#i have a little bit of school stuff to finish tonight but i’ll be here tomorrow!
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sorry for being so quiet lately, 2023 barely started and i am already feeling exhausted ✌️
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I would like to apologize for the amount of time this took to write lmao. I couldn’t find a good stopping point and got overwhelmed with how I would finish this part, but at least there will be a part 4 in the foreseeable future. I’m working on some headcannons for Hattie so we can get to know her a bit more!
Thanks for reading!!
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No Expectations
“Jack, I need your moral support. Please come here now,” Hatton’s hands threatened to begin sweating with the amount of anxiety that was coursing through her body. She had her MacBook out, the cursor hovering above the attachment that Trevor had sent her. She didn’t know why she was so nervous, but she knew that Jack would bring her back to earth.
“Sure, Hattie. Let me drop everything I’m doing and come at your beckon call. There’s literally nothing more in the entire world that I would want to do right now,” Sarcasm laced Jack’s words.
“Attitude Mister. Check it now,” Hatton quickly brought it to his attention.
“Sorry, I’m just trying to make sure I have everything packed to go back to Jersey. Luke is coming over tonight and I want to check his stuff and make sure he’s ready to go. When do I need to come over?” Jack was rustling through some papers as he held his phone to his ear with his shoulder.
“Now?” Hatton put her innocent voice on, knowing Jack could never say no to her.
“Hattie, you better be glad that you’re my best friend in the world,” Jack sighed as he laid the papers down.
“Thank you, Jacky boy,” Hatton smiled.
About 20 minutes passed when she heard the front door open and close, followed by footsteps that skipped up the stairs. Jack pushed open Hatton’s door and plopped down beside her on the bed.
“What’s up,” he asked, pulling out his phone to keep him occupied.
“Trevor sent me a PowerPoint on why he would be a good boyfriend. I don’t know why I’m nervous, but I am and I need your company here,” Hatton explained as she fiddled with the rings on her hand.
“You couldn’t just FaceTime me with this?” Jack groaned. This whole ordeal gave Jack flashbacks of their middle school days of romance.
“Jack, this is my future we’re talking about. What if he’s the one? What if I say yes to be his girlfriend? What if we get married and have kids and finally get a happily ever after?” Hatton was serious, but Jack was trying not to laugh.
“You realize, like, 2 months ago you didn’t like him…” Jack smirked, but was met with an unamused look from Hatton.
“3, 2, 1,” Hatton took a deep breath and clicked the attachment. She clicked the ‘present’ button and began to read the slides.
“Ok, I actually want to see these,” Jack admitted as he scooted closer to Hatton and read the slides.
“I will buy you flowers when you least expect it,” Hatton laughed, “Because that’s boyfriend material.”
“I have a dog?” Hatton was getting upset. She wanted him to take this seriously, but he’s giving her these lame reasons? Actually, the dog isn’t lame, but basing an entire relationship on one is.
“Uh oh, here’s the mushy ones,” Jack announced as he clicked to the next slide.
Hatton’s eyes scanned the slide.
“Every time I look at you it gets harder to breathe. You’re quite literally breathtaking and I’ll remind you that every single day,” Hatton could feel the heat in her cheeks rise.
“That’s gross,” Jack fake gagged, but stopped when Hatton gave him a look.
“Every time your name pops up on my phone (which isn’t much, but still…) my heart races a little,” Hatton began sporting a smile.
“I know that Jack Hughes will always be by your side (hi buddy) and that would be the closest I could get to be his brother. I’ve already asked Quinn to marry me and he told me to fuck off,” The slide caused a rupture of laughter that filled the entire room.
“He’s got a point,” Jack chuckled.
“Every time I picture my future, at least for the last 3 years until now, I always picture you in it. I’d like you to be more than a friend, and I’d love for you to give me a chance to prove that I can love you the way you deserve,” Hatton couldn’t shake the smile off of her face even if she wanted to.
“I would’ve bullied him in high school for this,” Jack shook his head and leaned back into the pillows, pulling his phone out to go through his Snapchat.
A link on the last slide caught Hatton’s attention, but she managed to read the text that sat above it.
“Here’s a plane ticket. If I convinced you to allow me to be your boyfriend, I’d love to see you and keep explaining how I can be your boyfriend while being thousands of miles away,” Jack squealed as he watched Hatton open the link to the plane tickets.
Sure enough, there was a ticket for first class from Detroit to Anaheim that was a week away.
Jack kept glancing between the ticket and Hatton while she just sat there staring at the computer screen.
“It’s not going to disappear if you look away you know,” Jack poked her in her side, resulting in an elbow to his stomach.
“I don’t know what to do. I mean, I guess I could skip school for the week. I could do my assignments online,” Hatton wasn’t talking to Jack in particular, but more so thinking out loud. Jack didn’t seem to pick up on that memo though.
“I’m no genius by any means, but it sounds like you do know what to do,” Jack raised his eyebrows at the girl sitting beside him. She couldn’t be annoyed with Jack because he was right. She wanted to jump on that flight. Hell, she’d probably jump on a flight sooner if possible, but she didn’t want to begin this relationship with being so spontaneous.
“When do you leave for Jersey?” Hatton turned to face Jack, quickly changing the subject, but eager to know the answer.
“Um, 6 in the morning,” He scratched the back of his neck, preparing for a lecture of why he should’ve told her he was leaving sooner.
“Jack Hughes, what the hell?!” She pushed at him, hoping to push him off the bed, but he barely budged.
“I probably would’ve told you sooner….actually I shouldn’t lie I probably wouldn’t have. In my defense, I did tell you I was busy before I got here,” he pointed out, but it didn’t fix Hatton’s frustration.
“Yeah, but you failed to mention that you’ll be leaving in less than 24 hours, dumbass,” she thumped him on his ears, eliciting a wince from him.
“I was going to come over tonight to tell you bye,” he grumbled, but Hatton just rolled her eyes.
“I’m FaceTiming you when I get there,” Hatton announced.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” he patted her leg as he began to stand up.
“Wanna come help me finish packing?” He knew she wouldn’t say no to his request.
“I guess I could,” Hatton played as if it was even a thought that she wouldn’t.
Because he was leaving in the morning, they took separate vehicles back to his house, so Hatton just planned on spending the night, wanting to spend as much time with her best friend as possible before hockey stole him back.
….
The next week passed painfully slow as Hatton had said goodbye to all of her boys. She had friends that were girls, but none that she trusted as much as Jack, Turcs, Cole, or Quinn. Maybe Trevor, too.
The boys just made life interesting. They weren’t full of drama, and everyday was some sort of adventure. She missed them a lot when they were gone, so to think that she would get to see Trevor, and possibly Alex, gave her something to look forward to.
She appreciated the gesture of the plane ticket from Trevor, but what the hell was he thinking with a 7:00 am flight? There was an hour drive from her to the airport, and she had to be there at least 2 hours prior so that she wouldn’t be an anxious mess. And that leads her to now, lugging her bag from her room to her car and making the drive to Detroit.
The drive wasn’t terrible, but Hatton had to stop for coffee so that she wouldn’t fall asleep behind the wheel. The traffic was steadily getting worse as she made her way to the airport parking, though. She went through TSA and checked her bag groggily, the sleep not too distant from the night before.
Once Hatton was awake enough to be aware of her surroundings, she knew she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, even if the flight was four and a half hours. A shaken espresso from Starbucks would do the trick to give her enough energy to get through the travel day without catching an attitude with somebody.
After grabbing her coffee and finding a corner to read one of her books, the intercom finally came on, announcing that her flight was boarding first class. She grabbed her backpack and book and made her way to her seat next to the window.
The book she was reading seemed to speed up the flight, the one and only time she glanced at her watch and there was only an hour left until they landed. She spent the last hour watching outside of the window, taking a few pictures, and just thinking about what this next week could lead to.
That was great, until she thought about the fact that she hadn’t even talked to Trevor to let him know she was coming. She couldn’t text him, so she just had to wait until the plane landed, mentally kicking herself for forgetting such a major detail for the day.
The plane landed and everybody deboarded. Hatton quickly grabbed her suitcase from the baggage claim and tried to find a place outside to make a quick call to Trevor.
As she pressed his number to call him, she heard a phone ringing behind her. Confusion swept over her as she turned around to see the tan skinned, wind-swept hair that Trevor wore so well. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes and smile when he smirked at her.
“Let me guess…Jack?” She knew that Jack couldn’t keep his fat mouth shut even if he wanted to, but for once it turned out in her favor.
“Did you really think he wouldn’t tell me that you were coming? Which brings me to my next question, why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” He grabbed the suitcase from her and walked her to where his car was parked, all the while taking in how she could possibly be as beautiful as she was right now after traveling all day.
“I’ll be honest, I completely forgot to. I don’t really have a good excuse,” She admitted. She placed her backpack into his backseat, but Trevor wouldn’t let her grab the door to get into the front because he had to.
“Thank you,” Hatton smiled up at him and waited for him to get in so they could drive away.
The drive wasn’t long, mostly filled with a few road rage moments for Trevor along with small talk to fill the silence. They pulled up to the house that Trevor called home. He wished that Hatton had come a year ago, that way she could’ve experienced life with him and Jamie, but he was sure his friend would make an appearance at some point while Hatton was here.
“Wow, you’re house is really pretty,” Hatton commented while unbuckling and grabbing her backpack from the backseat. Trevor grabbed her suitcase and they made their way inside.
Trevor smiled, a blush rising onto his cheeks, as he shrugged his shoulders.
“I have a couple of extra rooms that you can choose from. You could always just room with me, though,” he smirked and threw her a wink.
“And there’s the Trevor I know,” Hatton chuckled as Trevor began to show her around the house. A part of her wanted to just stay in the same room as Trevor, but she’d be here for a week, so they would have plenty of time to make rooming changes if need be.
Trevor let Hatton unpack by herself, giving her some time to decompress on her own from traveling all day. He had planned for the first day to be less action packed so that the two would be rested for his game day tomorrow.
“Okay, I think I’m unpacked,” Hatton breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down on his couch, momentarily closing her eyes as she was realizing that it would just be him and her sleeping here for the entire week. It was never just the two of them, there was always somebody else with them, even if it was just Jack.
“So, I have some pretty cool things planned for the week, but I figured we take it easy today…that ok?” Trevor plopped down in a recliner beside the couch.
“Yeah, sounds good,” Hatton kicked her shoes off and tucked her feet beneath her, making herself more comfortable.
“Um, I know this conversation is just going to be awkward no matter when we have it, but seeing as you’re hear you saw my reasons why I think we could work out,” Trevor watched as Hatton nodded her head, urging him to continue with the conversation.
“Yeah, speaking of, where’s your dog?”
“He’s getting a bath. We can go pick him up in a little while. Back to what I was saying....I just feel like I need to say some things in person so we can just completely clear the air about how we feel about each other,” Trevor was just going to rip the bandaid off and get everything out of his system. He's had ample time to think about what to say to Hatton, but none of it sounded good enough now that she was sitting so close to him, just the two of them. He let his heart go on autopilot, deciding that may be the best way to go about this.
“You obviously know I like you. Like a lot. But, um," Trevor stuttered as he rubbed his arm, subconciously trying to ease the anxiety that seemed to peak when he tried to take about his feelings. That was something about Trevor that only a select few knew; Trevor loved attention, but he avoided showing his true feelings at all costs. He would rather just make everybody around him smile or laugh than let them in on how he feels.
"Hattie, you mean the world to me. You meant the world to me when I knew you couldn't stand me, and you mean the world to me now that you've traveled this far and you're sitting right here," The words were flowing from his mouth, reaching Hatton and wrapping around her heart like a ribbon on a gift.
Hatton could feel her cheeks go rosy, not caring if Trevor noticed or not. She listened to each word that left his lips as if they were a raft that could save her from drowning from confusion. Because that's what Hatton felt most of the time: confused. Why did he feel like this towards her? Could she really let herself be in a relationship with him? Let him see the most vulnerable parts of her that very few were lucky enough to know about?
"You told me I needed to figure out how to make a long distance relationship work, so that's what I've been doing. I've talked to some buddies that have been in a long distance relationship and they gave me some words of advice. Long distance can't, and won't, work if we both don't work on it. I can tell you when I'm free from practice and games so that we could FaceTime or text or something. I'm willing to pay for your travel when you come here, and I swear I will make time each month to come see you as well. Even if it's for short periods of time. I really want this with you. More than anything, more than the fucking Stanley Cup, Hatton," Trevor chuckled, but he was completely serious. If hockey didn't pay his bills, then he'd drop everything to be with her.
"You must want me lot," Hatton grinned, teasing him.
"You have no idea," Trevor sighed, returning her grin.
"Ok. You have to ask me to be your girlfriend, though," Hatton's upside down smile was plastered on her face as she watched Zegras process what she just said.
"Wha- so that's a yes?" He could hardly form words because of the excitement that was running rampant in his head. His heart was working overtime.
"Did you ask me?" Hatton raised her eyebrows inquisitively, waiting for him to ask her the question that would start their future.
"Hatton Carlisle, would you do the absolute honor of being my beautiful, loving, caring girlfriend," Trevor was being a bit dramatic, but he didn't care because it made Hatton giggle.
"I would love to, Trevor Zegras," Hatton smiled.
Trevor got up from the recliner he was in and walked the two steps it took to get to Hatton. He cupped her face in his hands, taking a few seconds to take in her features, and placed a passionate kiss on her lips. The kiss saying everything that Trevor might have left out when previously discussing his feelings for Hattie. Hatton's fingers immediately grasped for his hair, slightly pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. Trevor took this as an opportunity to place himself between her legs, supporting his weight by placing one hand on the arm of the couch while the other was still cupping her cheek, his thumb caressing her smooth, rosy pink cheek.
Before things went too far, Trevor broke the kiss.
"We've got all week to show each other how much we like each other. We've got about 30 minutes to go pick up Louis," He chuckled, tucking a piece of Hatton's hair behind her ear.
The two loaded up into Trevor's car to go pick up Louis.
All that Hatton could think about was that Trevor wasn't just the annoying third wheel of her's and Jack's friendship anymore. He wasn't the one that pushed her buttons constantly, or made her question her sanity. He was her boyfriend.
Her phone ringing interrupted the comfortable silence in the car. Of course it was Jack.
"Bitch, did you not tell me you would call me when you got to Anaheim? I can't exactly help you when your literally on the other side of the country from me," Jack was yelling from somewhere off screen, but there was no way Trevor and Hatton couldn't hear him. His voice echoed all throughout his apartment.
"Sorry, bud. We've got some exciting news though," Hatton smiled.
As soon as she said that, Jack's face popped up on the phone, "Is my boyfriend there?"
"You mean my boyfriend?" Hatton smiled, knowing that Jack would have something to say about her statement.
"No fucking way..." Jack wore a grin as big as the sky, giving the Cheshire Cat a run for his money, "Let me see our boyfriend!"
"Jacky! My man, what's going on?" Trevor glanced at the phone before returning his attention on the road.
"It's about time. I'm telling Cole and Alex," And with that he hung up.
The two laughed, Trevor interlocking their hands. He couldn't believe that she actually agreed to be his girlfriend. It felt surreal, 3 years of pining after her and it all paid off.
"I'm glad you're here, Hatton," Trevor smiled.
"I'm glad I'm here too, Z," She gave his hand a squeeze. This week just might be one of the best weeks of their lives so far.
----
That night Hatton decided to sleep in a bed by herself, not quite comfortable with being completely vulnerable with Trevor quite yet. She tossed and turned all night long, replaying the day in her head over and over again. The sudden feelings she had developed for Trevor scared her, quite honestly. If she was capable of falling that hard that quickly, how much more control over her could Trevor have?
Before she knew it, the sun was peeking through a tiny sliver of the blackout curtains in her room. Like usual, there was no way she would be able to go back to sleep now. Her natural timer prohibited it. It made her feel a little better though when she heard a door open and the pitter patter of paws, followed along with what had to be Trevor's footsteps. She could hear him disarm the alarm system and open the back door.
Hatton decided that it would probably be rude of her to stay in bed all morning, so she stretched, tossing the covers off of her in the process. She put on a bra and brushed her teeth, but didn't bother doing anything else this early in the morning. If Trevor, for some odd reason, expected her to look like a model, he could suck it.
She put on a pair of slippers and made her way to the living room, quickly spotting Trevor sitting in one of the Adirondack chairs that circled a fire pit on the back porch, playing on his phone as Louis inspected the perimeter of the yard.
Before Hatton could even open the door, Louis somehow spotted her and began barking. Trevor quickly apologized as he picked him up and opened the back door for her.
"He's not aggressive, but he'll let me know when someone's here," Trevor chuckled as he scratched the dog behind the ears.
"No worries! When you're as cute as him you can get away with anything," Hatton gave the dog a pat on the head as she made herself comfortable on the couch that sat across from the chair that Trevor had previously been sitting in.
"Do you happen to have a coffee maker?" Hatton desperately needed caffeine. Now that she thought about it, she might have a caffeine addiction.
"I do not, actually. Jamie took it in the divorce," Trevor managed to say with a straight face, but furrowed eyebrows from Hatton gave away her confusion.
"Divorce?"
"Yeah, he moved out and had the balls to move down the street. He can be a bitch, but he's no threat to you," Trevor said so nonchalantly that Hatton couldn't tell if it was a joke or not.
"That's nice to know..." Hatton trailed off. The two sat enjoying the peace that the early morning exuded, watching Louis be Louis and occasionally mentioning something insignificant. A chill washed over Hatton, goosebumps quickly rising.
"So, I have a preseason game tonight, as you probably know. The game isn't until 5, but I do have a practice this morning if you want to tag along...," Trevor explained, hoping Hatton would want to come to the stadium.
"And what's in it for me?" Hatton was obviously going to support Trevor, but was it really Hatton if she didn't make him work for it?
"Well, that depends on what you're thinking of...if you want to go out to eat, there's plenty of places that will be open after the game. If you want to do something, Disney is literally like 5 minutes away and I have an off day tomorrow. If you're thinking a little alone time..." Trevor wiggled his eyebrows, but he was completely joking, unless Hatton wasn't. In that case he would definitely keep the offer on the table.
"Z, what if I actually said yes to the last option. What would you do?" Hatton chuckled as she spoke.
"Probably think somebody kidnapped the real Hattie and replaced her with whatever is sitting right here," Trevor rubbed the bottom of his chin, pretending to think about what he was saying.
"Disney tomorrow would be amazing," Hatton didn't even have to think about it. She adored Disney, the smell, the rides, it was one of her favorite things. She couldn't wait.
The two made their way inside to get dressed for the day, but not before a knock at Trevor's front door elicited a howl from Louis.
"I got it," Trevor announced, leaving Hatton alone in the kitchen while she poured a bowl of Lucky Charms.
She could hear somebody come through the front door, heading to the kitchen. Hattie could tell that Trevor was quietly chewing out whoever it was that he let in, but she couldn't quite make out what he was saying exactly.
"Trevor shut the fuck up. You never used this damn Keurig, anyway," A dark-haired, fair-skinned guy sat a black Keurig down on the counter adjacent to Hatton, not noticing there was a girl right next to him.
"Why do you even need-" As soon as the guy turned and caught a glimpse of Hatton, he knew exactly why Trevor blew his phone up asking about the stupid coffee maker.
"I think I might know who you are," Jamie sent an innocent smirk to the girl across from him.
"I think I might know who you are as well," Hatton giggled, connecting the dots as to the whole "divorce" thing that Trevor had mentioned.
"You must be the infamous Hattie. Trevor hasn't shut up about you for as long as I've known him," Jamie winked, chuckling when he saw Trevor giving him a death glare.
"You must be Trevor's ex in...some capacity. You didn't have to bring the coffee maker back. I could've run through Starbucks or Dunkin," Hatton rolled her eyes as she made eye contact with Trevor. He, in turn, shrugged his shoulders.
"It's no problem, I'll just make my morning coffee here and then we can carpool," Jamie popped in a coffee pod and started it for you.
"So how did Trevor mange to get you here? I thought you didn't like him..." Jamie waited patiently as the coffee poured into the mug he had placed underneath.
"She's my girlfriend now," Trevor interjected, immediately sending Hattie the biggest grin he could manage. He would never get tired of telling people that. He had worked hard to earn that title.
"Willingly? I don't normally judge people, but I'm judging a little bit," Jamie widened his eyes jokingly, causing Hatton to chuckle. He passed her the cup of coffee and began to make his.
"You know, I kinda feel the same way. He's a weirdo, but he's very convincing," Hatton could feel Trevor staring at her, but she just watched Jamie as he smiled.
"Yeah…you know I'm right here?" Trevor spoke up.
"Yeah, we know," Jamie nonchalantly said as he sipped his coffee.
Trevor rolled his eyes as he walked away towards his room to change into his outfit for the day, Hatton filing to her room shortly after to do the same.
As she ruffled through the articles of clothing that hung in the closet, she smiled. She was going into this week with an open mind and heart. No expectations, just experiences.
She was eager to see it all unfold.
#jack hughes#nhl imagine#trevor zegras#nhl fic#jack hughes imagines#quinn hughes#alex turcotte#cole caufield#nhl fanfiction#trevor zegras imagine#nhl x reader#trevor regras x reader#anaheim ducks#nico hischier#luke hughes#jamie drysdale#tz11#@choppedlamphandscowboy
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Sick With a Cold
Eddie Munson x reader
Summary: reader caught a cold and Eddie cancels the D&D session that night to take care of them.
no spoilers
Warnings: slight language and sick people
Ok, so I had this idea for before season 4, where the reader is sick and has a cold and can’t make it to the dnd session that night. Also, I have a slight cold at the moment, so I just felt like writing this.
***
Had I woken up this morning feeling like shit?
Maybe.
Hell, you were ready for school, changed in comfy clothes and had brushed teeth. It’s not like some stupid virus could wreck my day or even my life. Besides, what was the worst that could happen, I’d get my whole school sick.
That was before I had a sneezing fit landing me right back into my unmade bed.
Yep, no school for me, my nose was dripping, my head hurt, and was suddenly kinda cold. Guess my mom would have to call me out for that day. So yeah, I stayed home with tissues sticking out of my nose, lying on the couch with the tv on, a thermos of chicken noodle soup on the coffee table.
Of course, a bit after school got out I realized it was D&D night. The news that I wouldn’t be able to make it would be hard to break to the group, and more specifically, Eddie.
It took a lot of willpower to drag myself from the couch to the phone, but somehow I made it covered in blankets and congested as hell.
You dialed his number and waited for him to pick up. It rang a couple of times before someone answered the line.
“Hello, Munson residence,” Eddie said with false enthusiasm and cheer.
“Hey, Eds, it’s me,” you said, trying to sound as normal as you could with tissues stuffed up your nose.
“Y/n, it’s you, where were you at lunch today. In fact, I don’t think anyone even saw you at school, are you okay?” Eddie asked worriedly.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, just sick.”
“Just sick, Y/n-“ Eddie’s concern for you began to increase in his voice.
“Eddie, I’ll be fine really. I just won’t be able to make it to D&D tonight. I’m sorry, I really wish I could go, but I know you’ll all be fine without me for tonight.”
“Y/n, D&D aside, how are you feeling? Do you need anything? I can get you something. Do you need something? Do you have cold medicine at your house? I can get you cold medicine. I’ll go do that, that’s something I can do.”
“Eddie, sweetie, seriously, I’ll be fine. I have everything I need to get better right here. Maybe all even be back at school tomorrow and you can all tell me what I missed, okay?” I laughed a little at the end before breaking out into a fit of coughing.
“Okay, focus on getting better, alright,” he told me over the phone.
“Alright, I promise I’ll let my immune system do its work. Bye, Eds.”
“Bye, Y/n.”
I hung up the phone and scurried back to the couch. I plopped back onto it and turned on the TV. I sat there pathetically watching the cooking channel for about an hour or so.
Around then I heard a knock on my door. I thought it might have been my mom coming home or my elderly neighbor wanting to gift me with more chicken noodle soup. So I stood up, and waddled over to the front door as fast as I could. I unlocked it and opened it up.
“Holy shit, you look terrible,” Eddie said as he looked down at my sick figure graced in fuzzy blankets.
I cocked my head to the side, “what are you doing here?” I asked him while looking at the convenience store bags in his hand.
“You said you were sick,” he told me before walking inside.
“Yeah, I know, but I told you to play without me.”
Eddie shrugged his shoulders as he cleared off my living room's coffee table to make space for the bags he was carrying.
“Eh, it’s not the same without you,” he nonchalantly said, not even sparing a glance at me.
“Yeah, but the others must have been pissed.”
“Yeah, they were, but getting you back and healthy is more important,” he said, finishing placing his collection of stuff on the table.
“While that is sweet and everything, you really shouldn’t have.”
He rolled his eyes playfully, “Well, that may be true, but I totally have already done everything other than make sure you are taken care of. Is your mom here?”
“Oh, um, no, she had work today, she won’t be back for another four or so hours.”
Eddie nodded before sitting next to you, “Okay, and your dad is still out on his business trip right?”
“Yeah, but I’m fine by myself, seriously Eddie.”
“Y/n,” he grabbed my hands, “you called me sweetie over the phone.”
“No I didn’t,” I said, my brows furrowed in confusion. Then I sneezed down into my blankets.
“Yeah, you did,” he said before putting the back of his hand on my forehead. I leaned into his touch, his hands felt warm. “You aren’t thinking straight, sweetie,” he took his hand back after he brushed some of my hair out of my face.
Eddie started to grab the cold medicine he bought.
“No, you just called me ‘sweetie’.” I leaned back into the couch, cuddling up into a ball of fluff.
“Oh, you poor, sick girl. Now you are hearing things too,” his face turned into a small mock pout, before he handed me the cold medicine.
“Hey, that’s not okay, I know what I heard,” I sat up slightly.
“My sweet darling, you're delusional, let me grab you some water for the medicine.”
“I am not delusional, Eddie, and you just called me darling,” I took the water from him and took the medicine and downed the water.
“No, I called you my sweet darling,” he smiled brightly and dorkily, moving closer to me.
“Jerk,” I pushed his arm. I moved away from him, leaving plenty of space between us. “You shouldn’t get close to me, you might get sick too.”
“Please, when will that ever stop me,” he picked up the blankets and scooted himself under them.
“Eddie, no,” I said. He was now body flushed against mine. If I leaned back I would be cradled in his chest. “Eddie, you're going to get sick now.”
He smiled softly, “you’re cold right, this helps?” He wrapped his arm around you.
I nodded my head in agreement before leaning back into him and placing my head on his shoulder.
“I also brought snacks and some more tissues,” he told me, resting his head on mine.
“What snacks did you get? I asked.
“I brought sprite and lemon iced tea, because I know you like lemon flavored drinks when you have a cold because the lemon stops you from getting that sick taste in your mouth. I also have ramen that we can cook. There are also cough drops, jolly ranchers, sour patch kids, and some of those spicy chips you like, but I wasn’t sure if those would hurt your throat,” he told me while his hand rubbed up and down my arm.
I looked up at him, barely moving away, “you got all of that for me?”
The way his eyes softened warmed my heart. He smiled and leaned closer to me, “of course I did, anything for my favorite girl.”
I rolled my eyes, “I’m the only girl you hang out with.”
“Yeah, well, I would never do any of this for anyone other than you.”
I smiled and moved back into him.
“You're my favorite person, ever. You know that, right?” Eddie asked.
“Yeah, and you know you’re my favorite person too, right?”
“Yeah, I do,” he said before pressing a gentle kiss to the top of my head.
“Eddie.”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”
“No, you shouldn’t have, you are going to get sick, you idiot,” I turned my head to face him again, “I can’t have my favorite idiot getting sick.”
“So, other than the I might get sick part, you aren’t against all of this?”
“Never could be, never will be.”
“Good,” he smiled like a goof.
I leaned back into Eddie for the last time and let him wrap both of his arms around me.
I think I fell asleep first, but I don’t remember. My mother didn’t wake us when she came home, she just let us sleep. She did, however, wake us up in the morning for school.
I was able to get up easily, feeling much better than I did the day before. I wasn’t sick anymore.
Eddie sneezed behind me, shivering as he recollected the blankets, throwing them on himself.
“Oh, you idiot, I told you you would get sick.”
“Stop, you aren’t supposed to make fun of the sick person.”
“Please,” I said, grabbing the couch medicine and some water, “you tried to make me think I was delusional last night.”
“I don’t remember that,” he told me and then sneezed again, this time like a kitten.
“See, you’re trying to do it again, Ed,” I handed him the medicine and water.
“Maybe that’s what you are trying to do to me, that isn’t okay Y/n. I’m not crazy or that sick.”
“Eddie, baby, you are doing this on purpose,” I kneeled down to check his temperature with my hand like he did with me the night before.
“No, no, no! See, you just called me ‘baby’,” he said all congested.
“Oh, you poor poor thing, I think you need some rest.”
“Y/n, god dammit,” he was starting to get a little upset.
“You stay right here. I’m going to go change for school. Then, I’ll drive you home and get you tucked in.” I left him with the flabbergasted look on his face.
I changed quickly just into some jeans and a Queen band-t. I pulled on my shoes, grabbed my keys, wallet, and bag, and placed an eggo in my mouth.
“Bye mom, thanks mom,” I said with the eggo between my teeth, waving behind me.
“Come on Eddie, bring the blankets, I’ll grab the food and tissues. Let’s get ourselves to my car.”
Eddie reluctantly followed my instructions and dragged himself from my living room. He barely fit with all the blankets, and I didn’t bother him by telling him to put his seat belt on.
When I arrived at Eddie’s place and grabbed the grocery bags and then made my way around to Eddie. I helped him inside his house and got him secured in his bed.
“Don’t go,” he whined.
“Don’t worry,” I placed my hand on his cheek, “I’ll be back after school, baby.”
“You just called me ‘baby’, see, I’m not crazy.”
“Yes, I know you aren’t, you’ll be fine for a little while though, love. I swear, I’ll be back.”
“Okay,” he frowned slightly.
I stood up from his bedside and gave him a small peck on the forehead.
“Don’t do that, you’re going to get sick,” he complained.
“Eddie, I’m not going to get sick with the cold I just had, trust me.”
“Be back quickly Y/n.”
“Of course my sweet darling,” I said before closing his door.
#Eddie Munson#eddie munson x reader#stranger things#stranger things season 4#stranger things imagine#stranger things x reader#stranger things fluff#eddie Munson fluff
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Hi dear bun, congrats on the milestone!! I really love your writings💖💖
May I request for your new event??
Prompt: Home, Backup: Laughter
Genre: Platonic Fluff
Characters: Jade and Floyd with a gn!reader
Thank you in advance dear, no pressure. I wish you the best for your lovely event💕
Hello dear~! Thanks so much for participating in this event! I really appreciate all of the lovely and kind things you have to say about my writing. You're so nice~! <3 I hope you enjoy what I came up with for this prompt! I got a little carried away and wrote a lot more than I initially planned lol
Prompt: Home
Genre: Fluff / Platonic
Character(s): Jade Leech, Floyd Leech, gn!reader
CW: none
As you walk though the tastefully decorated entrance to the Mostro Lounge, you note with some surprise that the establishment is surprisingly empty tonight. Looking towards the bar, you see that Jade is standing behind it, diligently polishing some glasses. He looks up from his task, gives you an elegant smile, and nods his head in greeting. You return his greeting with a little wave and quickly walk over to him. As you take a seat at the bar in front of him, you look up with a warm smile on your face and say, “Hi Jade. How are things going tonight?” You scan the area around you and ask, “Where’s Floyd? Isn’t he working tonight?”
Jade softly laughs, but before you get a chance to ask why, Floyd suddenly pops up into view from behind the bar. With his arms raised over his head and a happy grin plastered over his face, he playfully yells, “Here I am~! I was here the whole time!” He then sweeps his eyes across the empty lounge with a pouting frown and explains, “I was just restocking the bottom shelf drinks but now it feels like kind of a waste. It’s dead in here tonight.”
With a lightly amused smile, Jade finishes polishing the glass in his hands and sets it off to the side. “Azul’s not going to be very happy with our earnings tonight,” he says with a quiet laugh. Turning to face you with a pleasant expression, lips parted in a question, Jade suddenly freezes and then studies you with a small frown. Looking to Floyd, the two brothers exchange a silent, knowing look. Grabbing a tall glass, some ingredients, and a cocktail shaker, Jade starts mixing a drink. He tilts his head towards you and with a gentle smile, he asks, “Are you feeling alright?”
Effortlessly heaving himself up and over the bar, Floyd drops down on one side of you into an empty seat. Placing a large hand on your shoulder with a concerned look on his face, he says, “You look kinda down. What’s wrong?” Giving your shoulder a little shake, he playfully orders you, “Tell us what’s wrong. C’mon! Fess up!”
You let out a short, tired laugh and shake your head, “I’m fine! You don’t have to worry about me.” You see two pairs of mismatched eyes staring back at you, both sets filled with care and worry, and you feel a wave of intense appreciation for the brothers wash over your heart. With a soft sigh, you smile at them and hesitantly admit, “I’m just feeling a bit homesick today. I’ll be okay.” Tilting your head, you then ask, “Have you two ever gotten homesick for the Coral Sea?”
Jade slides the finished mixed drink across the bar in front of you. You look down and smile at the tall glass filled with your favorite specialty juice drink from the Mostro Lounge menu. Walking around the bar, he gives you a little wink and then sits down in the free seat on your other side. Placing a gentle hand on your back, he answers, “There were a few times we felt homesick, when we first arrived here. However, it definitely helped that Floyd, Azul, and I all started school here together.”
Floyd chimes in, “Yeah, and then we had the Mostro Lounge to run and now we don't even have the time to feel stuff like that!” Gently placing his head on your shoulder, he adds in an affectionate tone, “Besides, how could we ever feel homesick now that we have you in our lives?”
You raise your eyebrows and glance over at Floyd and then to Jade, “Me? What do you mean by that?”
Jade smiles warmly at you and then carefully places his head on your other shoulder. In a gentle voice, he explains, “What Floyd means to say is that, you have become an irreplaceable part of our lives. You are so incredibly important to both of us and wherever you are, that's our home.”
You softly smile at each head of teal hair perched on your shoulders and feel your heart overflowing with gratitude. Reaching out to both sides, you gently take and hold one hand from Jade and one from Floyd. Then, closing your eyes with a comfortable sigh, you simply whisper, “Welcome home.”
You feel the two brothers give your hands an affectionate little squeeze and in perfect unison, they softly reply, “Welcome home.”
#event writing#request writing#twst#twisted wonderland#twst imagines#jade leech#floyd leech#twst x reader#gn!reader#platonic fluff#bun-lapin écrit
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A Little Piece of You
Chapter 19: One-Eyed Owl
This is a chapter from an on-going series. If you missed out on the previous entries, you can check my masterlist.
Previous chapter: Black Swan
Word count: 5,453
Tags: Male OC X Mina, Nurse Room, College Sweethearts
TW: Mentions of Blood
Enjoy
---
“Noona, I’m home. Are you here?” Yoon Jae-in’s voice announced, echoing across the seemingly empty apartment. He had just finished swapping his shoes for the indoor slip-ons, wrapping his hand further on the paper bag that he had with him. “There’s something that I’d like for you to see. Are you busy?”
Jae-in checked the small walk-in shelf of his noona’s shoe closet and found that her slip-ons were not present there. It was an immediate sign that she was not out for work and is lost somewhere in the apartment with him on that night. It was still early in the evening as well; a couple of minutes before seven PM was the perfect time for Jae-in to rush towards the local cake shop to get something for his beloved older sister.
Soon enough, soft and muffled food steps rustled over the carpeted floor followed by the figure of Bae Joohyun emerging from the bathroom. Unlike the usual presence of her being seen with all her breath-taking visuals to boot, Yoon Jae-in’s step sister wore a sleeveless green top and black shorts with her hair wrapped in plastic. She was also wearing a rejuvenating face mask over her beautiful visual, apparently attempting to keep it in place by walking in a rather awkward, back-inclined manner. The sight was hilarious for sure, but Jae-in always expected something to this degree anyway so it was pretty normal for him.
“This is such a wrong timing, Jae-in,” she said as she eyed her younger brother through the holes of the mask, speaking in an oddly muffled manner. In a matter hilarity, Jae-in found it strange how her neck was held so stiff as if she had a neck brace, all just to prevent her hair dressing and the mask from falling off. “I’m in the middle of my skincare as well as my hair spa. Can’t this wait a bit later?”
“I brought you a cake. I figured you needed a break of some form, so I got the sweet part of that break in this paper bag, noona.”
Just like that, Joohyun craned her neck and straightened up her body, apparently disregarding the attempt to hold her mask up high. Fortunately, it really did not fall off of any sorts and it stuck on her face.
“But it seems that you’re busy so I figured maybe—“
“I’m not busy,” she snapped. “Don’t you dare open that without me; this would not take that long to remove. Plus, I can do this later anyway. How come you didn’t mention getting some sweet stuff? I could have cooked dinner earlier so we can eat that sooner.”
Of course; she’s always like that. Noona does not always get these kinds of food because of her strict diet so I have to make every event special whenever we get these.
“Ah about that, don’t worry about it. I am actually in the mood to cook tonight and my school works have turned themselves down for the week, so my schedule is free. I’ll just make do of what we have at the fridge. You can relax your face for a bit, noona. I’ll take care of dinner for both of us.”
Even through the mask, Jae-in could clearly see Joohyun’s expression as her eyes widened in surprise.
“Oh wow, now that’s new! I certainly did not expect that from you. Well then, if you put it that way, it’s hard to decline. Go ahead and break a leg.”
“Of course noona, anything for my beautiful sister,” he said as he placed his bag over the couch. “I’ll make it light just so the cake won’t take too much space for you. I’ll consider how it would affect you, noona, especially with the cake here having to think about.”
Joohyun paused on the spot and gently tilted her head to the side.
“What is with you today, Yoon Jae-in? You seem to be in a really good mood. Did something amazing happen back at university, hmmm? I’m not complaining; it’s just… unusual. I like it though. Keep it up.”
“Ah, it’s really nothing noona. Maybe it’s just that I got all my dues done and also yeah, I’m in a good mood. So if I were you…”
Yoon Jae-in carefully walked towards the dining table, placed the bagful of cake over the surface and went behind his older sister. Gently, he softly ran his fingers over the wrap on his sister’s head before and moved to give a soft massage towards her neck and exposed shoulders. He gave a soft jolt towards her, startling Joohyun from where she stood before he poked the side of her waist.
“Yah…! I’m ticklish, stop it!”
“I’m just saying noona; relax for now because I got you covered. Don’t worry about me. Tonight, I’ll be serving you.”
“Aish, you stupid little bean; I love it when you’re being all thoughtful like this. You should go home every night on a good mood, but then again the sweets could get a dent on my waist here. Don’t burn the meat, okay?”
Joohyun, too, passed Jae-in as she finally headed back towards the bathroom once again. However, before she could make go past him completely, she made sure to poke Jae-in in the same manner that he did to her; a sharp-nailed index finger poking squarely on the side of his waist. That earned a good smile from Jae-in as he watched his step sister disappear towards the doors of their own bathroom.
Surely, his uplifted mood was caused by something that happened earlier that day. It was not even supposed to make sense on that regard and to the degree that he was actually experiencing, but he cannot control what he was supposed to feel. It was just that he was really, really happy. Having to cook for Irene was perhaps one of the good by-products of that uplifted mood.
BZZT
Right after Joohyun went back to the bathroom, Jae-in was about to head back towards his room to change clothes when he felt his phone vibrate on his pocket for the first time on that night. He hastily moved to fish it out, with his head hard-wired to check on it quickly only to disregard the moment that the notification was nothing of significant interest to him. That was already on the subconscious when he began to read the small bar right above the UI of his phone.
Instagram: Yoon Jae-in, your friend Ning Yizhuo posted for the first time after a while.
Ningning…?
I thought she’s inactive on these kinds of stuff. I recall her not being too fond of it.
I wonder what’s she’s up to as she barely has any social media presence of any kind.
Reflexively, he opened the application through the notification tab and sure enough Ningning’s first post after what he thought was months showed, glaring on his phone’s screen for him to see.
It was a simple post of Ningning’s selca with three different photos taken on what he assumed was her bedroom. She had different expressions throughout the three posts, but with each of the photos it caught the background of her bed and pillows; all quoted with the caption: ‘hello there, the angel from my nightmare’.
However, Jae-in’s eyes was quick to notice something that stood out on the all-peach mattress as well as the rest of the neatly arranged pillows. It was one glaring brown horse plushie that rested next to them, leaning on the bed’s headrest and showed itself on the camera ever so slightly. Clearly, even if it was so far he was sure to recognize the horse plushie that was there, for it was the very same horse plushie that he won and gave to Ningning when they went off to the arcade during Valentine’s Day.
“Wow, she actually kept that. That’s amazing,” he muttered to himself.
Yoon Jae-in then went on off to double tap the post, liking Ningning’s recent IG post before anyone else, and then left his phone at the dining table; intending to head back to his room and change his clothes for the night of cooking waiting for him.
---DAYS LATER---
As usual, I kept my normal pace consistent throughout that week to the point that it was almost close to the weekend again. I have no complaints whatsoever. This whole school-house routine with the occasional walk around courtesy of Shinwon and Dawn were starting to get really comfortable. The added factor that Joohyun-noona surprised me with a model kit for me to build, as a show of gratitude from all the small sweet treats and help I’ve been giving her for the past days, not only have I kept my attention glued onto heading home, I was actually looking forward to it. It was a very progressive hobby too; with how meticulous it looks, there’s no way that I’ll be able to do that in one month to say the least.
One Friday, I had to shelve that model since I had to work on a project due on the following week, paired with a classmate. I was heading off towards the large gymnasium/auditorium complex of NLIU to meet her and fetch a thumb drive from her as we agreed previously. Apparently, this classmate was a representative of the school’s basketball varsity team and surely this was the only reasonable time that we could meet each other without trouble on her schedule. Since the gymnasium was located up on the second floor of the building next to the library, I had to walk up a couple of stairs to go there. However, as I was nearing the peak of the flight, close towards the gate heading to the gym inside, my phone gave off another vibration because of an incoming notification.
1 New Message from: Kyungsoo
I immediately halted my pace at the moment that I reached the top, along with that was opening the rather unexpected chat from Doh Kyungsoo. However, I had a hint on what it was supposed to contain; it was pretty much the same chat that he’s been messaging me about for weeks now up until this point.
Kyungsoo: This might work out this time, Jae-in. We’re planning to head back to Skylight and get some drinks. I wonder if you want to go this time around. Hongseok’s taking care of everything again.
I knew it. Honestly, I still have no real intention to join them considering, well, I have a lot of stuff to do back home. However, despite me being silent on United Kwangya, Kyungsoo was the one who kept on messaging me for the invites; persistently asking if there was a possibility of me joining them regardless if I repeatedly decline or not. A part of me already wanted to go, this time for old time’s sake.
I’d lie if I’d say that I didn’t miss any of them one bit.
Kyungsoo: I don’t want you to say that I baited you in, but I’m sure you wanted to know. Soyeon’s actually joining us.
Oh…
Wow.
The timing is really strange.
If this particular hang out went on like how the rest of them have been doing it for the past weeks or so, I might have gone with them.
I don’t know… I’m sure that Soyeon showing up probably means that she’s ready to go back to the group as well, but a part of me was not yet ready to see her face to face. I think the same goes for her as well, especially knowing that I was the one who ‘broke-up’ with her, so to speak. Then again, this might be the chance for us to talk again and settle with being friends…
Still, the timing is so off. I really don’t feel like going now, knowing she’s there.
It’s not yet the time.
I’ll go ahead and see her soon, just not now. At this point if I would go, it would be just like forcing me to see her. I don’t want that to happen.
Jae-in: Sorry man, I got plans. Thank you for the invite, and I appreciate it as always.
Kyungsoo: No worries. Message me in case you change your mind.
Jae-in: I’ll do that in case there are changes. See you around man.
I knew that maybe Kyungsoo replied another message after what I had just sent him, but then I figured I already told him everything that I had to say so I just pocketed my phone again with no other thoughts ahead of me. With that, I beckoned myself inside the huge, high-ceilinged gymnasium of NLIU to meet this rather athletic group mate of mine, with the noise of the bouncing balls as well as the periodical shouts and grunts from the athletes greeting my eardrums as I moved to enter.
The NLIU Gymnasium was the large, dome-like establishment that stood a couple of metres away from the university library, with a spacious façade as soon as I exited the small entrance hallway. Bleachers lined its perimeter, surrounding the well-polished basketball court along with a curtained stage at the far left. The court seemed to be split in half at the moment, with two sport divisions practicing on each of the half-courts at the same time. To the right were the jersey-wearing young guys who were busy practising their dribbling techniques around various traffic cones. On my left were people dressed in minimal body gear as they practised fencing on wooden swords. The combination of the athletes as well as the noise coming from the common student standing by the gymnasium definitely made the environment lively.
I just don’t know how on earth I am supposed to find her in all of this. I can only see guys around here. Should I call her?
“Yoon Jae-in; I’m here,” I heard a voice call my name as if I just thought about that loud. I turned my head as I walked on the small pathway separating the main court line and the wall by a couple of metres, and immediately saw a short-haired girl dressed in matching red jerseys. She jogged towards me with a basketball on one hand and a thumb drive clearly on the other; her tied hair bounced carefully as she treaded the path heading to where I stopped and eventually stood upon.
“Hey, I’m sorry that I had to ask you to come here,” she breathed as soon as she was in front of me. Only now did I realize that she had a coach’s whistle draped around her neck and her forehead had beads of sweat. “I’m worried that I might not notice you. Good thing it was you whom I saw first as soon as I looked at the entrance by chance.”
“That’s fine. You seem to be really busy. Are you training with these guys?” I asked her as I took the drive from her.
“Ah, no; actually I’m the one training them. I’m actually in charge of training new varsity members so I really can’t just get out for a bit.”
“You train them? Wow, that’s amazing. I better get going then.”
“No it’s fine… if you want; you can stay for a bit. Anyway, I already did the necessary components for the reports and I compiled them there. You’re way better on writing than me, so I think you could provide a better and more coherent output than I would.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s a pair’s work after all. I got this. Thank you for working hard, Ryujin. I think I need to go so that you can go back there and continue.”
“Alright; just message me if there’s anything else that you need.”
I nodded in response before watching the ever-so athletic Shin Ryujin jog her way back towards the dribbling guys, but not before dribbling the ball she held on her hand as well. I can’t help but be amused with how amazing she actually was despite being really timid on class. I never thought that she’d be the one teaching these younger dudes.
I immediately pocketed the drive as I walked, heading towards the same hallway I entered from to exit the gym for good. However, I was way too occupied on pocketing the drive that it fell out of my grasp and slid across the gym’s slippery and polished floor. Panicking, I rushed to fish it up, of which I eventually did, but as soon as I raised my head…
I saw a wooden pole hit the lower eyelid of my right eye, missing my main eye by mere millimetres before I stumbled, fell to the ground, and pain filled the right side of my face as everything went into a mess.
---
It was an instant that Yoon Jae-in was singly teleported out of the gymnasium, as he even could not recall what really happened after his eye got hit. There was a brunt force that pushed him back followed by a sensation that felt like a punch on the face. He held on his cheek for as long as he could remember with the eventual commotion that surrounded him. Whatever happened was sure to be of a huge impact to him, considering he felt almost four to five people that help him up and carefully assisted him to the university’s emergency clinic.
Now, as he sat down on a reclined chair, things only began to register to his mind as the school nurse carefully bandaged his right eye. Spots of his own blood were clearly seen botched on the white fabric of his shirt, all the way down towards his arm. The small makeshift room he was brought in was sight; it was more akin to a dentist’s room more than anything else.
“Mr Yoon Jae-in, are you feeling alright now?” the school nurse asked him, Nurse Joy, while she carefully applied a piece of cotton over his wound. “Please keep your eye closed. This might sting a bit, so please hold it in.”
“Was the hit bad, ma’am?” Jae-in nervously asked, quite nervous at his first time being inside the school clinic on a major accident. “I… sort of black out after I got hit but I don’t remember passing out… everything felt vague.”
“You got hit by a fencing stick, Jae-in. It was so close that it hit your eyelid instead, missing your eye by a close margin. The blood stains you’re seeing on your clothes as well as your hands are the result of a small tear; it did graze a bit off of your skin but it’s nothing to worry about. I’m trying to disinfect the wound now and I’ll apply a bandage later so that the bruise that formed under your eye won’t be too obvious.”
“W-would I still be able to see…?”
To his surprise, Nurse Joy chuckled.
“Of course, Jae-in; don’t worry about that. Like I said, the stick barely missed your eye and hit your upper cheek instead, but grazing a bit of your skin in the process. It’s fortunate that, despite the damage, it’s just a minor thing that would heal given time. Now, for the meantime…”
She picked up a small ice-pack from the table nearby, placed it on Jae-in’s cheek and moved his hand to press on it. There was an immediate cooling sensation that spread towards his impacted region.
“Please hold that for a while. I’ll be back in about five minutes, okay? I’ll just need to run a quick errand. Just continue to press it carefully on the bruise until I get back,” she said, removing her gloves and disposing it on the bin below.
Jae-in barely even have any time to nod when Nurse Joy exited through the door in front of him. Even with the split-second frame of the door being open, he could have sworn he saw a couple of people standing in front of the door. One of them had a huge chance to be the person who accidentally shanked him.
He bore no grudges against whoever they were, for that matter. It was just that he was there when the even unfolded on an unfortunately timed matter. Luckily, throughout that ruckus of a commotion, even with his mind temporarily in shambles after that incident, he managed to keep hold of the drive Ryujin gave him previously, and now it was settling comfortably on the deepest corner of his pants’ pockets.
The underlying concern now was how bad his face actually looked like. It was a powerful and painful impact, judging by the feedback he was receiving even with just moving the pack with the smallest distance. There were no mirrors whatsoever inside the clinic, at least from the room where he was staying at, that he can actually check how bad his face looks like. It does feel painful, but what concerns him the most was how his sister would react to that once she’d see it. The way she would react to it might even be worse than how Jae-in faced the incident himself. She might assume a lot of things, which primarily would include him getting into a fight. With how protective she is towards his younger brother, there’s a huge chance that she might get really mad seeing him with a bruise under his right eye before he could even explain what really happened.
Yoon Jae-in awkwardly sat there tapping the ice pack against his face gently, allowing some of the condensed ice to trail down his cheek while he waited for the return of Nurse Joy. It was almost around five minutes that passed, with him carefully pressing the pack against his face in constant progression when the clinic’s door finally opened up.
“Nurse Joy, I think there’s a—“
And then, the world seemingly turned itself over.
The voice was already familiar the first time he heard it enter the room. There’s no denying that the soft, almost elegant an innocent-like aura belonged to a person he met on a couple of interesting situations, and that day seemed to be the most interesting of them all.
Myoui Mina continued to enter the secluded clinic room in a slower manner the moment she recognized who was seated on the chair. Gone were the specs that Jae-in previously saw her wear, of which he can now see the pure and captivating beauty of her presence. She was dressed in a simple jacket-shirt-jeans combination, along with a small bag slung over her shoulder, but her pure aura lifted her outfit in a completely different level.
“M-Mina…? That’s you, right…?” Jae-in asked in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”
“Yoon Jae-in… I-I’m… I came here to run an errand for Nurse Joy. I did not expect to see you here.”
Mina fully entered the room and moved to close the door, but not before carefully checking the outer premises first.
“What happened to you?” she asked wit concern, eyeing the bruise that formed in Jae-in’s face as well as the ice pack that he was pressing against it. “Did you get in a fight?”
“Oh this…? It’s just an accident at the gym. I got shanked by a wooden sword and it luckily missed my eye and hit my cheek instead.”
“Is that true? Oh no, that must be really painful… d-did you get that treated already…?”
“Y-yeah, N-nurse Joy actually…”
To his surprise, Mina actually placed her bag beside the open table and quickly rummaged through the shelves searching for something. Moments later, she withdrew her hands holding a new pair of disposable gloves.
“Are you allowed to do that…?”
“I… I can take a look at it if you like,” she said in that similar soft voice of hers. “I used to be a voluntary intern here so… so I know a bit in treating those kinds of things.”
“Really…? Well, sure thing… I mean, it’s better if you’re going to check it instead of just me alone.”
“I promise I won’t make it worse,” she assured as she rolled up her sleeves and wore both the gloves over her slender hands. She then took a step closer to where Jae-in was seated and reached for the ice pack. “Can I have that…?”
Nervously, he let Mina take the ice pack from him and sat still. Despite only having one eye to see, It was more than enough for him to appreciate the details of Mina’s face as she moved closer, carefully eyeing the bruise on Yoon Jae-in’s cheek. She then moved the pack out of the way in order for her to gently caress the impacted area with her gloved hand.
“I think you’ve been pressing too hard on it,” she remarked. “It might give your skin more trouble than it already has. Here, let me demonstrate how you should do it.”
Mina unexpectedly fished Jae-in’s free arm from below and placed on the ice pack before holding it herself, all while she took the nearby stool and eventually sat on it. Myoui Mina and Yoon Jae-in sat opposite each other, with the young woman pressing the ice carefully against his skin while she held on to his hand.
Perhaps it was the silence that could be blamed for the rather awkward and wordless moments that followed after that. Jae-in’s heartbeat, his cheeks, his ears, everything was flaring up with just the simple act of Mina helping him compress and treat the injury as it is. It was certainly quite an unexpected turn for her to be the one to show up there, let alone be the one helping him on his injury in probably the sweetest manner ever. Not to mention, Mina’s face was so close to his that he could easily make up the details better than when he first saw her back at the library nor the cafeteria.
The silence was deafening, with only the source of noise coming from the periodical hallway noises from the outside of the clinic itself. Mina did not even notice that her pressing became softer and softer as the minutes went by. She could only blame it all on Jae-in, for as soon as their eyes met in that quiet room, she suddenly felt conscious of what she looked like. There was no real bit of thought she involved on that instance; just seeing Jae-in there made her concerned all of a sudden. Now, their face was so close that even she was starting to feel how awkward it was…
What is happening?
I don’t even know if my face is wet with water droplets or because of sweat.
“Am I interrupting something?” the voice of Nurse Joy said from the door. Apparently neither Jae-in nor Mina noticed that it even opened in the first place. That alone brought them back at the clinic after their minds mutually flew for a couple of minutes, maybe there was a little startle in there as well.
“N-nurse Joy… s-sorry,” Mina scrambled to get herself back on her feet, ultimately leaving Jae-in to hold on the cold press against his face. “I thought you were here and… it just so happened that I knew him to so I just—“
“It is fine, Mina-chan; there’s nothing to worry about. I just did not expect to see you here. You’ve never volunteered for an entire semester now, but it’s nice to see you take care of people again… interesting even, that you actually knew each other too…” she said with a teasing smile.
“I… I just happened to know him t-too…”
“In that case, do you mind if I leave him on your care then? I went back here in a rush because I’m dealing with another emergency case. Is that okay with you?”
“Y-yes… I’ll t-take care of him… I’ll manage…”
“Thank you so much, Mina! On that note, I’ll leave you two be. Just inform me if he’s going off so that I can make an incident report as well as an excuse slip. I’ll just be out so just approach me when you two are… done, you know?”
Mina deliberately ignored the odd tone and bowed in courtesy before Nurse Joy finally left the door, effectively having both herself and Yoon Jae-in in the company of each other again like before. The young man still had the cold press on his face, blushing for things he didn’t even know the reason for as he sat there with Mina. The entire atmosphere was starting to be awkwardly different and the only way he could think about was to bring the conversation down to the ground to lay out the comfort again.
“It’s crazy how we seem to meet on unfortunate circumstances,” Jae-in teased as soon as Mina moved to wipe the accumulated water from his face. “Last time that I saw you, I thought I would be standing still for lunch. Before that, I bumped into all your books.”
“Ah, I thought I was the only one who noticed. It’s interesting how I bump into you a lot these days as well. Also, I think the small graze on your eyelid is doing well now; it’s stopped from bleeding but it still has a bit of a swell. T-the problem is just the bruise on your eye. We’ve done enough compressing that it would be good for the meantime, but if you go out walking like that it would look as if you just got into a fight,” Mina said, examining the soft bruise of Jae-in on his face, unintentionally bringing her face closer to his once more. “But I think I have a solution for that.”
She immediately withdrew and went back towards the same shelve that she fished the gloves from, and then she emerged later holding a pack of what looked like medical eye-patches. Mina quickly fished a piece and stretched it out before proceeding to the waiting figure of Yoon Jae-in. He knew what was about to come but he was busy being frozen on the spot, still processing what was really going on with everything around him.
“Wear this for now. It might not conceal everything but at least you’ll not walk around looking like someone just punched you,” she began, and then carefully wrapped the strap around Jae-in’s head and eventually settling the patch on his bad eye. “You just need to routinely take care of that so that it would heal the quickest time.”
“T-thank you, Mina… this would be a huge help for me…” he replied.
However, the moment that Jae-in opened his eyes, Mina was busy writing something on a piece of paper before eventually handing it to him casually.
“Umm… what’s this for?”
“Please message or call me on this number… Nurse Joy put me in charge of you so I’d… I’d like to check on how you’re doing as well… that way I can instruct you how to treat your bruise better… I also included my social profile there in case you’re more into that…”
Oh wow…
That’s… that’s very thoughtful of her. Oh my god
“This is amazing Mina… you sure that Engineering was the right path that you took? You’d definitely be a good doctor, you know.”
Mina chuckled.
“Heh… it’s a tough choice but this is just a volunteer work for me… I guess it just so happened that I saw you here and I felt compelled to treat your injury and all… let’s just go with that. Umm… since we’re pretty much done here, I’ll just clean up so we can go on ahead and Nurse Joy could deal with the formalities now, shall we? I really… I really don’t want to deal with any of her thoughts in case that she’s having the wrong idea on what’s taking us so long in here….”
“Okay, okay… thank you. I promise I’ll message you about this and update you accordingly. I already feel better knowing I have a personal doctor. It’s not often that you bump into someone and they end up doing a huge favour for you twice, you know.”
With that, Mina responded on his statement with a very gummy smile. Jae-in already prepared to stand when Mina began to speak once again.
“Well, if you want to get even just by a bit… allow me to escort you back to your class. That way, I can be assured that you’ve arrived well knowing how you can only see half of what you’re used to.”
“Sounds like a plan. Let’s do that then.”
---
Next Chapter: Angel with a Shotgun
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Avenue of Sins: Neon
A sequel to Avenue of Sins
SUMMARY: ‘90s. It’s the aftermath. Jaded, Bill and Alma navigate their new lives as they try to drag themselves out of the dark debacherous trenches they had once ensnared themselves in. It’s easy to forget their evils when a silver lining introduces itself into their lives but can they create a less hedonistic life that would be just as satisfying?
WARNINGS: adult content, mature readers only.
The completed first series can be read and found here.
Author's Note: It's a long one. Happy New Year!
Chapter Nine
Valentine’s Day 1993
Bill was just about to leave his penthouse when the phone rang upstairs. Quickly, he took two steps at a time up the wrought iron spiral staircase and hastily grabbed the phone. It was Alma on the other end of the line thanking him for the dozen red rose vase bouquets that he had delivered to her apartment.
“Is it overkill?” He asked.
“Yes,” Alma laughed. “But they are all very pretty.” She said touching the soft velvety petals of a rose before her.
“I’ll miss you tonight.”
“Me too. But we’ll see each other in a couple of days…”
Bill smiled at the thought. “Uh, I was just heading out but-”
“No. I’ll let you go. I have to do the same. We have a show tonight at the shop.”
“Right,” he sighed. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” click.
…
Bill arrived at Trigger Finger XXX early that day since he wasn’t staying as late as he usually would that night. He had just finished eating a good sizable steak with a side of fries and sauteed asparagus that Bianca had gifted him. She had the kitchen staff prepare it for him making no fuss of it so that he could eat and enjoy it alone in the office. She knew he’d prefer it that way. He had almost forgotten to give her a gift but when leaving the gym he had stopped by a small chocolatier shop close by to grab her a box of intricate chocolates on a whim. One year she had even given him a bouquet of white roses which he found a little weird but deep down it did feel a little nice to receive. He wasn’t a great gift giver himself, it was just easier to hand money off than make decisions about what someone would like. Of course, with Alma, he made a little more effort but she never complained about the money either.
Eventually, he found himself down below in the designated VIP booth he sat at every night. Everyone seemed to be in a loving mood. Quite a few times flower delivery men had come to his club to drop off bouquets to a few girls and he could see all the girls checking them out silently competing over who had the biggest prettiest one. Had they known Alma would have been the winner. Tommy had stopped by his booth, he had just personally delivered pink roses and a large teddy bear that had shiny pink foil heart-shaped balloons attached to it to Bambi. They shook hands and Bill offered him a drink while he was already waving a bartender over before he could happily accept as he slid into the booth. They spoke a bit about Tommy’s cubicle job and house hunting over drinks until the conversation fell back on the celebrations of the day.
“Bambi seemed to really love the gift you brought,” Bill said.
“Ah, thanks she really likes that kind of stuff. I mean girls you know,” he lightly shrugged. “Uh did you get your wife something? Sorry, I can’t recall her name?”
“My girlfriend, Alma. Yeah, I got her roses.” He nodded.
“Oh, sorry I wasn’t sure whether-”
“Don’t sweat it,” he said, picking up his drink for a sip. In the back of his mind, he knew he probably should and would marry her. However, the thought of asking her the question made him so dreadfully anxious. Worried that she would say no even if most likely she wouldn’t. But what if she did? She could be very stubborn.
“I remember you two mentioning at Bianca’s Christmas party that you’ve been together since high school like me and Sar-Bambi I mean.”
“Yeah, long time,” he said, picking a piece of lint off his tailored charcoal trousers. It was easier to give a short answer. They had only known each other since high school. That was a fact but in regards to being together just as Tommy and Bambi were wasn’t. However, he wasn’t about to get into the debacle that was their actual relationship with Tommy two-bit next to him. They never really officially asked each other to be boyfriend and girlfriend, one day they just were after everything else they were to each other.
“Mhmm. Do you ever… get bored?”
Bill turned to look at him with furrowed brows. “Mm. No, she keeps me on my toes,” he smirked.
Tommy just nodded sheepishly to himself. “My wife and I have kind of discussed maybe… inviting a third into our bedroom you know trying to spice it up. But uh we haven’t found anyone we can both agree on.”
Bill quickly side-eyed him. Why the hell was he telling him this? “Um,” Bill sighed. “Sure but I hope you two aren’t fishing for my dancers. I don’t think that that would be app-”
“Not the girls,” Tommy said, cutting him off and giving him a pointed look.
Bill looked away from him for a second, noticing Venus dancing to What’s Love Got to Do with It by Tina Turner on stage, and then turned back to him with a skeptical expression on his face. “Eh, Tommy?”
“You seem fine enough to me. She likes you,” he lightly shrugged.
“Yeah… most people do but they don’t often ask me to fuck their wife.”
“Hey, I was just putting feelers out,” Tommy said, putting his hands up defensively. “But I take it that you’re not interested. I just figured as a man who works in this type of environment that maybe…”
“Sure,” Bill rolled his eyes. “But I learned long ago that I frankly don't like an audience.” He declared.
It was years ago he agreed to let a pathetic husband watch him fuck their wife. It was fine when it started but when he could hear the other man's moans filling the room while he jerked off his less-than-average penis in a corner it began to throw him off. He was being demanded of things from both the husband and the wife. The woman wanted it a certain way while the man wanted to watch something else. Then the man got jealous and asked him to leave before he could finish much to his wife's protests against it. He didn’t like the idea of fighting a naked man while he was vulnerable as well. Instead, he collected his clothes, gave the man some scathing choice words, and went on his way. Though even afterward the woman called his phone but he rebuffed her politely as he could because he surprisingly felt bad about what she had to deal with. By the third time he rudely told her to lose his number and threatened to kick her husband's ass for real if she didn’t.
“Just forget it, man. I read you wrong.” Tommy said, pushing his drink glass away.
“Look, it’s just not for me. But uh I hope you find someone at the very least.”
“Mhmm,” Tommy said, putting on an act of checking his cheap wristwatch. “I gotta pick up our son from his grandma.” He offered his hand and gave him a curt handshake before he left.
Bill just sat there alone slightly amused and stunned as he rubbed the thin white gold chain he wore around his neck between his fingers. To him, Bambi and Tommy seemed subjectively normal and though he’s seen and heard and done a lot in his life people could still surprise him. He shook his head to himself hurrying out of the booth and lit a cigarette on his way to the girl's dressing rooms. It was filled with all sorts of bouquets and heart shaped gifts today. There were a few girls in there when he stopped at the threshold flicking ash from his cigarette to the floor. The scent of Aquanet and strawberry body mist hit him. A few girls were adjusting straps of clothing and others touching up make-up in the mirror of the wall-to-wall-lit vanity. When they registered a male presence they all turned their head and smiled noticing it was him. Though security did a fine job of keeping men out there were times a creep would sneak past and they never liked to miss an opportunity to tell them off.
“Hi boss,” they all said together melodically.
“Hi ladies,” he politely smiled at them. “Happy Valentine’s,” he said, slightly bowing his head.
He walked in further glancing at Bambi who seemed more occupied with touching up her red lipstick than paying attention to him. He wondered if she put Tommy up to the proposal or whether she knew at all. He looked around for Marcy when he realized Payday wasn’t in the dressing room meaning if he didn’t see her on the floor she was most likely in the private rooms working. Marcy was in the back area with Chastity holding onto a wax strip that had been applied to her lower belly as she braced.
“Just do it!” Chastity whined and with that, Marcy pulled it away from her body which made her recoil from the abrupt pain.
“Sorry, sorry,” Marcy said looking at the pink strip that had short dark hairs attached to it now.
“Fucking hardcore,” Bill said when Chastity walked away rubbing the ruddy sore spot below her navel as he took a drag of his cigarette.
“Not so easy being a woman,” Marcy said, turning to him with a wink. “What’s up?”
“I was looking for Payday. When she circles back around from the private rooms could you tell her I’ll be waiting in the loft?” He said pointing behind himself.
Just before he walked out, Onyx came in walking a bit strangely announcing that she needed a tampon. When he got to the loft he plopped down on the couch because Bianca was sitting at the desk looking over paperwork and tapping her long red nails on the desk. He sighed to himself loudly as he lifted his long leg to place on top of the coffee table in front of him and the other crossed his knee at the ankle.
“What’s up with you lover boy?” Bianca finally said.
“Just waiting,” he shrugged. “Thanks for my gift by the way.”
“Of course! Thanks for mine.” She said tapping on the box of chocolates on the desk. He had just left it there for her to discover and placed a sticky note on it that read: To B from B. “And what is this that you’re waiting on? The desk?”
Bill lightly chuckled. “Waiting on Payday. She asked if I’d take her to Simion’s fight tonight last week. I figured why not.”
“Hmm,” Bianca expressed looking a little perturbed. “So she’s with him for real then?”
“Seems like it. Why?”
Bianca shook her head. “You know when I was the house mother I didn’t like the girls to form real relationships with clients. Personally, I know what can go wrong. I met my sons' asshole father here.” She rolled her eyes. “He gave me hell forever when we separated, tried to get my sons taken away claiming I was an unfit mother. Anyway,” she waved a hand trying to dismiss those memories and the risk of repeating a story Bill already knew. “Marcy is with that bogus-looking guy she met here and suddenly she’s gone lax on that rule.”
“Sounds like you might have to talk to her?”
“And you too. It doesn’t bother you,” she asked, lifting a brow at him.
“To a degree but as long as our money keeps coming…” he shrugged but Bianca didn’t seem pleased with that answer. “Sure, I agree with you we can’t start having our high-dollar girls marrying off. If Marcy has a problem just call in the big guns,” he said playfully flexing his biceps.
“Oh look at you! Fuckin’ dork.” Bianca said, making him laugh. “You are looking nice today though, even wearing color for once.” She said pointing out his ruby-colored button-up. “And the red bottoms.” She noticed his new designer Chelsea boots.
“Ah yeah, Alma bought these for me when she went shopping last time she was here. Nice huh?” He said, rubbing a smudge from the sleek black leather with his thumb.
There was a knock at the door and Theo walked in with Payday just behind him holding a clutch purse. She had put on a short satin red dress with a cowl neck that hung low with nude strappy stilettos. Her long dark hair was curled and styled half up and half down with flirty locks framing her face. The shade of pink lipstick she wore on her full lips complimented her tan skin. As he got up to grab his long black coat he thought about how they would match and if he should change his shirt while Payday asked Bianca if she looked cute. He decided that changing it would make it a bigger deal when there were a lot of people who would be wearing red today. In some ways, Payday’s looks reminded him of Alma so he enjoyed looking at her but not much else beyond that did he find interesting. He asked Payday if she’d like to borrow a jacket since there was still a chill in the February air and was only wearing thin fabric and little of it but she politely declined.
They were mostly silent in Bill’s car on the way to the discrete location of the underground boxing match. Payday was sitting with her legs crossed, her smooth thick thigh facing him on display, and was anxiously fiddling with her long French tip acrylic nails.
“Are you cold,” Bill asked.
“No,” she said softly. “Just nervous. I’ve never been to anything like this. And my boyfriend is gonna be up there you know?” She said clasping her hands and settling them into her lap.
Bill nodded in understanding. “Well as a fair warning, it’s not like anything you’ve seen on pay-per-view. It’s a bare-knuckle fight,” when he glanced at her he noticed her wearily frown. “But I’ve seen Simion fight, he’s good. He hardly gets touched.” He tried to reassure her. “Um, did he get you anything nice today?” He said steering the subject to something else to ease her anxious worrying for a bit.
“Oh you know, flowers, chocolates, money,” she sighed. “After the fight, we’re staying at a really nice hotel which I’m excited about.”
When Bill asked her where they were staying he just nodded at the mention of the place. It wasn’t what he would call really nice by his standards but fine enough. Then he thought that maybe he was being a bit of a snob about it. He didn’t come from luxury but now he had preferences for things he never imagined there were preferences for.
“Don’t you have a girl? Did you get her something nice?”
“Hmm. I try.” He said scratching his mustache.
“Oh c’mon!”
“We’re not big gift givers. We mostly like to just be together but she’s living in another state right now. I’m seeing her in a few days.”
“That should be nice. I briefly saw her when she was at the club a few months ago. She’s very pretty, soft, but kinda tough. It’s sexy.” She said which made Bill smile. “But I can imagine you kinda have to be a bit tough to be with you. You know because of your job and you come off as very mysterious sometimes. Like a bit hard to crack,” Payday lightly laughed.
Bill chewed on his cheek in thought for a moment. “By ‘a bit hard to crack’ do you mean like standoffish? Dickish?”
“Hey boss, I said no such thing, you did.” She smirked.
“It’s a fair observation, I guess.”
“I mean even for me it’s hard to date, not a lot of guys have liked that I dance you know. Takes a specific kind of person who’d be cool with it.” She said finishing a previous thought she had to fill the dead space fearing she may have offended him.
They fell silent again. Bill had to admit he was private, more so in recent years ever since the situation with Craig. He didn’t need to make any unnecessary waves. Besides that, he had a family to protect as well whom he didn’t need to make targets of his misdeeds. It had happened once and he’d be damned if it ever happened again.
Payday sat in her seat still nervous but now it was because she felt she may have said something wrong. She peered over towards Bill who was taping his steering wheel with his thumb to the beat of a down-tempo alternative rock song softly playing on the radio unbothered as he drove them. That’s when she peeked at a small photo tucked into the car dash control panel of a sleeping baby. Of course, all the dancers talked about him. She’s heard bits of pieces of things that mostly sounded like bullshit to her. She never liked to make assumptions about people because she didn’t like when people did it to her when they learned of her profession. However, the photo did confirm the baby rumor amongst the bullshit ones she’s heard.
“If you weren’t going to this fight and you didn’t have to work tonight, what would you be doing?” Bill asked her as he turned a street corner. He could sense her nervousness after he had quit speaking and was trying not to seem so cold. It hit him then that it sort of felt like a first date with how painful it felt to carry on a conversation.
“Oh. Um well, I used to rave and go hang with club kids. That’s how I picked up all those little funny games I play with the clients,” she lightly giggled. “But yeah, probably something like that. I bet there are a few on tonight too. Have you ever raved?”
“I’ve been to a couple when I was a bit younger. My girlfriend liked to go to those mostly. She likes to dance but I’m not so good at it.” He lightly shrugged. “We’re here.” He announced as he swooped into a parking spot.
Payday looked around. It was just a random city block with a few sketchy warehouses. She saw some people walking down the street but a few she could pluck out by their more tailored threads. They were most likely headed to where they were.
“It’s still a bit of a walk from here. Will you be okay?” He said with a pointed look at her stiletto heels while he picked up a loose cigarette that lay on top of his dashboard and put it between his lips.
“It’ll be okay,” she hoped. She could do a lot on the platform heels she wore at work but these were flat to the ground, better for sitting down and looking cute on her French pedicured feet.
Without a warning, Bill reached behind his back and grabbed the handle of his gun. Payday watched him check the slide and pull a lever and then he met her shocked expression, apologetically he laid his gun gently on his lap. It was a lapse in judgment on his part, he navigated alone and the only other girl that had ever been in his Thunderbird was Alma who wouldn’t have been startled by it one bit. Surely, the girls at the club knew he carried a gun but he was in a car in a sketchy area alone with a girl being too casual about a deadly weapon. If this was an actual first date this would have been the moment Payday would have decided that there wouldn’t be a second. That thought amused Bill.
“Sorry. They don’t allow outside firearms. They check,” he explained with the unlit cigarette still between his lips until he plucked it away. “Do you mind if I reach over to put it in the glovebox in front of you?”
“It’s cool. I just didn’t expect it.”
“You don’t mind?” He asked again because she didn’t answer his question.
“No,” she shook her head.
She was beginning to wonder what in the world her boyfriend Simion’s fight night got her into tonight. It all seemed so hush-hush and serious now. It seemed like he told her enough but not the details of what underground fighting really was because she imagined it was just some macho guy get-together. Bill reached over and placed his Glock in the glove box. Before he shut and locked it with his key she could have sworn she saw not only a large bottle of Chanel cologne and a pocket knife but also a pair of white sheer panties. That observation quickly left when she noticed the lock of hair that fell out of his slicked hair, his clear skin, and the expensive cologne he wore while he was so close. He was handsome, she loved his big beautiful green eyes that set him apart but she preferred Simion’s muscular brawny build more. Plus, Bill could be a bit stoic whereas Simion was playful. However, she had seen Bill cut up on occasion and how Bianca and him would joke. He just wasn’t someone who’d let people in easily. Almost as if you’d have to prove yourself to be in his inner circle.
After he opened her door and helped her out after a quick reapplication of gloss. They walked half a block and through a tiny residential alley until they finally reached the back area of a nondescript almost dilapidated-looking warehouse. Bill had his coat collar slightly popped up with a hand inside the pocket as he was smoking his cigarette with the other. A few times he had to pause while Payday caught up to his strides. She wouldn’t even answer a callback from him if this was a first date for doing that, that’s for sure, he thought.
They stood behind a few other spectators being patted down. Once it was their turn Bill flicked his cigarette away and asked for her purse before he went first. He passed the small clutch to the security guard and he took a glance over at the ID, coin purse, powder case, lipstick, gloss, and the two light blue condoms inside. Bill passed it back behind himself to her and then put his hands up to be patted down. Payday could tell he was thoroughly annoyed by it and saw him muttering something to the security.
“She’s a lady.” She heard him say in a low tone. “Look at what she’s wearing, what would she have on her.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” the stocky bald security guard said back.
Bill flashed him a dark steely gaze. “I do.”
It was then she glanced down and caught Bill palming the security a few one hundred dollar bills and he waved them through without her needing to be subjected to an invasive pat down.
“Ready,” he asked her with a softer demeanor about him again and then offered his arm for her to grab as a polite gesture.
It was strange to her how he could change his emotions in that way. Almost like a Jekyll and Hyde effect. All she knew was that she never wanted him to look at her in the way he looked at the security guard because she might just piss herself.
Inside there was commotion coming from everywhere. There were two lean muscular boxers on the makeshift but well-built rings in the center of the warehouse but it seemed not many people were interested in watching. There were people still looking for seats and waiters with drink trays weaving between them. A woman at a coat check offered to take Bill’s coat but he waved off the offer. As they continued through she realized it was a full operation which was here in the night but gone in the day.
“I need to stop by the bets real quick,” he said leaning down so she could hear him. Even in stilettos, she was short. “Then we can look for seats.”
She watched him speaking to a bookie placing bets of exorbitant amounts of money. He turned back to look at her over his shoulder and saw her taking everything in.
“Would you like to bet on a round?” He asked her, trying to make her feel included. “On me,” he said before she could say she had no money to bet with.
“Sure,” she said, deciding to participate especially since it wasn’t her money to waste away.
“Okay, boxing usually goes ten rounds right? Tonight’s main event only goes to seven,” he explained. “So from one to seven, you can bet on which round there will be a knockout that ends the fight.”
“It’s just a guess?” She asked and Bill nodded. “Hmm. Round six.”
“Round six,” Bill nodded in approval. It wasn't a bad or good round to choose as long as she didn’t say round one. He would have chosen the fifth round knowing how Simion fought. He turned back to the bookie who asked him if he wanted to do the lower hundred bets and then it jumped to twenty-five hundred or five thousand dollar pots. “What do you think?” He turned to her again.
“Uh,” Payday grinned a bit overwhelmed. “Twenty-five hundred?” That amount of money was a fraction of a fraction of the numbers she had heard him throw out before getting her to play.
“Eh. Maybe a little higher right,” Bill said pointing up. “Something worthwhile.”
“It’s your money, boss,” she said nervously. He only looked at her, waiting for her to agree. “Hm, five thousand then,” and even that was still a modest number from the ones she’d heard before. “Sixth round,” she said more definitively in her tone.
Bill grinned. “Now we’re playing.”
They were held up a bit by the entrance to the boxing ring because Bill had recognized a few men there and was speaking to them. She looked around and quickly grabbed a champagne glass from a passing waiter and downed its contents which earned a glance from Bill but he turned away again with a smirk she mistook for a sneer. She thought maybe that was a bit trashy of her because of the look he gave. But she didn’t know him enough to know he found it funny. As he tried to veer away from the conversation before him he was saved when one of Simion's training crew called his name. He was a young guy named Aaron and Bill had even worked out with him.
“C’mon, follow me!” He hollered above the crowd and waved them over.
Bill offered his arm again to Payday as he kept his eyes on the back of Aaron’s blonde head and navigated them through the crowd. The crowd started to become thinner and eventually, they turned a corner. Payday let go of him and walked ahead down the corridor as Bill and Aaron shook hands a few paces behind. She could faintly hear her boyfriend Simion’s voice and followed it.
“Payday,” Bill said, pointing to a makeshift room as she walked ahead. “In here.”
She turned her head and hastily scurried back and Bill stood behind to let her in first. Simion turned his head in the middle of a pep talk from his trainer and brightly grinned when he spotted her.
“Simi!” She shouted happily.
“Marina my angel!” He exclaimed with his arms out awaiting her embrace. She leaped up and slammed her body against his before they tongue-kissed. Everyone could see her asscheeks because her skirt rode up and she didn’t even bother to adjust it.
“Careful! He’s still got the main event coming up,” Mauricio his trainer chided.
Simion placed her back on her stilettos as she bashfully pulled her skirt hem down. “She is my main event, Mauricio!” He said, kissing her cheek proudly.
Bill was leaning against a heavy punching bag with his arms crossed when Aaron leaned in towards him.
“It’s like some kind of fucked up Rocky movie,” he said to him which made him chuckle.
“Hey, did you get it in,” Bill asked him hushed.
“Right, right,” Aaron said, grabbing a small gym bag sitting on the dusty floor next to him.
Bill used his broad back and large body to shield his gym friend as he dug in the bag and produced a small Sig Sauer he had snuck into the facilities for him. It was easier for him because as a part of the crew, they weren’t subjected to pat downs the way patrons were. Even if he was a bit weary of leaving one of his guns from him to hold on to, Bill also knew Aaron was young and stupid enough to bring it in as a way to impress him. Bill quickly grabbed it, checking the slide and the safety before tucking it into a custom inner pocket he had tailored into his coat. He thanked Aaron with a pat on his shoulder since he had already paid him for the favor prior. He didn’t trust anyone at these events, everyone was into shady seedy shit and Bill had laid down a lot of money tonight he wasn’t risking not having a piece on him. He was sure he wasn’t the only one who did either.
Aaron backed away when Simion approached them in his blue, yellow, and red designed boxing shorts that were meant as an homage to the Romanian flag. Bill straightened up and they hooked hands before Simion pulled him into an embrace. He pulled him like he weighed nothing which took him aback a bit but he held his ground. His biceps were two – close to three sizes – bigger than his.
“Thanks for bringing her brother,” he said to him. “She’s my good luck charm!”
“No problem. I told you I would bring her in one piece tonight,” he said, scratching his neck.
“I managed to get you and her some front-row seats. You know for the trouble.”
“No trouble at all. And I appreciate it but uh I just like to sit in the back you know.”
“Low profile I understand. Well, it’s there if you want it, no worries, brother.” He said, patting his arm.
“Thanks. I can take Payday to her seat though.”
“Such a gentleman. I’d like that.”
“We need to buckle down Simion,” Maurcio bellowed sternly. “The fight right now is almost over, then we got one more and you’re up.”
Bill waited outside the room for Payday as she said her goodbyes to Simion but when they emerged at the threshold he caught Simion pulling her dress down to kiss her bare breasts. He looked away. He had seen them countless times, he could even picture them perfectly but it just felt weird to look at them outside the club.
“I asked you to keep it a surprise,” Payday said to him as she approached.
Bill began to lead her out the corridor before answering her. “I know.”
“Well?”
He looked down at her and took a deep breath. “It’s just a stupid guy thing. You’re his girlfriend. I have to respect that and make sure he was cool about me giving you a ride.” He caught her slightly rolling her eyes and he had to keep himself from smirking.
He led her to the seats, really damn good seats. With an open hand, he pointed to her seat like a good usher would and just as he began to walk off she caught the tail of his long coat.
“Are you really just going to leave me all alone?” She said looking up at him a bit upset.
Bill groaned under his breath and leaned down. “It’s a bit too overexposed for me.”
“I don’t know anyone here but you and Simion?” She pulled on his coat collar to speak into his ear. “Honestly, I’m a little uncomfortable.” She looked around then and while there were a few women amongst the male majority she was there front and center. She felt overexposed as well.
Bill side-eyed her and then closed his eyes in thought. If it was Alma he would sit down if she was uncomfortable. However, she wasn’t but as a friend of Simion’s, he decided he would bear it.
“Fine,” he said begrudgingly.
He shrugged his coat off and again a waiter in passing asked if he’d like to check his coat and again he declined. As far as he knew his Louis Vuitton coat would just walk out without him and the thief would also now have a new gun. He held it by the collar and then draped it across his lap as he finally sat down.
“Thank you,” she said, nudging him.
“Yup,” he sighed indignantly. “Can I ask you something? Is it alright if I call you Marina here?”
“You can call me whatever you like boss,” she smiled politely and batted her silver shadowed eyes at him. It was maybe even a little flirtatious if he wanted to look at it that way. Suddenly this faux date had turned into an escort service by that response. And by how she was dressed it probably did look like that outwardly.
“No like seriously. You don’t have to call me Boss either we're not at work.” He didn’t mind the girls calling him boss but he always wondered when that even started. They used either his name or boss interchangeably but one day it was just boss only.
“So you want me to call you, Bill?” She asked cautiously.
“You could have always called me Bill,” he said, slightly irritated. “So can I call you Marina? Of course, at work, I wouldn’t obviously.”
“Marina is fine... But I usually go by Mari’.”
Bill bit his lip and looked away to keep the frustrated laugh from escaping past his lips. “Okay, Mari’ then.” If he had this exact conversation with Alma he would have sworn she was fucking with him just to start an argument. Unfortunately, it seemed like this was just how Mari was.
And now he just missed Alma all over again. Keeping busy always helped but it being Valentine's just exasperated all his feelings for her because she just wasn’t there. Did he agree to this because it was the closest thing to Alma? Though they were similar in looks he couldn’t keep himself from finding all the things she lacked. What started as a polite favor he now began to wonder if he was just so damn lonely his subconscious planned all of this.
A waiter stopped by them and he quickly ordered a glass of top-shelf bourbon, for Mari Dom Perignon after discovering that’s what she stole off the tray when he asked the waiter what champagne was being served.
“You’re expensive,” he smugly joked.
Their drinks arrived as soon as the second-to-last fight started. He told the waiter to keep the drinks coming until he said when. Bill had bet on this fight and Simion’s so he was interested to see how it would go. He bet that the Irish fighter would win since he hadn’t had a single loss on his record and expected the streak to continue. The first round had the crowd in the warehouse roaring as the Irish fighter put in some work on the other off the bat. Bill finished the rest of his Bourbon and an attentive waiter swooped by to grab his empty glass. Resting his elbows on his knees and wringing his hands together he watched the second round start and it began the way the first went. Until after the last-minute mark when the Irish fighter ducked a punch the other boxer clipped him with a left hook stunning him and leaving his guard down enough that another punch hit him square in the face. His knees buckled from under him and like a dead weight, he fell forward straight on the boxing mat. The crowd's roars were deafening, some patrons shot out of their seats in disbelief. The referee counted down and it was over.
“FUCK!” Bill yelled and his face fell into his hand. “Fuck me,” he whined.
Bill sat back in his seat, shaking his head with furrowed brows. Marina glanced at him remorsefully; she knew he bet on the Irish fighter to win and he went down unexpectedly quick. Money gone, just like that. The waiter came with drinks and she watched him shoot it down like a shot and put it back on the drink tray. She was worried about saying anything because of how upset he looked, twisting around his blue gem pinky ring. The winning team finally got out of the ring after congratulating the underdog and Bill sighed loudly in resignation.
“Well shit,” he said, turning to Marina now. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“That was… crazy. I heard you bet on Simion too,” she said cautiously.
“I did,” he nodded. “Hopefully he wins it all back for me.” He had more at stake in Simion’s fight and he was silently praying to whatever powers that be.
The ring was being swept off and prepared as Simion was the main event. It was quiet between the two while they waited until Marina spoke up.
“Bo-Bill,” she said to gain his attention. “If you weren’t here tonight what would you be doing on Valentine's Day instead?” She was reframing the question he had made up to ease her earlier in the evening.
Bill smiled and turned his body so that it was more open to her now. “Hm. Not sure.”
“Would your girlfriend like to come to something like this?” She asked after taking a sip of the champagne she’d been nursing.
“Probably. But I wouldn’t bring her here for Valentine’s,” he lightly chuckled. “We’d go out to eat, and stay in a nice hotel suite,” he paused, deciding how much he wanted to tell her. “Uh, I like to buy her dresses so she’d be out with me wearing what I bought her.”
“Aw, that’s so cute! And you say you’re not a good gift giver?” She said playfully tapping his arm.
“I mean I told you I try,” he said, taking a sip of his drink. “But the dresses are more for my indulgence.”
“Can I ask a question,” she said softly to which Bill nodded as a reply. “I saw that picture on the dash, whose pretty baby is that?”
Bill looked away a second and looked back at her with a tight smile rubbing the stubble on his chin with his knuckles. He barely gave her an inch and she just went the whole mile. He was worried about this.
“You’re only asking that because I think you already know,” he said to her, seeing through her disingenuous questioning. “I know you girls talk about me in the dressing rooms. Was it Bambi?” He knew when he saw Bambi at Bianca’s Christmas party that she’d be the one to leak that information around whether intentionally or not. He was surprised to even see her there at all as Bianca liked to keep a tight group as well but it was her home he had no say on her guests.
Marina hated feeling caught, she knew better. She responded to him remorsefully nodding her head. “I’m sorry, Bill. That was ugly of me.”
“It’s not your fault for being curious, Mari. I know I’m a cryptic fuck it doesn’t help when it comes to speculation,” he set his drink on the floor and crossed his arms sitting back in his seat. “To answer your question, yeah that’s my pretty little baby,” he smiled and that eased her enough to smile also. “It’s not like some huge secret exactly. I just… want to keep her separate from business, you know? I’m also guilty of being possessive. So when it comes to my daughter-”
“Out of bounds,” Marina said understandingly.
“Exactly,” Bill nodded. “Out of bounds, that works,” he said because he was going to originally say that it was nobody's fucking business. This was less crass.
“So I’m guessing you wouldn’t even tell me her name then.”
That made Bill lightly chortled because she was still trying to pry. “Yeah, no I won’t be. I won’t even entertain a guess.”
“Fair. I can respect that.”
“Thank you.” He said with an appreciative nod.
“Picturing you with a little daughter looks so sweet. You probably wouldn’t like to hear it but it takes a little edge off you knowing that now.”
“Sorry for breaking that facade tonight,” Bill joked.
“The way you’ve behaved tonight towards me, well except for walking ahead of me earlier,” she pointed out to which he quickly threw in a sorry. “Maybe you’re possessive I guess but you’re protective. I can tell you’re a good dad because you light up talking about her. I wish my dad did when he talks about me.”
Bill bashfully looked at his lap twisting the pinky ring that honored his daughter and smiled to himself. “Ah, that’s sweet of you to say, Mari.” He couldn’t ever say that he was a good dad or not exactly; he didn't feel like he had spent enough time with Echo to gauge that. Even with the reassurance from Alma that his daughter loved him and that he was a good dad, he felt like she had to say that as his partner. Hearing it from a near stranger felt nice though it made him feel good about himself.
“So back to my question before since I know what I know now. If you weren’t here tonight. Good food and hotel still?”
“She’d tag along with us. She’s still little,” he said, putting his hand out a few feet from the floor indicating her height. “Alma, my girlfriend, always likes to call her a fancy girl when we’re doing something particularly gaudy,” he laughed. “But yeah she’s fancy, she's got a lot more at her disposal than we ever had. That’s for sure.”
The announcer finally introduced the main event of the night. While Bill tried his best to keep his conversations with Marina dreadfully shallow he now kind of appreciated where their night’s conversation went. It was nice to think and talk about the girls he loved so much with someone else besides Bianca. He was sure he bored her with it sometimes. Now he had to focus, he had money to win.
After the announcer introduced the referee and the other main event boxer, Simion walked to the center of the ring lightly jogging in place and jutting out punches which made the crowd cheer.
“And in the blue, yellow, and red shorts, SIMION ‘THE DRAGON’ DALCA!!! Let the Bloody Valentine’s Fight begin!”
Marina jumped from her seat and cheered her boyfriend while Bill only stood up and clapped next to her. Simion spotted her and she began to blow kisses at him. They sat down as the first fight round went on with only a few jabs from both fighters sizing each other up. From the corner of Bill’s eye, he saw some latecomers to the fight shuffling to their front-row seats just on the other side of the ring. There was a classically beautiful woman who caught his eye first, her honey-blonde hair was in a perfect French roll and she was wearing a brown mink fur coat and white gloves. She looked suitably dressed for a symphony, not some dusty underground boxing fight.
That was until someone stepped aside revealing Joey Russo right beside her. He was dressed in a nicely tailored three piece suit with a rose boutonniere attached to the lapel. He briefly watched as Joey helped the woman take her mink off and handed it off to who looked like personal security. He looked away and took a deep breath through his nose holding the air in his puffed-up chest and let it back out slowly. He and Joey Russo had bumped into each other here and there and were fine with each other but it didn’t mean he liked it when it happened. He’d much prefer if he never saw him ever again but such is life. In the days when everything could seem so trivial suddenly he is hit with too much in a day all at once.
He put all his focus on the fight only pausing a moment to roll up the sleeves of his button up. Though the way the day kept throwing curveballs he was deeply worried. Simion had been putting up a good fight throwing blows that would buckle five men but his opponent was just taking it. Their bare knuckles were bloodied and raw. Simion’s nose was busted open in the fourth round and began to run crimson down his chin and trickled to his sweaty chest just as he did to his opponent in the third. Marina screamed when that happened and involuntarily clutched Bill’s arm. He patted her hand lightly not to remove it but so that she could let off a little as her long nails were digging into his skin. Near the end of the fifth round, Bill’s heart began to thump hard in his chest, adrenaline coursing through him. He reached down for his bourbon and finished it. The alcohol wasn’t going to save him though he was too pent up with anxious energy.
As the boxers fought on the ropes of the ring where Joey Russo sat, he locked eyes with him. They gave each other a nod of acknowledgment and turned their focus back on the fight. Just before the end of the fifth round, Simion threw a medley of body jabs and he cheered appreciatively.
“Yeah!” He caught himself shouting.
He looked toward Marina and could see that she was tearing up. He would hold her hand but he wasn’t going to she wasn’t his but he’d allow her to grip onto his forearm like she had been doing even forgetting about her nails digging in. Once the sixth round started Simion took a bad blow that split his eyebrow which made him curse under his breath but then he felt Marina bury her face in the crook of his arm openly sobbing on him. He moved his arm as he tried to pay attention and awkwardly patted her back. Alma hardly sobbed like this. Usually, a few tears would run and she’d fiercely wipe them away and then she’d become annoyed by them rather than sad. In fact, he could only count the few times she did sob in front of him on his hand. She preferred to cry alone and didn’t want him around until she was finished. Didn’t seem so healthy thinking of it now.
“C’mon,” he nudged her to right herself. “It’ll be ok-”
Just as he spoke then it was as if a fire erupted out of Simion who was once lagging from his tough contender's jabs. They were sparing off blow for blow. Until like a fury Simion hit him one after the other. From their front-row seats, Bill could hear the hard blows and the sweat spraying off their bodies as the punches connected one after the other. With one final uppercut Simion knocked out his opponent. Lights out.
The crowd went absolutely crazy. Bill even jumped from his seat cheering and pumping a fist in the air, he won too. He won big tonight.
“Holy fuck!” Bill said, running his hand through his hair as his main stressor lifted from his shoulders. “God damn it,” he shook his head in disbelief. “Simion fucking did it.” He said, turning to Marina who was now crying happily.
With his coat in his hand, he quickly put it on and grabbed Marina's wrist. He needed to leave before the crowd rushed and blocked him in. The training crew lifted Simion on their shoulders celebrating his win as they left the ringside. Aaron was watching from the entrance of the corridor, he was in charge of watching the locker room that held the crew's items. He was glad for that because at least it was someone he could leave Marina with while everyone else was still celebrating in the ring.
“I’ll leave you with Aaron over there if that’s okay. But we need to see the bookie first.”
He was right up after a few other guys who’d collected smaller wins. Luckily a lot of the crowd were still cheering or arguing with each other over the results of the fight. First, he collected the five thousand dollars for the sixth-round knockout. The bookie wrapped the bundle of cash in butcher's paper and slid it over. Bill put it under his arm while he arranged the dealings of his earnings of the night. The five thousand was only his part of the pot, he had won much more from it. With Simion’s win and the pot earnings, he couldn’t take that amount of cash home tonight so he and the bookie arranged for it to be delivered to Trigger Finger. The bookie even offered collateral on his part to ensure he’d get the money. Bill knew this bookie to be respected and good on his word so he accepted. By tomorrow at 9 am he’d be waiting with security for the delivery at the club.
He turned on his heel and while he was happy as hell he kept a cool poker face. He took the 5k out from under his arm and handed it to Marina and she looked at him shocked.
“No, Bill. That’s your money I can’t,” she said, pushing his hand back.
“You picked the round, you were right. Fuck, you really are his good luck charm,” he laughed.
“No…” she said, looking up at him shaking her head. “No.”
“I won’t accept that,” he said, pushing his hand forward and placing the money on her chest forcing her to take hold of it.
She grabbed it and looked shocked. “This is crazy shit Boss,” she laughed. “Thank you.” She hugged him tightly.
“After tonight uh I hope we’ve come to an understanding about what has been said?” He said, giving her a pointed look.
“You got it.” Marina nodded. “You didn’t say shit to me on the car ride and you sat in a corner all night by yourself,” she winked.
“Thanks,” he said appreciatively. “See you at work, Mari.” Though he couldn’t be certain she would keep mum about their time tonight he hoped the money would be a good enough incentive to.
After paying his drink tab he reached in his coat pocket for his pack of smokes as he headed out into the night. Walking with a few other guests as he reached the street. As he went on to get into his car on the other end of the block he saw a limousine parked at the corner. That’s when his path intersected with Joey Russo’s. He was trying to avoid him and for a moment he felt that he had gotten away. He was helping the well-put-together woman into the limo and saw her flash a cold glance with her ice blue eyes at Joey just as he turned to him.
“Ay, Bill!” Joey said delighted to have gotten to run into him.
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath and then stomped his cigarette out. He looked at him with a tense smile then. “Joey,” he said with a curt nod.
“What a fight right?” He said just as the woman inside the limo irritatedly asked him to shut the door complaining that she was cold and telling him to hurry up. “Hm. My wife Carmen,” he wryly smiled. “She’s not so happy that I kinda lied about our plans tonight,” he said lightly chuckling and taking a glance at Bill’s left hand to see if he had a gold band like his own but it was in his pocket while his other was around the handle of his gun. He was trying to find details he may not know about him already. “Do you happen to have another smoke, she can wait.” He said dismissively waving at the limo.
“I do but I’m kinda in a rush?” He said scratching his neck revealing his bare ring finger to Joey.
“I won’t hold you up too long.” He said grabbing the cigarette Bill held out for him he even offered his lighter but Joey had his own. “So it’s been a while. How have you been, huh?”
“Business is still good,” he replied curtly. While he wasn’t asked that, that was all he was offering him feeling no need to speak about himself.
“Same here. You know after Batter passed finally the old guards backed the fuck off. Buncha old school fucks you know?” He said, giving Bill a knowing look.
“Mhmm,” he said, straightening his back.
“But that’s long done,” he said, taking a puff of his cig. “It’s the people like us that keep it fresh. There’s no time for old stubborn fools like that. Shit is changing so fast these days you gotta be on top of it or you get left behind.” He looked over at Bill who looked completely disinterested and just wanted to leave. “You rushing back to your girlfriend tonight? Alma?”
Bill lightly cleared his throat, he didn’t particularly like that he even mentioned her. “Sure,” he said with a shrug as he looked down at him. It seemed to him that he had no idea she lived out of state which pleased him. Had Joey known he would have mentioned it, he liked revealing things he knew to get under people's skin.
“I saw you sitting with that girl… almost thought it was her at first glance. One of your dancers, maybe?”
“The Dragon’s girlfriend.” He was slightly getting irritated the longer this conversation went on. Joey just wanted to hear himself talk because, during their other run-ins with each other, their banter went the same as tonight. Where Bill said little and Joey just spoke a whole lot of nothing hoping that by saying more he’d get more but it never happened with Bill.
“Ah, nice. Not bad,” he said, nodding his head. He was becoming bored too. There was nothing new with Bill. He liked to keep tabs on most people he’s dealt with but Bill was low on his roster. Just some punk kid who did his family a favor once. He wasn’t an enemy. “Anyway, it was good to see you. I know you’re not very keen on me but like I said that was old-guard shit. Though I have to say there’s no room for people like… well, you know.” He said, stomping out his cigarette.
“Mm. I don’t think so,” Bill said, scratching his brow.
“Right.” Joey chuckled. “See you around, Bill.”
Bill walked slowly to his car after the limousine pulled away. He kept a hold of his gun and soon he was finally alone again. He walked around his car looking through the windows before getting in. He locked the doors, sat his gun on his lap with the safety off, and waited a bit cautiously looking through his rear and side view mirrors. When he felt safe enough he pulled away from the curb onto the New York City streets where he drove at cruising speed as he headed home.
“Just three more days,” he thought to himself, glancing at the photo of his daughter on his dash panel.
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Chances
Pairing = Cillian Murphy x Original Character
Summary = A single mums night out to a Westlife concert ends in the most delightful way. What are the Chances?
Warnings = Sexual Stuff mentioned
Word Count = 5207
When my best friend offered me her second ticket to the Westlife concert in Dublin I wasn’t exactly jumping at the chance to go. I was actually a bit reserved. Ever since my ex fiancée of 5 years walked out and left me three years ago for another woman I felt like all the fun was sucked from me. I was suddenly thrusted into a life I never in my wildest dreams, dreamed of having.
My life revolved around two little humans, I was their sole provider, and carer their father saw them at least twice a week, but that was for all the fun. The trips out, the takeaway dinners, the cinema just all around fun.
Whereas I had to be the complete opposite without so much as a second thought. I had the school, the homework, after school clubs, the vegetable dinners, the doctors, the dentists… everything you come to hate in your young life I was the police for it and I absolutely hated it but no one else was going to do it. So that became my whole aesthetic, being the bad guy, the buzz kill.
Tonight, however, my kids were staying with their grandparents, excited for a sleepover with them, so I had absolutely nothing to worry about as I put the finishing touches on my outfit.
I decided to wear a black mini skirt with embroidered flowers on the front with a simple black spaghetti string cami top.
Completely the outfit with a pair of black ankle boots with a leather jacket. I wasn’t trying to impress anyone but I did feel like I wanted to dress up for me, so with my hair and make up down I was more than excited to be getting out for the next few hours, letting myself go and being free for the first time in five years.
After the concert Clara and I ended up in a bar not far from the 3arena but far enough that all the other fans wouldn’t stumble upon.
Immediately upon entering the establishment, Clara had left me to go to the bathroom, excusing herself as I stood observing the place. It was really cute, snug it was the perfect bar for a date as there was a band playing in the back corner, a few people were up dancing while a lot of others chatting amongst there friend groups at the booths and tables. Despite it being busy, it also had a private feel about it.
Stepping towards the bar, I got my purse from my bag waiting to be served. By the time it took, Clara had re-joined my side, a huge smile on her face.
“I’ve had the best night, thank you” She grinned, wrapping her arms around me for a hug.
I wasn’t one for hugs, I just didn’t really like people touching me but swallowing my discomfort I returned the hug, only to break it when I noticed the barmaid walking towards us and straight past us to the guy that had only just walked up behind me.
“Ugh seriously? We were here first” Clara scoffed at the barmaid who just returned with a look of her own.
“I apologise, if I had known you were being ignored I would have said something” The guy from behind spoke with a thick Irish accent, looking over my shoulder at him I simply smile shaking my head, silently telling him it was okay, not like it was his fault he was good looking guy and the barmaid was clearly lusting after him. “What can I get you as an apology?”
“No, seriously it’s fine…” I turned towards trying to wave him off as it was generally not the guys fault but was cut off by Clara telling him her drink order.
“I’ll have a vodka and coke” Clara told this absolute stranger. I couldn’t stop the shocked laugh that escaped my lips as I looked at the guy in front of me. He seemed harmless, but you could never be too sure.
“Come on…what will it be?” He asked me one more time, running a hand through his dark hair. He had a nice smile, white teeth on show. A thin layer of sweat on his forehead from the heat in the bar.
Deciding there was no way of getting out of this, I simply asked for a bottle of Budweiser. “Beer? Huh, never pegged you fer a beer girl?” He smiled, turning to the barmaid and putting in the two new drink orders.
“Thank you, you didn’t have to do that” I tell him, my eyes catching the gold wedding band on his finger.
Instantly, I felt my mind go into over drive, was this guy trying to pick one of us up even though he is married? God, I hoped not. It would, without a doubt, ruin my evening and bring back all those unwanted memories of my ex.
“I skipped you, it's only fair” He nodded, grabbing his order of two Guinness pints. “You aren’t from around here, are ya?” He asked, voicing whatever thought was going through his mind, making him stop on the spot as he held the two cold pints in his grasp.
“No but we go home tomorrow again” I respond, taking a swig of my drink, the bitter taste of the beer hitting my taste buds, I tried my best to hide the grimace from taking over my face as I swallowed the liquid. “We are down from Derry for the Westlife concert tonight.”
“Oh yeah? How was that? The boys always put on a good show” He asked, setting the beers back down on the bar top, suddenly interested in the conversation. “My name is Dermott, by the way”
“Paige and this is Clara” I introduce both myself and my friend, taking his hand into mine to shake. “They were good, Clara is a much bigger fan than I though”
“And judging by her excitement, she thoroughly enjoyed it, eh?” Dermott laughed, holding a hand to his heart as Clara was dancing to herself in her own world. She was probably reliving the concert in her head.
“Anything with Westlife she thoroughly enjoys” I tell him with a laugh of my own before the conversation died down a little bit, leaving us both in a state of awkward silence.
I was never good at talking to strangers and keeping the conversation going. That was Clara speciality.
“Lovely meeting ya, enjoy the rest of your stay yeah?” Dermott nodded grabbing the two alcohol beers again. “I best get these back before he thinks I sunk them both” He chuckled walking away from us leaving both Clara and myself standing at the bar.
“He seemed nice? Good way of getting back on the horse?” Clara spoke up a devilish smile on her face once the man was out of ear reach.
“God no, he is married” I tell her with a grimace, another sip of beer. I didn’t like beer. I just didn’t want this complete stranger paying for another spirit drink.
Sticking my tongue out at the taste, I managed to flag down the barmaid and asked her for a rum and coke instead. Something to wash down the bitterness of the beer as I wasn’t going to let it go to waste.
“Too bad” She mused, taking another mouthful of her own drink before holding up her cigarettes and lighter. “ I’m gonna go for a smoke, but let's find a table first?” She asked, looking around her, nodding my head.
I simply agreed, following in her footsteps, but there wasn’t a table to be found. The bar had a steady flow of patrons celebrating with one another and not a single solo table to be found.
“Paige, over here” I heard a male voice call.
Eyes widening as I recognised the voice, I instantly stopped, I didn’t want to sit with this guy. What if he got the wrong idea?
“Come on, there is room at our table. It’s just me and my mate. He said it was alright” The voice appeared behind me as a hand placed itself on my upper arm, slowly turning me in the opposite direction.
Reaching forward before I completely turned, I grabbed Clara by her forearm, dragging her with me despite her objections.
“You don’t have to…”
“Don’t be ridiculous. it's no bother.” Dermott interrupted, pulling us towards a table near the toilets.
Once Dermott sat down next to his friend who looked up at the exact moment, his blue eyes were so bright, so clear, I felt myself wanting to get lost in them. “Paige, Clara, this is Cillian he is only in town for tonight also. Cillian, Paige, and Clara.”
“Nice to meet you” Cillian smiled, standing to his feet. He was tall with a thin yet athletic body.
When he smiled, I felt my heart jump and skip not once but several beats. He was gorgeous. Even his voice, his accent, had my knees shaking, which was insane considering Dermott sounded like he had the same accent, but his did nothing for me.
“You gonna be okay?” Clara asked after shaking Cillian’s hand, I broke eye contact with him, looking anywhere else around the room, my hands firmly by my side. I didn’t want Clara to go, but I didn’t want to look to be following her around like a lost puppy either.
“I’ll be fine, just be quick.” I tell her with a nod, returning the gesture she weaved her way through the people dancing and back towards the door.
Sighing to myself, I slipped into the booth, taking a seat, the beer and rum in front of me.
“Beer not nice?” Dermott asked with a laugh, his eyebrows rising at the sight of the almost full bottle. “You should have ordered the proper stuff” He commented, tilting his now half pint of Guinness towards me.
“I don’t like Guinness much either”
“Traitor” Dermott yelled, slamming his hand on the hard wooden table, a smile evident on his face to ensure me he meant no harm. “You believe that Cill”
“Are you Irish?” Cillian asked bringing my attention towards him, not wanting to appear rude I took a huge drink out of the rum before looking at him, almost loosing my breath as he stared at me, the way he was looking was like he was staring into my soul.
“I consider myself Irish yes, I’m from Derry, so as I am sure you know, it depends who you ask up there.” I tell him, feeling the rum coursing through my veins.
The two men shared a look before nodding along. Smiling at the pair I couldn’t help but notice a few odd looks coming our way and almost instantly my mind went to Dermott’s wife, maybe Cillian was married to and everyone giving looks towards the table where friends of their partners, ready to find out the gossip and carry it home with them.
“Oop it’s the wife, excuse me” Dermott spoke showing Cillian his ringing phone, nodding his head Cillian stood to his feet allowing his friend to exit the booth before retaking his seat, a silence falling between us.
“Dermott says you were at a Westlife concert tonight?” Cillian asked, leaning forward to what I assume was hear me better over the crowd. Who were becoming more rowdy and vocal after a few drinks, the night still young to them.
“Yeah, my friend is a huge fan. She had two tickets and asked me to tag along…” I trail off, looking around for Clara to reappear at any time, but she was nowhere to be found.
It wouldn’t surprise me if she found a willingly punter to take her into the back alley for a quick fuck, it wouldn’t be the first time she had down that to me.
“Now you’re here, what are the odds” He smiled, I didn’t know why, but my face heated up at the gesture.
I looked away from him and down at my drink, trying to control the heat building between my legs as our conversation continued.
We spoke about the concert and about my job as a dog groomer, we both had a love for dogs his blue eyes would twinkle at the very mention of them, the action had my heart beat widely in my chest.
I would be lying if I denied how attractive I found the man sitting before me. I wanted nothing more than to run my hands through his unusual haircut.
It was shaved at the sides but full at the top. Without realising I had managed to slide my way next to him, taking the seat Dermott once occupied.
“What is it you do? If you don’t mind me asking?” I blush, looking away as he laughed at the question, lips pursing together.
As he thought of his answer, I stole a glance at his hands, which happened to be a mistake. I had envisioned them wrapped around my neck as he relentlessly…
“Jesus I couldn’t get back in here, apparently bar is full to capacity” Clara growled with a shout breaking my train of thought as she stood next to the table shoving her cigarettes into her bag.
“Luckily that Dermott guy knew the bouncer and told him to let me in” She sighed, rolling her eyes, throwing herself in the booth and finishing her drink. “I ordered more by the way” She spoke to no one in particular as a barmaid brought a try of drinks, two pints of Guinness, a vodka and coke as well as a rum and coke.
“Thank you, you didn’t have to do that” Cillian smiled towards Clara who grinned in return, holding one hand over her heart while the other fanned her face causing Cillian to laugh at her actions, I on the other hand couldn’t believe her.
Resting my head in my hand, I hid my face, looking down at the bar floor below me.
“Are you married?” Clara asked. She had no filter. She simply said things that popped into her mind without any consideration to how it might make others feel.
“If you are not…Paige” She nodded her head towards Cillian as I dropped my hand to look at her, my face bright red from embarrassment as she made a circle with her left index finger and thumb, using her right index finger to penetrate the circle.
“Can you stop” I tell her, seething inside from the amount of embarrassment I was feeling. If looks could kill, I would have had her dead on the spot right now without a second thought or care in the world.
“Its been three years Paige” She countered. It was clear she was a little drunk. Not fully as she wouldn’t be able to speak if she was but drunk enough to embarrass me, she must have had shots at the bar when she ordered the drinks. “You are a born-again virgin.”
“Oh Jesus Christ” I hiss looking away from her and hiding my face in as best I could behind my hand. If I wasn’t trapped between Cillian and Clara, I would have happily grabbed my belongings and left without looking back, I would have taken the car and abandoned her in Dublin.
“Um I’m separated” Cillian spoke up, I could feel his second hand embarrassment for me as I sat next to him but what I didn’t expect was for him to put a supportive hand on my knee.
There was nothing sexual about the action. In fact, it was more for comfort as he gave it a reassuring squeeze every now and then.
“No way me to” Clara nodded, picking up her drink and sipping at it. “Isn’t it the best” She smiled, another mouthful of drink going into her mouth. “Right, I gotta pee” She declared, standing to her feet and walking off.
“You alright?” Cillian asked from beside me, still refusing to meet his eyes. I simply nodded my head. “Hey come on, nothing wrong with being a born-again virgin. I hear they have all the fun” He tried again, bumping into my side a little, causing me to laugh.
“She is so embarrassing when she is drunk” I tell him softly with a small eye roll.
My eyes met his once more, and there was something different behind his thoughts. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it was mesmerizing. Feeling what I can only describe as an invisible pull, I felt myself leaning forward, Cillian following my actions.
“That’s the waines in bed…what am I interrupting here?” Dermott laughed, eyebrows raised towards both Cillian and myself as we pulled away from one another. “Do you want me to go? I can busy myself with no problem.”
“Shut up Derm” Cillian chuckled, shaking his head at his friend, stealing the odd glance at me.
The night continued to flow. It was probably the most fun I had ever had since having kids.
The drinking were coming in steadily, the conversations were hilariously funny without anyone actually trying and the music was so lively it had me wanting to get up and dance but I didn’t have the confidence within myself to do it, I never had.
Even before kids. I was always afraid of making an ass out of myself.
“Dance with me” Cillian asked a slight slur to his words as he asked, a cheeky grin on his face.
Shaking my head violently, no, I scooted away from him, towards Dermott like he had tried to give me a loaded weapon. “Oh come on, you’ve been dying to get out of that seat all night.”
“Go on, Paige, it’s not like you're gonna see him again” Clara spoke, shaking her head, a small smile on her lips trying her best to encourage me to just let go.
“Come on, it’ll be just you and me. I’ll make a bigger ass out of myself if you’d like?” Cillian grinned, a huge goofy smile that I couldn’t say no.
Placing my hand in his outstretched one, I couldn’t believe I was doing this. Almost immediately once Cillian had me out on the floor, he linked arms with me moving me in a circle as we did the ‘swing dance’ typically seen during country songs.
Letting go of one arm, he found my other one repeating the process the other direction. I couldn’t stop myself laughing, smiling at the dance he had chosen.
The pure joy on his face as we swung around each other. Dermott yelling in ‘yeehaw’ in the background as he slapped the table just adding to the joy that we were feeling.
I hated to admit it to myself as I liked to be stand off-ish to the world as it protected me from getting hurt and yet he I was doing the swing dance with a complete stranger on a dancefloor in a bar.
If you were to tell me I would be in this position earlier today, I would have laughed you off the planet. Yet here I was, having probably the best night of my life all because I stopped overthinking.
“What are the chances we would end up dancing here tonight?” Cillian asked, pulling me closer to him as I smiled up, my hands resting on his chest.
I pondered the answer to his question, but it was definitely crazy. I never intended to meet anyone tonight, yet here I was in the arms of a man I could see myself with but knew it would never actually happen.
It was for one night. I had to remind myself.
As the song changed, I was confused when he pulled us away from our table and friends.
"I just want a little more privacy away from the prying eyes.” He spoke in my ear once we were at the other end of the bar away from the eyes of both our friends who didn’t seem bothered by the move themselves in fact they seemed to expect it.
“I don’t know what am doing here.” I tell him honestly unsure of what to do or how to move to the new song that was playing.
Noticing my reluctance, he grabbed my arms placing both behind his neck while both his hands rested on my waist, at first we were simply swaying with each other, Cillian making the odd face having me laugh, my head falling on his chest as we danced together to the song, ‘Let Me Be Your Fantasy’ by Baby D.
“I wasn’t supposed to be here tonight. What were the chances of meeting someone like you here in a place like this?” He asked taking a hand off my waist I felt his fingers ghost up along my arm, grabbing one of my hands and pulling it free from the other, before I had the chance to ask what was happening he had taken that moment to spin me around.
Smiling down at me, his eyebrows raised silently, asking if that was okay, a laugh escaping my chest as I nodded.
Cillian sent me spinning into another one only this time it wasn’t a full spin. I was stopped halfway, his arm resting over my chest as he pulled me tight into his surprisingly toned body.
The move was cautious to begin with , he didn’t want to overstep, but once I started to let go and allowed myself to be free I felt myself moving as one with him, grinding my ass into his crotch area as he held me close.
Letting go of his hand, I lifted my arms above my head, throwing them back around Cillian’s neck as he bent his head forward, placing soft, warm kisses on my neck.
His hands rubbed small circles on my hips while my own played with the longer parts of his hair.
Without warning, his hands gripped tightly on my hips, spinning me around to face him before clutching my face in between his hands, his blue eyes, tense with the overwhelming emotion he was battling inside.
Taking the lead, I placed my hands behind his head, pulling him closer to me until my lips met his own.
The kiss was slow to start, passionate but slow. Feeling myself getting braver, I nibbled on his plump bottom lip, causing a low groan to leave his mouth as my tongue invaded his mouth, working its way through every inch it could reach.
An involuntary moan erupted from my throat as I felt one of his hands leave my face, working it way towards the back of my head, pulling my hair slightly as we pulled apart for much needed breathe.
Resting his head on my mine, we stared into each other’s eyes, mouth slightly agape as we tried to understand what page the other person was on, our deep heavy breaths mixing with each other due to the close proximity we were standing.
Taking my bottom lip between my teeth, I couldn’t help but thrust my hips forward, letting my intentions be known, allowing the ball to be in his court.
The next move was up to him. Cillian’s opened mouth quickly turned into a smirk as his thumb that was still resting on my face ran along my bottom lip, pulling it from my teeth as he looked down at me.
“Are you sure you want this?” He spoke to me in a whisper, but it was one of the loudest questions I had ever heard in my life.
His thumb continued to stroke my lip, his blue eyes not leaving my own. It was like we were in a private room, just him and I, no one else was around.
“I asked you a question” He spoke more sternly, urgently waiting for the answer.
His hand was in my hair, pulling it lightly to the side, exposing my neck to him. I couldn’t help but squirm as I felt his thumb leave my lip, slowly working its way down my neck, his whole hand spreading across it softly, just like I imagined earlier tonight at the table. I could have happily died in that moment.
“Yes, I want this.” I tell him, leaning into his grasp around my hair.
Allowing more access around my neck as he squeezed. The action alone had my eyes rolling in my head as my eyes closed.
“You’re a naughty girl” I heard him chuckle in my ear as his nose slowly glided from behind towards my neck, giving it a quick nibble before pulling away completely.
“Let’s get out of here.” He nodded, taking my hand in his own, working our way through the crowd once more towards the table.
Dermott and Clara laughing only to stop once they see us, smirks growing on their faces.
“Wear a condom” Clara warned, handing me my bag, already packed with my phone and purse.
Thanking her and saying my goodbyes to both, not really caring what she had to say as I left the bar with Cillian.
We had considered going back to my hotel room, but it wouldn’t have been fair to Clara, who I was sharing a room with.
Therefore, we flagged down an Uber, Cillian telling him an address.
The whole thing was surreal. One minute, I was at a Westlife concert. The next thing, I was lying on Cillian’s bed, pulling at his light blue shirt that really complimented his eyes.
Pushing myself up from the laying position so I can push the shirt from his shoulders to the floor with a soft thud.
The assault on my neck never let up as his lips continued to attack until they found the spot that had me forgetting my own name.
“Scout not now” Cillian laughed against my neck.
Confused, I opened my eyes, looking down the side of the bed. There stood a big black Labrador, craving some attention from his owner. “Sorry about him” He breathed in my face as he bent down to pet the dog on the head, shooing him away in the nicest way possible so he didn’t hurt the dog’s feelings.
“He is gorgeous” I breathe, watching Scout occupy himself in the bedroom before leaving out the open door leading into the upstairs hallway.
“Not as gorgeous as you” Cillian smiled leaning forward again, his hands resting on the sides of my face, placing a slow, soft kiss on my lips again as he pushed his body forward slightly so I was once again on my back, staring up into his blue eyes.
“Such a charmer” I breathe, leaning up and stealing another kiss of his plump lips.
“You’ve seen nothing yet” He grinned, pulling at the hem of my cami, pulling it over my breasts, and eventually over my head, throwing it somewhere in the room as he stared at my breasts.
“Fucking perfect” He chuckled to himself, his head briefing shaking as he began to place butterfly kisses around the bra, his hand slipping behind my back as I arched off the bed giving him plenty of room to remove the item exposing my breasts fully towards him.
******
Waking up the next morning, holding the duvet over my chest memories of what had happened coming back to my mind. No man had ever spent so much time working on me, foregoing his own pleasure until I was practically high on the sensations Cillian was given me.
Normally, my sex life included an awkward foreplay, five minutes of penetration, and that was it, favour of the man.
Who cared if I came or enjoyed myself as long as they got their own pleasure. But not with Cillian, I couldn’t believe how many times he made me feel completely satisfied before finally submitting to the pleasure himself and letting go.
It was a hell of a lot longer than five minutes.
Not wanting to overstay my welcome, I found myself awake in an empty bed. Was I a little disheartened? Absolutely, it was my first one night stand in 34 years. It was something I never did, and the feeling of loneliness after was the main reason why.
Pushing the negative thoughts aside, I thought about all the fun I had. It was exactly what I needed.
The final nail in the coffin for getting over my ex, maybe now I would be able to find someone to settle down with, who knew.
Gathering my clothes and quickly getting dressed, I took my phone from my bag, finding a missed call from Clara and a message telling me to call her with a location so she could pick me up.
Looking at the time, it was almost 11 am. I couldn’t believe I had slept so late. Since becoming a mother, the longest I ever slept into was 9 am, regardless of the kids being home or not.
Taking my boots in my hands, I didn’t want to draw attention to myself, so I tiptoed out of the room and into a huge hallway.
Now in the daylight, I had a quick look around as I creeped towards the front door, not wanting to alert anyone that may be around the house but it was deathly quiet not even the dog was around.
Sighing, I placed my hand on the door frame, placing the boots on my feet, fixing the coat around my shoulders before heading out into the bright morning in Dublin.
What I expected when I opened the front door was a street or a main road but no it was a long driveway, Cillian must be rich or living with a few other people there was no way in hell someone like me could afford a place like this, the place was beautiful, it would be such a mentally happy place to live, the peace and quiet.
Not to mention the tranquil gardens around the exterior. Shaking those thoughts from my head, I had to get out of there before he returned. That was why he left with the dog, right? To give me time to get ready and be gone before he returned, that’s how Clara claimed one night stands worked at least.
Taking my phone in my hand, I pressed the call button next to Clara’s name, leaving the estate Cillian lived on, finding the name of the street so Clara could google map it and take me away from here and back home where I belonged. Back to the reality of being a single mum.
******
The funny thing is I had only been back in Derry for three weeks, my mind never far from the night I spent with Cillian despite not feeling like myself.
I was a lot more short tempered, snippy as Clara called it around her, my kids and my ex.
I simply put it down to a sickness bug considering the kids were back at school and it just so happened to be cold and flu season, what I didn’t expect however was for Clara to arrive at my house one morning after her own school run a test in her hands demanding I take it.
What are the chances?
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WIP Wednesday
I’m finished with school for the semester so I can finally begin working on that fic I started ages ago, and a few other things, so to keep myself remembering to work, here’s a WIP of the second chapter of my fic What A Girl Wants, where James is trying to buy Erin a Secret Santa gift with help from Aisling and Charlene:
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December 6th, 1997
As was often the case, the weekend meant another sleepover, granted to them for the pretense of studying, but ended up with the usual activity of ‘anything but studying’.
Semi-Charmed Life was playing in the background as Orla stretched her legs to rest her calves in Clare’s lap who was measuring them with rainbow yarn, which, James suspected, was probably giving away who Clare got for her Secret Santa but they weren’t going to ruin the cheerful energy Clare had tonight by pointing it out.
Michelle had brought a bottle of cheap, unlabeled gut rot liquor from her recently acquired job at Dennis’s Wee Shop. Even a small sip of the wretched stuff had him thinking dangerous thoughts when Erin stretched close beside him in her brushed cotton pajamas. What was it about that tiny strip of skin that peeked from the space between her pajama top and bottoms that made him want to do something stupid like stand out her window and hold a boom box up to profess his more-than-like for her?
Needless to say, he hadn’t taken a second sip.
Instead, the brushed cotton clad beauty was currently applying a second coat of nail polish on his hands. It was clear yet sparkly, a perfect compromise choice - it’s not as if he didn’t like bubblegum pink, on her it was quite lovely in fact, but colored nail polish always stresses him out with the upkeep so he put his foot down on a clear - and the twinkling glitter honestly brought out his hands. He was lucky she had it because he would have taken any color she wanted if it meant she was holding his hands the way she was right now. Her hands are so warm.
“You really do suit the sparkly polish James,��� Erin said, tilting her head to observe her handiwork while twisting the cap shut, then lifting the hand she was painting and blowing gently on the wet nails to dry them faster. “Good choice on that one.”
As he stares at her lips pursing invitingly to blow on his nails and feels her soft breath on his fingers, he thinks to himself that he needs to let her do his nails more often.
“Yeah?” he asked, admiring the hand she wasn’t blowing on with an exaggerated flourish, mostly just to make her snort with amusement. “Not too much?”
“I think you can go a little further, I’ll get you picking out colors one day.” Erin replied, knocking her knee against his slightly, but not enough to jostle him and risk smudging her careful paint job. He then knocked her knee back, which made her give him a playful warning, “Watch yourself, if you mess it up I’m not fixing it.”
“Oh yes, right, sorry.” he tried to look apologetic as he said it, but it was hard not to smile when she smiled.
“You ought to be, if you mess up them up. Look at them, so pretty.” Erin teased him a bit with the way she said ‘pretty’ which made him feel flushed, more flushed considering he could still feel the sip he took like a hot stone in his stomach. Then, after a moment of observing his nails with a scrutinizing eye, she smiled, more to herself than to him and lowered her mouth to a spot just above his nail bed and pressed her lips to that spot so quick and gentle he nearly thinks it was wishful thinking, “Perfect, you’re all dry!”
If he was flushed before, it’s nothing compared to how he feels now. This is probably a moment, considering it’s the first time her lips were on him in any capacity since Donegal, but how much of a moment he wasn’t sure. Mostly because they had taken matching sips of what Michelle brought. He can only smile, not even say anything, so she just returns the smile looking easy and casual as if she didn’t just scramble every thought in his head by kissing him on his fingers and turns away to grab something else. It was a big point in his favor on the ‘does she still like me’ front, the thought crossed his mind, but he wasn’t sure whether he should count anything done under the influence of alcohol that was just short of lighter fluid.
He allows himself to look down at her hands, where the last chips of her peachy, school appropriate nail polish was clinging to her nails. He had the thought to offer to paint her nails as well. Anything to hold her hands longer…
Before he could offer though, the door was opening and the stern voice of Mrs. Quinn was speaking over the music, “Is this what you wains think passes for studying? If so, you ought to pray it works out for you, or we might have some issues!”
At once the room snapped to attention, Erin was reaching for her school bag and kicking the small basket of polishes under her desk and James was digging in his own bag to grab a highlighter or something, anything to look more busy than he was. Michelle was trying to subtly hide the liquor under the bed while reaching for her textbook, Clare let out a strangled gasp before beginning to read from her book with one hand and thumbing through her notes with the other and Orla - well, Orla was mostly looking at Mrs. Quinn with owl eyes and crisp crumbs falling out her mouth, but she was still just as at attention as the rest of them.
“We-we were just taking a break Mammy.” Erin said nervously, taking out her study sheets, “Trying to reset our brains, y’know, to retain the material better.”
“You’ll retain a long punishment over the break if you don’t bring home good grades. Being in the last stretch doesn’t mean you just get to slack off, you have university to think about.” Mrs. Quinn said in a voice that left no debate to be had from any of them, then suddenly, oh god, she was looking at him.
Luckily though, she didn’t seem upset and instead said, “James love, there’s someone on the phone for you. Says she called around yours to talk about a project for school and couldn’t reach you so she tried here.”
He was confused to say the least, considering there wasn’t any sort of group project to do before Christmas Holiday. Nevertheless, he got to his feet and followed Mrs. Quinn to the phone, taking it from her and speaking skeptically into the phone, “… Hello?”
“Good, so you are here.” Charlene’s voice came through the other end of the line and James startled at it. It was the last voice he was expecting at the moment.
“Wh- Charlene?”
“I mean, I would hope you know my voice by now James. I’m very memorable.” Was her response.
He couldn’t argue with her there.
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PARTNERS IN CRIME CHAPTER 2 & CHAPTER 3 UPDATE ☆ﾟ･:*:･｡★
HELLO AGAIN, EVERYONE!!!
Okay so I’m mainly copying and pasting this from my journal on DeviantArt, but –
THANK YOU FOR SEVEN HUNDRED AND TEN FRIENDS!!!
(((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))
I love each of my followers and I’m so honoured to have you here with me!!! It makes me sooooo happy to see all the feedback and comments I get for PIC each week. I’m so honoured that you’re all so patient with me, and I’m so happy I have such a lovely community here on both Tumblr and DA. You’re all very kind and I’m so glad I have you along with me!!! I appreciate EVERY comment, EVERY piece of fanart, EVERY single like!!! It’s very sweet of you and I’m so honoured that people have been reading it ^^ I hope you stick around for the long run!!!
And that actually brings us into the next big thing… I have an update for Partners In Crime’s progress!!! And don’t worry, IT’S GOOD NEWS!!!
Partners In Crime Chapter 2 will end on Page FIFTY-EIGHT. This means we have… *counts on fingers*… SEVEN pages left!!! And I believe like last chapter, once I finish Page 58, I’ll speed up the page posting rate and have them all up in a couple weeks. HOWEVER.
There is a little bit of bad news. I WILL BE GOING ON HIATUS FOR A FEW MONTHS AFTER THE END OF CHAPTER 2.
This is because I’m very close to the end of the school year, and I will need a lot of focus on schoolwork and other life stuff. Because of this, Chapter 3 will not begin until MOST LIKELY next year. Once I finish Chapter 2, I will absolutely begin sketching the start of Chapter 3. I plan on having a lot of it complete by the time I start posting it, so that I don’t have a real ‘time limit’ each week. This means I can focus more on schoolwork and everything else. You must understand that I am a human too, and while I LOVE Partners In Crime with my whole heart, it can be a bit of a mental stress. Which is why I will not give it up, but I will give it some time to rest. DON’T WORRY – I will keep up with other art and concept art in the few months gap!!! I won’t be disappearing ^^
So yeah… I’m very excited for the next chapter and I hope you all love it too!!! It will be pretty-action and lore packed, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how you all respond to it ^^
That’s all for now… but I will be posting some more things tonight!!! See you all soon <333
- Jinxy
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Saved from the Flames - Chapter Four
“When you're born in a burning house, you think the whole world is on fire. But it's not.” --Richard Kadrey
Billy Hargrove is 9 years old. He tries his best to be the son his father wants him to be - quiet, respectful, and obedient. But Neil just pushes harder and harder, all in the name of raising a "strong man". When Billy is removed from his father's custody and placed in foster care, it takes some time for him to realize his world is no longer burning around him. New experiences, new people, new opportunities all make Billy realize there's a whole lot more to life than respect and responsibility.
AKA: The story of how Bob Newby became a real life superhero for one little boy who needed saving.
Inspired by this post I saw from @connordax
chapter one | chapter two | chapter three
read on ao3
Bob let the room stay quiet as he finished making Billy’s food. He knew Billy was still trying to suss him out, despite the fact that he was trying to hide it. Anytime Bob so much as looked in his direction, Billy would look away.
Billy was watching skeptically as Bob strained the noodles for Billy’s macaroni and cheese. “Well, Billy, I’m proud of you,” Bob finally broke the silence, glancing up at the boy. “You’ve done a lot of hard stuff tonight.”
Billy didn’t answer him, instead glancing down at the robot toy still in his hands. It sure didn’t seem like he had done anything worthy of being proud of right now; all he’d done was cry and almost throw up on this guy’s grass. Bob gave him a minute to contemplate as he finished mixing in the cheese packet, milk, and butter into Billy’s dinner.
“Water or juice with your pasta?” Bob asked a few moments later as he scooped the cheesy noodles into a bowl for Billy. Billy paused. Another choice?
“Just water, please, sir.” Billy replied as politely as possible. Bob shook his head reassuringly as he brought bowls of pasta to the table, placing one in front of Billy and the other on the far side of the table.
“No need for formality, Billy. You don’t have to call me sir,” Bob corrected. “Just Bob works, okay?”
“Yes, sir – I mean, Bob,” Billy whispered. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay,” Bob promised, bringing Billy a glass of water. “It’ll take some getting used to, I know that. Go ahead and dig in, kiddo.” The young boy needed no second telling, immediately scooping some of the food into his mouth.
Bob sat down at the far end of the table with his own bowl of macaroni and cheese, just enough so that he could snack on it and Billy didn’t feel quite so alone at the table. “Do you have any questions for me?” Bob wondered after a moment of quiet, and Billy looked up skeptically, his chewing slowing.
“What time do I have to be ready for the bus?” Billy wondered after a second. “And where does it pick me up?”
Bob shook his head. “You don’t have to worry about the bus,” he told Billy. “I’ll drive you to school in the mornings. And we’ll leave here at about 8:15.” Billy’s eyes widened at that.
“Really? Don’t you have to work?” There was a skepticism to his voice that had Bob smiling reassuringly.
“I do, but I’m the boss, so I can be a little late. Usually what that means is once I pick you up we’ll go back to the store for a little bit, or I’ll have to do some work here at home while you do your homework or play.”
Billy’s eyes widened. “You’ll pick me up too?” Skepticism had been replaced with awe, and Bob nodded. “Wow.” The word slipped past Billy’s lips before he could stop it, quickly looking back down at his bowl of macaroni and shoving a spoonful of pasta into his mouth so he wouldn’t embarrass himself more.
He’d always wanted to be a car-rider for school, but his dad always insisted that Billy needed the independence because Neil needed to work. So every morning, Billy would get himself up and to the bus stop, which came through about 7:30 in the morning. If he missed the bus, then he would take himself back home and hope the school didn’t call Neil.
“Thank you,” Billy added gratefully after he had finished his bite of food. Maybe if Bob took him to school, he’d go more regularly. Billy liked school, he didn’t understand why all his classmates didn’t.
“Sure thing, bud. I’m happy to do it,” Bob smiled. “Now, about tomorrow. Gabby and I know today was long for you, so if you would rather rest in the morning, we don’t have to worry about school.”
Billy froze, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Bob. This sounded like a test, that’s for sure. “I can go to school,” he insisted.
“You totally can if you want,” Bob agreed. “I’m just saying that if you’re still tired in the morning or you don’t sleep well tonight or something, an extra day off isn’t the end of the world.”
Billy nodded slowly. “But I’m not sick.”
“You don’t have to be sick to need a break,” Bob told the boy. He could tell the conversation was stressing Billy out, because the boys’ eyes were wide, fearful, like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
It filled Bob with rage; he wanted to meet Billy’s father face to face and ask him what the hell he had done to his kid. But on top of that, Billy’s fear made Bob want to do better for him. He asked himself what he’d want if he was in Billy’s shoes.
He’d want a choice. He’d want to be heard. “But you know what? We’ll revisit it in the morning and see how you feel. How about that?” To that, Billy nodded meekly and turned his attention back to his dinner. As Billy was taking his last bite of what was in the bowl, Bob stood and headed toward the stove. “You want some more, Billy? There’s enough for another bowl if you do.”
“Yes, please!” Billy replied as politely as he could, waiting patiently as Bob carried the pot over and scooped the last of the macaroni and cheese into his bowl. “Thank you!”
“Sure thing,” Bob nodded, placing the empty pot into the kitchen sink and coming to sit back down. “Is there anything you want to know about me? Or what it’s going to be like here?” Bob sat patiently in his seat, picking at his own bowl of pasta as he watched Billy think things through. He could see the wheels turning in Billy’s mind, so he decided to just wait the kid out.
Billy’s mind was moving at a million miles an hour as he tried to think of questions to ask, but he was so tired. “I don’t know,” Billy finally whispered, glancing up at Bob. Now that his tummy had some food in it, Billy was feeling sleepy.
Bob seemed to realize this as well, offering Billy a kind smile. “That’s alright. I’m a pretty open book, so if you think of anything you want to ask me, you can ask anytime. That offer always stands.” He paused for a moment before pushing his bowl away, leaning his arms against the table. “If you’re okay with it though, I have a question for you.”
Billy’s gaze was curious, looking across the table at Bob. The man was clearly waiting for permission, and Billy nodded meekly. He was back to playing with the robot he’d brought into the kitchen with him, just to give him something else to focus on. “I just want to make sure you have what you need for tonight. What’s your bedtime routine like?”
Routine? Billy didn’t have one of those. He did whatever he needed to do to stay under the radar. So he shrugged instead.
Bob cocked his head to the side curiously. He’d met tight-lipped kids before, sure. Most of them were – tended to be a side effect of the trauma. But Billy was another level of quiet. “Well, I like to take a hot shower, brush my teeth, and then read in bed for a few minutes until I get tired. It helps me sleep better at night. Is there anything you like to do that helps you sleep better?”
Bending the arm of the robot back and forth, Billy contemplated the question. “Um, I sleep better after I take a shower,” he finally whispered. “And when my door is open.”
The last sentence was like a punch to the chest for Bob – that sentence shattered any hope that they’d had about the lock on Billy’s door not being used. “That sounds like a good routine,” Bob encouraged, trying not to show any other response. “I’m sure you’re tired from tonight. Let me show you where the bathroom is so you can take a shower and we’ll get you in bed.”
Billy nodded. He was still nervous, but he didn’t hate the sound of a shower and then going to sleep. He reached for his empty bowl, but Bob grabbed it first, stacking it on top of his. “I’ll take care of dishes later. Don’t worry about it, Billy. Come on.” He stood up and gestured for Billy to follow him.
Billy looked between the dishes and Bob, feeling once more like he was in a trap. “I don’t mind helping,” Billy insisted, eyes back on the bowls. “You already cooked.”
“Billy.” Bob made sure to keep his voice gentle and even, smiling at the blonde boy still sitting at the table. “I’m not going to have you do chores on your first night here. We can talk about how you can help tomorrow, but tonight is about getting you in bed for a good night’s sleep. Okay?”
Billy studied Bob closely, his gaze darting from Bob’s face to his hands, his posture, and back again. His face was neutral, he didn’t look angry. His thumbs looped through the belt loops of his jeans, hands loose at his side and not bunched up in angry fists. Bob was leaning against the kitchen counter, not looming commandingly over Billy. He looked relaxed, patient, not like he was looking for a fight.
The silence stretched on for too long; Bob had almost wondered if he’d made the right call to stop pushing – to wait – when Billy slid off the chair and stepped a bit closer to Bob, keeping the toy robot clutched in his hands. “Okay,” the boy agreed softly, looking down at his shoes.
“Okay,” Bob echoed, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth as he headed down the hall. “The bathroom is right here across the hall from your room. And while we’re at it, this right here is my office –” Bob pointed to the closed door next to Billy’s room, “And that one at the end of the hall is my room. If you ever need me but I’m not with you, I’m probably in one of these rooms.”
Billy nodded, looking down at his feet. “Don’t worry about interrupting me or anything,” Bob continued, having had this conversation enough times to know where it was going. “I’ll make sure to tell you if there’s something big going on.” Clearing his throat, Bob looked around. “But enough of my blabbering. I will let you get ready for bed, okay? You can shout if you need help with anything but there’s soaps and shampoo and everything in there for you if you need it.”
Billy nodded again. “Okay,” he replied quietly. “Thank you.” Bob took that as his cue to leave, heading back toward the kitchen. Billy stayed frozen in the bedroom doorway until Bob disappeared, and then Billy made his way to the bed to rifle through the bags with his clothes.
After gathering a change of clothes and his toothbrush, Billy closed himself in the bathroom to shower. He tried to go as quickly as he could so as not to use all the hot water, but made sure not to make a mess. Before too long he was dressed in his pajamas and his teeth were brushed, and Billy was yawning deeply as he walked back out of the bathroom with his dirty clothes in his arms.
Billy was so tired. The shower had only made him even sleepier than he had been after dinner, and when he saw the bags of clothes still on his bed, he whined quietly. The last thing he wanted to do was unpack, so instead Billy began to just pull the bags off the foot of the bed, dragging them over toward the wall so they were out of the way.
Bob heard the commotion from where he was finishing up in the kitchen, soft thumps followed by the sound of things being pulled across carpet. He didn’t call out to Billy, not wanting to startle the boy, but he whistled a tune as he made his way down the hall, knowing it would clue Billy into his presence.
When Billy realized Bob was coming down the hall, he froze. What if he was supposed to be unpacking? He’d just dropped his dirty clothes by the bed, that wasn’t where they should be! But before Billy could do anything about any of it, Bob had knocked on the open door frame, peering into the room. “Hey kiddo,” the man greeted with a smile. “Do you want some help?”
Billy looked down at the bag in his hand, nodding meekly. “Please?” he added. He just wanted to go to sleep! Bob smiled as he entered the room, picking up some of the bags.
“Sure! We just stacking them here for now?” he confirmed, nodding to the small pile Billy had started. Billy nodded, stepping out of the way. With Bob helping, it only took a few seconds for the bed to get cleared off, and Billy relaxed.
“Thank you,” the boy whispered. “Can I unpack tomorrow instead of tonight?” he asked in a moment of bravery. Bob nodded quickly, turning to look at Billy.
“Of course, kiddo,” Bob smiled. “You all ready for bed?” As Billy nodded and shuffled toward the bed, Bob moved to the doorway to give the kid some room. The quiet nod continued as Billy climbed up into the bed. “I’m going to leave the door open for you, but do you want me to leave the hallway light on for you so it’s not too dark?”
As Billy settled himself beneath the new comforter on the unfamiliar bed, he found himself continuing to nod. “That would be nice,” he admitted quietly as he sat there, awkwardness sitting on his chest like a weight. “Mr. Bob?”
“How can I help?” Bob replied, hand on the lightswitch. Billy glanced between Bob and the door, deciding he could run and duck out of the way if his question went south. Maybe he could even get to the front door before Bob caught up.
“Um,” Billy looked down at his lap, twisting the blanket in his hands nervously. Bob could see the boy was looking at Bob out of the corner of his eye though as he cautiously asked, “Maybe, um, if it’s okay with you still – I can unpack in the morning after I wake up? Like, maybe after breakfast?”
He wouldn’t ask it outright – but Bob knew exactly what the boy was hinting at. “That sounds like a great plan,” Bob encouraged with a smile. “You can sleep in, get some rest, and then we can work on getting you unpacked and such. Gives you the weekend to get settled in and then you can hit the ground running at school on Monday.”
Billy relaxed at the answer, nodding as he laid down in the bed. “I’ll make sure to stay in bed,” he promised, the sentence punctuated by a deep yawn. He didn’t close his eyes though, knowing Bob was still close by.
“I do want you to rest,” Bob agreed, his own voice gentle. “But if you need something – the bathroom, water, anything at all – you can get up. If you want to try and find it yourself, awesome. If not, you can come get me, okay?”
While he didn’t have any intention of leaving his room until morning when Bob told him to, Billy nodded meekly anyway. “Yes, sir,” he replied, voice already heavy with sleep.
“Goodnight, Billy,” Bob smiled before flipping off the overhead light. Billy’s room got darker, but with the door open and hall light streaming in, Billy could still see everything. “Not too dark?” Bob confirmed, stepping into the hallway. “Nuh uh,” Billy promised, eyes falling shut now that he knew Bob was past the room’s threshold. Despite being in a new place with a new person, Billy felt himself falling asleep quicker than he was used to. He was awake enough to realize that Bob had kept his word – the door was open and Billy could see into the bathroom across the hallway. If he wanted to, Billy could walk to the bathroom, or the kitchen, or wherever he wanted. If he was quiet enough, Billy could probably get out the front door with Bob none the wiser. But I don’t think I want to leave yet, Billy found himself thinking before he finally succumbed to the exhaustion of his day.
#sftf#stranger things#billy hargrove#bob newby#foster care au#cw: child abuse#bob newby deserved better#billy hargrove deserved better
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here is a scruffy little angel! ok I feel pretty fragile inside from a week of bad sleep & an especially terrible insomnia experience last night but I am trying to be brave about it. two of my grad school friends I haven’t seen in forever are in town this weekend and I am v excited about that!!! I always get weird homebody inertia around social stuff but then I have a great time (like last night I really dragged my feet on hanging out with M&A in the park/getting dinner after and then it was so much fun) so I just have to commit to stuff even if I feel like socially hibernating. when it comes to most social things my instincts are not a reliable guide to what will actually make me happy. so tonight I will meet up with them for dinner/drinks and then tomorrow we will hang out at the lake.
here are some things I’d like to do with the day:
finish young mungo which is absolutely gutting ughhh so painful but so good. I kind of want to put up my hammock and read somewhere without distractions but can’t decide if it’s too much effort. mm tbd.
work on writing meme prompts (this has been v good for me it’s forcing me to dig into scene writing/revision which for whatever reason is the thing I’ve built up the most writer’s block anxiety around)
the house is a tip right now it’s not dirty really just super untidy and the clutter is making me feel on edge. I think I need to do a few song-timed bursts of putting stuff in its proper place and ugh I might actually start with that so my brain feels calmer about other stuff
fold laundry
long walk with dogs because I didn’t walk them at all yesterday… I can tell I am avoiding walks partly because it’s a bit hotter out and partly because I’m getting Walk Boredom with our usual route. I think I’ll drive them to the slightly farther-out forest (4 min instead of 2 min haha) because it’ll be cooler and kinda interesting/new. also if I’m feeling really motivated I could do a very short run after I drop them off at home—I’m talking like, 3 min run / 3 min walk times 3 short haha. gotta ease back into it somehow.
pick something to wear well in advance of leaving. otherwise I will get so stressed later on and will end up running way later than I mean to & being way more amped up when I leave. why are clothes so stressful to me literally no one cares and I feel like people care even less in this city than anywhere else I’ve ever lived lol
shower around 3:30/4 so I can be ready to leave between 5-6ish
mm okay that all seems good. I think now it’s time to get up and do my first burst of song cleaning… maybe I will do all too well 10 min version + I can see you.
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Random Idea junk drawer
So I had a great time doing my Wangxian-centric Breath of the Wild AU last year, and when I finished it I definitely left the epilogue open-ended enough to do more Zelda AU’s/Fusions in the future (I still don’t REALLY know how big the difference is between AU’s and Fusions and which one my other-content-inspired stuff usually counts as but I DIGRESS) because here’s the thing. The Thing(TM). Zelda games are my JAM. They were baby’s first special interest. Literally.
When I was 7 years old my parents bought a GameCube and a game disk that had 4 remastered Classic Zelda games on it (two 2D, two 3D) as well as a 20-minute playable demo for Wind Waker, with three different starting locations to choose from that you could play as many times as you wanted. And you bet my little 7-year-old ass played every bit of it that was within my skill level (which was not much lol), until I got my next Zelda game at 10 (that was Twilight Princess, and it was the first Zelda game I ever finished). I have the Wii walkthrough book for Twilight Princess that I bought used online and it reeked of cigarettes for months after I got it. I chose a screenshot of one of the characters out of it to paint on one of those horrible school industrial ceiling tiles in my 8th grade art class (sadly the photo of it is lost on an old dead phone, but it was really good, I mixed up all my own custom colors of paint and everything which was like. Impressive for 13 year old me :( ). I have and treasure the Hyrule Historia book. I had shitty ill-fitting graphic tees that said things like ‘Good things come to those who break clay pots’ (really funny to me now that I’m a ceramicist and could easily make pots for myself for the purpose of smashing if I were so inclined [I’m totally gonna]). I have massive Zelda tattoos on the insides of both forearms and I’m planning more so that I’ll hopefully end up with two Zelda half-sleeves. Like ZELDA IS MY THING. WHY I’m not writing more Zelda AU’s and playing around in my expanded sandbox of hyperfixations, I have no idea.
But anyway, I’ve started playing Ocarina of Time again, I have no idea how many times I’ve played it at this point within the last 19 years, and I’ve done it on every Nintendo console possible (except, ironically, the N64 as it was originally made for). So obviously I’m playing along and getting lost in the story because it’s a fuckin good story, as one does, and I was like ‘hey what if Wangxian tho’ and thus. Today’s junk drawer was born. Have I already started an outline of the fic plot points as well? Yes. Did I have to stop myself 800 words in and say that no I can’t just write out the entire plot tonight and no it can’t all go into this junk drawer post because I should actually just write the damn thing instead? Yeah. When will that happen? I don’t wanna think about it, so let’s just have fun talking characters and locations and their implications, shall we?
I’m going to post my notes completely unedited and let y’all see the whole ugly process, and I’m gonna put it below the cut because this is already long enough to scroll past but all I’ve done is gush about Zelda and in doing so further cement my well-established status as a huge fuckin nerd lol:
Jiangs/Lotus Pier as Kokiri Forest -- Deku Tree is Jiang Fengmian (Does this make Madam Yu the giant nasty spider inside????? ew)
- Wei Wuxian -- taken into LP/Kokiri Forest as a young child, young enough to fit in with the other children, but he'll soon be old enough for everyone to know that he isn't one of the lake/river children, he's from Elsewhere.
- Jiang Cheng as Mido, small and angry and won't let anyone see JFM/YZY without really fucking good reason but also takes the leadership role in LP/Kokiri Forest once JFM/Deku Tree is dead
- Jiang Yanli as Saria, gentle and sweet and fond of music and wandering through the woods that keep their lake hidden from the rest of the world. She'll awaken as a Sage in WWX's adulthood.
Cloud Recesses as Hyrule Castle, Lans are the Royal Family and Sheikah combined
- Lan Qiren as the king of Hyrule, though as the second brother he's supposed to be leading the Sheikah, not sitting on the throne
- Lan Xichen (already in his 20's) as Impa. He'll awaken as a Sage in WWX's adulthood. Although he's supposed to be in line for the throne, someone has to be the leader of the Sheikah since LQR can't be, which leaves:
- Lan Zhan as Princess Zelda -- plagued by dreams and visions of evil coming to take over the world, but no one takes him seriously because he's still so young. People also forget that in the line of succession he's supposed to be the one protecting the royal family as the next leader of the Sheikah, so it's actually his destiny to have these visions, not to be a politician. He sees in Wei Wuxian someone who's willing to break the rules and society's expectations to be the true hero he's been dreaming about. He'll take up the extremely active role of Wangji/Sheik as an adult, having learnt the Sheikah secrets under Lan Xichen's tutelage and taken up his rightful place as one of them since his escape from the palace as a child.
Kakariko Village -- inhabited by average people (akin to Caiyi town, close with the royal Lan family but not directly cultivators?)
Nies as Gorons in Death Mountain/Goron City/Nie Fortress
- Nie Mingjue as Darunia -- hot-tempered and built like the mountain, willing to swear brotherhood with the boy who came to save his people. He'll awaken as a Sage in WWX's adulthood. (NHS as the snot-nosed kid who hero-worships WWX in adulthood? lol)
Jins/Jinlintai as Zora's Domain -- The Zora are a proud people who live high above the rest of Hyrule at the top of their waterfall (tower). (Golden Carp Tower has a lot of water motifs and they decorate things in teal and gold like the zora do too)
- Jin Guangshan as King Zora
- Jin Zixuan as Princess Ruto, eaten by their deity god (who is still a giant fuckin fish, I dunno what else he could be lol) and who thinks he has to be engaged to WWX after giving him the Sapphire (maybe because he was told from a young age he'd have to get engaged to one of the lake children anyway and just didn't know who/hint at unrealized Xuanli?) He'll awaken as a Sage in WWX's adulthood.
- Jin Guangyao as (????? :( :( :( where will my boy go?? I need my boy for emotional support)
Wen Ruohan as Ganondorf -- a cruel king wreathed in shadow and flame....I mean it writes itself lol
- Baoshan Sanren as Rauru, the Sage of Light -- withdrew from the mortal world an unknowable amount of time ago to protect the Sacred Realm and has watched over WWX these last seven years as he slept.
- Jiang Yanli as Saria, the Sage of Forest -- she awakens into her powers to protect her childhood friend/brother(s), though this will mean having to leave Jiang Cheng on his own in Lotus Pier
- Nie Mingjue as Darunia, the Sage of Fire -- he awakens as a sage to honor the Brotherhood oath he swore with WWX in the past
- Jin Zixuan as Princess Ruto, the Sage of Water -- he 'dumps' WWX because he has to do the more important work of stopping the apocalypse, try to contain your disappointment WWX, you can still be coworkers and save the world or whatever, if you even care.
- Lan Xichen as Impa, the Sage of Shadow -- Lan Xichen must leave the mortal world behind to take up his mantle as the Sage of Shadow, leaving Lan Wangji to carry his worldly responsibilities instead (sort of half-retreating into seclusion like canon)
- Wen Qing as Nabooru, the Sage of Spirit -- Wen Qing is the leader of the all-female band of Gerudo thieves who in no way endorse Wen Ruohan's domination of the world. When she leaves to take up her role as the Sage of Spirit, she leaves her cousin Wen Yun (my OC Madam Lan) to lead the Gerudo in her stead. (need to find a role for Wen Ning? Except zelda lore is that only one man is born to the Gerudo at a time every hundred years and he’s always their king. Maybe WN is meant to be the new one but WRH has reached immortality/won’t die and let him succeed him?)
Plot would follow Ocarina of Time fairly closely (Unlike my BOTW AU where I tried to make it...relatively more like canon??) because there's a very definite plot there, while BOTW is so much more fluid it was easier to adapt to something else.
#the untamed fanfic#wangxian#random idea junk drawer#so called because all these ideas rattle around in my head like pens and shit in a junk drawer#not because i think my ideas are junk#Ocarina of Time AU#no title for this baby yet but 'quqin of time' or 'dizi of time' just don't have the same flow ya know?#Oh also adult LWJ (in the role of Sheik) 100% uses his spiritual guqin to play music instead of Sheik's lapharp#and WWX uses chenqing instead of an ocarina#but chenqing isn't made of resentment she's just a spiritual tool
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Chapter 1
“In all of time, on all the planets of the galaxies in space. What civilizations have risen, looked into the night, seen what we see, asked the questions we asked? Are we alone? Is earth the only chapter in the story of life? The answers lie somewhere in distant space- and distant time. For the first time, the truth is finally within our reach. The search will reveal who we are and who we might become—“
“Kya!” The shout cut through the video I was listening to,
I pulled out my earbud but didn’t move from my bed. I lay there and heard for him to continue. When he didn’t, I shouted back,
“Yeah?” No response “Yeah?!” I tried again and sat up a bit and listened, then I sighed and rolled off my bed, forgetting that it was over three feet off the ground, and fell on my face. I got to my feet and tripped over a half-unpacked box on the way out of my new room. It’d been two days since we got all our stuff dropped off at the new house in Jasper, but I was lazy and still hadn’t finished unpacking. I padded down the hardwood hallway with bare feet, the cool wood a nice respite from the oppressive desert heat, and the flooring changed from hardwood to luxury vinyl. As I entered the kitchen, I saw my brother standing in front of a half-unpacked box. He was looking very lost.
“Hey, Kya, do you want anything for dinner?” He asked while examining a mug from the box.
“No, not particularly,” he nodded
“Okay, I’ll see if there are any pizza places nearby then, are you packed for tomorrow?” He pulled out a plate
“Yeah, I’ve got everything packed. Just need to set out clothes,” Alex nodded as he put the plate in the cabinet. I walked up and started to help him unpack. It was just him and me here, but honestly, getting sent to live with my 25-year-old brother was actually pretty nice. While having to switch schools mid-year was not as favorable, but beggars can’t be choosers, can they?
“Have you got your telescope up, or do you need help?”
“I got it all set up,” I pick up a bundle of forks
“Do you have enough space for your physical therapy stuff?”
“Yeah, it’s just mainly bands anyway. They don’t take up a lot of room,” he nods
“I know you can’t train here, but you need to keep your fitness up or else ya know…” I’ll be in pain again, my mind subconsciously finishing the sentence as I put away a mug.
“I think I’m going to go for a run tonight, I can’t vault here, but I can still run,” I pick up a glass
“That sounds like a good idea. You should probably go soon. It’s going to be getting dark,” I open the cabinet and put the glass with the others, and pick up a plate
“Yeah, I think I’ll go now,” I put the plate away and walked out of the kitchen and back to my room. I walk into my room and look around. I see the box with my exercise clothes and dig through until I find a pair of dark ashy purple Capri leggings and a light ashy purple short sleeve crop top that came halfway down my upper arm. It came down just far enough to cover my scar. I picked up my running shoes. They were white with hints of dark blue, coral pink, and turquoise. Why are running shoes always so bright? I thought to myself as I slipped them on. I took my hair and twisted my bangs around the left side of my head and then tied it back into a ponytail. I grabbed my phone and earbuds off my bed and slipped them into my pockets. I pulled 20 bucks out of my wallet and put it in my phone case just in case I needed something on the way back. I double-checked everything and then walked out. I gave my brother a little two-finger salute as I headed out the door, and he returned with a little salute of his own.
“Be back before 8,”
“Mkay!” I trotted out the door and put in my earbuds, and pulled out my phone. I paused and contemplated, podcast or music? I chose music popping on a playlist. A loud drum picks up, and I put my phone in my pocket
You thought nothing could surprise you
You thought you’d seen everything
But you never saw me coming
All eyes on me!
Ready or not!
I start down the street and turn left at the intersection. I let myself get lost in the music as my lungs burned a bit, and I felt my muscles firing. I let my mind wander back to a different street in a different town in a different state, with a different state of company. I turn to ask her a question to find empty space, reality hitting me like a brick wall right no pace partners in Jasper. I turned back to the street and kept running. I started doing equations in my mind in a vain effort to distract myself from any physical or mental pain. I was halfway through figuring out how many minutes were in a year when my ankle rolled and I stumbled. I fell off the curb and hit a parked car. My left shoulder just bumped the car but it was enough, I hissed in pain as all the damaged nerves went haywire from the sudden impact, the scar tissue a weird mix of numbness and fire. I sit up, hand on the painful angry scar, and look at the car I hit. It was a yellow muscle car with black stripes. I check my ankle and see it’s fine and stand up and try to put weight on my ankle. At first it’s tender and it gives way slightly, my hand automatically reaches out to find something to balance on. I find the back of the car and slam into it a bit, an emblem I didn’t recognize bit into my hand.
“Oh damn, sorry,” I said to the car, then mentally chastised myself for apologizing to inanimate objects again. When I tried again my ankle didn’t buckle and I started to walk, testing it to be sure. Even I decided it was okay to run on it again and pick up a light jog.
I ran out of the neighborhoods and started along the road, some trucks drove by but overall the road was pretty empty. I came up on a dry concrete river bed, I turned right and ran along the top of it. I saw almost no one my entire run, it was like Jasper was a living ghost town. My heart ached as I ran along the red and orange dirt, I longed for the fresh crisp air as I ran through the trees of point defiance. I shook the mental image away and noticed I had inadvertently circled back to the neighborhoods. I ran in but realized I had no clue where I actually was. I looked around and didn’t see anyone. I walk down the street and see one person. I see a boy about my age with dark hair walking towards me across the street. I take out my earbuds and suck in a breath.
Time to meet the neighbors
|-o-|
I was minding my own business walking home from Raf’s when I met her
“Hey, excuse me?”
My head snaps up and I looked around when I spot a girl about 6 inches shorter than me and at least twice as tan with blonde hair tied back into a ponytail but it was fancy somehow, her work out clothes and obvious sweat betrayed her going anywhere fancy though
“Uh yes?” I was confused on why she was talking to me
“Hi I just moved here and uh I’m lost,” she said almost sheepishly “Can you give me directions to 19th?”
“Oh yeah i'm actually walking that way too, so if you want we can walk together instead of awkwardly walking the same direction,” I said beginning rubbing the back of my neck in a vain attempt to quell my rising anxiety, she laughs and says
“Yeah that’d be preferable,” she stuck out her hand
“Kyanna but you can call me Kya.”
“Jackson but you can call me Jack .” I introduced myself
“Nice to meet Jack,” we start down the street “so I’m assuming you're also in high school?”
“Yeah I’m a sophomore, you?”
“I’m a sophomore as well, anyone to watch out for?” My mind automatically flashes to a bright red head of hair
“Oh that’s easy, his name is Vince and he’s—“
“A total asshole?”
“Yeah exactly!”
“Every town’s got one,”
“Yeah he takes up the space for two though,” I sigh
“Damn,” silence followed for a minute, my anxiety rose in the silence so I asked
“So why’d your parents move you to the middle of nowhere Nevada?”
“Ah no parents just me and my older brother,”
“Oh sorry,”
Oh now you’ve done it idiot!
“Nah It’s fine, besides I can see the stars way better here anyway”
“You like space?” I ask slightly absentmindedly
“An maith liom spás?” I was at first confused, used to only hearing people switch to Spanish occasionally, and this was not Spanish. I look over to see her roll her eyes a bit then jump and say “Fuck yeah!” Pumping her arms, I stepped back surprised “I wanna study astrophysics and maybe even go to mars!”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” she paused as if pondering something. “Do you believe in aliens?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin at the question,
Aliens, why did she have to ask about aliens!
“I mean It’s just as hard to believe they aren’t out there as they are,”
“Exactly! So what, we don’t have any evidence proving that aliens exist, we also don’t have any proof that they don’t exist!” She say exuberantly
“I mean yeah they could be out there but I doubt we’ll see any in our lifetime,” i said trying to reel her in
“Yeah you're probably right,” she looked down at her shoes, seemingly disappointed?
“But ya never know right?” I said quickly, she looked up a smile on her face
“Yeah you're right! You never know!”
Oh god she’s like Miko, she’s gonna discover the autobots through sheer optimism!
We turned the corner and she seemed to recognize something,
“Hey I recognize this one!”
“This is 18th, I live here,” I motioned to a house behind me. I turn and start up the driveway when Kya shouts
“Hey, we should exchange numbers!” She stands awkwardly as I turn around then adds “ya know if you want?”
“That sounds like a good idea, let me just grab my phone I left it inside,” I approached the garage door and she followed up the drive, the garage door started to open. I saw Arcee sitting there same as always
“Holy shit!” She said I turn “That's the most beautiful bike I’ve ever seen!” She rushed inside “now this is a bike! She’s so gorgeous and sleek! Jack if your bike was a person I’d say she’d be really fuckin hot.”
“She?” My heart just about lept in my throat when Kya said she
“There’s no way something this naturally beautiful is anything but female! No offense.” Breath returned to my lungs and my heart beat again
“None taken,” I chuckled trying to blow off the near cardiac arrest I just went through , “I’ll be right back,” I headed into the house to grab my phone and was back in less than a minute, we exchanged numbers quickly.
“Thank you again Jack, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she said simply
“Yeah I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” she waved and walked out of the garage. As soon as the garage door Arcee said
“You sure know how to pick ‘em don’t ya,” Arcee rolled forward a little bit. “I could hear her around the corner, how'd you pick up the cute alien fanatic?”
“She just moved here with her brother got lost—“ just then what Arcee said registered “Hey! I literally just met her 15 minutes ago!”
“Eh I’m just teasing, but honestly an alien fanatic?”
“She’s more of a general space nut loves astrophysics,” I sigh and walk towards the house “anyways I have homework so I’ll talk to you later”
“Talk to you later.”
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Risk it - Harry Styles
a/n: this came so fast and typed most of it out at work lmao, but i kinda dig how it turned out!! hope you’ll like it too! as always, feedback is very much appreciated!
pairing: professor!Harry x Reader
warning: sexual content
word count: 11.8k
masterlist
You shake yourself a little bit to get rid of the spicy coldness that’s been lingering around in the city in the past few days. It’s only the end of August, but feels more like late October, though they say the warmness will return for a few more weeks shortly. That would be much needed, you’d love to enjoy some more lunches out in a park or down near the river before you are forced to withdraw into the insides for the rest of the year.
Looking around in the packed pub you look for the familiar golden locks of Piper and you quickly spot her in one of the corner booths, laughing joyfully with pinked cheeks probably from the almost empty pint of beer in front of her. Marching through the place you slide into the booth joining the group of three.
“And there she is!” Piper cheers.
“We thought you’re gonna bail on us,” Abigail snickers and you just roll your eyes.
“I said I would come, just had some work to finish before,” you tell them, shaking your cardigan down your arms quickly, the air is thicker, mustier and much warmer in here, but it’s not surprising, the pub is packed, just as usual on a Friday evening.
“You work way too much,” Piper shakes her head in disapproval as she downs the rest of her drink.
“I’ll be working way less from September.”
“Yeah, but you’ll spend the rest of the week in school, so it’s gonna be the same!” Mona chimes in with furrowed eyebrows.
“They promised me a fat raise if I get this degree within the next three years, I could definitely use the extra cash so I can finally buy my own place soon,” you explain.
You know they understand the situation and they wish you the best. They want to see you succeed in life and in your career, they just love teasing you about how dedicated you are towards your work, having to say immediately yes when your boss told you you’d get a new position and a raise if you finish the masters you never got to two years ago. You already had a handful of credits done that you’ll be able to get accepted, meaning you only have about one year worth of credits to finish in two years while working. It might get a little overwhelming to have an almost fulltime job and go to school but you’re determined to do this.
“We know, we know,” Abigail chuckles. “Alright, no more work or school talk tonight. We are here to let loose, so let’s get another round!”
Soon enough you are nursing a beer of your own, enjoying your time with your friends. It’s been long all four of you were free on the same night. Piper got married last year, Abigail’s work forces her to travel around a lot and Mona has a bitch of a boss, making her work overtime a lot, so it’s been hard to fix up a date that fits everyone. It’s been like this since you all finished your bachelors three years ago. You like to think you’re still a fresh little young adult who just barely stepped out into the big world, but it’s not true, hasn’t been for a while. You’re 24, you have a career, you live on your own, you take care of yourself fully. You are an adult, whether you like it or not.
Drink after drink, the four of you are getting tipsy, having an amazing time talking about the stories you shared back in university. Piper was your roommate first year uni, Mona and Abigail were in the room next to yours and you quickly became close friends, moved in for the rest of your studies until you all went your own ways after graduation, but keeping in touch as much as possible.
“I’m gonna get another one, but that’s gonna be my last one, because I have some work to finish in the morning,” you announce climbing out of the booth.
“No work talk!” Mona and Abigail shout at the same time making you laugh as you just wave them off and head to the bar.
You’ve been waiting for the line to get shorter, now only a few people are lingering around so you patiently wait for your turn, clutching onto your card in your hand. You don’t pay much attention to the tall guy next to you, only when someone bumps into you from behind and makes you fall against his side.
“Oh shoot, sorry! Someone pushed me,” you apologize immediately as the guy looks at you over his broad shoulder and your gaze meets a pair of green eyes framed with long lashes and a curious look in them.
“No worries, Love,” he smiles and you almost gasp at the British accent that laces through his voice. You take a quick moment to inspect the man, he is standing almost a full head above you, wearing a simple black shirt and brown slacks, a set of bulky rings sitting on his fingers that are spread out on the counter in front of him, his whole left arm covered in ink and you feel the urge to examine every figure on his golden skin. His chocolate curls are kind of a mess, but still look well placed, you bet he is the type who only runs his fingers through his hair and makes it look breathtaking. He is handsome and definitely your type, looks older than you, but you wouldn’t think he is over thirty.
“What’s your order?” he asks and your eyes snap up to him, realizing he is still looking at you.
“Huh?”
“What’s your order? I’ll get it for you so you don’t have to wait longer.”
“Oh, I’ll just have a stout,” you tell him, feeling a little flushed from his offer. His eyebrows rise in surprise. “What?”
“Didn’t take you as a stout person is all,” he smirks at you as the bartender appears in front of him with his drink, asking if he wants anything else. “And a stout, please.” The guy nods and disappears to get your drink.
“I uhh—I only have card though,” you speak up realizing you can’t pay it back to him.
“Don’t worry about it, it’s on me.”
“Oh, no, that wouldn’t be fair,” you protest and he seems amused that you don’t just let him pay for your drink.
“How about this: you pay for the next round. Me and my mates are sitting over there, just come over when you finish this,” he offers, pointing at two guys sitting a few booths away from you and your friends.
“This was supposed to be my last round. I have to work in the morning,” you breathe out tilting your head.
“What? Work on Saturday? What kind of job is so cruel to make you work on a Saturday morning?” he asks with a boyish smile.
“One that pays my bills and most importantly my beer,” you chuckle softly.
“Okay, then make it just a soda,” he cheekily says and you feel giddy that this man is so keen on having another drink with you.
“I guess that could work,” you smile just as the bartender appears with your drink and the handsome man pays for the drinks, just then you realize you don’t even know his name. “I’m Y/N, by the way,” you tell him taking your beer. He tugs his wallet into his pocket before holding a hand out for you.
“Harry. Nice to meet you,” he smiles warmly and the moment you take his hand, you feel the tiny sparks. This man is surely something else. “I’ll be waiting for our next round,” he cheekily tells you raising his glass before the two of you part and go back to your own groups. As expected, your friends are already waiting for you with wide eyes and excitement, having witnessed your little chat with Harry at the bar.
“Who was that?! No, wait, it doesn’t matter. You need to go home with him!” Abigail smacks her hand to the table earning a chuckle from you.
“Don’t be dramatic, I just met him.”
“And you have to get to know him better. Deeper, you know what I mean?” Mona prompts.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe you all. He is hot, but I’m not looking to day anyone right now.”
“You know, it’s starting to get boring to hear you say that you are just working on yourself these days. That’s not what you’re doing,” Piper gives you a look. “You are wasting your time on work and school and all these stuff that will be there when you’re older. Live a little, Y/N!” she begs.
“You guys make me appear like a no fun bitch, but that’s not who I am!” you defend yourself, though you know they just want the best for you.
“A fun bitch would ditch us right now and go over to their booth and then ride his dick all night.”
You gasp at the unfiltered answer you just heard from Mona, but deep down, you know she is right. You haven’t really let yourself be a little crazy in a while, your one night stands stopped the moment you graduated and stepped into the world of work. It just didn’t fit into your everydays, you had a lot to worry about, making a living and keeping your life on track, but you have it all now. What’s stopping you from hooking up with a cute guy?
“I’m not gonna just ditch you guys, came here to spend time with you!”
“Shut up, we are leaving then,” Abigail snaps, downing the rest of her drink in a blink of an eye and for a moment you’re speechless.
“What? No! We never get to spend quality time together, all four of us!”
“Honey,” Mona sighs. “We love you and we know you need this. So go, get the tatted hottie and we’ll meet up another time when you’ll get to tell us all about how good the D was.”
“Jesus, you guys are unbelievable,” you chuckle shaking your head, accepting the fact that they are really forcing you to do this.
They all quickly finish their drinks and get ready to leave, hugging you before they exit the place, leaving you alone in the booth. Staring down at the stout in front of you, feeling nervous to just walk up to the guys a few tables away, though Harry told you to go over, however he didn’t invite you to join their group, just promised another round.
You take a few long gulps, hoping the strong drink will bring out your courage and before you could talk yourself down you grab your bag and drink, heading over to Harry and his friends. He is sitting at the far end so he easily spots you walking over, perching up in his seat when he sees you approaching.
“Hey,” you greet them all with a shy smile, waving around. There’s a blond guy sitting across Harry and a brunette with equally as many tattoos on his arms as Harry.
“Hey, you haven’t finished your drink,” Harry observes with a small smirk.
“Um, no. But my friends left and I was wondering if I could… join you guys.”
“Oh, the honor is yours! Take a seat beautiful!” the blonde one immediately slides further into the booth so you can sit across Harry. “I’m Niall, what’s your name?”
“Y/N.”
“So very nice to meet you,” he grins at you, words thick with Irish accent. “That’s Louis over there,” he gestures towards the third man who nods in your way with a welcoming smile.
“Hi. I’m hoping I’m not interrupting though.”
“Oh, never,” Niall shakes his head immediately. “We saw you chatting up Harry at the bar, have been teasing him about going up to you since then,” he cheekily comments and you see Harry giving him a look, but Niall couldn’t care less.
All three of them are hilarious and you love the dynamic in their friendship. Niall is clearly the loud one, Louis is the cheeky who is always up for some mischief and Harry is somewhat the serious bloke, but it’s clear he doesn’t say no to any crazy ideas his two friends make up. You love the teasing and joking, they make you feel welcomed and as if you’d known them for longer than just an hour. As promised, you pay for Harry’s next drink, but you stick to just a lemonade, not wanting to overstep your own boundaries.
All while you’re sitting with the guys, you keep catching Harry eyeing you, your gazes meet over your drinks and at one point you feel his leg finding yours under the table, your ankles pressing together as he nudges you with his feet. You feel like a giddy teenager flirting with her crush, Harry’s effect on you is probably very clear too, but you don’t care.
Louis is the first one to leave and Niall follows not long later, leaving you alone with Harry. The nerves are raging in you as you try to figure out which way to take it. Though he seems like a nice guy, you still don’t want to take it any further than a hookup. Dating is just not in the cards for you right now. But how do you imply a one night stand? Do you ask him to come to your place? Or do you go to his? You would rather go to his so you can sneak out first thing in the morning, spare you an awkward talk over breakfast before you leave.
“We should… get going too,” you suggest and Harry nods in agreement, finishing up the last gulps of his beer. You take a deep breath and decide to just be straight forward. “Maybe I could go to yours? Have another round there?” Your suggestion comes out fainter than you intended, but you still manage to sound confident. Harry seems a little surprised, but he doesn’t voice it.
“Another? Thought you were done for the night,” he tells with an amused smirk.
“I’m sure you have something alcohol free,” you shrug innocently.
“I surely do,” he nods. “Alright, let’s get going.
He calls an Uber and the two of you sit close in the car, thighs touching and at one point his large hand finds your thigh, squeezing it gently that sets a fire in your core almost immediately. It’s been long you’ve been touched by a man, you were starting to forget what it feels like, but you know Harry will remind you well about it.
He lives in a nice townhouse and you note how it’s not too far from the campus you’ll be going to a lot in a week. He keys the two of you in, switching the lights on in his cozy home. It’s not messy, more like lived in. A lot of books everywhere, the furniture doesn’t match, but all together, the whole place is pulled together somehow. It’s very like him.
“So, what would you like to drink?” he asks walking into the open concept kitchen, grabbing two glasses from the cupboard. “I have some tea, orange juice, water…”
As you watch his broad back, his muscles moving under the soft fabric of his shirt, you quickly forget about any drink. You want him and you want him now. Walking up to him you slide between him and the kitchen counter, catching him by surprise when you cup his face in your hands and pull him down into a hard kiss, but a moment later his arms wrap around you, lifting you up from the ground until you are sat on the counter. You open your knees so he stands between them, his crotch meeting yours as you kiss messily, all tongues, tugging and nipping, but oh my! You absolutely love it. The man has a mouth full of magic and you can only imagine what else he can do with those lips.
A whimpered moan leaves your mouth when you feel his growing bulge rub against your core as his lips travel down your jawline and throat, kissing and licking on your heated skin.
“Harry, bedroom,” you demand grabbing onto his shoulders and he doesn’t waste a moment, picking you up into his arms and heading somewhere down the hallway. You can’t quite comprehend what way it is, you’re way too lost in the feeling of his lips on your collarbone and neck, surely leaving marks on you.
He lays you down to a king sized bed and gets on top of you right away, following his wandering down your body. His ring clad fingers work fast on the hem of your shirt, pulling it off you in a moment before he kneels up and gets rid of his own shirt. He looks breathtaking, all the tattoos littering his chest and stomach, you just want to kiss all of them, feel his skin on your lips.
As he unbuckles his leather belt you push down your skinny jeans, throwing the item to the side without ever taking your hands off him. The man surely has all your attention.
When his slacks join the rest of your clothes on the floor he climbs on top of you again, kissing down the valley between your breasts that are still covered in the lacy bra. Your underwear doesn’t match, but something is telling you Harry is more eager to see you without them than to examine them. When he hooks his fingers into your panties and starts pulling them down, you reach to your back, unclasping the bra and in a blink of an eye, you’re lying completely naked in front of him.
“Fuck, you look so hot, Y/N,” he breathes out before those magical lips start working on your nipples, making you moan and whimper under him.
Kissing down your stomach he spreads your thighs wide, gazing down at your naked sex and for a moment you feel a little self-conscious, but the lust in Harry’s eyes quickly makes it disappear.
“You’re gonna let me have a taste, baby?” he murmurs, sending shivers down your spine as you nod eagerly.
He is not a tease. Harry dives right in, his lips meeting your clit, working his magic and you cry out his name, fingers tangling into his locks to keep him in place, not that he is about to stop anytime soon. He clearly enjoys pleasuring you.
“Oh fuck!” you gasp when his tongue runs down your slit and he slowly pushes into you, making your back arch. You need him inside you, you need him to fill you up right now or else you’ll burst. “Harry,” you breathe out, tugging on his shoulders, urging him to come back up.
He climbs up your body, a satisfied smirk on his glistening lips and when he kisses you hungrily, you can taste yourself on him.
“Condom,” you urge him, hands pushing down on his briefs, lips still locked as he reaches to the bedside table. You hear the familiar sound of the package ripping before he leans back, your eyes falling on his naked erection for the first time and your lips part seeing his cock, knowing already he’ll feel you up so well. He rolls the condom on easily before returning to you, but you don’t stay in that position too long. You want to ride this man, see him come undone under you. Being on top is already one of your favorite positions, but with Harry, you just know it’s going to be amazing.
You push on his shoulder and he understands your intention without a spoken word, so he rolls to his back and lets you straddle him, glancing down at his cock that’s now grazing his lower stomach, so hard and throbbing just for you. His fingers dig into your hips when you wrap a hand around his length, positioning him to your center.
“Oh fuck!” he moans when you ease down, his cock filling you up inch to inch, feeling so amazing like nothing before.
“Shit,” you breathe out gasping when you sit on him fully, taking his whole length inside you, stretching your insides so nicely, your wet walls hugging him perfectly.
“You feel so fucking good,” he murmurs lowly as you start buckling your hips, moving back and forth, up and down, the friction you’re creating swallowing you up entirely.
Harry can’t take his eyes off you, a hand wandering up to cup your breast and you cover his hand with yours, encouraging him to squeeze, making you moan passionately. He starts buckling his hips in sync with your movements, meeting you with every little thrust, hitting just the right spots, building up your orgasm so easily like no man has ever done before.
“Harry, oh God!” you moan, falling forward, leaning onto your arms next to his head, your lips meet in a hungry and demanding kiss as he wraps his arms around your body, thrusting up into you hard and so good, you whimper against his lips.
“You’re gonna cum for me, baby? I wanna see you feel good,” he pants, never slowing down. A few moments later he rolls the two of you around, your back hitting the sheets again as he moves one of your legs to rest on his shoulder, hitting a spot that almost makes you see stars.
“Oh yes! There! Don’t fucking stop!” you cry out so loud, you can only hope the walls are thick enough to keep your voice locked in the room.
“Not planning to,” he chuckles shortly before burying his face in the crook of your neck. You hold onto him for dear life, fingers digging into his sweaty skin, feeling as if you are melting into him.
Harry rocks into you relentlessly, your toes curling as you feel your orgasm finally arriving, making you gasp for air.
“Harry! I’m gonna cum!” you moan and he lifts his head, never stopping, not even for a second. His green eyes lock on your gaze, curls flopping into his forehead as he watches you in awe.
“Let it go for me, baby. Cum all over me, I wanna see how good I’m making you feel.”
“So fucking good!”
He picks up his pace just enough to make you lose your mind. It hits you like a pile of bricks, your orgasm washing over you in intense waves as you moan his name again and again. Your walls clench around him and it’s enough to throw him over the edge as well. His thrusts become uncoordinated and harder as his mouth hangs open.
“Fuck, Y/N! You feel so fucking amazing!” he whimpers through his pleasure and you watch him fall apart, panting and gasping for air, trying to remember every little detail about him. This is an experience you surely won’t forget and will probably fantasize about a lot when you’re alone at home, playing with yourself, seeking release.
A few more sloppy thrusts later he stops, kissing your lips passionately before he pulls out and falls to the mattress next to you. You both need a few minutes to recover from it, just panting and laying numbly next to each other, Harry’s arm thrown over your stomach. You turn to the side and immediately meet his glistening eyes, filled with satisfaction and bliss. When he finally recollects himself he pecks your lips softly before leaving the bed. You watch him remove the used condom, tie it and toss it into the small trash can near his dressed before he moves to the bathroom. When he reappears, he is wearing a fresh pair of boxers and he has a wet washcloth in his hand. Sitting beside you he gently cleans you up as you murmur your thank you.
“Want something to sleep in?” he asks then and you nod. He grabs you a t-shirt and a pair of loose shorts that you put on gladly. They smell exactly like him, soap, something citrus-like and a hint of anise.
He returns to bed and pulls you into his embrace, you gladly make yourself comfortable curled up to his side. Lying there, feeling his fingers gently running up and down your arm almost makes you want more from him. You could get used to share a bed with him and it’s not just because of the mind-blowing sex, but he is a lovable person. You feel bad you’re planning to leave without a trace in the morning, but then you tell yourself it’s what has to happen.
Harry doses off soon and you follow him right after, the warmth of his body puts you to sleep easily. When you wake up it’s still clearly early. Harry is sleeping soundly next to you, face squished into the pillow and you almost stay, wanting to see what he’s like in the morning, but you don’t let yourself change your mind.
You get dressed into your own clothes and leave the ones he lent you on top of his dresser. You tiptoe out of his room and grab your bag before looking for a piece of paper and a pen. You quickly scribble down a short note for him.
“Had fun last night. Hope you won’t be mad, but I only saw it as a one night stand. You’re an amazing man, Harry. I’m glad we met. Xx –Y/N”
It’s more than nothing, than leaving without a word and you don’t let the guilt take over you. Taking one last look around, glancing in the way of the bedroom where he is still asleep, you pack it all up and put it to the back of your mind before walking out.
The last week before your classes start passes by faster than you imagined. It’s your last week fully in the office so you try to work a little ahead, staying in afterhours so you won’t have that much to take care of while you get used to being a uni student again. You usually get home after nine and basically fall into bed right away, and you even work during the weekend before the Monday when school starts. You go to bed way too late so it’s not a surprise you wake up late. You get ready in a rush, throwing out your plan to get a coffee on your way out the window since you are way behind time. Running across campus you’re lucky you already know your way around so you don’t have to wander around, looking for the room you have to be at, but even when you finally reach the right hallway you’re ten minutes late to the class.
Introduction to International Relations, held by Prof. Styles, 8.30-10.00, it reads on the little timetable attached to the way next to the closed doors and you pray the man didn’t start in time, so you’d be late with just a few minutes. Taking a deep breath you push the door open trying to make no sound and unfortunately, you are met with an auditorium full of people, everyone looking at you as if it was against the law to be a little late to class.
What the Hell is wrong with students these days? Being late was usual when I was a freshman, you think to yourself as you step inside, closing the door behind you, getting ready to apologize to the professor.
“I’m so sorry, Professor Styles, I—Shit,” you end your sentence with a whisper as your eyes fall on the man standing on the podium. He hasn’t turned to you, his eyes are fixed on a paper in his hand, probably the syllabus because he must have been in the middle of introducing the class, but the sudden whispering that starts upon your apology that turned into shit, he finally looks up and his eyes fall on your frozen figure.
Professor Styles is none other than Harry. As in The Harry you met at the pub a week ago, had the best sex with and left without leaving your number to him in the morning. Now he is staring back at you with the same amount of panic and surprise as you.
“What—I uhh…” He clears his throat, looking around and seeing about a hundred pairs of curious eyes who are witnessing the awkward run-in. “Take a seat,” he then firmly says, clenching his jaw as you nod.
With your heart beating in your throat you keep your eyes down on your feet as you rush over to a free seat somewhere at the front, since the back is already kinda full.
“So, uhh—As I was saying this is an introduction so we’ll talk about a lot of different topics, I want you to have a view of the most important aspects before moving onto separate fields.”
You don’t dare to look up as Harry talks about the class, the syllabus, how the semester will be built up and what you’ll have to do to pass. Scribbling your wobbly notes, you nervously bounce your legs under the desk, flashbacks from your time with him popping into your mind through the whole lecture.
This feels like something straight out of a ridiculous movie. How is it possible, that the one time you finally decide to have a one night stand with a hot guy, he turns out to be your professor?! That’s just your luck, it seems.
Harry doesn’t drag the lecture long, dismisses everyone after an hour once every question has been answered. You plan to escape right away, but it turns out Harry doesn’t want to just sweep it under the rug.
“Can I have a word with you?” he asks stepping to your desk as you are furiously shoving your stuff into your bag.
“Uh, sure,” you nod, not like you have a choice. You’d love to run, but he is your professor, it would sit well if you ditched him on the first day of school.
You slow your packing down so you finish right when the last student has left the room. Grabbing your bag you turn to face Harry who now seems furious, vivid if you might say. He strides over to the door and shuts it before facing you.
“You said you’re working!” is the first thing he throws at you, making you raise your eyebrows.
“Because I am! I’m finishing my masters so I can get a promotion!” you defend yourself.
“Wait, so how old are you?” he asks with a puzzled look.
“I’m twenty-four, what did you think?” You feel offended, did he think you were younger or older? Neither would sit well anyway, so there’s no good answer.
“I-I don’t know, but when you walked right into my class I surely thought you were twenty or something,” he explains exhaling sharply. “Okay, so twenty-four. But still, you could have told me you are a student here.”
“Excuse you? Why would have I told you, we met that night, of course I didn’t share my whole fucking life with you! Besides, you didn’t say a thing about being a college professor either,” you spat at him and it seems like he realizes your argument is quite valid. He can’t blame it all on you.
“Okay, you’re right. Sorry.”
There’s a short silence as the anger dies down and the awkwardness and shock returns. It’s such an impossible situation, you never thought you’d have to deal with anything similar. Having an affair with your professor? This shit is straight out of some teenage drama.
“I can… drop the lecture, if you want. Only took it as extra credit, because I was interested in it,” you offer the first rational option that comes to your mind.
“No, I mean… you don’t have to. Messing around with credits at this time sucks, you wouldn’t be able to find something else.”
“Okay, so then what?”
“I guess we’ll just pretend like nothing happened,” he shrugs before his eyes meet yours. “Like you did in the morning when you left without leaving your number.”
His comment spikes, you can tell he was hurt that you didn’t stay, though now is probably not the best time to bring it up.
“Well, sorry. I didn’t think of it as more,” you dryly say.
“That’s not how you came off, however. Having laughs with me and my friends like we’ve known each other for years and then…” he doesn’t finish, but you have an idea what he wanted to say. And then you had insanely good sex and fell asleep cuddling. It feels illegal to even think about it in this building.
“Look, I’m really sorry I left like that, but look at it this way: if we would have taken it further, it would be way worse now, wouldn’t it?”
“Maybe we would have talked more later and found out about this and wouldn’t have had to face each other under these circumstances.”
He has a point, but it doesn’t matter now. The past is the past and you have to figure out how to treat this odd situation.
“You think you can forget about it and we can be professional? I really don’t want this to affect my studies,” you truthfully ask. Harry stares at you for a long moment before nodding.
“I think we can make it work. We are both adults, let’s put it behind us.” You nod, satisfied with his answer. “So what’s your major and why do you need it for your job?”
“It’s communication. I’m set to take over our international partnership groups, but the board is set on having someone with a higher degree. I told my boss I started it back then but never finished when I started working. He said I would instantly get the position if I finished my masters, so… here I am.”
Harry nods, chewing on your answer. Suddenly, as you look at him, guilt washes over you. He is such a genuine and lovely man, yet you left so abruptly, never even giving him a chance. Not that it would have made this situation any different, but it seems like you hurt him.
“Harry, I really am sorry for leaving. I had a great time with you, but I don’t think dating just fits into my life right now. I felt like you’d want more and I didn’t want to deal with all the explaining and apologizing.”
“I get it. It just would have been nicer to talk it out. Not that it makes a change now,” he adds with a soft smile.
“So we’re good?” you ask hopefully.
“Yeah. Professional and all,” he smiles nodding and you feel like a rock has been lifted off your shoulders.
“Great. Well, I guess I’ll see you later, professor,” you add a little cheekily and you see the fire in his eyes instantly, but he holds his tongue, not commenting on how sexual it sounds from your mouth. You couldn’t miss out on the teasing.
“Dismissed,” he nods turning away from you as he walks back to his desk. You walk out with the longest sigh that’s ever left your lips.
“Professor Styles! You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Piper screams at you over Facetime later that week when the two of you have your usual little chat. You’re making dinner while she lies on her couch, staring at you from the screen with the widest eyes. You just told him the whole thing with Harry and she almost choked. “The man is a professor? This shit is wild!”
“Not just a professor, he is my fucking teacher, Piper!” you chuckle awkwardly. You still haven’t fully wrapped your mind around the fact that you hooked up with your professor.
“How old is the dude to be teaching at a university?”
“Well, he said he is twenty-nine. I might have done a little search and since he is british, schooling was a little different for him. Apparently, he finished high school early as a fucking genius that he is, then uni, masters and everything. He started teaching at my school two years ago. The guy is like a big name in the field of social sciences.”
“Damn, he is a gem. So what’s gonna happen now? Y’all gonna fuck on his desk after class?”
“Piper!” you snap at her.
“What? I hope you’re not thinking about passing on him.”
“I passed on him way before I knew he was my professor. We can’t have anything going on because one, he is my professor and two, because I’m not looking for anyone to date.”
“You are so full of bullshit, Y/N,” she snorts. “So what if he is your professor? Just for this semester. Keep it a secret and then it’s done. You’re not some eighteen year-old freshman, he is just five years older than you.”
“You can’t be serious,” you shake your head. “I’m not going to have an affair with my teacher.”
“Not an affair, a relationship! You gotta hold onto good dick if you find one. This is what I did with Ronan,” she smirks satisfied.
“Yeah, it’s not happening.”
“Why not?”
“Piper, have you been listening to what I was saying?” you ask in disbelief. “Yeah, five years is not much, but I’m pretty sure there’s a rule against teachers dating students.”
“Rules are for losers. You literally found the perfect guy and you’ll just throw him away? Said it yourself after your hookup that you liked the guy. Why are you being so difficult?”
“Sorry for not wanting to get myself or Harry out of the university,” you scoff turning the stove off under the sauce before you burn it all.
“Harry? So you’re just calling him Harry?” Piper wiggles her eyebrows at you, leaning closer to the camera and you just groan at her. How was this the only thing that stuck to her?
“I can’t fucking believe you,” you mumble under your breath.
“Okay, yeah, I get you. I truly do. But I’m also your friend who wants to see you happy. So I’m just saying that if he makes a move… be open. He is your professor for only one semester, so once it’s over you are free to do whatever. Fuck, date, anything.”
Soon enough you fall into a pattern with your everydays. Mondays, Tuesdays and Friday mornings are for school. Wednesdays and Thursdays are spent on campus at your lectures and you usually go into the office on Friday afternoons to make sure everything works fine before you go off for the weekend. Having so many credits accepted from before, you have less classes meaning that you have less work to do with school as well. There are a few papers and assignments, but nothing too crazy. You genuinely enjoy your classes, each of them unique in a different way but if you’re being honest, Harry’s class is your favorite. He has done a great job at building up the lectures. Introduction classes tend to be shallow and boring, but not Harry’s. He has chosen interesting but still important topics and he makes sure the students are always involved and he isn’t just reading up his slides dully. There are a lot of discussions, everyone gets to tell their opinion and Harry genuinely seems interested in anything his students have to say.
You also came to realize his class is full of girls, only a handful of men dared to sign up. You didn’t pay attention the first time for obvious reasons, but as you looked around the next week you saw heart eyes and lustful gazes towards the man standing on the podium talking. You’re not sure if Harry doesn’t notice it or just chooses to ignore it, but he is doing a good job at staying professional. In the aspect of your situation as well.
For a bit you were afraid he would have hard feelings towards you or treat you differently, but it’s not the case. You are just another pair of curious eyes and ears at his lectures, only that sometimes you catch yourself daydreaming about that one night. When that happens you can always feel yourself blushing and an irrational fear that Harry can hear your thoughts invades your mind, though it’s stupid. But you always try to stay low just in case.
It’s early October when an unexpected project lands in your hands at work, setting you back in your schedule. You work through the weekend just to get it right but that means that you couldn’t start working on your paper for Harry’s class that has to be turned in by the end of the week. So next Monday morning when class is over you walk up to him to ask for some more time.
“Hey, can I have a word with you?” you ask and as he glances up at you he seems surprised you initiated a private conversation.
“Sure, what’s the matter?”
“I just wanted to ask if I could have just a little more time to turn my paper in. I know it’s due Friday, but I’m a little behind and it would be amazing if I could work on it on the weekend. I’m sure I’d be done by next Monday.”
You’re afraid he might think you want to use your history and take advantage of it, but it seems like Harry looks more concerned than upset about your request.
“Yeah, sure. Everything alright though?”
Your eyes wander around the room, only a few more people are left inside and they are heading out as well. For some reason, you are a little paranoid that someone might figure out what happened between you and Harry though it’s nearly impossible.
“I’m good, I just got some extra work last week and it totally threw me off.”
“Oh, what kind of project?”
“I just have to put together a communication plan for three of our partners and it’s taking way more time than I expected,” you admit with a chuckle.
“I think I have an amazing book about international communication plans. I could lend it to you, if you’d like. It has amazing tips on sustainability.”
“That would be… amazing,” you say, surprised by his nice offer.
“Are you on campus tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I have a lecture. I can come by your office.”
“Fantastic,” he smiles warmly. “And don’t worry about the paper. You’re not the first one to ask for more time. If you hand it in on Monday it’s gonna be perfectly fine,” he assures you.
“Thank you Harry. I-I mean Professor Styles,” you correct yourself, feeling awkward that you called him by his first name, but he just chuckles.
“You can call me Harry outside class.”
“Okay,” you smile nodding. “Then, see you tomorrow,” you say as you leave the room.
You spend the rest of the day working unfortunately, still a lot to do with your project. It’s hard to harmonize three different companies from three nations, working in different time zones. The next day you decide to skip your lecture in the noon. The professor is not too strict on attendance so you’re just gonna find a nice coffee place, set up a temporary office and work some more so you can finish everything on time.
You find Harry’s office easily. The door is open and you spot him sitting behind his desk right away, searching for something in a stack of papers. His office resembles a lot to his home, it has a cozy vibe but looks still very much academic with all the books lining on the shelves on the two sides of his desk. You knock on the doorframe as you arrive and his green eyes shoot up to your figure.
“Hey! Come on in!” he smiles at you. “Just a moment please,” he asks, still vigorously flipping the pages until he finally stops. “Here it is, I’ve been looking for it for ages,” he mumbles to himself and you smile. He looks a lot like the version of him you met at the bar. A fun, nice guy, clearly a little lost in his own world, but it amuses you rather then annoys. You wonder what could be happening in that brilliant mind of his.
He pushes himself away from the table and walks over to his bag that lies on the small sofa in the corner. Digging into it he pulls out a thick book that he hands over to you.
“Wow, lengthy,” you chuckle as you flip through the pages quickly.
“Yeah, looks a little dry but I promise it’s good. I put a note to the chapters that are the most relevant to you,” he explains and just then you spot a yellow post-it on one of the pages, a few more following behind.
“Oh, thank you. That’s really nice of you.” You smile up at him warmly, holding the book to your chest. “I’ll bring it back as soon as I’m done.”
“Take your time,” he nods. “And how is it going so far?”
“Uh, it’s… going,” you say with a tired chuckle. “It’s a little tricky, but I’m sure I’ll solve it. I’m gonna work some more on it now, so hopefully I’ll be done within the next few days.”
“You’re not going to class?”
“No, I allowed myself a skip this week so I’m gonna find a café or something.”
“You could… stay here, if you’d like. I could even help if you let me have a look at it. I mean I’m not an expert in communication but I’m good with multicultural stuff.”
His offer catches you by surprise and for a moment you want to say no, but then you realize he might actually be helpful. Another set of eyes is always beneficial.
“You don’t have a class?”
“Not until four, no.”
“And you sure I can stay? I don’t want to bother you.”
“You’re not. Please, I would love to take a look at what you’ve put together.”
You hesitate for another moment, but then let your bag slip off your shoulder as you walk over to the armchair in front of his desk.
You pull your laptop out of your bag and set it on the table so both of you can see from the two sides of the desk. You open up what you have so far, explaining it in details and Harry listens intently, nodding and humming along so you know he is following. At the end you tell him your concerns, the ones you’ve been trying to rule out these past few days so you can finish it all up.
“This looks amazing, Y/N. I’m very impressed by the way you synchronized it all.”
“Thank you, but it’s not perfect, so I have a lot to work on. Any thoughts though?”
Harry asks you a few questions before he gives his two cents, telling you what he would do and change. His point of view actually helps a lot, allows you to see the whole thing from a different angle and he gives you some awesome tips. Before you could realize, the two of you are deep in the project, all kinds of books splattered across his desks as you work together to finish the thing. Two hours pass by as it was just two minutes, but at the end, you have it all figured out.
“Oh my God. I can’t believe it’s done!” you breathe out, scrolling through the document you put together for your boss. Everything is put together, well-thought and in place, thanks to Harry’s help. “Harry, thank you. You literally saved my life,” you chuckle softly, leaning back in the armchair you haven’t left in hours.
“You had a strong base, I just helped you find a few solutions, but it was all you.”
“Don’t belittle it, you literally had so many ideas even in fields you are not familiar with. You really are a genius.”
“I’m just good at using my sources,” he smiles at you, glancing down at all the books he has pulled out during the process. “It was fun working on something so practical, I’m way too used to literal things.”
“Oh stop, you want me to feel bad because you are this ridiculously smart college professor who doesn’t get to work on practical projects?” you tease him earning a boyish smile.
“Maybe I do want that.”
“Well, you’re not getting it,” you laugh and he joins you. Once the mood settles you realize how good it felt to be around him. The dynamic the two of you had was so great, working with him felt like a fun activity. And now that you’re done, you really don’t want to leave this office though you know you have to.
“You know, I might come to you with work stuff all the time. You just spared so much time for me, I really thought I wouldn’t finish before Friday.”
“My door is always open,” he smirks shrugging. “I’m glad we got to work together. You really are great at what you are doing. Your boss is lucky to have you around. I’m sure you’ll be an amazing group leader once you get your degree.”
“Thank you.”
His compliment actually means a lot. Aside from this weird situation, Harry is a brilliant mind in his field. Hearing him tell you that he thinks you are doing an amazing work is such a boost to your ego.
“Well, I owe you one for this,” you tell him as you start packing up.
“Yeah? I’ll keep that in mind for sure,” he smirks, watching you put your things away.
“Mhm, see you around, Harry,” you smile, waving in his way before walking out.
“See you, Y/N.”
Thanks to Harry you get to turn in your project in time and write his paper until the original due date as well. You send it in email and for your biggest surprise he answers later that day.
“Glad you could finish in time, can’t wait to read your thoughts on the topic! –H”
It’s a simple message, but what catches your eyes is the signature at the end. It reads his full name, Prof. Harry Edward Styles, the school’s name, his official office hours and at the very end… his phone number.
Looking at it you think it seems a little out of place, as if it doesn’t belong there originally, he just added it to your email, but you can’t tell. Is this a hint? Does he want you to call or text him? What if he puts it into every email, not just yours? Would it be awkward to text? Why do you even want to text him in the first place? You agreed to stay away from him!
It keeps eating you the whole evening, staying on your mind, doesn’t matter what you do. After you’ve drunk a glass of wine with your dinner you finally make up your mind, convincing yourself it’s strictly friendly as you type in the words.
Y/N: Turned my project in, my boss already emailed me he likes it so far. Thanks for the help again. –Y/N
His reply comes fast and luckily, he doesn’t question why you decided to text him.
Harry: Glad I could help! Ran over your paper, looks great too. You’re doing an amazing job, Y/N.
There’s no stopping after that. The two of you keep talking through texts and though it’s all casual and friendly, you don’t feel bad about it, because in class, you still keep it professional and you have no advantage. He treats you just like any other student, keeping your friendship away from whatever happens in the classroom.
The line slowly starts to blur, however. You think way more about Harry than you should and you actually find yourself regretting that you’re not able to get as close to him as you want. He fascinates and attracts you in ways no one ever could before and something is telling you he shares these feelings, but you are both keeping it at bay, afraid what would happen if you let your desires take the lead. You just wish you could go out with him, have drinks with him and his friends like the night you met him, forget about how he would always stand on the podium on Monday morning no matter what happens and he’ll be grading your papers. Mixing feelings with this impossible situation might turn it into a disaster and you know you have to stay strong, but it’s getting harder.
Harry is the kind of teacher who likes to finish his class before everyone else, so when December rolls around everyone already has their grades from the papers that had to be turned in through the semester, so when December rolls around it’s all just free talks, he starts interesting discussions about topics students want to talk about. His lectures feel like free time but still, no one skips them because they are always so entertaining and interesting.
“Alright, we’ll meet for the last time next week. As per suggested, we’ll talk about the European Union so get your questions and thoughts ready,” he smiles around, ending the lecture. “Y/N? Can we talk for a second?”
“Sure,” you smile at him. Putting your things away you walk up to his desk much more carelessly than before.
“So I have a question and you can totally tell me if you don’t want to go, but there’s this great International Affairs Summit next weekend just a few towns over, not more than a two hours ride. I thought that you might be interested in going? They’ll have some awesome presentations and displays, thought it might interest you.”
For the first time since you’ve met him, he seems nervous, stumbling over his words a little as he avoids looking into your eyes. He looks so much younger, not at all like the respected professor that he is. He is just Harry now, the guy you bonded over that stout he paid for.
“Sounds nice,” you answer smiling at him, he seems surprised at your answer. “I would love to go.”
“Really?” You chuckle at his disbelief.
“Really.”
“Just to be clear it’s not a school thing, it’s gonna be the two of us,” he clears and your grin widens.
“It’s clear. Still want to go.”
“Amazing,” he breathes out, a smile finally tugging on his lips. “I can pick you up in the morning.”
“Sure. Can we discuss the details in text? I have a meeting soon.”
“Oh, yeah. Of course. We’ll talk later,” he nods enthusiastically, seemingly very joyful that you agreed to go on this trip with him.
“See you later, Harry!” you wave at him walking out of the classroom.
“Later!”
Piper would be very satisfied to know that you are going away with Harry this weekend. Though you still try to tell yourself it’s nothing more than just a friendly thing, you’re not fooling yourself. You want it to be more and now that the semester is over, your doubts and fears are almost fully forgotten and left at the beginning of September. Soon Harry won’t be your professor and you now see that it wouldn’t be that bad if something more happened between the two of you. You grew close through the year even though you only kept in touch through phone, appearing publicly wasn’t really an option, but still, you got to know him better and you liked him. A lot. There was no use in denying that.
Harry picks you up early in the morning and so the little trip begins. You take control over the music and play some of your favorites to him while he drives, educating him on recent popular music. Then he shows you some of his favorites, playing a lot of Fleetwood Mac and you weren’t expecting anything else from him.
He looks great today in a creamy colored knitted sweater, black wool coat and grey checkered slacks. His hair is now longer than when you met him for the first time, but it just adds to his amazing look, he rocks it pretty well.
The two hours pass by fast and you arrive to the Summit. Checking out the program the two of you choose the presentations you’re most interested in, leaving some time in the middle of the day to have lunch somewhere near.
You choose a sandwich bar that has a nice winter garden at the back looking out to a little pond. You sit at a small table, the conversation hasn’t stopped since the morning, only paused when the presentations were happening, but you always picked up right where you were before. Harry tells you about his time at university back in the UK and you’re a little surprised to hear that he was kind of a wild kid for a while.
“You? Wild?” you laugh. “I can’t picture it.
“It was mostly the first year though. Felt like I can’t miss out on anything so I was at every party and gathering,” he chuckles softly.
“And why did you stop?”
“I don’t know,” he shrugs, but you know he is not telling you the truth, so you gently kick his leg under the table. “Alright, but you can’t laugh!”
“I won’t, I promise!”
“It sounds very nerdy, but I fell in love with studying. I mean I was always a good student, that’s why I could finish high school earlier, but I did it to be done with it already. But then I grew an odd love to studying, to learning new things. I wanted to read every book there is, know everything in the world.”
“And do you know everything now?” you ask with a soft smile, completely in awe with how he talks about his passion for sciences. You don’t find it funny at all, more admirable.
“Not even a fraction of it,” he chuckles. “But I learn something new every day,” he shrugs.
“What did you learn today?”
“That Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus had… beef?” He is a little unsure about the last word that you taught him today in the car when you were listening to a song from Miley. It sounds so funny hearing from his mouth.
“Yeah, beef,” you nod chuckling. “Great knowledge you’ve learned today.”
“I learn a lot from you,” he smiles cheekily. “But really. I’m glad you could come today. Felt like I needed to take this step since you took the one before this.”
“Huh?” you ask, a little confused about what he is talking about. Then, as if he realizes he just said something he shouldn’t have, he chuckles nervously, keeping his eyes on his iced tea on the table.
“Well, I hope this won’t be too weird, but when you emailed me your paper back in October and I replied… I put my phone number into my signature and told myself that if you use it, I’ll take it as a hint that you… are open to more. And you did send me a text, took the risk so I thought I should be taking it next.”
You look at him in awe. So you were right, he did put his number in just for you and wanted you to use it. You’re amazed at how sneaky he was to find out how you’re feeling about him, but now you’re glad you took the risk and texted him.
“So you asked me to come today. I see where we are standing,” you nod smirking.
“You’re not mad? At the number thing?”
“Why would I?” you ask with a soft chuckle. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Yes, but we agreed to keep it professional and all along I yearned for something more and threw you this hint. When I sent the email I wanted to take it back immediately, thinking that you’d see through me right away,” he admits.
“Well, I didn’t,” you tell him making him laugh. “I debated for a long time whether I should text you or not and then just… said fuck it!”
“I’m glad you did,” he smirks and his gaze holds yours for a little, you can feel the moment you’re sharing. This conversation has definitely opened a door for the two of you.
The rest of the day passes by peacefully. You love having Harry with you and discuss the presentations with him later. He has a great mind, you love sharing your thoughts with him, get deep whenever something really catches your attention. It’s so easy to talk to him and you actually feel like he values your thoughts, unlike some men you had to deal with in the past.
During the ride back home you keep thinking about whether you should take it any further or not. You surely don’t want him to be just a one night stand anymore, it’s still very fresh but you actually feel like you’ve started falling for him and you wonder where he is standing in the situation right now. Today has changed a lot so when he parks in front of your building, you decide to just risk it again, like you did it so many times with him.
“Would you want to come up for a little? I could show you that article I talked about today,” you say, trying to sound calm though you see the surprise in his eyes, he wasn’t expecting this invitation.
“I… would love to. You sure it’s not too late?”
“Positive,” you smirk at him unbuckling yourself.
He follows you up to your apartment. It’s definitely not as big as his home, but you take pride in it. It’s the perfect size for you and you’ve worked a lot on making it your home. Harry is looking around, inspecting the place as you walk into the small kitchen and grab two bottles of beer, offering one for him.
“Thank you,” he murmurs, following you to sit on the plush couch you adore so much. It feels like a cloud is swallowing you up. “This place suits you.”
“Thanks. You know, this is what I thought about yours too.”
“Yeah? I think mine is just a mess,” he chuckles, taking a sib from his beer.
“It’s a good mess. Liked it.”
There is some tension, but in a good way if you might say. As if you both were unsure about where it’s heading, walking on eggshells, not knowing where the boundaries are lying as of right now.
“You know, the semester is almost over,” you imply, giving him an innocent look.
“I’m very much aware of that, the pile of tests on my desk waiting to be graded reminds me every day of it,” he chuckles making you smile too.
“Mhm and it also means that very soon you won’t be my professor anymore.”
You scoot closer, your knees coming in contact with his thigh and he sucks on his breath, looking down at the spot where you two touch. You really hope he won’t turn you down, because you’ve already gotten your hopes up about making it work.
“Is that so?”
“Yes,” you nod confidently. He doesn’t move and you’re losing patience. So grabbing his beer from his hand you place his and yours as well to the small coffee table before shamelessly swinging a leg over him, sitting on his lap. Your hands rest on his broad shoulders and his hands immediately find their way to your waist, his thumb caressing the skin that shows from under your ridden up shirt. However you see hesitation in his eyes.
“Harry?”
“Yeah?”
“What’s going on in your head, talk to me,” you ask him softly, tilting your head to the side.
“I just… I know soon it’s gonna be alright for us to… you know. But I… I hope you know it’s not a game for me.”
“What do you mean?”
“That I’m all in, Y/N. I know it’s been a crazy few months, but I really like you. A lot. I love talking to you, I love it when you are talking so passionately about things that interest you. I love how open and hardworking you are. I think that you’re an amazing person and I don’t want this to just be some passing, quick thing. I’m serious about this. About you.”
You can’t hold your growing smile back as your hands move up to cup his cheeks. Leaning closer you peck his lips softly.
“Great. Because I’m serious too.”
Harry breathes out in relief and a second later he is kissing you hungrily, letting his desire take over after holding back for so long. You weren’t the only one having a hard time during lectures. He hated how he always found himself looking in your way, thinking about how beautiful you are, how amazing it felt to hold you in his arms and it ached his heart that he had to keep himself so far away from you. When you took the risk and texted him, he could cry in excitement and he knew right in that moment that he is fucked for you.
Though it started a little rocky, now that he has you in his arms again, he wouldn’t change a thing, because it brought him to this very moment and he is overwhelmed with joy. He is more than ready to show you how serious he is about you, not just with his words but his actions, so he is quick to leave the couch and navigate into your bedroom to relive that mind-blowing night the two of you shared back in late August.
“Congrats, Miss Y/L/N. We are looking forward to seeing you work your magic as the leader of the group.” The executive manager shakes your hand and you see your boss from the corner of your eye, looking at you proudly.
“Thank you. I won’t disappoint,” you smile back.
You say your goodbye to everyone else in the room before finally heading out with the widest smile on your face. You did it. You finally got the promotion.
You finished your masters just a month ago and this meeting was scheduled almost immediately. For a while you were afraid they wouldn’t wait until you finish your studies, but they proved that they wanted no one else but you, making you feel so valued.
Walking back to your office you do the rest of your work left for the day, finishing up every pending task so you can be free for the weekend. When five o’clock finally comes you pack up and head out. Pushing through the double doors you step out into the warm July afternoon, immediately spotting a mop of curls you know all too well. Harry is waiting for you leant against his car with a huge bouquet of flowers, smiling at you with pride as he watches you cross the parking lot.
“What’s this for?” you ask teasingly when he pushes himself away from the car and kisses you softly before saying anything.
“A little something to celebrate your promotion.”
“How do you know I got it?” you ask, trying your best to sound serious. He narrows his eyes at you in suspicion.
“I knew you’d get it, who else would get it? Did they not fucking give it to you?” he asks, working himself up at the thought that you weren’t the one to get promoted.
“Relax, I got it,” you chuckle, wrapping your arms around his neck to kiss him a little longer this time.
“I was ready to fight whoever I needed to,” he mumbles against your lips, a smirk tugging on the corners of his mouth.
“What a gentleman,” you giggle pecking his lips again.
“That I am. And not just because I would throw a fist for my love, but because I knew you’d get it so I went ahead and booked us a mini vacation for this weekend. So let’s head home, you have thirty minutes to pack before we leave,” he smirks down at you, clearly satisfied with himself.
Harry is always full of surprises. In the one and half year you’ve been officially together, he never failed to surprise you with the tiniest things, make you feel loved and appreciated no matter how long you’ve been dating.
“Where are we going?” you ask in excitement, eyebrows shooting up on your forehead.
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?”
Harry listened to every hint you’ve dropped how you’d love to spend some time away in some cabin in the woods, disconnecting from the world just for a little and he found the perfect place for that a few hours away. He knew you’d be the one to get promoted so he took the risk to book it weeks ahead, making sure you’ll have the perfect place for the celebration. You have a slight guess it’s gonna be like that because Harry is great at taking hints, but what you doesn’t know is that deep down his already packed suitcase, there’s a little velvety box with a ring inside it that he plans to put on your finger this weekend, hoping you’ll give him the answer he wants to hear.
And you will. Because you are head over heels in love with this man, have been for a while and you want to spend the rest of your life with him.
The two of you head home and your hand finds his over the shifting gear, lacing your fingers together with his. Glancing at you he kisses your knuckles, pressing a long kiss to your empty ring finger.
“I love you,” he tells you and the three little words never fail to make your heart flutter. While the lamp is still red you quickly lean over and steal a kiss from his soft, pink lips.
“I love you too, professor,” you tell him teasingly. He didn’t like it when you called him that back when he was still just your professor, but since the air has been clear, he grew a liking to it, especially because he can’t get enough of hearing you moan it in the bedroom.
You call him a lot of other pet names too. Baby, H, Har, Sweets, whatever comes to your mind while he likes calling you his baby, Angel, Princess or Love. And as the two of you head home he thinks about how he wants two new names to be added to the list. Husband and wife.
-
Thank you for reading! Please like and/or reblog if you enjoyed!
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keep me warm - jhs | m
cause you keep me and nice and you keep me warm. wanna feel you on me, can't wait to get back there again - texas sun, khruangbin
✹ summary- camping is always a great time when you’re with your friends, but even better with your boyfriend, hoseok.
✹ rating- explicit/18+/nsfw
✹ pairing- jung hoseok x reader
✹ word count- 3.9k - she’s a short lil quick dip ;)
✹ genre- smut. lol thats it. cant say there is much plot here besties!!! but there is big brother namjoon, brothers best friend hoseok, established relationship!!!
✹ warnings- explicit smut, cockwarming, dirty talk, penetrative sex, unprotected sex (be smart pls!), sex in a tent, a little exhibitionism???, fingering, finger sucking, creampie, lil bit of cum play but not really, hoseok is a dirty dirty boy and i love that about him tbh
✹ a/n- helloooo. i’ve been sitting on this and finally finished it!! thank you to @kimtaehyunq for the sexy banner and beta reading and general support. i was inspired to write this fic when i went camping but pls be warned that sex in a tent is not as sexy as this fic makes it seem 🤕 ILY BESTIES!!! lemme know your thots!!!
The annual Kim Family camp out is an event you haven’t missed since your seventh birthday when you had chicken pox. It’s an outing that has gained notoriety among your friends, a monumental yearly occasion that takes months of prep in advance. What started as a simple camp out with your parents and your older brother Namjoon has become an event with extended friends and family members and significant others involved. Your parents handed down the event to you and your brother, claiming their older age keeps them from being able to keep up with “the youth” for an entire weekend, instead preferring to join for a big cookout dinner, then head back to the comfort of their tempurpedic mattress and functional plumbing back at home.
Not that you minded.
This year was different. Your cousins, Taehyung and Seokjin, would join with Tae’s girlfriend Maggie. Your childhood best friend Jimin would attend as well, bringing along his lover of the month, a tall and leggy brunette. Namjoon invited his best friend Yoongi, who brought along your mutual friend Jungkook.
And most importantly,
Jung Hoseok would be there. Your boyfriend.
Hoseok is no stranger to the Kim Family camp out. He’s been attending since he was sixteen after meeting Namjoon in high school jazz band and instantly becoming friends. You can vividly remember the older high school boy making sure you never felt left out in a group of gangly teenagers—bringing you along on hikes, and fishing, and general mischief.
It’s where you first fell for him.
Every year after that, you pined for Hoseok from afar at every outing. You’d lie awake at night in your shared tent with Jimin, desperately wishing the body next to you was Hoseok, wrapping his arms around you to keep you warm in the forest's chill.
Your relationship with Hoseok flourished after high school, when he was unknowingly in your chemistry class in college. Hours were spent pouring over textbooks together, cramming for exams and practice labs with a familiar friend.
Then came the coffee dates, the movie nights, the dinners. Hoseok went from an occasional study buddy to someone you talked to hourly.
The day he kissed you is a day you’ll never forget.
Soft lips pressing onto yours over a bubbling beaker of magnesium, his hands cupping your cheeks as he drew you in so close, as if he couldn’t get enough of you.
“Be mine,” he whispered. “Please, be mine.”
And you’ve been his ever since.
“Aish! Don’t burn my marshmallow, ___!” Namjoon scolds you, jerking your long stick away from the fire as he sits next to you. “I hate burned marshmallows.”
Annoyance bubbles up in your throat as you roll your eyes at your brother.
“I wouldn’t have to do this for you if you knew how to roast a marshmallow without starting a wildfire.”
Namjoon, ever the strong-headed big brother, glares at you. “That was an accident and you know it.”
Hoseok chuckles beside you, resting a hand on your leg as you murmur expletives about Namjoon and a certain stick under your breath.
“I’ll eat your burned one, babe,” he says with a smile. “I love your burned mallows.”
Hoseok’s charm is a balm to all your wounds. He easily melts the ice around your heart and soothes your frayed nerves with a simple look.
“Thanks, Hobi,” you reply.
“Please, no talk of my sister’s mallows,” Namjoon winces. “It’s bad enough you’re dating in front of me. In front of my salad.”
Namjoon doesn’t mean it. He knows how deeply you love him, and he trusts Hoseok not to hurt his one and only sibling. But it doesn’t mean he’s not above rubbing it in your face that he was Hoseok’s friend first.
Jungkook laughs from where he’s sitting, roasting a hotdog over the crackling flame on Jimin’s lap (“There weren’t any seats left!”).
“At least he’s not tossing her salad in front of you.”
Yoongi slaps the younger man’s hotdog out of his hand and into the fire, making Jungkook whine and pout petulantly.
“Don’t be gross,” Yoongi scolds and Namjoon nods at his friend in solidarity.
Hoseok smirks and licks his fingers clean of the sticky marshmallow. “Besides, we didn’t bring nearly enough lube for any anal play tonight.”
“Hoseok!” Namjoon screeches and you bashfully bury yourself into your sweater. The rest of the group explodes in laughter while your brother holds his head in his hands, lamenting the day you two met.
Hoseok pulls you into his lap, grinning as he kisses at your ear while maintaining firm eye contact with your brother, eager to make him as uncomfortable as possible.
While you’re relaxing into the warmth of your boyfriend’s body and enjoying the laughter of all your closest friends, Hoseok nips at your ear and whispers gently.
“I love you.”
“I’m so cold.” A shiver wracks through you as you burrow down deeper into your sleeping bag. The night air becomes increasingly frosty and you can easily see your breath in the dim light from the moon. “It wasn’t supposed to be this cold.”
Hoseok scoots his bag closer to yours, rubbing over the meshy material in an attempt to warm you.
“I thought about bringing another blanket before we left…,” he sighs. “But Namjoon told me I was being ‘a boy scout’.”
You bark out a frigid laugh, teeth chattering as you try to snuggle into the warmth of Hoseok’s hand.
Pleadingly, you ask. “Can we share? Maybe if we zip the sleeping bags together we can make one big extra-large sleeping bag?”
Hoseok nods. “Good idea.”
He quickly gets to work as soon as you unzip your sleeping bag and move off of it, allowing him to take it and zip the two bags together. He spreads it back out over the soft padded bed once it’s completed and he slips into his end before beckoning you over.
“Come to me, my little popsicle.”
The fabric swishes and slides as you move into the combined bag, wrapping your cold limbs around the warmth of your boyfriend’s body.
“Holy shit, you really are cold,” he exclaims with a grunt when your ice-cold hands seek the toasty expanse of his toned belly. “Fuck.”
“Sorry.” Your apology is anything but apologetic as the high temperature of Hoseok’s body quickly oozes into you. “You feel so good.”
A moan slips out of your lips, pleased at the warmth that your boyfriend radiates as you seek every spot on his body that radiates heat.
“Hold on,” he whispers.
Quickly, he rids himself of his shirt and tugs at the hem of your own.
“What the fuck are you doing?!” You gasp as the icy air billows under your shirt. “Why would I get naked right now?”
He huffs. “Trust me?”
He kisses the pout on your lips, then pulls away with your shirt in his hands.
“Skin-to-skin contact is the easiest way to warm someone up. Body heat, you know. Textbook boy scout stuff.”
He twists your body around to spoon into him, back pressed against his ultra-warm chest, making you gasp once you feel the radiating heat spreading across you.
“Oh…” you sigh as you sink into his embrace. “You were right.”
Hoseok smirks as he wraps his arms around you and buries his face in the nape of your neck—lips pressing gentle, warm kisses to the column below your ear.
“Told you so.”
Your body instinctively presses further into his body, desperate for the warmth that the human-heater seems to emit. His breath hitches as he feels your ass press hard against his lap, cock stirring at the proximity.
Hoseok’s hands run up and down your arms, warming each inch of your skin with his palms. He spreads heat wherever he touches, and your eyes flutter closed as he works his gentle, warming massage into your frozen skin. He is the epitome of sunshine, both in body and demeanor, always able to brighten the coldest chills with one look, one touch.
When he’s satisfied that you’re thoroughly warmed where he’s worked, his hands move from your arms and shoulders around to your belly and up to your chest. You feel like mush under his grazing touch, gasping and biting your lip as he tugs gently at your perky nipple. It’s a live wire to his cock.
“Fuck,” he groans as he feels himself harden. He kisses at your shoulder as he continues to palm at your chest, taking the fullness of your breasts into his whole hand and massaging it gently.
“Hobi…” you warn, feeling the desire between your thighs build. “Don’t start what you can’t finish.”
He chuckles against your skin, breathing hot air over your neck and shoulder, tightening his grip on your nipple for a quick pinch that makes you squeak.
“Who says we can’t finish?”
His voice is low—that deep, sensual tone that sets your tummy aflame with desire. His dick is pressed against your ass, twitching with need as it thickens in his pants.
His hand moves from your chest, rubbing soft, sweet circles on your stomach as he warms the cool flesh around your belly button, before traveling down to where your sleeping pants sit low on your hips.
“We c-can’t,” you meekly attempt to fight back, remain strong, but the warmth of his body and the need growing within you is quickly winning your internal battle of morality. “My cousin is next to us.”
Hoseok smirks as he slips underneath your pants, hand diving in between your thighs to rub at your soft mound. He’s close, so close to slipping inside of you, and you squeeze your eyes tight at the overwhelming urgency you’re feeling for his fingers inside you.
“You think Tae and Maggie are fast asleep right now?” He asks.
As if on cue, you hear soft giggles coming from the next tent over, giggles that sound suspiciously like Taehyung’s girlfriend.
“Tae is really not that funny,” Hoseok says as he nibbles at your ear. “Let me warm you, baby.”
He seeks your consent, desperate to make you feel good but not willing to further his actions.
“Mmm, maybe just a little more.”
His fingers seek purchase further, finally diving into your folds. He gasps into your ear as he feels how wet you’ve become from his ministrations, stroking gently up and down your slick slit and circling over your clit.
“Fuck, look at you,” he nearly whines into your ear. ��So wet for me.”
“Please, Hobi,” you whimper. You’re not sure what you’re begging for, what you need, but all you want is for him to not stop, never stop.
“You want me to keep going, don’t you?” He asks, teasingly circling the pad of his finger on your swollen clit.
Unable to use your words, you nod. The light pressure on your clit has your thighs trembling and Hoseok thrills at the palpable desperation you’re feeling.
“Are you going to be quiet for me?” He asks, slowly moving his finger down before breaching into your channel. “Can’t be waking up the entire camp.”
Using your hand, you clamp over your mouth as your boyfriend's finger fucks into your hole, slowly and achingly gentle but with purpose. A shiver runs down his spine as he watches you try to hold yourself back. You’re not normally quiet—he makes it his mission to get you to whine and cry and yell his name as loud as he can when you’re at home. But the thrill of keeping you quiet while he sinks himself into you makes his body hum with want.
“Good girl,” he cooes as he introduces another finger inside you, scissoring you open with his lengthy digits. “Better stay quiet for me or I won’t let you cum.”
He quickly removes his fingers from your channel, making you whine behind your hand, which he silences with a soft tut.
“No complaining. Be good.”
He continues his journey to disrobe you, sliding off your pants and panties. He throws them to the other side of the tent where your luggage lies, no care about you wearing them the rest of the night. He follows suit with his own pants, swiftly pulling the material off his legs and allowing his throbbing cock to spring free. You desperately want to touch it, feel it in your hands and in your mouth, but he keeps you facing away from him, cock fully out of your reach.
“Such a perfect little ass,” he murmurs to himself as he admires your backside before sliding back into the big spoon position. The feeling of his hot, hard length against your bare ass makes you mewl with desire, teasingly rubbing against it.
“Fuck, Hobi,” you gasp as he slips his hands back to the apex of your thighs, scissoring into you again and warming his icy fingers in the heat of your cunt.
“Shhh,” he reminds. “Let me give your mouth something to do, yeah?”
He pulls his dripping fingers from within your walls and brings them to your mouth. You eagerly open wide, obedient and desperate for something to take your mind off the growing neediness your body is throbbing with.
Watching you suck your own wet slick off his fingers makes Hoseok’s cock ache with need. The tip is weeping with pre-cum, as if crying out to bury itself within your walls and never retreat. It twitches as your tongue swirls over his digits, teasing him and reminding him how well you can suck his cock.
“Shit, baby,” he gasps. “I’m going to bust right now if you’re not careful.”
He pulls his fingers from your mouth and uses the spit-slick hand to lift your leg enough for him to line his cock up at your hole.
“You want to warm my cock for me, baby?” He nips at your shoulder as he rubs the bulbous head along your slit. “God, I want to be in this pretty little cunt all night. Can you keep me warm tonight?”
“P-please, baby,” you gasp as the tip prods at your entrance, threatening to breach. He preemptively moves his free hand back to your mouth, covering it gently to help keep your noisy mouth muffled.
“Such a polite girl.” Hoseok’s lips skim over your neck and ear, nibbling at your lobe as he finally, blessedly, spears himself into you.
“Fuuuck,” he whines as he drops his forehead against your soft hair, shuddering as he buries himself to the hilt. “You’re so fucking tight.”
Nothing compares to the feeling of Hoseok sinking himself into you. It’s like the first time, every time. He clings to you desperately, as if he wants to bury his entire self in between your thighs and never retreat. Being connected to your boyfriend like this, not knowing where he ends and you begin, is the most dazzling aspect of sex. Your heart beats in overtime, breath short and heavy, as he holds you like you’re his only worthy possession in life.
He doesn’t move, doesn’t withdraw his cock and plunge back into you like his body is begging him to. He wants nothing more than to roll you onto your stomach and fuck you until you’re screaming his name for the entire national forest to hear, but he doesn’t.
“Mmm, Hobi, please,” you whine against his palm, kitten licking the flesh there to encourage him to move. It almost works, almost spurs him into action, but he remains flush against you and unmoving.
“Just trying to keep you warm, baby,” he teases. “Skin-to-skin contact.”
He can feel your body tense and shake around him, core tightening as you’re desperate to feel the friction you desire. It makes Hoseok nearly growl into your ear, clutching you tighter in his grasp.
“Now you want to fuck me?” He teases into your ear. “I thought you were tired?”
A pathetic whimper is the only response you can muster. You’re desperate for more, aching for his thick cock to thrust in and out of you. His hand slips down your body, caressing each inch of your skin before landing on your clit, circling the nub teasingly.
“I bet you could cum like this,” he breathes as he slowly swirls his finger. “With my cock stuffed inside you.”
He’s right—your body is already reacting to the stimulation and you can feel your body clenching around his unmoving length deep inside you. It’s prodding you in just the right spot that makes you keen, core desperate for some movement. His added touch makes you whine into his palm still covering your mouth.
“That’s right, baby,” he praises as he bites at your earlobe. “Such a needy little pussy, so desperate for me you could cum just from feeling me inside you.”
The pressure rises, stomach tightening as you feel your body near the edge of bliss. You can feel your thighs trembling as Hoseok whispers and nibbles at your ear, fingers working your clit with just the right rhythm to make you see stars.
His finger swirls with delicate speed, playing you like the nimble musician he is.
“Look at you, I’ve only started using my fingers and you’re already about to cum for me.”
Holding back your desperate moans, your eyes nearly roll back in their sockets as you feel your body build closer and closer to the blissful end that it craves. Having him buried deep inside you with none of the delicious friction is driving you crazy, and the speed of his fingers on your clit makes you keen for anything he can give you. You’re so close, so *fucking close* to your climax that your vision blurs.
Suddenly, the telltale sound of another tent zipper opening rips through the relative silence of the campground and Hoseok stills his finger on you.
“Shhh,” he warns, lifting his head to listen carefully.
The sound comes from your left, Jungkook’s tent, and you squeeze your eyes tight and whimper into Hoseok’s palm at the ache in your belly. Jungkook stumbles around the campground before he makes his way out, and Hoseok smirks as the footsteps get quieter.
“That was close, baby,” he says as his finger teases over your throbbing clit. “We don’t want Jungkookie to find his friend like this, don’t we?”
You shake your head, body trembling as his finger provides not-enough stimulation on your tortured clit.
He keeps quiet and continues his feather-light touch, pleased at the unexpected orgasm denial and the way it makes your cunt clench around his cock as if coaxing it to give you what you need most.
“You better not be loud,” he warns. “You don’t want to ruin our fun, right?”
Agonizing moments later, Jungkook’s footsteps return and he zips himself back into his tent and quickly heads back to sleep. He remains stilled inside you, listening intently for any sounds of the others awakening.
After minutes of desperate silence and your needy cunt aching for your boyfriend to move, he rolls you onto your stomach with him on top, cock still buried deep within you.
“You’ve done so well,” he praises as he leans down and licks a fat stripe on the back of your neck, making you shiver. “Take your reward like a good girl.”
Without warning, Hoseok grips at your hips and starts a brutal pace, fucking you fast and hard while staying quiet. It feels so good, better than the feeling of him being still inside you. Nothing can compare to his thickness spearing into you, stretching you wide. The ridges of his cock feel like heaven from the position he has you in, and you can feel the stimulation building upon your ruined, curtailed orgasm from earlier.
He quickly rams a piece of the sleeping bag into your mouth, forcing you to be quiet as he nearly impales you open, burying himself as deep into your womb as he can before retreating and thrusting in for more. You can tell he’s close by the way his movements lose finesse, the way his hands grip your thick hips as if he’s grasping a lifeline.
“Gonna fill you up,” Hoseok whispers harshly, his voice taking on the rough edge that makes your body react. “You want my cum, baby?”
Your mouth is full, but your head nods quickly and you arch your back to let him reach even deeper inside of you, desperate to get yourself and him off simultaneously.
“Shit,” he groans as he feels your body accept him even further at this new angle, your ass high in the air. He grips it, enjoys the way the flesh jiggles in his grip and with each thrust. “Cum on my cock, baby, please.”
Hoseok doesn’t beg, hardly ever, so when he’s desperate for your release, you’re equally desperate to give it to him. As he pounds into you, taking full advantage of your prone body and lifted hips, the dam holding back your climax finally erupts, making your walls quiver and squeeze around his cock and forcing you to bury your face as far as you can into your sleeping bag to muffle your whines.
He wishes he could hear your screams, wants to hear the way you cry his name out as your cunt milks him, begs him for his own end. Another round of thrusts and he feels it all snap, cock pulsing out hot spurts of cum into your eager and waiting channel.
He pulls out of you, loving the way his cum follows him out, dribbling out of your spent pussy weakly. He lifts a finger and scoops it up, pushing it back into your juicy walls and nearly whining as he feels it wet and sopping with his release. You’re pulling the sleeping bag from your mouth, panting hard from your own release and turning around to look at your boyfriend, hips wiggling.
Hoseok smiles fondly at you, removing his finger from your walls and rubbing the smooth skin of your ass.
“Are you warm?” He asks with a smirk, knowing by the sheen of sweat on both of your bodies that you’ve successfully warmed up in the bite of the chilly night.
He flops down beside you and pulls you in close, snuggling into the sleeping bag while kissing your face gently.
Hoseok’s cock is still hard, still aching even after a release and you’re quick to grasp it in your hands, finally getting a grip on it for the first time tonight.
“Better keep you warm all night like I promised, huh?” You smile sleepily as you lift your leg to allow him entrance to your center yet again. “Keep me full all night please, baby?”
He is loath to deny you, and the wet heat of your used pussy feels like heaven. He holds you closer, pulls you in tight as he buries his cock as far as he can go, before kissing you sweetly once more.
He knows he’ll wake up in a few hours, dick throbbing with a need to take you for yet another round, but for now, he revels in the warmth and love and safety he feels when he’s connected to you in nearly every way.
“By the way, I love you too, Hoseok,” you whisper to him after a few moments of silence, recalling to the sweet whispered words around the campfire.
Hoseok smiles as he closes his eyes, body and soul in pure bliss.
And when Namjoon complains in the morning that he could hear the sounds of his little sister getting railed, Hoseok will let him know he ensured you didn’t suffer from hypothermia—that it’s his job as boyfriend to ensure you’re kept safe,
and always kept warm.
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Hi, I loved crazy love. Literally I become obsessed, so I was wondering if you could write something about them when they are moving to their new apartment near to college and both of their families are helping them to have everything in order, but Rafe only want them to leave to be all alone with you in their new home. Maybe a little bit of smut?
a/n: this idea had my heart bc i'd really been wanting to write something like this ;) i hope you enjoy! thanks so much for the request!
Warnings: swearing, smut, mentions of planned pregnancy, discussion of sex
crazy love masterlist
my writing
our home: crazy love blurb - rafe cameron
"No, no a little to the left. Ward, are you listening to me?"
You sigh as you set the very last box down on the kitchen counter, stealing a glance at Rafe, who is sitting on your new couch. His head is in his hands as he listens to his parents bicker back and forth, trying to hang up the painting they had bought the two of you. Rose had gushed over it when she bought it, telling you it would match the rest of your decor perfectly.
"Of course, darling. You're talking loud enough," Ward gripes, shifting the painting to the left as Rose demands.
"Oh, come on, now. Back over to the right-"
"It's straight!" Rafe raises his voice, standing up from the couch.
You inhale sharply and step into the living room of your new apartment, wrapping an arm around him to try and calm him down. Ever since his parents and Wheezie arrived with the moving truck to help you both, he's been on edge. When your parents showed up with Macy, you thought he was about to go into cardiac arrest.
"Actually, I think it might just be straight," Rose nods, "Good eye, Rafe."
"Thanks so much," he remarks sarcastically.
"Hey," you whisper to him, trying to tell him to quit being mean to his step-mom, "They're here to help, remember?"
Rafe rolls his eyes, "I could do this shit myself."
"Because you're such a handy man?" you snort.
Rafe clenches his jaw as he looks down at you, but can't help the smirk on his face. He pulls you closer to him, leaving a gentle kiss on your forehead.
"Where did Macy and Wheezie go? They should start on those kitchen boxes," Rose tells Ward, stepping away from her husband to look for them.
"We can handle the kitchen boxes," Rafe tells her.
"Y/N?" Rose looks to you for a final answer.
You glance up at Rafe only for a second, noting the look on his face, then nod your head in agreement.
"I like the kitchen organized a certain way, anyway," you tell her with a smile.
She nods her head, "All right. Ward and I can start on your sheets-"
"Y/N's parents are taking care of that," Rafe informs her.
Wheezie and Macy come tumbling into the front door, running past all of you and into your bedroom with your parents.
"What the hell are those two up to?" Ward questions.
Wheezie and Macy have become as thick as thieves, the best of friends, over the summer. One day, you'd shown up at Rafe's only to find your sister in her kitchen with Wheezie, baking away. Ever since then, you and Rafe have had to be extra quiet upstairs.
Rose and Ward step toward your bedroom as well, which is down a small hallway just off the kitchen. Rafe grabs your hand and yanks you with him, following the crowd of people.
"Can everyone get out of our bedroom, please?" Rafe grumbles, standing behind his father and watching your parents finish up making your bed.
Your parents had not been crazy about you and Rafe living together right as you both make the transition to college. You had cried, begged, threatened to not go to school, and even dragged Rafe over for a family dinner so all of you could talk the situation out. You'd never seen Rafe's face so red as the night he had to sit at a dinner table and discuss with your father how the two of you would be sleeping in the same bed.
When your parents found out that the Camerons would be financing your rent bill, however, the living situation had changed. Your parents hadn't realized how expensive dorm living is, and the thought of not having to pay for housing on top of tuition sounded like a dream come true.
Which is how you land in your new, empty kitchen, trying to hold Rafe back from killing every family member the two of you currently have within arms reach.
"It's quarter to three," your dad tells your mother over your bed.
"Macy," your mom speaks, "Get your stuff, honey. We have to get going."
"Yeah," Rafe perks up, earning the attention of his parents, "You guys should get moving, too. Y'know, lots of traffic, and Wheezie's got that thing early in the morning."
Wheezie opens her mouth to speak, but stops suddenly when Rafe gives her the death stare. She looks to you, to which you just shrug, and then turns back to her parents.
"What thing?" Rose asks her. Ward's phone buzzes in his pocket, earning his attention.
"Uh," Wheezie hesitates, looking to Rafe once more.
"Girl scout meeting," Rafe blurts.
You cover your face with your free hand to try and prevent Rose from seeing your laughter. You truly have no idea where Rafe gets this idea that Wheezie is old enough to be in girl scouts. Wheezie narrows her eyes at him, shaking her head slightly.
"Girl scout?" Rose questions to herself, still trying to figure it out when Ward speaks up, eyes still glued to his phone.
"Wheezie, get your stuff. You won't want to be tired in the morning at your meeting."
Wheezie rolls her eyes but does as she's told, making her way out of your bedroom and down the hall to collect her things in the living room.
"Seriously, Rafe?" she hisses, "Girl scouts? I'm fourteen-"
"Shut up, Wheeze," Rafe says back to her through gritted teeth.
Wheezie turns to you, "He's your problem, now."
"Oh, boy, do I know it," you tease Rafe, smiling with Wheezie. She laughs, but it's short lived when Rafe shoves her away.
"Get your shit," he mutters.
"Stop it," you demand, stepping in front of him and holding onto his forearms as they are wrapped around your waist.
The one thing you love about Rafe more than anything is how he always shows affection to you, even if your parents or his parents are around. He just doesn't seem to care about anyone except you.
"I want them to go," he defends himself, keeping his voice quiet, "I just want to be alone with you. In our home. I didn't realize that was such a difficult request."
You smile up at your fussy boy, dragging one hand up to his face to stroke his cheek. You can faintly hear your families moving around the two of you, but you're too lost in your own little world to think too much about it.
"Be patient," you whisper to him.
He smirks, "Will you make it worth my while?"
You give him back the same look, loving the way he smirks at you and allows his eyes to rake over every inch of your face and torso. It takes everything in him not to just grab you by the throat and kiss the hell out of you, only controlling himself because your dad is ten feet away.
"Don't I always?"
Rafe groans, trying his best to keep his composure. He has to close his eyes as he continues to whine, knowing that if he keeps looking at you, he'll be hard in no time.
"All right," Rafe says loudly, tugging himself away from you, "Thanks for coming, everyone, but we have a lot to unpack here. Dad, Rose, Wheezie, I'll show you to the door."
You snicker as you watch him attempt to lead his confused family out the door. You turn to your own family, giving hugs and promising to call whenever you can. Rose refuses to leave without giving you a hug, which pisses Rafe off, as he's gotten Ward and Wheezie out successfully and only needs one more.
Rose promises to send flowers, one that match the color scheme of course, and tells you she'll call you to check on Rafe, since he doesn't bother to return her calls. You give Wheezie a hug and give Ward a polite smile and wave from the doorway.
The second they're all out the door, Rafe slams the door shut and locks it before any of them can decide they forgot something.
"Ah, free at last," you joke.
Rafe turns around, licking his lips as he thinks about how you two finally have an empty house and he has you all to himself. No distractions, no parents, no little sisters listening intently at the door for secrets and drama. He eyes you up and down once, and when he brings his blue orbs to meet yours again, you know what he's thinking.
"Come here," he demands, but he can't help himself.
That boy rushes over to you, pushing you up against the wall in the entryway of your new apartment, kissing you as if his life depends on it. You accept his kiss without a second thought, allowing your hands to wrap themselves around his neck.
"Up," he mutters against your lips, hands guiding themselves to your waist as you jump up and let him position himself in between your legs, wrapping them around his torso.
He moves his kisses to your cheek, then your jawline, then your neck, while his hands relentlessly roam your ass.
"Rafe," you say, tilting your neck to give him more space.
"Hmm," he hums against your skin, not stopping or slowing down for anything.
"I really do have to unpack the kitchen if you want to eat dinner tonight," you tell him, although you're fully aware he would never set you down for anything right now.
"Not hungry."
"Rafe-"
"I think," he stops you, wet kisses trailing your collarbone, "We should fuck everywhere. Y'know, break the place in."
Even though you two have been together for a while, him saying things like that to you always seems to send tingles through your whole body. He always knew what to say, what to do, to get you riled up in all the right ways.
"That would take us all night," you whisper, smirking because you already know what he's going to say.
"Fine with me, baby."
You smile, then reach down and grab ahold of his cheek with your hand. You lead his lips back to yours, kissing him harder than you had been before. He moans into your mouth and you know you have him right where you want him now.
"Kitchen first?" he questions, breathless, "Or should we mess up that pretty little bed your parents just made up?"
The raspiness in his voice gets you going, enough for him to notice you squirming in his grip. He grins, knowing exactly what it is you need.
"Kitchen," you tell him, watching as he barely nods before he kisses you again, carrying you over and setting you on the counter.
With ease, he removes your shorts and underwear, dropping his own shorts to the floor beneath him. He kicks all of the clothes away, knowing the two of you won't be needing them for a very long time.
"I can't wait, baby," he mumbles, excusing his lack of foreplay.
You shake your head, and he already knows you don't mind based on the way you're dripping onto the granite, "Please, Rafe."
He smirks and then grunts as he enters you, breathing out a sigh of relief that you two are finally home.
By the time you and Rafe even make it to your bedroom, he has to carry you because your legs can't physically function anymore. Rafe's proud of his work, but pretended to pout when he finished you off on the couch and you told him you needed a break.
He lays you down on your new, freshly made bed, moving the pillows out of your way and tucking you underneath the duvet. He climbs in beside you and molds you into his body almost instantly, inhaling your shampoo scent and perfume, thinking about how perfect this moment truly is.
"I can't believe it," he whispers.
"I know."
"Our home."
"Yes, it is."
You two lay there for a while, staring out at the tens of boxes that have each of your names written on them, just begging to be unpacked. You're sure Rafe's boxes will still be sitting there in two weeks, as he had packed a separate duffle bag of his 'essential' belongings.
"You know," he starts after a while, a devious smirk finding it's way to his cheeks, "The next big step is having a mini you. Or a mini me. But, I'd rather have a mini you."
"We just moved into our college apartment and you're talking about impregnating me," you laugh, as if to ask him if he's serious.
"She'll be so cute," he goes on, "A little girl that looks just like you. And she'd have your smarts, thank God, because she'd be screwed with mine. But she'd have my humor, of course."
"Of course?" you tease him.
"And then we'll have a boy."
"Wow, Rafe Cameron, you really just have this all figured out," you move your head up to look at him, noting the small, cheesy smile plastered across his face.
"I do, baby. He'll be a hellion, though. Never listening, always running away, but a total momma's boy. Never wants you to leave his side-"
"So, just like his dad, then?" you grin, watching Rafe clench his jaw and shake his head.
"Break's over," he grunts, rolling you on your back and climbing on top of you, "We're trying, now."
"No, we're not," you say forcefully.
Rafe rolls his eyes, "I'm joking. We'll wait until, like, junior year or something."
"Rafe."
"Fine. But the second you walk across that stage with your diploma, I'm putting a baby in you."
"Deal."
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