted. In fact, it felt rather nice.

"Are you okay?" Simon suddenly asked, not enjoying how quiet you were being.

Your head snapped to the side to look at him. "Yes, actually. Do you want to do presents now?"

"Sure, whatever you want." One side of his mouth curled up slightly. It sort of resembled a smile.

"Okay, let's do it." You skipped out of the kitchen and into the living room where you dragged a bag from behind the television and collapsed onto the sofa.

Simon followed you, falling into his seat more carefully. He had his own bag of presents for you clutched in his arms.

"Here you go." You shoved his gifts towards him, slightly nervous at what he'd think. "You can open them in any order."

"Open yours first." He said softly as your presents were placed carefully into your lap. "You have to leave the small one until last."

"Okay." You frowned at that but accepted. He had his reasonings and you'd see soon enough anyway.

You pulled the first present from the bag, it was medium sized and squishy. Nicely wrapped. Curious. When you'd unwrapped it, you were puzzled to see multiple pairs of socks. A classic Christmas gift.

"They're thermal." Simon explained hurriedly, noticing the expression on your face. "You're always complaining that your feet are cold in the field. Thought these'd help."

"Oh." You melted a little, amazed that he’d remembered. Did you really complain that much? "That's so sweet, Simon. Thank you."

He said nothing so you moved on to the next gift. This was bigger and judging by the weight and shape you could guess what it was. And you were right. A bottle of the apple juice from the farmers' market.

"You know me so well." You sighed happily, placing it to the side and making a mental note to put it in the fridge as soon as possible.

After that was an apple scented candle and a box of your favourite chocolates. How he knew about those, you had no idea as you were sure you'd never once eaten them or mentioned them in front of him. But you didn't think on it too hard.

Lastly was the smallest gift. It was thin and you found an envelope underneath the wrapping paper. Your brows furrowed in confusion. Inside the envelope was a piece of paper with an eleven digit number written on it. A phone number.

"It's my phone number." Simon said, hushed. "I thought that maybe you should have it. As we're... friends now."

You looked back up at him, eyes glassy and full of appreciation. Somehow, he knew you perfectly. And this was the best gift you ever could have asked for.

"Thank you." You said softly, sniffing as you immediately typed it into your contacts. You didn't want to risk losing it. Or risk him changing his mind and wanting to take it back.

He just nodded and reached for his own gifts and started opening them. The first was a jar of raw honey from the market. Secretly, you were so glad you hadn't run into each other there again as it would’ve spoiled the surprise of the presents.

After that was a hat, scarf and gloves.

"Because you won't buy them for yourself." You explained after he sent you an unamused look.

Then he opened the gift you were most nervous about. A double picture frame with two photographs from the Christmas party in them on either side. The first had a group shot of everyone that Simon originally didn't want to be in but reluctantly agreed to after you begged him.

"C'mon, Simon! It'll be nice!"

"Just for you, Sarge. Just for you..."

He stood in the corner behind you. And you didn't fail to notice how he wasn't looking at the camera, but instead had his eyes fixed on you.

The second was a photograph of the two of you out on the patio. One of your friends had sneakily taken it when neither of you were paying attention. Both you and Simon were looking up at the sky and your pinkies were interlocked on the wooden railing. It looked… romantic. She’d sent it to you the next day with heart emojis as a caption.

He said nothing as he stared down at it.

Biting your thumbnail anxiously, you took in a deep breath. "You don't have to put it up anywhere. I just thought... I don't know."

"No, I'll find somewhere for it. Thank you." He looked at it for a few seconds more before standing it upright on the coffee table and picking up his last gift.

A limited edition Patrick Swayze box set collection. You'd spent hours on the internet scouring for it.

And when Simon's eyes lit up you knew the time was spent well.

You started pointing at various places on the back of the box. "It comes with exclusive interviews and documentaries as well as some of his best movies. It's got Dirty Dancing, Point Break, Road House, Ghost- wait." You cut yourself off, suddenly realising something.

Simon predicted your epiphany, his face dropping into boredom. "No."

"Hang on." You ignored him, putting the pieces together.

"No." He just repeated himself, slightly firmer.

"Is your name Ghost because of Ghost?" You said, trying to stifle a giggle.

He said nothing. That was an answer in itself.

Air shot from your mouth in shock. "Oh, my god! It is!"

"It's a coincidence." His teeth were clenched.

"Totally. Patrick Swayze super fan Simon Riley is also known as Ghost. Coincidentally." You rolled your eyes at his weak attempt of an explanation. No way that it was a coincidence.

"I'm not called Ghost because of Patrick Swayze." He insisted, dropping the box set to your coffee table and sending you a death glare.

You nodded, unconvinced. "Yuh-huh. And how many times have you seen the movie?"

Shrug. "I don't know."

"A lot, right?"

Another shrug. "Yeah."

"Simon!" You cackled, struggling to breathe as a sudden laugh escaped you. "I can't believe your callsign comes from a romance movie starring Whoopi Goldberg!"

He frowned. "It doesn't."

"It so does. Do you cry during it?" Your brows raised at the idea. You couldn't picture him crying.

"No."

"How do you feel about the pottery scene?" Your tone was suggestive as you questioned his opinions on one of the most famous sexy scenes of all time.

"It's okay."

"Please! You so cry during it and love the pottery scene." You were just teasing him but the thought of it was quite amusing.

He turned away from you. "Stop it."

"I can't. This information is precious to me."

"Information you're making up." He snapped.

"I bet you know the choreography for Dirty Dancing as well." Imagine him doing the big dance number at the end...

He said nothing.

"Christ, you do." You sighed, highly thrilled with this development. "Hate to say it but I always preferred Keanu Reeves to Patrick Swayze in Point Break."

He suddenly looked at you with an expression as if you'd committed the biggest sin ever. "That's because you have no taste."

You snorted. "Says the man who doesn't like Love Actually."

"Sappy romance." He waved his hand at you.

"You like Ghost and Dirty Dancing." You deadpanned.

Correction. "I like Patrick Swayze."

Again, you laughed at him. "You're not helping your case."

He huffed. "Fine. I like some romances. Happy?"

"Very." You were grinning at him.

He paused and frowned at you. "Keanu Reeves?"

With a sigh, you shut your eyes and pictured Keanu Reeves. "He's pretty."

Simon's mind flashed back to the night of the party where you'd called him pretty in passing.

"Although, so is Patrick Swayze." You added, thinking about him and his mullet in Dirty Dancing. "Hey, do you have any pictures of you with your Patrick Swayze mullet?"

"No." He did. He was lying.

"What a shame. Would've loved to have seen." You sighed again, this time more dramatically. "Okay, come on, Simon Swayze. We've got more cooking to do."

He ignored the tingling in his stomach at being referred to as Simon Swayze. "Thought you said you had it all sorted. That you wouldn't need my help."

"Maybe I wasn't telling the truth." You brushed your hands down the front of your apron.

“Hm, you got another apron for me to wear?” He was joking but your eyes sparkled as you ran off into the kitchen so he decided to keep that to himself.

He followed you into the kitchen slowly to find you bent over and digging through a drawer. Guiltily, he averted his eyes after realising he’d been staring for a couple seconds too long.

“Aha!” You presented an apron to him with a flourish.

It was obvious just by looking at it that it’d be far too small for him. But Simon decided to just indulge you and slipped it over his head anyway.

He stuck his arms out to the sides. “How do I look?”

“Domestic. Like a housewife. Suits you.” You nodded and turned to the piles of bowls and dishes on the counter. “Can you cook?”

“I can follow instructions.”

What an interesting thought.

You snapped yourself out of it and pointed at several items, reeling off a list of things he could do to help out.

So that’s what the two of you did for the next few hours, you told him what to do and Simon did it. It was a nice change in dynamic from him usually telling you what to do as your lieutenant. And maybe the power was getting to your head a little.

“What are you doing?!”

“What you told me to do. Chopping.”

“No! I said to leave half an inch between the cuts. That’s clearly three quarters of an inch.”

“I think I know my inches, Sarge.”

You’d shut up at that comment.

And when the food was done and you’d both eaten more than you probably should have, the promise of sending Simon home with half the leftovers being sealed, you settled on the sofa to watch the two movies you’d agreed on.

It was a quick game of rock, paper, scissors to decide whose film got played first. You’d won and happily put on Love Actually with a smug grin. Little to your knowledge, Simon had lost on purpose.

You sat in silence as you watched the lives of several characters be intertwined over the Christmas period as their love lives took twists and turns.

And when it was over, you turned to your lieutenant with a curious gaze. “So?”

“Still shit.”

“Simon!” You groaned, head falling back onto the sofa. “How could you say that?”

“I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Fine, fine. Guess it’s time for Die Hard now.” You sighed and put the next movie on, kind of looking forward to it. You hadn’t seen it in years. A rewatch might be nice.

And it was. You’d forgotten how good it actually was. But when you turned to tell Simon that in the last half hour of the movie, you found him asleep. Asleep!

His head was tilted back, eyes closed, mouth slightly open and face relaxed. You giggled quietly to yourself and let the rest of the film play out.

When it was over he was still fast asleep so you placed a blanket across him and tiptoed into the kitchen, switched the radio on a low volume and started to tidy up. It took you about half an hour before everything was packed away in the fridge and all cooking equipment was piled ready to be washed.

When you turned to put something in a cupboard, Simon was stood in the doorway watching you. His eyelids were slightly hooded as he rubbed a hand across his face, hair tousled to perfection. He looked... delectable.

"How long was I out?" His voice was husky from sleep. Music to your ears.

"About an hour I think." You couldn't move your eyes away from him, completely unblinking.

He grunted lowly in the back of his throat and moved towards you. "Sorry."

"It's- it's okay." You backed yourself against the counter, wincing as the granite dug into the small of your back.

"Thanks for the blanket." He stopped short about two feet away from you. "I can't believe I fell asleep."

"You missed the end of Die Hard." You cracked a small smile, trying to distract yourself from the way he looked.

"No, I mean-" He exhaled deeply. "I haven't slept like that... in a while."

"Well, that's good then. Right? Power nap?"

"I can't sleep at home because I'm paranoid. And uncomfortable." He admitted suddenly.

"Oh." It was sad to hear that he wasn't happy in his own home. "My sofa is available any time you want to use it."

"I don't know why I fell asleep."

"Maybe you're less paranoid here because you know I'm here. Someone to back you up. Just in case. Like how you sleep better in the field?"

"Maybe." His eyes crinkled at the edges at that. "I guess I do trust you."

"You guess?"

"I do.” He corrected. “Trust that you'd not let me die say someone were to try to kill me in my sleep. Assuming that it's not you trying to kill me."

"No promises. But you're safe for now. You don't snore."

"Soap needs to watch his back then."

"He certainly does."

He suddenly noticed that your sink was full of water and suds. "Need help with that?"

"Sure. You want to wash or dry?"

"I'll wash. I'm good with a sponge."

"A sentence I never thought I'd hear you say but okay!"

He sidled up next to you and stuck his hands into the water with no hesitation.

"Aaahh! What are you doing?" You grabbed his wrists and pulled his hands from the sink, eyes wide with horror. "That's boiling water! I have gloves for you to use!"

"Can't really feel it." He looked down at his hands, now an angry pink from the heat. "It's mostly scar tissue."

You frowned at him. "You still have nerve endings and pain receptors in scar tissue."

"Not me."

You laughed sarcastically. "Oh, not you."

"Not me." He repeated.

Stubborn bastard.

"You're an idiot." You shook your head with a smile, amused by him.

"Appreciate that, Sarge." He didn't seem annoyed, however. He also seemed to find it funny.

You found a tea towel and dried his hands for him, being gentle as to not aggravate the scar tissue or poke at the burning skin more. Then you pulled the washing up gloves from the cupboard below and gave them to him.

"Now wear these."

"Yes, ma'am." He sighed but took them from you anyway, slipping them onto his large hands. They were a tight fit but they'd have to do.

The two of you stood together, you humming along to the music on the radio as you dried bowls and pots and Simon watching you from the corner of his eye as he scrubbed at plates and saucepans.

He interrupted you with a hushed mumble, almost inaudible. “Sarge?”

“Yeah?” Your humming stopped as you looked up at him.

He was hesitant before he replied. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Today. It’s been my nicest Christmas since… forever.” He avoided looking at you which was odd for him.

“Oh. You’re welcome.” While it made you happy that he’d had a good time, it also pained you that his previous Christmases hadn’t been as kind to him.

“I- I like spending time with you.” The statement was rushed, jaw tightened.

“I like spending time with you too.” You responded, feeling lightheaded at his confession.

He didn’t reply for a moment, just nodded at your returned sentiment. “What time do you need me to leave?”

“Whenever you want.” It was true. You weren’t planning on kicking him out any time soon, or ever. He was free to stay as long as he wanted to.

He hummed quietly.

You decided to be bold and repeat your offer from earlier in the day. "You can stay on the sofa if you want."

He appeared surprised by that but smiled. A full-blown Simon Riley smile. Glimpse of pearly white teeth and everything. You almost fainted at the sight.

"I'd like that."

But in true Ghost fashion he'd disappeared before you'd woken up the next morning.

A/N: Fun fact - I was gonna have them kiss in this chapter and then decided against it to hang out the slowburn a little longer… you’re welcome! 💀

#simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost riley x you #simon riley x reader #simon riley x you #ghost riley x reader #ghost riley x you #ghost x reader #ghost x you #simon ghost riley #simon riley #ghost riley #ghost #simon ghost riley fanfiction #simon riley fanfiction #ghost riley fanfiction #ghost fanfiction #call of duty #call of duty modern warfare 2 #modern warfare 2 #modern warfare #call of duty modern warfare #ej’s fics #ej’s writing #deakyjoe’s fics #deakyjoe’s writing #somebody’s watching me #simon and sarge

[svmjaeyvn]

love maze, s.jy.

chapter one pairing: jake x afab!reader word count: tbd (series)

masterlist

add yourself to the taglist here!

genre: college!au, mutual friends, fake dating, smut.

synopsis: an unfortunate encounter, drunken mistakes, and a sort of (definitely) stalker leads jake sim ‘dating’ his best friend’s childhood crush.

or, your life gets intertwined with a rich boy’s in attempt to not get sued by his crazy personal fangirl and like with all good cliches, sex overcomplicates things.

contents: smut, sort of strangers to fuck buddies to lovers pipeline, childhood best friend!jay, mentions of best friend! yunjin, curly haired & mixed reader, uni!au, rich nepo baby!jake, enha frat boys, lots of kissing, fake dating turning into fwb real quick, totally way too into it for it to be fake early on, big booty reader that’s jake’s obsessed with, partying and alcohol use, slight violence, he fell first and harder trope, stem bf & writer gf, (kinda overly) possessive jake, some angst to spice things up, daddy issues, hyper independent reader who struggles with her feelings, fluff and happy ending!!

a/n: hello~ i’ve never been a tumblr girly but i have went through my w*ttpad era back in 2018 so bare with me y’all. this will be a series but not that long (i hope) so pls look forward to it. warning tags will be placed before each “chapter” to specify what to expect. pls pls reblog and interact, i’d love to have feedback and see what your thoughts are. okay! yay, for now enjoy and thank you sm :D

MDNI, 18+

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CHAPTER ONE: PINEAPPLE

masterlist next

word count: 2.5k

warnings: alcohol, partying, creeper in a store, bestie jay, already stepping up to be a fake bf jake duhhh

a/n: short and sweet intro

"HEY SORRY, JAY's busy—”

"Hey baby!" You smile brightly, attempting to seem causal but emphasizing the conversation rather loudly. Wandering through the isles aimlessly, stopping to pretend to browse the selection of cereals while peeking through the corner of your eye, you keep watch on the unfamiliar man that seemed to be following you.

You've been at the store for 15 minutes, around 10 of those ago you noticed the same man over and over, passing by each other with first polite smiles which morphed into a sort of anxiety feeling on your end noting how he began to linger around more obviously, far enough away to not seem suspicious to those around but definitely setting off an alarm in your head to stay alert.

It was a Friday night, after finishing up with your last minute shift due to a coworker calling out, you decided it was time to finally grocery shop, something that you've been putting off all week due to laziness but now you wished you opted to eat eggs for the third day in a row rather than be here. Typically, you and Yunjin went to the store together, but with her out on a date, that left you alone for the night.

"We're still cooking for dinner right? I'm at the store right now picking stuff up," You continue after meeting confused silence on the other end. Due to the increasing gut feeling and you desperate for someone to come to your aid in at least knowing where you were if you did end up missing and on the news, you called the only person you knew in the area that would come. Jay Park, an extended family friend that you practically grew up attached to each others hips, had followed you along to the same Uni two years ago. With a three hour car ride being the distance to your home town, you and Jay depended on each other as a sort of familiarity and unspoken acknowledgment that there was support for one another.

University created a sort of distance in your relationship, both studying different majors and finding your own friend groups outside of one another but you still talked every other day through text and hung out occasionally. Jay, being a well know frat boy around campus, became a sort of gossip topic of him and his other frat members. His admittedly attractive looks that he grew into helping with his popularity along with his love for the party scene.

You on the other hand, were a home body more than anything. After your first year, you had moved into an apartment about 5 minutes away off-campus with your previous dorm-mate and newly founded best friend. You and Yunjin became close relatively fast and being able to get through freshmen year living together in the tiny space meant you'd work perfectly well moving in a place where you both got your own rooms and a private bathroom.

Thus, your routine consisted of lectures, homework, your part-time job, and sleep. It was quiet and comfortable. Not that you were opposed to a night out and getting drunk off your ass every once in a while but being a party girl didn't seem like your cup of tea to do every weekend.

"Sorry, ___ it's Jake. I don't know where Jay is, he just left his phone with me earlier," Jake speaks into the phone, making his way out of the booming house to better hear her. The muffled music and loud voices heard from his end causing a slight panic to rise in your stomach but also nearly face palm. It's a Friday night, of course he was partying.

You rake your brain to put a face to the name. You've met Jay's frat friends on occasion, though they mostly consisted of when you were all drunk so it was sort of a blur.

"Yeah I'm at Target," You nod, specifying your location and hoping that whoever Jake was, he was sober enough to comprehend that something was wrong and that he'd remember your words. "Do you want anything else specifically?" From the corner of your eye, you can see the man beginning to pace, seemingly growing antsy with waiting on you to move. Deciding it was best to make your way toward the front where more workers would be, you completely disregard your near empty cart and pushed it along while holding your phone to your ear.

"... Are you okay?" Jake inquires, his brows burrowed together in confusion but feeling the underlying feeling of the call. The only reason he answered was because he knew you and Jay were close, having met less than a handful of times but the contact picture Jay saved you under allowed him to remember who you were. The three spammed messages you sent prior to your call being unable to be read due to his phone being locked. He intended to only inform you of the reason the said boy wouldn't respond for a while but it ended up to this rather weird conversation.

"Uh... no I don't think so," You answer, acting as if you were responding to a question. Jake straightens up slightly, unaware if that was an actual answer or if you were still on the one sided random talk through the phone. He sort of hoped it was the second option for your sake. "Okay I'll look. I'm sure they have pineapple,"

Jay was an overprotective guy, especially when it came to those he cared about. Early on, whenever they'd go out, he told everyone that their emergency code word was pineapple. Jake, along with the other boys, found it utterly ridiculous and never once had to actually use it but he did remember the word loud and clear even months later. The conversation was far too random and specific for you to just casually be saying that, and thus Jake assumed the safe word was something Jay used universally.

"You're at the store in town right?" He asks, now heading back into the house, weaving his way through the bodies in search of his friends.

"Yeah," You nod disregarding that he couldn't see it. There was two Targets in the area you lived it, though one was undeniably farther away from the University. In town referred to the one you stood in, absentmindedly staring at the electronics assuming there had to be more cameras in this area. "Okay, well, I'll be home soon then,"

"Give me ten minutes," Jake said into the phone before handing up the call, not giving you time to respond. Scrunching up your nose, you felt significantly smaller without the comfort of another voice on the other line. From the opposite isle, you could see the man lingering around the corner, now staring directly at you but quickly looking away upon making eye contact.

With a slight pit in your stomach, you take a second to breathe. Attempting to seem inconspicuous, you glance over your items and visibly pale. The only things consisted of body wash, a bag of lemons, and ice cream bars that were now melting. You had circled the food department a near three times and hadn't picked up much even though you made it rather clear on the call you were meant to be getting dinner. Silently praying that the man wasn't keen enough to pay that much attention, you shake off the shiver that ran down your spine.

Meanwhile, Jake ran through the house collecting his friends one by one. Luckily, with it being only 7:30 and rather early in the night, no one was near hammered yet, barely started on a buzz when he interrupted. Not much was shared in the process, the urgent way Jake pulled them along was enough for them to follow but Heeseung finally questioned it once they were packed in the car driving away from their own party.

"Where we going man?" The eldest asked, running a hand through his hair lazily.

Jake, being the only one with less than half a bottle of beer in, was in the driver seat. He drove fast, weaving through the lanes occasionally but still safe enough to not seem suspicious.

He glanced back at Jay through the rearview mirror, said boy tilting his head back in confusion. "___ called you, she's having an issue. Said something about pineapple and wasn't having an actual conversation with me so I'm assuming someone was following her,"

Jay straightened up, leaning closer from his seat while the other two spared glances. "When?"

"Right before I went to find you, told her to give me 10 minutes," Jake answers, partially relieved that Jay seemed concerned by the matter meaning he interpreted the call correctly but that only meant you were actually in trouble. "It's been 6,"

"Drive faster," Was all the other boy said, the few shots of liquor seemingly gone as he sobered up almost instantly. Though, the panic and overwhelming anger that brewed in the back of his head indicated that he was being influenced by the intoxication. Not that it would be a problem, especially if you were in danger of some sort.

Heeseung and Sunghoon sat quietly as Jake drove, connecting the dots for themselves due to the conversation. A minute later, the four were barreling out of the car and into the building. The bright lights contrasted against the dark outside, the boys looking around for sight of the girl.

"Give me my phone," Jay tells Jake, holding out his hand expectantly while he pulls it out of his back pocket. Tapping through the screen for a moment, Jay hold up the device to his ear waiting for you to answer but it goes to voicemail.

"She was talking about food so maybe she was over there?" Jake offers, leading the way toward the back of the store which held all the groceries.

Jay tries once more, holding the phone up as it dials. This time, there's the faint chime of an incoming call that was further away. Sunghoon nodded in the direction it came from, heading toward the area which consisted of books, music, and other miscellaneous things.

"No, thank you, I'm alright," Your voice was recognized first by Jay. Speeding up his steps, he rounds the corner to see you backed away toward the far end of the isle, the cart in between you and an unfamiliar man who had his back toward the four. Your eyes widened seeing the familiar face, slightly relieved but still in a sense of panic considering the man that was following you grew the courage a minute ago to actually say something now, keeping you tucked away in the corner as he did.

Attempting to step away, you shift to the right but the man matched your movement, staying directly in your path and blocking it. Moving to your left, he matched that as well causing you to purse your lips. He smiled, seeming as if it were amusing to see you becoming undone with his actions which sent a chill up your spine. Aside from his creepy stalking, he seemed and looked like a regular guy, which made it even worse because of how normal he seemed upon first glance.

"Teenie," Jay spoke up, making his and the rest of their presence known, using a nickname rather than your actual one. The guy turned at the sound, his face morphing from the smile into one of annoyance, a  clear grimace on his features at the interruption. "Come here," The space between where you stood and Jay was a couple of feet, having to go around the man in the process as he had backed you into the wall moments ago.

Expecting for him to allow you to move without resistance this time, you go to step around him but he still continues to block your way. Going as far as grabbing hold of your arm causing your eyes to widen and pull back instantly. The anxiety that grew in your stomach elevated significantly, it was wishful thinking that having four grown and tall men would have the single one back down but it seemed he was crazy enough to not care about that.

"Stop being a fucking creep dude," Heeseung spoke up, growing rather frustrated and particularly peeved that he had the audacity to grab you. If they hadn't shown up he couldn't imagine what he'd attempt.

"We're not done talking," The man sneers, the tone of his voice causing the hairs on your neck to stand up, goosebumps forming along your skin though your body felt like it was burning up inside. "You the boyfriend?" He adds, nodding toward Jay who faltered, confused by the sudden question.

Jake lets out a small sigh, growing tired of the back and forth. Stepping forward, he holds out his hand to you without a word. Now a mere foot apart, he stares down the guy, almost taunting him in attempt to do something. Quickly, your hand latches onto his, albeit clammy from your nervousness but as he pulled you into his side, you felt significantly safer than before.

Tucking you behind him, Jake walks you both back a few steps, returning to the rest who had moved up closer. Still holding tight onto Jake's hand, you grasp onto his arm as well, holding it as if it were a security blanket and would make everything better.

"I am," Jake answers, taking the rest of you by surprise. His fib was believable, you clinging to his side playing the part and the boys merely went along with it. "We done here?"

The man didn't say a word, the silent stare down that occurred between Jake and him more than enough. Finally, he looked away, accepting there wasn't anything he could do to win in this. Whatever that was. Turning around, Jake began to lead you away, not bothering to look back as the other three followed behind, ensuring he stayed in place as they went.

You let out a shakey sigh, deeming it far enough away as you could see the exit. Feeling the ever-growing tears weld in your eyes, a few began to slip from the corners painting soft streaks down the apples of your cheeks. Silently, Jake allowed for Jay to pull you into his embrace, presuming having the one you were closest with to comfort you would be best.

A quiet sob slipped past your lips upon being wrapped into his arms. Jay let out a small shush, one of his hands rubbing small circles with his thumb against your back, visibly upset by how affected you were as he tucked his head down toward your ear, whispering words of reassurance that everything was okay and nothing would happen.

Heeseung tapped Jake's shoulder, nodding him along to give the two of you a minimal amount of space but also linger close enough in case the crazed man decided to have second thoughts and come back. Meanwhile, Sunghoon had made his way over to one of the cashiers, explaining the situation and how the female staff should be cautious until security had eyes on the man.

Jake glanced over as Jay had pulled back from the hug, his hands on either side of your face as he wiped away the tears that kept falling from your eyes. His heart tugged at the sight of you, looking utterly disheartened with a slightly red nose and your mascara beginning to smudge.

He's glad he answered.

#jake #jake sim #sim jaeyun #enhypen #jaeyun x reader #enhypen jake #smut #jaeyun smut #IM SO EXCITED THIS IS FUN