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juuuuliee · 3 years

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Broken promises

A/N: so... this is my first story I'm posting, so please don't be so hard on me hahaha... Constructive criticism is of course welcome! I'm working on a masterlist and other stories, so stay tuned if you'd like. I'm sorry if there are some logic and/or grammar mistakes - as I said, this is my first story. I hope you like it, have fun reading! See you soon :)

Pairing:young!Sirius Black x Reader

Genre:a lot of angst, a bit of fluff

Warnings:angst, family problems, relationship problems, jealousy.

Y/N felt bad. Not the kind of bad that makes you want to throw up, more like your stomach was knotting up and that queasy, uncomfortable feeling was getting bigger.

The common room had long been pitch black and only the fire, which was slowly dying away, gave off a small pleasant glow, but it barely reached the sofa where she was curled up.

He had promised. He had promised to be there and yet she had not seen him since lunch in the Great Hall.

Anger and disappointment kept bubbling up inside her, but she tried to ignore those feelings as worry about him grew and slowly took over.

What if something really happened to him?

Before she could think any more about it, she heard a creak and pulled up. The portrait door swung open and the fat lady could be heard cursing behind Sirius, who came stumbling into the common room, but stopped abruptly when he saw his steady girlfriend on the sofa.

"Y/N?" he asked, startled, looking at her with his eyebrows drawn together.

"Damn it, Sirius, where have you been?" she started, realising that the worry was just giving way to the anger that was rising at the sight of him.

"I was at the lake...well...it was someone's birthday from Hufflepuff and I thought...I could go...what did I do wrong, Love?" he told her hesitantly.

"What did you do wrong, Mister? I don't know, everything I think!" Y/N scolded back, theatrically throwing her hands in the air to express her frustration more.

"You said you were coming, Sirius! Hell, YOU even suggested we meet and still said, you’d had a ,,plan’’…I don't know if that was part of your plan, but if it was, I'm sorry, it's a shitty plan! I thought you would have hurt yourself or made it back to Filch's office."

"Y/N, I'm sorry, okay? I forgot, yeah? What do you want me to do? Invent a time reverser just so our ONE date can still happen?!" sneered Sirius, raising his own voice

"The ONE time?! Sirius I don't know if you've been counting, but this is the fourth time in a row you've forgotten or missed it!" now Y/N shouted too, at which Sirius took a step towards her, but she dodged him right back.

,,I know I'm probably overreacting, but I feel like I'm fighting for our relationship all by myself, Sirius. I'm tired of waiting for you all the time, even though I know you won't come and you probably don't even care. It just hurts, okay?" She had started crying completely now and pulled her jumper closer to her.

"Maybe it has something to do with your family problems," he interrupted angrily and raised his hand, which Y/N only looked at defiantly.

"I am who I am and that is how you should accept me, Y/N! I have apologised, what more can I do?!"

Silence.

Grey, angry eyes met e/c, staring at him with anger and disappointment.

,, "Maybe you should change your priorities if some Hufflepuff chick's party is more important than your own girlfriend, Sirius!"

,, "And maybe you should lower your expectations. You're not the most important person to me damn it!"

Ouch. It felt like Sirius had stuck a knife in your back and was very, very slowly turning it around.

"I didn't mean it, Y/N," Sirius said with a roll of his eyes, avoiding Y/N's hurt gaze and focusing more on her shoes.

,, "Yes you did and you know it very well!"

Sirius groaned and you could literally feel the anger bubbling up inside him again and he had to pull himself together very hard not to yell at her again. In the end, however, his temper won out: "You know what? I'm leaving! I'm tired of this kindergarten and this... this kind of you, Y/N."

"Fine!"

"Great!"

,,Fantastic!" sobbed Y/N, but Sirius barely heard it as he stomped up the stairs to his dorm.

Y/N sat back on the couch, exactly in the place where she had been sitting twenty minutes ago and everything was still "fine".

Had he broken up with her?

She didn't know, but she knew it hurt..., it hurt like hell. There was a hole in her heart and it felt like she was losing her boyfriend, who was moving further and further away from her into the mist, so that all she could see was his outline, not even looking back at her. She wanted to reach out to him, to run after him, but something that must have been her own pride pulled her back and tried to convince her that it wasn't her fault.

But she didn't trust that voice. If only she had stayed calmer... Maybe she could have talked to Sirius calmly about her feelings and thoughts....

——————————————————

"Y/N, wake up!" a voice called at her ear and Y/N slowly opened her eyes. Lily.

,, Lily, please! Let me sleep..." she muttered and turned around to avoid the red-haired witch.

"Forget it! It's Saturday...Hogsmead day," Lily purred excitedly.

"No!"

„Oh come on, Y/NN. We're going to Honeyduks and stock up on chocolate! James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are coming too, it'll be fun!", Lily tried to convince her, but Y/N just shook her head.

"I don't want to see him." "Who?" "Sirius." Lily furrowed her eyebrows questioningly, but quickly understood, "Did you two have a fight?" Y/N merely nodded her head and buried her face in her pillow.

"What was it about?" asked Lily, stroking soothing circles on Y/N's back to get the young witch to speak.

"He missed another date and was at some Hufflepuff party. I was so mad at him...I said things I didn't mean and so did he...His temper won of course...I don't know, it all just escalated. I don't think he wants to see me either." Y/N reported as she sat up and Lily nodded understandingly.

"That's bullshit. He knows he messed up, Y/N. Sirius isn't that stupid... and of course he wants to see you! Besides, it's Saturday, so if you two don't get along, you'll need some frustration food, Y/NN... chocolate! It'll be alright." Lily tried to persuade Y/N and she had to grin.

"Maybe you're right..." said Y/N hesitantly, "Of course I am!" laughed Lily and started to push Y/N into the bathroom.

,"I'm sure he'll be pleased." Repeated Lily, giving her friend a cheery smile.

Once in the Great Hall, the two girls headed for the Gryffendor table where all the Marauders were already seated. Lily gave Y/N's hand an encouraging squeeze before greeting the boys: "Hey!" she called and sat down next to James, who greeted her with a kiss. Y/N stood next to them a little indecisively before squeezing in between Peter and Remus, who greeted her with a quiet,, Hi."

She could literally feel the looks of the others lingering between her and Sirius and lowered her gaze to her plate to avoid the looks from the others and especially Sirius... unsuccessfully. She couldn't help but squint over at the black-haired boy. He had bags under his eyes and was also keeping his eyes on his plate, which was full.

Instead of chatting to the others, she followed James and Lily's relationship banter, which made her wrinkle her nose more than once... Cheesy as hell!

Fortunately, breakfast was over quickly and the group set off for Hogsmead. Sirius and Y/N were mostly quiet and only said something when asked. They all went to Honeyduks together first, where Y/N stocked up on lots of chocolate, at which Sirius just raised his eyebrows, but she avoided his questioning gaze and slipped unobtrusively over to Lily, who was sneaking a caramel into her mouth.

Are you okay?" she asked with her mouth full, eyeing her friend who was standing in front of her a little indecisively.

"He's not even looking at me, Lils... What if he broke up with me yesterday and I haven't even noticed?" whispered Y/N in panic and Lily quickly shook her head.

"He didn't break up with you... Sirius, even though this sounds weird, loves you... Even Peter can see that! Just go up to him and talk to him. But stop blaming yourself: HE messed up and stood you up, not you." She said urgently, piercing Y/N with her green eyes.

„It's okay, Lily," Y/N said, and moved away from her friend, again walking to the biscuit shelf, which was very close to her boyfriend. She looked over at him cautiously and noticed that he was peering over at her too, whereupon she quickly averted her gaze from Sirius again and pretended to analyse the biscuits on the shelf with interest.

After the group had paid for their things, they went into the Three Broomsticks. By the time they entered the pub, it was busy and noisy, making it difficult to find a table to seat them all. After a few minutes, Sirius waved the friends over, who had apparently found room at a table where two Hufflepuff girls were still sitting, giggling as Sirius sat down next to them as he grinned charmingly at them.

A wave of jealousy and frustration erupted in Y/N and she had to pull herself together not to flee the pub immediately. Instead, she bit the inside of her cheek and sat down next to Remus and James, opposite Sirius and Hannah, who probably considered Sirius's forearm her own. She batted her eyelashes and obviously(!) flirted with Sirius, who happily joined in her game.

Y/N quickly looked away, unable to afford to put up with this fuss any longer. Remus unobtrusively squeezed her hand under the table and, Y/N smiled at him gratefully.

Y/N sat awkwardly at the table, not knowing what to do or say next at the sight of her steady boyfriend apparently having already found a new one. Sighing, Y/N stood up and muttered: "I'm going to get us butterbeers, okay?"

Without waiting for the others to reply, she hurried away from the table. She noticed tears forming in her eyes but immediately wiped them away and made her way to the bar where many teenagers were gathered. Desperately, she tried to make her way through the crowd and eventually managed to do so.

She didn't notice someone squeezing up behind her and pushing in next to her until that person snapped at her.

„Y/N?"

Startled, she pulled up to look into the friendly face of Amos Digorry, who was looking down at her.

Oh! Hey, Amos," she greeted her seatmate in Divination and smiled at him.

"Is everything okay with you?" he asked with his eyebrows drawn together and Y/N nodded quickly as she wiped a few remaining tears from her cheeks.

‚,Everything is great, yes," she replied and was glad when Rosmerta put the buttebeer on the counter. Y/N smiled at her in thanks before turning to Amos, "See you around, Amos." She said goodbye and hurried away.

Arriving back at the table, her eyes immediately fell on Sirius and Hannah, who were still talking to each other. Hannah giggled and Sirius seemed to be perfectly comfortable in the company of the beautiful brunette too.

Y/N knew her, she was her seatmate in Potions. As she took a closer look at her, a wave of insecurity gripped her. She had everything one imagines as 'perfect'. She was tall and thin, with a small waist and an elegant posture. She just fitted into the toxic beauty ideals that existed and Y/N hated so much. And the worst part was that there was actually nothing to not like about her. She was sweet and helpful and super nice.

Even though Y/N knew that your weight, your smile, your general appearance, how many friends you have and whether you get good grades doesn't change your worth as a person, she suddenly felt so small and superfluous that she couldn't take it anymore.

She noticed tears welling up in her eyes and stood up abruptly, causing her to bang her knee against the table.

Pained, she screwed up her face and looked at the questioning faces sitting at the table, staring at her. Great... Embarrassed, she brushed a strand of hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear and smiled consumingly, but it looked more like a 'I'm going to cry' smile.

"I- I think I forgot my... uh my- something in Honeyduks, I think... I have- so yeah... I'll go..." she stuttered awkwardly, though she realised all her friends knew she was lying.

She quickly hurried away from the table and Sirius, unable to suppress the tears in her eyes. Hastily she wiped them away, but more kept coming. She didn't notice how Lily called after her in vain and Remus got up from his seat and tried to run after her, but James pushed him back into the chair, looking hauntingly at Sirius who sat frozen. When she got to the crowded alleyway, Y/N just stumbled through the crowd and was glad when she got behind Honeydukes, where there was a path that led to the howling hut. The path was snowed in and would have been beautiful if Y/N had paid more attention. She trudged along the path until she finally arrived at the howling hut. She just stared at it and stopped in front of it. She focused on the small cracks in the wall that looked like small branches of trees moving in the wind.

She heard footsteps coming closer and closer and turned around. Sirius. His black hair was a mess and he hadn't even zipped up his jacket. He was panting and apparently out of breath when he started to speak: "I'm sorry. I'm so incredibly sorry, yeah? You have to believe me when I say I'm sorry... Please Y/N, you have to believe me."

She said nothing and just looked at him urgently until he began to speak again: "Please say something. You can yell at me too, you can yell at me all year and the years after, but please say something." He pleaded, looking at her pleadingly as he wiped his face.

"You don't know anything, Sirius." , she started and he nodded to get her to talk further.

"You don't know how much it hurts to wait for a person that you- that you seem to love. You do know what it's like to not feel loved and- and to feel insecure... you know exactly what that feels like. And I always get so mad at the person who makes you feel that way because they hurt you! And I think I can say that I'm there for you then!" she gulped and Sirius nodded to agree with her, "But you're never there..." she sobbed, letting her tears fall again.

"I know you love me and I can't compare your family to our relationship. I feel good in your presence and- and that's how it should be... - that's how it should be! But- but it always hurts so much when you stand me up or ignore me and I don't even know what I- what I did wrong...I wasn't the one who stood you up, Sirius. It was you...and so many times!" she continued in exasperation and Sirius wasn't sure whether to let her finish or give her a hug. But before he could make a decision for himself, Y/N continued: "And today was even worse! Lily told me all the time that it wasn't my fault and now I know that it wasn't or isn't mine either. But then when you were flirting with Hannah and you-you were having such a good time, I was so sad! Why can you talk to her and have fun but not with me?! Why are you happy to see her but not me?!" asked Y/N desperately and Sirius opened his mouth to stop her from having those thoughts but she continued with a sad look: "You once promised me you would never make me feel small or insecure. You once promised to always be there for me. You once promised me that I was the "only one" and that you loved me. You promised to be there for me so many times, Sirius. But somehow you broke them all and I don't know what to do with these broken promises. I love you and that's not going to change, but I- I just don't know what to do with it when you- you hurt me so much and make me feel so insecure... So actually, you do know what that feels like...just differently." She confessed to him and completely burst into tears.

Sirius, who had tears in his own eyes, looked at her with a pained smile, which made her cry even more. He broke the distance between them and took her in his arms. He pressed her tightly against him and had to bend down to put his face in the crook of her neck. She clung to his shoulders and pressed her face into his chest to breathe in his familiar scent.

They stood like that for a while. Both crying, holding each other as close as possible. After a few minutes, Sirius slowly detached himself so he could look into her eyes.

"You don't know how sorry I am, Y/N. I don't want to hurt you! Merlin, when I think about the fact that I did it, I want to hurt myself. You're- you're- Damn, I'm not good with words!" he laughed and even Y/N had to smile a little.

,,I love you. For everything you do and for everything you say. I love you for who you are and for those little things you do for others. And I will- will never stand you up or break the promises I made to you ever again. I swear I will do my best, Y/N....and I am so grateful that you love me because I never wanted anything else in my life! You don't have to forgive me now...I understand if you don't, honestly." He said softly so she could just hear.

She smiled slightly at him and said laughing: "So if you kiss me now, it'll make things a bit better."

Sirius grinned and closed the distance between them, placing his warm lips on hers. He kissed her softly and lovingly, as if afraid to scare her away, but she didn't go. She deepened their kiss a little and sighed into his mouth.

As they kissed there like that, in front of the howling hut with dried tears on their cheeks, Y/N knew that everything would be allright again....

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cutethingstolove · 3 years

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First Day Back… in Diapers

Photo From @little-stephanies-diary, Part 6

Stephanie was having the best night’s sleep she had experienced in a long time. Maybe it was because of how close she felt to her dad from the night before, maybe it was because of the damp diaper she was wearing. Whatever it was, she didn’t want it to end. Alas, her alarm clock didn’t care how well she was sleeping and began ringing at 6:30 as it did on every school day. Reaching out to turn it off, her eyes still not quite open, she felt the urge to go to the bathroom. She really didn’t want to crawl out of her comfy bed yet, and realizing she was still wearing her diaper, she relaxed just a little and emptied her bladder right there. The feeling of her diaper absorbing every ounce brought a smile to her face, and made her feel a lot better about finally leaving her bed.

Knowing she was up on time today, Stephanie decided to enjoy her wet diaper just a little while longer and went downstairs for breakfast before changing. Walking down the stairs in in her diaper that she had wet in twice was a new experience for her. The extra bulk forced her to waddle just a little, and she could feel the weight of it pulling downward on her hips. Shockingly, she actually enjoyed the way everything felt. When she reached the kitchen she grabbed some cereal, milk, bowl, and spoon before sitting down at the table where her dad was already eating.

As she took her chair opposite her dad, her diaper made a much more subtle crinkle than she had heard before. It dawned on her that the wet diaper was a lot quieter than it was when it was dry, and she just hoped her dad didn’t notice. Without saying a word she just poured her cereal as if it were any other morning, but glanced up as her dad spoke.

“Morning princess,” he said, “How well did you sleep last night in your new diaper?”

“Really well actually,” she replied excitedly, “That was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time.”

“Good to hear,” he said smiling, “And did you manage to keep it dry all night?”

“Well no,” Steph said as she stared back down at her breakfast, “But I promise it’s not a problem daddy.”

“How is a wet diaper not a problem sweetheart?,” he inquired, “The reason I put you back in diapers was because you had an accident yesterday. Having another accident while you were asleep was exactly what I was worried about.”

“It wasn’t really an accident daddy,” she sheepishly explained, “I was so tired last night after doing homework that I thought it would just be easier to pee my diaper than take it off and have you change me again. And this morning I didn’t want to get out of bed right away, so I did the same thing. I figured it was already wet and I would be changing for school, so I thought it was ok.”

“I can understand that honey,” he said understandingly, “But that does mean that your week of potty training restarts today. Now finish up your breakfast and get ready for school.”

A little upset that she had added a day to her time in diapers, she realized it was only one day which wasn’t too terrible. She finished eating her cereal, put everything back in the kitchen, and headed upstairs to shower before putting on her school uniform. As she entered the bathroom, she pulled off her pajamas before undoing the tapes on her diaper and throwing it in the trash. She showered quickly before heading to her room to change for the day. Going about her normal routine, she was still taken aback when she went to grab a pair of underwear only to remember that they had all been replaced with Goodnites. Somewhat reluctantly grabbing a pair, she pulled them on before putting on her stockings, skirt, and white shirt that the school made her wear.

When she left her room to head back downstairs to grab her backpack, her mind was flooded with a horrifying thought; today was gym day and she would have to change in front of all the other girls! The only thing that consoled her was the fact that the school had separate gym classes for the boys and girls, so at least none of the boys would accidentally see her pullup during class. Just as she was about to leave the house to walk to her bus stop, she heard her dad’s deep voice from the other room.

“Princess,” he boomed, “I know today is going to be different now that you are back in diapers. I should also let you know that I gave the nurse a bag of bigger diapers just in case.”

“But daddy,” she exclaimed, “I won’t need those! Why did you give those to her?! I can’t wear ones those big at school!”

“They are just there as a backup,” he reassured her, “I just wanted to let you know that the nurse knows about the deal we have, and will be there just in case. I did buy you ones that have bunnies on them because I know how much you love bunnies.”

“Fine,” she moaned, “But I promise I won’t need them. These Goodnites are easy enough to take off so I can still use the bathroom. I need to go though. Love you daddy!”

Stephanie left the house quickly and made her way down to her bus stop. As she walked along, she did notice that the Goodnites weren’t nearly as puffy as the diapers she wore at school yesterday. They were a lot quieter to, and she thought that this wouldn’t be so bad because they were so much more discreet. They still felt much warmer than her regular panties, and she enjoyed that quite a bit on the cold January morning. She arrived at her bus stop right as it was pulling up, and she stepped on and made her way to her normal seat for the long ride to school.

When the bus pulled up to the school, she headed inside and to her class with Mrs. Hanson. She managed to stay awake today during class, probably because of how well she had slept the night before. She actually managed to stay awake all the way until her lunch period, even using the bathroom once with no one noticing her pullup! After grabbing her lunch tray and taking a seat, she started to feel like she needed to pee again. This was a problem as the school had a very strict policy that once a student entered the cafeteria, they weren’t allowed to leave until the lunch period was over. This meant that she had to hold it for more than 30 minutes until she could go to the bathroom, but she thought that she could make it that long. With only five minute left before she could leave, she realized that she wasn’t going to make it. She had already been fidgeting in her seat for almost the entire time, but she just couldn’t hold any more and he Goodnite quickly filled up.

As soon as she was allowed to leave, she went as fast as she could to the nurse’s office to change. She was bright red with embarrassment when she entered the office, she paused for a moment to think about just how crazy this was. She was going to have to ask the nurse for one of the diapers her dad had dropped off, and hated the idea of admitting that she needed them. The nurse had heard Steph open the door and turned from her desk.

“Stephanie, you’re back,” she quipped, “What can I help you with?”

“Well Nurse Baker,” she timidly replied, “My dad told me that he had left some things here for me, and I think I need one.”

“I understand,” Nurse Baker calmly said, “I can hand you one behind the curtain so you can take care of it yourself again.”

“Actually,” Steph said, “I wouldn’t mind some help putting it on. I found they fit better that way. I’ll take care of what I’m wearing now, but I’ll take my skirt off and lay down on the bed if you can help please.”

Nurse Smith nodded understandingly and went to the cabinet to grab one of the bunny diapers Stephanie’s dad had left. Stephanie stepped behind the curtain and took off her skirt and wet Goodnite, throwing the latter in the garbage before laying down on the bed. One thing she had always loved about the nurse’s office were the warm black blankets they had, so she grabbed one and covered her upper body to stay warm. As Nurse Smith stepped through the curtain, Stephanie lifted her butt off the bed just as she had done the night before with her dad. Not nearly as afraid as she was with her dad, Steph looked on as Nurse Smith slid the diaper under her before wiping her clean and taping the diaper on.

Stephanie felt much better with a clean diaper on, but had noticed that Nurse Smith wasn’t nearly as gentle when she was wiping her as her dad was when he powdered her last night. She still enjoyed being changed by the nurse, but not nearly as much as she did when her dad had done it. She stood up and pulled her skirt and stockings back up, and then pulled back the curtain before asking the nurse for a note to explain why she was late to her next class. Once she had the note in hand, she left and quickly walked to class opening the door only a couple of minutes after the bell. She handed the note to her teacher and took her seat before it hit her; she still had gym class that afternoon and had no idea how she could hide this much bigger diaper from the other girls in the locker room. At least she had 2 full class periods to come up with something before she had gym as her last class of the day.

To Be Continued…

#ab/dl #ab/dl girl #diapered #diapered girl #ab/dl caption #ab/dl story

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jeontaehui · 3 years

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Dream VS. Dream | JAEMIN VS. TAEHEE

taehee scribbles each question she came up with down on the white paper, easily copying the ones she had prepared beforehand from her phone.

she makes eye contact with jaemin from across the set and gives him a playful wink, eliciting an enthusiastic reaction from the latter, “YEAHHH! SEXY!”

taehee finishes a few seconds before jaemin does and she looks to the camera to say that she came prepared. “i think i was too excited for filming this kind of content,” she giggles, “so i prepared them beforehand even if i didn’t know who i was gonna be with, but i changed some questions so jaeminie could answer.”

“it’s a mix of hard and easy questions,” taehee explains, yet her tone was unsure. “but jaemin-ssi is observant,” she nods, playing with the strings of her top, “and attentive, so i think he’ll get these right.”

“hello, jaemin-ssi,” she politely bows once they were both seated in front of each other, “what brings you here today?”

jaemin snorts, “what brings me here today?” taehee nods, anticipating a ‘jaemin’ kind of answer from him. “i was just passing by,” he says calmly, “being sexy.”

“ohh, being sexy?” taehee repeats, “you’re doing great so far.” jaemin lets out another chuckle before asking the same question she asked him, “how about you, miss jeon taehee? what brings you here today?”

“oh i’m a reporter,” she tells him, and jaemin’s mouth forms into an ‘o’, “i report what’s on-set. this is the interview portion and i’m holding my cue cards.”

“are you only interviewing me?” “yes, i’m only interviewing you.” “i feel special then,” jaemin shrugs proudly, showing his pearly white teeth at the camera.

“ladies first.” “okay, i’ll start with an easy one — what is my favorite ice cream flavor?” taehee raises both brows, expecting jaemin to get it right away yet he says, “easy, mint choco.” a short laugh escapes her as she shakes her head, “no? mango? no also… is this a flavor from baskin robbin’s?” the disbelieving grins they have on each of their faces begin to match, “jaemin-ah!” “it is mint choco!” “no!”

“jaemin,” she says, tone serious but the smile on her face says otherwise, “just think simply.” one, two, three seconds pass…. “cookies and cream?” “good job!” jaemin finally chuckles in relief, “how can i not get that?” she clicks her tongue at him, “right?”

“what was the first menu we had together?” she asks next, and jaemin decides to think a lot longer before answering, “it was in 2019, right?” taehee nods, “ah, tangsuyuk!”

“it’s funny how you remember that because we only ate together like.. twice,” she giggles.

“next one!” jaemin says in english, causing taehee to giggle at his adorableness. “which of your things do i want to have?” his eyes widen, “which of my things do you want to have?” “mhmm.” “can you give me a hint?” she bites the inside of her cheek before answering, “you bring this to set.. or like every time we travel or go out.” jaemin’s eyes light up as he answered, “ahh camera! i remember you telling me now, yeah.”

“jaemin’s really good at taking pictures,” taehee tells the camera, “he takes them so well, and then you’re good at editing too.” jaemin could only smile at her and nod, feeling wholesome at her shower of compliments.

“i like taking pictures of you the most,” he tells her, surprising taehee. “really?” a soft hum sounds out of him, “and you don’t really take pictures of yourself, noona... you should take more pictures of yourself, you’re pretty.” “alright~” taehee brushes him off with a playful roll of her eyes, hiding the fact that she was feeling shy with his nice words, “okay, next question!”

“this one’s fill in the blanks,” she gives him a short glance before proceeding, “i wish jaemin was my ... blank.” he tilts his head to the left, thinking, “i wish jaemin was my blank. i have no clue.”

“think of this,” taehee decides to give him a hint, “you’re caring. you take care of the members really well. you’re a good hyung and a good cook!” jaemin titters for a short while, before a blank expression dawns over his features as he shakes his head, “i still don’t know.”

“older brother,” taehee tells him, putting the piece of paper behind the rest of her stack. jaemin’s brows raise in surprise, “really?” he hears a positive hum out of her, “i don’t know if it was jisung or someone else, but i told them, ‘jaeminie would be a good older brother’ and they said, ‘why not me?’“ they both laugh at that, it was definitely jisung.

“i can be your older brother starting now,” he tells her. “are you serious?” “yeah but you have to call me ‘oppa’,” a giggle escapes jaemin at the way taehee freezes, watching her resume to fiddling with the papers in her hands, “ahh... it comes with that.”

“okay, last question!” taehee laughs before she could even get her sentence out, “what did i recently buy?” the younger boy’s eyes drift across the set as he repeated her question, mumbling.

“ah!” he exclaims after a few seconds, his eyes crinkling as he laughed, “a turtle! rocky!” his chuckles were contagious, and taehee finds herself cracking up at the memory. “noona and i were sent to buy take out for the team,” jaemin starts, “so i waited in the car, but noona wanted to come out so she did and went in the same direction as our manager.” this is the part where taehee starts hiding her giggles with her palm, “when manager noona came back, alone, i went, ‘huh? where’s taehee noona?’ and then she comes by a few minutes later from the opposite direction with a turtle!”

“as soon as she went inside the car, she said, ‘everyone, meet rocky!’ and our manager went,” he widens his eyes into a pointed stare, his mouth going agape as he imitated their manager’s expression. you could hear taehee’s as well as jisung’s laughs from off-screen. “and you said, ‘that is definitely not food!’” taehee adds.

"what came into your mind that made you decide to buy a turtle?” jaemin grins, looking at the latter with amusement in his eyes. “you know how taeyong hyung has an aquarium in their dorm?” she answers him, “it’s nice to look at and i thought our dorm can have something like that too.”

“so jaemin got everything correct—” “i think i only got four though.” “let’s just say you got everything correct,” she brushes him off quickly with her hand, chuckling, “so now it’s jaemin’s turn to ask!”

“what’s the most recent item i purchased?” he throws at her, and taehee subtly sighs as she looked off set, thinking. “speaker?” she answers unsure, but jaemin’s smile tells her she’s correct before they proceed with the next question.

“how many speakers do i have?” taehee brings both hands to her chest as she tells him excitedly, “i know this! i remember counting it in your room!” jaemin chuckles at her cuteness, “so do you remember?” “wait, give me a moment.”

taehee taps her feet on the floor as she fidgets. “speakers come in pairs, right?” she asks him, “are they all by pairs?” jaemin shakes his head, “nope, not all.”

“mm, including the ones you bought yesterday.. six?” taehee’s eyes light up with hopefulness, making jaemin’s smile grow wider at her enthusiasm, but he shakes his head again. “ten?” her eyes widen when he tells her she’s correct, before furrowing her brows at the number. “why do you need ten speakers? wouldn’t you hear anything outside if you have that many?” jaemin laughs, “no, for the surround system, i need it.” “ahh,” she nods understandingly, “that’s cool.”

“for editing photos, which device do i use?” “the computer! imac!” “there’s more,” he tells her. “imac.. ipad?” she raises a brow, continuing when she sees jaemin nod. “imac, ipad, i... phone!” taehee shouts victoriously, “iphone, your phone. right?” he grins at her proudly, “you’re getting so much right. good job.”

“what’s my favorite color?” he asks, expecting she’d get this question right. “black,” he shakes his head no. “white,” nope. “you don’t seem like a blue type of person though... pink?” jaemin laughs, “noona! this is super easy!”

“mint hoodie—” “nope!” “that wasn’t an answer! i was just pointing it out,” he chuckles at her blatant excuse, deciding to give her a hint. “noona,” jaemin drops his head down to the floor before facing her with a serious gaze, “you’re holding it right now.” she flips her own stack of papers quickly and grins, “yellow! i was just about to say that, you should’ve waited for me. talent takes time, jaeminie.” the younger boy snorts, “getting answers right isn’t a talent.”

“what is my favorite dog breed?” she finds the fourth question the hardest so far, “there are lots of dog breeds out there!” jaemin starts to look around the set and call a member out, “jeno! where’s jeno? i’m sure jeno knows.” taehee’s mouth closes and opens like a fish out of water until she stops and gives him a sarcastic look, “do i look like jeno to you?” (jisung, from off the screen, laughs loudly at this.)

“jeno knows it the best,” he tells her. a small pout appears on taehee’s face yet it disappears in a split second, starting to shuffle the papers in between her hands, “i gave you questions that had you in it and you give me a question jeno knows best, huh.” jaemin laughs at the scoff that leaves taehee afterwards. he shakes his head softly, “he knows it best because it looks like him.” taehee blinks two or three more times before she gets it right, “ah, samoyed! it’s a samoyed.”

“i didn’t know that about you,” she mentions, “do you like it because it looks like jeno?” a short laugh escapes jaemin at her question, but he answers her simply with, “i just like it. it’s cute.”

“what game do i play these days?” taehee points her finger to him, “you play with haechan, yeah? apex.” an evil-sounding laugh comes out of jaemin knowing that she wouldn’t get this question so easily, “no? pubg.” “nope.” “okay then, is it on the phone or on the computer?” he shakes his head at her, “if i tell you, you’d get it right away. it’s not on both.”

taehee hums, “rock, paper, scissors?” he gives her another sly hint, “no, think of a nonsensical answer.” she clicks her tongue, “don’t break the ice.”

jaemin throws his head back with a laugh, before telling her the answer, “none.” he says that with such finality that taehee looks to the side in faux annoyance, tongue brushing against the side of her cheek, much to the amusement of the latter. “it’s so fun, right?” jaemin teases, “next one... i do not have it, so taehee noona got everything right in a sense.” taehee nods with him, leaning back and looking at the camera, “right, jaemin got everything correct too.”

“we actually know each other so well,” she says, glancing towards jaemin as he agrees with her, “this was a piece of cake.” she starts to get on her feet while the other does the same, putting their hands out for a polite handshake at the end of the video.

taehee tries to put an arm around the taller boy, chuckling for a bit when she had to tiptoe to reach his height. she doesn’t notice the grin jaemin sports because of this, “we’ll continue to know more about each other in the future.. and eat together more often! we should eat together more often.” she meets jaemin’s adoring gaze when she faces him, and so she grabs him by the elbow and starts leading them both off-set, “thank you!” “dream vs. dream, bye bye!”

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is-nini · 3 years

Text

Genshin impact x reader

Episode: 2

Title: proven innocent?

A/n: someone ask me to make a tag list... I never make one.. but i hope I'm doing this right.. if i make a mistake please point it out😅 thankiuu❤️❤️. possible love interest for now will be : Diluc, Kaeya, Albedo, Zhongli, Childe, Xiao, Beidou, Ningguang.

"you're in Mondstat.. the land of freedom.."

She trails off, you take the glass and gave her a thankful smile. Mondstat.. oh yeah.. the land of freedom.. the land where the anemo god rule.. wait what now? The land of... Huh??? Isn't that- your brain clicked. Mondstat is where the traveler start....

The girl seems to notice you staring off into space, the glass is still glued to your mouth and the water is touching your mouth but.. the water is not decreasing and you didn't seems to do any gulping either.

"u-uhm.. my name is Barbara! What's yours?".

The girl that now you know named Barbara asked, you contemplate for a while.. what is your name? Well- you know your name but what should you gave her ...

"y/n.."

You trailed off, why did you do that?! You don't even know.. this is just a game anyway, what's the bad thing that could happen?

"y/n? Hum... A very interesting name."

She nods in understanding interesting? What did she means? You thought to yourself.. maybe giving your real name away is not the right choice..

"so y/n.. where do you come from?"

You widen your eye, you space out for a bit which made Barbara very suspicious of you but she wait either way. While Barbara calmly waiting for your answer, your brain is going on a world war. What can you say? Where you from? You haven't gone that far into the game you doesn't know anything?!

"I don't know.."

Good going y/n you face palm yourself inside your head. Barbara furrowed her eyebrow damn... You're dead.

"hum... It's okay, we will find your family soo-".

Just as about Barbara finished her words, the door suddenly opened reveals a tall tan man with a eye patch on his right eye- this is that man.. the one who claps at the traveler in one of the early cut scene, Kaeya if you're not mistaken.

"ah-! Sir Kaeya".

That now you know 100% is Kaeya, walked inside the room and smile at Barbara.

"well Barbara, you have done a lot of things for this stranger.. why don't you go and take a rest?".

The words that Kaeya kust said might seems caring and kind.. but the undertone of mystery and more is also present.. and unfortunately for you.. you're probably doomed here.

Barbara was about to say something but quickly shuts her mouth, she make her way outside your resting room. Now you're alone with this hot man.. brain he is hot but please don't get swayed you thought to yourself.

"okay stranger.. tell me where are you from?".

He goes straight to the point. Your brain goes to another stone as you tried to answer his question.

"Mondstat".

Frick why did i say that. You look at him intensely in the eye, trying to prove to him that you're not lying. Kaeya narrowed his eye and fold his hand.

"you're pretty good at lying, sadly for you I'm not buying it".

Yeah.. well that's kinda expected. You look away from him, gazing at your feet that's covered with white blanket. You don't know what to say now.. especially if this man is hard to lie to..

"I don't know where I'm from".

You decided to come clean.. well- there is a lie there but it's kinda true. Kaeya looks at you intensely. His eyes really looks like their calculating by default.

"hum.. interesting. You're wearing a one of Mondstat's common dress yet you don't know where you're from?"

Wait what.. you finally observe your surroundings, you stare down at your dress. You didn't notice this.. you realize that you are wearing a dress similar to the one that the girls around Mondstat use.. you know the npc one. Okay being sucked in the game is fun and all but really game? You could've give me a more interesting dress. You stare at the man and sigh.

"listen.. i don't know where I'm from and also let me ask you back- how am i here in the first place?".

Kaeya stare at you, blinks a couple of times and laugh out loud clutching his stomach. You look at him weirdly now it's your turn to fold your hand.

"okay that was unexpected of you stranger".

He take a seat beside your bed, he folds his right leg over his left and smile at you. You don't really remember about his personality.. but you do know that he is flirty.

"uhuh? Thanks?".

You looks at him suspiciously and also taking his confusion and amusement as a good thing.

"well.. let me answer your question. One of our knight found you at the sea shore.. you were knocked out cold. They assume you are a member of Mondstat".

He unfolds his leg, rest his elbow on his knee, bend his back forward a little bit and resting his chin on the back of his palm making him look 1000x more hot- okay brain.. stop wondering off to useless place you shake your head and nod at his previous words.

"but they never saw you around Mondstat.. they're scared to do anything so they called the nurses immediately.. i was about to quarantine you.. but because this is Mondstat.. they decided to save you".

You gulp nervously. What does he means by quarantining you?! Is it like... Some kind of jail? No... You don't think so.. Mondstat is the land of freedom.. not having a jail would make sense. Kaeya stare at you for a while and sigh, catching your attention. You looked at him nodding understandingly but completely confused.

"just call me Kaeya".

You look at Kaeya up and down, you puts your point finger at your chin and staring at Kaeya up and down, not even bothering to hide the fact that you're checking him out.

"what are you doing".

Kaeya deadpans, you just shrugs your shoulder as you slowly stroke your leg outside the bed, trying to get up.

"i am checking you out mr. Hot".

You stated bluntly because hey.. there's no use hiding it anyway. You're not discreet and not trying to hide it anyway. Kaeya holds your arms as you struggle a little bit to get up. You smile up at him.

"thankyou mr hot.man".

You finally look around the place, not noticing the slight red blush across a certain blue haired man's face while You are observing the room and the dress you wear. You felt kind of bumped not being able to wear cool clothes like the playable characters but.. Oh well, you're not meant to be here anyway. Talking about not meant to be here.. how do you get back?. You turned back to the man.

"Mr hot man... what is the name of the place that i was last found.. if i may ask?"

Kaeya ponders for a while, he looks back at you.

"the last time the Knights found you is on the sea near star fell lake".

Where is that place... Flash back when you're playing the game.. wait nevermind, you didn't remember the map. Oh well maybe you can ask around later.

"thankyou Mr. Hot".

Kaeya chuckles as you wave goodbye to him and left the room. Kaeya didn't even bother to escort you after all.. he has something important to do.. searching for your information.

"ah-! Y/n!"

A voice you heard sounds familiar, right when you're outside the door of the room that you just been in, Barbara came to you.

"hello Barbara!".

She stops in front of you and look to your left and right side. She touched your head, trying to check if you're okay or not.

"you doesn't seem sick.. well then! That's good".

You didn't say a word, assuming that Barbara have something to tell you. You and her have a akward staring contest. You blink once and giggle.

"thankyou Barbara!! That's very nice of you to check up on me, what's wrong?".

You asked her, assuming that there is something she would like to say, she startled back as if she finally remembered something.

"o-oh yeah! My sis- i mean the acting grand master would like to see you".

Andddd your assumption are right. She does need something, you were about to say goodbye when you remember something.

"ah-! Barbara where is this.. acting grand master?"

Barbara slap her head and quickly explained to you where the place is, you nod at her and make your way to the acting grand Masters room.

"halt!"

Once you reached the the door to the entrance of the office, a guard stopped you from going in.

"Tell me what business do you have here".

The guard ordered you to say your reason to be here, you were about to say something when the door suddenly opened.

"what's happening here?".

A girl with a low ponytail that's slipped forward with a purple flower shows up. She wears a.. pretty tight dress with two slits on the side like one of those chinese dress but with purple colour.

"oh.. it's you, follow me honey".

Before the guards even say something the woman already ask you to join her, the guard seems like they just let her whatever she does. So you just join her inside without looking back at the guards.

"she's here jean".

The girl called "jean" that looks pretty similar to Barbara stare at you, she smiled as you and got up from the seat. She pulled her hand in front of her, asing you to shake her hand. Being a polite person you are you shake her hand back.

"hello there.. y/n if I'm not mistaken?".

You nod and smile back at her, she asked you to take a seat in front of the table that is located inside the room.

"so.. y/n I'm sorry but we must investigate you for a while.. seeing as you existing out of nowhere and nobody here claims you to be their family i have a question.. where are you from and how did your hand gets on one of the Mondstat dress?"

You blink at her confused, you sigh and without thinking much you just said everything that you knew.

"I don't know where I'm from. I don't even know where im at when i woke up.. I don't know how can i get my hands on this.. Mondstat dress".

Yeah everything you said makes sense.. Barbara did say that you don't know where you are when you first woke up.. but that might be a trick is what jean thought.

"oh apologies, my name is jean. I am the acting grand master".

She explained, she doesn't seem like she is ignoring your previous word... Maybe she's changing the subject?

"nice to meet you miss jean".

You greets her back with her name rolling off your lips. Lisa stare at the conversation intensely and quietly.

"well then.. thankyou for meeting us.. you are dismissed".

Dismissed? What? You stands up and nod your head thankyou. Before you get out you turn your body towards jean.

"I-i'm sorry but where am i suppose to go..?".

Jean and the purple dressed girl looks at eachother it's as if they're talking about something but with no words being spoken.

"ah yes.. uhm- you will meet a certain knight.. please wait for a while".

A/n: I know cutting of the story here doesn't make sense but please bear with it for a while T-T i accidentally make a mistake and i will continue this on the next story! I Apologize deeply for the mistake, thankyou for reading!

Tag list:

@laic2299 @inlustris-is-slowly-dying

#genshin fanfiction #genshin fanfic #genshin x reader #genshin jean #genshin lisa #x reader fanfiction #genshin x y/n #genshin x you #genshin diluc #zhongli #kaeya #albedo

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jd-loves-fiction · 3 years

Note

Hey! If you’re taking requests can I get a Frankie Morales x reader where they’re both friends and has crushes on one another but don’t say anything. Then Santi invites everyone (with Tom? Up to you) to a bar and Frankie invites his gf and reader is crushed abt it. Tons of angst but you can end in fluff or keep at angst. Thanks in advance if you write this! :)

🌙 the yearning 🥺 hope you like it :))

[22:09] “Look who it is! My favorite girl.”

“Knowing you, I have a hard time believing that, Santi.” You teased as you walked through the doors and towards the bar, receiving various amused chuckles from the men that had heard you while the accused shook his head.

You immediately asked for a drink as you sat beside Benny who smiled at you as he patted you on the back.

“Been awhile.” Tom commented, gaining your attention as he took a sip from his beer. “Sure has. How’re the girls?”

“Fine. Tess says she misses you. Should come and visit sometime.” He speaks calmly, smiling at the mention of his daughter while you do the same out of fondness for the young girl.

“I will. Soon. Just been kind of busy lately.” Tom squeezed your shoulder as a sign that he understood. You finally began to take in the space around you.

It was a quiet night at the local bar Pope had picked out, only a couple of lovebirds and a few teens (that probably shouldn't be in there but the place sold food too, so who knew), plus William, Benny and his newest fixation, which you promptly moved to greet as they had sat themselves in front of the TV playing a random MMA match. Of course.

You greeted the brothers with the usual banter, and the new lady politely, though you did tease her about picking Benny just a little. To keep her on her toes and to push his bottoms just a little. At least William seemed amused.

You then moved to Pope himself, who seemed to be staring off into space, not jumping but moving his gaze quickly to the one that had given him a forceful pat on the back, you.

You smirked a his lost expression for a moment, to which he chuckled while blinking the haze away from his eyes. “Didn't know you had an interest in interior design."

"I don't."

"Then, what's so enthralling about that wall, over there?" Your teasing gets a sigh out of the absentminded man before he shakes his head, "Nothing."

"By the way, is Frankie ever gonna show up?" You’d never really tried to be subtle about your not-so-little crush on Frankie, so you figure there’s no use trying to hide it now. Knowing that Pope definitely knows what’s up by the glint in his eye.

“He said he would. Also said he’d be bringing a plus one.” You furrow your brow at the added comment but don't think much more on it.

It's not long before the man himself steps through the door, eliciting excited shouts from the men in the bar waiting for him. You miss the look Santiago shoots you as you turn around to look at Frankie... And his plus one.

He walks in first, followed by a woman you don't recognize, understandingly embarrassed by the weight of all the interested gazes suddenly on her.

You look down, back at your drink, hoping she didn't catch the dark expression that passed over your features. Jealousy, heartbreak, and a cocktail of something else that suffocates you and makes your stomach churn.

They come up to you and Santi once they finish greeting the other guys. "Hey, how’s it going?” Frankie asks amicably as he reaches you, patting Pope on the back until he lets go of his beer to give the older man a warm hug. He then does the same to you. You only hope he doesn't notice your stiffness. “Who’s the pretty lady?”

“This is Vanessa. She works with me.” He says simply with a painfully soft smile while motioning towards her. She smiles beautifully bright while waving at the two of you at the bar. It makes you feel faintly sick. Which then makes you feel guilty.

You try your best to get through your heartbreak without popping off to the bathroom to cry it out, knowing your friends would somehow notice something was wrong and you'd have no way of hiding it from them. But it hurts. It aches deeply. And such pain is hard to hide.

You're sure Frankie notices, knowing you as well as he does.

Your companions get essentially shit faced incredibly quickly, which makes them get louder and less aware of their surroundings, so you use this opportunity to bid them all farewell and attempt to slip out the door without too many questions. Attempt.

You've had enough of watching what you once thought could be the love of your life be all lovey-dovey with Vanessa. So with your heart in your hands while holding back the tears, you slip out.

It's only an attempt because Frankie himself, of course, the cause of all this, calls out to you as you're walking out.

"You alright?" He asks, those soft brown eyes wide with concern that warmed your still broken heart.

"I'm fine, Frankie, just tired. It's been a long day." You chuckle awkwardly, lying through your teeth. It had actually been a fantastic day. You were excited to meet up with your friends after getting out of work early. So a pretty fantastic day overall, compared to the usual.

"I know you're lying." He said simply, sighing and looking away as if to gather his thoughts. "And I saw the way you looked at Vanessa. Are you jealous?"

Of course Frankie, the group mom, would be able to tell you were lying. And notice your envy, on top of that.

The alcohol cursing through your veins takes the wheel finally, "Yes, I am." you admit. Frankie's eyes soften even further, if possible, and those nasty feelings of heartbreak and assumed rejection come swirling back around in your gut and all you really want right now is one of Frankie's bear hugs. The type that make you feel unbelievably safe and comfortable and warm, but most of all, protected, so neither your body nor your heart can be damaged. Except he's the one causing the damage this time.

"So, you have feelings for me." He states more to himself, to be sure this is real, while you roll your eyes, embarrassed and wishing you could just get to your car and book it out of there.

"I- You- You idiot." He exclaims almost fondly with wide, disbelieving eyes. He sighs at your confused expression, motioning wildly with his hands to make you understand the stupidity of the situation. "I've had feelings for you for years!"

"So have I!"

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Why didn't you?"

"Fair point." He chuckles, softly at first, but it's not long before he laughs at the situation with his whole chest, prompting you to do the same because of his contagious laugh.

"Then, Vanessa...?"

"Well, I kind of rushed head first into it, hoping to... Not think about you." Frankie rubs the back of his neck as he looks back to the bar. "Honestly, I'm sure we'd be better off as friends but, I had to try."

You nod understandingly, fiddling with your sleeves nervously, "So that means that we..."

"Need to go on a date asap? Yes, it does. I'll drive." Frankie jokes, glowing with happiness while holding onto your arms.

"No date, I'm too tired. And too drunk, but I will accept a ride home instead." You smile, also consumed by the excitement of very much requited love as you two laugh while getting in your car.

#pedro pascal #frankie morales #frankie morales x reader #frankie catfish morales #triple frontier #francisco morales #triple frontier x reader #pedro pascal x reader #catfish x you #catfish x reader

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matildashoney · 3 years

Text

𝙸 𝙵𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎? // 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚆𝚎 𝙲𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚂𝚎𝚎

𝙼𝙰𝚂𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙻𝙸𝚂𝚃 // 𝚃𝙰𝙶𝚂 // 𝙿𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙻𝙸𝚂𝚃 // 𝚃𝙰𝙶𝙻𝙸𝚂𝚃

𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 // 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐

𝙳𝙸𝚂𝙲𝙻𝙰𝙸𝙼𝙴𝚁: 𝙱𝙸𝙿𝙾𝙻𝙰𝚁 𝙳𝙸𝚂𝙾𝚁𝙳𝙴𝚁, 𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙾𝚂𝙿𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙻𝚂, 𝙰𝙽𝚇𝙸𝙴𝚃𝚈

𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 @theharriediaries 𝚊𝚗𝚍 @truckerhatharry 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚊-𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝚒'𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚒 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

Truthfully, Harry isn’t sure what time it is, this time around. Clocks seem to evade him, and numbers seem to dance into intricate formations that he can’t seemingly understand.

Harry Styles stops time when he walks into the room. Caroline always says that it’s the commanding presence, the nature of his personality, the way he holds everyone’s attention so easily that makes him stop an entire room and gain their attention. Caroline always says that Harry is the type to make everyone know they’re important and needed in the space, that there isn’t one person that would be in the group or the audience or the meeting that wouldn’t feel like they’re an essential part of whatever is happening.

Caroline always says that Harry makes her feel that way.

Harry makes the effort to be this way if he’s being honest. Harry makes the effort to hold everyone’s attention and make everyone feel important, because, for years, he portrayed the demeanor of someone who thought he was the most important person in the room, that he was where all the attention should be. That is until he met someone who made him see how truly minuscule in the affairs of universes and worldly happenings, he is. That is until Harry met Caroline, and he realized that there was nothing more that he wanted than to know everything and anything about her, instead of talking about himself, for once.

Until Harry met Caroline, and everything changed.

Harry isn’t sure what time it is, right now. Green eyes stare at the stark white walls surrounding him, his head leaning against a concrete foundation and the clicking of the clocks on the wall – and yet, he still can’t seem to find the time from anyone – and a raging headache forming at the forefront of his mind. His eyes shut quickly, squeezing closed to try and make the time pass any quicker than it is. Time is going so slowly, though, that he thinks he might scream. Harry wants to scream, honestly. That might make the pain easier to swallow, the heartache easier to handle.

Going based on the trajectory of the situation and where they are, Harry would be going home alone, tonight, and that’s a pill that he’s not prepared to swallow quite yet. That, and the idea that someone might tell him something that he really doesn’t want to hear, something about Caroline that will break him at the core.

Caroline wasn’t … you know … right?

Thinking that makes Harry want to be sick. There would have been a sign. There would have been some sort of something if she was. There would have been a note, a letter, something. And yet, there was nothing when Harry came home; nothing that could give him a sign or a clue or something that will tell him if he needs to worry or not.

Harry couldn’t make sense of it.

“Mr. Styles,” the nurse says, coming through a hallway and gently touching his shoulder to garner his attention, her soft demeanor comforting him as he looks with exhausted and bloodshot eyes, tears staining his cheeks. “Unfortunately, we have to keep Ms. Ryan for the twenty-four-hour waiting period, with her history and her family history, to make sure she’s not trying to hurt herself or others.” Harry nods understandingly without saying a word – that much was expected – and stands on his feet, ready to see his fiancée, finally. “Honestly, based on Ms. Ryan’s previous welfare checks and hospital stays, the doctor was not expecting it to go as well as it did. Ms. Ryan’s welfare check went much better than the others in her history, which is great news.”

“Think that we both know my wife isn’t okay, but is she okay enough for me to see her?” Harry asks nervously, unsure of the technical aspects of a hospital stay and the regulations that they’re going to have to follow. Caroline has never had this bad of an episode in their time together, and this has scared Harry more than anything. “Am I allowed to see her? I really want to see her. I’ll follow whatever regulations you have, but if I could see her, that would be really kind of you.”

That’s the first time Harry’s said the word out loud. Wife. Caroline would be Harry’s wife, soon. This could effectively tamper with the timeline and how long that very well takes. Harry doesn’t care about any of that like he knows Caroline will. Harry cares about Caroline getting better and coming home.

“Of course, Mr. Styles. Caroline can have visitors, now, and you can see her, stay with her, too. Caroline is dehydrated, mainly, and malnourished from not eating for a week, so she’s hooked up to a lot of machines, just so you’re aware,” the nurse says smoothly and calmly, checking her notes on her clipboard and reading technical terms that Harry can’t seem to grasp or understand. “Caroline is not suicidal, though. Truthfully, that’s what counts, right now. That’s what everyone cares about.”

Caroline sat in the hospital bed when Harry walks inside with the nurse, with wires clinging to her body, nibbling on a sandwich while he walks right to her and sits at her bedside. Harry swears that he won’t be able to handle seeing her like this, again. Harry wants to be sick just thinking about it. Caroline, naturally, makes a joke about the hospital socks, saying, “My third pair of hospital socks and they’ve finally given me something other than that hideous orange color. Oh, the joys of London Town!”

“Callie,” Harry sighs, shaking his head and breathes out a laugh, rolling his eyes as he leans onto the bed and kisses her forehead as she clicks her heels together in the baby blue sticky socks underneath the blanket and makes the wish for the two to be home, in the comfort of their own bed. Harry thought he couldn’t stay, that he wasn’t allowed, and that killed him, to know that she would be alone in a room by herself, having to sit alone with her thoughts for days. Thankfully, that’s simply not the case, tonight. He doesn’t think he could have handled being alone, tonight, anyways. Not after what he saw. “Callie, you scared the living shit out of me.”

Caroline sets her sandwich on the tray, wipes her hands on her napkin, and opens her blanket. reaching for Harry with wide arms, smiling softly when Harry immediately rushes towards her and circles his arms around her waist, hugging her tightly and breathing in her scent. “I love you. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t do that to me, again,” Harry says strictly, sternly, his eyes welling with tears as his fingers gently brush over her cheek and his lips meet her forehead softly. “Caroline, I need you to take this seriously, okay? Baby, you didn’t eat for nearly two weeks.”

Caroline whispers something in Harry’s ear, something that he can’t really understand, and he brushes it away, simply going back to holding her tightly and breathing in the sweet apple scent that lingers in her hair. Harry assumes it was something of another apology, which isn’t something he really wants, per se, it’s more the fact that she didn’t tell him, that she didn’t reach out to him. Harry knows why, and he feels guilty, so guilty.

Caroline doesn’t like bothering Harry when he’s doing business; especially not business that involves moving Shakespeare’s Library to elsewhere in the United Kingdom and would be a great investment opportunity. Caroline doesn’t like being the reason Harry can’t focus – unless it’s for ulterior motives – and the fact of the matter is, Harry wouldn’t have gone away on business if he knew Caroline was about to face an episode like she is, right now. Caroline and Harry both know that much.

Harry, then, feels incredibly guilty when something of the sort happens, because not only did he not know, but he wasn’t there to fix it. Harry likes to fix it.

“Callie, what happened that made you do this?” Harry wracks his brain trying to find a reason because Caroline was so good before he left. Caroline was writing and eating and functioning before he was set to leave; something must’ve happened in the day that he was flying and settling in that made her break. “What triggered it, Callie? I know something did. I wouldn’t have left you alone if I knew you were in an episode, like that. That’s not how we do things; you’re supposed to tell me. I’m supposed to be there for you, Cal.”

“Harry, it wasn’t anything.”

“Caroline Elizabeth Ryan.” Harry never uses Caroline’s whole name like that. That’s when it occurs to Caroline how poorly Harry is dealing with this, right now. Caroline, usually, only has to worry about how she is dealing with her episodes, she’s nearly forgotten there’s a whole other person on the receiving end, now, a person she loves very deeply. “Does it have to do with your mother? Is Lucy why you’re in here? ‘Cause I swear to God, Callie, I’ll march myself to wherever she has and have a kindly chat with her.”

“My mother has nothing to do with this,” Caroline says through her teeth, and Harry can tell that she’s lying. Caroline’s tell, her quirk, so to speak, is that fact that her jaw clenches tightly and she has to speak through her teeth whenever she’s lying. Caroline doesn’t lie to Harry – it’s one of their boundaries – and it’s easy for him to tell when she is. Harry tilts his head, his eyes pointing at her directly and his lips pursed together in a straight line, his expression saying everything that he isn’t. “Can we talk about this later? I’m exhausted and I missed you. I can hear that you’re angry with me, too. I don’t like that you’re angry, with me, right now.”

“Caroline,” Harry says calmly, sighing out a breath between his lips, shaking his head and sitting on the corner of the makeshift mattress that the hospital has laid her on, “not this time, okay. Can’t, you can’t shy away from this conversation, this time.”

“I’m not ready to have this conversation, Harry.”

Harry’s voice breaks, the tears beginning to fall down his cheeks again and the pain collecting in his throat, the lump that he swallowed down when he walked into the hospital room now resurfacing and bringing the tears to his eyes. “Callie, tell me. This isn’t something to run away from.”

“My mother,” Caroline swallows thickly, her eyes welling with tears at the thought, shaking her head to try and shake the incessant, nagging feeling that she’s going to cry, “she, um, sent me a letter in the mail. It came the day you left.”

“And what did it say, Cal?” That’s what makes Caroline break into hysterics, the six words making tears pour down her cheeks, her chest heaving with shaky breaths, her hands covering her face with her fingertips digging into her eyes, trying to hide the tiny markings her nails are leaving in her face. Harry gently pries her hands away, kissing her fingers and scooting closer to her body, taking her hands in his and holding them tightly. “Baby, tell me.”

Caroline sucks a breath in through her teeth and hurriedly says, “My mother is back in the country with her mother and would appreciate it if, even though we live only a few hours away, I wouldn’t contact her anymore. Lucy said that it’s great that I’m doing well and have my life together, that she’s happy for me, but she would prefer to not have any contact with me.” Harry kisses Caroline’s knuckles and gently wipes at her eyes, the wires getting tangled in their hands. “Harry, why doesn’t she want me?”

“Callie, baby,” Harry sighs, sliding himself closer and wrapping his arms around her shoulders, bringing her into his chest, her face tucking into his neck and immediately wetting his shirt with her tears. Harry doesn’t mind it, he would rather have her crying in his arms than see her unconscious in their bedroom, again. “I’m sorry your mother is so horrible to you. I’m so sorry.”

“All I want is for her to want me, Harry,” Caroline sniffles, shaking her head and feeling done with the conversation, taking her hands from her thighs and wiping her eyes, sighing into Harry’s neck and kissing his skin lightly for comfort. “Kiss? Could really use one, right about now.”

“Always, love. My Buggy.” Harry smiles softly and nudges Caroline’s face with his nose, his lips laying a kiss on her cheek and waiting for her to tilt her head slightly towards him to kiss her mouth. His mouth moves slowly on hers, kissing her sweetly and gently, as though a slightly harsh touch could leave her bruised and bandaged. “Callie, you mean everything to me. More than you’ll ever know.”

“Can’t be more than what you mean to me.” Caroline shakes her head in disapproval. “Hate that you still call me ‘Buggy’, as though I’m still a nuisance, to you, though,” she says, and he laughs breathily, at that, because it’s not the reason he calls her that, now, but it was. Oh God, Harry thought Caroline was such an annoyance when they first met. “Hard to believe I used to hate your guts,” Caroline giggles, tucking her chin to her chest and spinning her engagement ring on her finger, the tiny diamond sitting perfectly on her hand. Harry hates how small it is, but it’s Caroline’s favorite jewellery she’s ever owned. “Oh boy, the hate I had for you. I could’ve beat you up, Harry Styles.”

“Caroline Ryan, all you would’ve done is start to cry.” Harry shakes his head. “Barely a punch to the jaw, which I would’ve deserved, by the way, and you would’ve been in tears. I love you for it, but you wouldn’t handle that very well.”

“Hey!” Harry laughs for the first time in hours, a hearty laugh, a laugh that makes Caroline’s heart swell in her chest and feel like it’s going to burst with how much she loves him. God, Caroline really loves Harry. Like, wholeheartedly in love with him, type of love. “I could’ve done it. I could’ve done it, without crying. Maybe a little stutter-stepping, but I could’ve done it.”

“All right, all right,” Harry sighs, leaning forward and kissing her forehead, lingering on her skin to breathe her in, his eyes squeezing shut when she grabs his cheeks and kisses his mouth, once more. “Have all those tests and meetings with the doctors, tomorrow, and you need your rest.”

Caroline’s eyes go wide. “Can you stay? Do you have to go?”

“I’ll be right there, all night,” he says, pointing towards the makeshift lounger in the corner of the room with blankets and a pillow laying on the cushion. “Callie, I promised you ages ago, I’m not going anywhere.”

Caroline sighs, nodding quietly and pursing her lips together. Harry’s words are true, she knows this with her whole heart, but there is the angry and subconscious part of her brain that tells her that Gabriel Ryan said that, too. Her father said that, too. Caroline swallows a lump in her throat, breathing through her nose and shoving her tray of food away from her, suddenly feeling exhausted and mentally drained. Maybe it was the conversation about her mother, maybe it was the promise that her father broke, maybe it is the idea that Harry is there and no one else cares. Maybe it’s everything all at once making Caroline feel so utterly tired, but her eyes are beginning to shut against her cheeks and her heart rate is beginning to slow. Harry can see that she’s finished by her quiet actions, kissing her cheek and gently moving from the mattress to the lounger, looking at Caroline with concerned eyes as she turns onto her side and yanks the blanket closer around her neck.

“Goodnight, Bug. I love you,” Harry whispers, kissing her forehead and sighing against her skin as she nods her head. Harry can see the depression oncoming, the confession of her mother’s letter and the promise that her father broke lingering in the air. Caroline is great at putting on a façade around everyone else, but with Harry, it’s barely functioning. “Things are going to get better, Callie. Do you trust me?” Caroline nods silently, tears welling in her eyes and beginning to fall down her cheeks. Harry walks to the lounger, cranking the lever and turning out the recliner to lay on for the evening. Caroline’s voice draws his attention, turning away from his bed and listening to her carefully. “Say that one more time, for me, Cal?”

“Can you read me some of your poetry?” she whispers, the lights barely illuminating her eyes that he adores so much. Caroline doesn’t turn around, remaining facing the doorway and listening carefully. “Maybe from when we didn’t like each other so much. Tell me that things get better.”

Harry smiles softly, taking his leather notebook – the one that he carries with him everywhere – and opening to the first page written with an indented ‘C’ in the header. “This is from the day I was late to our very first annotations meeting.”

Caroline giggles, sniffling quietly and then says, “Oh, I was infuriated with you, that day. God, I asked Rigsby for a new annotation partner, too. Think I told you that I hope you never fall in love with someone like me.”

“That’s absolutely correct,” Harry laughs, shaking his head at the memory. Meeting Caroline and the very first few months of knowing her were so difficult, Harry thought they’d never get along. Harry made it a challenge for himself, to have Caroline like him, even the slightest bit, and that started his fascination and infatuation with her; the one that made him fall in love with her. “Are you ready, love?”

Caroline sucks in a breath and rolls to her side, her eyelashes wet against her cheeks as she stares at Harry adoringly, forcing a smile and swallowing back a choked sob as she notices how fully written in this notebook is, how many pages are marked and colored and decorated in intricate drawings that represent the poetry he’s scribbled in his writing. Caroline notices the ‘C’ imprinted in the front of the notebook, and that’s when she realizes. “Have you moved every poem about me into that notebook, Shakespeare?”

“Maybe.”

Caroline nods silently, sucking in a breath through her nose and snuggling deeper into the sheets on the mattress, smiling softly at the man laying across from her, ready to read his poetry. “Okay.”

Harry dramatically clears his throat, smiling softly at Caroline, his fingertip holding the page where the poetry begins on the day, they met alone for the very first time. “you told me that you never fall in love // that it’s too dangerous, too risky // and i have begun to wonder // that if love is too risky // what is it that makes you feel safe.”

Caroline waits at the coffee shop for nearly three hours without a show from Harry.

Having three coffees and one muffin and about three hours of gearing up to even come to the coffee shop alone, Caroline is fed up and ready to leave. That is until, the floppy tendrils of curls show up rushing through the door at a near four in the afternoon, sputtering apologies as he flops his things on the spare chair at the table and hurries to the counter to buy himself a drink. He looks dishevelled, as though he’s woken up only minutes ago and hurried here, and part of Caroline wants to feel sorry for him that he’s slept until two in the afternoon, most likely, and forgotten.

That part of Caroline is very small, though.

“Caroline, I’m so sorry,” Harry says hurriedly, brushing through his hair and taking a seat at the table and pulling out his notebook and his computer and textbook with the play written inside. “I overslept. I was working on this poetry assignment, all night. Not trying to make an excuse. This was our plan all week. I’m sorry.”

“Let’s just get started. Our discussions are due in less than,” Caroline says distractedly, looking at her phone for the time, “six hours.”

“Right, yeah,” Harry says embarrassedly, his cheeks turning red beneath the softened lights of the coffee shop, his hands slightly shaking as he was rushing to get himself together, his papers scattered in his notebook. “Have you annotated anything, yet? Obviously, there are my annotations that you can copy, if you need them.”

Caroline laughs, shaking her head and letting out a frustrated laugh, “Harry, that’s, um, nice, I think.” Her eyes are squinted as she stares at him, and then she turns to her textbook and opens to the first act of the play. “But, in the three hours I was waiting for you, I finished the entire first act. I’m ready for the discussion. Could do that, we could do that, and then leave, if you’d like. Obviously, you have more important things to be doing.”

Harry looks awfully embarrassed and there is a sudden boost of confidence that Caroline feels around him. Usually, Harry is the one with the chip on his shoulder, with the one-up on the partners that he’s working with, especially women. Harry has his looks, his charm, and occasionally – if he’s using it well enough – his intelligence. Harry’s poetry usually wins over the women and men he works with, the inspiration that strikes when he’s working with someone that is smarter, brighter, more intelligent than he is, bringing him closer and closer to finishing his poetry collection that he’s been working since his acceptance into the graduate program. Coming into his fourth section of poetry, Harry’s found himself writing about love and love stories and romance since the day he started his portfolio, and yet he’s missing an entire section about unrequited love.

That is more frustrating than anything, Harry’s found.

“Um, sure,” Harry sighs, letting out a heavy breath and raising his hand to the waiter that’s walking near their table, ordering a black coffee and a muffin before settling into his seat, once more, and opening to the page that the discussion post is referring to. “Okay, well, this discussion post is asking about the difference between infatuation and love between Orsino and Viola and Olivia, in Act One.” Harry looks between Caroline and their notebooks and their textbooks and says, “There isn’t one, really.”

“Did you just say there isn’t a difference?” Caroline asks astonishedly, shaking her head and setting her pen in her notebook and shutting her computer halfway. “Orsino is practically tripping over himself for Olivia, and Olivia is falling for Cesario, or Viola playing pretend to get into the palace and find her brother. All of it is infatuation. Orsino’s entire claim for love is based on his infatuation with Olivia.”

“Tell me something,” he says smoothly, nodding his head to the waitress bringing his coffee and his muffin and thanking her quietly before turning to Caroline and squinting his eyes. “Do you not believe that love is partially based on infatuation? Isn’t that how you fall in love? By becoming infatuated with someone, with something. Do you not believe in love at all?”

Caroline sits back in her seat, very well aware of the judgement being passed to her in this very moment, and is slightly insulted by his insinuation, his implication. “Look, Harry, whatever personal judgements I have on love and falling in love are truthfully none of your business. At the end of the day, love is risky and dangerous. Anyone that willingly falls in love is a fool.”

“That’s bloody depressing,” Harry says with a scowl, shaking his head and brushing his fingers through his hair, pushing the floppy tendrils away from his forehead and revealing his bright green eyes that suddenly feel intimidating to the look. “I love love, I think. I think there’s something so fun about wanting to be partners with somebody, wanting to be by their side through thick and thin. That’s what makes life exciting. Doing it with another person.”

“Happy for you,” Caroline notes sarcastically, shrugging her shoulders and beginning to write out her discussion post on her computer, completely ignoring Harry’s pointed stare and the judgement passing through his emerald eyes. “Love isn’t safe. This story proves that. Could you imagine falling in love with someone, only to realize they’re not really that person? That would be devastating.”

Harry uncaps his highlighter and pen and begins annotating the remaining sections of the play’s act, ignoring Caroline’s harsh judgements and words. “Guess that’s how you feel but it’s wrong,” he says under his breath, writing carefully his thoughts about the obsession between Olivia and Orsino and Cesario. “At the end of the day, everyone wants to find love in their life. Obviously, you want your love to be requited, but if it’s not, at least you experienced love in some capacity, yeah?”

Caroline doesn’t pick up her head from her computer screen, not bothering to even engage in the conversation with him. Caroline’s barely known Harry for a week, barely spoken to him for more than an hour, and she already heavily dislikes him. “Not particularly.”

“Look Caroline –” Harry goes to say, his eyes growing wide when Caroline cuts him off nearly immediately, shocking him out of his words for a minute.

“Callie, for the umpteenth time. Liv already told you that, I’m sure.”

Harry looks at Caroline with gritted teeth and a clenched jaw, tilting his head slightly and gathering his thoughts before speaking, again. “Callie, I’m not sure what your problem with me is, considering we just met, but–”

Caroline cracks her fingers, sucks in a breath through her teeth and says all in one outburst, “My problem with you, is that you’re not taking this seriously, unlike me, and you’re pretentious and think you’re the best at everything. That is not how you make a first impression and to put it simply, you’ve made the worst one upon me.”

Harry’s mouth clamps shut, his jaw tensing and un-tensing as he breathes in through his nose and out through his mouth, trying to remain composed and not act as though this conversation is absurdly hurting his ego. Harry’s ego is something that he built up so much over time, that it seemed impossible for anyone to tear it down, and yet here she comes, all in one break, destroying his egotistical demeanor. He is good at whatever he works on, the annotations, the poetry, the writing. His confidence is based on the boosts from professors and family and friends always building up his abilities and saying how capable he is to be someone, to be a writer.

And Harry is pissed, pissed that someone that is a bit too insecure themselves, that uses their mental health as a way to treat other people poorly, that wants to say he doesn’t take his education seriously, is trying to make him insecure about himself, too.

“If that’s how you feel,” Harry says, very much insulted by her statement and trying to formulate a response that is worthy to make it known how he feels about everything, “then I’m willing to speak to Rigsby about switching partners. Although, I think it’s unfair that you’ve passed a judgement about me so quickly when I’ve barely made a judgement about you.”

“Okay, Harry. Truthfully, Liv already told me what you said about me that first day I met you. You made judgements about me before we’d even sat down together, alone. That only supports my judgement about you, doesn’t it? That you’re an egotistical, pretentious person that quickly judges others that aren’t like you.”

“Caroline, the only thing that I’ve judged you on is the fact that you use your mental health or whatever the hell it is that you use to gain sympathy from other people. Especially your friends.”

Quickly standing up, she gathers her things and shoves her computer into her backpack, laying her hands on the table and gritting her teeth so hard it looks like her jaw might actually break. Caroline stares Harry down, making him slightly uncomfortable with how hard she’s looking at him. “Harry Styles, you don’t know anything about me or my mental health or my friends. Quite honestly, it’s people like you, that make people like me, not talk about my mental health with others. Maybe you should thank whatever the fuck you believe in that you don’t have to handle mental health issues. And I hope to God that you never fall in love with someone that wakes up with a brain like mine every, single, fucking day because you’ll ruin their life with how lowly you think of them.” Caroline gathers her belongings and hurries out the door, the wind brushing against her cheeks and whipping against her heated skin. Her fists are clenched together in tight coils of anger, one hand releasing from the tight ball and reaching into her bag for her car keys, quickly unlocking her tiny, navy blue sedan and throwing her backpack into the passenger seat and immediately walking around to climb into the driver’s seat.

Harry is speechless, absolutely and utterly speechless, and unable to stand up and say something properly to defend himself before she’s rushing out the door. “Caroline, wait!” Harry pushes his chair out from beneath him, stumbling around the fallen wood and drawing plenty of eyes to his distraught figure as he hurriedly rushes out of the building and into the parking lot where Caroline is spilling expletives with all of her belongings scattered on the ground. “Caroline, wait for a second!” Caroline doesn’t wait, continuing to try and gather all of her things and shove them into her bag but the material is wrapped together and making it difficult and there are tears welling in her eyes as she drops everything frustratedly and sits back on the tarmac in absolute frustration. “Caroline.”

“Harry, what do you want from me?” Caroline takes a deep breath, gathering all of her things, throwing her bag in the passenger seat of her truck and climbing inside, trying to ignore the silence that overwhelms the two of them as they stand there staring at each other. Caroline can feel a tear fall down her cheek in betrayal, the last thing she wanted was to cry in front of him.

“I,” Harry is quiet, unable to fully make a sentence and spit out a coherent thought. “I’m sorry for what I said. I, I didn’t mean it. That was wrong of me to say. Rigsby wanted us to work together because we’re the best students in that class and likely have a few things in common when it comes to working with literature. I need to graduate in May, too. Can you please give me a second chance? I swear I won’t make you regret it.”

Caroline looks at Harry and looks at her white knuckles clutching the steering wheel, the little crescents starting to form in the cushion of the wheel. Guess it’s better that it’s the wheel rather than my thighs, she thinks. There is so much harm that could come from being Harry Styles’ partner, Caroline’s decided. Harry Styles doesn’t understand her mental health, firstly, and he likely never will, based on his reactions and interaction in the first conversations and dialogues they’ve shared. Harry Styles is pretentious and rude, secondly. Harry Styles, thirdly, thinks he’s the very best thing to walk the planet and knowing Caroline’s father, that would be the furthest thing from the truth.

“Honestly, Harry, I can’t,” Caroline says truthfully, shaking her head and grabbing the gear to shift into reverse and back out of the parking lot, Harry quickly moving his feet to avoid being run over with the impatience she’s exhibiting. “I’ll be talking to Rigsby on Monday about a new partner.”

* *

Caroline is angry. Angry is the only way to describe the way she feels, right now. Angry, specifically, with a man by the name of Harry Styles.

Donald Rigsby refused to change their annotation partner, insisting that Harry Styles would make the best pairing for the intensity of the course load that they would be doing throughout the semester. Donald Rigsby said, and Caroline could quote, “Harry Styles is a charming young man that is an excellent writer and I’m sure it’s all a misunderstanding.” Caroline wanted to roll her eyes, to tell him that he’s an asshole that doesn’t understand empathy of any sort. Caroline wanted to say so many things, and instead, she nodded her head silently, forced that famous smile that everyone knows and loves, and walked out of his office with a slight stomp to her feet.

Caroline immediately grabbed her phone and wrote a very calculated worded email to Harry Styles, saying:

Harry,

Unfortunately, and though I tried to talk him out of it, Rigsby has insisted on us being partners, for some reason unbeknownst to me. He has expressed his opinion thoroughly about the topic and would like to not hear further about it. He believes that we will make a great team working on annotating Shakespeare’s texts, based on our work ethic and our talent as writers. Although this is not what I would have wished for, I am hoping for the best, as we both have to graduate at the end of the year, and very much need this course to pass our degrees. I am sending this email as an offering of peace for the time being until we can meet again.

I am free again on Saturday for another annotation meeting for the second act of the play. Is that time going to work for you? Let me know as soon as possible. Thank you.

Callie Ryan

Caroline waits two days for a response from Harry. Two. Whole. Days. Caroline waits for two days, and the only response that she gets is infuriating, absolutely maddening, totally and completely frustrating.

All Harry says is this:

Caroline,

Apology accepted. See you on Saturday.

Harry x

Apology accepted? Apology accepted? Is Harry so dense in that thick skull of his that he thinks that Caroline was apologizing for what she said to him? Absolutely fucking not. Caroline would never apologize for what she said. Caroline wouldn’t apologize for saying that she hopes Harry never falls in love with someone like her, especially. Caroline meant all of it, every single word, from the beginning to the end. Adding onto the fact that she meant all of it, it is her best commentary to this day.

Caroline walks out of her shift at the local bookstore with steam whistling from her ears, her eyes reading over the email again and again, silently wishing that she’ll look at the screen of her phone once more, on the off chance that she clicked the wrong email and it’s not actually what was sent to her. Harry couldn’t be that ridiculous, right?

There isn’t any way that anyone can be that pretentious and uptight. There simply can’t be. Caroline refuses to believe it.

* *

Caroline waits at the coffee shop for nearly six hours, on the day of their meeting, waiting for Harry. Maybe a bit less than that. Maybe a bit less than that because it took her three hours to gear up to meet him with her anxiety and the episode she’s been suffering through. Caroline struggled to get out of bed, to even make it to her car, barely functioning to brush her teeth and thread her fingers through her hair. Her hair has been tangled in a braid for three days, and it’s beginning to look a bit dishevelled, although she has run water through the baby hairs flying around her forehead.

Caroline’s medicine is all out of whack. Originally, it was working for a while, making sure the episodes were manageable and taken care of throughout each stint of the rollercoaster, the lights on and lights off as she’s called it since the earliest age of twelve. However, now, it’s like the medicine isn’t even doing anything to her system, and she’s hitting the highest highs and the lowest lows for weeks without any remorse. Caroline can handle it usually, but with the stress of her father’s anniversary coming in October, the horrible partner she’s been assigned in her annotations course, and the overall overwhelming sensation of graduation lingering around the corner, there’s a bit too much to be able to handle the highs and lows every two weeks.

Caroline is in a Lights Off week.

Caroline can tolerate a lot. Making that clear to people is something that she prides herself on. Caroline can tolerate most things: running late, cancelling, having to reschedule because of a conflict of some sort. Caroline cannot tolerate skipping a meeting entirely … without any warning.

Harry doesn’t show one hour, two hours, three hours, four hours later.

Caroline checks her email twice, maybe even three times to see whether or not he’s emailed her last minute to say that he couldn’t come. Nothing. Not a word from Harry Styles.

Caroline waits around for another hour waiting for Harry, completing the annotations for Act II of The Twelfth Night and finishing the “Act II Discussion” Rigsby posted online earlier that week. Hatred and anger rush through her veins as she thinks about how this should’ve been done with her “partner”, today, and the way that he’s not even had the courtesy to tell her that he had to cancel their meeting and do the work on his own. Caroline gathers her belongings, taking out her phone and dialling her best friend’s number, ready to rant and rave about this person that she’s being encouraged and more so, forced, into talking to daily, that clearly doesn’t respect her or her boundaries for working environments. That may be what makes Caroline even more angry. Harry doesn’t respect her. If Harry does respect her, he surely doesn’t know how to show it.

Caroline clicks on Liv’s number, tucking the phone in between her shoulder and her ear, and gathering her things to take to her car, waving goodbye to the workers that know her by name and shuffling to her vehicle parked in the very first space outside. Caroline makes everything a habit, from where she frequents to the minuscule habits that only a boyfriend or girlfriend could catch onto, like the way she washes her hands twice before dinner and compulsively types her notes on her computer to avoid rewriting after lectures. Caroline is comfortable with her life, with how she lives it, and she isn’t going to let one person get in the way of the peace that she’s brought to her life over the last year without her father around, a feeling of tranquillity that he would have wanted for her.

“Hey, Callie. How’s it going?” Liv says when she answers the phone, a smile evident in her voice and Caroline can only assume she’s with her significant other by the extra voices in the background. “Did you finish your annotations?”

“Of course. Guess who didn’t fucking show, again?” Caroline grumbles, climbing into her car and waiting for the phone to connect to the speaker for her to leave safely. Caroline shakes her head angrily, the utter disappointment and upset building inside of her chest making her want to scream and cry. Could someone really be this insensitive to someone else? Could Harry really be this ridiculous? Donald Rigsby is wrong about Harry Styles. Very wrong. “Things would be fine, I would be fine, if I wasn’t losing my fucking mind over the workload for this class,” she continues, shaking her head and carding her fingers through her hair frustratedly. “I don’t understand how anyone could be so insensitive towards others. It’s absolutely fucking ridiculous. I can’t stand him, Liv. I don’t care what Rigsby has to say about him. I think Harry Styles is the worst person on the planet.”

“Callie,” Liv says softly, warningly, almost and it makes Caroline go silent. Caroline knows what Liv is about to say and she is simply praying that she wasn’t on speaker phone. “Callie, Harry’s here with Niall.” Caroline goes deathly silent, now. Liv walks out of the room, eyeing Harry apologetically, and making her way into her bedroom to talk to her best friend and hopefully calm her down before she comes home. “Cal, Harry was here because he broke up with his girlfriend and needed to talk to Niall.”

“Harry could’ve messaged me,” Caroline mumbles, closing her eyes momentarily and soaking in the silence that overwhelms her car, the moment of silence where her brain is finally quiet and there is nothing to be heard from anyone. Caroline knows it won’t last long. Caroline’s brain is never nice to her for very long.

“Harry says you didn’t give him your number, only your email.”

“Well, yeah. Why would I give a stranger my phone number, Liv?” Caroline sighs, turning into the car park and grumbling when she sees a vintage car parked in her space. Caroline doesn’t need to know anything about anyone to know that a pretentious asshole would have a car, like that. Most certainly it’s Harry’s. “Motherfucker parked in my space, now, too. God damnit!”

“Callie, are you okay?”

“Fine, Liv,” Caroline breathes out, pinching the bridge of her nose and leaning her head back on the headrest behind her. Momentarily, Caroline makes the decision that she’ll take herself to her boyfriend’s house for the week, not really wanting to be around her best friend and his boyfriend and the subsequent asshole that is making himself known around their apartment. “Think I’m going to go to Max’s for the week, this way you and Niall can have the apartment. Getting my things from my car and then I’ll come and get my things.”

“Don’t have to do that, Callie,” Liv sighs, heaving a heavy breath into the speaker and pursing her lips together, trying to find a way to relieve her best friend’s anxiety and the tension creating itself in their conversation as they continue to speak. Caroline always gets angry so easily when her mood is like this, and Liv knows why, she’s not angry over it, she knows what she’s done to make her best friend so frustrated with her and the situation at hand. “I’ll kick Harry out if he makes you uncomfortable, Cal.”

“Olivia,” she says, shaking her head and turning off her car, opening the driver’s door and stepping out onto the concrete, “it’s fine.”

Caroline walks up the steps to their apartment and opens the door quietly, trying to make as little noise and draw as little attention to herself as possible. Harry is standing in the kitchen, laughing with Niall about something unrelated and turns to look at Caroline, his eyes widening at the way she immediately walks straight past him, nudging his shoulder along the way, and to her bedroom to start gathering her belongings that she’ll need to take with her to her boyfriend’s house.

“Caroline,” Harry says, earning a smack to the arm from Niall and a deathly look from Liv. Harry doesn’t care what they say, her name is Caroline, that’s what he’s going to call her. “Can we talk outside?”

Caroline looks at Harry questioningly, her eyebrows coming together in the center of her forehead as she contemplates telling him off right then and there. Harry has an ego bigger than his head, the privilege that exudes from the way he views mental health making her skin crawl with disgust, and an attitude that extends much further than what Caroline could rightfully handle. Could anything good come from a conversation with Harry? Likely not. Has Caroline impulsively decided that this conversation can be her time to tell Harry to go to hell? Yes.

Harry walks outside first, holding the door open and waiting for Caroline to lay her things on the tile flooring near the front door and follow him outside. Harry’s eyes travel across the expanse of her figure, and he’s well aware that it’s wrong, and that she has a boyfriend, but there is something about her that he can’t get his mind to wrap around, that he has an infatuation with.

Anna Marie and Harry broke up this afternoon. That’s the whole reason that Harry came to Liv and Niall, in the first place, to tell them that she’s gone, and they wouldn’t have to deal with her anymore. Niall cheered and Liv smiled knowingly, telling him that Callie and Max were still very much together. Harry assured her that that wasn’t the reason why that he had no intentions of pursuing Caroline, but Liv knows better. Liv knows boys better than that. Harry just shrugged her off and went about his conversation with Niall, talking about the way Anna Marie insisted she was breaking up with him, instead. Harry let her have her way, as long as it meant he wasn’t with her anymore. Could that be considered something that an asshole would do? Likely so. Did Harry care all that much? Not really.

Caroline nods in a halfway ‘thank you’ at Harry as the apartment shuts behind her, knowing fully well that Liv and Niall are waiting on the other side to hear what they have to say to each other. Caroline ignores it, knowing that she’ll get an earful from her best friend whenever they have time alone for being too harsh or mean to her boyfriend’s best friend. Caroline shakes her head at the notion, thinking to herself how ridiculous the whole situation is.

If Harry had just shown up on time, showed a little bit of respect, maybe respected other people’s boundaries, then this wouldn’t be happening. This wouldn’t be a conversation that they have to have. Caroline wouldn’t hate him the way she does.

“Okay,” Harry starts, shrugging his shoulders and leaning against the railing so that his shirt tightens against his chest and the muscles in his arms are on perfect display. If Caroline found him attractive, maybe this would distract her, cause her mouth to go dry and her comebacks to weaken. Good thing it isn’t that way. “Caroline, you think of me as the worst person on the planet?”

“I do, yeah,” Caroline states flatly, leaning against the door and trying to keep her eyes on his. Maintaining eye contact has never been one of Caroline’s strong suits and doing so when she’s obscenely angry is certainly not making it any easier. “Harry, you’re kind of a piece of shit.”

“All this anger because I missed an annotation meeting, and I didn’t tell you?” Harry sounds like he’s mocking her and it’s making Caroline even more angry than she already is. Gabriel Ryan would never tolerate this behavior. “Is that really it, love? Is this something more going on?”

“Don’t ‘love’ me, with your accent, and try and patronize me,” Caroline says through clenched teeth, shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest to add to her frustrated nature. “That was just icing on the cake, Harry. I really don’t like you.”

“That’s such a shame, innit? ‘Cause I like you.”

“Harry, you don’t even know me!” Caroline is so frustrated she thinks she might cry, tears beginning to gloss over her honey eyes and make her vision blurry. “God, you’re just some privileged guy in my literature class. That’s all you are! Honestly, nothing I say will get through to you! This whole conversation is pointless and useless and a waste of my fucking time!”

“Have you gotten it all out, now, Caroline?” Harry teases, clutching the door handle that Caroline reaches for, blocking her into the door and hovering over her face, his lips merely inches from her mouth, teasing the way her plump flesh entices him for only a second. “Have only one idea on how or what we’re going to do about it to make it better, Caroline. Kiss?”

“Hah! Over my dead body, Harry Styles. Only in your wildest dreams would I ever kiss you.” Caroline slinks beneath Harry’s arms blockading her in and opens the door, frustratedly grabbing her belongings and making her way out of the apartment. “Bye, Liv. Bye, Niall. I’ll see you later.”

“Caroline,” Harry says calmly, reaching for her wrist and grabbing her gently, taking her hand in his and trying to have her attention for more than a moment. Caroline immediately flings her hand out of his and reaches for the keys to her truck. “Meeting this week, maybe? Can get some work done earlier than the weekend if you’d like. I don’t have anything tying me down, now.”

“Harry Styles, you and I are no longer working together. Get this through your thick head. I’m not working with you. I’m not speaking to you. Rigsby never has to know that we didn’t work together. I’ll lie. I don’t want to see you. That’s it. End of story.”

Home.

Home is where many things happen for Caroline and Harry. Home is where Caroline and Harry sing and dance in their kitchen at three in the morning when Caroline is wide awake and needing to be distracted from the intrusive thoughts that are overwhelming her brain. Home is where Harry started his business ventures. Home is where Caroline started writing her novel. Home is where Caroline and Harry kiss beneath the sheets and touch each other intimately and know their way around each other’s bodies, caressing and touching in the most loving way. Home is where the heart is, they say, and that would be true in Caroline’s case.

Harry is home, wherever they are.

Caroline looks at Harry with tears in her eyes, drawing the covers back and gesturing for him to lay in the tiny makeshift bed with her, ignoring the shaking of his head and smirking at the way he sighs and gives in, pushing himself out of the lounger and walking over to her with his notebook in hand, knowing well enough by now that she’ll want him to continue to read to her until she’s sleeping and unable to listen any longer. Her legs are stretched out over his thighs, her cheek laying on his stomach, smiling at the slight pudge that’s accumulated there since they started cooking more meals at home with the bookstore right beneath them. Caroline’s arms circle around his waist, not caring whether or not her arm will fall asleep in the middle of the night or not, and his hands intertwine themselves in her hair, brushing through the straight locks soothingly. His touch is gentle, nurturing, and Caroline suddenly is reminded of when her father used to do the same thing to her when she would have a nightmare or couldn’t sleep.

Harry is like Gabriel in a lot of ways, Caroline recognizes. Maybe, just maybe, that’s why she’s fallen so head over heels in love with him. Caroline never thought she would find a man as good as her father, previous relationships included, and yet, here she is, with one right by her side. Harry is patient and kind, loyal and generous. Harry understands her mental health and never blames her for an episode, good or bad. Harry works with her, and makes sure that she knows that he’s there, no matter what the reason may be. Caroline searched high and low for someone like him, someone that would accept her for the way she is, and even in previous relationships, she never found someone to do it as unconditionally as Harry has. Caroline will be forever grateful for the way they met, although not particularly ideal, because it meant that they met at all.

“Thought you’d be asleep by now, baby,” Harry says softly, brushing his fingers through her hair and kissing her head. “I can read more if you’d like. Do you want to talk instead? Is there anything you want to talk about?”

Caroline’s fingers trace over the pattern on Harry’s shirt mindlessly, the speckled design on the shirt making her frown, realizing that he never had the opportunity to change when he came home. All because of how Harry found Caroline – unconscious in their bedroom. Lying on the floor by their bedside, with her eyes shut and her lips slightly parted. Harry is in his airport clothes, likely reliving the trauma that she’s given him for the rest of his very life.

“Callie,” he says sweetly, taking her attention away from the shirt by lifting her chin and making her eyes meet his, “you don’t have to worry about me. I’m okay.”

“Harry, I should’ve called and told you. I thought I could handle it on my own, that it wouldn’t bother me because there have been so many other times where she rejected me. This time, though, it broke me.” Harry can feel the tears from Caroline’s face soaking into his shirt and trousers and he doesn’t say a word, only turns his body slightly so he’s facing her, and his thumbs can wipe away the tears recklessly falling down her cheeks. “I don’t understand what I did to make her not want me, Harry. All I ever did was be myself. That was too much for her? Am I too much?”

“Never,” Harry says, shaking his head adamantly and pressing his thumb to where her eyebrows have furrowed together and gently rubbing across her skin, kissing her forehead soothingly and lingering there for good measure. “Lucy has a very British way of thinking, Cal. That’s not a great thing when it comes to mental health and all that. Hell, I had a very British way of thinking, at first. There’s a reason we didn’t get along. There’s a reason my friends wouldn’t share things like that with me.” Harry looks at Caroline sincerely and says, “Until I met you.”

Caroline doesn’t say anything for a minute, and Harry thinks that she’s finally fallen asleep. Until an audible breath echoes through the quiet room and Harry looks to see Caroline beginning to wipe tears from her cheeks, once more. “Do you think that we should postpone the wedding? Until I’m better? I’ll understand if you want to delay the wedding, Harry.”

“Caroline Elizabeth,” Harry breathes, shaking his head frustratedly and sighing as he delicately grabs Caroline’s chin and brings her face to meet his. Harry’s thought about delaying the wedding. Of course, Harry has. Although, it’s certainly not because of what Caroline thinks. Harry’s worried that she’ll have another episode in the meantime and want to cancel the wedding altogether while they’re trying to make final preparations and there will be nothing that he can do to change her mind. “I’m marrying you in three months. That’s final. I don’t want to hear another word about it from you. I’m marrying you, I’ve been wanting to marry you, and I’m ready to marry you. Okay, Cal?”

“Okay.”

Harry sighs and kisses her forehead soothingly, gently scratching at her head and kissing a line from her forehead to her nose to her mouth. “I love you, Caroline.”

“Know you do.”

Harry smiles at that, gently turning his body over and laying on his back, allowing Caroline to make herself comfortable. His hands reach for his journal on the makeshift bedside table, opening to a marked page with a poem that he wrote on the plane the day he left, the day everything went wrong, thinking about how much he would miss her and want to be with her every day until they were in each other’s company. “I’m happy that you know.”

“Have you got any clue how much I love you, Harry?”

Harry turns his head to look at Caroline, her eyes slowly shutting and her lips slightly parted as she sucks in deep breaths and gives way to the sleep that’s been nagging at her eyelids for nearly an hour. Harry’s heart is so warm and swollen with Caroline in his arms that it makes him almost forget to answer her. “Have some idea, yeah. It’s a lot. Love me a lot, don’t you?”

“More than anything.”

“Feel the same way about you, Callie,” Harry says honestly, scratching lightly at her scalp and letting his mouth linger with a kiss on her forehead for a while. “Love of my life, you are.”

Harry always means what he says, Caroline knows this. Caroline knows this, even though her brain is bombarded with intrusive thoughts telling her that he’ll leave her like everyone else, eventually. “Falling in Love” is a hard concept to truly understand, to make one’s brain believe they’re worthy of deserving. Caroline has waited a long time, a very long time, to feel like she is worthy of love. Caroline knows why the relationship never worked out with her ex, with Max – because she didn’t feel worthy to be loved by him. Caroline isn’t sure what happened with Harry that made the switch, which made her feel like maybe this one will show her that she’s worthy of it.

Certainly, it’s because of how Harry loves. Harry is the perfect way to learn to love yourself because the way he loves is so unconditional and pure. Harry loves with his whole chest, with his whole might, with a ferocity that makes you feel like you’re the only person on the planet that means anything to him. Caroline, although obsessed with him, certainly hasn’t always felt this way. Caroline certainly couldn’t stand to be around Harry for a while, which made it nearly impossible to see how she could have fallen in love with him. Of everything, their relationship is everything but a mystery, of a circular moment of hatred to love, of infatuation to lust. Harry is the perfect example of the quote, “But our hatred is almost indistinguishable from our love.”

Caroline looks to Harry and simply stares for a while, not saying anything, soaking in the way his fingers brush through her hair and his perfect lips are pursed together in thought as he mindlessly watches the reruns of a television program on the clunky machine shelved in the corner of the room. Caroline doesn’t necessarily want children, for the sake of genetically passing her brain to another human, but looking at Harry, right now, and the way that he is with her, she thinks that it wouldn’t be so horrible to have another version of him toddling around. Caroline knows she’s in love, then – when everything changes because of him.

Harry says something suddenly, his eyes still trained on the television, his fingertips scratching Caroline’s head softly to gain her attention to reality. “Callie, I think you’re incredibly brave.”

Caroline smiles softly, shaking her head and nudging further into Harry’s embrace, threading her leg through his thighs and cuddling closer to him, whispering, “But it is not bravery; I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don't you do the same?”

“All the Light We Cannot See?”

Caroline nods with a smile. Harry knowing the novels she references has always made her feel warm inside. “Can you read me one more?” she wonders, nodding towards the poetry journal in his hands and the marked pages that are bending out of the cover. “Only one.”

“Only if you promise to go to sleep,” he says sternly, opening the pages and turning towards the one that is the most recent, the most freshly how he’s feeling. Harry’s been writing poetry about Caroline for so many years that it seems almost impossible that there are things he has forgotten to say or neglected to say. And yet, nearly every day, there is something new that he wants to find the words to express about the love of his life. “Have all those doctor’s visits in the morning, Callie, and the psychiatrist is coming to check on your medicine before we can leave.”

“Fair enough.”

“Only one,” Harry warns, clearing his throat and opening the page, smiling at Caroline’s eyes are already squeezing shut and ready to let his voice lull her to sleep. “Goodnight, my love.”

“feeling you against my chest // my heart is beating, undeniably a mess // you are everything all at once // and i’d do anything for you to see // that you are all i ever need.”

𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝: @goldenbabys-world, @burberryharold, @stylesfics-xx, @grace-ful-gold, @summertimestyles, @laur-sogolden, @yourhsficsplug, @morethanamelodyy, @truckerhatharry, @plzplzme

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grasslandgirl · 3 years

Note

Leverage ot3 5 (or more) sentences:

A strangled meow sounded from inside the jacket parker was wearing as eliot and hardison stared at her in disbelief "did your jacket just...meow?" and "did you just steal someones cat?" were all that parker heard before a bundle of fluff lept out of her jacket and then the screaming started.

(this was. sooooo fun to write. i hope this parker pov sounds/feels right bc i had. SO much fun writing it. i digress.)

A strangled meow sounded from inside the jacket Parker was wearing as Eliot and Hardison stared in disbelief; “Did your jacket just… meow?” and “Did you just steal someone’s cat?” were all that Parker heard before a bundle of fluff leapt out of her jacket, and then the screaming started. 90% of the screaming, to be fair, came from the cat. (The other 10% was from Hardison, but Parker generously decided to call that a yelp instead.) It was a very loud cat; which was most of what had drawn and endeared Parker to her in the first place.

“Did you steal someone’s cat?” Eliot repeated, sounding equally more irritated and more exhausted than he had the first time- like he already knew the answer, but felt like he had to ask anyway. From anyone else, Parker might have felt annoyed at the question- either that someone would think she’d steal an animal from, like, a little kid or something (she wouldn’t); or that they thought she shouldn’t have taken a cat from a terrible owner (she would). But it was Eliot, and she knew him well enough to hear the faint fondness underneath the irritation and exhaustion; so she didn’t mind.

“Nope.” She grinned. Hardison was still staring silently at the cat, eyes bugged out in that funny way they did sometimes. “Found her. Think it’s a her, anyway. Hardison, do you know how to tell if it’s a her-cat or a him-cat?”

“Wh- Parker, you brought a cat into my bat cave?”

“It’s not a bat cave.”

“Yeah,” Parker said, in response to both Hardison’s question, and Eliot’s statement.

“Did you get any of the stuff cats need?” Eliot asked, and that question was enough to finally shake Hardison out of whatever fugue state he’d fallen into, staring at the cat- which was currently weaving her way between Parker’s legs, purring loudly. It was very cute, and Parker could tell they were already wearing Eliot down. His eyes were doing that sparkly-trying-not-to-smile thing when he was amused and was trying not to be.

“Wh- no, no. We are not keeping the cat.” Hardison said, waving his hands in the air.

“I thought you could just make cat food?” Parker said, ignoring Hardison.

Eliot rolled his eyes. “I mean, yeah, I could, but I cook enough for you two and the brewpub. I don’t really want to be a pet’s person chef too, you know?”

“That makes sense.”

“What part of we’re not keeping the cat aren’t you people hearing?” Hardison’s voice was reaching his screechy-stressed pitch.

“But look at her.” Parker leaned over to scoop the cat back up in her arms- she was skinny under all the fluffy fur, Parker could feel her little cat bones. It reminded her, in an unhappy kind of way, of how Parker felt when she was little- skin and bones, walking around in clothes too big and baggy, waiting for someone to scoop her up into their jacket pocket and take her home. Or something like that. She held the cat up to Hardison’s face. “Look how sad she looks!” The cat mewed loudly again, as though in support. Parker really liked her. Hardison looked at Eliot, and some weird silent conversation passed between them, communicating by how wide Hardison’s eyes got or how much Eliot waggled his eyebrows. Maybe. Parker had a hard time figuring out what their silent conversations meant most of the time; but they told her the important stuff, so she didn’t mind. “We could teach her to steal- do you think cats could steal stuff? They’re good at jumping and clawing and getting into small places; she could pick up the diamonds in her mouth; that would be so cute. We could call her Parker! Parker the Cat.”

“We’re not calling the cat Parker, Parker.” Eliot said definitively. “That’s just confusing.” Fine, Parker thought. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t keep her. (The cat. Not-Parker the Cat. Was that a name? Probably not. They could workshop it. Maybe if they named her after one of Hardison’s orc game people or one of the Star movies characters he liked he’d like the cat more? Something to consider.)

“She’s… very cute, Parker.” Hardison was still eye to eye with the cat, but his face had lost some of the strained, uncomfortable-ness it’d had when her cat (their cat?) had first jumped out of her jacket.

“Thank you.”

Eliot stifled what sounded like a laugh in his hand, and Parker took that as another point in favor of Leia the Cat. (Should it be General Leia the Cat or Princess Leia the Cat, technically? She’d have to ask Hardison.)

“I just don’t think-” Hardison started to say, but stopped speaking when the cat reached out and put one of her paws delicately on Hardison’s nose. Hardison’s eyes crossed slightly as he tried to focus on the paw on his nose. Eliot made a tiny sound to her left, and Parker tore her eyes away from Hardison and the cat long enough to glance at him- he was watching Hardison with the same mushy eyes he got whenever Parker said she liked his food. Or kissed him. Or when Hardison kissed him. Or when they did that thing- he made the mushy eyes a lot. But he was making them at the cat, too. (Another point in favor of Spock the Cat! Was Spock a good girl-cat name? He was Parker’s favorite other-Star-Movie character, so she didn’t think it really mattered.)

“She is pretty cute,” Hardison repeated, voice softer.

Parker knew Hardison well enough to know what a yes sounded like. “Eliot?” She turned slightly, so that she was holding the cat out in front of Eliot’s face, now. His arms were crossed over his chest, and his eyebrows were down low on his face in the grumpy-mean position he used when he wanted to scare people (it hadn’t worked on Parker in years, she thought proudly). But his eyes were still doing the sparkly-mushy-lovey thing that he didn’t like to admit.

“Fine.” He grumbled. Parker grinned. She gave it thirty minutes before Alice the Cat had Eliot wrapped around her little finger. (Paw? Did cats have fingers?)

“Yes!” Parker pulled the cat back against her chest, like she’d held her the entire way back to the apartment. “Welcome to Leverage International, Alice the Cat.” She tapped Alice lightly on her tiny pink nose. Alice meowed understandingly.

“Alice? Like your- like the alias, Alice?” Hardison asked, in his figuring-things-out voice.

Parker nodded. “Alice is like me, and the cat is like me; Alice the Cat. And I like it better than Spock or Leia.” Hardison and Eliot stared at her blankly, and Parker realized she hadn’t suggested those names out loud. Well, whatever.

“I guess we’re keeping the cat,” Hardison said. “Even though I personally would’ve voted for naming her Spock. Or black widow.”

“It’s a gray cat, Hardison. You’re both terrible at naming things.”

“I like the name Alice.” Eliot looked at Parker, his eyes dropping briefly to the cat still calmly cradled in her arms.

“Yeah, I guess it suits the crazy-ass cat you stole,” Eliot said, voice still grumpy, but his mushy-happy eye smile had moved down to his mouth. Hardison was smiling at her, too.

“Found,” Parker argued, and Alice meowed loudly in agreement.

send me a sentence prompt and i'll write. some amount more based on the prompt. theoretically five sentences. probably more.

#asks #prompts #leverage #parker x hardison x eliot #fic #i dont usually use a lot of parentheticals in my writing but it Felt Right for parker's internal monologue #at least it felt right to me

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d0llpie · 3 years

Text

Tendou x Reader

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Warnings: angst, mentions of insecurity, self harm (not explicit), sexual assault, ooc ushijima and smut, please let me know if i missed anything

Word count: 2.8k

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Asahi picked you up and drove the both of you back to the dorms after finding the janitor and begging him to let him into the building to find your key. The janitor let him in after assuming he was the father of a student.

"So how was the date?" Asahi asked looking back at Tendou in the back seat

"It was amazing" Tendou smirked at you in the mirror and you blushed

"So are you two...dating now?" Asahi was a big softie but he'd still act overprotective of you despite him never actually doing anything physically

"Yes" you both said in unison not looking at Asahi

You noticed his grip tighten on the steering wheel as he kept driving in silence.

Once you'd arrived at the dorms you told Tendou to go ahead while you talked to Asahi

"so.." you started

"are you sure about him?" asahi said worried

"yes, and it's fine you don't have to worry about me" you replied

"of course i have to worry about you, it's fine if you're happy but you know i'll always be here too" he patted your head and smiled

"I know Asahi, thank you for picking us up" you smiled and he nodded

"Make sure you keep your key on you okay?" he warned as you got out of the car

"Yes yes i know, goodbye" you smiled at him and waved as he drove off

The next couple of months were nothing short of a dream. Tendou carried you on his back, back to the dorms after practice each day and the teams had learned to just ignore Tendou's bragging about you. It never failed to make you nervous but he truly did look happy talking about you. At least a few days a week he would come into your dorm and lie his head in your lap reading shounen jump while you braided small plaits into his hair. After you had grabbed lunch at the cafe together you were doing exactly that, he was reading calmly while you twirled his red locks in between your fingers. You watched as his eyes lit up and he sat up and turned to you

"y/n, are you coming to watch us play Karasuno next week?" he looked into your eyes with that familiar intensity that you fell for

"Of course i am, i'm excited to see if you can block one of Asahi's spikes" you teased

"You'll see, i will" he smirked and kissed your cheek lightly before lying back down leaving you flustered and shocked. You loved watched Tendou play, he truly did turn into monster on the court and it excited you to see him so comfortable and agile. You felt a bit jealous though, your team hadn't made it as far as the boys team and you were done playing real matches for the semester, you didn't want to tell Tendou because you knew this could be his last game with the team. He noticed your mood change though, he always did and he sat up in front of you

"y/n what's wrong?" he looked into your eyes for any sign but he figured you were thinking about volleyball

"Is it because you miss playing volleyball?" he pulled you close to him and you wrapped your legs and arms around him as you sighed into his shoulder. You mumbled yes against him and he chuckled rubbing your back softly.

"It'll be okay, you still have practice and you'll continue playing matches after break" he kept rubbing your back while his other hand played with your hair. You brought your head off his shoulder and sighed

"I just feel like i’m gonna be boring without volleyball, you’re always so fun no matter what and i can never keep up...ugh and i should be comforting you it could be your last game" you pouted and connected your forehead to his

"Just being around you is comfort enough" he smiled and you slapped his arm lightly, laughing at how cheesy he was whenever you were down. He knew it always made you feel better so he continued saying cheesy things until you'd forgotten about your worries.

It was the day of the Karasuno vs Shiratorizawa match, you saw Tendou in the morning and wished him good luck before going to meet Asahi. You arrived at the gym with the Karasuno team and wished them all good luck as well before smiling at Asahi and meeting Yachi and Miki in the stands.

"Hey guys" you smiled at them

"Hey y/n, so who do you want to win?" Yachi raised her eyebrow at you

"I honestly don't know, volleyball means so much to Tendou and Asahi has really found himself since joining back, im so nervous for both of them..either way i'll be buying someone chocolate ice cream after this" you chuckled lightly but you really were nervous, you knew that one team had to lose and you were scared for how devastated either one would be.

After the first four sets you swore you were sweating more than any of the players, you were so nervous and tired from cheering you didnt even notice your nails digging into the chair beneath you. Tendou was more intense than ever, he was breaking karasuno and you felt sorry for the pinch server on Karasuno who was crying while Tendou sung from the sidelines. He looked up at you and smiled, you waved back dramatically before looking over to Asahi and doing the same, he smiled back nervously. Tendou watched you and he felt calmer despite you being a ball of energy and nerves. He wanted to win, for you and for his team. He went back onto the court and began playing even harder than before, his guesses becoming more and more accurate every time he went to block. You watched him in awe but you noticed Asahi becoming more and more determined the more that they were blocked.

The whistle blew and you stared down the court, many of the shiratorizawa players were on the floor and the Karasuno 3rd years were crying in each other’s arms while the rest screamed. Tendou had lost, you watched him curiously as he just stared up at the roof and muttered to himself. You wanted to run up to him a hug him but you knew you had to wait. Ushijima gravbed Tendou and brought him back to the coach, he was emotionless but you could sense his disappointment even from up in the stands. After both teams had lined up you ran down the stairs and saw Karasuno first, you congratulated the team and gave Asahi a big hug, he saw how you were in a rush and he understood you wanted to comfort Tendou. He smiled understandingly and you ran past him without saying anything. When you saw Ushijima and Tendou walking next to each other you weren’t surprised to see that they both seemed normal, anyone else would think they were relaxed but you could tell they were both upset. You looked at Tendou and wrapped your arms around him and he buried his face in the crook of your neck.

“You were amazing out there, you know that?” you mumbled just loud enough for him to hear, you felt him smile against your neck, sending a shiver down your spine. You pulled back and looked at Ushijima

“You played so well, everyone did” you smiled at him and he nodded appreciatively.

After you had said goodbye to the Karasuno team and Asahi you went back on the Shiratorizawa bus with boys and girls team. Tendou fell asleep on your shoulder 5 minutes into the ride back and you smiled, running your hands through his hair. He looked so peaceful sleeping which contrasted deeply to the guess monster you’d just seen on the court.

Back at the dorms you walked into Tendou and Ushijimas dorm room in Tendous hoodie holding one of his shounen jump copies and a tub of chocolate ice cream with some spoons. He looked up at you and melted when he saw you, he came and wrapped you in a hug kissing your forehead lightly and whispering in your ear

“Thank you princess” you blushed and sat on his bed opening the ice cream while Tendou made himself comfortable in your lap.

You smiled down at him and ran your hands through his hair, he began reading his magazine while you put the ice cream as aids to focus on braiding his hair.

He loved lying on your thighs and often fell asleep in your lap reading or talking to you about shounen jump while you played with his hair.

“I love you” you cooed as you closed your eyes, quickly opening them when you felt him tense up below you and realised you had said that out loud.

Your face turned red and you tried to get up but Tendou grabbed your hip, holding you in place while he stared at you. You avoided eye contact but you could feel his eyes on your face.

“y/n look at me” you brought your gaze into your lap and he lifted your chin with his hand

“I love you too” you looked into his eyes and he sat up before he cupped your face in his large hands and pressed his lips against yours.

You felt your heart basically jump out of your chest as you melted beneath his touch. His other hand that was on your hip started to move up your waist under your shirt and you shivered feeling his fingers trace your side. Your breath hitched when he cupped your breast, he squeezed softly earning a small moan from you and he smirked while kissing down your jawline.

You smiled back wrapping your leg around his waist pulling him down onto you, he looked into your eyes for any indication that he should stop but he saw nothing but love and lust. He smiled and said ‘i love you princess’ before sitting up and taking off his shirt before coming back down and leaving marks on your neck.

You arched your back as he trailed his finger up your thigh and he took the opportunity to unclip your bra. He lifted his hoodie off of you and you averted your eyes as he gazed down at you

“You’re so beautiful” he whispered before kissing in between your breasts and down to your naval.

He loomed over you with half lidded eyes as he admired the affect he had on you, your uneven breathing and bare chest was driving him mad.

His hand made its way from your breast to your throat as he kissed you roughly while choking you. You stared up at him with lust while he slipped his hand past the waistband of your shorts.

He groaned as he felt how wet you were, for him and only him. He slipped a finger inside of you and moaned into your mouth as you arched your back.

He grabbed both your wrists with his free hand and held them above your head while roughly kissing you to silence your moans. Adding a second finger, he started curling his fingers inside of you and you moaned at how his skilled hands worked wonders inside of you.

“Princess i need you to quiet down” he said before releasing your wrists and shoving his fingers in your mouth, you felt a knot in your stomach and you were about to come undone before he removed his fingers from inside you. You groaned and looked up at him to see him smirking.

You felt his bulge on the inside of your thigh and brushed against him causing him to moan into your mouth. You took the opportunity to flip him over and straddle him. He looked up at you surprised as you started kissing down his toned chest and abdomen. He grabbed your jaw and brought you up to his face kissing you roughly, you grinder against him and he moaned loudly in your ear, you blushed at his reaction and started kissing back down his chest.

As you released his member from his boxers you looked up to see him with a smug look on his face, you swirled your tongue around his tip and watched his eyes roll back into his head. Satisfied, you started bobbing your head, taking most of him in your mouth while his hand found its way to your hair, gripping it softly as he guided your head faster.

He grabbed your jaw again and pulled you up off of him and pulled off your shorts and panties. He dove between your thighs with no warning and started squeezing your thighs while swirling his tongue on your clit, you were panting and moaning so loud you wouldn’t be surprised if the whole dorm building could hear.

“tendou...i’m gonna-“ you moaned out as he took his tongue out of you and kissed your lips while still gripping your thighs, you were sure there would be hand marks the next day.

“Not yet princess, be patient” he said before lying down and pulling you onto his face. He started attacking your clit again and you gripped his hair as he inserted his tongue inside you causing him to moan loudly against you, you kept pulling his hair to get the same reaction but he still didn’t let you cum.

Your legs were shaking now as he put you on your hands and knees in front of him.

“Look at me” he grabbed your jaw and saw the tears fall down your face, he groaned and kissed your shoulder before lightly nipping at your collarbone

“you’re so fucking pretty when you cry” he kissed you once more before pushing you back down and grabbing your hips. He put his tip in your entrance before asking “are you okay?” you moaned in response and he rammed the rest of his length inside of you earning a loud scream from you.

He leant over and shoved his fingers in your mouth before slamming into you again while groaning in your ear.

The room was filled with the sound of skin slapping and muffled moans as he continued slamming into quickly.

“Satori” you moaned out feeling the familiar knot in your stomach. He snaked his arm around you and started circling your clit while biting your shoulder.

You threw your head back and as you were about to come he pulled out and flipped you over

“I wanna see that pretty face when you come for me” he mumbled into the crook of your neck as he left hickeys below your jaw. You were shaking already and your mascara was running down your cheeks, the sight of you so wound up underneath him drove him mad, much like how he felt on the court against after breaking the other players.

He pushed into you again and wrapped his arm under your waist as he left sloppy kisses all over your chest. Your hands gripped his hair as you both moaned.

“Tendou, please” you whimpered out and he bit your bottom lip as he sped up his pace

“It’s okay baby, you can cum now, scream for me” he could feel himself come undone as you screamed out his name and tightened around him

“fuck” he groaned and shot his seed into you as you both panted.

He kissed your forehead and smiled down lovingly at you

“You did so good princess, don’t move i’ll clean you up” he kissed you sweetly before cleaning up and grabbing his hoodie for you to wear. Your legs were still shaking as he put the hoodie on your and pulled the covers over you before slipping into the bed too. He wrapped his arm around you and pulled you close before kissing the top of your head and whispering in your ear

“i love you, my paradise” you hummed in response and fell asleep in his embrace.

A few hours later you were both woken up by Ushijima stumbling into the room. You were struggling to wake up and Tendou and Ushijima were talking quietly before Tendou whispered to you

“Go back to sleep, i’m going to the bathroom” he kissed your cheek and you stirred awake feeling Ushijima staring at you.

“Hey ushijima, are you okay?” you asked rubbing your eyes, when you opened them fully you saw his face inches from yours and his hand was holding your thigh. You barely had any time to react before he started kissing you and shoving his tongue into your mouth. You could taste the alcohol in his mouth and you pushed against his arms but he was so much bigger than you that you couldn’t move. Tears began to prick your eyes as you struggled against his hold. You felt frozen despite your attempts to push him off of you, you didn’t even feel like you were there, you were just watching as he slid his hand up your shorts. He groaned when he felt you and you took the opportunity to push him off and run out of the room.

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celestialmark · 4 years

Text

Lacuna - Part Three

- Characters: Johnny Suh x reader, members of nct - Category: single parent au, fluff, slight angst. - Word count: 6.3k - Warnings: - - Navigation: prologue | part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | epilogue - Author’s notes: ACK SHE IS FINALLY HERE SKSKKSK if u noticed, I'm adding an extra part to the series ksksksk as always, this series is dedicated to you bub! love u heaps.

“How was it?” Taeyong asks, taking a sip from the cup of coffee you had just made him.

You ponder on the question for a few seconds before you take the seat opposite him on the dining table. “Pretty well. I think Youngho really likes him.”

Taeyong nods knowingly in relief. He studies your distracted expression before proceeding with his next question. “And how do you feel?”

“Good. I’m happy if Youngho is,” you reply almost too quickly while you play with the ceramic mug nestled in your palms.

Taeyong’s brow shoots upwards and you begin to hate the fact that you really were incapable of hiding anything from him. “So how do you really feel?”

You let out an exasperated sigh this time and the familiar sensation of heaviness comes back to sit on your chest. Ever since that day at the playground, you have been anything but at peace. Seeing Youngho elated meeting his father finally after four years should make you the happiest mother on earth, but whenever your thoughts trace back to that day, worries and concerns cloud your mind.

“I should be happy right?” You start, trailing your eyes to the wooden table. “But.. I don’t know. I feel restless Yong. Johnny has every right to meet his son and that was the primary reason why I allowed it to happen in the first place. But now what? What happens next? Is he going to stick around for Youngho? He’s going to be the next in line for their company– He has so much on his plate. I–” your voice drops when your thoughts run haywire and you don’t know which words to say next.

Taeyong listens to you silently and decides to never let you know how it crushes him inside to see you like this.

“He came back here for other reasons yet I come along and tell him he’s a father of a four year old. I don’t want to impose that role on him so fast nor do I want him to feel he has the responsibility of looking after Youngho because I can do it by myself just fine. I want him to have the choice..”

“Y/n, of course he’s going to want to take responsibility of Youngho. He’s the dad, and any sane person on this planet would feel the need to take care of and protect their own child,” Taeyong replies calmly, making you look up at him. “You’re forgetting about the kind of person Johnny is. We’re talking about the person who once contemplated abandoning everything he’s ever wanted in his whole life just to be with you. Remember? He wouldn’t have left if it wasn’t for you convincing him otherwise.”

Taeyong’s words are like daggers to your heart and you almost choke on the impending tears when you remember how difficult it was to let Johnny go.

“So what makes you think he’s going to leave his son behind?”

It’s not often that you have these kinds of conversation with Taeyong, the last one being five years ago when you were absolutely in fragments the day Johnny left. But whenever you do, you always expect Taeyong to leave you speechless with everything he has to say because he was always right, just like now.

The familiar ring of the doorbell echoes in the house and you get up immediately to hide the fact that Taeyong’s words stirred the things you’ve buried deep down back to life.

Through the glass door, you find Youngho in Johnny’s arms and they’re laughing with each other, probably about something Johnny said. Sliding the glass door open, you catch the attention of the two and Youngho’s eyes immediately brighten up when he sees you.

“Mommy!” He outstretches his arms out to you and you instantly take him from Johnny’s hold and hug him tight. You notice the way Johnny’s scent lingers on your son and you try hard not to let the distinct smell affect you too much as it sends you through waves of nostalgia.

“How was school?” You murmur into his ear, his arms never leaving your neck.

“Really good! I have a surprise for you in my bag,” Youngho replies, excitement evident in his voice. “And Daddy brought me my favourite fruit snacks when he came to collect me so I’m extra happy.”

Your eyes involuntarily widen at the term that leaves Youngho’s lips for the very first time and your gaze flies to Johnny who’s smiling bashfully as he rubs the nape of his neck. You melt at the thought of Johnny feeling ecstatic for being acknowledged by his son and the thought of Youngho finally having someone to call his dad. Taeyong’s words reverberate in your mind and before you know it, a glimmer of hope finds its way to comfort you.

“Thank you for picking Youngho up from school today,” you say to Johnny who’s still caught up with Youngho calling him his dad.

“My pleasure,” he replies. Youngho lets go of you then so that he can twist his body to look at Johnny. “I’ll see you soon?” Johnny says.

“Are you going to bring me to school tomorrow again too?” Youngho asks innocently, eyes expectant.

Johnny pauses before he glances at you. “Of course. If mommy is okay with it?”

You try your best not to flinch when Johnny directs at you and you wish he had used your name instead.

“Mommy is it okay?” Youngho asks you, breaking you out of your trance.

“Of course baby,” you reply.

Youngho beams at you then and his smile motivates you even further to give it your all to keep it. Taeyong appears by the hallway and Youngho instantly scurries off your arms to go and greet his favourite uncle.

“Hi Johnny,” Taeyong says as he scoops Youngho into his arms.

Johnny gestures at Taeyong with a nod, “Hey Tae.”

“I’ll take Youngho inside first,” Taeyong announces. “Thanks for bringing him home man.”

When Youngho smiles at Taeyong, he whizzes Youngho away to leave you and Johnny alone. You watch Taeyong’s back disappears behind a door and when he’s gone, you turn back to Johnny who has his hands hidden in the pockets of his jeans.

“I hope spending time with Youngho isn’t interfering with your schedules,” you say, genuinely worried. “You must be so busy.”

Johnny shakes his head right away. “Not at all. Don’t worry about it. There’s so much I need to make up for, I don’t wanna miss any chance I get.”

You give him a weak smile. “Johnny I hope you don’t feel you have to do this, you know–”

Johnny is already nodding at you. “I know y/n. I want to though–” He’s peering into your eyes and you can’t quite point a finger on what his eyes want to tell you.

“I want to be his dad.”

You blink at him in utter shock but his words bring your raging concerns and previous worries to rest. And you let out a huge exhale when the comfort relieves all the contemplations that’s been keeping you up at night. You didn’t know the words Johnny has just said were the ones you were in desperate need of.

“Okay,” is all you can say, still stunned.

“And I want to say thank you, for letting me meet him,” Johnny adds, voice genuine and lips smiling.

“Johnny, he’s your son. Of course you have all the right to meet him,” you answer.

Johnny shrugs his shoulders and shift in his spot. “I know that. But it mustn’t have been easy on your part to let Youngho meet someone he’s never met all his life and to even introduce me as his dad.”

You nod understandingly, gaining a better insight to Johnny’s thoughts. Taeyong was right. You really were starting to forget the Johnny you knew from before. Because up until now you’ve forgotten how he always managed to reassure you in some sort of way. His reassurance only makes you believe even more that allowing Johnny back into your life was the right decision. If not for you, but definitely for your son.

“Hey, everything is good, he really likes you,” you say in attempts to lighten up the mood.

Johnny chuckles, the sound he emits sending goosebumps all over your skin. “I’m glad. I want to beat Taeyong and be his only favourite.”

You laugh at this and so does Johnny. Silence follows after.

“Hey y/n?”

“Hm?”

“Is it okay if I pick you up from work some time? With Youngho?”

And it feels just like nine years ago. Everything happening at this moment reminds you of the very first time Johnny had asked you to go on your first date with him; a shy smile grazing his lips, his eyes imploring yours as he rocks back and forth on his toes. The nostalgia floods even more and for a second, you swear that the butterflies have come back.

You smile at Johnny when you manage to bring yourself back to the present, loving the featherweight settling in your insides.

“Okay.”

“How are things at home?” Doyoung asks over dinner, your schedules finally aligning with each other’s to make up for the time you bailed on him last minute.

You swallow your noodles after munching on them, wiping your lips with a napkin, “Really good. Youngho’s doing great.”

Doyoung nods with a smile, leaning across the table with a napkin between his fingers to wipe the corner of your lip which you had missed. Your eyes widen for a moment as he sits back in his seat, “That’s good. I haven’t seen him in a while. Maybe I should come and visit soon,” he replies casually, as if what he just did didn’t just throw you off the edge.

You play it off with a smile, silently asking yourself if Doyoung did indeed expect more to come out of this friendship than you did. “Of course. He’d be thrilled to see you.”

“What is he into these days? I should bring over a present while I'm at it.”

You chuckle, the familiarity of Doyoung’s nature settling in again. “There’s no need Doie, you don’t have to get him anything.”

Doyoung shrugs, “I want to. I want to win his heart over.”

You raise a brow as you watch him take a big gulp of water in one go. He’s avoiding your eyes and it makes you suspect if those words were meant to come out or not, or if there was so much more laid hidden underneath them. You don’t want to assume anything, but Taeyong’s words keep eating at you and though you’ve considered asking Doyoung straight upfront, you always seem to find yourself deciding against it for fear of making it awkward between you two or even worse, losing a friend you really liked being around with. Doyoung was good company and the many times you’ve spent with each other was proof that he was a friend who supported you in all aspects of your life.

But a part of you, the bigger part of you, can’t help but wish Taeyong was wrong.

You decide to drop the subject when you see Doyoung shift uncomfortably in his seat. Dinner continues on like that, the both of you carrying on like he didn’t say what he just did, talking about little occurrences of your lives you hope the other would find interesting, maybe just to pass time and to ignore the elephant that’s sitting in the room.

Doyoung drops you home like he always does, jogs over to the passenger seat to open the door for you so that you can exit his car. He does something different tonight though because you see him offering a hand out to you. It’s very Doyoung-like, you think and as you take his hand and step out of the car, you can’t help but feel his hand linger in yours, the seconds lasting too long for your liking, so you slowly pull away.

You use your retracted hand to rub your arm, suddenly growing conscious under his gaze and he’s in the midst of opening his mouth to say something when the headlights of a car emerging from the distance shine directly into both of your visions.

You see Johnny coming out of the driver’s seat not too long after he pulls the brakes and before he sees you both, he’s jogging over to the backseat. Youngho comes into view then as Johnny unbuckles him from his carseat and into his arms. Johnny smiles the second he sees you but the moment doesn’t last too long when he sees Doyoung beside you.

“Mommy!”

Youngho is asking to be put down and Johnny complies by setting him on the ground. The child zooms his way over to you, arms outstretched to greet you in a hug. Doyoung watches the whole thing unfold in front of him, a burst of questions running through his head when he gets a clearer view of Johnny walking towards where you both were.

“My baby! I missed you!” you exclaim as soon as Youngho lands in your arms, hugging him tight as you lift him up. “Did you have fun today?” Youngho continues to hug you tight by the neck, melting your heart knowing that he had missed you as much as you missed him.

“So much fun,” Youngho replies into your shoulder. You see Johnny standing in front of you and you shoot him a grateful smile. He returns it to you, a smile even bigger than yours.

“Doyoung,” Johnny clears his throat. “It’s good to see you.”

Doyoung blinks out of his daze. “J-Johnny. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

You realise the situation then, mentally face palming yourself when you catch the knowing or teasing look in Johnny’s face that’s clearly directed at you with a crooked smile on his face. You shut your eyes to avoid his teasing gazes, remembering the night at the gala where you practically pretended it had been the first time you met him.

“Mister Doie!” Youngho calls and he waves at him from your shoulder.

Doyoung momentarily takes his eyes off Johnny to entertain Youngho who's now grinning at him and gazing at him with big wide eyes, smiling at the nickname. “Hey little one.”

Growing too uncomfortable in the situation, you immediately try to get out of it. “Johnny, can you take Youngho inside first? I’ll follow after.”

You’re not sure why Johnny’s grin is growing wider by the minute and you’re raising a confused brow at him when he takes Youngho from you. You fish your bag for your keys and when you find them, you give it to him, his smile still too prominent for your liking.

“Baby I’ll see you in a bit okay?”

“Okay mommy.”

“Okay y/n.”

You’re frowning at Johnny when he responds to your statement that was clearly directed to Youngho. Even Youngho is perplexed that he snaps his head to his dad, who appears to have no notion of what he had just said, his gaze still on you, too soft and too gentle, as if you had the entire world to gawk at right behind your back. But it was just you, frowning at him, and it was less likely that he’d be staring at Doyoung like that too.

You make a face at him, your features taught as you silently signal him to take Youngho into the house. He blinks once, the smile never leaving his lips and finally tears his eyes off you to direct his attention to Doyoung who’s been watching silently this whole time with widened eyes.

“Doyoung, I’ll get going first. I’ll see you at the office.”

Johnny doesn't wait for a response and proceeds to walk away from the two of you with Youngho watching you from his shoulder.

You laugh awkwardly to break the silence that lingers between you two when Johnny and Youngho are no longer in sight. Doyoung nods slowly, trying to make an understanding of the situation but no matter how many times he’s tried to come up with theories, none of them made sense. All he knows or assumes, is that you and Johnny had gotten very close since your first meeting at the gala, so much so that he’s even looking after your son now.

You know you’re not in any way, indebted to explain yourself, or the current situation, but you feel like you owe it to Doyoung anyway because if there was one thing with Doyoung, he had always been honest with you.

“Hit me with it,” you say, facing him as you secretly brace for the worst. You’re not even sure why you’re nervous but the slight tremble at the tips of your fingers is enough to indicate that what you’d be talking about next will change your relationship with Doyoung forever.

“Johnny?”

You nod slowly, pursing your lips together. It wasn’t a full question, but the mere mention of the name was all it took for you to understand what he meant.

“Johnny, he’s, he’s Youngho’s dad.”

Doyoung’s already round eyes grow even more round, his mouth hanging agape in the process. Silence hangs in the air again and Doyoung’s blinking into nothing, as if trying to put the pieces together to form a coherent picture, but there were still too many information missing.

“I thought you didn’t know each other?” Doyoung quizzes, brows knitting together in the middle. “At the gala?”

You smile sheepishly, “Well you see, I was so stunned to see him there. I didn’t expect him to be there at all since it had been so long since we saw each other last, so when you introduced us... I really didn’t know what to say.”

Doyoung blinks hard and shakes his head once as if to shake the confusion away from his head. He holds his palm up to you as a signal to give him a few minutes to comprehend so you press your lips together in a thin line. You wonder how much more information you’re going to have to give him and you ponder if it would even be necessary knowing that your current situation with Johnny had nothing to do with him or your friendship.

“So... wait. Johnny told me he’d been in the States the past five years,” Doyoung trails off, finally looking at you again, his eyes still hazy with confusion. “Does that mean...”

You nod to confirm his theory. “Johnny only found out about Youngho when he came back.”

Doyoung breathes a big chunk of air, his shoulders rising at the same time his chest does before he releases it through a sigh, slowly comprehending the situation. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks genuinely.

You blink, the question taking you aback a little not because of the way he asked but because it was the last thing you thought he’d ever ask. “I didn’t really see any relevance in telling you.” And it sounds harsh, but it was true.

“Of course it’s relevant y/n!” You’re caught by surprise when he raises his voice slightly, the flinching of your body giving you away and when Doyoung sees this, he pauses to recollect himself. “Y/n- I-”

“I like you, okay,” Doyoung admits quietly, lowering his head to the ground after. “I’m not sure if you could tell, but I've been trying to give you hints for the past two years we’ve known each other.”

So Taeyong really was right.

Youngho is the first person that pops in your mind.

“Doie, I have a son.”

Doyoung takes a step closer to you, “I know that. And it never mattered to me.”

You feel your heart shatter because even before this very moment, even before Doyoung had to spell it out you, you already knew the answer and you knew it wasn’t going to change.

“Doie-”

“I know y/n, I know you don’t feel the same,” Doyoung cuts you off, a hint of dejection in his features under the moonlight. “I can feel it. But, if you’d just let me, if you’d just give me a chance.”

Doyoung’s voice is delicately laced with a tinge desperation and you can’t bear to look at him longer because this was a side to him you didn’t want to see.

“If you’d just give me a chance to change your mind.. That’s all I want.”

As promised, Johnny is waiting outside the gates of your preschool with Youngho’s hand in his. Youngho waves at you energetically as soon as you come into view, exiting the building after what you felt to be a really long day. Thank God it was Friday and there was Youngho in the distance to welcome you to it.

You exhale the biggest sigh of the day when Youngho greets you with a hug. His hugs always made everything better. You in your crouched position, relishing in the way Youngho’s small palms are patting your back gently, knowing you really liked it when he did so, for who knows how long until the fatigue from the day dissipates.

“Rough day?” Johnny asks when you let go of Youngho and stand back up, extending his hand to you where you find a bottle of water.

You take it from him, a smile lifting on your face, already feeling so much better and even better when you realise that he’s already left the cap of the bottle loose so that you didn’t have to struggle. “Yeah. I'm so happy it’s over.”

Johnny smiles and studies you as you take a sip. “Do you want to go straight home then? Or would you be up for a little detour?”

In all fairness, you were exhausted, but the sun is shining so nicely in the sky and the expectant glint in your son’s eyes makes it painfully difficult to deprive him of a Friday to remember rather than lounging at home. So you push past the tempting thoughts of rest.

“Well what do you have on the agenda?” You tease with a grin.

You watch in silence as he takes the bottle of water from your hand when he’s sure you’ve finished drinking and recaps it, taking it upon himself to also unlatch the strap of your bag from your shoulder, your belongings now firm in his palms.

And you hate it.

Because you can’t help but compare the similar mannerisms to Doyoung. And can’t help but feel way more with Johnny.

Johnny shrugs his shoulders, the boyish grin on his face reminding you of old times. “Not much. I was thinking ice cream. And a stroll in the park?”

And you hate it again. Because you almost forgot that if there was anyone who knew you better than yourself, it would be Johnny, even better than Taeyong. And he knew, more than anyone else, how you took pleasure in little things, in simple hobbies that didn’t require much thought.

“That sounds good,” you finally manage to utter after a flood of memories rush past.

Johnny smiles and it reaches his eyes.

And you hate it because under the sun, he looked absolutely breathtaking like this.

Johnny pulls up to the same park he first met Youngho in. And as you both walk side by side one another, a wave of emotions hit him, watching Youngho lead the way with his ice cream in his hand, skipping along happily because looking back now, he and Youngho had come such a long way in such a short span of time. He can’t help but glance to his side where he finds you licking your ice cream quietly, the smile on your face a clear indication of your satisfaction. Johnny thinks that you’re the only reason why he’s gotten along so well with Youngho in the first place.

“Ice cream good?” Johnny asks, starting up a conversation first.

“So good,” you reply shortly, swiping your tongue across your lower lip. “Has ice cream always tasted this good?”

Johnny chuckles, redirecting his attention to his own ice cream. “So what was life in the States like?” You ask absentmindedly, trying to imagine his life there.

“Different,” Johnny replies curtly. “But good. There’s a lot to see there actually. I just didn’t have enough time to since the five years just revolved around the company.” He glances at you again as you train your eyes to Youngho who has now reached the gates of the playground. “But I know I prefer it here.”

You nod slowly, not noticing his gaze and what his words implied, too focused on keeping an eye on your son who’s busy gobbling his ice cream down as fast as he can so that he can finally entertain himself at the playground.

“That’s good,” you acknowledge, munching on your cone. “No place like home, yeah?”

Johnny knows he’s gazing at you for far too long and that any minute that you’d decide to turn to him, you’d catch him and maybe even the longing in his eyes but that was the last thing in his mind right now.

“Yeah.. no place like home.”

And you don’t catch that because Johnny at this point mumbled it to himself.

“How did you and Doyoung meet?”

Johnny anticipates your response, slightly fearful that he’d stepped over the line too soon. But he almost sees no change in your expression when you both sit down on a bench overlooking the playground after having finished your ice creams.

“Two years ago, at a party, we had a common friend,” you answer, watching Youngho come down excitedly on the slide.

Johnny finds himself nodding, memories of the encounter at your house replaying in his mind. And as if reading his mind, you turn your whole body towards him, your right leg bending up on the bench with your arm propped up on the backrest. “Speaking of, what was that all about the other night?” you ask curiously, narrowing your eyes at him.

“What was all about what night?” Johnny asks innocently, avoiding your eyes by staring straight ahead even though he knew what you really meant.

“That night when you met Doyoung,” you start. “Something was off with you.”

“What did I do?” He asks again, finally turning his head to look at you.

You shrug, struggling to describe his behaviour from that night. Was it all in your head? “I don’t know.. you were like.. really, um, smiley?”

Johnny laughs for a second and you’re beginning to think that maybe it really was all in your imagination, that maybe you were beginning to be delusional. “You know what, forget it.” You turn away from him then, trying to distract yourself from what you just tried to confront.

Johnny chuckles this time and you feel him scoot closer to you as you try your best not to be bothered. “Man, you’re still the sharp person I remember.”

You roll your eyes, crossing your arms across your chest. “Is that a compliment? Anyone could tell you were being weird Johnny.”

Oh how he loved it when you said his name and hearing it coming from you makes it so hard for him not to smile even more when he’s trying to explain himself on a more serious note.

You see him grinning from the corner of your eye, “You just can’t take me seriously, can you?”

Johnny purses his lips in hopes of hiding his smile but it’s almost impossible when he sees you almost sulking like this. “Okay, I’m sorry.” He scoots even more closer to you, you can feel his shoulder bump against yours. “You want to know why I was behaving like I was that night?”

“I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t.”

Adorable, he thinks.

Johnny finds Youngho amongst the children playing in the playground and smiles once again before answering,

“Because I knew that I had so much more advantages than Doyoung.”

You frown but don’t budge, “What does that even mean? You make it sound like it’s some sort of competition.”

“It always is if it involves someone else liking you.”

Johnny’s second guessing himself suddenly, wondering if he’d revealed too much in one day, or better yet, if he’d indirectly confessed something too early.

“How did you know that?”

“He told me.”

“He did?”

“Yeah. He didn’t have to though, it was pretty obvious.”

“I.. I only found out that night.”

Johnny looks at you. “Really?”

You nod slowly, Doyoung’s words replaying in your head. “Yeah. I didn’t know.. Taeyong had to tell me. It was only then that I started to think that maybe. Turns out Taeyong was right.”

“Wow, and you’re still as dense as I remember you to be,” Johnny teases, grinning, staring straight ahead.

You nudge him with your elbow, earning a laugh from him. “Hey, I’m not that dense. I just didn’t want to assume.”

Johnny pretends to roll his eyes, “Right.” He takes a breath, his smile slowly disappearing when a thought comes to mind. He runs a palm on his thigh and prepares himself to hear the answer to what he’s about to ask next. “Well, now that you know.. how do you feel about it?”

You shrug again, uncrossing your arms and settling to play with your fingers, bringing your head low. “I don’t know. Me and Doyoung are friends.. And it’s just a bit more complicated with Youngho in the picture, though he said he didn’t mind.” You sigh when you remember the look on Doyoung’s face, “He said he just wanted a chance, that’s it.”

A gush of wind blows and it carries the momentary silence with it.

“Are you going to give it to him?”

You turn to look at Johnny who’s already staring at you.

“I don’t know.”

It’s a Tuesday evening when you begin to worry about Youngho. Having left work immediately to pick up your child, you find him weak and pale by the nurse’s office of his school. Youngho has just vomited for the fourth time since coming home and thought he insists he’s feeling okay, he certainly didn’t look it.

Youngho was definitely stubborn, just like his dad.

When the evening deepens into the night, you stay with Youngho in his bedroom, keeping a close eye on him and keeping supplies close in case he needed to empty his system again. He’s half conscious and you break at the sight of him so weak and so helpless. You come to a conclusion to bring him to the hospital if he didn’t feel any better soon.

Youngho opens his eye slowly and takes off the damp towel resting on his forehead, “Mommy, toilet.”

You’re quick to draw back his covers and place his slippers by his feet. “How are you feeling ranger?”

“A little better,” he croaks but you’re not convinced.

You let Youngho lead the way and decide to grab a fresh shirt from his closet before following him closely. Not even a second passes that you briefly take your eyes off of him, you hear a thud in the distance and scream for his name when you find him unconscious on the floor. You try not to panic but that’s impossible to do when Youngho isn’t responding to your calls, when he isn’t opening his eyes no matter how vigorously you shake him in your arms. Youngho is sweating and his peripheries are cold to touch. You scoop him completely in your arms and bolt right outside your front door.

Your hands are shaking as you strap him to his seat, too unconscious to even keep his head upright and you’re trying so hard not to cry at the sight of him. You shut his door once he’s secure and you’re scrambling for the driver’s seat. You fish your phone out of your pocket and dial the first number you see through the blur of your vision. You wipe your eyes aggressively with the back of your free hand as you wait for your call to be answered and as soon as it is, you spare no time.

“Y/n?”

“Youngho passed out. I’m bringing him to the hospital.”

You’re fully crying by the time you reach the emergency room, watching helplessly as the doctors wheel your son away from you. And you follow them blindly until you can no longer proceed once they pull the curtains around his designated cubicle. The worst possible scenarios come to mind and no matter how hard you try to block them out, you begin to think that you’ve lacked as a mother, blaming yourself for this very situation.

“Y/n!”

You turn and see Doyoung entering the emergency department, a sigh of relief leaving you at the comforting sight of someone familiar. He grabs a hold of your arms as soon as he reaches you and you know he’s trying to calm you down.

“Take a deep breath, tell me what happened.”

Your breathing is staggering and there’s huge droplets of tears falling down your cheeks, but you try your best follow Doyoung’s instructions, “Youngho, he, he wasn’t feeling well all day. He vomited the whole evening and he passed out thirty minutes ago—“

“Okay okay y/n,” Doyoung tries to match his breathing with yours so that he can train you to slow down with him, his grip on your arms firm and eyes trained straight into yours. “I need you to calm down for me. Youngho is going to be okay, you’ve brought him to the right place. He’ll be okay.”

“Doie what if—“

“Shh, he’s going to be okay.”

And true enough, Youngho was okay. You watch him by his bedside, sleeping soundly, a needle dug into his arm with fluids infusing into his vein. He looks a lot better, with the colour returning to his face and his hands now warm to touch. He didn’t look like he was in pain anymore and you’re tugging at his covers to make sure he’s warm. Youngho’s room is quiet, having been transferred to his own room after clearing the emergency room an hour after arrival. While Doyoung is out to buy some food, your hear the door slide open behind you and Johnny emerges from behind it.

Another wave of relief washes over you at the sight of him and you stand immediately from your seat. You smile weakly at him and he tries to do the same but to no avail, switching his gaze from you to Youngho.

“What happened?” He whispers, examining Youngho when he reaches the side of the bed.

“Gastroenteritis the doctor said. He was vomiting all night because of it and the reason why he passed out was because of dehydration,” you reply in a low voice to not wake your son. “They said he’ll be okay.”

Johnny nods but his jaw remains tight. He should be relieved, he knows he should be, after all his son was okay, but there’s a sour taste in his mouth and an even bigger thought eating him alive.

“Y/n, can we talk outside?”

Johnny’s voice is emotionless and his eyes are empty from where you’re watching him. You’re unsure but you agree anyway, fully convinced nothing would be as scary as the initial conversation you had with him when he found out he was Youngho’s dad.

When you slide the door closed behind you, you’re met by Johnny who’s in the midst of turning to face you. The long corridor is desolate and quiet and it somehow matches the way Johnny is gazing at you with empty eyes. There was definitely something wrong. He hasn’t smiled the moment he set foot here and you kind of wished you hadn’t picked on him for being so smiley that night, preferring that side of him way more than the one you're facing now. He looks sad and somewhat.. lost.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“What?”

“Why didn’t you call me?” Johnny repeats again, this time a little bit louder but his expression unchanging. “Why is it that I had to find out from Taeyong that you brought Youngho to the hospital?”

Oh.

“Johnny no-”

“And why is it that I met Doyoung on the way here?” He cuts you off and you silently watch him slowly becoming worked up, huffing every breath now and shoulders rising and falling with each one.

That’s when you see it. The utter disappointment in his eyes.

“Was he...” Johnny’s voice is quiet all of a sudden. “Was he the first person you called?”

You feel the extreme need to explain yourself because you realise then what Johnny was implying at and you feel so guilty it makes you sick to the stomach. “Yes but- Johnny let me explain.”

Johnny remains silent and just stares at you. You take this as your cue to continue.

“I panicked okay. I didn't know what to do. And Doyoung’s number was the first one on my phone and I called him on a whim because I just wanted someone to know.. I just wanted someone with me because I was so scared.”

“And you didn’t think of me even for a second?” Johnny asks, the hurt too evident in his low voice it makes you choke. Your eyes are already swollen from earlier but you feel another batch of tears threatening to fall. How many times do you have to hurt Johnny until you finally get it right?

“Y/n, Youngho is my son,” Johnny reiterates.

You nod in defeat, biting your lower lip. “I know I know. I’m really sorry.”

Johnny sighs, bringing his head low, “Is this it? Do you choose him?”

You frown slightly. “Choose?”

Johnny takes a step closer to you and you heart beats erratically in anticipation. His eyes are focused on your hand and when he finally takes it in his, you feel all of the hairs on your skin stand because not only were his fingers cold from being outside, but also because Johnny’s touch always had that same effect on you.

He looks up at you again, eyes sad and features worn.

“I don’t want you to have to tell me go away again,” he says lowly, his voice delicate, eyes revealing broken pieces of him. “Y/n..”

“I want you to choose me this time and ask me to stay.”

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unmanageable-day · 3 years

Text

Come to me

masterlist

previous chapter: 23

PART 24 - next

Summary. After what happened in a relationship in the past, you found it difficult to trust someone with the gentleman image. ‘Gentleman’ seems like merely a concept and it was probably impossible for someone to be a genuine one. Now that you’re stuck with the number one gentleman at campus for a group project, how would you cope with the one and only Joshua Hong?

Genre. College!au, non-idol!au / friends to lover

Pairing. Joshua x y/n x S.Coups

WC / warnings. 1.4k / grammar error because my english is deteriorating

a/n: now that i realized, i barely mention jun, seungkwan, and chan in this au :”

TAGLIST. @samemagicpoint @unravellyn @nonuuu @seventeeneration @skylions-den @wooziverse @infinitemoods @haoraecane @sunflowergyeomie @flower0930 — [ send ask or dm if you’re interested to be added in the list! 🖤 ]

The long awaited Saturday had finally come. Jeonghan got up early to prepare brunch, and especially for today, he set the table more prettily than the usual. Even a small bouquet was put on the table. A soothing jazzy instrumental was also playing vaguely in the background. Unfortunately, the lunch today was the most inconvenient meal they had ever since the three of them decided to become housemates. There was nothing can be heard except the quiet munching and the clinking sound of the chopsticks and spoons against their bowls.

"Because I'm being nice today, I will do all the dishes. While waiting, you two may enjoy tiramisu for dessert. I put it in the fridge. Sojung specially bought it for us," Jeonghan said as he cleared up the table.

Again, the boys were eating in silence while Jeonghan washed the dishes. Joshua and Seungcheol didn't seem to mind the high tension hanging in the air. Jeonghan sighed in frustration as he joined back to the dining table. He positioned himself in the middle, while Joshua and Seungcheol was across each other.

"Really, I don't understand you sometimes." None of his housemates responded. Rolling his eyes, he brushed his hair vigorously. "Okay, let's start our important meeting. I, Yoon Jeonghan will be your moderator today. Neither Minghao nor Wonwoo could join us for this occasion. So, I hope we can be as civil as possible. Jisoo, Seungcheol, you will only talk when I let you and you may not interrupt each other."

At this point, both Joshua and Seungcheol still kept their mouths shut. And Jeonghan was not happy. "Say yes if you understand," he barked.

A sloppy yes escaped from Joshua's lips.

"Seungcheol?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Alright. Jisoo, you can start. You may ask, or just simply tell us how you feel." He turned to Seungcheol who was fidgeting with his hands. "As I said, Seungcheol, no interrupting. And you may answer if Jisoo asks you."

Joshua inhaled deeply before he began. During this 5 year friendship, he had witnessed Seungcheol being strict even to himself when it comes to work. As friends, he would give suggestions that make sense and even critics or bitter truths when he had to. Of course, Joshua experienced fighting with him too, but that was when they were younger and it was over something that is not bigger than who can use the bathroom first.

"Seungcheol, you and Y/N.. Have you been seeing each other? Like regularly?" he began calmly, then paused for a second, gulping nervously. "Or, officially?"

Unconsciously, Seungcheol had been holding his breath since Joshua spoke. His hands were tightly holding onto his glass of water. For the first time, the strong and reliable Choi Seungcheol, the oldest in his peers, could not look at Joshua in the eyes. "Yes.." he muttered.

Instead of Joshua, Jeonghan was quicker to react and he almost shrieked Seungcheol's name as he was shocked to hear his short answer.

The oldest immediately corrected himself, "No, I mean not officially. But regularly."

Jeonghan cleared his throat. "Seungcheol, please define regularly."

"No need to, Jeonghan," said Joshua calmly. "Since when?"

"Since you were assigned for Big Hit." He tried to read Joshua's response which showed no facial expression changes. "No. Maybe even way before that."

"May I ask why?" asked Joshua again.

Flustered, Seungcheol cautiously glanced at Jeonghan and see how he reacted. Jeonghan locked his eyes to him, as if words could come out of his eyes. Seungcheol nervously bit his lower lips. It wasn't that long ago since Jeonghan and Seungcheol talked about this after that night. He can't say the same thing he said to Vernon and Jeonghan, that Joshua didn't have a chance, can he? He didn’t want to be scolded again by Jeonghan, moreover in front of Joshua this time.

Seungcheol was contemplating in his head. "Uh.. Because it looks like you're not getting anywhere with her." His brain worked so hard to arrange words so that it wouldn't sound too harsh. Or else, Jeonghan would definitely get him.

Hearing his answer, Joshua couldn't even deny it. It was true after all. “You know what? You’re right,” he trailed off, his eyes were fixated on the leftover tiramisu. “But what makes you think it’s okay for you to attempt going closer to her?”

Seungcheol remained silent.

"Look, I know you like her too. Then I have my right to be upset to see you with her, right? I've always been jealous that you're much closer with her. But now that I'm thinking about it, I guess it’s partially my fault too. I'm mad at myself. If only I can make myself more trustworthy for her. It's been months and she can't even make herself comfortable around me. And I still don’t know why."

Knowing the reason, Seungcheol was reluctant to tell him that he knew something. But being glared at by Jeonghan made him shudder. “I think you should ask her yourself,” he said slowly. “I’ll give you a hint; it’s your image.”

“My image? What do you mean?” In his head, the amount of nicknames he heard from campus were coming back and forth. Gentleman, Mr. Nice Guy, angelic smile, angel voice, Bambi eyes, and many more. And he didn’t even know why people gave him these labels.

“That’s not my story to tell,” Seungcheol stated firmly.

At this answer, Jeonghan nodded understandingly although he was also curious what could be your reason that Seungcheol knew.

“But... that’s also if she wants to tell you, or if she wants to see you,” Seungcheol continued, making Jeonghan widened his eyes in disbelief. What again this time? Jeonghan cursed internally.

Apparently Joshua was triggered as well. “Why wouldn’t she want to see me? We go to the same uni, same classes, and now same office,” he retorted in confusion. “I literally see her everyday in the office.”

“Yeah, but with the rumor about you and that colleague of yours? What’s her name again, Siyoung?”

This time Joshua’s bambi eyes got wider as he furrowed his brows. “You mean Siyeon? Wait, how do you know Siyeon?”

“Who’s Siyeon? Shua, are you seeing someone and you didn’t tell me?” Jeonghan asked, a bit accusing his best buddy.

“No!” Joshua snapped. “She’s just a co-worker. There is nothing going on— wait, did you just say rumor? What rumor, and why do I not know about it?”

For the first time, Seungcheol raised his head and found Joshua’s eyes. “Why do you think Y/N was so upset when you didn’t make it to the sushi bar?”

Joshua went silent as he tried to recall that day. He did went out with his team members, including this Siyeon girl. He had to go to Siyeon’s house because some files were accidentally carried out when she went home that particular week. The day after that he also worked very closely with her because she was new. And apparently, many things following that day that were related to Siyeon.

So that’s why Aron’s friend mentioned about Y/N saying I should continue to be partnered with Siyeon throughout this whole project. So that’s why she thought I was supposed to work with Siyeon.. Silently, Joshua face-palmed himself as he grunted.

“Hey, you okay? Is there something you want to tell us?” Jeonghan nudged him.

Sighing heavily, Joshua brushed his fringe backwards. “No. I’ll just find a way to talk to her.”

Jeonghan nodded. “Seungcheol?”

"Jisoo, I owe you an apology. Not because I like her. It's because I shouldn't have done it behind your back. If we have to be rivals, everything should be fair and square."

Joshua was honestly not surprised by his answer. "You're not going to back off, huh?"

"I was. But I don’t think I can stop myself," Seungcheol said in hesitation. But he meant every word he said.

“Choi Seungcheol!” Jeonghan raised his voice again at the oldest, even louder this time. "What are you thinking?!”

“Hey, calm down,” said Joshua, his hand reached to Jeonghan’s arm and squeezed it lightly. Both of them knew that Seungcheol was a man with strong willing. But when it comes to feelings, romantic relationship and friends, Jeonghan just wished he would prioritize friends. Moreover this time, it involved Joshua in a so-called love triangle in which Joshua was at disadvantaged position.

“Okay, I will back off,” Seungcheol slowly uttered, looking deep into Joshua’s eyes. “The day when she chooses you over me and anybody else, I will back off.”

bonus

#seventeen imagines #seventeen au #seventeen texts #seventeen scenarios #seventeen sm au #svt imagines #svt college au #seventeen joshua #joshua imagines #seventeen scoups #scoups imagines #seventeen x reader #joshua x reader #scoups x reader #kpop social media au #post by yourblinkies

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justahopelessssromantic · 4 years

Text

Perfect

Part 10

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6 // Part 7 // Part 8 // Part 9

A/N: Sorry this took what feels like forever to update or even to post anything. I don’t know what happened but I really struggled to write this and get it done for y’all. I just hit a terrible block out of no where and I really tired my best to push through. I don’t think I’ve ever been so frustrated. Hopefully it has lifted now 😊Thank you so much for the understanding and patience. Anyways I hope you guys enjoy and as always thank you so much for reading! ❤️

*gifs not mine*

Warnings: Angst and Fluff

Exiting the car you headed towards the clubhouse to find EZ waiting just outside the gates. Angel sent him a text letting him know the two of you were on your way knowing his little brother would want to see you. Angel turned to you giving you a kiss on the cheek before walking past you, stopping to give EZ a quick hug and then heading further in to give the two of you some privacy.

“Hey,” EZ said meeting you the rest of the way and pulling you into a tight hug, “How are you doing?” He never got the chance to really check in with you last night understandingly after everything. Watching you come in with Angel helped ease some of his worry with the knowledge that you had not spent the night alone.

“I’ll be fine,” you replied. Not you were fine, but you’d be fine. “We talked almost everyday. Why didn’t you say something EZ? You should have told me.” You weren’t angry with him but you were a little hurt to know that he had known and had not mentioned a single thing to you. You were also upset with yourself for not catching that something was wrong, but then again you were also good at keeping things from those closest to you. Especially something so painful. Still you were family, it involved you just as much.

“Until we knew all the facts it was just too dangerous,” he tried to explain to you. He felt bad for not telling you sooner but he wouldn’t apologize for it. If he could go back he'd make the same decision to keep you in the dark. “You had a lot you were going through already (Y/N). I didn’t want to add to it.” He pulled you into another tight hug. “And I knew if I told you you would have come back. I wanted you back more than anything, but it had to be when you were ready, on your own terms.

“You knew I’d be back?” When you first left you had no intentions of coming back. You thought that would have been the last you’d seen of Santo Padre and the people who made it what it was, but then again you were angry and hurting.

“Santo Padre is just as much a part of you as you are it. It needs you, it’s your home.” EZ said grinning at you after pulling away from the embrace. You rolled your eyes at him trying to stifle a giggle. “Don’t look at me like that.” He chuckled.

“You’re such a cheeseball,” you teased playfully pushing his shoulder. “Now come on, I wanna see all the other guys.”

Angel was sitting atop the picnic table outside putting out his cigarette when he saw you and EZ headed his way. Hopping off the table he met the two of you following behind as you headed in the clubhouse, more than likely to say hello to all the guys before you went into the shop today.

You walked into the clubhouse sighing as the cool air touched your skin freeing you from the unbearable heat just outside. Your eyes adjusted to the room from being in the sunshine when you noticed Coco, Gilly and Matt sitting at the bar. You smiled to yourself not expecting to see your new friend so soon.

Angel however groaned to himself the minute he saw Matt sitting there next to Coco. What the hell was he doing here? He glanced over at you and his heart sunk at the smile you wore. He should be the one making you smile like that, not Matt.

Looking over at your entrance Matt grinned the moment he saw your beautiful face. He got up from his seat walking over your way, eyes only on you. Coco followed behind meeting the three of you in the middle of the room.

“Funny seeing you here,” you commented.

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Matt said. For him it was like you were the only two people in the room. He had just been here discussing business but the moment you walked in the room the air around him became lighter and all of that went out the window.

“Yo, you two know each other?” Coco asked looking between the two of you and then to Angel who looked less than pleased to see Matt. Clearly Coco was missing something. He’d have to ask the Boy Scout about it later.

“Yeah,” Matt answered, still looking at you with that charming smile, “I met (Y/N) at Carniceria Reyes yesterday. She really helped a poor lost guy out.”

Now it was making more sense.

You smiled back. It was refreshing to run into Matt here. The conversation was a good distraction for you, helping to push the last hours to the back of your mind. “You two know each other?” You asked, pointing between him and Coco.

Angel sat back a bit with EZ, watching you intently as you talked. He couldn’t stand this and he was doing everything in his power to not say something he could possibly regret.

“Know each other?” Coco shook his head with a grin before slapping his hand down on Matt’s shoulder, “Asesino here is family, mi hermano, we served together. This man could take down a man with just his fuckin’ bare hands.” Coco boasted about his Marine buddy.

Angel felt as if he was being hit by a truck. Coco knew Matt, called him his fucking hermano. Angel was his hermano. He couldn’t possibly fathom how things could get any worse.

“Asesino?” You asked looking at Matt with your eyebrow raised. He just smiled modestly glancing down at the ground. You looked between the two thinking what are the odds. “Wow that’s so crazy. Small world.”

Angel was growing impatient, each word testing his resolve. Glaring in the direction of the three of yours exchange he muttered to himself, “Too fucking small.”

EZ heard the comment elbowing Angel swift and discreetly in the ribs shooting him a glare. Angel matched his look before turning back in your directions and swaggering his way over to the three of you. EZ tried to reach out and stop him but couldn’t without possibly making a scene.

“Angel,” he introduced himself with a smirk extending his hand out and interrupting the conversation. Standing straight he was a good four inches taller than Matt giving him that extra sense of confidence.

Matt took his hand, shaking it firmly, both men’s grips tight. He took Angel in, sizing him up. So this was the man who broke your heart, who broke your trust.“Angel,” he repeated back, “Matt. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh I know who you are,” Angel stated cockily, “Matt." He made a point of ununciating the t at the end."I make it a point to know everyone who’s hanging around my family.”

The men’s hands were still connected. You could practically feel the tension growing thicker and thicker. Coco exchanged a glance with EZ trying to figure out what the next move should be as you sent your own pleading look back towards EZ. The last thing you wanted was Angel driving your new friend away.

The men eventually dropped their hands and it was like the three of you let out a breath in unison that you weren't even aware you had been holding. Angel stepped back taking a stance next to you with his thumbs hooked into his pockets sizing Matt up now.

“So what exactly is it that you’re here for Matt?” Angel interrogated him, “What drives a man like you to settle here in Santo Padre.”

You looked back at EZ once more pleading silently once more for him to intervene. He didn’t want to get in the middle but for you he would. Taking a deep breath he stepped up and next to Angel.

“I’m here for work.” Matt explained simply to Angel. He didn’t like the guy, mostly because of what you told him but he liked you, respected you so he would be civil. He knew what Angel was doing though, trying to mark you as his. From what he could see you were your own woman, you could make your own decisions and he fucked up. “Got a job across the border.”

“Well Santo Padre is glad to have you,” EZ smiled at Matt butting into the conversation, “EZ,” he extended his hand introducing himself with a quick handshake. “Now if you don’t mind I need my brother for a minute.”

“Not at all, he’s all yours.”

Angel glared at EZ as he pulled him away from the conversation without giving him a chance to resist.. Once outside EZ released his hold on his brother’s shoulder following him around the side of the building.

Angel spun around shoving his brother, “What the hell was that?”

“She doesn’t need this now,” EZ said calmly. Matt seemed like a decent enough man to him.

“Yeah? Well I don’t need that right now!” Angel snarled pointing back in the direction where they had just left you all alone with Matt. Well mostly alone with Matt besides the other guys but that didn’t matter.

“Hasn’t she suffered enough, Angel?”

“Fuck, not now EZ. I don’t need this shit right now,” Angel protested trying to spare himself from the inevitable lecture that would be coming his way. He’s already heard it so many times, given himself the same shit, and right now after dredging up all that shit this morning he was not in the mood to hear it again.

“I’m just saying. Haven’t you done enough damage?” He knew his brother was hurting too but he was the one who cheated on you not the other way around. You had every right to talk to Matt, to do whatever it was you wanted. As long as he brought a smile to your face after last night that was all EZ cared about, “I know you are hurting but if Matt can make her happy, why won’t you let her have that?”

“No, I don’t think you do know Ezekiel.” Angel snapped back at him, getting in his younger brother’s face.

“Then tell me! Because from what I can see it’s pretty fucking simple.” EZ barked back standing his ground, “You cheated on her Angel. You’re the one who broke her heart, who sabotaged your perfectly good relationship.”

“Fuck! We were both broken,” Angel exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. He knew what he did was inexcusable but it kept getting harder and harder hearing the same shit from everyone. “Our relationship shattered the moment we lost the baby, not the affair!”

And there it was out in the open, the thing you had sworn to keep to yourselves.

“What?” EZ’s eyebrows furrowed trying to wrap his mind around the revelation as he looked at Angel’s broken expression.

Angel backed away from his brother running his hands through his hair. “She was pregnant. We were gonna have a family.” Angel explained, defeated. He hated the pitying look his brother wore, that was exactly one of the reasons it was kept a secret. “I was gonna be a fuckin’ dad EZ. We were so excited and then” he paused a moment, “then we lost it.” His voice broke.

“Shit Angel. I had no idea.” EZ’s heart broke for the two of you. He wished one of you had said something. It surprised him to know you had kept something so big and so painful to yourselves. He wished you would have let him in, let him be there for you. Although it was different circumstances he knew what it felt like to lose a baby.

“No one knew.” Angel mumbled, shaking his head. Leaning back against the side of the building he pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his cut fiddling with the carton in his hands, “It was too painful, we wanted to keep it to ourselves. And shit EZ you had enough on your mind while you were inside.”

EZ stepped over to his brother taking a place beside him against the wall. “I wish you had said something but I understand why you didn’t.” He placed a hand on Angel’s shoulder giving it a squeeze, “You are going to be a great dad someday Angel, I know it.” He said, trying to bring him some comfort.

“Fuck,” Angel sighed bowing his head, “I only wanna be a fuckin’ dad to her kids.” Picking his head up he looked at his brother. EZ could see all the emotions trapped inside him through his brother’s eyes, the fight within him clear as day. “I love her EZ. I love her so fuckin’ much it drives me crazy, keeps me up at night.” Angel leaned his head back against the building looking to the sky now. Last night was the first good night sleep he had gotten and he knew he’d be going back to shitty nights filled with shittier thoughts. “I need her. I’m so lost without her. I can’t do this without her.” His eyes glassed over as he stared up at the big blue sky. Maybe if he stared long enough it’d pull him in granting him peace from his seemingly never ending suffering.

EZ looked at his brother. He wished there was something he could say to ease Angel’s pain but there was nothing he could do. All he could right now was just sit with him in it, to be there for him, and sometimes that's all you can do for someone. Even so he still felt terrible for the heartache his brother had gone through. The heartache you both had gone through and continued to go through.

—————————————————————————————————————

Coming into the carniceria had been a terrible idea, still you pushed through. You couldn’t stop your mind from wandering, from imagining what EZ must have seen that dreadful day. At least the shop was busy with customers coming in and out giving your mind the distraction it needed. Felipe told you to go ahead and close up early so you had just flipped the sign over in the door and locked it up. You were doing the last minute cleaning, the radio playing quietly in the background when a light tapping on the glass caught your attention. Looking over in the window you saw Matt standing there holding up a cup of coffee and a paper bag from Mr. Garcia’s with a smile on his face.

Setting the broom against the wall you dusted off your hands onto your jeans before unlocking the door and letting him inside.

“Hey, I hope it’s okay that I stopped by after closing,” he said stepping into the small shop. “I wanted to bring by a little something to thank you for yesterday.” He handed you the little brown bag first.

Smiling, you opened the bag pulling out your favorite kind of scone, maple and doing a little happy dance. You were starving. The only thing you had eaten was from this morning and you couldn’t wait to devour the delicious treat in record time. “Thank you. Maple’s my favorite. How’d you know?”

“Hector was kind enough to share with me your usual order,” he grinned. To him you were one of the most amazing people he had met. Your little dance warmed his heart and he was thankful he had met you. He could really use someone with your light in his life.

“Hector?” You repeated sitting down at the little table inside the building. Matt sat across from you setting your coffee down in front of you. “Mr. Garcia must really like you. He doesn’t let just anyone call him by his name.”

“What can I say? What’s there not to like?”

You rolled your eyes laughing before digging into the delicious scone, savoring the sweet taste in your mouth. If there was one thing you loved more than anything it was good food.

You ate your scone just chatting casually between the two of you. You tried to stay present you really did but everything kept slipping to the front of your mind stealing you from the moment and it didn’t go unnoticed.

“You okay?” Matt asked, his face scrunched in concern. You were still just as lively as ever but there was a hint of pain behind your eyes, of sadness.

“What?” You asked, caught off guard. You were very good at hiding your true feelings most of the time, you pride yourself on that. The only one who could really see through you was Angel with the exception of EZ a few times. Maybe you were just too rusty or maybe everything finally became too much. You felt vulnerable, as if he could see right through you and that made you a little uneasy. At the same time it was refreshing to not have to put up a front, to know that through all the pain you were going through it didn’t go unnoticed, to know that he truly cared. “Yeah, I’m fine,” you started to say out of habit before catching yourself. Letting out a sigh you held your hands in your face, “Fuck, no I’m not fine.”

Matt grabbed your hand gently bringing it down onto the table as he looked at you, “There’s nothing wrong with not being fine. It’s okay to not be okay, just don’t let it consume you. Sit in the pain and then work through it, but don’t let it take up permanent residence in your life.” He knew what it was like to be in a dark place, to let it take hold dragging you so far down that you couldn’t see an escape. He didn’t have anyone but he’d be damned if he let it happen to you. You were too special, too important to those around you in this town and he would hate to see the light diminish in you. “I won’t push you to talk about it but if you ever need a friendly ear, someone to talk to, well I’ve got two.” He gave you a crooked smile holding your hand tight.

You laughed half heartedly feeling more at ease, a weight being lifted just from admitting out loud to someone outside your tight circle that no you weren’t alright and to be told that there was nothing wrong with that. You were a bubbly personality, always going out of your way to make other’s lives a little better, a little happier. Sometimes you felt as if you got stuck in that role, that all you were good for was bringing other people up no matter how down you felt. That you were such a happy girl, so full of life, someone like you couldn’t possibly be sad, couldn’t possibly be holding in a darkness so heavy you felt you might shatter into a million pieces. It felt so good to finally let some of that out. “I appreciate that Matt, I really do. More than you may ever know,” you gave him a smile squeezing his hand, “But I can’t talk about it, not now at least.”

“Well, I will be here when or if you ever can. And I’m here for anything else at all that you may need.”

"Thank you," you said genuinely. Standing up you tossed the garbage into the bin behind the counter. "I got some stuff I need to get from Mel's hardware store before he closes. Would you like to walk with me?"

"Sure," he nodded, standing up and following you out the door, waiting as you checked to make sure the door was locked.

You wandered through the aisles of the small store looking for the parts you needed to change your locks, Matt trailing just behind you. He insisted he carry the basket for you so anytime you found what you needed he’d hold it up for you to place the items inside.

Getting to the check out you greeted Mel at the counter setting your things down in front of him.

“(Y/N)!” He exclaimed with a large smile, “How are you doing dear?”

“I’m good,” you smiled back, “How is your garden doing?” Mel had a greener thumb than anyone you had ever known. He used to let you come by and pick out anything you wanted and in return you’d cook him dinner or bake him a special treat out of some of it.

“Doing great,” he beamed. Not many people asked him about it and he loved your enthusiasm whenever you’d stop by. He missed you while you were away, just like everyone else in the small town. “You should stop by again soon. You can have anything you like, like always.” He said, sending you a wink.

You chuckled at the old man and his charm, “You know I’m going to have to take you up on that.”

“Good cause I’m getting a little thin,” he chuckled, “I’m gonna waste away without your good cooking to plump me up.”

“I’ll bring you something again real soon,” you said resting your hand gently on his arm, “I promise.”

He gave you a thankful smile before finishing up scanning your items, “Hey, you have a new place to yourself now, correct?” He asked you.

“Yes, I do.”

“I’ve got something just for ya,” he said. Shuffling back into the storage room behind him he came back with a box setting it down in front of you, “We just got these in today. Living all alone you should have a little extra security.”

You gave him a smile after you looked at the box of the ring doorbell but didn’t think it was something you needed.“That really won’t be necessary.” You tried to protest.

Matt watched the exchange silently. He loved watching you as you interacted with the people around you.

“Plus I wouldn’t even know how to set it up,” you continued hoping that would satisfy the older gentlemen.

“I can do it for you. No problem at all,” Matt offered, speaking up behind you. It wasn’t his decision to make but he wasn’t a fool, he knew Santo Padre came with its many dangers. It couldn’t hurt to have just a little extra safety measures in place and he would gladly assist you with that.

You came to that conclusion yourself the more you thought about it. Before you never felt unsafe, you lived with a Mayan which made you a target in its own way but Angel would always protect you, you always felt safe with him. And with him being a part of the MC most people wouldn’t dare to try anything. But things were different now. Now you were connected to the cartel and Angel wouldn’t always be around. It couldn’t hurt to have a little extra security.

“He can do it for you,” Mel encouraged with a wiggle of his eyebrows and a grin playing at his lips. Mel never liked Angel mostly ever since he became a member of the Mayans MC. The club never sat well with him.

"Fine," you gave in shooting him a quick glare. "But that will be all for today, thank you."

Satisfied he smiled scanning your last item and setting it into the paper bag with the rest of your items.

Back at your home you watched as Matt set up the device outside your home. He had just finished changing the locks and was now installing your new doorbell for you. It was sweltering hot outside so he had shed his top layer leaving him in a tank top that showed off his well toned arms. You tried not to stare but that was proving a little difficult. Shaking your head you tried to clear your thoughts. Now was not the time. Walking over you leaned against the door jam arms crossed. "How's it going?"

Slipping the screwdriver out of his mouth he grinned glancing back at you. "Great. I think you'll like having this around."

"I'm warming up to the idea," you admitted. The sun was beginning to set outside as you realized just how late it was."It's not much but I have a frozen pizza in the freezer I can heat up." You said pointing back in the house. It was the last thing you personally wanted to eat but at the moment the last thing you felt like doing was cooking. "It is getting kind of late."

"Sounds great," he smiled. He wasn't a picky eater. His mama taught him just to be thankful for what he did have and to be respectful when he was a guest. You could make him anything and he’d be happy with it.

You turned to head back in to preheat the oven when he stopped you in your tracks.

"Before you go you can give me your phone? If you don't mind.” He added, “I can get the app and everything all set up for you."

"Yeah, that'd be a life saver." You unlocked the phone with your finger print before going into the settings and turning the lock feature off for now. You handed him your cell before slipping back inside. You had nothing to hide so there was no concern leaving your cell in the hands of another. And you trusted Matt. Also you sucked at technology. Angel used to always give you a bad time whenever you had to ask him how to accomplish a certain task on your cellphone teasing you how he should just buy you one of those phones advertised for the elderly.

Pulling the box out of the freezer you read the back setting it on the counter as you leaned down setting the temperature on your oven. You then pulled a couple of cold beers out of the fridge while you waited for the oven to ding. Opening the box you unwrapped the distasteful thing and set it onto your pizza pan. Your precious pan deserved better but there was no time for that now. You'd make it up to it another day.

Angel sat outside with the guys at the end of the day watching as the sun set. They all had a cigarette in hand and a beer nearby enjoying some time together before they all headed off for the night.

"So Matt's your hermano?" Angel questioned Coco sitting across from him with a raised eyebrow.

Coco rolled his eyes, "Come on fuck, don't tell me your fuckin' jealous of me and Matt." Coco shook his head flicking his cigarettes butt to the ground, "I get it with (Y/N) but damn man, get a fuckin' grip."

"I'm not fuckin' jealous," Angel lied, "I've just never heard you mention him before. If he’s your hermano like you said, shouldn't I have heard of him before now?”

Gilly snickered into his beer at his brother’s exchange. Jealousy was not a good color on Angel.

“Fuck man. Quit being a fuckin’ pussy. It’s not like I have to share every damn detail of my life with you. He’s my hermano and you're my hermano and that’s that.” Coco stated matter of factly.

“Ok, fine.” Angel grumbled. It was definitely not fine but maybe he could use this to his advantage. “So since you know this Matt so well, this Asesino” he mocked the nickname, “why don’t you tell me about him? There’s gotta be some dirt or something you got on Mr. Fucking Perfect.”

“Nah. Shit man I ain’t doing this,” Coco said standing up, “I’m not getting in the middle of this. He’s good people, Angel. That’s all I’m saying. Now I’m getting out of here. See ya fuckers tomorrow,” Coco called out, flipping Angel off as he walked away.

Of course he was. Angel couldn’t seem to catch a fucking break. All he could see was you slipping from his grasp for good. There was no way you’d choose him over Matt. He was losing you and he couldn’t bear to watch.

He was trying to not let it get to him, to step back and give you some space, especially after the shit they just dumped on you. He didn’t want to add on more pain again. Still he couldn’t stop worrying about you, wondering how you were holding up. Standing up he tossed his own cigarette down and pulled his phone out of his cut pulling up your contact.

He spent way too much deciding on what to say before he finally typed out: ’Hey, I know shit’s been tough so I thought I’d swing by and check on you, make sure you are doing alright’ before hitting send and slipping the device back into his cut.

Heading out himself, EZ jogged up behind him catching him at his bike. “Hey, you heading home?” He asked. With everything going on he didn’t know how good it was to leave his brother alone.

“Not yet,” Angel replied slipping his helmet on, “I’m gonna swing by (Y/N)’s place, to check in and make sure she’s okay.”

“Do you want some company? I can ride along.” EZ offered.

“I’m good, E. I should probably go alone, you know?” Angel said before swinging his leg over the bike. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He called out over the roar of the engine. Giving his brother a nod goodbye he walked his bike back before pulling out and down the road.

Your screen lit up as Matt was downloading the app for your new doorbell with a message from Angel. He wasn’t meaning to be snoopy but the message was right there before his face. He read it furrowing his eyebrows before swiping the notification off the screen and continuing on the task at hand. Angel didn’t exactly sit well with him but still it wasn’t exactly his business. From what he could tell today had been a tough one for you so where he didn’t delete the message or anything he also wasn’t going to tell you about it either in the hopes to spare you some. You seemed to be more relaxed tonight and he wanted to keep things that way.

Stepping out onto the deck with Matt he smiled up at you from his crouched position by the door.

You handed him one of the beers. He gave you a thanks before popping the top off and taking a long drink of the cold refreshment. “Pizza will be done soon. Are you almost done out here?”

“Yeah,” he answered nodding his head, “Just got to finish up a few things and then you’ll be all set.”

“Great,” you grinned fiddling with the label of the beer in your hand, “Thank you again. For everything.”

“Of course. Anything for you, (Y/N).” He loved saying your name and you had to admit it felt nice every time he did.

The oven dinged from inside your home and you took that as your cue to get the pizza out. Heading back inside you turned the volume of the music you had been playing up. The sound was competing with your noisy ac unit so it was a little louder than you usually liked it. Grabbing an oven mitt you pulled the door open and took the pan out. You then got to work cutting the pizza into evenly cut slices.

Matt heard the rumbling of the bike as Angel rolled down the street and suspected it might be him. Turning around to look in the direction he met eyes with him giving him a nod before shoving the screwdriver into his back pocket and heading in your front door.

Angel’s blood boiled when he saw Matt standing there outside your door. The little nod he gave him only pissed him off more. Clearly you didn’t need him, and that fucking hurt. Matt had only been in your life for one day and you already were choosing him. Angel sped up down the street needing to get out of there before he had the mind to turn back around and lay into the fucker. He knew you didn’t need that. It was taking everything in him to not fuck up any more.

He shouldn’t have done it but he did. Stopping at a stop sign he pulled out his phone sending a text he would surely regret later.

Matt felt your phone buzz in his pocket reminding him he still had it. You stepped out to the bathroom real quick and he was sitting at the small table in your kitchen waiting for you to eat. Pulling it out he looked at the screen reading the message.

‘I was over last night and now you got another mother fucker over?’

Shaking his head he listened to make sure you weren’t coming back yet before deleting the message entirely from your phone and then turning the screen off.

Once you were back he handed you back your phone, “We can test it out after we eat. I’ll show you how everything works.” He said.

You smiled feeling more at ease than earlier in the day. Matt was a nice guy and you had enjoyed spending the evening with him. Taking your phone you slipped it into your jeans before chomping down into the crips crust of the pizza. The two of you talked and joked enjoying the terrible food with good company.

For a moment you forgot about all the shit, all the pain, and were genuinely, truly happy.

Perfect Tag List: @jadert15 @dearsamcrobae @joalsglasses @chibsytelford @lover1307 @mrsamaroevans @expir3d-l0v3 @nakusaych9 @sophiasotherdaughter

Everything Tag List: @jad3djay @fairygardenss @carlaangel86 @briannab1234 @starrynite7114 @agirllovespasta @howaboutash @gemini0410 @naytraydr @knowles-morgan

#angel reyes #angel reyes imagine #angel reyes fic #angel reyes x reader #angel reyes fanfiction #mayans mc imagine #mayans mc fic #mayans mc #perfect

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peterparkerspooderman · 4 years

Text

Protective Tessa

Summary: Tom and You come back from touring the world only to come back to a weird acting Tessa

Warning: None

A/N: I hope you lovelies enjoy it. 😊

MASTERLIST

You and Tom have been touring around the world for the Spider-Man: Far From Home interviews. It was an amazing experience traveling the world and spending it with someone you love. You, unfortunately, weren't feeling well during the last leg of the tour. Tom wanted to back out seeing his family before going home but you tell him it’s fine and that he should see his family after being away for so long.

The plane landed in London and you and Tom quickly gathered your bags and were off to Tom’s family. Tom rang the doorbell. His mother, Nikki, opened the door to be greeted by her son. A smile appeared on her face, illuminating her features. She embraces him in a tight hug before moving on to you.

“Tommy, (Y/N), come in come in.” She says excitedly, gesturing her hands into her house.

You walk in and are greeted by a very excited Tessa. Tom falls to his knees as starts playing with her. She licks Tom’s face excitedly. She comes in front of you and starts sniffing your pants. Thinking she must be picking up the smells from the airport. She sits in front of you calmly and waits for you to pet her. This is odd considering we were full of excitement with Tom.

Tom and you walk to the kitchen to see the rest of the family, Tessa following close behind. You greet the brothers and Dom with a smile and a wave instead of your usual hugs, due to you feeling very nauseous.

“Are you okay, darling?” Dom asks, noticing your weird behaviour.

“She has been feeling a little unwell recently,” Tom answers for you, wrapping his arm around your waist.

“Oh dear, let me make you some black tea, why don’t you take a seat there, love,” Nikki says, gesturing to the chairs by the kitchen island.

You thank her before you take a seat, Tom taking the seat next to him. Not long after you feel teases head lay on your lap. This took you by surprise because this doesn't happen normally but you pet her head anyway.

“Do you think Tessa’s acting strange?” You whisper to Tom.

“I think she just missed you, she loves you a lot you know,” Tom says, you don’t believe him, somethings definitely up with her.

“So what’s been up with you (Y/N)?” Harry asks, standing across from you.

“I’ve been feeling very ill. Nothing I eat agrees with me, my body ends up getting rid of it.” You explain. Harry nods understandingly

“If you’re feeling so ill, why are you here and not home?” Sam interjects, standing next to Harry.

“Tom hasn’t seen you guys in a long while, it would be fair on him.” You explain. Nikki delivers you your tea, you thank her again. She smiles back in response.

“That’s grossly sweet,” Harry says, mockingly gagging.

“She’s very sweet,” Tom says, smiling at you. He moves his hand and places it on your thigh, giving it a small squeeze.

Tessa growls at his hand and tries to bite it. Tom rips his hand away in shock. Everyone else is shocked because Tessa doesn't bite at anyone, let alone her owner.

“Wow, what’s up with her?” Harry says, eyes wide.

“I have no idea.” You say, you slowly place your own hand on your thigh, scared she’s going to bite it but she gives it a small lick. Everyone seems to shrug it off and starts talking to Tom about his tour.

You, Tom and his family have moved to sitting outside. Tessa curled u[ by your feet. You talk about the traveling, the interviews, and the sightseeing. You end up finishing your tea in the process. You start feeling the nausea wave approaching.

“If you all will excuse me, I hope you don’t mind me laying down on the couch?” You ask, directing your question towards Nikki and Dom.

“Of course not dear, make yourself comfortable,” Nikki responds, concern evident on her face.

You get up to leave but are stopped by Tom’s hand on your wrist.

“Are you okay, baby?” He asks gently. You give him a small smile.

“Yeah, I just need to lie down for a bit.” You say. Tom nods his head before letting your wrist go.

You walk into the kitchen to place your mug in the sink, Tessa close behind you. You walk to the living room and plop your self on the couch. You make yourself comfortable and take off your shoes. Tessa sits down next to you on the floor.

A few seconds go by when you hear Tessa whining and putting her paw on your leg.

“Oh alright.” You say before removing one of the couch cushions to make space for her by your legs. She hops up and lays down, her head on your stomach.

You start to doze off after a while, Tessa already fast asleep when you hear quiet footsteps enter the room. Your eyes flutter open to see Tom approaching you with a gentle smile. You smile lazily in response.

“Hey, babe, how you feeling?” He whispers. He sits down next to your legs, shaking Tessa a but still asleep.

“I’m feeling better, just a little sleepy after the tea.” You yawn the last bit, stroking his arm gently. He leans down to give you a kiss but it was rudely interrupted by Tessa barking and growling at Tom. Tom flies back and is on his feet in a second. You sit up harshly. Tessa’s body in between you and Tom

“Tessa, what’s up with you?” Tom asks, his eyes wide. Not long after Tom’s family come rushing in, worried as to what Tessa was barking about.

“What’s going on here?” Nikki questions, her expression wild.

“Tessa’s acting weird. She won’t let anyone near me.” You explain. Tessa still protectively in front of you.

“That’s so odd.”

“She’s not normally like this.”

“What’s going on with her.”

“(Y/N), is your period late?”

The last question came to a shock to you when Nikki said it. Everyone’s silent.

“I don’t know. It’s been so busy that I didn’t notice. Why?” You ask, finding the question quite strange.

“Because a friend of mine, her dog wouldn’t let anyone near her, even her own husband and that was how they found out that she was pregnant,” Nikki explains.

“Pregnant? I can’t be.” You say quickly, looking over at Tom’s concerned face.

“Well, it doesn't to check.” Harry pipes up.

“I have a test under the sink, it doesn't hurt to keep one in the house. I still have one leftover from when I was pregnant with Paddy.” Nikki reveals.

“Thank you, Nikki.” You say before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

You follow all the instructions on the packaging and wait for the timer on your phone to beep. After what feels like an hour, the timer goes off. You shakily pick up the test, your stomach turning nervously in your gut.

2 lines.

2. Bold. Lines

It can’t be. I’m not ready to be a mother, am I? This will ruin Tom’s career. Oh no, what is Tom going to think? Thoughts start swirling around your head. Each one making you more panicked. A knock on the door brings you back to reality.

“Baby? Are you okay?” You hear Toms soft voice on the other side of the door.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” Your voice fails you, only croaks come out.

You open the door with the test in your hands. You walk out to see everyone watching you nervously.

“I’m pregnant.”

The two words erupted tears from Nikki, plastered a big smile on Dom's face, made the twins and Paddy cheer in happiness. Though the only reaction you cared about right now is Tom’s. You look over to see a few tears escape Tom’s eyes.

“Tom-“

“I’m going to be a dad.” He says, taking you by surprise.

“What?” You voice your shock.

“I’m going to be a dad!” Tom shouts, a wide smile on his face. Before you could process anything he lifts you up in his arms. Your legs wrapping around his waist.

“You’re happy? You ask him.

“Of course I am. I know it’s a bit sooner than we expected but it’s everything I’ve ever wanted.” Tom says, his voice raw with emotion. You plant a big kiss on his lips. You’re so happy to be apart of this family.

You could never have thanked Tessa enough for almost biting Tom.

#tom holland #peter parker #tom holland imagine #tom holland oneshot #tom holland fluff #peter parker fluff #spiderman #tessa #protective tom #protective boyfriend #fluff #tom holland imagine fluff #tom holland oneshot fluff

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amorevolous-chionophile · 3 years

Text

Cherry mint

❆ Fluff ❆ 5,435 words ❆ student!Seonghwa x student!reader ❆

New school, new you. Bullshit. You didn't have it in you to even try and be optimistic. Too broken from having to say goodbye to your close school friends and leaving the school as a whole just to move out of the city where you were born and made numbers of memories in, you really couldn't be jolly. First day in your new school was just as you expected, curious glances, rare approaches with the goal of welcoming you, just a regular day filled with uneasiness reflected by a knot in your stomach the whole time.

When the teacher introduced you to the class, you silently thanked her for not having to do that yourself, you were instructed to sit. The seat wasn't bad at all, it was next to the window. The view on your left was actually breathtaking; it looked upon a little garden the school had, it was like some colorful paradise. The view on the right though, you hated to admit it, but it didn't fall far behind. There seated was a boy with silky blonde hair and a leather jacket, those are the first things you noticed on him. You didn't want to be caught staring, so you were flashing glances at him, even though that was way more suspicious. You noticed that his face features were sharp, but at the same time incredibly soft, and at that point you were basically staring. You looked around the classroom cautiously, the teacher's voice going in one ear and out on the other. None of the other classmates caught your eyes, just the boy next to you, his presence was somehow felt in the air. You were shook when a hand suddenly waved in front of your face, moving your focus on it.

"I said - Do you want to share my book? - I guess you don't have yours yet." Said the voice sweet as honey, but still deep. You froze in the spot when you realized that his owner was the blonde haired boy. He seemed like a double edged sword, you couldn't quite put your finger on it. He looked bad, but on the other hand, he seemed good. "Yes... Thank you."

Nothing much changed in the next couple of days. You haven't found any new friends, but you were feeling good on your own. The blonde haired boy spoke to you for a couple more times during classes, but it was nothing more than to help you by borrowing you a book, so you didn't really consider him a friend. He never introduced himself, but you caught on his name when the teacher was checking for absent students. Park Seonghwa. His name was mentioned quite a few times, it seemed like he wasn't really the type who had much interest in school. The thing that surprised you though, was the fact that when he was present, there wasn't one question that he didn't know the answer to. The teacher would voice a question at him, and he would just as fast voice out a correct answer.

Just like you, he too seemed not to have many friends. You happened to see him a couple of times in front of the classroom, while you were going to the restroom, with another boy. They always seemed like they were talking about the most interesting thing in the World. Seonghwa's smile and laugh carved itself in your brain then and there. It put you at ease every time you thought about it.

One day, while you were in the classroom, during lunch break, you heard Seonghwa's and his friend's joyous clatter. You instinctively rose to go to the restroom. You didn't even have to go, you just wanted to take a peek at Seonghwa, as you started doing from some point on. On the way back, just as the two boys, Seonghwa and his friend, got in your eyesight, someone stepped in front of you, blocking your way. You hesitantly looked up and in front of you was a rather tall boy smiling back down at you. Instantly you felt uneasiness, and wanting to avoid that awkward encounter as fast as possible you murmured a quick "Hello" and tried to go around him. He made a half circle around you, and in no time he was in front of you again. You started feeling agitated. "I know you're new, but I think we have met before." He said huskily, grinning. Oh dear God, please no. You mentally took in a big breath and replied not moving your gaze from his feet. "You're mistaking me for someone else." You coughed trying to calm your voice. You weren't on the flirty side at all, or on the extroverted side in general, and a stranger approaching you and trying to make a move on you just fired all alarms in your mind. "I'm sorry, I need to return to my classroom." You said coldly, going around him for the second time. All hairs on your body rose when he grasped your wrist and spun you around, to face him. Your eyes widened in shock and your body froze. "You look cute acting all cold like that." Seems like this boy just couldn't decipher all the nope signals you were throwing at him. Just as you were about to try and shake his hand off, a somewhat familiar voice met your ears, and you immediately relaxed. "There you are, what took you soo long?" Seonghwa stood right beside you, having the fakest smile you have ever seen, well compared to the smile he gave his friend all the time, the one he had now seemed fake. His eyes locked on the grip the boy had on your wrist, and by noticing this, the boy let go. You instantly sighed in relief. "Oh, I'm sorry for keeping you, you should have said you were in a hurry." The boy said to you with the most insincere apologetic smile you have ever seen and your insides twisted. You looked at Seonghwa with a troubled face, fretting that he will get the wrong impression, but he just nodded at you understandingly. "Let's get going." He tilted his head in the direction of his friend. Before the boy could have said anything, both of you already had your backs to him.

"Thank you." You breathed out, burying your face in your hands. You were in the classroom, in your seat. It was lunchtime and everyone was out, so Seonghwa and his friend brought you in to calm down. He was leaning back against his desk, while his friend sat in his seat. "Don't mention it." He replied, and his friend jumped in on the conversation. "Do you need water? Or something sugary?" Your heart fluttered from his compassion. You rose your head and looked at the boy, Seonghwa's friend. He had vivid blue hair, a bit more than few piercings on both ears, and a charming smile. You shook your head, not wanting to trouble them any more. "No, thank you very much. I'm all alright now, I don't want to take any more of your time." You gave them a small smile. Seonghwa chuckled, leaned forward putting his elbows on your desk and meeting your gaze. "Funny that you think we're just going to let you be without getting a favor in return." You froze in the spot, his words shocked you. You thought for a second that your gut got it all wrong, that he was just as his looks were hinting, bad. That is, until he burst into a fit of laughter, his friend rolling his eyes at him with a chuckle. "You should have seen your face, it was priceless." Seonghwa managed to say in between breaths. His friend got up and approached you while Seonghwa was calming down, still chuckling here and there. "He meant to say that he was sorry." You smiled, almost sourly. Too much happened to you in the last few minutes and you didn't know what you felt by that point. Seeing this, Seonghwa cut in. "Yeah, that was a bit much, sorry." He scratched the back of his neck. "By the way, I'm Park Seonghwa." He officially introduced himself. "And this handsome blueberry here is Kim Hongjoong." He said pointing at his friend. "It's nice finally meeting you."

Now you could finally say you had friends. Since the day you got to know them, they were extremely friendly and nice. It was hard to believe it was that easy to make friends. Well technically you didn't make friends, they basically adopted you as their friend. At first you didn't want to interfere much, because you felt like you were butting in on their duo, but they were persistent with insisting so you gave in. Their company wasn't at all bad, they were nice and fun people to have around. They did look like the boys your mom instructed you to be cautious of, but their personas were so pure, the contrast between their outside and inside almost hurt. Due to their style, other boys were jealous and cautious of them, and girls were secretly wishing that one of them was their boyfriend. And you? You just knew them as two dorks. You wondered if anyone actually tried to get to know them before making accusations and their own picture of them. They didn't seem to mind though. You noticed Seonghwa started coming to school more often. He probably felt more at ease that he had someone he knew and could talk to next to him. Sure, Hongjoong was his friend, but he was in another class, two floors above, and it was tiresome walking during every break just to meet for five minutes and then go back.

You sat on a bench outside school together with Seonghwa, not long after came Hongjoong and joined you sitting on Seonghwa's other side. It was lunch time, so the three of you came out. "How was chemistry, learned something new?" Hongjoong asked, chuckling as he already knew Seonghwa's answer. The boy was a prodigy, there was nothing that he didn't understand, you on the other hand had trouble making meets end, with chemistry at least. You didn't have problems with other subjects, in fact you were doing extremely good. "Boring, as always." "Hard, as always." Seonghwa and you said in unison and chuckled. "You two are starting to creep me out with that." Hongjoong waved his head pointing at Seonghwa and you. Ever since you all started hanging out, Seonghwa and you have had the weirdest telepathy moments. To be honest, it weirded you out too. "I'm not on the same page with you here Hwa. Chemistry is hell's child." Hongjoong continued nodding at you. "Someone here understands me." You exclaimed dramatically, taking a bite out of your sandwich. Seonghwa just blinked, calmly drinking his juice. "I have an idea. Let's study together, it's sure to be easier that way." Hongjoong excitedly sprung from the bench and stood in front of you. You mirrored his actions, getting up yourself. "Great idea Hongjoong!" You chimed, new found optimism bubbling up in you. Seonghwa calmly looked up at you two commenting. "You do know that the addition of two nothings is still nothing?" You and Hongjoong both rolled your eyes at him. "Then mister wise guy, come and help us out." Hongjoong retorted. "I have other stuff to do." Hongjoong crossed his arms and raised his brow. "Like what? Waste time all day playing games?" Seonghwa looked up squinting his eyes sarcastically at Hongjoong. "I'll have you know, playing games is not wasting time." Hongjoong mimicked Seonghwa's expression. "But it sure seems it's more important than helping your friends." "I didn't say that." "We haven't even set the date, and you said you were busy. Fine Seonghwa, it's fine." Hongjoong exclaimed, acting insulted, but soon chuckled letting down his facade. You cursed mentally that you didn't have popcorn with you, the scene before you was priceless.

Eventually Seonghwa gave in. He would have given in way before, but the chat he had with Hongjoong turned into a funny back and forth argument, so he didn't want to cut short the fun. Not only did he agree to help you two, he even agreed for the study session to be in his house. Since you were still relatively new to the city, finding your way trough it was a problem. Hongjoong went out of his way, and offered to pick you up in front of your house. Both of Seonghwa and Hongjoong never ceased to surprise you with how caring they were. You didn't want to trouble Hongjoong, but you didn't have any other solution. On the way to Seonghwa's house Hongjoong and you talked about where you used to live, your old school and friends, and you moving in general. That sparked up a conversation about Seonghwa. Hongjoong talked about how was it for Seonghwa when he first moved to where he was now and how the two became friends. It was then that you found yourself interested in Seonghwa's life, and history. But you didn't give much thought to it, you figured that it was because he had a story similar to yours.

You looked at Hongjoong quizzically as he stopped in front of a relatively big, modern-looking house which looked like it jumped out of a magazine. Unaffected, he rang the bell on the gate. When the gate buzzed and unlocked was when you realized that this is where Seonghwa lived. As the two of you entered the gate, the door of the house swung open to reveal Seonghwa in a form you haven't witnessed yet. He was barefoot, a black hairband held his messy blonde hair in place, his black jeans were replaced with grey sweatpants, and his usual black leather jacket was replaced by a plain white t-shirt. Sounds like pretty plain combination, right? But this man made it look like it belonged on a runaway.

The interior of the house didn't fall behind from the exterior when it came to visuals. Everything was clean and neatly organized, it was extremely pretty for the eye. "Do you want to study in the living room or in my bedroom?" Seonghwa asked as he leaned on the doorframe of what seemed like the living room. You looked at Hongjoong, waiting for him to make the choice for the both of you. "The living room is wider, and plus you won't get distracted with your stuff." You were a little disappointed you weren't going to see Seonghwa's room for some reason, it was just out of curiosity, or so you thought. "When do I ever get distracted?" Seonghwa put his hand over his heart pretending to be offended to which Hongjoong smirked devilishly and retorted. "Well Hwa it depends. Are you asking me for the time before she came or after?" She? You looked at Hongjoong squinting your eyes in confusion, as if the name of the person he was referring to was written on his face. Hongjoong however, still had his gaze on Seonghwa whose eyes were now ever so slightly widened and looking at you. You were about to ask them what they were talking about, but Hongjoong dismissed the theme he himself started. "Give me something to drink, my throat is dry." He said as if nothing happened, and marched into the living room. "It's no wonder, you didn't close your mouth since you came." Seonghwa backfired, earning a giggle from you. His eyes never left you during that time. You two could hear Hongjoong sarcastically laugh from the living room, and following that Seonghwa guided you in.

Seonghwa was no joke. He managed to explain everything that was causing confusion to you and Hongjoong better than the teacher. You pretty much understood everything by that point, but just to be sure, Seonghwa gave Hongjoong and you some problems to solve. You were proud of yourself for being able to finally grasp something that seemed abstract only hours ago. You finished before Hongjoong and called Seonghwa to check. You and Hongjoong were seated across each other, at the dining room table, as the dining room was just the continuation of the living room, and Seonghwa just kind of orbited around the two of you. He stood behind you, and leaned over your shoulder to scan the paper with his eyes. He was never this close. You wouldn't have minded the distance if your heart hadn't started beating more rapid out of nowhere. He had a recognizable scent to him. It defined him perfectly. A sweet, soft scent laced with a sharp undertone. You hung out with him, so it didn't miss your senses. "Good job, it's all correct." He smiled tilting his head slightly to you, and putting his hand on your opposite shoulder. Mint. That's another thing you noticed about him. His breath always had an intense aroma of mint, and being this close, it hit you stronger than ever. Like he could hear your thoughts, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Cherry... you smell like cherry." You didn't have any perfume on yourself, but you did have a cherry flavored lip gloss. You let out a nervous breathy laugh as your cheeks heated up. Seonghwa, noticing that what he said was a bit weird, quickly moved away from you, and apologized, blushing as well. What neither of you could see was Hongjoong, who was watching the whole thing. His face had a grin that would even put the Grinch to shame. He was cheering for the both of you, with all his heart.

Needless to say, both Hongjoong and you aced the test and you wanted to show your gratitude towards Seonghwa. And that is why all three of you were now in a club, in a specially reserved spot, away from all the commotion, but still feeling the mood. You were never the type to make a lot of time just to get yourself ready, but that night you had some unnamed urge to give it your all. You styled your hair, did your make up; you made sure that you put on your cherry lip gloss, and picked out a dress that gave you a confidence boost. It wasn't revealing, but it perfectly portrayed your curves in all the right places. It was black so it fit with the boys' style. Black, totally unintentionally, happened to be Seonghwa's favorite color, not that you were aiming for that. You thought, if you looked good, then Hongjoong looked amazing, and Seonghwa looked Godly. Hongjoong wore a black t-shirt with a thin leather suit-jacket rested on top of it. Below he wore light denim jeans held by a black belt, and low-rise black martens. You didn't even want to start with the accessories. The boy was an accessory guru. On the other hand, Seonghwa was dressed like he wanted to kill you. You thought that he was breathtaking. He was wearing a thin black turtleneck that showed his physique down to the muscle. Below he wore black jeans ripped on both knees and black vans. What made butterflies twirl in your stomach was a black ring on the middle of his bottom lip. The moment the thought of him kissing you with that ring came to your mind, you may have realized that you liked him, a lot.

The night passed like every hangout of yours, filled with joyous clatter, jokes and messing around. At some point Hongjoong left for the bathroom. He didn't go to sit by the bar, away from your sight, to give you two some alone time. Not at all. He was the only one that noticed both of your feelings and now he was trying to make you two realize the feelings of the other. He knew that Seonghwa was interested in you from the moment he went out of his way to help you get away from that guy in school. Of course that Seonghwa was enough human to help if anyone else was in your situation, but the way he reacted in front of Hongjoong when he realized what was going on, frustrated and overly emotional for someone he barely knew, hinted Hongjoong that something was up. Without Hongjoong there, you suddenly felt nervous sitting next to Seonghwa, especially now that you were aware of your feelings. Seonghwa was no better. You were not making it easy for him looking all gorgeous and cute sitting within a hand's reach from him. He fell for you when you showed him that you didn't need anybody to stand tall when you first came to the school. He found you to be a strong and determined woman. The small talks he had with you before he officially introduced himself were just his way of showing you that you weren't all alone. All this came from his own experiences when he moved schools. He tried making friends, but due to his "bad boy" looks, everyone was cautious of him, and he felt so alone. That's where Hongjoong came into the story by giving Seonghwa something precious, a true friend. You didn't want Seonghwa to feel awkward so you tried to start a conversation. Both of you had the same thought apparently and started talking at the same time, taken aback both of you said "You go first" in unison as well. The scene caused both of you to chuckle. You took a sip from your drink, commenting. "Hongjoong was right, this started to be really creepy." Seonghwa nodded, sweeping his hair back. "Yeah, like we are two halves of the same person." Like soulmates. The thought crossed both of your minds, but neither of you dared to voice it.

After that, everything was the way it used to be, except the sweet unnoticeable tension between you and Seonghwa. It was new for the both of you, but just a regular Thursday for Hongjoong. In no way was it awkward. You two sat closer, became a bit more daring with words towards each other, and even more physical, even if that just meant hugs and occasional shoulder pats. Hongjoong felt like a proud mom, and like a third wheel, but just a bit. Seonghwa eventually confessed to Hongjoong that he had feelings for you, and he was surprised when Hongjoong told him he already knew, for quite a while. He asked Hongjoong not to leave him alone with you, because he had a tendency to tense up and act stupid. So basically Hongjoong was stuck in between being a good friend and a wing man. But being a good friend included wanting your friend to be happy right? And Seonghwa would be happy if he was with someone he liked. So technically him being a wing man was the same as him being a good friend. This hole in the system justified Hongjoong to bail on the two of you occasionally when going out. After all, Seonghwa was alone with you most of the time in the classroom, so how bad can it be? It wasn't bad, but it wasn't effective either, as Seonghwa couldn't muster up the courage to make a move, and neither could you.

The school year ended, and the three of you were inseparable by that point. Not to mention that you feelings bloomed to an almost painful extent, and so did your fear of loosing him if you end up getting rejected. Hongjoong was giving you two time to confess yourselves, but boy were you testing his patience. There was a number of times when he was tempted to just smack your faces together and get it over with, but he held back just because of that cliche ideal of a romantic first kiss, and besides, it wasn't his decision to make.

The three of you made an agreement to have movie nights once a week when the vacation starts, and the day of the first one came. The plan was to change the meet up place every week, and Seonghwa's place was the first in line. You had the task to bring snacks, and what better snacks are there for a movie than popcorn? Hongjoong had the vital task of picking out the movie. You might think "How hard can it be?", well Hongjoong thought that this could be an important crossroad for the two of you. The movie could inspire you in making the first move, either of you. Was Hongjoong wrong. Except suggestive remarks and shy skin contacts, nothing else occurred.

"Seonghwa, I think you need to put yourself together and finally make the move." Hongjoong proclaimed as he crossed his arms, seated across Seonghwa. A few days passed since the movie night and Hongjoong showed up at Seonghwa's house trying to encourage him. "Joong. I know. But I can't." Seonghwa shook his head from side to side causing Hongjoong to sigh. "I know you are afraid, but trust me when I say that I'm sure that she feels the same way. I have seen the way she acts around you, she gives off the same dumbass energy as you do." Seonghwa gave a small smile to Hongjoong before he hid his face behind his hands. "The bigger the love, the greater the fear of confessing. Confessing is potentially losing" Seonghwa proclaimed as he moved his hands to his cheeks, now resting his elbows on his knees. "But risking is potentially winning." Hongjoong mimicked Seonghwa's stance. "There are too many "ifs" there for me to feel reassured." "You are unbelievable. The both of you are stubborn as hell." Hongjoong rolled his eyes, chuckling before he continued speaking. "What if you try and confess in a way where you have a reserve?" Seonghwa raised his eyebrows, his eyes filling with newfound excitement. "You mean like a confession that isn't necessarily a confession?" Hongjoong just nodded. "Joong, you're a genius."

You were laying on your bed, listening to music. It was pouring outside, so you were in a relaxed mood. In the middle of the song, your phone buzzed. You cursed as the notification tuned down the song at your favorite part, but instantly forgot all that when you saw that the notification was a message from Seonghwa. It was a simple "Hey", but you couldn't help but feel excited, as you quickly sat up and responded. "Hey ^^" You nervously tapped the ends of your screen as you were awaiting his reply, his chat bubble continuously changing between "typing" and nothing. "What's up?" You laid back down with a smile plastered across your face as you typed your response. "I was listening to music, and you?" "Nothing special. I was hanging out with Hongjoong this morning so now I wanted to see how you were doing." You smiled, getting ready to type a response, but you halted as you saw that he was typing another message. "You said you were listening to music? Want me to send you my spotify playlist?" "Absolutely, I would love to listen to what you like!" When he sent you the playlist you responded with "Let me listen to it, and I will be right back." to what he said nothing. You put in your earphones and started listening without giving the list a second glance. The songs weren't at all bad, but they varied a lot. A song you thought you already heard came up, so you looked at your phone to check what was up. The name was "You", a song from "The 1985". You changed the song, the next being "Might Not" by "Belly". A chuckle escaped your lips because the two titles went together - "You Might Not", and went to the playlist to actually see all of the songs. Your jaw dropped. You could have easily been mistaken for a sculpture, as you didn't move a muscle, too shocked from what you saw. The titles read one after another made a sentence; "I kinda like you and I wanted to tell you. You might not feel the same and that is okay, but I thought you should know". You stuffed you phone in your pocket and ran outside in the rain, without taking an umbrella, in a rush to see Seonghwa as fast as possible. Your phone buzzed at one point, but neither did you notice it, neither did you care.

Seonghwa was pacing up and down his room, he was worried to the bone because of the fact that you did not reply in way to long. He was wondering whether or not you noticed. But in that panic he just reacted out of impulse, sending you a message that read "Oh, I only just noticed that the songs make a sentence, interesting, right? It's not like I like you or anything.". He facepalmed himself after rereading the message he has sent, realizing how stupid he sounded, but the deed has been done. The fact that you did not read the message was also not helping. If you were listening to music, you would have probably heard the message. That surely meant that you found the way he confessed silly or that you didn't feel the same way and the avoiding and rejecting he feared the most were taking place. He just faceplanted on his bed and wished that the mattress would suck him in. He spent a solid 15 minutes in that position before he heard his doorbell ring.

You stood in front of Seonghwa's door, wet to your bones, but that was not your priority. You rang the doorbell and waited, your heart thumping in your ears. Seconds later the door opened to reveal a wide eyed Seonghwa, he opened his mouth in order to ask you what was happening before you practically yelled in his face. "I like you too!" He blinked a few times in surprise, unsure if he was processing your words right. Then he pulled you in, closed the door and gently pressed you against it with his chest. Without a second more of hesitation he placed his lips on yours, placing his hands on your jaw. You don't remember anything in your life that felt that good. The mixed aromas of cherry and mint in that kiss will forever be carved in your memory. You both pulled apart simultaneously chuckling, and Seonghwa going into "worry mode". "Now that we got that solved, let's solve the problem of you being soaking wet. Wait until I get you a dry set of clothes." He said as he headed towards his room, his stomach filling with butterflies at the thought of you wearing his clothes. That cliche was a must for Seonghwa. "However sweet and romantic of you was the fact that you ran here in the rain just to return my feelings, it was also very irresponsible..." His voice grew more distant as he was going to his room to the point where you couldn't discern what he was talking anymore. You just chuckled, feeling better than ever as you took out your phone out of impulse, to check the time. That's when you saw a message from Seonghwa. Your heart swelled at how cute he was, trying to deny his confession, so you decided to mess with him. You waited for him to return before you made a comment about the message. "I see you do not like me after all, Seonghwa." You showed him the message to what he chuckled. "That might not be all incorrect... I think I have grown to love you."

"What's with the popcorn?" Hongjoong yelled to you from the living room where he and Seonghwa were starting a movie. "It's done, I'm coming!" You yelled back as you poured hot popcorn in two bowls and headed towards the living room. You gave one bowl to Hongjoong who thanked you with a smile, while you took the other with you, as you sat next to Seonghwa, cuddling up to him on the couch while Hongjoong had the armchair all to himself. You kissed Seonghwa, tasting that all too well known cherry mint flavor when you heard Hongjoong proclaim. "You two know I am your number one fan, but could you please refrain from making wet noises while we are watching the movie? I don't wanna be left with mental scars." He turned to both of you, sticking his tongue out playfully, before all of you burst into laughter. Never in your dreams have you imagined that life could be so good.

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