#i should mention it was my first day back after a week of skipping classes cause i was sick | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

starillusion13 · 1 month

Text

Stay with me

request: "can you do a yungi x y/n one where they're in college together kinda like a childhood bsf to lovers but poly?"

Pairing: Yunho x reader x Mingi

Genre: Fluff, Friends to lovers, College Au

Warnings: they are caring bestfriends to you, mention of insult/body shaming in public by your family, reader feeling insecure, isolation, hints of skipping meals, childhood love and mention school bully and violence (just few words). Just a cute friendship to love.

W.C: 4.5k

Note: please I want to thanks to people for reading and reblogging. Reviews are always appreciated. Spread love not hate. My first Yungi fic😁.

Network: @cultofdionysusnet @k-vanity

Now let's take a moment to appreciate my dear friend @dreamsoffanfics Thanks for helping me out and being my proofreader. A dear friend indeed <3.

"She isn't coming again today..." Yunho said and sat beside his friend. The other glanced at him and looked over at your place beside him where you usually sit.

It's been weeks that you were skipping university classes without any proper reason, just texting them that you are not feeling well or you have some important stuff to do. But not clearly explaining anything — that even you are texting them the next day. They are sick and worried for you as it's normal for your childhood best-friends to be like this.

Whenever they ask you to go to your place, you quickly respond with a negative message that you have somewhere to go or someone to meet.

Nobody knows what's the actual matter with you.

"Do you think we should go over to her place and check on her?" Mingi asked while tapping the pen on the desk.

Yunho nodded before pulling out his phone to check for your message but nothing was there to his disappointment. "I am really worried about her. She has never been like this. I don't know why but after returning from her hometown, she is acting weird."

"Did her parents tell her anything again?" Mingi rested his elbow on the table and leaned to his side.

Yunho made an unsure expression to his question and dropped his shoulders. He shook his head when he remembered the last interaction with you when he met you at the convenience store.

…..

"Y/n, why don't you say no to your parents directly? I'm sure that they won't be denying it."

You sighed and turned towards him before picking up the nearest packet of chips in the basket,"And you think that? You are so wrong, Yuyu. They don't care about my opinions."

"But you can try explaining them. I'm sure they will understand." Yunho placed a milk package in the basket to which you glared at him and he sent you his puppy eyes, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"That's a baby milk product."

"But you are still a baby." He said and held back his laugh.

This was his common teasing with you in every place and anytime you are having any serious conversation with him and whatever, however and whenever you are with him. You would feel relying on him the most. The bestest friend indeed. There’s a continuous warmth radiating from him for which you feel loved and secured. His big frame whenever he engulfs you in a hug, there’s a silent promise to you — that no matter what he would be there for you.

…..

He sighed when he imagined your face – irritated but laughing with him for the last time that day. After that day, you went to your hometown as it was the end of exam season and you didn’t meet your family for a long time. Last break, you were sick and had so many pending projects for several events that you opted for staying back on campus and completing them before it was too late.

It was late afternoon when they both finally had their last class and packed up their bags to leave the university. Anyways, they were not actually planning to stay there though. Mingi texted you a lot of times during the classes but some you ignored and to some, you replied with one word or just some common usual replies.

They both checked the timing and went towards the parking lot. Yunho took out the keys from his jacket’s pocket and Mingi was quick to enter the passenger seat. Both of them were in a hurry. They were eager to meet you. Before starting the engine, Yunho sighed deeply. A look of worry was visible on his face.

“I hope she is fine.”

Mingi nodded and patted his shoulder, “I’m sure, she is.”

…….

“Yah! Min…did you just eat my snacks yesterday?” stomping your feet, you reached the living room and stood in front of said man and glared at him.

He was so into the video game that he didn’t see your anger but just waved his hand and tried to push you aside. You hit his hand and the controller fell from his hold and sulkily he looked at your face.

“I was about to win the game.” He whined and leaned back into the couch.

“And I am about to eat you if you don't give me my snacks back.”

“Which one?” He furrowed his brows and crunched up his nose. “I’m gonna tell Yunho to buy them for you on his way back home.”

“No. Why’ll he buy it? You ate them and it’s your responsibility to buy them. And you know very well which snacks I’m talking about.” You pulled him up and dragged him towards the door, he was whining on his way but you ignored him and gestured to him to hurry up. “Don’t give me faces.” You folded your hands.

“But that store is far away.”

“And you know how to drive.”

……

While driving to your place, they stopped by some places to buy flowers, chocolates, ice cream and your favorite foods. When Yunho took a box of chocolates, he smiled at the thought of your smiling and excited face after receiving it. He puffed his cheeks and grabbed some other things as well.

Similarly, Mingi was smiling all the way when he bought your favorite ice-cream. He knew how you would jump on your feet after seeing it. He couldn't content his own happiness while buying it.

Apart from all these, they still called you to check on you. Yeah, after ignoring a few calls, you finally decided to pick up. The line was silent at first but then they heard shuffle sounds from the other side, Yunho was quick to speak into the call.

“What are you doing, y/n?” His voice was soft yet demanding.

They heard your deep sigh before your voice, “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean by you don’t know?”

“If I was really doing something then I could have told you. I was just laying on my bed and …..thinking.”

Actually, that was the main thing, they wanted to know whether you were at your apartment or not. If they would have asked you directly, then you could have got the hint of them wanting to come over to your place and you would have quickly made up a reason to avoid them.

Why actually were you avoiding them in the first place?

“Okay, then keep laying down and think.”

Yunho glared at Mingi at his weird reply but the latter just blinked at the phone in his hold and at him. They heard your chuckle and a little smile appeared on their faces. Atleast, you laughed— maybe a little.

“Why did you call me? Where are you both?”

“We are–”

Yunho cut Mingi’s answer, “hanging out.”

“Oh…okay. Have fun!” you tried to sound more enthusiastic but they could feel the sadness.

They didn’t drag the conversation because they knew that in a few minutes, they would be at your place and then you couldn’t ignore them or their questions. And this time, they would be surely erasing all your worries and sadness.

Almost after fifteen minutes, you heard your doorbell ring. You groaned at the thought of someone coming to your place at this time and you glared at your bedroom door. You got up from the bed and yawned before stepping in front of the mirror. You made a disgusted face at your reflection and combed your hair with just your fingers.

The bell rang again and you scoffed before mumbling under your breath while making your way towards the main door.

“Let me see whether I look like a human or not or it won't be my fault if you get scared.”

You peeked through the peephole and you were surprised to see your bestfriends standing at your doorstep on the other side. You quickly opened the door and your round eyes were staring at them.

“You both? Here…now?” you asked but slowly moved aside to welcome them inside. Mingi gave you the flowers they bought for you and smiling, you took them. You noticed paper bags in their hand and after closing the door, you followed them to the kitchen when they placed the bags on the kitchen counter. You stood beside Mingi who gave you a bright smile and started taking out the items from the bag. Your eyes were recognizing each little thing was your favorite as if they bought things for a child who was whining for all their favorites.

He grabbed the ice-cream bucket and turned towards you, “This was the last box and I quickly bought it for you. I hope you won't be angry with me again if I ever eat your snacks.” he took the flowers from your hand and tugged them in the vase on the counter top.

“Mingi..” You groaned but quickly took the tub from his hand. You wasted no time and opened the lid. You watched Yunho place some things inside your refrigerator but he approached you with a red box in his hand. You furrowed your brows when he placed it in your free hand.

“Chocolates for my cutie.”

When you noticed the ribbon on top of the box, your eyes went wide, “Don't tell me you went to that store to buy this. This is so expensive.”

“But you are more expensive.” He said and raised a brow at you, challenging.

You laughed at his antics and shook your head, “You both are spoiling me too much.”

“Of course. We love to spoil you.” Mingi said with a smug look.

Your couch had a lot of clothes and books so you asked them to follow you to your bedroom. They both were quick to trail behind like lost puppies but they exchanged looks because they both were hesitant to ask you about the time after returning from your hometown.

Entering your bedroom, they found out that it looked like as if some disaster happened over there. You were never that messy and disorganized. You rolled your eyes at the mess but offered them the free space around the bed.

You scooted towards the headboard and they placed themselves close to you. You offered some chocolates to both of them and you scooped a spoon full of ice cream and put it in your mouth.

“This will always be my favorite.” You offered two separate spoons to them and extended your hand so that they could eat the ice cream. They took small bites.

“So why are you here suddenly? You didn’t even inform me before coming.”

“Because you wouldn’t have allowed us to come here like other days.” Mingi muttered and kept staring at you. Hearing those words from him, you avoided his eyes at any cost and looked down at your lap. You were guilty but also the reasons for which you were avoiding them were running across your mind.

You bit your lip and wanted to disappear from their gazes. But Yunho scooted closer to you. You felt his knees touching yours and his warm hands grabbed your chin to make you look at him.

“Look at me, Y/n. What’s the matter?”

You avoided his gaze but only to make eye contact with Mingi. You closed your eyes and cursed yourself for behaving like this. But no matter how you feel like running away from them, you still want to stay close. You want to hear their soothing voices talking to you. Spend time with them.

“Y/n…” Mingi pronounced your name softly.

You took a deep breath before looking at him and then to Yunho. Your eyes wandered around his face. A perfect, sweet, soft and confident person in front of you. Excellent in every aspect. Good looking, handsome and tall just like Mingi but who is more intimidating than him.

Yunho’s eyes wandered around your face, he was searching for your discomfort, your sadness and what was the reason you were ignoring him and his friend.

“Am I really not good?” You asked him in a hushed voice. Your shaky pupils and lips between your teeth was making him hesitant.

Why was he feeling that? Is he worried or angry? Angry with you? Because you ignored him all these last days?

“Who said that? You are the best.” Mingi rubbed your back and your body shivered under his touch. Yunho cupped your face in his palms and stared at you, urging you to speak more, “Tell us please. Why were you avoiding us?”

“I didn’t avoid you. I was thinking…”

“You think a lot. What were you even thinking?” His thumbs caressed your cheeks, slightly brushing your lips. Your tears were lining your eyes. You didn’t mind crying in front of them, you have cried before since middle school until now, you have cried to both of them but they never judged you.

But his heart was aching to see you like that, so vulnerable in his hold. You held his wrists tightly when he gave you a small smile.

“I’m feeling insecure lately. Don’t feel like doing anything.”

“Why?”

“This break, I went to a family function with my parents and all my other cousins were present there too.”

Both of them nodded and let you continue. You bit your lower lip and stuck it between your lips.

“They pointed out to me how I have gained weight and also I’m just an average student in my university unlike others there. They were all too pretty and all had boyfriends so they called me the ugly one. Maybe, I am really how they see me.”

“No Y/n, you are not. Don’t take those words to heart. Ignore them.”

“But I can’t, Mingi. Those words are hitting me as if I can still hear them telling me those things repeatedly. You know what's worse about this. My mom laughed with them, she was supporting their accusations.”

“I never liked your mom.”

You turned to Yunho when he said that and you raised your brows, “She didn’t like you either. She always thought that you were a bad influence on me. But she just let me be friends with you only because you are rich.” Then again you turned towards Mingi, “About you, she thought you were some sort of rebellious kid like a gangster because she always saw teachers complaining to your parents regarding your fights.”

“It’s your fault. You are the one who threatened me not to tell your mom that those students were disturbing you so when they didn't stop. I knew I had to beat them.” Mingi smiled after recalling those beautiful memories.

He added, “And that’s how we became friends. Remember?” You nodded while remembering those happy days. Yunho was holding your hands in his and Mingi patted your head, “We missed you these days. You were not talking with us.”

“I was searching for a boyfriend.”

“Really?” He asked you and hesitantly looked between Mingi and you, you felt him squeezing your hands. You nodded but sighed again, “Kidding. I was…isolating myself.”

“Why am I like this?” You asked with a whisper.

“But who would ever love to have an ugly girl like me as their girlfriend?”

“Like what sweetie?” Yunho questioned. ”And don’t even question yourself. You are perfect.”

You took a few seconds, collecting your thoughts. Yunho and Mingi wait patiently, Yunho running a soft hand through your hair and with his other one entangling his fingers with you. You inhaled softly and lifted your head up to make eye contact with both of them. Your mind was hazy with lots of thoughts.

“I feel so pathetic. I feel like I can’t ever do anything correctly. Why do I feel like this? I get overwhelmed by little work and this college stuff. I can’t handle the gossip about me and I feel like I fail at everything. It’s just… too much.” A tear slid down your cheeks and Yunho looked at you with eyes that held so many emotions.

He would do absolutely anything for you, if only it meant it would guarantee your happiness. Mingi was the same, he would again beat anyone for you. He would go to any extreme end just to ensure your well being and that you are smiling.

After all, Mingi first fell for you on the day when he first beat a boy who was making fun of you in front of the whole class. You were crying and he had enough, so he punched the guy across his cheek but the way you stared at him after that, even when he was getting scolded from the teacher, that's when he couldn’t help but smile at you and you gave your bright and wide smile.

That smile did something to him.

He fell in love with you. But you both were just kids.

So, you both became best friends.

Yunho was a transfer student who was a shy and quiet one in the beginning. And somehow they both were placed at the same bench, they quickly became friends. He joined the dance club after exactly one year of friendship with Mingi. Yunho was quick to become a social butterfly. He knew everyone around the school, mostly because of his dance club membership.

But there was this one thing. Even though he got compliments from others, he always wanted to hear your comments on his dance moves and if you ever said just a word like ‘good’, he would smile foolishly as if he achieved something. After every performance, he would search for you in the audience and could find you clapping excitedly at him with Mingi beside you.

You didn't know but whenever you were not around both of them their main topic was about you. They used to talk about you with admiration and love towards you. This was the main reason for them to become friends. And they followed you to the same university.

And they still think about you like that everyday.

“Oh Y/n, you’re not pathetic. Not at all. Everyone has different capabilities, and that’s completely fine. You have so many talents, so many amazing people around you who appreciate you. And you are so beautiful. You’re our girl aren’t you? The only one for us.” Yunho looked at you expectantly with an adoration in his eyes.

There was a look of worry on their faces similar to whenever you felt sick and he would rush to your place to take care of you and soon after Mingi comes with medicines and food.

You looked away, not meeting his eyes but Mingi caught your eyes and raised a brow. You quickly replied, “Yes, yes I am.”

His breath hitched when you said those words while staring at him. Both of their hearts felt warm but there was something more, they wanted to say. Something that they think of now is the right time. Maybe…there's also uncertainty in the air.

He beamed with delight. “That’s right baby, you’re our girl, and always will be.” Mingi added to his friend's words, ”We’re here to take care of you. I know things are hard, but I will do whatever I can to make it easier for you.” Your heart aches from the care you’re being shown. You love your bestfriends so much.

You hold so much love and respect for them that you’re not sure how to even contain it. You just feel like exploding with affection. When you again felt like crying on the thought, Mingi pushed a spoon full of ice cream in your mouth, “The ice cream is melting like you.”

“Mingi…” you whined with teary eyes. They both laughed at you when you snatched the tub from him and placed it on your lap.

“Y/n, can I ask you something? Please don’t hate me or him after this. But I really want to tell you this. Can I?” He asked.

“Of course, Yuyu. you can tell me anything.” Mingi wiped your tears and you smiled towards him before turning your whole attention on Yunho. Your eyes eagerly waited for him to say whatever he wanted and he glanced at Mingi who nodded and looked back at you. Yunho again held your hands, squeezed them a little and brought them to his lips. These sweet gestures were common to you from him but you felt so nervous this time. Your heart beat increased with every second.

Is he going to end your friendship after this? Are they tired of your dramatic breakdowns?

“Will you be our girl, Y/n?”

You blinked at him and looked at them confused, “Am I not already?”

Mingi chuckled, “Not that silly. Will you be our girl? Our girlfriend?......Please.” he whispered the last part.

For a moment, you thought that they were joking but when you found them staring at you expectantly, waiting for your answer.

“Are you joking?”

“No…”

You quickly turned around and hugged Mingi, “Please tell me. This is not a joke.”

“It’s not.”

“Then, am I dreaming?”

“No silly, you are not.”

You raised your head from his shoulder, he was still moving his hands up and down your back, “Yunho calls me sweetie and you call me silly. This is not fair.”

And here you go.

Mingi cupped your face in his hand and pressed a soft kiss in the middle of your forehead and smiled dearly at you, “You are my silly girl. My silly…only mine.”

Yunho rolled his eyes, “Don't gatekeeper her to yourself. We agreed to mutual this between us. I said ‘our’ specifically but you are saying only yours.”

You looked between both of them and licked your lips before muttering slowly, “Are you pitying me?”

“Y/n…” Yunho called your name with love and held your hands before shaking his head, “we all are different in our own ways. And you are perfect for us. We have seen the imperfect you…the real you. We have seen the ugly versions of you and also the pretty versions of you. But we loved the unfiltered version. The version which felt like you were mine. You are mine.”

“Why do I feel like you are calling me ugly but in a sweet way?”

“Maybe I am.”

“Yuyu…” You hit his arm and continued, “I will ask Mingi to beat you.”

He scoffed, “He can't because he is too weak.”

The latter laughed when you stuck out a tongue at his friend.

“But……isn’t it wrong for both of you to love me? What will others think?”

“I don’t care about others. Are you uncomfortable with this? Say it, Y/n. Are you?”

You shook your head when Mingi turned your face to him, “We want to hear you. Say it please.”

“No. I’m not. I’m happy……I like both of you.” You muttered under your breath.

“What? I can’t hear you. Did you hear something, Yunho?” Mingi creased his forehead and asked his friend who pulled you on his lap and leaned your back on his chest and held both of your hands in front and rocked you in his hold. “No, Mingi I didn’t hear anything.”

“Yeah. because I didn't say anything.”

They both started laughing loudly when they saw you shyly looking down and Yunho rested his chin on top of your head, “But I love my sweet girl the most.” he placed a kiss and softly confessed, “I love you, Y/n.”

You held his hand and played with his fingers. You felt him nuzzling into your hair when you closed your eyes and smiled, “I love you too, Yunho.”

Mingi scooted closer, sitting in front of you he cupped your face and you quickly looked at his face expectantly when he confessed, “I love my silly girl. I love you so much, Y/n.”

“And I hate my snacks thief. I love you toooooo, Mingi.”

He chuckled and pressed a soft kiss on your forehead and nose, filled with overwhelming love and care.

“Now come on, Y/n. I know you aren’t eating properly these days. So let’s eat the food we bought for you earlier.”

“ I don’t want to eat. I’m not hungry.” You smiled brightly and looked at them with a fake pout.“But thank you for all the love and care. I’m so full with it.”

“Uh uh, don’t give me that look. You’re eating, and that’s the end of this conversation.” He said in a stern voice before standing up. You crawled away from him when Mingi caught you in his arms and stood up holding you bridal style and heading to the kitchen, trailing behind Yunho who was singing your favorite song.

Mingi placed you at the table, letting you watch the other one prepare plates. You were swinging your legs back and forth, already feeling so much better and humming the song with him. Mingi went back into the bedroom and came back with the ice cream tub to put into the fridge and sat next to you. He joked and sometimes said some nonsense to make you laugh and you giggled uncontrollably.

He could see the little you laughing with him in the classroom.

“You are finally mine, Y/n. The girl I adored and loved for all these years. The girl whose smile I love the most is smiling at me and sitting with me not as a friend but as my girlfriend.” He held your hand and kissed your knuckles.

“I’m so happy that my bestfriend is my boyfriend and you are the one who can only annoy me and steal my snacks. Oh wait! You have to buy me more snacks now or I am breaking up with you.” You faked a shocked expression.

“Not sorry to disturb you but she is our girlfriend. My best supporter. Here comes the food.” Yunho swirled on his feet and placed the food dramatically on the table, having the silliest look on his face.

You screeched with laughter. “Yunho, my jealous baby.” He sat across from you and pushed the plates towards you both.

“Oh? Now I’m your baby. Last time I checked it was you who bought baby milk products. ” He grabbed his fork and pointed at you with squinted eyes as if he’s in deep thought. You let out a scoff at his antics and he raises an eyebrow at you, “I didn't. You were annoying me.”

“Oh…okay..now let’s talk less and eat more..”

You excitedly nodded and dug into the food. Their eyes followed your actions and they shared looks between them with little smiles appearing on their faces. They nodded towards each other and started eating the food with you.

And they promised to themselves that no matter what the situation is, they will always stay by your side. They still kept the friendship letter from you which you gave them for the first time during Christmas and they would always fulfill your wish.

‘Stay with me……always.’

Taglist: @mymoodwriting @justhere4kpop @anyamaris @yeoobin @icchyi @jwnghyuns @piratequeen-queenofgames @dinonuguaegi @oreharuuu @hwanring @sanwifesstuff @kiwiisnthereoops @kiwiraccoon @hyuukah @kazscara @aceofspadesbiofalltrades @nvdhrzn @meowmeeps @vtyb23 @haechansbbg

[open!]

517 notes · View notes

cinnajun · 10 months

Text

ᵕ̈ ೫˚∗: 365 days | pgw

summary | the first year of your relationship with park gunwook, quantified by 12 separate events.

genre | park gunwook x fem!reader, high school!au, very slice of life, fluff, angst, y/n is bisexual, roughly 1 month has passed in between every part

warnings | jealousy + attempted sabotage, the horrors of girlhood (insecurity, slight mention of beauty standards, comparison)

wc | 12.7k

a/n: if you listen close enough you can hear me screaming in agony ++ can someone please remind me how to think up ideas that don't require several thousands of words

ft. youngeun and yeseo from kep1, boys planet/redstartz junhyeon, ppl i made up

i. confession

Tears bunch in your eyes as you sit behind your school building, the intensifying heat of spring embracing you like a warm hug. You feel devastated like someone had just stabbed you through the heart and left you to bleed.

“I think you’re overreacting, [First].” Youngeun’s voice is gravelly over the phone yet still uneasy, overall impacted by the sound of her gym class. Yeseo, who’s sitting next to you, hummed, although you weren’t sure if she was agreeing with Youngeun or not. “I mean, is it so bad he knows? It was bound to happen, probably.”

“Well, no, it wasn’t,” you stuttered, trying to keep the urge to sob and scream at bay. “And, to be fair, that’s not what I’m worried about. I’m worried about what else Yukyung was telling people without me knowing.”

Youngeun begins to speak but doesn’t get more out than a squeak, and you can almost imagine her opening and closing her mouth in an instant. Yeseo picks up the slack, saying, “Well, it’s worse to assume than to deal with the facts. Yukyung, for whatever reason, told Gunwook about your crush on him and showed him the texts, and it’s getting out among our classmates. In my opinion, there’s one course of action you should take.”

“Which is?”

“Youngeun tells Gunwook that you want to talk to him after school, and then you talk to him after school.”

You groaned audibly and Youngeun gasped, presumably in horror. You stared at her in exasperation, letting a single tear fall down your face. Yeseo wiped it off with her cardigan’s sleeve, frowning at you. “I mean, the worst that could happen is that he doesn’t feel the same way and you feel embarrassed for a couple of months. And we all unfriended Yukyung pretty much instantly, so she won’t be around anymore.”

“Doesn’t matter, still happened,” you replied. “I don’t want to see him ever again. I’d rather die than see him again.”

Yeseo put a hand on your back, while Youngeun yelped at the sound of a basketball hitting the closet she was hiding in. “I’ll ask him, and you’re gonna do it, [First]. You can’t skip a week of school during the first week of school.”

“Who said I was going to skip?”

“Every time you’re minorly embarrassed by something you skip school,” Yeseo said, looking at you like you were insane. “Like that one time you got a bad score on our math midterms during our first year and the teacher asked you what happened in front of everyone, so you skipped 2 days and sulked in your room.”

“That was warranted,” Youngeun commented, which caused Yeseo to glare at the phone. “But! Not the point. For all you know, Gunwook could like you back, and you’ll be able to say you had a boyfriend in high school. Right?”

“The chances of that are incredibly low,” you whined, drawing your knees up to your chest and burying your head in between them. “We’ve barely even talked. We just sit kind of next to each other during our cram classes, and that’s it.”

“He could be delusional too!”

“Are you calling me delusional?”

“The bell is about to ring,” Yeseo cut in, grabbing your phone out of your hands. You immediately popped out of your fetal position, reaching for it as quickly as you could. “Youngeun, leave the supply closet and ask him, please. Pick a location and text the groupchat. [First] and I have to go back to the classroom so we don’t get in trouble for skipping our study block.”

With that, she hung up and left you to your devices. The day passed agonizingly slowly after that, and you found yourself struggling to focus on anything your teacher said. At some point during your study block, Yukyung had left, leaving you alone at your desk with no seatmate to annoy or watch (not that you wanted her there, anyway) for the day. That was likely out of embarrassment, too, as now your classmates, who generally liked you, weren’t as sure on how to deal with the newfound information.

The only other thing worth noting was that, during your 5-minute break in between classes, Yeseo told your homeroom teacher what happened and she approved you switching hers and Yukyung’s desks after school, but, other than that, you felt your sanity whittling away by the minute.

Youngeun had haphazardly chosen a tree behind the gym, typically reserved for successful confessions, because she’d been staring at it out the window as she talked to Gunwook (which she described as the scariest conversation of her life) and didn’t know where else would work.

According to her, he’d blushed as she asked, accepting on the pretense that it wouldn’t take long because he promised his older brother that he’d get dinner with him that night. Initially, you lamented over the fact that you wouldn’t have anyone to stare at during your after-school classes, but it quickly dawned on you that he thought you were going to confess to him (which was true—you were going to confess to him).

Then, when you got done with class for the day, one of your classmates—Gyuvin—hit you on the shoulder on the way out with a quick “good luck!”

It took Yeseo dragging you to the gym and offering you $20 and a free fun drink afterward for you to get used to the idea you were doing this, and about another 3 minutes of you panicking at her in a hushed whisper while she told you to get over yourself. Then, Youngeun sprinted over, panting and still half in her gym clothes.

“You didn’t change after gym?”

“Not the focus! You’re actively making him wait!” she choked out, apparently exhausted from her mad dash. You rolled your eyes, dropping your bag down next to them and taking a deep breath.

“If I throw up on him, I’m going to kill you.”

With that, you began your death march to the tree, where Gunwook stood, scrolling through his phone. The sight of him made your stomach explode with butterflies, which you tried to shut down given your (supposed) fate of rejection. You were mentally preparing yourself to be in turmoil for the next few days, but deep down, all you wanted was to rewind time to when you told Yukyung about your silly, little crush and stop it from ever happening.

Your crush on Gunwook was never meant to go anywhere but your brain, and now you were walking up to him, about to pour out feelings that were half-manufactured by Yukyung convincing there was a future that would come with them.

“Hi,” you managed, causing Gunwook to spin around and shove his phone in his pocket.

“Hi,” he replied, scratching his neck as if he was unsure what to do with his hands. “Um, how are you?”

It was a stupid question, and you could tell he knew that. Of course you wouldn’t be doing well—one of your best friends told the entire world (him, and then one of his friends leaked it to the rest of the school) your entire life story (a single crush).

“Could be better.”

“Yeah.”

You looked off to the side, seeing Gyuvin and Junhyeon, who you knew were close to him, watching from a second-story window in the school building. You tried to ignore it, but you knew you’d hyperfocus on it now.

“Look, I’m sorry,” you finally breathed out, twiddling your thumbs. “Yukyung—I don’t know what to say that you don’t already know. I guess I have a bit of a crush on you. Sorry.”

“Sorry? Why are you sorry?” he asked, sounding genuinely perplexed. You looked back up at him, shrugging.

“Well, it’s weird. We don’t really know each other, and then a girl you don’t know very well is suddenly telling you that I’m head over heels for you.”

“You’re not?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say it that way, no. Just a crush. Not much else.”

You thought there would be a weight off your shoulders once you managed to say it to his face, but it was, quite literally, the opposite. Your stomach was tightening up and your throat was closing, but you didn’t move, just staring him in the face.

“So it would be awkward if I professed my undying love for you right now.”

You flinched at that, frowning. “That was kind of mean.”

Gunwook’s face dropped when you said that, and he shook his head rapidly. “No, not—I wasn’t making fun of you, I swear. I promise. It was a bad way of saying I have a crush on you too. Sorry. Uncalled for. Didn’t mean it.”

The words fell from his mouth like an avalanche, and all you could do was stare at him in awe. “Wait, really? Why?”

“Why? I don’t know. We spend a lot of time together, even if we don’t talk often,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. “We were in the same class for our first year, then we started at the same cram school, and now we sit near each other. You’re entertaining to watch when you’re taking notes.”

“You stare at me in class?” you asked, genuinely shocked at his admission. You thought you stared at him enough during the same classes that it was impossible he could’ve been doing the same thing. Apparently, he was good at catching you when you weren’t watching his every move. “Creep.”

“Like you don’t? If I’m a creep, what are you? You’re way worse than I am,” he replied. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. What now?”

You tapped your chin, looking back over at the window Gyuvin and Junhyeon had been in. They were gone now, presumably to meet Gunwook when your conversation was over. “We could try being a ‘thing.’”

“A thing?”

“I don’t think we know each other well enough for like—I don’t know, for me to call you boyfriend,” you replied. “So we can just be a ‘thing.’ No strings attached! And we can go on a date or two. Maybe.”

“A date or two? Whereabouts?”

You smiled, and he did too; you were shocked at how well he managed to goad information out of you. You tended to say things but never follow up on them, not unless you were pestered over and over again—it had taken Yeseo nearly a year to get it down.

“Do you like the zoo? Recently, I’ve been wanting to go to the zoo. They have a new baby bear—cub?—that I wanna see. Perhaps on Sunday? Are you free then?”

“I might be free on Sunday,” he said, handing his phone out of his pocket. He unlocked it, pressing a couple of buttons before handing it to you with an empty contact screen open. “How about we talk about it later? I’m late for meeting my brother.”

You typed in your name and number, sending yourself a quick text so you’d be able to initiate if you felt he didn’t text you fast enough. “Sounds good to me. I’ll see you later. Tell your brother I said hello.”

“Okay, sounds good,” Gunwook chuckled. He reached out and ruffled your hair, giving you a wide, bright smile that could’ve overpowered the sun if he tried hard enough. “I’ll see you later, so we can start our ‘thing.’”

“Yup, bye-bye. See you tomorrow.”

ii. lunchtime

You and Gunwook, mostly on purpose, don’t spend a lot of time together at school. Sometimes, you say hi and smile at him when you walk into his classroom to grab Youngeun, but, other than that, you keep it separate.

For one thing, it makes it easier to keep it “no strings attached,” as you’d proclaimed the day Yukyung briefly ruined your life, but it also was somewhat fun for you and him to not address what happened. Thanks to Gyuvin, half—if not all—of your grade had heard about it, and someone had spotted the both of you under that god-forsaken tree, but you hadn’t said a thing.

For you two, it was like nothing had happened, and, for everyone else, it was like a bomb they were just hoping would go off. It was fun—like you were living out a cliche, teen drama.

So, when Gunwook sauntered into your classroom in the middle of your lunch period, proudly holding a bottle of special juice you briefly talked about wanting, you were somewhat shocked. For the most part, you weren’t mentally prepped to interact with him during the day, especially as Yukyung watched on with her new couple of friends from the corner of the room.

You, Youngeun, and Yeseo stared at him as he approached, Gyuvin following close behind. He put the drink down in front of you, a proud smile on his face. “Look,” he said, gesturing towards it, so you looked. It was a brand of juice—they advertised it as a “smoothie,” but it was just slightly thicker juice—that you’d enjoyed a lot on a trip to the United States that you’d gone on a while back.

You hadn’t seen it once in Korea, even after taking Yeseo with you to search for it for hours. “Where in the world did you get this?” you spluttered out, picking it up. It was chilled, too, as if he’d been keeping it in a refrigerator (or, an insulated lunch box with an ice pack in it).

“He didn’t,” Gyuvin snorted, putting an arm around Gunwook’s shoulder. “Junhyeon did while he was in Busan this weekend.”

Gunwook hit him hard on the chest, clearing his throat. “Do you like it? Are you excited?”

“The right flavor and everything,” you replied, a surge of joy running through you. “Thank Junhyeon for me, okay?”

Gunwook scoffed, mumbling, “It’s not like I didn’t pay him back twice the price or anything,” under his breath. You held up your fist, to which Gunwook stared at it, somewhat dumbfounded.

“What?”

“You want a fist bump from me?” he asked incredulously. You nodded, exaggerating the movements to make it seem like he was missing the obvious. So, he bumped your fist with his, shaking his head. “See you after school, [First].”

“Yup, I’ll see you.”

And you watched him walk out, Gyuvin in tow—and, from the corner of your eye, you saw Yukyung watching his every move, up until he left the classroom.

iii. field trip

The third-year field trip was something you’d looked forward to for a long time—as a way to force students to take a break from their studying, your school sent all the first years to some fun location, paying for most of it with donations they got from alumni and parents.

This year, they’d had the bright idea to send you all to Hawaii, which had been both shocking and exciting. The farthest they’d ever sent anyone was Jeju, and that was a few years ago; but, they’d got some huge donation this year and decided to splurge.

So far, the trip had been fun, for the most part. On the airplane, you’d forced Gunwook to sit next to you so that you could hold his hand every time the plane shook (he’d laughed at you over your fear of turbulence, but you were too aware of the fact that he was rubbing your hand with his thumb to care). Almost all of your classmates, to whom you had not disclosed the nature of your “thing” yet, had stared at you every time they walked past. About halfway through, Youngeun, who’d volunteered to be the third wheel, leaned over and told you she was pretty sure the news was making its way down the plane, and people were getting up to fact-check it for the row members.

“That’s stupid,” Gunwook laughed, pulling your hand onto his tray table. “Doesn’t everyone know [First] is just afraid of planes? Nothing else going on here, not at all.”

Then Yeseo had popped her head above her seat and turned around to face you, an eyebrow raised. “Have you two kissed yet?” she’d asked out of nowhere, to which you shrugged.

“Why would we kiss when nothing is going on?”

Then, upon arrival, you and Gunwook had sat next to one another on the bus to the hotel, to which you’d promptly fallen asleep on his shoulder (since you didn’t sleep much on the plane) for the entire ride. You woke up to him holding your hand again, scrolling through his phone haphazardly.

After that, you’d had all eyes on the both of you—when you got to the hotel, while you were listening to your teachers give instructions, while keys were being handed out. And, as a result of what you assumed was anxiety over not knowing English, Gunwook and his two friends, Junhyeon and Gyuvin, followed you, Yeseo, and Youngeun around for the entire trip.

Then, on the third day of the trip, Gunwook asked if you’d want to go on a date with him. The idea was silly to you—not because you didn’t want to, but because you were two teenagers going on a date on your almost-all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.

That’s what you were doing now. It was the day before you were to head back home, and Gunwook had, for lack of a better word, taken you out. To a fancy restaurant—where he made you translate the entire menu and order for him—and to get some sort of fancy pineapple dessert afterward. Now, you were strolling on the beach, watching the sun fall below the horizon slowly but surely.

“How much longer until curfew?” you asked, turning around to face him. You continued walking backward, lacing your hands together behind your back.

“About half an hour. We’re close enough to the hotel that we don’t have to start walking back now, but we should think about it soon.”

You hummed, stopping abruptly. You faced the shoreline, listening to the sound of the waves draw in and out like breaths from a sleeping person. It was so alive, yet not at the same time, and it mesmerized you; you’d never seen an ocean like this before.

“You look pretty tonight,” he mused, staring at you rather than the ocean. You scoffed, rolling your eyes at the comment.

“Look at yourself in the mirror.”

“I’m not pretty, I’m beautiful, thank you very much.”

A question was bubbling up in your throat now, much like the water in front of you. You felt a surge of anxiety wash through your stomach, and you were mentally transported back to that tree from a couple of months ago. The pure embarrassment you felt was gone and replaced with a sort of hope that was more painful than uplifting, as if it was a glass cup teetering on the edge of a table.

“I have a question,” you started, banishing the unease from your stomach.

“Oh, yeah?” he asked, raising his eyebrow. He wouldn’t look away from you, no matter how much you tried to focus on the sight in front of you. A crooked smile bloomed on his face which should’ve quelled your worries in an instant, but, for some reason, it only made them worse. “I suppose I have an answer for you.”

“Do you?”

“I just might, if you manage to ask the question.”

“Okay, here I go,” you said, mustering up all your courage and turning to face him. His eyes sparkled in the sunlight, and you immediately felt discouraged just looking at him. He was right—he was beautiful, almost impossibly so. Yet, here you were, boring and average, barely even able to hold a T to him. Plus, the only reason you were even here was because someone you’d considered a best friend had told him you liked him, and now you were getting into your head over something that was long over.

His smile dropped a bit when he (most likely) realized you were panicking a bit, but he didn’t say anything, simply waiting patiently for you to continue. You forced yourself to regain focus, shaking your head as the image of Yukyung permeated in your mind. He grabbed both of your hands as a way to help soothe the worry, and it worked as well as it could, pulling you back into reality.

“Do you want to be my boyfriend, maybe?” you finally asked, watching as his face lit up against the sun.

“Do I?” he asked back, allowing himself to smile fully. “This is the best question I’ve ever been asked. Seriously.”

“Seriously?”

Gunwook giggled, swinging your hands around a bit. “Can I kiss you? Pretty please?”

“Can you?” you mimicked, feeling the heat rising in your cheeks. Gunwook giggled again, leaning down and pressing a kiss to your lips. It was slow and sweet, his lips soft and tasting slightly of the pineapple you’d had earlier. He laughed and smiled through the entire thing, squeezing your hands in delight before letting go and wrapping his hands around your waist. As cliche as it was, you draped your hands around his neck, starting to giggle too.

When he pulled away, he leaned his forehead against yours, still chuckling in delight. “This is so exciting,” he said, rocking you back and forth on the sand. “I’m so excited. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this for my entire life, you know? Even if I’ve only known you for three years. I can’t explain it—it’s unexplainable. I’m so excited.”

“You know what, I’m getting the idea you might be excited.”

And Gunwook shut you up with another elated kiss, ending your night in an impenetrable wall of pure joy.

iv. sleepover

Your parents were adventurers and you decidedly weren’t, which often meant you had your house to yourself. It was nice, mostly because it allowed you to spread out all your study stuff on the dining room table and do all of your work right then and there without your parents talking to you every 20 seconds.

Sometimes, though, things didn’t go as planned, and you had to do things you didn’t want to do. Namely, spend the night in the house completely alone. Every creak or thump made your heart beat out of your chest, which ended up in you taking a knife and a flashlight through the entire house with the emergency number pre-dialed.

Oftentimes, it ended with you not sleeping and then having to miss school because of over-exhaustion.

You were sitting in your living room while on the phone with Gunwook (he claimed you were moral support for his studying) when your mom texted you, the message starting with a bunch of emojis, which was her way of beginning a message with bad news.

“Oh god,” you said, cutting through the hour-long silence you’d maintained with your boyfriend.

“Huh? What’s up?”

“My mom texted me. There’s some huge accident on the freeway, so they’ve got the entire thing blocked off. Traffic is awful on other routes so they’re just going to pull off to a motel and sleep there tonight.”

“Oh no,” he said, and you could tell he was preoccupied with whatever math problem he was doing. “House to yourself, I guess?”

“I’m glad it’s Saturday,” you said, frowning. “I’m not gonna get any sleep tonight.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t like being completely alone in the house. I’m convinced someone’s gonna come in and kill me.”

“Hmm,” Gunwook hummed, pausing briefly. “I could come over and stay the night? I’ll leave early in the morning so they don’t find out I was there.”

Realistically, you knew you should say no because the chance of your parents finding out about Gunwook terrified you, but you had poor judgment and liked your boyfriend too much to turn down seeing him. “Would you actually? It’s kind of late, and I wouldn’t want to make you walk that much in the dark.”

“It’s not that far of a walk,” he said, and you could hear him packing his school stuff already. The sound of pencils clinking against pencils and books closing made you feel all warm and fuzzy—instead of studying for the test that was going to decide his fate as an adult, he was coming to make sure you felt comfortable and safe.

“Oh yeah, because 30 minutes is ‘not that far.’ Just get it over with and tell me you’re in love with me.”

Gunwook cleared his throat at your quip, choking on air. You snickered, finding how flustered he got at the “L-word” quite cute (as if you wouldn’t do the same thing). “I’ll be there shortly.”

He hung up the phone without saying bye, most likely out of embarrassment, which made you feel proud of yourself. And, true to his word, he showed up about fifty minutes later, balancing his school backpack on one arm and another bag on the other. “Do you know how hard it is to jump out of your window with two bags?” he asked, walking into your house as if it was his own. You wondered if he cared about the fact that he’d never actually been inside before, given he’d only ever walked you home, but you assumed his unwillingness to do his usual hello-and-hug meant he was somewhat flustered by it.

“Are you moving in, or something? What’s in the bags?”

“Well, I can’t stay the night without all my nighttime stuff,” he huffed, breezing past you and dropping his bags off next to the stairs. You watched him look around frantically, and you somewhat assumed that he’d hung up on you because he’d realized what exactly he had suggested and had no way of backing out of it now (you hoped he hadn’t even thought about backing out).

“You’re such a diva,” you scoffed, shuffling back into your living room and returning to your position on the couch. He sat next to you, leaning against the armrest and putting his legs on top of yours. You rolled your eyes, picking up the remote and pressing play.

“So, what are we watching?”

“Whatever romcom was playing when I turned the TV on,” you replied, keeping your focus on the screen. Suddenly you were feeling embarrassed even though you’d been feeling so egotistical a second ago, as you were realizing you were in more danger here than he was. He’d successfully snuck out (or so he said, but you were pretty sure he probably told his mom and then snuck out the window to avoid his dad finding out), but your parents lived here, and if they got here before you were expecting them, it was over for you.

It dawned on you that you needed to find out when they were planning on getting back, so you wrenched your phone out of your pocket, furiously typing to your mother. Gunwook noticed, pointing at you and laughing. “You were so high and mighty a second ago, and now look at you. Somebody realized they’re going to be in bigger shit than I am.”

“Shut your mouth,” you hissed, watching the little bubble that indicated your mom was typing.

“Maybe we should send her a selfie, huh? Just so she knows a random teenage boy that she doesn’t know is in her house,” Gunwook continued, sucking all of the confidence you’d once had out of the air. “She’d be super excited, right?”

“If you’re not out of my house by 5:30 tomorrow morning, I’m going to break up with you,” you announced, glaring at him. He made a face at you, shaking his head.

“Be glad I like you so much. Waking up at 5:30 is brutal. I didn’t even do that when Gyuvin got his appendix out and texted me thirty times to ask if I’d be there when he got out of surgery.”

“You liar, Gyuvin literally told me that you showed up with flowers and a get-well-soon card.”

Gunwook blushed at that, clearing his throat. “Okay, whatever, fine. Let’s just watch the movie.”

The two of you got about twenty minutes of the romcom in before he checked the time and announced that you were both going to sleep. You said he could go on his own—midnight was early for both of you, and you weren’t the one waking up at 5:30—but he got all whiney, turning the TV off and picking you up from the couch.

You’d gone through the motions of your nighttime routine together, with Gunwook’s being about fifty steps longer than yours. You ended up sitting on the floor while he put on a million serums and waited thirty minutes in between each one, claiming it was to “let each product soak into his skin.”

You texted Youngeun and Yeseo about it, not thinking about the implications behind waiting for him to finish his skincare routine. Immediately, they began blowing up your phone, and you promptly muted your group chat and their individual text threads, not wanting to deal with the onslaught of questions they were likely unleashing onto you.

Then, you looked up to see Gunwook putting on a lip mask. Knowing it was probably the last step in his routine, you hopped up from the floor, staring at the small, pink container that the gel lived in. “Oh, I’ve always wanted to try that out,” you said, not thinking about it too hard. “Is it nice? Does it work?”

“Shouldn’t you know better than anyone whether it works or not?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. You slapped him hard on the shoulder, causing him to yelp in pain. “Okay, geez, yes, it works. Do you want to try some?”

“Oh, can I—”

Before you could even finish your sentence, Gunwook leaned down and kissed you somewhat hard, almost causing you to stumble back a bit. Either way, you almost immediately broke it off, incredibly flustered at the act. You slapped him again, although this time it was a million times weaker. “You’re so stupid, oh my god, you cliche loser.”

“Be grateful I was willing to give you any, this stuff is expensive,” Gunwook said, cackling. He put a bit more on his finger, rubbing it into his lips to compensate for what he lost from kissing you. “I thought you liked kissing me, no?”

“I also like the thought of you getting hit by a train. These things aren’t mutually exclusive,” you huffed, looking to the side. “Whatever. I’m going to my room.”

“Ooh, me too,” he said, draping an arm around your shoulders as you walked past him. He kept himself in step with you, flicking the bathroom light switch off as you both exited the room.

“Who said we’re sleeping in the same room?” you asked, raising an eyebrow. Gunwook laughed in your face, causing you to frown.

“Okay, sure, but one noise and you’ll be prancing into the guest room like a scared dog.” “Who said I had a guest room? Go to the couch.” You wiggled out from under his arm, opening the door to your bedroom and flicking the lights on. Gunwook continued following after you, but quickly walked past you and climbed under the duvet on your bed. Somehow, he’d already plugged his phone in and put his bags neatly in the corner of your room—it must’ve been when he walked out to grab his toner pads from his bag—and had settled into your bedroom quite nicely. You stared at him in awe as he yawned, patting the bed next to him.

“It’s bedtime.”

“For you.”

He laughed at you again, patting the bed once more. You shut your bedroom door behind you, turning your phone’s flashlight on and turning the lights off as soon as they’d come on. You shuffled over to the bed, sliding in next to him and cuddling up to him. He reciprocated, putting an arm on your waist and giggling.

“You giggle too much.”

“Good night, [First]. I won’t wake you up tomorrow morning, but I’ll be out by 5:30. Promise.”

Even though you weren’t tired, you fell asleep like a baby next to Gunwook, basking in the warmth he brought. You were pretty sure you’d fallen asleep before him, actually, but you swore up and down it was because he’d been humming to you and rubbing your back in a way that was more relaxing than you would’ve liked it to be.

So, when you woke up the next morning, the sun barely peeking through your curtains, to find him gone, you felt relief. You groaned, turning over to search for your phone, which was, as always, placed on your bedside table.

You picked it up, barely being able to make out the time—5:01 am. Huh, you thought, frowning. He left earlier than he needed.

And then you looked at your notifications—three texts from your mother.

2:34 am—Hi honey, the motel was uncomfortable and we couldn’t sleep, so we’re getting an early start. I know you get paranoid, and I hope you’re not awake, but texting to let you know just in case you are. Should be there about 4:30.

3:47 am—Update, we’ve hit some early traffic, so probably closer to 4:45. It might still be 4:30 if we’re lucky.

Finally, 4:11 am—We got lucky!!! We’ll be there in 10. Assuming you’re asleep…am glad. Can’t wait to be in my own bed.

You shot up from your bed, suddenly feeling more awake than you’d ever been in your life. With what little sunlight there was, you looked to the corner of the room, clearly seeing two black bags that didn’t belong to you. Then, an extra phone on your nightstand.

Panic set in. You, as quietly as you could, got out of bed, shuffling to the door. With a hand haphazardly placed on the knob, you pulled your door open, cringing at even the slightest of noises. You heard the sound of a glass hitting your table downstairs, and you felt like crying.

Slowly, you tiptoed down the stairs, catching sight of Gunwook, blue sweater on and exhaustion written on his face, sitting across from both of your parents. Breakfast was ready on the table, and Gunwook had a full plate in front of him, but it had barely been touched.

He noticed you first, looking up at you from the table. He looked violently uncomfortable, pleading for you to come save him, and you just about turned around and went back to your room.

“[First],” your dad said, turning his head to look at you. “Why don’t you come join us? I suppose you have a few things to explain.”

v. ice cream

You loved summer for a multitude of reasons—the lack of school, the increase in fun treats, and the overall happiness that came upon everyone during your one month off of responsibility. So, when you caught wind of a fair opening up, you knew you couldn’t pass up going.

Your first invites were Yeseo and Youngeun, since the three of you always spent your summers at amusement parks and pop-ups. But, they’d had the bright idea to invite along your boyfriend and his couple of friends—it would be okay, they said, since there’s three of you and three of them. So, you did, and you were entirely grateful that you had.

You didn’t know Gyuvin or Junhyeon very well before today; Gyuvin tended to follow Gunwook around, and Junhyeon had bought you juice once upon a time, but that was about it. It was the same for Gunwook and your couple of friends, as the most they’d interacted with him was on your plane ride to Hawaii.

Seeing your friends getting along with his warmed your heart, and it had put together a day you would never forget, most likely. About twenty minutes ago, your four accompaniments had made up some excuse as to why they needed to separate from the two of you, which had left you strolling through the fair as the sun was beginning to set.

The sky had erupted into a million different colors, namely pinks and purples, which you were particularly enamored by. You’d endearingly linked your arm with Gunwook’s and you’d been walking through the local artist alley that they’d put up.

“I’m glad it’s cooling down,” you said, staring at a booth where a woman was showing off all of her handmade jewelry pieces, which you found to be quite impressive. “As much fun as a fair is, it always sucks when it’s too hot to enjoy.”

“It wasn’t that hot today, though, was it?” he replied. “I mean, it got warm around 3, but that was just about it. I thought today was relatively tame compared to the rest of the week.”

“Okay, Fireboy, whatever you say. But, for the record, tame compared to the rest of the week doesn’t mean much when it was nearly 35° the other day,” you scoffed. Gunwook chuckled, and you looked over at him, intending on continuing to talk about the heat. But, a booth behind him caught your eye, distracting you from whatever you were planning on saying next.

You unlocked your arm from his, smiling mischievously at him. “Wait here,” you said excitedly, pulling your wallet out of your tote bag. You quickly walked over to the ice cream booth that you’d seen in the distance, the thought of how cold it would be tainting your mind. Even just a little bit of freedom from the heat was enough to sweep you off your feet, at this point.

“What would you like?” the server asked, to which you smiled at her, staring at the menu.

“Um, just two vanilla cones, please,” you said, realizing you had no clue what flavor of ice cream he’d even want. You hoped he didn’t have a terrible disdain for vanilla, but you doubted he did, given you’d never seen him actively dislike any food in your life. You got the amount of money it cost out of your wallet and placed it on the counter, shoving your wallet back in your bag.

The server handed them to you, and you thanked her, turning back around to hobble back to where you’d left Gunwook. And, as you did, you were met with quite possibly the worst sight in the world—he stood off to the side of the jewelry booth talking to someone. Namely, he was talking to Yukyung.

Of course she would be here—before she’d broken your trust, she tagged along on your summer adventures. She was your best friend once upon a time, and now, she was not much other than a bad memory, and she was talking to your boyfriend.

You didn’t know how to describe the feeling it evoked. It wasn’t jealousy—you knew what jealousy felt like, and this was too mellow and depressing to be jealousy. Yukyung looked gorgeous, as she always did, dressed in a pretty, flowy, red sundress that just barely brushed against the tops of her shoes. Her makeup was perfect and rosy to match the dress, and she’d braided white ribbon into her hair, which you thought made her look even more elegant than she had before.

Oh, you thought, biting your lip. This is inadequacy.

You watched them talk, and you watched the way she smiled and the way he seemed uncomfortable just from the way he stood. For a brief moment, you thought they even looked a bit good together, but that thought was quickly washed away when you felt ice cream drip onto your finger.

When you looked back up, she was gone, and Gunwook had gone back to lingering. You shook your head, jogging up to him with a smile. “Happy summer,” you said, handing it out to him. He smiled back at you, taking the ice cream cone from your hand.

“Thank you,” he said, taking a big bite straight from the top. You widened your eyes in shock and your face distorted into one of disgust.

“You bite ice cream?”

“And what about it? Do you have a problem with it?”

“Yeah, actually, I do. That’s weird and strange.”

“You know what else is weird and strange?”

“Huh?”

“The fact that you’re letting your ice cream melt all over your hand.”

vi. overwhelmed

You’re wondering how long you can get away with staying in the bathroom before someone notices that you’ve been gone for much longer than you were expecting. You hug your knees to your chest, playing a mindless game in hopes it’ll calm you down at least somewhat.

You knew this would happen at some point—every upperclassman you’d talked to told you that, in the months approaching your college entrance exams, your mental health would plummet. From panic attacks in the bathroom during math classes to not being able to fall asleep until four in the morning.

You just underestimated how much it sucked to feel like this in the first place. You’re no stranger to stress, that much is certain, but this was much more real. And, this sort of panic hit you anywhere and everywhere—including Gyuvin’s birthday party.

Briefly, you glanced at the time—8:02. You’d been in the bathroom for about 10 minutes, and nobody had come looking for you yet, which was good. The bad news was that you weren’t any closer to calming down and were feeling utterly helpless.

As if you’d jinxed yourself, Gunwook texted you at that very moment, asking where you’d gone. You half-assed your reply, saying you were still in the bathroom taking a break from the chaos, ignoring the temptation to ask him to come help you. It would be mean to Gyuvin and him—so, for the sake of your sanity, you’d stay quiet.

Meanwhile, Gunwook stood in one of Gyuvin’s hallways, staring at his phone. Junhyeon had followed him back as Gyuvin was well entertained by Ricky, who he hadn’t seen in nearly a year, and stood next to him, leaning against the wall.

“Things have been weird lately.” Gunwook frowned, reading over your text again and again. Junhyeon tilted his head inquisitively.

“Weird how?”

“Just…I don’t know, she’s been weirdly distant from time to time. Everything will be fine, and she’ll shut off with no warning. It happens no matter where we are, too—if we’re studying, if we’re walking home, if we’re eating dinner. It’s strange.”

“Could it just be test jitters? I know a lot of couples who broke up in anticipation of the test, with plans to get back together afterward. Like Yuna and Jaechan, in class 4. They did that.”

Gunwook’s frown deepend. “I don’t want to break up with her, though,” he sighed, watching as the typing bubble on your end appeared and disappeared. “Would it be weird to look for her? Like would she find that strange?”

“She probably walked off because she didn’t want to take you away from Gyuvin, but Ricky’s here now, so I don’t think it would be a bad idea, per se,” Junhyeon said, patting his shoulder. “But make sure she doesn’t feel bad taking you away from everything. I think Gyuvin would understand. And Ricky wants to meet her, so no harm in making sure nothing’s wrong.”

Gunwook bit the edge of his lip, shoving his phone into his pocket. Gunwook gave Junhyeon a pat on the shoulder, and he nodded, walking back toward the bulk of the party.

The bathroom was behind a bed sheet curtain that Gyuvin had hung up before the party, with a lame “do not enter” sign taped to it. He’d proceeded to give you, Gunwook, and Junhyeon special permission to break the rules, as the three of you had been in the house before and knew which rooms were okay to enter and which ones weren’t.

The door was closed and the light was on, which meant you’d gone out of your way to go to the off-limits bathroom, where Yeseo and Youngeun wouldn’t be able to find you. He frowned, raising his hand to knock on the door.

Then, he heard a small sniffle behind the door and stopped. Gunwook had never seen you cry—early into your relationship, you’d told him you weren’t a crier, and not many things pushed you to that point. At the time, it had been relieving, as he didn’t know you well enough to even attempt to comfort you.

But, now a good three months had passed, and he still had no clue what to do, which made him feel more stressed than relieved. Nevertheless, now that he knew, he couldn’t just leave you, so he knocked on the door.

Your response was, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Gunwook took that as an invitation to open the door, finding you sitting on the floor of Gyuvin’s bathroom while holding your phone. You weren’t crying, but he could tell you were close to it. He slipped inside, closing the door behind him, and sitting next to you on the ground.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, scooting closer to you so you’d be shoulder-to-shoulder. You shrugged, looking off to the side.

“I’m stressed. You know, with the college entrance exams and graduating stuff, the world is just a lot right now. I didn’t think it would hit here, though, but the number 18 being passed around made me think about it too much. It’s silly.”

“No, it’s not,” Gunwook replied. “It’s okay to be stressed out about something stressful, even if you’re at a birthday party. And it’s okay to tell me because Gyuvin’s friend came to surprise him after he moved to California, so he’s not upset that I’m gone. Okay?”

Your lip quivered a bit, and Gunwook put his arm around you, pressing you into his side. He rubbed your shoulder reassuringly as you sniffled again, obviously having to try harder to keep your feelings in.

At that moment, you wanted to spew everything at him. Your feelings of insecurity towards Yukyung, the stress you felt knowing he was going to get into some fancy university and you probably weren’t, how scary everything was right at this moment.

But, you stayed quiet and chose to burst into tears instead. The moment one tear escaped from your eye, the rest did, too, and you found yourself crying into Gunwook’s chest. He was rocking you back and forth, rubbing your back while you covered his shirt in your tears.

You felt miserable—if you could, you wanted to pause time, run outside, and scream. At what, you were unsure, but you needed it, more than you needed anything else in the entire world. You could only take this for so much longer.

“I’m here for you,” Gunwook whispered, squeezing you gently. “I’ll always be here, I promise.”

You took his words to heart.

vii. wisdom teeth

On day four of Gunwook’s wisdom-teeth recovery, you’d been asked to be his caregiver, which you were okay with. His mom, who was infinitely grateful that you’d offered to take care of her son, assured you that he was technically cleared to go back to normal after day 3, but he was still feeling a bit wonky, and his pain medicine enhanced the wonkiness.

Your jobs were as such: make soup or mashed potatoes when he asked, remind him to clean his wounds if he forgets, and hang out with him. You found the list quite easy and told his mom that you’d make sure he was all good and cared for.

You underestimated, however, how needy your boyfriend would be. The moment you’d walked into his bedroom to wake him up, he attached himself to you, whining about how much he’d missed you over the past few days. He spoke as if you’d gone off to war and left him behind with your nonexistent children, insisting that your absence had ruined his life.

After you managed to make him brush his teeth, spray salt water into his mouth, and eat his breakfast (a bowl of yogurt), he passed out on the couch, leaving you to do whatever seemed appealing at the moment. Initially, you spent your time scrolling through all the selfies he’d sent you of his face all swollen and puffy, which had got you giggling. Then, you had the bright idea to help

You started by slightly cleaning his room up, feeling pretty good about yourself as you washed his clothes and his sheets. In your mind, you were building a resume to ensure his mom liked you, and you were going to earn extra affection from it, so you didn’t care about the repetitiveness at all.

About halfway through your cleaning adventures, Gunwook appeared in the doorway of his bedroom, staring at you folding the load of laundry you did. “How are you?” you asked, continuing to fold his t-shirts.

“Have I ever told you that you’re perfect?” he mumbled, shuffling over and draping himself onto you. He wrapped his arms around your waist and shoved his face into your neck, nearly knocking you over by putting his entire weight on you without warning.

“Only every day,” you replied, giggling. “Seriously though, how are you? Anything feel off or more painful than it did before you napped?”

“No,” he said, pressing a quick kiss to your neck. “Stop sounding like my mom. It’s weird.”

“What do you want me to say? ‘I hope you get dry socket?’”

“It’s better than mom-speak,” he replied. “She’s going to love you after today. Not gonna shut up about it.”

“That’s the entire reason that I’m doing all of this.”

“And not to help out your hurting boyfriend? You’re terrible.”

You scoffed, finishing folding the rest of his clothes. “Are you hungry?”

You patted his arm and Gunwook unattached himself from you, letting you turn around to face him. He rubbed his eyes, shaking his head. “No. I’m so glad you’re here. I missed you a lot.”

“Did you?”

“My mom said I cried about you being at school right after I got out of surgery,” he replied. You widened your eyes, not expecting him to be that forward about it. “I don’t like being away from you for so long. I hope we never, ever separate.”

You smiled, half-heartedly punching him in the shoulder. “I hope you stay this nice even after you feel fully better.”

Gunwook gave you a serious look as if he was thinking hard about something. You waited awkwardly, staring at one another as he sounded out whatever he was thinking in his head. “Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking a lot about something.”

“Which is…?”

“I’m going to say something,” he said, putting his hands on your shoulders. “I’m not expecting a reply. I just need to say it. I’ve thought about it a lot.”

“Okay, go on ahead. I’m listening.”

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes as if whatever he was going to tell you was stressing him out. It made you get a bit anxious, wondering if he was going to break some terrible news to you. “Over the past couple of days, I’ve missed you a lot, more than I missed Gyuvin and Junhyeon combined. And it was hard only being able to talk to you through texting, even though I only text my friends for days on end sometimes. And it got me thinking about everything, you know? Because it’s all I’ve had to entertain myself since I got my teeth pulled.”

“Right.”

“I love you, [First]. A lot. And it’s okay if you’re not ready to say that yet, I get it. But I do. Truthfully. I’ve never felt this way about anyone.”

It felt like a rock was stuck in your throat. You opened your mouth expecting words to come out, but they didn’t—so, you just stood there, staring at Gunwook. He stared back at you, eyes glossy from tiredness and cheeks pink. You weren’t ready—the words were so big and so scary, and it wasn’t that you didn’t love him, you just couldn’t find the words to say it.

Your solution to this was to engulf him in a hug, latching to his waist like you’d done a second ago. No words were needed as he did the same, and, for a while, you stood there, enjoying one another’s company.

viii. mirrors

You don’t remember the last time you’ve felt this gross when looking into a mirror. The dress you’re wearing is gorgeous—it’s long, flowy, and summery, the type of dress that doesn’t look bad on anyone. Yet, staring at yourself right now, you feel utterly disgusting.

It’s the same type of dress you saw Yukyung wearing at the fair, and, when you look at yourself, all you can do is compare yourself to her. Even when you were best friends, this was a problem you had, but it wasn’t nearly as awful when she made you feel safe and loved. Now, it felt threatening and nauseating.

Gunwook knocked on the door of your dressing room, causing you to wince. “[First], are you done? Can I see?”

“Yeah, sure. One second.”

You quickly retied the bow around your waist, hoping it would make you feel a little less awful. It didn’t have the intended effect, but you turned around anyway, opening the door to the dressing room. Gunwook’s expression bloomed into a smile the moment he saw you, but, instead of feeling loved, you only remembered the way he looked at Yukyung with slight disdain at the fair while she wore the same thing.

“You look so beautiful,” he said, which caused you to subconsciously frown. He noticed immediately, his smile morphing into a frown to mirror you. “What’s wrong? Do you not like it?”

You turned around, staring at yourself in the mirror once more. “I don’t feel pretty in it,” you said, trying to be as upfront with your emotions as you could. You saw Gunwook’s jaw drop in his reflection in the mirror as if he couldn’t believe what you were hearing.

“How in the world could you not feel pretty? It fits you perfectly, and it’s entirely on theme for your cousin’s wedding. You look gorgeous, I swear. Everyone would agree with me.”

“Are you sure?” you asked, hoping and praying that, if he said it for a third time, the image of Yukyung in your mind would miraculously go away. He nodded earnestly, making the most serious look you’d ever seen him produce.

“One thousand percent. And I’m not just saying it because I’m your boyfriend, I mean it. You look beautiful, and every other synonym of beautiful. I’m serious.”

You nodded, fabricating a smile so you could take it off and put your sweater back on. “Okay, I’ll get it then. I’m sure my mom will agree.”

You shut the dressing room door, fighting the urge to slam your head into the mirror. You just pulled the dress off of you, replacing it with your normal clothes and putting it back on the hanger, swiftly exiting the room so you’d no longer be facing the mirror.

After that, you’d tried to escape the mall as quickly as you could, dragging Gunwook through the corridors like you were on a mission. He’d followed without saying anything, but you could tell he was somewhat confused—and you hoped that confusion would go away when you arrived at the bus stop just as it arrived.

Gunwook knew you better than that, though, shooting you multiple inquisitive looks for the duration of your bus ride. And, the moment you got off, he whistled a small tune, which was a clear sign that he was going to bring it up.

“So, what’s up?”

“What do you mean?” You feigned ignorance, hoping he’d get the message and leave it alone. He wouldn’t, though, and it was now a question of whether he meant today only, or why you’d been acting so strange over the past month or so.

“You’ve been acting weird for a while, [First]. Not all the time, just sometimes, and it has me worried. Did I do something? Or is there something you aren’t telling me?”

“I’m just on edge,” you lied, clearing your throat. “Exams are next month. I don’t like the idea that a single test could dictate the rest of my life, and the idea that, if I do poorly, I have to spend another year studying for it.”

“Are you sure that’s it? You seem fine every time we’re studying, and your grades are good. You don’t ask for nearly as much help as you did a few months ago either.”

“I promise. Things will go back to normal next month, I swear.”

“Okay.”

Great, you thought, kicking a rock on the sidewalk. He knew you were lying, and now you had one month to fix your ex-best-friend troubles before you had to face your issues. And, you had no idea how.

You kicked the rock again, and it flew out in the street, falling into a storm drain, never to be seen again.

ix. exams

Before today, you didn’t think your hands could hurt this bad. Nor did you think your brain could hurt this bad, either.

The moment you walked into Gunwook’s room, you drop everything you’re holding, face-planting into his bed. He laughed at you, and you could hear him neatly placing everything he was holding onto his desk.

“How can you unpack things right now?” you asked, mentally praising whoever created mattresses. “I feel like my brain is short-circuiting.”

“I’m good at school stuff, that’s why,” he replied. Outside, the rain that you’d dealt with walking to his house got worse, and you briefly considered the possibility that you wouldn’t be returning home tonight unless one of your parents were willing to drive to Gunwook’s house. “Do you want something else to wear? Other than your uniform.”

“Really?” you asked, hopping out of his bed. He nodded, opening his drawer and taking out a t-shirt and pair of sweatpants.

“They’ll probably be a little big,” he said, handing them to you. You waved him off, shaking your head.

“They’re not this god-awful uniform, so they’re winners in my book.”

You practically skipped out of his room and into the bathroom, changing into the pajamas he’d given you hastily. They were soft and smelled like the detergent his mom bought (which smelled exactly like you thought Gunwook would smell, back when you just had a delusional crush on him).

Before you went back to his room, you folded your uniform, giving yourself a once over in the mirror. You looked exhausted and you felt it too, overloaded from the hours of straight testing that you’d endured for the sole purpose of going to university. You were so tired you couldn’t even muster the strength to be worried about your test scores.

You shuffled back into Gunwook’s room, shutting the door behind you. He was already laying down, scrolling through his phone and wearing the black-and-white sweater he’d been so obsessed with recently. You put your uniform on top of your bag, which he’d moved to a chair in the corner of his room, before collapsing on top of him and forcing your hands around his waist.

The act caused him to laugh at you before ruffling your hair, kissing you atop the crown of your head. “I’m proud of you,” he said, and you felt his chest rumble as he talked. “I’m sure you did well.”

“Stop being sappy,” you replied, suddenly feeling a lot more tired than you had been. “But I’m proud of you too. I know you did well.”

He hummed, and you assumed he went back to scrolling through his phone, which you weren’t angry about. You had about five minutes before you fell asleep on him, and you were fine spending it in complete silence save for whatever random thought you had.

“Oh, did you see the Yuna-Jaechan reunion? It was, like, dramatic. He gave her some super expensive necklace or something.”

“I didn’t see it, but I heard about it. Junhyeon hasn’t shut up about it. He thinks it’s hilarious.”

“If we’d done the CSAT breakup, would you have bought me a super expensive necklace?”

“We wouldn’t have, but I would’ve bought you the most expensive necklace ever. With Gyuvin’s money.”

“Aw, how romantic.”

It went quiet again, and you felt yourself fading quickly. The rhythmic up-and-down of Gunwook’s chest paired with the rain pitter-pattering against the window was putting you to sleep with ease, to the point where you could barely keep your eyes open.

And then a bright flash and near-immediate thunder awoke you instantly, causing you to flinch hard. Gunwook laughed at you instantly, causing you to feel embarrassed.

“Oh, is someone afraid of thunder?”

“No,” you huffed, closing your eyes again. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“Okay, whatever you say. But that jump was pretty intense. I almost thought you were convulsing, was scared that the test had killed you.”

“Fuck you.”

“Good night, [First]. Sleep well.”

Now aware that you were enduring a thunderstorm, the booming noise that came with the rain only added to your sleepiness. Within minutes, you were almost completely asleep, barely able to register when Gunwook laughed at something on his phone or shifted slightly.

“I love you,” he whispered, putting a single hand on your waist. With that, you were asleep and entirely dead to the world for the next few hours.

x. gossip

You didn’t like the way Youngeun was looking at you. She couldn’t keep secrets—it was obvious she knew something, but you couldn’t figure out what exactly she could know.

Yeseo, on the other hand, seemed completely fine, even if Youngeun kept giving her worried glances. She simply drank her juice, mixing her noodles around with seemingly no intent to actually eat them. It was silent at your table, the sun beating down on you as you sat outside the 7/11 you’d all agreed to go to after school that day.

“What is up with you two?” you finally asked, frustrated with whatever was happening. Youngeun winced and Yeseo put her drink down, balancing her chopsticks on top of her bowl of ramen. It was silent for a few moments, and you felt anxiety eating you up.

“There’s a rumor going around,” Youngeun blurted out, causing you to tilt your head. Yeseo crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair.

“It’s not a big rumor. It’s small and contained, and it shouldn’t get much bigger, but we don’t want you to hear it from someone random, or to overhear it when you don’t mean to. We don’t think it’s true, but you deserve to know.”

“Okay, just tell me. I don’t need this huge build-up.”

“There’s a small group, and I mean small group, that think Yukyung and Gunwook are dating behind your back.”

You went quiet, feeling your heart drop into your stomach. Realistically, you knew it wasn’t true—from the way Gunwook talked to you to the way he looked at you, there was no possible way that this was true. The part of you that was borderline traumatized by her sudden switch up on you believed it in an instant, though.

“Do they have any proof?”

“Apparently, they see her talking to him a lot. I mean, she doesn’t hang out in your classroom often, ‘cause her new friends are in mine and Gunwook’s class. And, to be fair, they aren’t wrong, she does talk to him a lot, but he doesn’t like it. It wouldn’t shock me if she’s trying to get him to break up with you, but they’re not dating,” Youngeun said, suddenly sounding a lot angrier than she did before. “I’ve seen him shoot her down several times. But people take it the wrong way, I guess.”

“Long story short, don’t believe it, [First]. We both know it’s not true and if you start hearing it from other people, ignore it. Okay?”

Like the world was playing an awful, cruel joke on you, your phone started ringing, and one look confirmed your suspicions. You picked up, hearing Gunwook’s voice come through, clear as day. “Do you want to see a movie tomorrow?” he asked, skipping over the greeting. Intrusively, you thought, would he go with her, too? “I’ll pay. It’s a showing of a Ghibli movie that Yujin said was good.”

“Sure,” you said, feeling Youngeun’s and Yeseo’s eyes burning through you, as if to say don’t you dare overreact about this. “What time?”

You were going to overreact about it anyway, though. You couldn’t do this, at least not with Yukyung—or, at least the thought of her—breathing over your shoulder at every moment. She meant too much to you that your mind was racing through every single thought you’d had over the past few months.

She was your best friend, and you’re pretty sure that, before Gunwook came into the picture, you were in love with her. You spent hours upon hours with her, and now you spend hours looking through the old pictures that you refuse to delete. You’re stuck on her—not in love with her anymore, but yearning for a friendship you lost—and it’s getting in the way of your relationship, and your mind concludes that there’s one viable outcome.

And, now, you have an excuse to carry it out.

xi. her

You don’t have the time to knock on Gunwook’s door before he throws it open. He hugs you immediately, picking you up and spinning you around right there in his doorway, and, for a minute, your mind is clear of all the terrible things that you’ve been trapped with for the past month.

“We did it,” he cried out, putting you back down so he could see your face. “We did it! Oh my god, how could we not have done it? We were always going to get in.”

About twenty minutes ago, both you and Gunwook received an email from Seoul National University that you’d gotten in. After you’d cried for four hours over your good CSAT scores, you nearly passed out at this news, wondering in what world you had deserved this. And, among your caving-in mind over Gunwook and Yukyung, you’d immediately left your house and ran to Gunwook’s.

He cupped your face in his hands, planting a kiss on your lips in utter joy. You laughed, feeling immensely happy for the both of you.

You tripped over your feet as you walked into his house, kicking off your shoes and emerging into his living room. “I never thought this would happen,” you said, pacing around the room. Gunwook watched you from behind the couch, smiling. “I mean, for the last month, I’ve just—I haven’t caught a break. I’ve been miserable every waking moment and now I finally have something to be happy over. Can you believe that?”

You look at him, and you watch his smile drop. You backpedal over what you said, realizing that you’d let your little secret slip; since Youngeun and Yeseo had told you about the rumor, you’d done an excellent job at hiding your panic, acting like everything was fine when it wasn’t in the slightest.

“What do you mean you’ve been miserable?”

You stopped pacing, and the room went quiet. In an instant, you’d knocked the happiness out of the room and brought in everything you’d been avoiding. The breakup plan you’d thought of night after night flashed in your mind, along with Yeseo telling you that you were an idiot for even considering it.

“I don’t know where this came from,” he continued, his voice a bit tight. “But I was under the impression everything was okay. We took the test and you looked better—why wouldn’t you tell me you were miserable?”

You weren’t sure what to say. Your heart was beating out of your chest and you felt nauseated, no longer feeling the excitement of the college acceptance you’d yearned for since you were a kid. “It’s stupid,” you said, your voice small. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll get over it.”

“I don’t know if you understand how that sounds to me,” he said, and you were getting the idea that he also had an issue that he hadn’t been talking about, either. “But we’ve spent a lot of time together over the last month, and you saying that you’ve been miserable the entire time sounds a lot like you saying you were miserable being with me.”

“What? No, that’s not what I meant.” You shook your head, feeling mortified at the idea. “I promise, that’s not it. It has nothing to do with you.”

“Then why won't you tell me? I don’t think I’m entitled to hear anything from you that you don’t want to talk about, but when it’s been torturing you for months, [First], I feel like I deserve to know. Especially since it seems like Youngeun and Yeseo haven’t gotten any of the side effects.”

You bit your lip, closing your eyes. “You know Yukyung was my best friend, right?” Even saying it aloud made tears bunch into your eyes. For the first time since nearly a year ago, now, you were facing something you hadn’t even talked about with your mom. “Like, best friend. We’ve been—we were friends from our first year of middle school. She was my everything. And she threw it all away over—over you, and it’s been hard for me to stomach it.”

Gunwook rolled up his sleeves, leaning on the couch. “That happened in March,” he said, almost sounding frustrated. You knew it wasn’t directed at you, rather, he was probably angry that Yukyung had any say in your relationship even though you’d never even spoken about her.

“It killed me, Gunwook. I didn’t sleep well for a week. I mean, she was telling people things I told her in middle school, running around and painting a picture of me that I didn’t know she had.” You felt exasperated, unsure of how to convey what you needed to without sharing a secret you’d never shared with anyone. “It was hard for me. Even though I was happy about us, I couldn’t get over losing her like that with no warning. And then, I saw her talking to you at the fair, and then Yeseo and Youngeun told me about the rumors, and—”

“Rumors?” he interjected, furrowing his eyebrows. “What rumors?”

“People think you’re cheating on me,” you replied, crossing your arms over your chest. That seemed to confuse Gunwook, as he looked down, staring at the couch rather than looking at you. “It’s just hard, okay? It’s hard.”

“And you couldn’t have told me you felt like this? It didn’t cross your mind, even for a second, to just be honest?”

“Well why didn’t you tell me that she’s been talking to you at every chance she gets?” you rebutted. That caused him to wince, and you watched him realize that he couldn’t say much, either. “It’s not like we’re both innocent, here. So let’s get it over with. Now.”

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while,” Gunwook said, pushing off the couch and mirroring your stance. “Gyuvin brought it up during our second year before we knew each other. It didn’t cross my mind again until I saw you staring at her when I came in to give you your calculator back. And then—it’s been months and you haven’t said you loved me.”

Every muscle in your body tensed, and it, once again, occurred to you that you could never pull anything over on Gunwook.

“Are you in love with her?”

You gulped, your throat suddenly feeling drier than it ever had. “I was. A long time ago.”

It went silent again, and you wondered if he believed you. “I promise you it’s in the past. It was only during my first year and some of my second, but I got over it when she started dating Seungeon. And they lasted long enough for me to get over it, and we added Youngeun to the mix, so I was preoccupied. That’s in the past. But it doesn’t change that she threw out five years of our friendship without a second thought.”

He didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes, beginning to pace back and forth. You let him think, hoping that your defense was sound enough that he wouldn’t break things off then and there.

“Do you love me, [First]?”

Two months ago, Yeseo had asked if you’d said “I love you” yet. You’d, embarrassingly, had to share that Gunwook had but you hadn’t, which perplexed both of them. And, when they asked why, all you’d been able to tell them was that the last person you’d said “I love you” to was Yukyung, the night before Youngeun called you, telling you everything she’d heard.

“Yes,” you said, nodding. “I do. I love you.”

Right in front of you, Gunwook burst into tears, walking straight past the couch and enveloping you in his arms. “I thought you were going to break up with me for so long,” he choked out, squeezing you so hard you could barely breathe. “I was terrified the entire time, and I thought things got better after the exams, but I couldn’t shake the feeling. I was so scared, [First]. I love you so much that I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”

“I love you too,” you said, although it was muffled. “I promise. And I didn’t love her as much as I love you.”

xii. graduation

You were realizing that your claim that you didn’t cry often was quickly becoming a lie. You were sitting on the floor of your room, holding your diploma to your chest while tears streamed from your eyes. Gunwook was staring at you with a mixture of amusement and worry as you rocked yourself back and forth.

“Youngeun is leaving me,” you said, hiccuping. “Both of them are. For Japan. I’m going to have to make new friends.”

“But you’ll still be able to talk? They won’t even be in a different timezone.”

“Okay, and?” you said, hiccuping. “It’s so far. I won’t be able to go to 7/11 with them anymore.”

“We can go to 7/11?”

“That’s different, you’re my boyfriend. 7/11 is a commitment when it’s with you.”

“What does that even mean?”

You let out another Earth-shattering sob, and you supposed that convinced Gunwook to come over and attempt to comfort you. “There, there,” he said sarcastically. “Japan is very far. And you’ll have to pay more to call them. I’m sorry.”

“At least try to sound a little serious!”

“Neither Junhyeon nor Gyuvin got into SNU.”

“Okay, but they’re still in Korea, so you’ll be fine. There’s no train to Tokyo here.”

Gunwook wrapped his arm around your shoulder, leaning his head on yours. “It’ll be okay. They’ll be here over breaks and you’ll get to see them then, right? And you always have the—wait, why don’t you have a picture of us framed?”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No, I’m serious,” he said, pointing to your dresser, which was right in front of you. On top were multiple framed pictures of the three of you, smiling, laughing, and doing other things. “What’s up with that? Am I less important than them?”

“Shut up.”

“No. I’m going to buy a disposable camera right now, and we’re going to take pictures so you can print and frame them.”

You rolled your eyes, wiping away your tears. “Okay. Whatever you say. Even though you’re my wallpaper, and you’re the only number pinned in my text messages, and you’re the only person who’s ever known the password to my phone.”

“You love me.”

“Not when you’re a greedy loser.”

“Aw, I love you, too.”

thank you for reading !

#cinna.zb1 #zb1 x reader #zerobaseone x reader #zb1 one shots #zb1 fluff #zb1 angst #zb1 scenarios #zb1 imagines #park gunwook x reader #gunwook x reader #gunwook scenarios #gunwook angst #gunwook fluff #gunwook imagine

998 notes · View notes

melrodrigo · 10 months

Text

Lovesick - W.A.

Wednesday Addams x Fem!Reader

Summary: You and Wednesday are polar opposites. Do they really attract?

Word Count: 1.6k

A/N: Request from ages ago, I didn’t proofread this. Please excuse any mistakes. Happy reading! <3

Wednesday had a problem.

When Wednesday had first transferred to Nevermore, and gotten the infamous Enid welcome and introduction, she couldn't have cared less about you.

"That is Bianca Barklay, the closest thing to Nevermore royalty they'll ever be."

Then Enid pointed to a girl sitting next to Bianca, staring at the bubbles in the water fountain with intrigue.

"And that, is YN. She's the school heartthrob. It's just impossible to not love her, you'll see."

"She looks like a mushroom." Wednesday replied dryly, swiftly turning on her heel and heading back to her dorm.

"She's a sweetheart. Everyone likes her. You'll find out what I mean. I'm always right!" Enid shouted out, before quickly catching up and walking side by side with the goth.

Enid had warned that this would happen. God, how was Enid right?

Wednesday's frown only grew deeper as she thought back to the moments you've shared over the past year.

"Hey, you must be Wednesday right? New girl?"

All you got in return was a curt nod.

"Allllright, I get it, you don't wanna talk. Trust me I get it, I was so silent the first week here, some people thought I was mute!"

Silence.

You frown a bit but redirect your focus to the teacher emerging from the door.

"Enid I do not understand why I have to suffer not only with you, but her. I was content just sitting down in the dorm and practicing my cello."

The werewolf had recently gotten three free passes to Jericho, and decided to drag both you and Wednesday out for a cup of coffee.

"I hate to agree with her Enid, but I really have a lot of biology homework to do." You mused from behind, still sore from fencing class you had that day.

"Oh come on! It's good for you two to bond. My two besties, we're gonna be so cool together!" Enid makes an excited sound, "We should come up with a group name!"

When Wednesday quips back that she'd rather die in a long long torturous death (which she'd probably enjoy) instead of have a group name, you can't help but snort in agreement.

You shoot Wednesday a look, small smile playing on your lips.

Ever since that first day at Jericho, Enid had you guys connected by the hip. Unwillingly.

But as the days went on, Wednesday found out you weren't so bad.

She was particularly late to lunch today, catching up with updates on the hyde case.

In fact, she was debating skipping lunch all together. But as she glanced over to the pentagon, a hand shot up along with a shout.

"Wednesday! Over here!" You were waving your hand wildly, gesturing for her to walk over.

Wednesday bit back a sigh as she moved towards you, and to her surprise, there was one empty seat opposite of you, plate full, apple on the side.

"I got some lunch for you. Oh and a plain granola bar, I see you always like eating them." You tell her absentmindedly, munching on a sloppy joe.

Wednesday hesitates, before saying a quiet thank you.

"It's my pleasure Wends. So, how's the hyde case going?"

You both don't mention the fact you used a nickname to address her. She sighs, she supposed it was nice of you to get her lunch, so she tells you about the case.

"It's going well YN, I've just had a breakthrough......"

"Come on Wends, pleaseee? I really really really wanna go to The Weathervane."

You stare at Wednesday with your famous puppy eyes, and see Wednesday's glare soften just the slightest bit.

"I....suppose we can go in a few hours. After I've finished my writing hour, I have hyde business to do there anyway." She says, even though she'd already taken care of the issue already.

"Could you help me study for midterms? I do not understand anything for the life of me." You whine and throw the book back on her bed. Flopping onto the soft fabric dramatically.

"Bring it with you to the Weathervane." Wednesday says sharply, and returns back to her typewriter.

"Sucky Birthday to you Wednesday! Come, follow me." You squeal excitedly, reaching for the goth and pulling her by the wrist.

Physical touch has come sort of, natural to you with Wednesday. You were a naturally touchy person anyway, but when you were around Wednesday everything felt very...heightened.

Hm, I wonder what that is.

Wednesday was constantly complaining about your intense need to be touching her at all times, but she never actually pulled away when you did; and you're well aware she could if she wanted to.

"Where are we going?" She asks, tone somewhat annoyed.

You turn to her and smile; so bright Wednesday swears light shone through your teeth.

"Grave digging!"

Wednesday's eyebrows twitches in amusement, a small but noticeable movement. You've become sort of professional in her mannerisms over the past few months.

"I knew you'd like it. Come on." You say, practically sprinting to your destination. It's not a smart move, and you stumble over your own feet; arms still connected with Wednesday's.

You fall flat on your back into the soft grass, Wednesday on top of you.

She looks so good, the moonlight shining on her face. You steal a glance at her lips.

She's staring at you with wide eyes, arms on both sides of your face. Her braids frame your head a little.

She coughs awkwardly, then gets up and looks the other way.

You follow suit, trying to calm down your racing heart.

"Ooookay. Let's- let's get grave digging now." You say finally, watch as Wednesday walks toward you but avoids your eye.

She's grateful it's dark out, or else you would've seen the red coating her ears. And when you reach for her wrist she pulls back, afraid you'll be able to feel her racing heart.

It's parent's day. The long awaited dreadful day where Wednesday has to talk to her parents.

They'll be able to tell right away, she has no doubt. She's lovesick.

They’d see right through her. They're like magic love wizards in that way.

"You ready Wends?" You muse from behind her, take her hand in yours. You were currently situated in her dorm room, the two of you alone; waiting for your parents to come.

"No." She replies, but not in a sarcastic or dry way. She sounds kind of...scared.

You poke her cheek and watch as she tries and swat your hand away.

"You look a little on edge." You observe, staring at the hairs on the back of her neck.

She's a little afraid if she tells you why she's nervous for this specific meeting she'll let it slip that she might've accidentally caught feelings for you.

Ugh. Feelings.

It's come to the point where she can actually say she has feelings for you. It’s pathetic, and quite frankly sickening.

"I'm fine. Let's just get this over with." She grumbles, and bursts through the door; leaving you standing dumbly in her room.

"Wednesday, darling how have you been?" Her mother drawls, smile on her lips as she speaks.

"I've been good mother. Apart from the gigantic monster that's trying to kill me. Actually, I think I'm having lots of fun." Wednesday says, looking over her moms shoulder to spy on you.

Just a little bit.

You look lively, and happy. It makes her feel weird in her tummy.

"My little storm cloud, what are you looking at?" Her father asks, watching Wednesday with keen eyes. It wouldn't be obvious to anyone else, but Addams were very observatrice people, and he could tell straight away when Wednesday has lost focus.

He follows his daughters gaze to a certain werewolf. He has to blink one more time to make sure he's not seeing things.

“Oh," He smiles, soft. "I see what's going on."

Wednesday turns sharply, face impassive.

"You don't see anything." She says hotly. Too fast for her normal speech.

Her mom smirks, catching on quick.

"Oh sweetie, we think it's cute. Our little storm cloud is in love." They coo, leaning forward to whisper with Wednesday.

The black hair girl scoffs, and folds her arms in front of her chest.

"I am not in love. I do not know what you are talking about." She replies.

"Sure you don't." Pugley adds, peeping in between his parents.

Wednesday suddenly feels hot underneath their gaze. She gets up abruptly, tilts her face up in hopes for some high ground.

"You all annoy me. This is why I don't write to you." She says before turning on her heel and heading over to you.

You stare at her with curious eyes as she walks toward you. Stops in front of you, hands stiff like a soldier.

"Hey? Whatcha doing?" You ask, pat the seat next to you. She ignores the feeling of something fluttering in her stomach when you accidentally touch fingertips.

"I would like to stay here with you. If you do not mind. My parents are being...unreasonable." She says, picking her words carefully.

You chuckle, smile softly.

"Of course you can stay here Wednesday. Come, come meet my family."

Wednesday’s heart almost jumps out her chest. She's really not one to be scared easily, but this was easily one of the most intense moments of her life.

She usually didn't care if anyone didn't like her, but there was an underlying nagging feeling that told her this was important. Your family was an essential part of you, and if she wanted to win you over; she had to win over your family too.

"I can't wait."

#tara carpenter x reader #jenna ortega x reader #wednesday addams x reader #wednesday addams #wednesday addams x you

1K notes · View notes

estrellami-1 · 6 months

Text

If I Should Stay

Part 1 | . . . | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33

Steve isn’t sure what he expects after his admission, but it’s not for Eddie to completely shut down.

“I can’t be your experiment, Harrington,” Eddie says seriously. “Pick some other schmuck with no self-respect. I can’t do it. I won’t.”

All Steve can do is stare, open-mouthed. Eddie must take that as confirmation, because he nods once, mouth a thin line, and turns to leave.

Finally Steve is able to move. “Eddie, wait,” he implores, hand stretching out and brushing Eddie’s knuckles, reminiscent of the night on his roof. Was that really just last night?

He’s going to say more, as soon as the world stops spinning, but just then gym must finish because guys come pouring in.

Eddie shakes him off and disappears into the crowd.

Steve spends the rest of the day adrift. Robin catches his eye in the hallway, but he shakes his head. He knows if he talks about it now, he won’t be able to finish the school day.

Finally the last bell rings and Steve practically drags Robin to the car. Without asking, he drives to Lover’s Lake and sits on the edge. He vaguely thinks about the oddness of it all: in three years, or about two weeks ago, there’s a gate at the bottom of the lake. For now, it’s placid, makes his fingers itch for a skipping stone.

Robin sits next to him. Somehow knows he needs the silence. He is—not for the first and certainly not for the last time—suddenly hit with how grateful he is that she’s his friend.

He swallows. Drags his fingers along the ground, feels the pebbles shift in response. Says, “I kissed Eddie.”

Robin stays silent, but knocks their shoulders together.

“I guess technically we kissed each other? We’d been flirting, and joking around, and… my lip had been bleeding, right, so he asks if I need him to kiss it better. I say yes, and we kiss, and it’s…” he swallows, leans over until his head is on her shoulder. “It was so nice,” he whispers. “I really like him, Robs. Really. And we talk about it and I mention how he’s the first guy I’ve kissed, and he gets weird about it and says he can’t be the guy I use to experiment on. But I wouldn’t- I wouldn’t do that, Robbie. I really like him.” He sighs, tucks his forehead into her neck. “I should’ve said something, but I didn’t, and then it was too late because everyone was coming in from gym, and… he left. And I didn’t have another class with him and I think he’s been avoiding me, which makes sense, but I hate it, Robs, how could I have him and lose him in the same moment?”

Robin hugs him tightly. “Want me to go yell at him again? It worked the first time.”

He manages a chuckle. “Maybe. I dunno.”

Robin snickers. “Plausible deniability.”

He laughs and pushes her away. “Don’t make it sound like you’re gonna murder him, Robbie, I want him back, not dead.”

Robin just shrugs, a mysterious smile playing on her lips. “Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

He stares for a second before tackling her in another hug. “God, I love you.”

She shrieks as he knocks her over, but wraps her arms around him with a laugh. “Love you too, dingus. Now let’s go, you need to drop me off so I can go yell at your boyfriend.”

Steve snickers and moves off of her, offering her a hand up before they walk back to the car together.

He drops her off and walks inside his house, sighing as he drops his backpack just inside the entryway.

He collapses on the couch and shuts his eyes. He’d forgotten just how tiring school is.

He wakes up a few hours later when Allison opens the door, returning from work. She grins at him. “Hey, sleepyhead,” she teases.

He groans and wipes a hand down his face. “Hey.”

She frowns and pads over to the couch, nudging his legs to make room for her to sit. “What happened?”

It’s not really a question. He tells her everything, and she narrows her eyes. “I’m opening the door when he gets here.” She raises a significant eyebrow. “When,” she repeats. “Not if. First of all because I may not know Robin super well, but I feel like I know her well enough to know she’s absolutely terrifying when she wants to be. And second because I saw the way you look at each other.” She smiles. “You more so than him, but that’s just because you’ve known him longer. And you look at him the way Cassidy and I look at each other. And he’s almost there.”

She pulls him into a hug. “He’s a runner, bubba. That’s something he learned. Give him time to learn it’s safe to stay.”

Permanent Taglist: @justforthedead89 @ilovecupcakesandtea @madigoround @bookbinderbitch @suddenlyinlove @nburkhardt @artiststarme @paintsplatteredandimperfect @i-less-than-three-you @alyelf @quarble @messrs-weasley @littlewildflowerkitten @vankaar @starman-jpg @bornonthesavage @steddie-there @goodolefashionedloverboi @andienotannie @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @platinum-sunset @just-ladyme @steddiestains @swimmingbirdrunningrock @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme @martinskis-lydias @notaqueenakhaleesi @sleepyboosstuff @bestwifehaver @m-owo-n @thatonebadideapanda @finalmoondragon @velocitytimes2 @callmeanythjing @ajeff855 @ilikeititspretty @knitsforthetrail @sillysparrow @that-one-corvid @ace-is-bored @muricel @harpymoth @weirdandabsurd42

Fic Taglist: @blondlanfear @do-you-want-something-more @str4wb3rry-guy @paperbackribs @ninjapirateunicorns @bisexualdisastersworld @hiscrimsonangel @lolawonsstuff @xo-r4e @thedragonsaunt @l0st-strawberry

#stranger things #if I should stay #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #eventual steddie #angst #*evil laughter*#robin buckley #Allison Harrington #fix it fic #time travel #time travel fic #time travel fix it fic #I still don’t know how to tag this #starambles

257 notes · View notes

redcoralpot · 7 months

Text

Smudged (3) Rodrick Heffley X M! Reader

Anddd it's here!

Warnings: Mentioned eating disorder otherwise not specified.

Summary: You were busy enough in life, too busy for what school planned to throw at you; at everyone. A boy you know well seemed to come up with an idea to manage that.

Word Count: 2.7K

A white pillowcase smashed against a mess of blonde hair, “Get up.”

Heather’s eyes scrunched up, her first action of the day being to glare at you with an unreasonable amount of venom. The sky outside was just starting to shine through the blinds in her bedroom, clashing against the pink theme of it all. She was never quite the morning person, but frankly, waking her and Holly up was simply your duty; it has been since it was just the two of you.

“School’s been in for two weeks, you should be used to this by now,” you snickered, backing away from the bed.

“Get out of my room!”

That was the only warning you got before she initiated her revenge, sending the poor, soft pillow flying once again. You balanced onto your toes as you shut the door as quickly as you could; the only proof that the object hit the target was the loud thump on the thin wood, “Be careful not to mess up your precious cotton pillowcases!”

“They’re satin, you freak,” Heather yelled, echoing in the hallway you retreated down.

Holly’s room was the second farthest away from yours, only being beat by your parents’. The only thing that separated it from the rest of the house was a tie-dyed sheet; her choice, of course. With careful fingers, you peeked inside, seeing your little sister shifting and groaning in her blankets.

Softly, “It’s time to wake up, I got your favorite cereal downstairs.”

She shot up, staring at you with wide eyes, “Really?”

“Of course I did! Not a day goes by where I don’t spoil my favorite little sister, now does it?”

You disappeared back behind the sheets when she scrambled out of bed, eager to get dressed. The stairs groaned underneath your covered feet, almost as if they were as unenthusiastic about the day as you were. Both of your parents leave for work earlier than most now that Holly was old enough to be left alone with her older siblings, but because Heather rendered herself helpless in the morning, the role of caretaker was left to you.

All three of you have to leave for school at seven, so you wake your siblings up to greet the morning at six o’clock sharp, no more, no less. You as yourself get up an hour earlier in order to gather your own things, pack lunches, pack Holly’s bag, and have time for yourself. It was exhausting, always, but it was worth it to see the two of them shine.

The kitchen was adjacent to the dining room, with warm lighting to start the morning off in the right mood. You dug your fingers into the cardboard seal on the cereal before popping open the plastic bag inside, not bothering to use scissors. It never spilled everywhere, after all. As you heard Holly’s light footsteps swirling down the stairs, you shook a serving into a ceramic bowl, setting it beside a cup of milk on the usual table. Heather never ate breakfast, and no matter how hard you tried, she insisted that she needed to skip in order to keep up with her dream body. If you pushed it, she snapped.

When Holly finally appeared and slid into her seat, you sat in a chair beside her, “How’re classes going? I heard this is the year you finally start switching classrooms for periods.”

“They’re going good, I guess.” She sighed, pouring the milk into her breakfast, “My teacher for English already handed out the project prompts for this year, but I don’t wanna do it.”

“Wait, wait, what the hell? Already?”

“You haven’t gotten yours yet?”

“No, not in my school. Isn’t it against the rules to get a head start?”

“It was only a day before you, so I don’t think so,” she grumbled, mouth full.

“Well, it should be.”

“Nobody’s started working on it yet.”

You threw your hands up in the air, laughing, “Still!”

Over the oven, the clock blinked at you. You ruffled Holly’s hair, while she turned her head towards you, adorned with a milky mustache, “We have to get going soon, your stuff’s leaning on the door.”

She jumped out of her chair, running to the bottom of the stairs to call upwards, “Heather! We gotta go!”

“I just need five more minutes to finish getting ready,” Heather replied, half silenced by the sound of the bowls settling into the sink.

“Nuh-uh, we have to go now!”

Holly shuffled her shoes on, sitting down to tie them neatly. Your twin hurried down the stairs, squishing past the other girl on the way down, flipping her hair behind her back. She opened the door, and shivered as the early chill seeped into her bones. Heather grabbed her bag alongside Holly’s, practically throwing it in the car before placing her own down in the backseat. You double checked the oven, lights, and sinks, before shoving Holly out the door and locking it behind you. Heather called shotgun, therefore Holly had to squish herself in between everyone’s backpacks. The car started with a weak, stumbling roar, and you were on your way.

The world was only just starting to wake up in a blur outside the windows as the voice of a young woman sang throughout your vehicle, interrupted with the occasional tapping of Heather texting her friends. She never stopped keeping up with her social life, it seemed. However, while everyone else was lost in thought, one thing stuck in your mind.

“Hey, did you get your prompt?” you said, glancing at the girl beside you.

Heather did not even look up from her screen, “Duh. You haven’t?”

“Ugh.”

“So… that’s a no.”

As you pulled into the parking lot of the school, lined behind an endless row of cars, she smacked you in the arm, “Why are you in the drop-off line? I’m driving the girls to the mall after school today, I told you last night.”

“Okay, okay,” you hissed, turning the wheel, “you didn’t have to hit me!”

“Don’t get a spot too far from the school, either!”

Your car slowed to a stop and powered off, as you slipped the key out and handed it to Heather, “I’ll kill you if you lose that– now both of you, shoo! Get out!”

Its doors were slammed shut, and it locked with a beep. You leaned against the hood of the vehicle, watching carefully as your two sisters entered the school. It was a plain-looking building, which the school pathetically attempted to fix with a few colorful flower bushes. The air around you was silent, as quiet as a parking lot could be, and you turned to walk the rest of the way to your school building. Yet, before you could step any farther, a white van screeched past. Deafening music screamed out; it was distorted from how roughly the driver was maneuvering potholes. Oh, how bad you felt for the passengers, did the driver even have a license? You shook your head, glad that you had the sense to keep an eye on your sisters.

The school you went to was not far away, simply a few buildings down the opposite side of the street. Due to their close proximity, they were always competing in everything; from student count, finances, even to awards. So much so that they had devised a competition to be held between the schools each year to contribute to the state curriculum. It was annual, of course, and every single one of the projects made would be showcased and judged based on a variety of categories. Whichever school gets on the podium the most, well, you get the point. That doesn’t mean it’s not a pain in the ass, however.

The day went quicker than usual, with you patiently awaiting the class of which you would get your prompt and category; English. You were set on it enough that even Daniel noticed, poking and picking at you the entire day, finding time to do it in the hallways when you did not have classes together. He reached his hand back towards you, fingers making a crude attempt at stealing your eraser.

You slapped it away as the bell rang, the seats in the classroom filled, “What’re you doing?”

“Lightening the mood, ever heard of it?” he whispered back, craning his neck to look at you.

Students around the two of you were passing papers back, the teacher’s eyes glaring holes into Daniel’s head. He squeaked, taking his prompt, and proceeded to throw the slip of paper behind him. It fluttered in the air, and came to a rest on the top of your nose. He earned two more holes being burned into him as it slid gracefully off of the tip. For revenge, you leaned forward, your hand hovering over a stray lock of Daniel’s hair. He had opened his own paper, shoulders scrunched, and you yanked the strand in favor of reading it.

He yelped while you raised an eyebrow, “Tree vandalism, huh?”

“What the fuck, dude,” More groans arose from the class around you, “what did I do?”

“You know what you did.”

“Ms. Kawiti already avenged you with whatever this is, please do tell me what tree vandalism is!” He rolled his eyes.

“Well, what’s the category?”

“Environmental Science– I hate that class, you don’t understand.”

You slouched against your desktop, “Loser. I bet they chose that on purpose.”

“If you’re so confident, why don’t you open yours?”

“I was getting to it!”

Daniel scooched his chair around, almost unheard in the chatter-filled room, when you thumbed the slip open. Percussion; musical. Ah, yes, now you could understand the reaction of everyone else. It felt like the administration grouped together all of the staff to give all of the students the worst prompts imaginable, even the janitor. Even God himself knows that the janitor hates them all, rightfully. Perhaps this was his plan to avenge himself and any of the past janitors as well, after a decade of working there. Perhaps you could plead for mercy, even as the class around you fell silent.

He squinted his eyes, attempting to read it upside down, “That isn’t too bad, unlike something someone got.”

“Since when can you read like that?”

“Since now,” Daniel said.

You scoffed, crumpling the paper and tossing it in your bag, “I don’t even know anything about percussion.”

“Well, the whole point is to research a topic, so,” he waved his own, “Google it, go to the library, pay the music teacher a visit for the first time this year. At least you get to have fun with yours!”

“Yeah, true, I won’t be stuck studying trees.” At that, Daniel stuck up his middle finger, scowling.

A singular finger tapped his shoulder, a ring adorning it. You hid a smile behind your hand as Daniel slowly turned, getting tenser with each second that passed. His eyes followed the figure upward, until they finally met her own. Ms. Kawiti, in all her glory, stood firm in front of his desk with pursed lips; an action that gave you a better look of the tattoo of which ran down the bottom of her lips to her chin.

“Class was dismissed five minutes ago, boys. And Mr. Ivanov, if I see that behavior in my classroom again, I won’t hesitate to give you detention.”

Daniel shrunk in his seat, “Yes, ma’am, understood.”

She strolled to the front of the classroom, and busied herself with a stack of papers. He wasted no time shoving his materials into his backpack, heaving it onto his shoulder, and most likely busting the door hinges with how fast he ran out. You allowed yourself to remove your hand from your mouth, snickering. As you got up to follow your friend, the teacher looked up from her papers with a certain twinkle in her eye.

“Remember that working with another student is prohibited; have a nice day.” As you slipped out of the classroom at last.

Daniel was waiting for you outside, and trailed behind you as you appeared. He grabbed a string on your bag, per usual, in order to not lose you in the waves of students crashing into the both of you. You pulled him along, leading him to the quickly emptying rows of lockers in the hallway. This is where the pressure on your backpack stopped, and Daniel slammed open his door. The lock holding yours open clicked under your fingers, allowing you to dump the contents of your bag inside while its pins shook.

He loudly asked, “Is it just me, or is she horribly strict?”

“Every teacher is strict to you, dude, you just hate school.” You hissed, “If anything, Ms. Kawiti is the least strict teacher that we’ve ever had.”

“She did let me off with a warning for flipping you off instead of detention.”

You smacked his back, “You’re one lucky man, Daniel. She won’t let you off that easily next time.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

He zipped up his bag, hitting you with it as he tugged it on. You made a face at him, only to see him smirking at you, before darting down the hall and towards the two large exit doors. Your jaw tightened, teeth grinding against one another. Even as you chased him from a distance, you could hear his cackles only getting louder as you started to close it, reaching out a hand to grab him by the collar. Daniel knew he couldn’t outrun you; he never once had beaten you in mandatory track practices in middle school, much less now. He lasted a grand total of thirty-two seconds before you seized him by the back of his neck, a mere foot from the doors.

“You lost.”

Daniel cursed, “I have a heavier bag than you, of course I did!”

“Excuses, excuses.” You flicked his nose before setting him on the ground outside of the building, joining him shortly. The last thing you wanted was to pay a visit to the principal’s office simply because a teacher saw you playing.

As you slid down the railing, accompanying the boy jumping down the stairs, he said, “Where’s your car? Aren’t you driving home today?”

“Nah, man. Heather wanted to take the girls and Holly out to the mall.”

“I could drive you home, if you want.”

You huffed, “No thanks, wouldn’t wanna be a bother.”

Daniel held his hands high in the air, backing away towards his car, “If you say so.”

“See you tomorrow, tell me how the research goes.”

“You better text me when you get home, don’t make me wait until math in the morning to see if you got kidnapped!” he yelled, slamming his door shut and peeking out the window.

Instead of answering, you stuck out your tongue at him as the engine roared. Really, you could have sworn he flipped you off again before pulling out of the lot, speeding off until you would be able to see him the next day. You chuckled, shifting the weight of your bag onto your other shoulder, starting onto your journey home. Heather and Holly should both be out of school by now, despite the fact that your school releases earlier than theirs, and should be on their way to the mall. You can’t steal the car back now, can you?

That is all you could think about as you crossed the street, running across the sections where cars were lined, peering at the entrance in hopes of seeing your siblings. Instead, you could only see a puff of brown hair hurtling towards you before a body hit you, an arm curling around your neck and spinning you around. You hurled over, trying to throw the person off of you, not wanting to take Daniel’s words seriously. A grunt and a smack rang out as he hit the floor; you stumbled a few steps back.

A cough, “What was that for?” Rodrick spluttered.

You exhaled in a hurry, “Oh my god, it’s you.”

“Of course it’s me, who else would it be?”

“A kidnapper,” you responded dumbly.

He rolled onto his hands and knees, shaking as he staggered onto his feet once again, “Damn, I just wanted to say hi.”

“What part of hi requires you to jump on me?”

“The friendly part, duh.”

You stayed silent, looking at him with furrowed eyebrows. He seemed to pick up on your mood, scratching the back of his neck, his voice still hoarse from the fall.

“I need you to do a favor for me.”

#x male reader #male reader #gay #male y/n #transgender #ftm reader #punk #writeblr #writing #bi rodrick heffley #diary of a wimpy kid #doawk rodrick #doawk #rodrick heffley #rodrick rules #diary of a wimpy kid rodrick #rodrick x reader #greg heffley

143 notes · View notes

clazaries · 22 days

Text

Karma in the Form of Justice -slightlydark!Steven w/ a hint of Marc x thief!reader

Summary: An opportunist thief takes their chances stealing from the wrong tomb and has to face their karma in the form of Moon Knight. Basically, don't get on the wrong side about Egyptian matters when it comes to Steven and if he teaches you something, you better remember it. w/c: 6.9k Warnings: none really, mentions of violence and murder :) and my horrible knowledge of ancient egypt. You are the bad guy in this a/n: first fic! I kinda wrote steven slightly differently to canon steven and made him a little darker ;) ENJOY

***

It started out innocent. Because, of course, you were only 7 years old at the time. When the class was emptying out through the doorway, little, dumb Timmy left his British Museum pencil sitting freely on his desk, begging for someone to claim it. That someone was you. The urge to take it was overwhelming and you succumbed to temptation, stashing the pencil deep into your pocket when no one was looking and when no one could figure out the mystery of the disappearing pencil, it was exhilarating knowing that you were the only one who held the secret as to where it went.

The feeling followed as you got older.

It started out with a pencil. Then a pencil case. From a pencil case to a school bag. Within that school bag was a purse containing a little over £1.50, but still, it was a treasured find. From purses to watches, necklaces, rings, valuables, anything that could be pawned and make you that slightly bit richer. When you were old enough to realise about the illegalities of your little habits, guilt and paranoia began to make themselves known to you. But they were equally matched with the feeling of euphoria and the adrenaline of getting away with it, so although you did try to tone it back, you never really stopped.

By your late teens, the routine grew tiresome and you endeavoured for something bigger, better, flashier and ten times more riskier. You had to look no further than your very first pilferage.

The British Museum.

~~~~

If you ever tried to justify your actions, what sets you apart from the usual petty thieves is patience and intention. Thieves lack the former but embody the latter. They grow greedy and would plan and scheme and waste hours (the stupid ones don’t plan at all), throwing themselves into a situation that would inevitably result in handcuffs. You, on the other hand, were an opportunist, patient enough to know to pounce only when the moment presented itself on a silver platter. Why chase the thrill when you could let it find you?

On one random day during the week while your parents were enjoying their two week vacation to Italy, you decided to skip school and take a trip to the Museum. You did very little research before entering (after all, less planning means less intention means less suspicion), so you were pleasantly surprised by the museum’s ongoing exhibition of artefacts from ancient Egypt.

Your legs carried you in no certain direction, weaving in and out of the display cabinets of stone statues, plaques of hieroglyphics and crumbling pieces of sand. Despite it all being rather interesting, the artefacts weren’t the only thing your eyes were scanning for. Within the first room alone, you spotted 6 cameras and one patrol officer meandering just as casually as you were. There was no need to panic though, you were here to peruse. Not to steal.

You couldn’t promise yourself any restraint should the opportunity arise…

“Ah! I see you’ve found the Ushabti of Pa-Di-Pep.” An enthusiastic voice from your left appeared behind you. You turned to see a man with black curly hair, donning an enthusiastic smile as his eyes bounced from the ‘ushabti’ and you. “26th dynasty,” he muttered a little quieter. “Very old. Well, I guess that’s obvious. Wouldn’t be an exhibition on ancient Egypt if it was modern.” As his laughter died, your eyes caught the glint of his name tag on his jacket. Steven. You gathered he worked here.

“Oh, cool.” Your tone was rather disinterested and couldn’t be more sarcastic if you tried. “You know your stuff.”

“Oh it’s right up my alley actually. I’ve spent loads of time reading up on this kind of stuff. I could tell you anything about everything in this room. If you’d like?” The way he rolled on the balls of his feet like a child told you that he so clearly wanted to. You decided to indulge in him, only because you could get something out of it.

“Sure. It would be a great help towards my school project.” A clever lie, one that is easily bought by the sad little man beside you, lighting up his eyes and rolling his enthusiasm back to high tide. “So what about this ushabti, then? Anything else you can tell me about that?”

The man rambled on for a little while longer than you wanted, waiting for that perfect opportunity to segue onto the question that was hot on your lips. What was it worth?

“...figurines could also be inscribed with passages from the Book of the Dead, the intention of which was to secure safety for the deceased in the afterlife.”

“So not quite the ideal decoration to have in your house then?”

“Oh no, no, not at all. These are funeral artefacts, usually left buried along with a tomb.”

“Bummer. I was really looking into sprucing up my living room with one of these,” you jested, bumping a gentle elbow against his.

He elbowed back, “would really take the ‘living’ out of ‘living room’.”

“Definitely not worth it.” You began to look around the room, gambling with the idea of whether or not an opportunity could be found here. The security might’ve been too much of a risk. But it didn’t mean you couldn’t window shop. “So tell me then, out of anything in here, what would be worth having in your living room?”

“Where to begin? Oh! Here…”

Honestly, you zoned out, not having the slightest interest in anything he was saying unless it had any relevance to you. The man droned on and on about the history and the magnificence of each piece he talked about but nothing about its worth. You were about to try and cut ties until you both came across an interesting piece that gained your attention.

“And this is the bronze figure of the Egyptian God Ptah-”

“Ptah? Who’s he?”

He looked at you, dumbfounded, as if you'd just asked what day it was. “Who’s he? He’s only the Egyptian God of creation?! He was believed to have dreamt creation in his heart and gave it life with his breath.”

Spare me the poetry, pal. What’s it worth? Give me a number.

“So top shelf mantle material.” You feigned interest, smiling widely at him.

“Definitely. A very expensive one at that. Would set you back at least 37 grand.”

Interesting.

You stayed for a little while until the number of witnesses dwindled into single digits. The museum was beginning to close up, staff were outnumbering visitors with the majority of them leaving through the gift shop which conveniently sold replicas of the bronze figure ‘Steven’ showed you earlier.

You always told yourself that you never planned, but another opportunity had opened up to you and you couldn’t help but call it fate.

It went flawlessly. When no one was looking you swiftly snatched the real bronze figure, giving you the seconds you needed to make it to the gift shop before the panicked patrol officer alerted staff. The hubbub of the precious missing artefact opened up the second opportunity to swipe a replica from the shelf.

“Oh, excuse me!” You had yelled, holding the replica up in the air, the real one encased in your rucksack. “I saw some kid walking out with this, I believe it belongs here.” Your sickly smile fooled the patrol staff, knowing none the wiser, and kindly took the replica with a relieved breath, placing it back onto its pedestal.

You walked out the museum 37 grand richer.

~~~~

Whenever you pulled something off like this, you tended to keep your head low for at least a week after, limiting the amount of times you left your home, and kept communication to an absolute minimum. Within a few weeks, you were back to your normal self. However, this time the euphoria was very short-lived. It had been a day after your theft when the paranoia settled in and you had never known it to be so all-consuming. With a pilferage worth 37 grand, it meant that the stakes were far too high to wager with. Finding rest was a rare luxury for at least a week. You tried to ease your way through the days feeling conflicted and, in all honesty, petrified of the foreseeable. With each day that passed, you found it harder and harder to keep your paranoia at bay and you didn’t dare leave your home and the mental torture plagued you with restlessness; having to check locks four, fives times before you left each room.

Your home started to feel like less of a safe space. You couldn’t explain the feeling you had every morning when you woke up, itching with an unease that someone had been watching you, spying on you, observing you with resentment in their eyes with what you had chosen to do with your life. It was then you started to notice things being out of place; the ridge in your carpet had changed shape, curtains had been drawn wider than how you usually left them, a kitchen chair was facing just a degree or two out of place. That same night, you remembered standing in the middle of your bedroom with a cold breeze drafting around you, but it wasn’t the reason for your shivers. To your left a creak of the floorboards, to your right a moan of the wind. Something wasn’t right. Something definitely wasn’t right.

It could’ve been your paranoia, it could’ve been your lack of sleep, but you were certain you spotted two glowing eyes peering through your window from across the street, staring directly into your soul.

“Fuck this,” you whispered to yourself. Without a moments’ hesitation you reached for the bronze figure you had stashed within the hollows of your wall. “Time to get rid of this.”

Being quite the weasel you are, you sold the bronze figure for almost double the money on the black market and made the very bold decision to get out of the country before you were consumed by guilt.

~~~~

3 years later

“You ready?” Amon asks you, propping up his scarf over his face to fight against the sandy winds. You nod to him before following him into the entrance of the tomb that lies just beneath an alcove, hidden in the shadows of the dunes.

Amon had already scouted the entrance of the tomb a few days prior, so he takes lead on the scavenge guiding the way with a bright white torch and the moment you step into the tomb, you become his shadow. The tunnel is narrow and carries a draft only a fraction of the winds outside and it’s something you’re thankful for, otherwise you would be dripping right through your clothes with sweat. Every step is with caution, every living breath is considered your last, both you and Amon are aware of the risks that these tunnels carry.

Amon, being a local, had his reasons for entering the tunnel; he knows of the treasures and rarities of what lies inside, a conversation that caught wind and found your eavesdropping ears in the midst of a busy town outside Cairo. Not to mention, he’s as greedy for his share of the fortune if you are skillful enough to succeed. Unfortunately, being a local, he also has his reasons not to enter. On a spiritual level, this tomb is considered to be cursed, ladened with traps of an Egyptian mind that could easily kill you with one wrong step. He is too afraid to do it alone.

On a more realistic level, the structure is unsupported, tunnels weaving their way beneath tonnes and tonnes of ancient bricks, sand and rubble that could collapse at any given moment. That’s the real risk you’re more frightened of.

“How much of this did you actually scout?” You ask.

“I go until no more.” His broken English rises above the low moaning whistle which Amon claims to be the voice of the dead, warning you to turn back while you still have a chance. You don’t heed his superstitions.

You both eventually reach the point that Amon had mentioned and honestly, you were expecting it to be a lot further into the tomb and not just a few minutes into the journey. Before you, a collapsed section of the tunnel with a small point of entrance between the ground and rubble. Eyeing it up, you realise it’s big enough that you could squeeze yourself through there if you held your breath but taking a second glance at Amon, there’s no way his 5'10 well-fed body could do the same.

He gestures to the blockage, “I go until no more.”

“Right.” You heave a sigh, considering your options; ignore the risks and do it alone, or turn around and walk away from it all.

Alas, that small hole is an opportunity. And where there is an opportunity, there is possibility.

You begin to strip yourself of your equipment until you are down to a few layers of clothing. You lower yourself onto your stomach heading face first through the opening. “When I get through, pass me my equipment, okay?” Amon nods in understanding, but not without mentioning how crazy he thinks you are.

It’s an awkward shuffle through to the other side. Hands, elbows, knuckles and knees are scraping against the ground in an attempt to push your way through, aided by the breath of relief when you make it to the other side. Beams of white light shine through the cracks in the rubble and when Amon hears you made it, he passes through your equipment.

You find his eyes through one of the cracks. “Will you wait?” You reluctantly ask, suddenly feeling vulnerable now that you have been separated.

“Yes. I have walkie-talkie. Atamanaa lak al tawfiq.” You don’t know what he said, but from his tone and the way he looks at you with hope you guess that it’s along the lines of ‘good luck’.

With a final nod, you head off into the unknown, your torch shining the way.

There’s a million thoughts running through your head as you delve deeper into the tomb, but yet not one that gives you any comfort. What if there isn’t anything to find? What if you get lost? What if Amon doesn’t wait for you? What if you get trapped?

What if you die?

They remind you that you are way out of your depth here, you aren’t an adventurer nor an explorer of any sort. You’re an opportunist thief who takes their chances where they shouldn’t. What the hell are you doing here?

You force yourself to swallow your growing discomfort, clinging on to the small possibility and Amon’s knowledge that you do find something worth your while. Besides, it’s that small possibility that motivated you to crawl through that opening and continue your journey. You have to keep going.

The tunnels eventually open up into a massive hollow cavern lined with broken paths and cliff edges, hanging over a substantial drop. You take a moment to collect yourself, eyes following the paths and finding that the only way is down. Down into the pit of darkness. There isn’t a sound to be heard, and if it wasn’t for your powerful torch, you wouldn’t be able to see a thing. The breeze has calmed to nothing, not a single wisp of your hair moving upon your head and the heat starts to become more of a nuisance. Your palms sweat as you cling onto protruding rocks along the wall and your torch threatens to slip from your grasp. It’s a challenging obstacle course, manoeuvring yourself from one path to another, planning and scheming as you go.

“You there Amon?” The bleep of the walkie-talkie bounces against the walls of the cavern, its echo travelling for miles. You estimate that you’re about 50 feet down from where you started.

“Yes. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, the tomb goes deep. I don’t know if the signal will carry if I get to the bottom…” you pause, hesitant over your next words. “This might take a while. If you don’t hear from me in 4 hours, then just leave.”

“Leave you? No, no, no, I wait in car. You come back in 4 hours. Yes?”

“Okay. I’ll contact you again when I get to the--shit!!” What stops you mid-sentence is the pair of glowing white eyes at the bottom of the cavern, floating, watching, observing. You’ve seen those eyes before. It was unnerving the first time but it’s even more terrifying the second time, a new wave of fear now rattling your bones. Your heart rate picks up, your pulse almost thrumming in your ears in sheer panic. No, no, no. It can’t be…

You shine your torch towards the eyes but in its deathly white glow, they disappear, reappearing only when you avert your torch.

“Hello? You okay? Hello?!” Amon’s almost yelling through the walkie-talkie.

“I’m okay, sorry, just…” You have no idea what to say, eyes glued to the glowing ones miles below you. “Just got a fright.”

“Be careful,” is that last thing Amon says to you before the line goes dark. When all is silent, you’re left to quietly battle against the glowing pair of eyes, unmoving and unblinking. You don’t dare take a single step, adamant on keeping your gaze locked firmly below you with two hands clenched around the torch in a white-knuckled grip. You quickly become stuck in a cycle of shining your torch onto them, repeatedly watching them disappear and reappear in the hopes that they’ll eventually vanish forever.

“Fuck…just leave me alone,” you quietly murmur to yourself. When the eyes refuse to react, you bravely decide to take a single side step, closer towards your next descent where you know you will have to detach your gaze, but you know you can’t stay here forever. The eyes don’t move, they don’t blink, they just keep watching you. So you take another step, and another, and another…

Within a matter of panic-inducing seconds, you eventually reach the edge of a ridge when your torch begins flickering, the light dimming with each flicker. “No, no, no you have to be kidding me!” Stressed, you bang the torch against your palm in a nervous attempt to keep the light, it’s your only salvation right now, you can’t lose it. You could’ve sworn the batteries were fully charged. You had them charging overnight knowing you were going into a dark tomb, why aren’t they working? Fuck, why won’t they work?!

Despite your distraction, you’re hyper aware of the eyes below you, eyes that you are not currently watching and having lost your composure, your paranoia floods you with thoughts that this was what they were waiting for; their moment to pounce. They could be scaling the walls towards your position. They could have moved and you wouldn’t know. They could be inches from you and you wouldn’t even notice until it was too late. You feel it. They’re crawling closer and closer and closer…

After a few heart stopping seconds, the torch finally flashes to life and with a desperate sob you shine the bright beam towards the eyes as if the light is your shield. Like before they disappear, but unlike before, they don’t reappear. They’re gone. You can’t see them anywhere. Not above, not below. Gone.

The stress overwhelms you and you drop to your knees, passing a strangled whimper and letting your heart rate slow to an easy beat. Fuck. You’re still a long way to go, how are you going to manage?

Against your better judgement, you continue at a slow and agonising pace, still very aware of your surroundings as if you’re expecting the eyes to appear again. Thankfully, about an hour and a half of descending down the multiple jumps and hazardous steps, you reach an opening. Finding another narrow tunnel that leads you away from the cavern seems like a saving-grace and you don’t give the glowing eyes another opportunity to appear before you follow the trail.

“Amon, can you hear me?” Your walkie-talkie hisses a low frequency back at you. “Amon, are you there?”

No response. You are truly on your own now.

You readjust your rucksack straps, retie your bootlaces, wipe the sweat from your brow, and with feigned determination, you set off through yet another dark, narrow tunnel with your untrustworthy torch in hand.

You quickly find that this one isn’t like the one you and Amon travelled through at the entrance, this one feels like a maze. Despite it having only one path and being completely linear, there is a tight 90 degree corner every 5 or 6 steps. Left, right, left, left, right, left, right, right, left. It’s unnerving because even though you know you can’t get lost and you know exactly where you came from, there’s no way of telling what lies ahead of you, no way of telling what lurks just around the corner, waiting for you in the darkness. What’s worse is that there’s no way of telling if anything is following you until it’s exactly five steps behind you which, by that point, there’s no outrunning it. You’ve never felt paranoia like it and the deeper you trail, the more anxious you become.

After fifteen minutes, you feel you’re going in circles. Logically, you know it isn’t possible but the disorientation you feel convinces you otherwise. You’ve taken so many left and right-hand turns that you’ve lost count and you just can’t map it out in your head. There has to be an end, this can’t go on for much longer.

After another five minutes, you stop to gather your sanity tucked neatly into one of the many corners of the tunnel, keeping track of where you came from and where you intend to go. You cleanse your mind with a refreshing drink of cold water, splashing some sparingly across your forehead and the back of your neck, revelling in the small relief it brings you. The droplets on the ground are the only evidence of your travels and you figure it would be a good indication should you succeed in making it back. Just a couple of more hours, you tell yourself. You can do it.

Composed, you rise to your feet ready to take another step but before you do, your torch flickers again, subjecting you to intermittent seconds of pure darkness. Your heart stops dead in your chest. The last time that happened the eyes were watching you and you can’t bear to think that time is repeating itself.

Your strategy from last time fails you and no matter how hard you hit the flashlight against your palm, this time it doesn’t come back to life. Flicking the switch off and on again does it no good either and your breathing becomes panicked. Crouched in the corner, you’re enveloped in darkness. It’s so dark that you begin to see swirls of your imagination floating in front of your eyes, so dark that you can’t even see your hand inches from your face, yet still your eyes flicker around frantically as if you could see.

Helpless, you turn to your other senses, feeling around the rocky sandy ground in search of your rucksack where you know you packed emergency flares. It’s a struggle to rummage for them and until you do, you keep on high alert, listening out for anything out of the ordinary.

That’s when you hear it; the crumbling of sand, the crunching of footsteps and the soft ruffle of fabric. Someone’s here. There’s no doubt about it. Everything in you is screaming to just abandon the flare and just run but fear keeps you rooted with your hand deep into your rucksack. Your heart feels like a weight in your chest, banging against your rib cage to escape the situation you’re in but your brain tells you to stay, hoping that whoever, whatever, is here is just as blinded by the darkness as you are. If you move, it’ll hear you.

Your hand eventually knocks against the flare, feeling the familiar cylinder encased in your hand. Alarmed, you pull it out and set it alight, its red flare bursting to life. It gives light to the corridors to your right and to your left…where a tall, daunting mummified figure in white stands, glaring its glowing white eyes on you. Its sudden presence kick starts your reflexes and adrenaline pumps through your veins, pushing you to your feet with a hysterical whimper escaping your throat, and before you even know it, you’re running almost blindly through the tunnel. There isn’t a second thought spared to the broken flashlight and the rucksack full of equipment you mistakenly left behind, running further and further away from whatever is stalking behind you. With the flare outstretched, red walls zoom by you as you try to cut every corner, scraping shoulders and elbows against the walls in a desperate attempt to increase the distance between you and that thing.

You can hear it behind you, marching at a quick pace, its footsteps drumming into your ears gradually getting closer and louder. Oh God. It’s right behind you. Keep running, keep running, fuck just don’t stop running!

Tears and sweat glide down your cheeks and you begin to worry that it’ll be the last thing you feel before this being captures you. However, you're granted one last chance of salvation when you turn a corner and see that the tunnel stretches out into a long, straight, narrow path, giving your legs a chance to break into a full uninterrupted sprint. Towards the end you see an archway leading you into the heart of the tomb where a sarcophagus lies in the centre of the room; the very one Amon described as being a goldmine of treasuries. If you can just make it there…

You pick up speed at the moment the tunnel surrounding you begins to rumble, tremors setting your feet off course and pushing you off balance. Little stones and flecks of dust fall from above you and land in your eyes but you know you can’t afford to stop, knowing that that being is still behind you. Little did you know that you had set off a trap, stepping on a plate that triggers the corridor to collapse, no doubt a preventative measure to stop people like you from pilfering the tomb within. But you had been running so quickly, you barely even noticed. Perhaps if you keep running just as fast, you might be able to escape from being crushed to death…

The rumbling becomes so loud that it drowns out the footsteps from behind you and you put all of your remaining strength into sprinting as fast as you can, pumping blood and adrenaline to your legs as they carry you closer and closer to the tomb. Every step is paired with an exhausted pant, your own voice crying out with exhaustion and fear. You have to make it. You can do it.

You dive into the tomb just milliseconds before a large solid rock closes off the entrance, separating you and the being.

All is silent in the tomb. The rumbling ceases and the footsteps are long forgotten. When a shred of sense returns to you, you take the dying light of the burning flare to the wooden torches dotted around the tomb, not only giving light to the room but giving light to the very, very fucked up realisation you’ve just had. Four solid walls surround you.

There’s no relief to be had, because although you had just escaped being crushed to death, you now face death in a far more morbid way. There isn’t another way out. You’re beginning to think that you’ve made yet another mistake; being crushed would’ve been a quick and painless death. Now, with no other means of escape, you’ll be subjected to a long, agonising, painful torment, forever waiting for the moment that starvation, thirst, suffocation and time consumes you.

You didn’t just enter any tomb, you entered your own tomb.

“Fuck!” You scream, falling to your knees, already bloody, bruised and scraped but the pain doesn’t translate when you’re deep in despair. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” The walls swallow your cries, accepting your defeat.

If it wasn’t for the situation you find yourself in, you would be revelling in the numerous pieces of ancient artefacts around you, gushing over the rusted gold that shines on the mantles on the walls, laughing with hysteria about how your discovery had just made you a thousand times richer. But no, all you can think about is how claustrophobic you feel, how your lungs burn in your chest and how you will never see the light of day again.

You spare a thought to your parents whom you had failed to keep in contact with. For the first few months you kept it to just once a week; a picture of your face with an unidentifiable background and a message telling them you were safe. They learned pretty quickly after your sudden disappearance that you weren’t going to answer any of their questions and soon accepted that your weekly message would have to suffice. It was all they needed to know; you were okay and you were safe. Despite the numerous ‘how’s, ‘where’s, ‘what’s, and ‘when’s, there was only ever one ‘why’.

‘Why did you do it?’

Your parents knew exactly why you fled on the day the British Museum had reported a missing bronze figure alongside a grainy picture of your profile captioned ‘number one suspect’, but the one little detail that left them mentally spiralling over their own parenting techniques, wondering where they went so wrong was…why?

Why did you do it?

Why indeed.

The pencil, the pencil case, the rucksack, the purse, the £1.50, watches, jewellery, everything you had ever snagged in your life, was it all worth it? Was this your karma?

You aren’t sure how much time has passed before you have no more tears left to cry. Completely numb from crying you come to a stand, quickly arriving at the anger stage in the five stages of grief over your own inevitable death. You begin kicking the sarcophagus, knocking things off the mantles and punching anything your fist can connect with with reckless abandon that you don’t even care for how much your temper tantrum is costing you. Everything hurts but you just. Don’t. Care.

Hours later, exhaustion begins to creep up on you just when the fire of the torches begins to flicker to nothing and before they completely die out, you take one last look around your tomb. You think it’s been more than four hours now which means Amon will be long gone. You are all alone.

Lying in the corner surrounded by the remains of your temper tantrum with all hope lost, you close your eyes.

~~~~

“Tut tut tut.” A male voice murmurs, arousing you from your slumber. The room is dark when your eyes flicker open, so it’s impossible to miss those glowing white eyes standing at the far end of the room. Fuck. Not again. They startle you so much they jolt your body to full attention, your chest feeling heavy as if you had been defibrillated back to life. “What a waste.” The footsteps lurk around the sarcophagus, scuffing against the shards of the ceramic artefacts you smashed earlier. How he can see, you have no idea. Yet, you still feel the need to push yourself further back against the wall.

You take a shaky breath, mustering the courage to speak. “Please…” The eyes sway casually as the being walks nearer, standing over you cowering in the corner. Before either of you say another word, something drops at your feet. It’s your rucksack.

“Open it,” he instructs smoothly, a hint of an American twang interlacing his words. “It’s much too dark in here, and I’d prefer to see the fear in your eyes when you get what you deserve.”

Keeping your eyes rooted to the being in front of you, deja vu runs coldly through your veins as your hand sneaks into your rucksack to find the flare. However unlike last time, you’d rather face him in the dark, not a single cell in your body wishes to greet the mummified adonis standing inches before you, threatening you.

“Go on,” he encourages, eyes flitting to your bag. He knows you don’t want to. It’s pitiful how much you don’t want to.

When the red glow illuminates there you see him, in fact it’s all you can see. The intimidating being you had only seen for a split second before in full display. His silhouette is so all-encompassing, the red glow doesn’t reach far past him. He’s wrapped neatly in white bandages with gold embellishments on his chest with a flowing cape cascading down his back, resembling warrior regalia. Shadows flicker behind the contours of his hood that hangs over his masked face, giving away no emotion. Everything about him is a mystery and you can’t help but feel vulnerable knowing he can see everything about you, reading the terror in your eyes as if it was written out for him.

You pull your legs to your chest as he crouches down, levelling with you.

“I usually don’t deal with petty thieves until they start messing with things that shouldn’t be messed with.”

“Who are you? How did you get in here?”

He chuckles menacingly, tilting his head. “Looking for an escape? Don’t bother. You won’t be leaving here. At least not until I’m done with you.”

“What…” Your voice scrapes against your dry throat. It’s been hours since you last had a drop of water. “What are you going to do to me?”

He doesn’t immediately respond, but instead looks into his own reflection in the gold plating of an artefact you smashed, muttering a tense “not now, Steven.” Steven? What?

He turns back to you. “The same thing I did to your partner on the surface.” Amon. Shit!

“Is…is he dead?”

“Almost. I left him with just enough of a heartbeat to keep him alive, enough to teach him a lesson I know he will learn. You - however - I have no hope for.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you lie, “I was only exploring.”

“Hmm, I highly doubt that - shut up Steven!” Your brows furrow with confusion, who the hell is Steven? Looking around, you can’t seem to see anyone else here in the room with you and this being. He doesn't give you a second to question his weird antics, coming very quickly to a stand with a grunt and pulling what looks like a gold, crescent shaped weapon from his chest and into his hand. “You’ve been thieving from the moment you knew you could. You know yourself you’re never going to change, so I’m here to put an end to it, to make sure you never get away with something like this again - dammit Steven, fine! But don’t let her get away. She’s mine.”

“What the fuck-” Before another word leaves your lips, the being morphs, or rather, his regalia does. The bandages unravel, withering away to reveal a white tux, donned by the same glowing eyes peering down at you.

“Exploring, eh?”

You’re taken aback by the minor change in his voice, his inflection. All Americanisms smoothly disappear and in place a British accent shapes his words. One that seems far too familiar for your liking…

“What…”

“Gathering research for your school project?” He crouches down again, leaning closer and invading your space. “Or scouting the place out for a heist.” His tone isn't questioning anymore. They’re words of a statement, of a fact he knows is true. It’s really starting to shake your nerves. Something about all of this feels disconcerting.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“It’s a shame, really.” He stubbornly ignores your question, picking up a fractured piece of artefact. “This statue would’ve looked really nice on a living room mantle. Really would’ve spruced up the place.”

Your heart stops and your breath catches in the back of your throat. The conversation throws you back into your memories, images of the British Museum flashes through your mind. The Egyptian exhibition. The bronze figure. The bumbling staff member who showed you it all. The name on his badge was…

“Steven.”

“Ah, so you do remember. See, you’re smarter than you look. That’s what fooled me all those years ago when you manipulated me into thinking you were just an innocent student looking to learn. You bloody well used me, didn’t you? Cost me my job.”

“Look, Steven, I’m sorry, o-okay? I was young and stupid, I didn’t know-”

“Young, yes. Stupid? No. You knew exactly what you were doing when you walked out with that figure. You knew exactly what you were doing when you stashed it in your bedroom walls. I looked everywhere for that statue, waiting for you to reveal where you hid it. And you fucking sold it!” So you weren’t seeing things that night. You know that feeling of being watched wasn’t just a figment of your imagination, it was Steven. “You knew what you were doing when you walked into this tomb. But I bet you don’t know whose tomb you walked into, or what ancient artefacts you recklessly broke. Still ‘willing to learn’? I hope so, ‘cos I think it’s fucking hilarious.”

Steven comes to a stand and begins marching over to inspect the side of the sarcophagus. At that moment, the light of the flare illuminates the rest of the room and your eyes dart to the entrance where the stone that locked you in here no longer exists. How? Never mind. Survival first, question later. As ever, you take the opportunity and make a dash for the entrance, your legs a little lethargic from your lack of sustenance.

Sadly, you only get so far. A broad arm wraps around your neck and pulls you flush against Steven’s body. “Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast.” His crushing strength borders dangerously between cutting off your oxygen but keeping you conscious enough to hear the words as he mutters them down your ear. “See this sarcophagus here? Do you know who it belongs to?

“No!” You ball, kicking up a fight. You barely push him off-balance. “I don’t give a fuck, let me go!”

“See this is why I find the irony of this hilarious. Go on, have a guess. I’m intrigued to see if you’re capable of learning a lesson.”

Steven man-handles you, gripping your jaw to fore to look at the large sarcophagus in front of you littered with inscriptions of a language you can’t translate and decorated with hieroglyphics you don’t understand. You get the feeling it’s something that Steven had already told you about during his ramblings at the museum. But he talked so much about shit you didn’t care for and you didn’t retain any information unless it had to do with its price. Fuck, whose sarcophagus is this?

“I…I don’t know. Please, just let me go, I promise I won’t steal anymore.” You’re sobbing now, your tears rolling down your cheeks to be absorbed by Steven’s white suit. Frustrated, Steven tightens his hold on you.

“No, come on. Focus. I need to know that you didn’t just use me, I need to know I taught you something. Now what was it? I’ll give you a clue, it was one of the first things we talked about.”

Fuck. It was about some Ushabti thing, right?

“The Ushabti?”

“God, you butcher the pronunciation. But well done. The Ushabti of who?”

You really can’t remember, and you feel it will be the death of you if you don’t. So overrun with hopelessness, you completely give in to defeat and fall weak in Steven’s arm. “I just want to go home.”

“No, not the Ushabti of I-just-want-to-go-home. Who. Was. It?”

Come on, think! Who was it? Da…Fa…Pa-something. Pa…Pa…

“I’m going to be reeaalllyyy disappointed if you don’t get this.” Steven’s harsh voice vibrates down your ear, his mask pressing firmly against the side of your ear.

“Pa…”

“Yes?”

“Pa-Di…”

“Almost there, darlin’”

Finally, the knowledge springs to life and the syllables roll off your tongue. “Pa-Di-Pep?”

“See? You did know it, which means you’ll know what these inscriptions are on the side of this sarcophagus and on all the relics in this tomb, which means you know why I find this so funny.”

If you had the breath to sigh, you would. He’s right. You do know why. The scraps of information he fed you come whizzing back with a stab of irony. You understand it now.

“Passages from the Book of the Dead, the intention of which was to secure safety for the deceased in the afterlife.” You relay his words back in your voice, Steven chuckling maniacally behind you.

“And you just broke them all. Bad luck, eh? No safe passage to the afterlife for you. My buddy Marc will make sure of it. If you haven’t already realised, I’m the brains of this body. Marc is the brawn. Never misses a kill that one. Do you, Marc?”

Steven suddenly shuffles behind you, maintaining that iron steel grip he has around your throat. When the material of the mask traces the shell of your ear and his voice returns, his tone has changed. Deeper, lower, threatening.

American.

“Kind of you to say, Steven. Y’know, it’s a shame Steven isn’t kind enough to let you live. So, little thief, what’ll it be? Shall I kill you where you stand, or do you want to join Pa-Di-Pep in his sarcophagus?”

49 notes · View notes

ellieclaireblack · 1 month

Text

sanctuaire | sanctuary

sanctuary | noun your safe and peaceful haven a comforting place of refuge and rest in a noisy, chaotic world

{brother's best friend | fem!reader x james potter} ⪼ warnings: mentions of abuse, eating disorder ⪼ word count: 2.6k

part five: darkness playlist story: sanctuaire | sanctuary

I was never alone the following week. My mothers voice in my head a steady however unwelcome companion. The voice grew especially loud and frightening near dinner and lunch. Most days I just stuck to a slice of toast for breakfast and an apple throughout the day. I steered clear of the Marauders, even though I missed them. I made excuses so I didn’t have to join my friends for dinner. They were suspicious, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I joined them two times for dinner and once for lunch, trying to eat as little as possible.

I brewed a hunger-vanishing potion in my room and didn’t let anyone in for three days, so they wouldn’t notice the smell. The potion helped, though I was looking forward to the ball being over.

Even skating didn’t excite me anymore, I was too exhausted to bring myself to go. The time I didn’t spend in classes and doing homework, I was sleeping in my bed. Trying to get as much energy as possible.

On Friday little Adelaide Greengrass approached me. “Bonjour y/n! I wanted to ask if you had time to teach me skating today?” She looked so adorable, her cheeks blushing slightly. “Oh hey Addy. Bien sûr, j'aimerais vous enseigner! [Of course I would love to teach you!] Let’s say we’ll meet in an hour down at the lake?” Adelaide nodded excitedly and skipped off. She was the only person who managed to bring a smile to my face for the first time this week.

──────────────── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ⋆ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ──────────────────

When I arrived at the lake Addy was already there. I had charmed a pair of shoes to skates, for her and she nearly fell around my neck when I approached her. Regaining her composure she stood a little straighter and let out a breathless “Thank you”.

I put on my skates before helping her and then we stepped onto the frozen lake. I held her hands and we made a few circles. Addy was incredibly good, especially since it was her first time and I showed her some easy exercises. She obeyed and after an hour her nose was so bright red I demanded we should go inside again. “Can you show me a few jumps before we go Ms Black?” “Of course Addy, it’s still y/n to you. Don’t forget.”

I obeyed and after a quite complicated jump I landed wobbly and nearly fell. Luckily nothing happened and I continued into a spin. Finishing my small show I saw lots of black spots and suddenly felt incredibly dizzy. I tried to shake it off and skated towards Addy.

I heard Addys scream before I noticed me falling. Suddenly everything vanished and the world turned black around me.

──────────────── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ⋆ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ──────────────────

“I’ve got her don’t worry Sirius, you get Adelaide back to her dorm.” I heard voices, strong arms were carrying me. James. And Sirius was with him. “No Mr Potter I want to stay with y/n. I don’t want to leave her alone.” Addy spoke up, her tone sounded worried. “No come on little Ms Greengrass. James here will stay with y/n and the two of us will get you to bed.” Addy huffed a breath, but seemed to agree with Sirius and their footsteps soon grew quieter. James grabbed my hand and held it tightly. Darkness surrounded me. James whispered ‘Come back, I need you y/n/n.’, but I wasn’t sure if I had imagined it.

Later I was again awakened through voices. Reggie was there. “I- I knew something was up with her and I didn’t do anything against it.” Sirius was back again, he seemed to comfort him. I wanted to embrace Reg, but didn’t find the strength to even open my eyes. Sleep enveloped me again.

When I awoke again it was dark outside. How long had I been out for? Next to me on a chair was James, he was sleeping in a position which looked incredibly uncomfortable. Sirius must have gone to Remus, looking outside the window I saw the full moon peeking out behind some clouds. James really chose me over his best friend. Hopefully Padfoot and Wormtail could manage on their own. Of course I knew about them, their choice in nicknames couldn’t be more obvious if they wanted to.

I shifted and James' eyes fluttered open. Immediately scanning me for any sources of pain. “y/n are you alright? Merlin and Morgana I was so worried about you, we all were. Sirius nearly lost his mind. He’s with Remus. Full moon you know. I thought someone should stay with you-” He started rambling, clearly a bit through the wind with the occurrences of the past hours. “Gosh James don’t worry, I’m fine I guess, just some tiny injuries.” “Tiny?! You broke a rib, because you fell so hard on the ice.” Oh. I didn’t know about that, but it would explain the excruciating pain on my left side. “Oh- I-. What exactly happened, do you know?” I asked. “You fell while skating, because you were so malnourished. At least that’s what Madam Pomfrey said. We were just walking to the infirmary with Remus when suddenly little Adelaide Greengrass stormed towards us and panted that she needed help and that you were hurt. Sirius and I stormed off to help you and then we brought you here.”

I put my hand on top of James’ to stop him and in an instant he was quiet. His looks are still laced with worry. “Jamie, look at me.” He did and if I wouldn’t have been in bed his look would’ve knocked me off my feet in a second. His warm, brown eyes seemingly looking into my soul and warming parts of my heart, that were so closed off I never thought anyone would’ve been able to reach them. Especially when it came to feelings James made me open up, usually I was pretty closed up about them, however he brought out the best of me. When I’m looking into James’ eyes everything around me vanishes. I only noticed him talking to me when he waves his hands in front of my face.

“Sorry I zoned out. What I wanted to say is that I’m okay and you don’t have to stay. Remus needs you.” “And what about you? You need someone too.” James exclaimed and he really hit home with that. With one sentence James Potter tore down years of pain. My biggest fear was not being loved, not being needed and James saw the fear. Deep down he understood me. He wanted people to need him and with Sirius and Remus getting closer, James sometimes felt like he wasn’t needed anymore. I could see it, even though he thought no one did. He was busy chasing after Lily Evans, when thinking about it I didn’t hear a lot about her the past weeks. However I noticed his struggles, many people thought that James Potter had it all. Great family, friends and grades. Next to no one noticed the facade he sometimes put up, where he wasn’t as happy as he claimed to be. I did. I always noticed James.

“Oh James.” I breathed, not more words coming out of my throat, I hugged him tightly. He held his arms tightly around me and we stayed like that, for what felt like an eternity. Way longer than friends should’ve stayed.

When we parted James finally dared to ask the question. “Why did you do it? Because y/n if you think you’re not pretty enough or some bullshit like that I’m gonna lose it. You Blacks won the gene lottery and you know it, so it must be something else. Please, I need you to tell me.” He thought I was pretty. My mind latched at this one fact and couldn’t let it go. Probably cherishing it forever. James Potter, the epitome of prettiness and handsomeness, thought I was pretty.

“My mother, you remember you letter?” “Of course, I could never forget. But you promised that you’d be fine.” “I lied.” I answered with such honesty, I surprised myself. James frowned, it nearly broke my heart seeing him upset over this. I whispered an apology, hoping he would find a way to forgive me.

“I’m not angry with you y/n just upset about the whole situation. You don’t want out of that house, but everything besides Reg keeps hurting you there. I can’t stand seeing you like this.” Leave it to James to say the perfect thing in a situation like this.

“I know Jamie, I understand it’s hard for you to grasp why I’m still staying there, but it’s still my home. My parents, even though they mostly do shit at their job. I still love them in our fucked up Black way. And I know that deep down they love us, Maman just has a bad way of showing us.” Deep down I really believed that, I had just opened up some of the best hidden emotions I had to James. Slightly worried of rejection I looked at him, but I only found understanding in his eyes.

“Oh y/n. I know it’s hard, even harder with Reggie in the equation.” He pulled me in his arms again. “Can you stay here for the night James? Or I mean- If Rem needs you-” I whispered in his curls and for a moment I thought he didn’t even hear me. Suddenly he pulled away from my arms, my eyes widened a bit when I crawled right next to me in bed and shuffled around a bit, to get comfortable. I really thought he would’ve left there and then, but he just put an arm around me and held it throughout the night. Darkness engulfed me and the only word on my mind was James. James. James.

──────────────── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ⋆ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ──────────────────

When I awoke again it was it was already dusk. James still on my side, his curls softly tickling my neck, where he had tucked his head in. I looked beside me and noticed Remus he was passed out on the bed and looked extremely exhausted, poor fella. Besides him was a mob of black hair, my brother. A quiet gasp escaped me, James didn’t even stir besides me. Even though just a week of not talking had passed, it felt like it was ages ago that we had a real conversation.

As if he could feel my eyes on him his eyes fluttered open and he first glanced at Remus, a soft smile spreading out on his face. Merlin, he was so in love it was adorable. If only the two idiots would confess to each other. His eyes searched around the room and when they landed on me his face displayed a hundred emotions at once.

“Hey Dimples” He whispered across the room. His voice rough and filled with sleep. My Sirius. My other half. Oh I had missed him terribly. “Hey Siri.” I whispered back. Both of us grinning simultaneously at the other. However realisation dampened my mood, today was the day of the ball. Sirius seemed to realise where, and how we were here at the same time.

“I know I don’t say it enough, but I love you y/n. In our fucked up Black way, but I truly do. “I love you too Siri, In our fucked up Black way but I truly do.” A tear rolled down my cheek, Sirius looked a bit glassy eyed too. What was up with me? I never cried before other, this past couple of weeks really worsened my reputation as Slytherin Princess.

As if James could feel my upsetness his arm around me tightened and I smiled softly down on him. Sirius looked puzzled for a moment until his eyes widened with realisation. “You’ve got the hots for my best friend.” He whisper yelled, a bit too loud for my liking. “Sirius shut up, this instant. And you better be quiet. You have the hots for your best friend. If our parents found out, they’d have your head.” That seemed to strike a nerve.

“I’m sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I love Remus, but you know our parents and their world view. I think todays not a good day to talk about this. Also you know with Evans and all that, I don’t want to get caught up in it all.” “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have brought it up. But it makes so much sense now and if I were you I wouldn’t worry too much about Evans. Lately it’s all been about you.”

I wanted to say something more when James stirred beside me again. I looked at him again when his eyes fluttered open and he smiled at me with the brightest of smiles. My heart skipped a beat. “Good morning Jamie.” “Morning, y/n/n. Oh morning Sirius.” He said, as my brother cleared his throat, wanting to announce his presence. “How’s our Moony?” “Oh you know, he claims he’s fine, even though he’s clearly not and now will sleep the whole day.” “How’s my baby sister?” He said, emphasising the baby. “Oh you know, she claims she fines, even though she clearly isn’t and now will hate me the whole day for saying it.” Boys. “First off I can hear you, second off I can take care of myself.” I interjected and quietly, so only James could hear, added “and third off I could never hate you.” He smiled, one of his soft smiles. Those he only saved for special moments.

Then it dawned on me again, in a few hours I had to go home and spend the whole evening with my mother. She would try and set me up with a few ‘fitting’ filthy rich Pureblood heirs and I would try to make them hate me. She would be angry with me and hopefully I could spend the night at Hogwarts again. Home felt less like home, when Sirius wasn’t there.

Madam Pomfrey disturbed me from my thoughts and she wasn’t surprised to see the boys with Remus and me. She didn’t hesitate for a second before showing them out. And James shot me a wink while Sirius just looked pointedly at him, then at me.

Poppy Pomfrey could be extremely scary when she wanted to and the conversation we had about proper nourishment was far too long for my liking. When she finally released me I had trouble to keep the tears at bay, but I would not break in front of a teacher.

──────────────── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ⋆ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ──────────────────

The Slytherin Common was empty and felt like home. The light crackle of the fire, the smell of books and fresh cut apples. The creatures of the Black Lake floating by the windows. I made my way up to my room where Regulus was already waiting for me. He embraced me tightly but didn’t say a word.

I quickly changed into fresh and more ‘appropriate’ clothes.

“Are you ready to go?” My brother asked me, I nodded yes after a quick check in the mirror and a few freshening up spells. We went to Professor Slughorn, where a Floo connection to Grimmauld Place had been set up.

With a deep breath I stepped into the Floo and braced myself for what awaited me.

a/n: hey lovely people, first up if you ever feel like not eating, just because someone tells you you need to lose weight, or if your mind tells you so. please don't listen to it. food is nourishment and all of you are perfect as you are.

as always messages, inbox and requests are open!

lots of love to wherever you are xoxo ellie <333

53 notes · View notes

plumfondler · 2 years

Text

Heaven Can Wait

Pairing: Eddie Munson x fem!reader

Word count: 6k, my bad.

Warnings: smut smut smut. unprotected sex. mentions of murder and dumb ass cops.

MINORS DNI

Summary?: This is a Hawkins AU where there is no Upside Down, but there sure are a lot of mysteries, and the scooby gang (including you) has solved dozens of them. Eddie Munson is about to get accused of murder, and you find out what it's like when the gang gets shit done while you're not around. Should this have a second part? I have no idea.

A/N: This is dedicated to my hypebeast @gaybybirth without whom this story would not exist. Your support and encouragement mean the world to me. And thanks for telling me to use those two prompts <3 lol

Also a huge thank you to @munson-trashcan, @poppy-metal & @peterthepark for your filth that has kept me going these past few weeks, and supplying my soul with so much Eddie Munson that I started writing again for the first time in over a year.

You slammed your car door and ran into Hawkins High as the sky opened up and fat raindrops started falling- a few hitting your face just before you made it inside.

As a theater kid you really didn’t have anywhere to channel your energy after graduation, so when they asked if you wanted to direct the drama class musicals, you jumped at the chance. The first year didn’t go too well, but you had to admit you had other reasons for wanting to try again.

“Alright everyone that was much, much better! Keep it up! See you tomorrow!” you announced.

The class quickly scattered as you saw the Dungeons and Dragons club scramble into the room to set up their things.

One nice thing about directing was the schedule: the drama class was the last period of the day so you didn't have to spend all day at the school.

Another nice thing was seeing him again.

Eddie Munson entered the room, excitedly talking to his friends about something he just added to their campaign. You smiled to yourself and gathered your things to leave.

"Runnin’ off so soon?"

Your heart skipped as you turned to see Eddie standing behind you, thumbs tapping on the notebook he held to his chest.

"I'll be out of your way soon, sorry!" Was all you could say before your face heated up.

"Take your time, please stay and hang if you like, it's real nasty out," he said, turning to walk towards the table.

You looked out the window and cursed; the rain was blowing sideways and empty trash cans were tumbling by rapidly. You really didn't want to go outside right now, let alone drive home.

"If you don't mind, I might try to wait it out? I'll be quiet as a mouse," you said, putting your things down and taking a seat in the rows of chairs in the back of the room.

"We definitely won't be," Eddie grinned, taking a deep breath before diving into his story with a booming voice.

It stormed for the next four days straight; Eddie convinced you to wait out the storm each day, though he didn't have to try that hard. When it finally stopped raining, Eddie had other reasons to ask you to stay, so you stayed.

---

It was the last week of school and you were panicking trying to think of what to say to Eddie before the break. You wanted to keep seeing him, so why couldn’t you just say that?

You had a shift after school at Family Video with Steve and Robin, and you were considering confessing your crush to them to get their advice.

"Hey guys, I just saw the weirdest thing," Max said as she came into the store, seconds after you arrived.

You turned to look at the tiny redhead, waiting for her to continue as Robin and Steve joined you.

"Eddie just came home, went to his trailer, ran right back out and got into his van and sped off. Like he was running from something."

"Eddie is a weird dude," Steve shrugged, stacking tapes.

Three police cars sped by the store towards the trailer park and you all looked at each other.

Robin spun around and picked up the phone to call Nancy who always knew what was going on; you had a sinking feeling in your stomach.

Robin spoke with Nancy quietly and hung up the phone a few seconds later.

"They found a dead girl in Eddie's trailer."

Your legs gave out and you grabbed the counter to keep yourself from falling over; Steve and Robin both lunged at you to hold you up.

"I'm fine," you said weakly, waving them off and lowering yourself to the floor, hugging your knees to your chest.

"He was at school all day, right?" Steve asked.

"I saw him when I went by to get some things from the drama room about an hour ago," you said numbly, thinking about the way his smile lit up his face.

“Also, obviously,” Robin started, elbowing Steve in the ribs, “Eddie would never hurt anyone, let alone murder.”

“Yes! Of course!” Steve said, hurriedly.

Rumors spread like wildfire. By dinner time, the local news had already mentioned that the police were interested in finding Eddie to ask him questions, and all hell broke loose.

Soon everyone in town was talking about how Eddie the Freak was a murderer, even though dozens of people had seen him throughout day. Even though Tammy Perkins, the sophomore at Hawkins high that was the unfortunate victim, wasn't seen anywhere near Eddie the entire day, let alone all year.

You had to help Eddie, and Steve and Robin seemed to be on the same page; you gathered everyone to search for Eddie as soon as you closed the video store.

---

Steve slid the pizza onto the counter in your kitchen and took a piece, Dustin sat with you at the table in front of the window and sighed, resting his head in his hands.

Nancy sat across from you and reached a hand to put over yours, "We're going to find him. Before anyone else does."

You believed her, you always believed Nancy when she said things with such confidence.

It had been three days and you still hadn’t found Eddie.

The doorbell rang and everyone in your kitchen froze.

The doorbell rang again and your dad walked in to look around at you all.

"No, no, I'll get it," he said dryly, walking past everyone towards the front door.

You looked out the window and cursed under your breath as you saw the police car in the driveway.

"Good evening officer, how can I help you?"

"Yes, sir, I was told that your daughter has been seen with the Munson boy, is this true?"

You quickly joined your father at the door with your hands on your hips, not in the mood to be pushed around.

"Been seen with my friend Eddie Munson? Yes. The innocent man who is being targeted by an angry mob of civilians that the police are doing nothing to stop."

Your father cleared his throat.

"Now listen here, if we found a dead body in your house we'd have some questions for you too," the officer said.

"Of course. But you'd also not condone random ass people running around with guns trying to shoot an innocent person just because he likes rock music and fantasy games!"

"So are you coming down to the station to answer questions then or are we going to do it here?" The officer asked through gritted teeth.

"Please, come in, officer…" your father said, opening the door.

“Pond,” the officer responded, “Officer Pond.”

Your mother came down the stairs and froze, "Lloyd, dear, why are the police in our house?"

"Well Evelyn, they threatened our daughter, so now they get to ask questions here instead of at the station with our lawyer."

Officer Pond paused and looked at your annoyed parents, then turned around to look at his car.

"Let me get my partner in here, just a second."

Your parents huffed and Officer Pond left to get his partner.

Your mother turned to you quickly and took your hands, "Honey, answer their questions as vaguely as possible. No details, no extra information.”

"And please don't antagonize them," your father added.

Before you could respond, the two officers returned, and on their heels were Mike, Max, Lucas, Will, and Erica.

"Why are you here?" Erica said before she was even through the door, "there is a killer on the loose and it is NOT a nerdy boy who plays guitar."

"Yeah!" The rest of them replied.

"Alright, alright you five, let the officers do their job," your father showed the cops to the kitchen and told the five intruders to stay where they were.

You heard a thump from upstairs and your eyes widened as they met Nancy's from across the room.

Next to you, Steve grabbed your shoulder and started coughing; Dustin leapt to his feet to get him water, making extra noises with the chair and lecturing Steve loudly about chewing his food properly.

You backed slowly out of the kitchen, and once out sight you bolted up the stairs to your room.

You threw open the door to see Eddie Munson wiggling his way into your room through your window which was open as wide as it could: a little over a foot.

"Eddie!" You hissed, grabbing him by the shoulders and yanking him inside. "It's BARELY dark, what if someone sees you?!"

"Darlin, I'm running out of options."

You heard heavy steps up the stairs and panicked, shoving Eddie in your closet just as your bedroom door started to open.

"What's going on in there?" Pond’s voice came through the crack in the door.

You pushed the door shut with all your weight, "I'm changing, you fucking perv! Steve aspirated pizza all over me."

The officer outside your bedroom stumbled over an apology and quickly hurried away from your room and back down the stairs.

Eddie poked his head out of your closet.

"Did you just call a cop a fuckin perv?"

"I did."

Eddie put a hand over his mouth and shook with silent laughter.

You reached next to him for a shirt and turned Eddie around to face away from you.

"You keep manhandling me like this, I'm gonna demand you buy me dinner. What are you doing?"

"I have to change. If I go back in the same clothes they'll be suspicious."

Eddie hummed in response and you quickly changed.

You turned him back around, keeping your hands on his shoulders, "Stay here. Stay quiet. I will be back soon."

Eddie nodded silently and you held his eye contact for a bit longer, needing him to feel your calm.

"You're safe here," you said softly, cupping his face in your hand.

Eddie squeezed his eyes shut and leaned into your touch, nodding again.

When you got back downstairs the two police officers were walking out the door, followed by Max, Will, Erica, Mike, and Lucas.

"Jesus Christ, that was an event," your mother said, falling back onto the couch as the front door closed.

"Why are you friends with so many children again?" Your father asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"We'd be here for a while to answer that question," Steve said, "is everyone okay?" He asked, looking directly at you.

"Yes," you nodded, "fine."

"How did you do that? They didn't ask me anything." You said.

"We kind of bullied them into leaving?" Steve offered, scratching his head.

"More like psychologically manipulated, but yes. Your dad implied that the police department can be vulnerable to lawsuits from people who are questioned about crimes they don't have any connection to if it damages their reputation in the community," Robin said.

You put your head in your hands, "thanks dad." You mumbled.

"Alright!" Nancy clapped her hands, "that tall cop was shifty as hell and I don't trust him at all. Robin and I are going to go talk to the neighbors in the trailer park and-"

"And I'm coming with you because that sounds dangerous since a teenager was just murdered there," your father said, standing up.

Nancy seemed to be caught off guard by this, looking between you and your father; you shrugged.

"He makes a good point. Also he's deceptively strong," you said.

"Okay then, let's go,” Robin nodded.

Robin, Nancy, and your father filed out the door and Dustin grabbed his bag looking up at Steve.

"Let's go to the library, I have thoughts and need additional information."

"I guess we're breaking into the library," Steve said, running his hands through his hair and down his face.

"It's not difficult," your mother said from the couch, "just don't break anything, please, they're so nice and a real pillar of the community. But they do make it really difficult to do late night research in this god forsaken town, don't they?"

"I'm really starting to understand you better," Steve said to you, staring at your mother.

"Keep our boy safe," Steve said quietly, nudging you with his shoulder on his way out.

"Of course."

"Honey, I'll be downstairs working on my quilt. I need to be alone for the rest of the evening," your mom sighed, pulling herself up off the couch.

You nodded, "alright, I'll be in my room."

Once you were alone, you made a plate of food for Eddie: leftover meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and a few rolls.

You found Eddie sitting in the corner behind the door in your room, hugging his knees to his chest, his fingers drumming on his arms. You closed the door and sat in front of him; Eddie lifted his head and his eyes widened as he saw the plate.

"For me?"

"No Eddie, I made myself a plate of food to eat in front of you."

"Look, I've had a very bad week."

Your face fell, "I'm so sorry, Eddie, my default mode is sarcasm."

"No I get it, me too," he said, taking the plate with both hands.

You stuck a fork in the potatoes and he smiled, holding the plate with one hand and stabbing the loaf of meat with the fork. He took a bite of it and sighed, closing his eyes.

"It's been three days. All I've had is dry cereal, chips, warm YooHoo, and two cans of cold beans."

"The gang is close to solving this, I know it. They'll get the guy soon and you won't have to hide anymore."

"Yeah? What are they gonna do about the mob of people who want to kill me?"

"I'm not sure yet, but we're going to figure it out together, okay?"

Eddie nodded.

"After you eat you can take a shower," you nodded towards the bathroom connected to your room.

Eddie raised an eyebrow, "fancy."

Eddie dropped his leather jacket on the floor and started tugging his shirt over his head on his way to the bathroom. You distracted yourself by digging through your closet for old clothes. You found your old school gym shirt and a pair of sweatpants for Eddie to change into, trying not to dwell on the thought that you accidentally had when you realized you didn’t have underwear to loan him.

You heard Eddie sniffing in the shower and your heart ached; you sat on your bed and hugged your pillow. You couldn't imagine what he was going through and you wanted to do everything in your power to keep him from harm.

The shower turned off and you wiped the tears that were rolling down your cheeks. When Eddie came out a few minutes later he was holding your purple towel around his waist.

"Hey, I uh-"

Your heart felt like it fell into your stomach as you saw Eddie lean into your room, water drops rolling down his chest, dripping from his hair.

"Sorry, sorry, forgot to give you these before you went in," you scrambled to your feet and shoved the clothes at Eddie, your cheeks burning hot.

"Thanks," he grinned, turning around to go back into the bathroom.

"Jesus Christ," you mumbled to yourself, wiping your hands down your face.

You turned and took several pillows off of your bed, setting them on the floor. You made a small bed for yourself, and looked around your room for your spare blanket, chewing on your bottom lip.

"Havin' a sleepover?"

Eddie stepped out of the bathroom, now wearing your clothes, running his fingers through his wet hair.

"I figured you've not had a proper sleep in a few days so I'll sleep on the floor and you can take my bed?"

"You want me to sleep here?"

"Eddie, I told you that you're safe here, I really-"

Before you could continue, Eddie's arms were wrapped around you, squeezing tight.

As soon as you started breathing again, you returned his embrace, rubbing your hand up and down Eddie's back.

He quickly jerked away and cleared his throat.

"Sorry," he flinched slightly, spinning one of the rings on his finger with his thumb.

"Don't be, that was nice," you replied, sitting on your bed.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I'm here for hugs if you need them, okay?"

Eddie nodded, his fingers twirling the ends of his hair.

"You uh… got any more of those rolls?" he asked.

"Yeah, let me go see what else I can rustle up."

You went back to the kitchen and took a few deep breaths to calm your nerves before returning to your room with the rest of the dinner rolls, cookies, Coke, and an unopened bag of pretzels.

When you opened the door Eddie was sitting on your bed looking curiously at the jewelry box on top of your dresser.

"No, don't open that!" You gasped.

"What, you still have your baby teeth in he-" Eddie lifted the lid of your jewelry box with his ringed index finger and his words escaped him.

You cringed and put down everything you were carrying, shut the door, and reached over to close the lid of the jewelry box that hid the vibrator you bought last year.

"It's a… uh…"

Eddie looked up at you with bright eyes and a wide grin and you stared at him.

He kept grinning.

"I'm waiting to hear whatever you're about to tell me that this vibrator is. Please explain to me what this sex toy is, I have never in my life seen such a device, so it must be explained to me."

"Alright, alright," you said, grabbing the jewelry box and throwing it into the back of your closet.

"I've never even used the thing," you mumbled, shoving the bag of rolls at Eddie, avoiding eye contact.

"Why did you buy it if you don't use it?" He asked, shoving an entire roll into his mouth.

"I don't know why I bought it in the first place, I've been too afraid someone will hear me use it."

Eddie smirked and you handed him the can of Coke.

"Shut up."

"I didn't say anything!"

"Well, keep it that way."

Your head was reeling as you attempted to think of anything else to say, when the phone on your nightstand rang.

You exhaled and answered.

"Hey Nance, what's going on?" You asked, scooting over so Eddie could sit next to you and put his ear to the receiver with you.

"The killer is working at the police department and we called the FBI," She said, exasperated.

"You what?!" You and Eddie both said.

"Yeah Murray knows a guy and when we told him what we thought was going on, your dad and Murray agreed that there should be other law enforcement involved. Hi Eddie. Sorry about everything."

"Holy shit," you mumbled.

"What about the angry mob after Eddie?"

"Murray has people on that too, but stay hidden, they haven't found them yet."

"Alright thanks for the update."

"Of course. Stay inside. Goodnight."

You put the phone back on the receiver and sighed. Eddie fell back onto the bed with his hands on his face.

"What the fuck is with this fucking town."

"Yeah, I gotta get out of here," you sighed.

"Why haven't you?" Eddie asked, lifting a hand to look at you.

"Why haven't I?"

"Left yet. You graduated two years ago."

"I'm not sure. I really liked being around here…" you shrugged, "and I can't imagine being away from everyone."

"Everyone?"

"Nancy, Robin, Steve, you."

"Me?"

"Of course you, Eddie."

You put a hand on his knee and you felt him tense for a second, but he quickly covered your hand with his and relaxed.

You fell back to lay on the bed and rolled to your side, pulling Eddie into your arms. He immediately buried his head into your neck and secured his arms around you.

You exhaled a shaky breath and rubbed Eddie's back gently, feeling his muscles quiver beneath your touch.

"It's going to be okay. It'll all go back to how it used to be,” you said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"And you'll keep coming to DnD?"

"Absolutely. I have to know what's being so heavily guarded at that keep."

Eddie lifted his head to look at you in surprise.

"You're paying attention to the story?" he asked.

"Eddie, I've been staying to watch your club for the last three months, did you think I was just staring at you the whole time?"

Eddie looked sheepish and shrugged, rolling onto his back, "I mean I guess you can't blame a guy for wishing."

Your heart leapt and you couldn't help the tears that filled your eyes as you reached to hold Eddie's face and press your lips to his. You felt his breath catch as he quickly turned on his side to hold you again, eagerly returning your kiss.

His tongue swiped at your lips and you moaned softly, running your hands over his shoulders to the back of his neck. You felt him melt into your body and your head spun.

You hitched a leg up on Eddie’s hip and he bucked into you, making you gasp as you felt him already hard, pressing into you. You instantly craved more and grinded into him, grasping his shirt and moaning as his erection rubbed against your clit. He whimpered and you felt him shaking as you held him tighter.

You couldn't get close enough, you were squeezing and rubbing every part of each other's backs, sides, faces, and thighs as you grinded into each other. Eddie's hands tried to wander up your shirt but couldn’t get anywhere because he didn't want to let you go. Your legs were tangled together as you tried to wrap them around each other, and eventually you fell off the bed onto the pile of pillows.

You parted, laughing quietly, holding each other's faces.

"Eddie," you breathed, resting your forehead against his.

He whispered your name and nudged your nose with his; you shuddered and clutched his shirt.

"I mean, it did start out as me staring at you the whole time, yes, but I got invested really fast. You are such an incredible storyteller," you said, looking into his soft, dark eyes.

Eddie kissed you in response and you were quickly back to grasping at each other as your tongues swirled together.

You rolled onto your back and pulled Eddie on top of you; he immediately hit his head on your nightstand.

"Ow…" he whispered into your mouth.

"Let's move back up to the bed, yeah?" You said, trying to catch your breath.

"I don't wanna let you go."

"I'm not going anywhere, Eddie. I'm here, I'm yours."

He groaned and kissed your neck, "say that again, please?" He whispered.

"I'm yours, Eddie Munson," you said, holding his face as your stomach tightened, "I am yours and I want you."

"Bed, now." His voice was strained and his eyes were pleading.

You nodded and he pushed himself up, helping you to your feet. Eddie rolled onto the bed, immediately reaching out to you. Your heart pounded as you met his eyes and yanked off your shirt and bra, pushing your pants down before climbing back onto the bed.

Eddie gawked at you as you crawled on top of him in just your panties, he wasn't sure where to focus his attention.

"Oh my god," he whispered, "can I touch you?"

"You better," you said, taking his hand and putting it on your side.

Eddie sighed and ran his fingers over your soft skin, whimpering quietly.

You hummed as his warm hands explored every inch of you while you kissed, finally trailing over your breasts after avoiding them intentionally for several minutes. You moaned as Eddie's fingertips circled your nipples; he sucked in a breath as they pebbled.

"Can I touch you?" You asked, running a hand up his arm.

Eddie tugged the shirt over his head and you smiled, running your hands over his tattoos, feeling his chest rise and fall with every heavy breath.

You leaned over and kissed the tattoos on his chest, then lifted his arm and kissed the ink there. Eddie watched you, lips parted, eyes soft as you handled him so gently.

Eddie reached for your face and pulled you in for a desperate kiss, his hands sliding around your waist and grabbing your ass to pull you against him. You moaned and ran your fingers down his chest, tugging down the waistband of his sweatpants.

"Wait, stop!" Eddie pulled away and you froze, worried you hurt him somehow.

"I am so sorry, I'm just so worked up right now, if you touch me, I’m going to cum," he winced and looked down at your hand that was hovering over him.

You glanced down to see the large wet spot on the tent in his sweatpants. You bit your lip and squeezed your legs together as you stared, eager to touch him and suddenly soaked at the thought of watching him cum.

"What if I want to see that?" You asked, tracing your finger around his stomach, across his waistband.

"Is… that all you want? Not-not that that's a bad thing I'm just wondering…"

You shook your head, "no, it's not, can you keep going after that?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely," Eddie said, pushing the pants down and kicking them off in one swift motion.

You almost moaned as you wrapped your hand around his hot, swollen cock. Eddie gasped and bucked into your fist as you squeezed and gave him a slow stroke, running your fingers around his firm, velvety head.

"You are fucking beautiful," you mumbled, leaning over to kiss Eddie's soft lips as he gasped your name.

You moaned into his mouth as his cock twitched in your hand. Precum flowed from his flushed tip and you used it to give him slow strokes.

"Oh fuck, fuck," he whispered as you nipped at his bottom lip and trailed kisses to his neck.

"Cum for me, Eddie," you whispered in his ear, tugging at his earlobe with your teeth.

Eddie's hand flew to his mouth and he stifled a cry as his hips bucked off the bed and his cock pulsed in your hand. You quickly looked to see his cum spurting from his cock all over your hand and his stomach. You squeezed out every drop and released his spent length, kissing up and down his neck as he caught his breath.

"Fucking hell," he mumbled, "that was a record."

You grinned and kissed his lips, reaching for the nearest item of clothing to clean up with.

As soon as you dropped the shirt, Eddie pulled you to him and kissed you breathless, rolling you onto your back and sliding down your body, taking your panties with him.

"Oh fuck, you smell so amazing," Eddie moaned.

"Can I taste you, baby?" He asked, arms wrapped around your thighs, fingers stroking the insides of them gently.

His dark eyes looking up at you from between your legs had you speechless. You nodded enthusiastically and Eddie grinned, tapping your legs.

"Use your words, sweetheart, need to hear you say it," he said, nuzzling the inside of your thigh with his nose, leaving soft kisses up it.

"Yes, yes!" You whimpered.

Eddie hummed happily and pressed his lips to your mound, kissing and nuzzling you, inhaling your scent as he buried his face between your thighs. He moaned and you squirmed as you felt the vibrations; his hands held your hips and you couldn't help but love the feeling of being pinned by him.

Eddie came up for air and cursed again, "you are so fucking wet, holy fuck."

Before you could even consider responding, Eddie gently spread you apart and licked a line straight up your cunt, ending at your clit. You gasped and he repeated the action three more times, staying on your clit once you whined.

Eddie's tongue lapped at your swollen bundle of nerves and his hands ran up and down your thighs as they trembled. Your hands went to his head as he devoured you slowly, your orgasm approaching so much faster than you could've imagined. Eddie felt you tense and moaned into you, his hips grinding into the bed as his tongue circled your clit.

"Don't stop, don't stop, fuck, Eddie I'm gonna come," you cried softly.

Eddie sent you tumbling over the edge with one final slow flick of his tongue and your back was arching off the bed, your thighs squeezing his head.

Eddie moaned as your body shook with your release; as soon as you relaxed, Eddie was crawling up your body leaving kisses along the way.

You lifted a shaky hand and he met it with his face, nuzzling into it.

"You taste so good."

"Fuck," you breathed, your entire body was shaking and Eddie wrapped his arms around you, squeezing you tight.

"You okay?" he asked, nuzzling your neck.

"More than okay," you whispered, "just a bit dizzy."

Eddie grinned proudly and you ran a hand through his soft hair.

"You have an incredible mouth," you mumbled, running a thumb over his bottom lip.

You stared at each other for a while and lazily explored one another, kissing intermittently. Once the haze from your orgasm dissipated, your kisses became more desperate. You pulled Eddie closer, wrapping a leg around him, rubbing yourself against his cock.

"Oh fuck, baby, you're dripping all over my dick," he moaned, his hips bucking so his cock nudged your tender lips, making you gasp.

"You like that?" He asked.

You nodded and he did it again, grinding a little, getting harder against your slick cunt.

"Oh my god, Eddie, I need you inside me, please."

Eddie rolled on top of you and knelt between your legs,

"I don't have any condoms…" he said, his face falling.

"Me either, can you pull out?" You asked, running your thumbs over his hip bones, watching his perfect cock jump at your proximity.

Eddie nodded, "yeah. Yeah I can do that. And I'm clean, I promise baby," he said, holding your hand to his heart.

"Me too, I trust you, Eddie."

The look in his eyes was pure adoration as he held your face and leaned over to kiss you. You wrapped your arms around Eddie and he sighed as your kiss deepend.

Eddie reached down and guided himself into you. Once his tip settled at your entrance you both took in shaky breaths and held each other tight as he slowly pushed his hips forward.

His thick cock filled you slowly, heat and tingles immediately spreading over you. You gasped and dug your nails into his back; Eddie groaned.

"Oooh wow. Ooh fuck," he breathed, stilling as he bottomed out.

You squeezed your legs around Eddie as he brushed his hair out of your face with a smile.

"You okay?" He asked softly.

"Yeah, just stings a little, gotta get used to you," you said, pulling his face to yours, kissing him tenderly.

"I'll wait as long as you need," he said between kisses.

"You feel so incredible," he said, dropping his head to your shoulder and kissing up your neck.

"You fill me up so good, Eddie," you said, shifting your hips slightly, “mmm, you can move now.”

Eddie held you as close as possible and only moved his hips, dragging his cock out slowly, and pushing back in. You moaned softly and Eddie repeated his action, again and again.

Just as it was when it began, you couldn't get close enough, your bodies pressed together, your legs locked around him, your arms holding him against you as he rutted into you.

Eddie was so deep inside of you, you could barely breathe. He kissed you tenderly and held your face with one hand, weaving his free hand with one of yours and holding it to the bed. You held his face and met his eyes as he thrust into you steadily, keeping a slow pace.

"Is… is this okay?" He asked, running his thumb over your cheek.

You kissed his thumb and nodded, "yes, it's perfect Eddie, you feel so fucking good."

"You feel amazing, so wet, so tight," he breathed, circling his hips and rolling them slowly.

Eddie kissed you and the room spun around you as his slow, deep thrusts matched the speed of his tongue swirling with yours.

You moaned and lifted your hips slightly, gasping as he started grinding against your clit with every thrust.

"Oh god Eddie, right there, fuck," you cried softly, clinging to him as you felt the warm tingling start to spread throughout your body.

“You’re squeezin’ me so tight, baby, come for me,” Eddie moaned in your ear, grinding into you harder.

You gasped as his cock flexed and brushed against your g-spot, his pubic bone grinding against your clit; you saw stars as your orgasm washed over you. You bit down on Eddie’s shoulder to keep yourself from screaming as you came. Eddie gasped and immediately pulled out of you, his head barely out of the folds of your pussy as thick ropes of cum pulsed from his cock all over your twitching clit. You cried out and bucked your hips, instantly obsessed with the feeling of Eddie’s warm cum dripping down your cunt as the tip of his cock rubbed your clit and dragged out your release.

Eddie’s body went limp on top of you and he rolled to his side, taking you with him and holding you to his heaving chest. You lifted your head and held his face, kissing him softly. Eddie sighed and returned your sweet kiss, holding your face and peppering it with kisses.

You held each other and calmed down eventually, laying in silence for several minutes.

“Wow, well done, I’m usually so talkative.”

You snorted and grabbed a pillow to stifle your burst of laughter. Eddie pulled the pillow away from your face and you turned to see him grinning at you.

“I love your laugh.”

You held his face and kissed his nose and grinned at each other for a few more silent minutes.

You glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost midnight; then the phone rang and you and Eddie were yanked out of your bubble.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Steve. We’re all together and found some really weird shit, are you okay?”

“Yeah, trying to figure out if it’s better to try to rest or be on guard all night,” you sighed, rolling onto your back and wiping a hand down your face.

“Don’t worry, get some rest, both of you, we’re across the street at my house and we’ll keep watch, okay?”

“Oh yeah? He got binoculars that can see in here?” Eddie asked.

“Yeah Steve, you peeping?” you asked.

“W-what? No! I wouldn’t! Wait, what would I be-?”

Robin grabbed the phone out of Steve’s hand.

“Hi, Steve is stammering so get some sleep kids, we’ll come by in the morning, okay? Goodnight!”

The line went dead and you hung up the phone.

“We’re supposed to get some sleep, I guess,” you said, taking Eddie’s face in your hands.

“Yeah, I’m not really tired yet,” he said, biting his lip.

“Wanna find out if Steve has binoculars?” you asked.

Eddie giggled and kissed you, rolling over on top of you, “how would we do that?”

His hair hung down and framed your face, tickling you as he held himself up with his hands on either side of your head.

“Well, if we stay up all night doing things that would make Steve blush and then see him tomorrow, we might find out?”

“All night, you say?” Eddie whispered, kissing up your neck and capturing your lips with his, making you moan and arch your body up into his.

“Or until we exhaust each other, I guess,” you shrugged.

“Until we exhaust each other it is.”

#eddie munson smut #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson fan fiction

345 notes · View notes

storiesbyrhi · 2 years

Note

I had an idea for a little blurb or one shot, what if there reader is always known for wearing long sleeves and like she’s never seen without them to the point where there’s crazy rumours and reasons people have come up with as to why.

And one day Eddie decides to ask her, and she just takes off her cardigan and she’s wearing a short sleeve underneath and she just has full on tattoo sleeves. So eddie literally just melts for her on the spot.

Hello, friend! Thank you for being my first anonymous requester/prompter. Appreciate it. I hope you like this. It got a little more angsty than I planned, but maybe it's a vibe? xo Rhi

Warnings: mention of self-harm cuts/scars - mind and not at all the focus of the fic; reference to bullying; drug use; no beta (and I'm shitty at proofreading)

Drabble 001 1566 words

“Maybe it's some sort of like, skin condition?” Dustin offered, still knowing the pain of appearing different.

“Where’s your imagination, Henderson?” Jeff asked. “Scars, all the way up her arms, like from doing witchcraft or whatever,”

“Witchcraft?”

“You mean like the cult stuff Hellfire does?” Gareth chimed in, causing most of the boys to laugh. Even Eddie snorted a little.

Yeah, it was a double standard alright. The boys at the table were the first to be picked on for standing out, or trying to fit in, or doing anything at all really. The irony of them watching as you sat by yourself in the far corner of the cafeteria, adding to the already wild echoes of gossip that sounded out wherever you went, was not lost on Eddie.

That’s not to say he didn’t glance over at you, wondering what had changed.

Last year he was meant to graduate and so were you. You’d shared classes, small talk, and a joint every now and then, but he fully expected to never see you again after graduation. Then, you disappeared before the final few weeks of the school year. You were M.I.A. during exams. People thought maybe you’d just skipped out on school and Hawkins entirely.

But, there you were, repeating your Senior year, keeping to yourself like your life depended on it, and the icing on this mystery cake – the length of your sleeves. Rain, hail, or blistering heat, your sleeves would be to your wrists.

Of all the things to think are weird about someone, this was incredibly low on Eddie’s list, if it made it at all. There were logical reasons anyway. When he traveled to the city to see a show, he'd met kids with cuts and scars hidden beneath bracelets and bandages. Maybe whatever caused you to miss the end of last year was fucked up. He couldn’t and wouldn’t judge you for that. Maybe you had converted to a religion that changed how you wanted to dress. Again, Eddie wouldn’t judge you for that.

Really, he wouldn’t have noticed or cared at all, if it wasn’t you.

You, who he remembered from Middle School. You said you thought his act in the talent show was cool, and he’d look even more like a rock star if he let his hair grow long and wild like the thrash metal bands he worshipped.

You, who refused to take discounts on weed just because Eddie offered them. “Call it: supporting local businesses,” you’d laugh, leaving him with his thoughts of you.

You, who would often sit in a way that meant Eddie could copy your answers on maths tests.

You, who he hadn’t spoken to in months, but still occupied a great deal of his mind’s time.

“You sound like a bunch of prissy school girls with all this gossip. What you really should be talkin’ about, is how you’re gonna survive the Cult of Vecna,” Eddie posed to the table, punctuating his statement by throwing peanuts at Jeff.

He dared another quick look over at you and froze when his gaze met yours. Before you could look away, he offered you a smile. Genuine. Warm. Hopefully – inviting. You blinked back at him, not scowling or rolling your eyes, just… confused, maybe.

Two days later, Eddie was spending his Saturday night alone in the trailer. Wayne was at work. Gareth’s house was plagued with interstate family, so band practice was canceled. He didn’t mind, though. It had been a while since he’d just done fuck all.

With rented videos stacked and ready, Eddie packed a bowl and started to watch Fright Night. He was only about ten minutes in before a loud knock on the trailer door made him jump.

“Jesus H. Christ,” he mumbled, glad nobody was there to see him almost piss himself.

He crossed the small space, poising to hear a neighbour talk shit about another neighbour and ‘tell ya uncle, would’ya’ and ‘get a haircut’ and endless trailer park bullshit he could not care less about. As he opened the door though, he stood up straight.

When he said your name, you looked up at him. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Ah, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. I just, ah. Do you… Are you still…”

Eddie knew this line of unfinished questioning. “Selling? Yeah. Sure. Come in.”

You stepped up into the trailer, let Eddie close the door behind you. He made no motion to move or say anything. He was just looking at you, a little disbelief in his eyes.

“What do you need? I’m not fully stocked, but if your tastes haven’t changed we should be good,” Eddie said, trying his best to be polite. No, not polite. Kind. Friendly. A friend.

“Yeah, man. You still do pre-rolls?”

“Let me look. Um, take a seat, if you want. Do you want a drink or anything?” he offered, walking backwards towards his room but listening carefully to your reply. You shook your head at him.

In his room, Eddie found no pre-rolls, but there were the means to make them. He came back out to the lounge, plonked himself down next to you on the couch.

“You got some time? I can roll them for you now,”

“You don’t-”

Eddie stopped you by speaking your name. You looked at him. “It’s fine. Let me.”

You nodded, sat back into the couch more.

Eddie started Fright Night again and you half watched it, half observed how skilled Eddie was. His fingers worked fast, neatly. Nothing went to waste.

“So, um, this is a bit out of the way?” Eddie asked. “I mean, if you weren’t sure I was holding,”

“Um. Yeah. Nah. I live here now,” you told him.

“Oh. Cool. That’s cool. So, we’re neighbours?”

“Looks that way,” you confirmed, just grateful he didn’t ask why you had moved from your uptown house to good old Forest Hills.

The conversation paused there, not resuming until Eddie asked if you wanted four, like you used to. He wrapped them in saran wrap and handed them over, swapping you for cash.

Eddie hoped you’d sit for a bit, but you immediately stood and walked to the door.

“Thanks,” you said, turning.

“Wait!” Eddie called, unable to stop himself. You looked at him, your bottom lip sucked in and nervous energy radiating off you. “I, ah… I don’t… know what happened. If something did happen. Or whatever. But if you need anything at all… I’m here, you know?”

You hesitated for a second, then nodded. It wasn’t enough for him. He continued, “Because I liked that we were friends. We were friends, right? And we should be. Now. We have a lot in common. Actually,”

“You mean we both live in a trailer park and are repeating our senior year?” you asked deadpan.

It threw Eddie. For a second, he thought he’d upset you, but then he noticed you weren’t moving to leave anymore. “Yeah… And, we both like… weed… and horror… and there’s gotta be other things, right?”

You studied his face. Eddie had grown up a lot in the years you’d been a nameless moon, orbiting his bright planet. He’d grown into a beautiful person. And it wasn’t just the big brown eyes. He was kind, sweet. You’d seen how he’d adopted all the freak freshmen, taking them under his wing and offering a level of notoriety that meant protection.

“You want to be my friend?” you asked him.

“Yeah. I do,” he answered confidently, puffing his chest out a little.

“You’re not just like, fishing for information? Wanna know where I went?”

Eddie was a little hurt you’d think that about him, but he could see you were more hurt. He shook his head, said as softly as he could, “I kinda just miss you.”

And there it was. It broke you just a bit. You’d missed him too. You missed any semblance of normality. You sighed and stepped close to him, wrapping your arms around his waist. Eddie made a surprised little ‘oh’ sound but quickly wrapped his arms around you, squeezing tight. He waited until you stepped away first, not wanting to spook you.

“So, Fright Night?” you asked, moving back to the couch, casually lifting the knitted jumper you were wearing over your head, throwing it aside.

Eddie’s jaw fell slack. Your back was to him, but you wore only a tank top, and the colours and patterns all up your arms were so vivid. Covered in bright illustrations, you were a walking piece of art. He’d managed to close his mouth and follow you to the couch by the time you sat down.

He sat next to you, turning his attention back to the film, scared to even look at you. There was a smirk on your face as you noticed how still Eddie had gone.

“If you let me share a bowl, I’ll let you ask about the tattoos,” you said.

“Oh, thank FUCK,” he breathed out. “You’ve always been cute, but, ah, Jesus…”

You laughed at him, a proper laugh, one that sounded unfamiliar to you. Eddie had grabbed your arms and was studying the tattoos so closely you thought maybe he was trying to commit them to memory. He looked at you, those goddamn big puppy dog eyes.

“I really fucking missed you,” he whispered. “And I’m glad you’re here.”

#Mine #Drabble #Eddie Munson #Eddie Munson x Reader #Eddie Munson/Reader #Eddie Munson Drabble #Rhi Drabble

407 notes · View notes

xotomesimpx · 2 years

Text

Bio Bud's: Bakugo Katsuki x (F)Reader

Featuring awkward mom moment's with Bakugo's mom.

So it was no surprise that there was a big biology/science project coming up. And everyone in class 1-A was a little on edge about it. Seeing this Aizawa let loose a little. "I will allow you guy's to pick a partner for the assignment. No more than 3 people for a group though. And pick your partner or team members wisely." Everyone was quick to partner up with a friend rather than someone useful.

Bakugo was going to partner with Kirishima but discovered that he partner with Mina and Kota. He grumbled and glanced around the room but any other option he had was taken. He looked at Mineta "No" Glanced at Hakagure "Definitely not." Until finally his eyes landed on you. You typically kept to yourself and often were left to do projects on your own. All of which turned out great in the past. Did I also mention you were a bit of a science/biology geek.

So it was pretty clear you and him were polar opposites though. You were carefree, mellow, and pretty delicate when you talked to others. having your moments of harshness if needed. You were like a gust of fresh air that never got old. Bakugo the loud, sometimes overbearing, and of course violent.

Match made in hell

He wanted to do it at your house more so. But you couldn't that day. So you had to pick his house to work on the assignment for today. "Turn around dumbass!" Bakugo hastingly shouted at you after you took notice of baby photos of him that were left out.

Hearing this you came face to face with his mom and how the two acted. You decided to let them have their moment and set up out in his backyard. "Where the fuck did she go?!" His mom chided him for not being more welcoming to his guest or keeping an eye on you.

Once he came out and you bickered with him over who should get the supplys from the toolbox. His mom peeped her head out and cleared her throat as bakugo huffed. "UUUGgh fine!" He grabbed the list of supplys and went back inside.While you waited Mitsuki stepped out and the two of you got accuainted.

Time Skip~

It has been a few days and one of Mitsuki's favorite past times is doing the dishes and listen to the two of you banter with each other. It almost reminded her and Bakugo's dad. (Who also took notice) both would laugh every now and then from how equally snarky you were with her son.

She would be that Mama Bear type who would get mad if anyone else did that to her son. But given you were friend's (few friends) and she every now and then started to notice how a little less reckless and rough her son was getting. It gave her peace of mind knowing you knew how to handle her son. She knows for a fact not many can.

She would sometimes let you even stay a bit longer to eat dinner. Only to at some point make it awkward or slightly tease Bakugo for getting all soft and less gruff if you were around.

"What the fuck happened to you swearin' like a sailor at the table?" She raised a brow at her son as she took a bite of her food, he grumbled "This damn idiot made a fucking swear jar." He did not realize his mistake until you lightly nudged him. "Bakugo that will be another 10 cents." He huffed and dropped his fork "Fuck!" He digged in he pocket as you watched. "Scratch that 20..."

You were practically like family by the end of the week. And Mitsuki finally sat you all down together while she was scrapbooking and saving photos. "Aww and here he is on his first day at the beach. He tried knocking other kids sand castle's down." Mitsuki pointed at the photo reminiscing as you held back your chuckles.

"Mom, can't you do that when y/n is gone Jesus!" Bakugo tried grabbing the scrapbook from his mom's hands. "Oh calm down this might not be her first time seeing your goofy face!" She flicked him over the head and sat back down. "Plus we got three more pages to look at." She chirped as she settled in looking over the other photos.

"Aww and here is me and your father cuttin' the wedding cake. Idiot got icing on my dress so we both ended up with it on our faces." She looked at the picture fondly seeing younger her and the man she loved laughing away at the mess.

Bakugo snorted "Laaame!" Mitsuki hit him on his head lightly. "You say that now but you wait before you know it. This will be you and y/n." She said with a devious grin as Bakugo flushed and stammered "No- no way that will ever happen hag!"

"Didn't you say something similar when Mr, Bakugo brought up marrying you someday?" You glanced at Mitsuki as she laughed "Yes, I did and look where we are."

It was a day before the project had to be turned in and Bakugo and you were finished your project early. So you decided to hand it in early to be done with it. "I have to admit... You are not a bad partner." Bakugo grumbled "And you are not as loud as I thought." You hummed with a chuckles as he glared. Not with your typical death glare but a softer one. "Oh shut up. Now let's turn this dam project in" He muttered annoyed and set the project on the table at the back of the class. "That would be ten cents." He rolled his eyes and thought. and gave you the change. "With how much you cuss you could have bought a house." It went silent as he looked at you .

"Where is all that change going towards anyway." You tilt your head and think "Hmmm not sure use it to how we'd like. We'll put it to use at some point for sure though." He nodded in a agreement "And one last question how about you put in some for all the time you cussed, nerd?" You sigh "Oh fine."You dug in your school bag and put some change aside to add to the jar later. "fifty cents should be enough." You muttered as he shook his head "No, scratch that add twenty cents more." Bakugo spoke coldly as you rolled your eyes and added more coins. As you two left the classroom Bakugo looked at you "Also another thing." Bakugo grinned watching your face turn in annoyance.

"Dinner is at around five today." You punched him in the arm lightly. "Damn you Katsu- Bakugo!" You fixed your wording as he glared at you. "It's Katsuki to you, bitch." You waved him off as you left "Yeah yeah see you at five, ya goof!"

Dinner went on as usual with everyone rambling about their day. It got to you "I was getting ready to fight someone who had the audacity to ram into me while in the hall's. But Katsuki had the great idea of dragging me back into the classroom." Bakugo spat back "The bell was about to ring what was i supposed to do, let you get detention?!" The two of you went back and forth with each other as Mitsuki and Masaru gleamed from opposite ends of the table.

"Alright, alright y'alls temper is getting hot not the food! Shush and eat it before it get cold for shits sake!" Mitsuki broke up the bickering and chuckled and she looked back at Masaru. "They argue like an old married couple." Masaru nodded and stiffled a small laugh. "Yes they do indeed."

"Daaad not you two old man." Katsuki grumbled as everyone went back to eating.

And yes Mitsuki noticed you two are on first name basis. Also yes, she has some wedding ideas saved to her Pintrest cause of you two. And most importantly yes, she loves you. Also she may or may not have slipped up and reffered to you as her daughter-in law by accident. (she was embarrassed too dw)

You also wondered what happened to some of the money in you now virtual tip jar. Since you deposited it into a shared account with Katsuki on an app. You did this so both of you had access to it.

Final grades were setting in as Aizawa handed out the rubric to everyone. Some students looked thrilled, others not so much. He handed you both your's and gave a nod. "You two did a better job than expected. Good work." Once he walked away Bakugo grabbed your rubric and looked it over before checking his. "What the hey Kats-" He tsked hidding his creeping blush. Making it seem like he was looking at his paper. "We both got 100%." You leaned down and picked up your paper from the floor but saw something glitter from your school bag.

You grabbed it carefully and pulled out a silver heart locket attached to a chain. "Who's is this?" You asked and raised up the necklace to the other girls in class. They all shrugged "None of us have something like that I don't think." Momo spoke with a shrug until Mina cheered "It is from a secret admirer duh!" Her and Hakagure bubble in delight at who it could be from. You sat down and glanced at bakugo who rolled his eyes. Until something caught your eye, the gold heart locket you saw. Concealed from under his baggy dress shirt.

#bakugo x reader #bakugo x y/n #bhna headcanons #bnha fanfiction #mha x reader #bakugo katuski x reader #katsuki x reader

264 notes · View notes

v1ctor14aaa · 1 year

Text

~ enha maknae line when u ignore them bcz they forgot ur bday ~

MASTERLIST | HYUNG LINE VER.

warning: way too long, cursing, mentions of abuse, mentions of trauma, attempted murder

genre: fluff, slight comedy

pairings: enha x y/n (fem reader)

featuring: chaewon (lesserafim), wonyoung (ive)

a/n: here we go, idk if u were waiting for this but eh🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️. im sorry if they are too long, lol i was enjoying sm. i recently just opened my asks so if u have reqs or wants to be added to my taglist hmu! english is not my first language so im sorry for the error if therew is one. lmk if i should stop making plots in these kind of posts lol. ALSO IM SO SORRY THIS WAS POSTED LATE, THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO POST A DAY AFTER THE HYUNG LINE BUT THEN I JUST SAW THIS IN MY DRAFTS...

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

tomorrow is a special day for you, it's the day you have been anticipating the most. you couldn't sleep the whole night because of the excitement for this day to come, your birthday. you weren't excited because it was your birthday, you were excited of what your boyfriend is planning for your day. however, when a day has passed and it's finally the day, you didn't expect your boyfriend to forget it.

kim sunoo (김선우)

it was night and you were already ready to sleep but when you went in the bedroom, you see your boyfriend smiling ear-to-ear looking at his phone.

"did something good happen??" you tried to peak at his phone but he immediately closed it and hugged you.

"YES but i can't tell you yet baby, it's going to be a surprise!! i will tell it to you tomorrow morning once you wake up."

there we go, what you wanted to hear before your bday starts. you thought that everything seems to be going fine and you were pretty much just glad your boyfriend didn't forget your bday. hearing sunoo, you were unable to sleep due to excitement to what could happen tomorrow in your bday. you've been thinking and wondering what could it be as you change positions on the bed non-stop. sunoo was still smiling and seeing you not being able to sleep he playfully rolled his eyes at you (still smiling), he knew you were excited but if he's going to be that honest he wasn't actually expecting you to be that excited. he saw you excited a lot of times and you weren't really acting the same but he shrugged it off and slept.

----- time skip -----

you woke up at 4am, you thought it was still night time so you checked the clock and saw the time. you couldn't believe you woke up at that time, oh wait let me repeat: you did believe you would wake up at that time because you're so excited and you couldn't wait for sunoo to surprise you. you tried going back to sleep but you just couldn't take your mind off about the "surprise", you were so curious, you were literally moving non-stop in the bed to the point you woke sunoo up.

"y/n, i know you're excited but please let me sleep. it's so early in the morning." he whined.

"can't you just do the surprise right here, i wouldn't be able to go back to sleep." you pouted.

sunoo who is half-asleep still managed to see you pout in the dark, he could never resist it so he sat up and said...

"I GOT TICKETS!"

"TICKETS TO WHAT OR WHERE?"

"ITALY, we're in first class too. oh, our flight is actually in 4 hours."

"WAIT WHAT?!"

hearing those last sentence made you panic, you ran to the cabinets and drawings to get packing. this whole thing wasn't supposed to be a surprise, sunoo just wanted to see how you would be if something like this happen. he likes to tease you every time but when you do it to him, you will regret your whole life.

midway packing, you were thinking how can sunoo possibly afford 2 first class tickets to italy so you decided to ask him.

"love, how did you afford the tickets?"

"it's not mine's but the company's."

"company? why would the company give you money to get tickets for something like this?"

"well obviously it's for work. i will model for milan fashion week this year, and i begged my manager to get you a ticket as well. isn't that great?" he smiled.

"oh." you were in utter shock finding out that it wasn't for your birthday but for his work, you thought it was sweet for him to beg his manager to get you a ticket as well but you were somehow disappointed. as you continued packing, a lot of thoughts are swarming in your mind. and, those thoughts just kept making you feel down. sunoo noticed how your mood suddenly changed, he thought that maybe you weren't happy due to the fact that you both are going to italy. he tried to ask you what was wrong but you were so down that you couldn't bother to reply so you gave him the silent treatment. sunoo doesn't like it when you ignore him. he would usually try to argue about it but seeing you down made him think if he did something wrong or what made you suddenly change your mood.

----- time skip -----

you both arrived in italy, you had to go out in different time because you were still trying to keep the relationship private since you both doesn't want issues to happen with your career. actually, everyone already knows sunoo is dating someone but they don't know that it's you. anyway, you went out of the airplane first without telling sunoo and that made him worried. he was looking you everywhere in the airplane plus he was a bit mad because you ignored him the whole flight. knowing him, he had a lot to share but you just weren't interested. sunoo's manager told him to go and leave now, he asked the flight attendants if there was any passenger left but there was none. the manager insisted to just call you and ask your whereabouts. sunoo gave in, and since he's a popular model a lot of paparazzi and fans that are waiting for him. no matter how many people were there he only focused on looking for you but there was just too many people that they had to leave immediately.

back to you, you are already in the hotel. already lying down the bed, watching the tv seeing sunoo just went out. when you saw sunoo on the tv, you had to turn it off. you were waiting for him to mention your bday the whole time but your expectations just got turned down, i guess. a few minutes later, sunoo arrived in the hotel. he was calling you non-stop and it looked like he was about to die when he couldn't see you anywhere. the manager volunteered himself to carry the luggages to his room so that sunoo can look for you. sunoo actually ran to his room but didn't see you there which made his heart drop, he was about to cry at this point.

he was about to go down using the elevator but then you went out of a room and he sees you, he ran to you and tried hugging you of course, but you immediately shut the door. he actually jumped when you closed the door because it was so loud, now he's just standing in front of the room, confused. he knocked and knocked but no answer. you feel bad for ignoring him but you just can't seem to talk to him at all. he was even shouting out of your room but his manager stopped him.

"sunoo, don't shout. the people might find out you are here."

"i dont care, i want to be with my girlfriend and talk to her."

"you should go to your room, i think shes just tired and went to sleep. you will be modeling tomorrow morning so you need to rest too."

sunoo was still being stubborn and tried to wait for you to come out but his manager managed to get him inside his room already.

----- time skip -----

it's the day for sunoo's modeling! normally, people would get nervous and excited for something like this but for sunoo, he wasn't even feeling anything at all except being worried. he's been thinking about last night. you were also unresponsive in the morning 'till now, hes at the site and getting ready while you went out to explore some shops. you tried to forget the fact sunoo just forgot about your bday which is why you went out to try and celebrate late. to your surprise while you were walking down the street, there was a huge crowd. well, guess who you saw

it was sunoo. for a second there, you forgot that you are supposed to be disappointed and mad at him but you got distracted by his handsomeness. like how can you get mad at this boy but you pulled yourself together and kept walking straight ahead but your dear boyfriend did not fail to notice you and shouted "y/n!". you were extremely terrified at that moment, you knew there were a lot of paparazzi and fans around and he just called you that. you were worried that someone might hurt you and suddenly will follow you around to ask questions about sunoo. thank gosh you were fast enough to think of a solution which is... to ignore him. everyone looked at your way but they didn't notice that it was you that sunoo was calling.

at this point, he got irritated of you. he didn't care about his career, he ran all the way to you and held your hand. you were shocked and before you even say anything, you both were already running. he dragged you to somewhere private.

he looked at you with an angry look and said "love, please talk to me. i miss you so much, it already has been 1 day since you ignored me. i want to know if i did or said something wrong. it hurts me that you don't even want to talk to me, i hate it when you do this."

"i...." you were to stunned to speak, this was the first time sunoo raised his voice to you. the first time you guys weren't in good terms or was it just you being so over dramatic that lead to this. you started crying, your back slowly slid the wall and sat. sunoo's heart dropped, he didn't want to make you cry. he didn't know what to do so he just hugged you "baby, no. im sorry, i didn't want to make you cry." you stopped crying and then you found this situation funny, you started laughing. dude, when i tell you, sunoo was so confused. he literally froze and started asking if this was a prank or some shit because it isn't funny.

"no, honey. i just find myself funny for crying for something like this..."

"you. you finally talked to me." he hugged you again but tightly this time as if you were going to disappear sooner or later. "now, tell me. why have you been acting that way all these time?"

you went silent again so sunoo sat beside you and changed the topic because he didn't want you to keep ignoring him, he already got your attention and he didn't want to risk it. you both had small talks and laughed at each other's jokes then you finally decided to tell him, you hesitated at first because it was embarrassing to say right now.

"sunoo, i..... i'm sorry for what i did yesterday and today. i wanted you to remember what was yesterday's occasion which is my bday but it seems like you forgot about it but still i shouldn't have acted that way and could've just mentioned it sooner. i was being stubborn, aren't?" you laughed and hid you face because you were so embarrassed. your face got red while you were talking. sunoo rolled his eyes and laughed at you "well, i'm sorry too for forgetting your bday which i can't believe that i did. anyway, my manager is probably looking for me now. love, is it alright if we celebrate your bday somewhere romantic later? im sorry that you didn't get to celebrate yesterday."

"yeah, you should probably go now. bye." sunoo stood and gave his hand to you. "answer my question, love. can we celebrate your lovely bday later?"

"ok. yes. yes, love." he felt relieved and smiled, he kissed you goodbye before running back to the site while you sat again and giggled like you just talked to your crush for the first time. you were wondering, however if what could've happened if you ran away from him earlier. i can answer to that, he would've probably argued with you.

yang jungwon (양정원)

you were so excited for tomorrow because it's your bday and especially because it's also your bf's day off. you can have all his attention to yourself for today not until he received a call.

"yoi, i received a call, i have this client who just hired me. heeseung was supposed to take the case alone but there was some problems that it needed about 2 people to take the case. unfortunately, there were no lawyers available for tomorrow so i had to take the job and help him." jungwon looked sad and so were you. you understood the situation immediately though, he's the best at his job.

the next day, you woke up first. you decided to cook breakfast for the both of you and wake up jungwon. "wonieee, wake up! you will be late for your job." you were about to leave the room but then he suddenly held you hand and pulled you onto the bed. he hugged you tightly and said "i don't want to get out of bed and leave you all alone here, i want to be with you for the whole day. wait, what about you? don't you have work as well?"

"oh uh, i took the day off today because i thought you'd also have your day off." he pouted and hugged you tightly.

"baby, please you're suffocating me. now, go and get out of bed. you'll be late."

----- time skip -----

soon, you got bored staying at your house. weirdly, your phone has been silent. it's a monday so everyone is obviously busy but your bday hasn't sent a happy bday message to you. he also didn't mention it earlier in the morning which made you think if he forgot about your bday now. you shook your head and thought it would be nice to visit him at the courtroom where his case would be held. you went in your car and went there.

when you arrived, there were only a few people there. you thought you arrived late but you asked and said that it'll start in a few minutes. shortly after, people have been entering the court room one-by-one and the judges also sat on their seats. you were looking for your boyfriend everywhere but looks like he still haven't arrived, you were about to sit but you bumped with someone.

"oh, sorry."

"wait, y/n??? baby, what are you doing here?"

"oh, hi! i was just bored at home so i decided to visit you here." you kissed him. he was about to talk but then his co-worker (atty. heeseung) said that they should go at their place now.

minutes later, the discussion started. you were sitting there not listening to what everyone's saying and you were just looking at him, adoring him. you forgot how handsome your boyfriend is. anyway, you realized that you completely forgot that it was your bday and you didn't want to celebrate it by sitting and listening to someone's case. you went to the mall to go buy some clothes and you were still hoping when will jungwon greet you a happy bday. you were already getting tired so you went straight home, you didn't even care id your bday remembers or not. you were simply tired already and wanted to sleep, and so you did.

----- time skip -----

as you were sleeping soundly, you felt a light tap on your shoulder. you opened your eyes slowly and saw your sister.

"oh gosh, you scared me. how did you get inside?"

"i have a spare key, remember?"

"oh, then what are you doing here? did something bad happened to you?"

"well...." she was looking down and she suddenly hugged you. "i'm sorry for busting out here, late at night but i really need your help." she looked at you, looking like she wanted to cry. you were alarmed at what she said so you asked "what kind of help?".

"m-my boyfriend has been abusing me and i escaped from him today. i can't do this anymore, i'm scared." hearing this made you so angry and just wanted to beat him up right there and then.

"chaewon, you should've told me sooner, i didn't even know you had a boyfriend but by any chance, did he follow you here?".

"no, he did text me though."

"i made his name in my contacts that in purpose because i was keeping our relationship a secret. i'm sorry, i should've told sooner." reading the texts made you scared as well but you were mad at him for beating your sister.

"chae, go stay here and lock the door, ill try and talk to your fucking boyfriend and beat him up if things go south, if ever that happens ill ask jungwon to be your lawyer and sue him."

"sis, wait, no. h-he doesn't know what you look like and you also don't know what he looks like either. i should come but ill just hide and call the police if something happens. i-ill text him so that he'll just come to us."

----- time skip -----

you arrived at the place. you didn't expect that the place would be a fancy restaurant, you thought that he must be rich. anyway, you found it weird that at a situation like this he would invite your sister to something this fancy. wouldn't people see if he beats up your sister or he's just that dumb, you thought.

"stay there at the bush and tell him you're here and make him go outside. i'll wait for him here"

you sat at a bench while waiting for him, there was not much people outside so it's easier to know if the person is your sister's boyfriend. you saw someone coming from the main door standing st the front, looks like he is looking for someone.

"SIS! THAT'S HIM!" your sister whispered.

if i'm going to be honest, you were actually scared for your dear life and you were unsure of what to do but as her sister you'll need to defend her and talk to her bf. you walked closer at him and said "are you my sister's boyfriend?" he looked at you with a confused look but soon realized that you came instead of your sister.

"follow me inside." and you did while your sister was still at the bush hiding.

your heartbeat went faster and you were somehow shaking. you kept holding back from punching him and stayed calm. as you walked further, the light went off. oh dear, that's when you lost it. you were so scared of what might happen to you there and scared that this might be your last day. then the lights opened again.

"HAPPY BDAY!!" you were so shocked that you fainted.

hours later, you finally woke up and you were already home. you actually thought it was just a dream but then a door opened, it was jungwon. he was so relieved seeing you finally awake.

"love, don't scare me like that. i thought we went far. i'm so sorry, i should've surprised you in a different way."

"no, don't scare me like that. i fucking thought i would die there, i can't believe these was all your plan." you put your hand to your chest and tried feeling your heartbeat. "my heart is still beating fast right now, i feel like i might've got a heart attack at that point."

jungwon suddenly ran out of the room and went back holding a cake. "you didn't get to blow the candles earlier, happy bday my love!"

"i actually thought you already forgot about my bday, thank you for remembering BUT please no more surprises like this. if you do this again next time, i think i might actually die already."

"don't say that but yes, i won't surprise you like that anymore." he laughed then suddenly stopped, as you both talked he remembers how you acted in the certain situation which made him worry and get concerned for you.

"y/n... if something like this ever happens, don't act rashly and call me immediately. love, i don't want you to get hurt..."

"okay okay, i know love. i still can't believe you asked chaewon for this evil plans of yours."

"yoi wait, did you really think i forgot your bday? were you waiting for me to greet you?" he smirked.

you looked at him shyly and guilty. "uh, noO."

"you know what? ill take my day off tomorrow and let's celebrate your day properly but first let's eat the cake!!"

so you may be confused but.....

jungwon is really not the type to forget your bday, he could never

which is why the storyline here is different

even if he did forget, he would've still remembered hours later because he always think of you<33333

welp, jungwon's might be the only one who has the shortest..... he remembered your bday so...q

if you guys want more with lawyer jungwon just hmu !!

nishimura riki, ni-ki (니키)

you were talking to your boyfriend over the phone and you were reminded that it's your bday tomorrow so you somehow waited for him to mention about it over the phone but to your surprise he didn't. ni-ki is someone who gets more excited in an event than the person who is hosting it or the person who's the event made for so it was really odd of him to not say anything about it.

the next day, you woke up with a messy hair and a drool on your mouth. you checked your clock and saw that you're about to be late for school so you hurriedly went to the bathroom and went downstairs to get your shoes.

"sweetie, you made him wait for an hour now. ALSO GO EAT."

you ran to the door and said "nah, i'm good mom. i think ni-ki's going to get me something later."

you thought that ni-ki is sitting on the bench but when you opened the door running, you accidentally bumped onto him.

"oops, sorry."

"and you're the one telling me to sleep early."

actually, your school is just near your home so everyday you and your boyfriend just go on foot. you guys were having a small talk then you realized that he hasn't greeted you a 'happy birthday' at all.

"so....."

"so...?" he raised his eyebrow at you. "so what?"

"oh, nothing. so um, have you finished your assignment?"

"since when do i even do that?" you laughed at him, knowing that he'll probably fail in your exam day which is next week.

----- time skip -----

you both arrived at the gate of your school and as you went in, you both parted ways. you two have a lot of similarities but when it comes to education, you both can't even be compared. however, you and your boyfriend are pretty popular. you're the valedictorian and he's just the hot guy everyone knew about.

as you went in your classroom, you sat and wondered what surprise is ni-ki's hiding. usually, ni-ki is bad at surprising because his acting is just terrible that it immediately gives it out but seeing him today made you think that he's finally good at this. you were thinking of him so much while looking outside the window that you didn't notice your teacher already standing behind you.

"ehem, miss y/n. is there something would you like to share with the class? i suppose not."

your seatmate, also your best friend giggled at you. "y/n, i know it's your bday but what made you think it would be a good idea to zone out when the teacher's here or.... you're thinking of that gigantic emo man again? i told you we should've became together instead lol."

"normally, i would've bickered with you for saying that but since you're the first to greet me then-" wonyoung gasped loudly while the teacher looks at the both of you but the teacher let you both go for now since you are the top of the class.

"don't tell me you both literally came here in school at the same time without him greeting you?! i knew you shouldn't have dated that man. it should've been me instead, like im even taller than him." she whispered, actually nevermind the whispered part because literally everyone heard wonyoung that time.

"wish i could say the same but anyway, im pretty sure he's going to surprise me sooner or later. you know him, he can't handle surprises and he's probably so excited right now telling his friends about it."

meanwhile ni-ki......

"hey bro, a dumbass in another class just told me i suit pink. i would literally look like shit if i do anything with pink, i just hate it."

"i think it would suit you fine, don't know." heeseung chuckled.

"shall we fight and see?"

yeah they started play fighting inside the classroom, just imagine that one time where ni-ki and heeseung was play punching each other while hee was holding a dumbbell.

back to you, you decided to visit ni-ki's classroom and maybe sneak up on him to see what is he up to. you looked through the classroom's windows and you saw that ni-ki was just playing and doing some random stuff in the classroom. finally, you thought that ni-ki forgot about your bday. it all makes sense, from him not mentioning about it and he looked like his usual self (like not being excited, etc.) to him just being normal in the classroom. you went back to your classroom and didn't pay attention much to that, hate to admit this but you were upset that your own boyfriend forgot about your bday.

----- time skip -----

the school bell finally rang for break time, everyone started to go to the cafeteria and eat. you also went with wonyoung while you guys were walking in the hallway, wony noticed that you seemed a bit down.

"hey, are you okay? you look like someone just threw up on you. okay kidding aside, are you okay?"

"yeah, i just feel tired right now thinking about studying advance for the exam next week."

"it's break time now so let's eat and stop thinking about your grades for now."

you guys were already in the line to get food and you sat down. ni-ki was waiting for you since forever and when he found you, he sat beside you in the cafeteria. wonyoung was also sitting beside you, at the left side.

"baby, i missed you." he was about to kiss you but you immediately put the spoon in your mouth since you aren't really in the mood for his lovey dovey. wonyoung side eyed you because what and ni-ki on the other side was shook.

"should i go to another table? it looks like there's something the both of you need to talk about." then she whispered to you saying "oh, i can tell he still didn't greet you huh?.." she elbowed you about two times and headed to the other tables with your classmates.

"so... jake and the others plan to go to the haunted house after school. wanna come?" you didn't respond, you were still thinking hard whether if he actually forgot about it or what. it wasn't a really big deal to you so you still somehow replied to him with a low tone "sure." ni-ki thought it was weird that you talked like that, he never even heard you that way. you both are always loud, to be honest.

----- time skip -----

classes ended and it is finally time to go home but you remembered you had plans to go to the haunted house so you looked for ni-ki, you were walking down the hallway where your boyfriend and the others at. there was a crowd, there was a lot of people but not that much. you also noticed your best friend there, you were about to call her but ni-ki noticed you walking in the hallway so he ran to you.

"hey, angel. are you ready to go to the haunted house??? don't worry i won't scare you like last time hehehehe" he laughed.

you didn't really want to ignore him but you were busy thinking if he did forgot about it or no, you were to busy thinking that you didn't hear your boyfriend that started talking to you.

"hello? babe? my girl to earth! hello! huh?" he waved his hands up and down in front of you thinking you were zoning out but no, you were still busy thinking. although, you did notice him waving had hands in front of you but you didn't care.

as you reached the crowd, they were talking about going to some restaurant after the haunted house and also heeseung will be the one to drive. wonyoung saw you and she just had to say something about "it".

"y/n, are you really sure of going to the haunted house? i don't want to see you suffer there."

"i'm fine. i forgot about what happened years ago, i mean i still remember but i don't care about it anymore."

"did you tell ni-ki about it? oh, definitely not because if you did i'm sure he wouldn't invite you to go to a haunted house."

"yeah, i think i'll just make him worry but he probably doesn't care as well. look wony, i can manage myself." you knew that was a lie, going back to the haunted house is a bad idea. a lot of tragic events has happened you in there which means if you go back it will probably trigger you trauma again. as ni-ki mentioned, you guys actually went to the haunted house one time. you didn't want to go but your boyfriend was with you so you thought your trauma won't get triggered. as you went in the haunted house, memories has been flashing in your mind. you couldn't breathe properly, ni-ki knew something was off but your acting with him was just so good even though you were shaking a bit. the memories of you getting almost killed by your aunt and uncle inside the haunted house, make you think that they're still there, in every haunted house ready to try and kill you again.

----- time skip -----

all of you finally arrived at the haunted house, everyone was getting ready to go in except you. wonyoung was looking at you the whole time, worried. while ni-ki tried to make a conversation with you in the car but you were busy thinking, not because if he forgot about your bday or not but because of the haunted house. you don't know what might happen to you this time, back then, you managed to act naturally with ni-ki but this time there's a lot of people.

"y/n, okay i'll be serious. why have you been ignoring me? did i-" before he could finish talking jake and the others were calling everyone in the car to go in the haunted house now. you just saw the building but all the memories are already flashing in to your mind. you don't even know if you can go inside because you felt dizzy and scared. you still tried to act natural because you didn't want anyone to think you're crazy at that moment. as you went in, you got dizzier and images of your past is all you can see. you were scared to death and hoping someone can just save you and go somewhere else. wonyoung looked at you with a worried look and held your hand in. "y/n, are you sure you're okay? i don't want to see you get hurt..." your boyfriend heard what she said and approached the two of you.

"why? did something bad happened?? don't ignore me, y/n, please.."

you whispered to wony "yes, i'm fine." you let go of her hand and turned your back. you were not fine. you were shaking terribly and wanted to cry at that point. everyone proceeded to explore and of course, your boyfriend went with you instead of the others, it was just the two of you. you were still shaking and you couldn't handle it anymore, so when ni-ki was busy picking up something, you decided to walk away from him and went in the nearest room. when you went in, that's when it got worsen. the room looked exactly like where you were when your uncle were hurting you. you went to one of the corners and sat, breathing rapidly and covering your ears because you were somehow hearing your aunt's voice whispering to you words. you cried and cried and couldn't handle it anymore, you didn't know what to do but luckily you went to the nearest room and ni-ki just found you in time. he didn't know what to do but he just ran over to you and tried to see what was happening. he was talking to you but you didn't answer. he was panicking so hard that he just hugged you that time, you needed it. for a few minutes, you calmed down while closing your eyes. still hugging him. ni-ki is still worried as fuck and you weren't responding to him. he held your hand and said that you both should go outside now, he didn't care if he's going to leave the others behind.

----- time skip -----

you still didn't talk but ni-ki took you at his home because you begged that you didn't want to go home and there wasn't any safer places for you to be comfortable so he took you to his home. he gave you a glass of water and hugged you again.

"i don't know why that happened but you can tell me whenever you're ready. im sorry i didn't know you were going through something but please i want to talk to you at least."

your mother called, you were supposed to not pick it up because you weren't really in the mood to talk but you still did and you put her on speaker.

"sweetie, do you ever plan to go home to celebrate your bday or are you going to celebrate it with ni-ki." and when your boyfriend heard that he stood up and was like HUH. while you were talking with your mother, he was walking back-and-forth not being able to believe himself for forgetting your bday and you were also going through something that he didn't know. you hang up on you mother and he was asking questions on where do you wanna go, you told him to the movies or in a restaurant. he literally brought a bag like he was taking care of a baby but yes it was full of things that you might need in case you went crying again.

----- time skip -----

you finally told him on what happened earlier, he was feeling sorry for you and was mad at your aunt and uncle.

"i can't believe i didn't notice that that was happening to you and i even forgot about your bday. im really the worst boyfriend ever.." he pouted and hugged you again.

"maybe but you aren't really the worst, if you were you wouldn't care about me at all." he hugged you tightly and you just found comfortable and safe around him, in fact you were luck that he was there earlier of he weren't you don't know what might've happened to you in there.

oh yeah, lol you both technically forgot about everyone. they were calling the both of you but didn't answer but seeing the car disappeared, they were pretty sure you went somewhere.

MASTERLIST | HYUNG LINE VER.

please do not copy/translate this and post as your own.

[ TAGLIST: --- ]

86 notes · View notes

writercole · 11 months

Text

Five Minutes More

Summary: Dean may have developed a crush on one of the girls he plays his mmorpg with. When she comes to town for work, feelings take over. Squares: Gamers spnfluffbingo Words: 2413 Warnings: Fluff, sweet Dean Credits: @princessmisery666 for looking this over ages ago. I'm lowering my expectations and posting it now. A/N: This was going to be a very long series but it's honestly a lot and I can't handle expanding it but it's so sweet that I have to share it.

Likes are loved but reblogs are golden. Patreon is gone. Tipping is available through Tumblr if you're so inclined.

Wednesday

“Alright guys, keep your focus. Another two percent,” the raid leader, Dean, better known in game as DWImpala, called over the voice chat. The only thing that could be heard over comms was the steady click-clack of key presses for spells and attacks. The numbers steadily decreased, chunks of the boss’s health falling off as the eighteen players gave their all.

The boss went down and everyone cheered, congratulating the lucky players who got loot and lamenting that they didn’t think the stupid horse existed since another week had gone by without a drop.

“Alright, I’m calling it here for the night,” he announced to his guild. “Next week we’re going to do a full clear, then go on raid break until we get new content.”

Players said their goodbyes and logged off the game and the voice server, leaving their officers alone.

“So, uh, I’m going to be out next week,” Scuttle announced. She was the healer lead and the few people who knew her well enough called her Y/N.

“Oh yeah? Hot date?” Demonfall, a DPS known as Ash, teased.

“Out of town for work, sadly,” she replied with a sigh.

“Anywhere fun, at least?” Dean questioned, disappointed that she’d be gone. She was great at her class, sure, but he’d also developed a bit of a crush on her.

“Not unless you count a tiny town in Kansas as fun,” she scoffed.

Dean’s heart skipped a beat when she said Kansas. He’d grown up there, hell, he still lived in Kansas. He knew the odds of her coming to his tiny town were slim.

But if he were honest, he wasn’t even sure he wanted to meet her. His crush was probably nothing; he didn’t even know what she looked like. But she was an awesome person from what he could tell.

He was vaguely aware of continuing conversation between the other two people but he wasn’t paying attention. His mind had gotten lost in fantasies and what ifs, trying to come up with a reason to find out more about what she did and where she’d be just to get a glimpse of her. He knew it was creepy to manipulate the conversation for information. So he kept his mouth shut.

The sound of a user disconnecting snapped his attention back to the present, his heart falling at the thought that he’d lost his chance to talk to her more. But when he saw that they were the only two left in chat, his mouth went dry.

“De? You still there?” she asked.

“Oh, uh, y-yeah,” he stuttered and cleared his throat. “Sorry, I kinda zoned out after you mentioned you were coming to Kansas.”

“Coming to Kansas? Is that where you are?” she questioned eagerly, anxious to get some kind of information from the private man she had started to have feelings for.

“Yeah,” he confirmed, “Lawrence.”

“You’re kidding,” she deadpanned, unable to believe what she was hearing.

“Uh, no,” he replied, confusion evident in his voice.

“That’s where I’ll be. If you have some time one day, maybe, if you want, you can show me where to get a decent burger?” Her voice held a lightness, a hope that he’d accept.

“I’d love to,” he answered enthusiastically. She’d been the first one to ask. She actually wanted to meet him.

“Really?! I mean, I’m there all week so it’s whenever you’re free but that would be amazing,” she babbled.

“So when are you getting in?”

“Sunday evening. I’m driving down and should be there somewhere around 5 or 6,” she informed, doing the math in her head about what time she needed to leave and how long the drive was.

“Okay, well how about we meet up Sunday evening? I can take you out for a late dinner,” he offered.

“That sounds great,” she agreed with a smile evident in her voice.

“Awesome. I’ll DM you my number and you can just text me when you’re close?” Dean suggested as he typed his cell into the chat box.

“I’ll text you from my phone so you can save my number, too. Just make sure your girlfriend knows who I am,” she chuckled.

“No girlfriend, sweetheart,” Dean clarified, “but you make sure your boyfriend is cool with it.”

“Yeah, about that,” she said softly, “we broke up two weeks ago.”

“What? Scuttle, why didn’t you say anything?” Dean scolded.

“I don’t know. I mean, it’s not like I was in love with the guy. So what if I caught him in his car with some redhead? It’s not a big deal.” Her voice contained a venom that Dean never wanted to be on the receiving end of.

“Where does this guy live?” Dean practically growled, anger at the man who treated her so badly burning in his chest.

She laughed then, a sweet giggle that doused the fire and diverted his attention.

“I’m serious, sweetheart. Say the word and I’ll take care of him,” he repeated.

“That’s sweet, De. But I’m fine, really. It’s getting late, though, and I have to work tomorrow and pack. I’ll see you Sunday?”

“Five minutes more?” he pleaded.

“Five minutes,” she confirmed.

Sunday

Five minutes turned into an hour. That hour turned into texting back and forth over the next few days, nearly all day long, and talking every night for hours. By the time Sunday came around, Dean was sure that he was falling for her.

As sure as Dean was that he was falling hard, so was she. Her ex had said that she cared more about that game and people she’d never met than him. In hindsight, he may not have been wrong. He was still a dick, though.

She texted Dean when she was leaving home and starting her drive. He smiled at his phone before slipping it back in his pocket and sliding back under his car, whistling as he worked. It was just a simple oil change and he was done in no time, deciding to wash and detail the car while he had time.

He sang along to Metallica as he dried the water, not realizing that he had a smile on his face until Benny walked over from next door.

“Wha’s gaht yah smilin’ like dat?” he teased in his thick Cajun accent.

“Nothing. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dean quickly denied.

“Who’z dah guhl?”

“What girl?”

Benny fixed him with a look, letting him know that he wasn’t buying it. Dean sighed and Benny smirked, knowing that he’d won that battle.

“Okay, so you know how I’ve told you about that girl I game with, Scuttle?” Dean started.

“Oh yeah, tha one you sweet on,” Benny replied.

“I’m not five, Benny. I’m not ‘sweet’ on her.” Dean rolled his eyes and Benny laughed before Dean continued. “Anyway, she’s coming to town for work and I’m taking her to dinner tonight.”

“You gonna tell Cher yah like her?”

“No. I mean, I don’t really even know her. She doesn’t even know me. And she just broke up with her boyfriend because she caught him cheating on her.” Dean returned to his work polishing the chrome trim on his car, pretending to ignore his friend standing behind him.

“Dean, she jus’ broke up wit’ her boyfriend. Don’ you think’ tha’ you should say somethin’ before some otha man does?” Benny chided as he shifted to see Dean’s face instead of the back of his head. “Girl like dat won’ be lonely long, brotha.”

“Jesus, Benny. Can’t I meet the girl before you give me the speech?” Dean whined as he stood up, his phone pinging in his pocket. He pulled it out without breaking eye contact with his friend, then looked down to see a message from her. He opened his phone quickly, finding a picture of a sign advertising Lebanon, Center of the Continental United States - 50 miles.

“How long?” Benny asked, not giving any other context.

“About an hour,” Dean replied without thinking, typing out a message and slipping his phone back in his pocket. He cringed when he realized what Benny had asked and saw the smug look on his friend’s face.

“Ah’m gonna go. See yah at work tomorrah. Gonna wanna hear all ‘bout th’date.” Benny strode away to his yard, leaving Dean to finish up the car and get ready to go out.

She texted Dean once she’d checked in and told him where she was. When he responded that he was on his way, her palms started sweating and her heart started pounding. She tried taking deep, calming breaths but nothing was helping the nerves.

A knock sounded on the door and she froze, panicked that he was already at the hotel. She was second guessing everything from her wardrobe to her hair to even meeting up with him. Another knock echoed through the room and she moved towards the door automatically, taking a deep breath as she turned the knob and pulled the door open.

Her breath caught in her chest when she laid eyes on him for the first time. There had to have been a mistake. There's no way this is…"Dean?" she asked as she met his gaze.

"Yeah," he confirmed with a wide grin. "It's nice to meet you, Y/N."

“Wow, I…you look nothing like I pictured,” she blurted out, quickly following up with “that’s not a bad thing! I just didn’t expect…you know…a model.”

He chuckled at her candor, ducking his head while the tips of his ears turned red. “You flatter me, sweetheart, but you’re the one who could be a model. I knew you’d be gorgeous but I didn’t expect to have the wind knocked out of me.”

“That’s sweet, De,” she giggled. “Do you want to come in? Five minutes and I’ll be ready,” she told him as she backed into the room.

“Yeah, five minutes. No problem,” he replied.

Dean took her to a small diner where they had burgers and pie, laughing and talking until they were the only two people left in the restaurant. It was still early so they opted for a ride around town with the windows down, the cooling air blowing around in their hair as Dean drove down quiet roads.

He kept stealing glances at her, drawn to the way the moonlight surrounded her in an ethereal light, making her glow. He pulled down a dirt road and turned off the headlights, letting the full moon be his guide.

“Is this where you kill and bury me?” she joked as he parked the car.

“Nah,” he chuckled, “this here is the best part of Lawrence.”

Dean stepped out of the car and walked around to her side, opening the door and offering his hand to help her out of the car. He kept a hold on it as he started to walk through the trees ahead of them.

She followed him quietly, trusting him completely. They stepped through the trees and she gasped at the sight before her.

Inside a quiet clearing was a small pond, barely big enough for a boat to float comfortably. Moonlight reflected off of the water, sparkling as the small waves moved in the breeze. A little dock led to a small gazebo over the water.

Dean took her to the gazebo and she looked around in awe; the roof was made of a clear material, allowing her to see the stars shining in the sky. Thick benches lined the walls of the wooden structure, a waist-high railing surrounding the edge, the rest of the space open, allowing the cool breeze of the night to pass through.

Dean watched as she took in the space, her eyes wide and her jaw slack. He knew this was the right spot. It’s where his brother took his wife for their first date, where Benny took his fiancee’, where his parents had their first date. The hope that something could bloom here lifted his heart and drove out the nagging thoughts of her leaving again.

She turned around to face Dean, finding him standing next to a pile of blankets and pillows that she was sure hadn’t been laid out when they got there. He reached out his hand and she accepted it, following his lead and settling into the soft mountain to watch the stars.

As the pair talked and laughed, they drifted closer to one another, lying on their sides facing each other when Y/N started to yawn.

“We should get you back to the hotel,” Dean told her quietly.

“No, no, I’m fine,” she insisted. “Five minutes more.”

“Five minutes then we head back,” he promised.

“Five minutes.”

Monday

Dean woke to sunlight streaming in his face and a heavy warmth across his chest. He stretched, thinking he was in his bed, only to be met with wooden planks surrounding him. Memories of last night came flooding back and his eyes fluttered open to find Y/N sleeping soundly on his chest, still in the gazebo over the small pond.

His gaze had found a home on her peaceful face and he stared unabashedly, counting the barely there freckles across her cheekbones, admiring the way her lashes brushed her cheeks, resisting the urge to trace the soft lines around her mouth and eyes. She began to stir and cuddled closer to him.

Dean prayed she couldn’t tell how fast his heart was beating beneath her ear in her half-awake state. His arm tightened around her, holding her close. He closed his eyes and wished for time to stop, to be able to stay in this moment forever. His hopes were dashed when his phone started vibrating in his pocket, the alarm he had set for work blaring through the silence.

Scuttle groaned and swiped towards the sound while Dean fished in his pocket for the offending device. He turned it off and gave his attention back to her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

“Hey, sweetheart, it’s time to wake up,” he coaxed, his hand trailing up the arm tossed over his chest.

“Noo, five more minutes,” she mumbled as she wiggled next to him.

“Five more minutes,” he agreed quietly, a soft smile gracing his face, the possibilities of the upcoming week shrinking under the impending end of their fling. He would enjoy the next five minutes of her in his arms as if it were the last.

#writercole #dean winchester #jensen ackles #five minutes more

46 notes · View notes

somewhereontheeastsideofsorrow · 3 months

Text

we all burn, burn, burn, and die. chapter 4 - today has been enough

masterlist part 3 part 5

AU where Mattheo's dad isn't voldemort, (voldemorts last name isn't Riddle), him nor the slytherin boys are deatheaters, they all live in a neighbourhood/village type thing together with a few other people. Readers' parents are loyal to voldemort but not her. She is a Gryffindor, and I will be using she/her pronouns throughout the story.

Story Summary: Y/N King is dating Mattheo Riddle, but Y/N is forced to make a decision by her father and voldemort himself that ruins everything. Will Y/N and Mattheo find their way back to each other in the end? Will Mattheo understand? How does Y/N cope with all the gut-wrenching shit I put her through?

WARNINGS, PLEASE READ: mentions of abuse, mentions of sex (slight smut), crack, fluff, ANGST, deaths of a major and minor character, car crash (not involving reader), alcohol, smoking, time skips, swearing, crying, mention of dead bodies. If I've missed any please let me know.

A/N: This was written on my phone, so sorry if there are mistakes. Also, please do not repost my work and claim as yours. If you wish to, ask me and give credit, but reblogs, comments, likes and recommendations are appreciated 😊

Today's the first day of classes, we are sitting in our form class, waiting for Professor Lupin-Black to give us our class schedules.

"How many classes do you guys think we will get together?" Enzo asks.

"Probably none." Draco groans tiredly.

Professor Lupin-Black passes us our schedules, and we immediately compare them.

"I have dark arts first." Max says.

"Same." Exclaims Enzo.

"You lot all have dada with eachother. I made sure of it." Sirius interrupts.

"Thanks Dad". Says Isaiah. We almost all have all of our classes together except for Draco and Max, who have charms when we have divination.

"Is everything okay with ducky?" Thomas whispers to me during dada while the others are engaged in a different conversation.

"Yeah, she was nervous about what would happen if Dad found out that she was in Hufflepuff. She's 11 Thomas she shouldn't have to worry about how bad her dad is gonna smack her around." I whisper back, making sure anyone wasn't listening.

"I know, but we have a plan for when she goes home, so she'll be okay, he won't find out." Thomas reassures. "It'll be okay."

"I hope so Thomas"

[Time skip to 3 weeks of classes]

"You're coming to the party tonight, aren't you love?" Mattheo asks as we lie in his bed.

I make a noise of agreement and press my face further into his chest. He leans down and kisses my forehead.

"We should start heading down for dinner." Matt says.

"Ughhhh." I groan as I stretch out my stiff limbs as I stand up. Mattheo gets up too, and we both walk to dinner hand in hand.

------

Me and Juniper are walking to the party from her dorm after getting ready.

"I hope I get laid tonight." Juni says out of nowhere.

"Good luck." I laugh at her randomness. She laughs too as we walk into the Slytherin common room where the party is. I see Matt and the others over by the couch with drinks in their hand. I walk over to Mattheo, and he puts his arm around my waist.

"You look beautiful love, if the party hadn't only just started, you would already be in my dorm, and your clothes would be on the floor." He mumbles quietly as he pulls me over to the couch and sits me on his lap.

"Matt, stop." I say as he presses a kiss to my neck. That isn't helping me not want my clothes to be on his floor right now, too.

"Don't worry baby, your clothes will be on my floor later tonight." He says in between, pressing a kiss to my cheek, then the corner of my mouth.

"Is that a promise?" I say, enraptured by the feeling of his lips on me.

"Riddle!" A voice snaps. "Stop kissing my sister." We look up and see Finn looking at us.

"As if you don't kiss Cedric, lover boy." I shoot back.

"Shut up." He mumbles as his face goes red. I laugh as he goes to get a drink.

"'Course it's a promise pretty girl, can't wait." Mattheo whispers in my ear before he takes the smoke from Blaise and offers it to me.

As the party goes on, people are getting drunk, and more people are dancing and snogging in the corner. The rest of the night is a blur, dancing with Juni, then Matt, seeing Finn and Cedric leave the party with a bottle of fire whiskey each in their hand, then waking up to see my clothes on Matt's dorm floor just as he promised.

I woke up the next morning with a weird feeling deep down maybe i needed to eat or something, I looked at the clock to see that it was 9 o'clock and that we had indeed missed breakfast. I sit up from the bed, untangling myself from Mattheo, feeling sore from what happened last night and getting goosebumps on my arms from not feeling the warmth of his body anymore, I stand up to head towards the bathroom, my legs shaking

"Look at you waddling baby, was my cock that good huh?" I hear Mattheo call out with no doubt a grin on his face.

"M'not waddling, I can walk perfectly fine." I say turning around to face him as heat fills my face.

"Go ahead then, prove to me that you can walk perfectly fine, if you can, I clearly didn't do a good enough job." He sits up to watch me walk to the bathroom with a limp.

"Fuck you." I say unimpressed, as I stop walking and turn to face him.

"If you want me fuck you again just say so my little penguin." He says grinning before standing up and walking to the bathroom and turning the shower on. I start to follow him but he comes back out and drapes me over his shoulder, taking me into the shower.

______

When we walk down the stairs that lead to the common room, Thomas, Theo, Enzo, Draco, Max, Blaise and a few others scattered all over the common room, passed out drunk.

"Should we wake them up?" I ask Mattheo.

"Nah just leave 'em, they'll wake up soon enough."

"Are you sure? They look dead." I laugh as I snap my fingers infront of Thomas' face and he doesn't move.

"Oh fuck, maybe they really are dead."

"Nope not dead, just hungover." Theo mumbles from the couch.

"Good morning to you too Theo." Mattheo says.

"It's definitely not a good morning, it's never a good morning when I'm hungover." He groans into the couch.

"We were gonna go see if there's any food from breakfast left if you wanna come?"

"Food?" Blaise said groggily. "I want food."

"Fucking hell, you scared the shit out of me, i thought you were asleep!"

"Nope, I've been awake the whole time, I was waiting for you guys to come down just in case you and your little penguin decided to bring your baby penguin making out of the shower."

"Blaise!"

"What? I did wait, but I got tired of waiting so I went up to the dorm, I was about to knock on the door when I heard Mattheo say he wanted to fuck his little penguin." He says shrugging it off. We both look at him as if he's grown two heads. "It's okay guys I'm not kink shaming you or anything, but i feel that i should call animal protective services."

"Do i even wanna know what he's talking about?" Thomas asks.

"Probably not." Enzo answers. "I only heard half of the story, and I'm kind of confused on why Mattheo wants to fuck little penguins?"

"WHAT! WHY IS MATTHEO FUCKING LITTLE PENGUINS?!" Max yells.

"For fuck sakes! I'm not fucking little penguins!" Mattheo yells back. By this point everyone has woken up, Blaise and Theo are rolling on the ground in laughter, Enzo, Thomas and Isaiah are concerned yet confused, Max appears to be in shock and feeling bad for the little penguins, and Draco is too hungover to be dealing with this shit at 9 in the morning.

______

We arrived at the great hall and there was still food left on the tables, as well as the odd group of people still talking. We put food on our plates and began to eat.

"How much do you guys remember about last night?" Max asks.

"Fuck all." Says Theo. The others hum in agreement."

Not long after Juniper walks through the doors and over to us and takes a seat next to me.

"You all look fucking miserable, well apart from Y/N/N." She says, grabbing a plate of food.

"Thanks Juni." Enzo says sarcastically, while flipping her off.

"Juni was your mission successful or not?" I ask referring to her saying she hoped she got laid last night.

"My mission?" She says confused.

"Yeah, your mission." I say back giving her a look.

"Ohhh, my mission." She says understanding. "My mission was very successful".

"You'll have to tell me details of your mission later."

"Yes Ma'am." She says smirking.

"Umm, is Juni a assassin or something?" Enzo asks.

"Or something." Juni replies and we both start laughing.

------

[2 days later]

We were in the middle of potions when Minnie walked and talked to Snape.

"Miss and Mr King, pack up your stuff and follow Professor McGonagall." Snapes voice drones across the room. Thomas and I look at eachother and stand up, putting our stuff into our bags and follow McGonagall out of the classroom and down the hallway.

"What's this about Professor?" Thomas asks.

"No need to worry, you're not in trouble, I'll explain when we reach my office." She explains. The weird feeling from the morning after the party hadn't gone away and only increased as we walked to her office. When we reached her office she sits us down on one side of the desk and herself on the other.

"Now, I would like to reassure you that there is no reason to worry, but it seems as though Finn didn't turn up for class nor mealtimes, yesterday and today, and I was wondering if you've heard from him at all, I've had Professor Snape go up to his dorm to see if he's there but his dorm mates said he wasn't there and they haven't seen him since Sunday night." Minnie says.

"I haven't heard from him now that I think about it because I usually see him in the common room and I haven't." Thomas responded.

"I haven't seen him either, not since Sunday." I say my concern growing by the minute. "Have you asked Cedric Diggory?"

"Mr Diggory has also been absent, we've called your parents your father answered he said Finn wasn't there, Mr Diggory isn't at his home either."

"Should we be worried Miss, it's been almost two days since anyone's seen them." Thomas voices.

"Not at this moment no, if they haven't turned up by tomorrow lunchtime, I'll make an announcement to the school during dinner asking if anyone has seen them." She reassures.

"OK, thanks, Minnie." I say as we get up to leave. "If you find out where they are, can you let us know, please?"

"Of course, now go back to class, you two, and don't worry, I'm sure he's okay." Minnie says. We walk out of her office and back down the hallway.

"Do you really think she believes he's okay? Or do you think she was just saying it to make us not worry." I question.

"I don't know Y/N."

"What if something bad happened to him, I've had a weird feeling since the morning after the party. What if Dad found out he was dating Cedric and-

"That's enough Y/N/N." He said when he cut me off. "I'm sure he's fine." He says maybe trying to convince more than just me. "He's probably ran off with Cedric somewhere."

"Yeah."

------

We were sitting in the Slytherin common room after dinner just talking. I was in Mattheo's lap on the small couch and the boys and Juni and a few others were scattered over the rest of the couches and chairs.

"Oi twinsies, what happend with Minnie today." Dylan asked.

"She was asking us if we'd seen Finn, apparently he hasn't been in class or at mealtimes since Sunday dinner." Thomas explains.

"That's must be why Snape came up to our dorm and asked if we'd see him." Tom said.

"Yeah, Cedric's gone too, Minnie said if they haven't shown up by tomorrow lunchtime, she'll make an announcement to the school during dinner to see if anyone's seen them and go from there." Thomas replied.

"Are you alright, love?" Mattheo whispers in my ear.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Don't do that, tell me the truth baby."

"If anything I'm just worried, he at least could've called, texted or sent an owl, but nope, nothing but radio silence."

"He'll show up soon enough, love."

"What if he doesn't." I say my voice getting louder. "What if he's dead in a ditch somewhere."

"You don't know that though do you?" He says softly, while stroking my arm up and down. "He's more than likely just gone somewhere with Cedric. Okay?"

I sigh and lean into his chest.

"Probably, but that doesn't explain why he hasn't at least made some form of contact." He just kisses my forehead and pulls me in tighter to him, wrapping his arms around me.

------

I woke up to a knock on the door of my dorm, who the hell was knocking on my door at 3 in the morning. I open the door to see Professor McGonagall standing there with a dressing gown on over top of her pyjamas, with a distraught look on her face.

"Miss King, please follow me to my office it's urgent. It's about your brother." She stated in a shaky voice as if she was trying to keep her composure.

"Finn? Is he okay". I responded as I closed my door behind me and followed her down the stairs.

"Yes, it's about Finn. But we'll talk more in my office."

The rest of the walk there was filled with the sounds of our footsteps as we walked through the halls. When we arrived at McGonagall's office, Thomas, Leo, Prim and Arlen were there, as well as Snape, Sirius, Mattheo, Max, and Cedrics family.

"What's happend? Where's Finn?." The shakiness in my voice that I tried to hide showed through.

"Take a seat Miss King." McGonagall said as she gestured to the seat next to Thomas. I sat down and looked at him and by the look on his he seemed know just as much as me.

"I received a call about an hour ago from the ministry police." She hesitated to say the next words. "2 teenage boys were found in a crashed car in the country, the ministry police called me because fire whiskey and wands were in the car and they recognised a dark mark on one of the boy's arms, they figured they might be Hogwarts students so they asked me to come and view the bodies to see if i recognised th-" she blew out a breath before continuing. "T-to see if recognised them, I did. It was Finn and Cedric. I'm so sorry." The earth felt as if it went still, as if it all been turned to stone, it was so quiet you could a pin drop.

"No-nonono, my baby, by baby boy, he's gone." The unsettling screams of Cedric's mother rattled throughout the heavy room. I looked around the room in disbelief, as if everything was in slow motion, I saw Prim and Leo crash into Arlen sobbing, Arlen having to brace himself against the wall, Max fell back into Sirius, Sirius comforting him, with a hug and rubbing his back, I felt pang of longing, longing to have a father who comforts his children instead of beating them, I looked at Thomas next, he was looking down at his hands on his lap, mouth agape, Mattheo had tears on his face I'd only seen him cry once, the day of his father had been dead for 15 years, which was only about 4 months ago.

"What?" I said as I looked at the woman in front of me who seemed to have aged 10 years in a matter of seconds. She cleared her throat before she answered me.

"Finn and Cedric have passed away." She said somberly. Mrs Diggorys cries became louder and the statement. Arlen was crying now, so was Thomas and Sirius, Leo and Prim seemed to cry harder too. Mattheo came next to me wiping his tears away, he tried to turn my face towards him, but I resisted and looked back at McGonagall.

"Passed away? He's dead?" She nodded her head and Mattheo whispered my name. "Are you sure it's him? It might be someone else." I didn't want to believe her. Mattheo said my name again but I ignored him. "No, no, no, you don't get to tell me that." I said standing up, my chair falling back, that weird feeling turned to what I can only describe as a mix of anger, denial, shock, numbness, my stomach sunk, i thought i might throw up if it weren't for the now seemingly distant cries around me. "No." My voice trembled, eyes burning as tears made their tracks down my face. "No, you're lying! He's not dead! Don't tell me that." I hissed. It had to be a sick fucking joke, he can't be dead not when he was so full of life almost 3 days ago.

"Y/N." Mattheo quaked into my ear. I turned to him and looked him in the face.

"Their lying Matty, their fucking lying. I already have 3 dead brothers. I don't want another one, don't wanna 'nother one Matty." My voice strained, eyes wide as I fell into him, sinking to the floor.

Tears were rapidly falling now, I couldn't stop them, my face in Mattheo's chest as he held me on the floor. I could see Thomas still sitting on the chair infront of McGonagall's desk.

"Thomas." I cried. "Thomas." I outstretched my arms, and he rushed to the floor, hugging me back. Mattheo hugged me closer to him and resting his head on mine pressing kisses to the top of my head. By now Arlen, Prim and Leo were on the floor too, Prim gripping tightly to the back of my shirt, I moved one arm behind me to pull Prim next to me and on to my lap, Mattheo had pulled away to make room for Arlen and Leo. Leo was beside Thomas and Arlen went behind us pulling us into his arms as much as he could. He gestured for Mattheo to come into as he fell behind me hugging me and Prim, Arlen placed a hand on Mattheos back as we sat in the middle of the floor grieving Finn.

-----

Mattheo and I were in my dorm, sitting on my bed. He had just helped me gather some things to put into a bag so that I could go back to the house.

"Do you need anything? Want me to do anything?" He mumbled as he was kissing my head.

"No." I replied. "Just hold me til I have to go." More tears fell down my face onto his shirt. "Today has been enough."

-----

Chapter title is from the poem Fear and Friday's by Zach Bryan.

I do not, and will not fear tomorrow Because I feel as though "today has been enough"

11 notes · View notes

dp-marvel94 · 1 year

Text

Holiday Truce 2022

Summary: For @ionanana

A sick and sleep deprive Danny is failing to balance his ghost hunting and student task efficiently. Eventually, his body can’t keep up and he collapses, unable to do his night routine:

Danny only got up to his elbows before Jazz pushed him down, back onto his bed again. “You need to recover. Lay down!”

“No. I have a job to do.” Danny fought through a cough. “Who’s gonna do it? You?”

The girl swiped his thermos off his desk. “Yes.” Her hard look pierced him. “You better still be here, sleeping when I get back."

Word Count: 4,542

AO3 and Fanfiction.net

Notes:

Merry Christmas! Happy New Years! And Happy Holidays! Here is my holiday truce story, for @ionanana ! I went with your second prompt.

Prompt 2:Sick and sleep deprive Danny failing to balance his ghost hunting and student task efficiently. (Anxiously and angst Danny) His body can’t keep up and collapse. Not able to do his night routine for a few days. “You need to recover GO lay down!” “No I have a job. Who will cover for me! You?”

So enjoy a sick fic with some light angst. Warnings for mentions of blood and injury. Mentions of snot, vomit, and other sickness related ickiness. Mild cursing.

“Lunch. Finally.” Danny groaned with tired relief, approaching his friends’ lunch table.

The boy dropped his tray onto the surface…. And scowled. The plastic tray clattered, dropped too roughly. His peas rolled off the plate, the meatloaf sliding with a juicy squelch. His water bottle wobbled and tipped. The lid, un-securely fastened, popped free, water pouring out all over his mediocre lunch.

The half ghost rubbed his head, words slipping out through a sudden cough. “Can you… not?” He narrowed his eyes, complaining at his lunch as if that could make it ignore the normal course of gravity.

Tucker offered him a sympathetic wince. “At least your milk survived.”

“But the rest of my lunch is ruined.” Danny sniffed, sinking into his seat with crossed arms.

The boy didn’t even bother cleaning the mess, instead ripping open the milk carton and downing it. Frowning, he started fishing peas out of the lake that his food had become.

“It’s been one of those days, huh?” Sam offered, holding out an apple.

Danny dropped the spoon, giving up after the first soggy bite. “One of those weeks.” He took the fruit and bit it. “The ghosts won’t leave me alone.” He grumbled. “Desiree. Technus. Skulker. Johnny and Kitty. Even the freaking Box Ghost.” A yawn. “And then there were all these ghost animals last night. Rabbits, deer, wolves, freaking penguins. I keep catching them. And. They. Keep. Coming. Back.” The boy dropped the apple core, rubbing his face. “It’s like they can’t stay in the portal for five seconds.”

“When’s the last time you slept?” His goth friend’s eyes shone with worry.

“I don’t know.” Danny whined. “Monday maybe.”

“It’s Thursday, Danny.” Tucker deadpanned.

The half ghost shrugged, finishing the apple.

“Maybe you should skip next period and take a nap.” The technogeek offered quietly.

Sam leaned forward conspiratorially. “Yeah, we’ll cover for you. You should rest.”

“I…” Cough. “Can’t.” Danny shook his head. “I’ve got a quiz next period. And last period, we’re doing the review lesson before the test tomorrow. I already missed so much this unit. I need to take notes. And after school….” A groan. “I managed to convince Skulker to wait until after class to try to skin me. And I’ve got so much homework.”

“Dude.” Tucker’s eyes widened, like he was the one about to be skinned, not Danny. “Let us handle Skulker if he shows up.”

“If.” The half ghost chucked, drily. “He will. If there’s any time that you can trust his word, it’s when he’s talking about skinning me.”

“We’ll cover for you with class. And you can copy off me for the homework later.” Sam continued, ignoring the statement. “Go get some sleep. We’ll deal with the ghost.”

“No, guys. Skulker’s my responsibility.” He reached for his water bottle; there were a few unspilled sips. “And you cover for me all the time. You’ll get in trouble again. I can’t- Achoo!”

Briefly, icy blue light flashed in his hand, his core jolting. With a gasp, Danny dropped the water bottle. The supercooled plastic shattered, sending shards of ice splattering across the table. The half ghost groaned, frustratedly face planting onto the table.

“Danny…” Sam’s soft, concerned voice.

Of course, then his ghost sense went off.

Danny stood with hardly a thought. He wobbled slightly, a sudden tiredness weighing down on him. “Hopefully, I’ll be back before next period starts.”

“Danny, wait.” His friends called after.

The boy hurried off, half aware of his friends quickly following. But he couldn’t think about them, couldn’t worry. He needed to find a place to transform, figure out who the ghost was, and deal with them before they possessed someone. Or threw knives at them. Or destroyed more public property which Phantom would, of course, get blamed for. Like he had any control over what walls Technus threw him into.

Danny rounded the corner. There, the boy’s bathroom. He’d dip into a stall and-

Another puff of his ghost sense and ghost alarm went off. Sam and Tucker yelled behind him, their footsteps quickening. Three seconds later….

“I’ve got you, welp!”

A metal hand pulled him through the ceiling.

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

“Skulker is a f-king liar.” Danny cursed to himself, flying back to the school. One hand clasped hard around the forearm of the other, a meager effort to keep the ectoplasm gushing from the slash where it belonged. “Wait ‘til after school my ass, you ectoplasmic slime.”

The hunter had grabbed him, dragging him to the football field before Danny even thought to transform. The half ghost pulled out of the hold, hightailing it back to the school for his thermos… only to end up chased by Skulker for the next hour.

Downtown, over the mall, in the woods at the edge of town. The mechanical ghost stabbed and blasted. Danny dodged and shot back.

Skulker, leering over him. The half ghost darted down but…. the mech was still an arm’s length away. A miss-timed sneeze. Danny blinked. Skulker slashed with his blade.

“Ow! You tin can!” The boy growled out, arm screaming from his wound.

Somehow, he’d managed to get the other ghost in the thermos, despite the pain and fatigue dragging him down.

Now, Danny phased through the school’s roof and into the janitor’s closet. He landed soundlessly, his tail morphing back into legs.

The boy scowled, holding the occupied thermos up to his face. “I should squish you, like a bug. It wouldn’t ever be hard. You… you gloop of jello.” No response came from the container. Danny frowned, shaking his head. “I’m too tired for this.”

He put down the thermos and summoned the rings. With a flash of light, he was human again, warm, solid, and oh so tired.

A yawn. The boy moved his hand, to cover his mouth. And- “Shit.” A stab of pain. He glared down at the injury. “Great. I’m still bleeding.”

Letting out a defeated sigh, Danny slid down the wall, slumping on the floor. He turned his hands intangible and pulled the first aid kit out of the ground.

With bleary eyes, he wrapped the cut. Another yawn. “So… tired.” He coughed. “Stupid cold.”

One final tug on the fabric and the bandage was secured. He lowered both arms to his side, his head rolling back to brush the wall. “Should get up and get to class. What time is it anyway?” He stared at the ceiling, as if it had the answer. A blink. “Right. My phone.”

He pulled the device out of his pocket and dimly stared at the numbers. A groan. “Great. I missed the quiz.” There were only five minutes left in his third period. “No point in going to class now.”

Danny hung his head. He was so tired… He sniffed. “Just…. Five minutes. Then I’ll get up. Five minutes…”

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

The half ghost jerked up with a gasp. Where was- Oh, the janitor’s closet…. He was still in the janitor’s closet? Blearily, he flailed for his phone. Had he fallen asleep? He must have fallen asleep…

He blinked at the time. Ten minutes ‘til school let out. He…he slept through all of fourth period. “No.” The boy complained, reaching up to rub his eyes. He sniffled, his hand going to his nose and.. “Gross.” He grimaced. Great. Now his nose was running.

The phone in his hand vibrated. Danny turned his head down to look. A text from Tucker.

Dude, r u comin 2 class?

A frown… right. His friends hadn’t heard anything from him since he’d left at lunch. He typed out a quick response.

Fight w Skulker went long. Im just going home.

A few seconds later.

Go get some sleep! Sam insisted.

Danny snorted. As if he could do that, not with all the work he had to do.

The boy stood, stretching out stiff muscles. He winced. “Remind me not to sleep sitting up.” He said to no one in particular.

Danny picked up the thermos. With another flash of light -briefly making his head throb- he transformed and flew away.

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

Minutes later, he arrived home. Landing in his room, he changed back. Lucky for him, his parents were out of town at a conference; putting Skulker back in the portal was easier than ever.

That task down, Danny sat down to work on homework. Brow scrunting, he looked around for his bookbag. “Where is it?” He rubbed his forehead, just a spark of pain blooming there. “I left it at school. Stupid…”

He sent a text. I left my hw @ school. :( Can u bring it 2 me?

An affirmative from Sam and the half ghost just sat to wait.

Twenty minutes later… the front door opened downstairs. Three pairs of footsteps proceeded up the stairs. A knock sounded at his door.

“Come in.” Danny called.

The door opened. It was Sam, Tucker, and Jazz.

His sister frowned, eyeing the bandage on his arm. “Are you alright?”

The half ghost waved her off. “Skulker barely scratched me.”

“Are you sure?” Jazz asked.

“Yes, I’m-” Cough. “Sure.” Danny frowned. Stupid body betraying him.

“You’re getting sick too?” His sister’s eyes shone with worry.

“It’s not that bad.” The half ghost denied, despite the growing headache, nose feeling like it was full of cotton.

His friends and sister traded skeptical looks; they didn’t believe him….

“Look.” Danny waved his hands, quickly trying to divert that train of thought. “Did you guys get my homework?”

Tucker started. “Danny, I think you need to sleep, not worry about-”

“I did sleep.” The ghost boy interrupted. He blushed, realizing what he’d said. “I mean…. I got back so late from fighting Skulker that there was no point going to class so I took a quick nap. And I feel so much better now.” It wasn’t a complete lie, right? “So I’m good to go. I’ve got a bunch of stuff to catch up on…”

More worried looks were traded, while Danny tried his best to look innocent and perfectly healthy, like his nose wasn’t actively trying to become a facet.

Finally, Sam sighed. “Fine.” She pulled sheets of paper out of her bag. “Here are the notes from the review in history today.”

“And this is from science.” Tucker offered more notes.

Jazz crossed her arms, still scowling. Then, tentatively… “Alright.” She sighed, pulling something out of her bag. “I told Mr. Faluca that you were sick and went home. Which is apparently true….” She narrowed her eyes. “He gave me this make-up quiz and said you could do it at home.”

His sister held out the sheet. Danny reached for it but at the last minute… “Hey!” Jazz pulled it away.

“At least take some cold medicine first.”

Danny’s own eyes narrowed. “I don’t need any.”

A silent stare down ensued, Jazz holding the paper out of reach while the boy scowled. But Danny cracked first. “Fine.” His sister had learned that death glare from their mom after all. “I’ll take something.”

“Good.” Jazz dropped the paper before turning around and leaving.

Sam raised an eyebrow while Tucker laughed. “Man, you really want to take that quiz, huh?”

Down the hallway, the bathroom door opened.

Danny crossed his arms. “I don’t really have a choice.”

“You know. You could just rest. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if you don’t get it done tonight.” Sam countered.

The boy winced at the wording. “I’m fine.” He ground through his teeth.

Jazz returned with various bottles of liquid and pills. “Pain Reliever and Fever reducer.” She pointed. “Nasal Decongestant. Cough Suppressant. Expectorant.” She picked up a bag of what looked like colorful wrapped hard candies. “Cough Drops. These are really good for a sore throat.”

Danny just stared at all the options.

“Here.” With a roll of her eyes, Jazz handed him two pills and a bottle of water. He duly swallowed. “And this.” She poured some thick orange liquid into a clear cup.

The ghost boy also took and swallowed that. He stuck out his tongue. “The grape tastes better.”

“Well, we only had the orange.” Jazz crossed her arms. “I’m leaving these here. And don’t push it with the homework.” She pointed threateningly. “I’ll heat up some soup for dinner and call you when it’s done.”

“Fine.” Danny complained, downing the rest of the water bottle. “And… thank you.” His shoulders lowered, just a hint of gratitude in his voice. His sister and friends were trying to help him out after all, even if he really didn’t need to be babied like this.

Jazz just nodded in acknowledgement before turning to leave.

“We should head out too.” Tucker said sheepishly, clearly not wanting to go.

“Yeah. I wasn’t supposed to come over in the first place.” Sam crossed her arms. “Mom’s still pissed about last week.”

Danny winced at the reminder. “Yeah… Sorry.” That had been his fault after all; they wouldn’t have been out fighting ghosts at three am if it wasn’t for him.

“It’s not your fault.” Tucker offered, eyes softening.

That really wasn’t true…. But Danny didn’t argue. Instead he wished his friends a good night, promising to call or text if he needed help with anything, ghost or homework related.

Now alone, Danny turned his attention to his homework. He coughed, the motion shaking his lungs, his chest. He grabbed for a tissue, grimacing at the feeling on his tongue. He spit. Well, the expectorant was already working. He sighed. It was going to be a long night.

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

Danny groaned, rubbing his aching head. “No! Not! Again!” Cold mist poured out of his mouth and he almost felt like crying.

He’d been home for five hours and his ghost sense still wouldn’t stop going off. He’d fought the Box Ghost, a weird cat, a bunch of ghostly dudes in suits, a snake with two heads, and what might have been a minotaur.

“Who is it…” A lung hacking cough. “now?!”

A hysterical cackle echoed from out his window. “Ghost child! It is I Technus! Master of all things electronic and-”

Danny transformed, body slamming the ghost. “Why can’t you leave me- Achoo! Alone?!” He sneezed, sending shards of ice shooting out.

“Careful! My circuits!” The electronic ghost shocked him.

The half ghost let go, falling.

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

Thirty minutes later, Danny slunk home, metaphorical tail between his legs. He’d captured the ghost, but not before Technus devastated the local Apple Store. The boy phased through his window, flopping onto his bed.

“Stupid” Cough. “Technus” Cough. “Stupid ghosts.” Cough. “Stupid electricity.” Cough. “Why’d he’d have to” Cough. “Electrocute me?!” Cough.

Danny’s chest shook, coughs racking his body. He transformed and-

Exhaustion crashed over him. He saged, hardly able to sit up. So tired….

Another coughing fit. He flailed for water. There. Jazz must have left that while he was gone. That was nice.

He practically inhaled the liquid. Then….

His eyes flitted to his bed, the papers and books spread around him. His gaze misted. He’d been sitting on this bed, trying to do homework for hours. But his stupid ghost sense kept going off… So many ghosts… he’d barely ever started.

There was so much homework. That essay for Lancer; they’d just finished… what was it? Of Mice and Men or something like that. And the math worksheets. A make-up quiz of science; Mr Faluca let him take it at home, open book, but that was just more work. And there’s the history test. He needed to study. And an art project. How was he supposed to come with what to draw?

His eyes were swimming. He could barely keep them open. There was so much to do and he just wanted to sleep. But… but…

Danny struggled to focus on his science quiz. He had to do this. He had to. He had to get a good grade. How was he supposed to get into NASA if he was failing science? How was he supposed to become an astronaut if he was failing all his classes?!

Him, an astronaut…. He sniffed, his chest shaking with another cough. A wet chuckle exited. Him, an astronaut. Who was he kidding? He’d be lucky if he ever got into a community college at the rate, let alone Nasa. And it’s not like he would pass the physicals, not with his weird ghostly biology.

He’d never be an astronaut. Ten years from now, he’d be working at the Nasty Burger. Or if he was lucky, he’d take over FentonWorks. Another laugh, this one almost hysterical. He’d be fighting ghosts, for the rest of his life.

Just then, his ghost sense puffed out of his mouth, again. Danny whined, the sound watery. “Why me?” He stood from the bed, wobbling. His knees buckled.

“Woah.” Jazz’s hands appeared on his shoulders. When had she come in? “I think you need to go to bed.”

Danny flopped down, lithlessly. Everything was swimming. He blinked. It wouldn’t clear up. But… “No.” He muttered.

“Yes.” The word was direct, without question, punctuated by his sister closing his binder and shoving it onto his desk. “Lay down. I’ll get you some more cold medicine.”

“No.” Another shaky effort to stand. “I need to…” Go fight the ghost. He hated it. He hated it but he had to. It was his fault.

“Danny.” Jazz scowled, gently pushing him back down with one hand. “Rest. You need to sleep.”

The boy breathed out more cool, blue mist. He groaned again. “Ghost sense.” The ghosts, the portal were his fault and someone could get hurt, because he wasn’t there. “I have to-”

He only got up to his elbows before Jazz pushed him down again. “You need to recover. Lay down!”

“No. I have a job to do.” Danny fought through a cough. “Who’s gonna do it? You?”

The girl swiped his thermos off his desk. “Yes.” Her hard look pierced him. “You better still be here, sleeping when I get back. Or I’ll use this on you.”

The boy huffed; he couldn’t argue anymore. Not with his head throbbing, vision swimming, nose running, throat aching. Everything hurt…

Defeated, he collapsed onto the bed.

“Drink this.” Jazz shoved another cup, this one with red liquid, into his face. “Open up.” Obediently, he drank and swallowed.

“Yucky.” He winced.

“It’ll help you sleep.” His sister reassured, head turning as if looking for something.

Cold air stirred in his lungs again. “Jazz, the ghost…” He half-slurred.

“There it is.” Jazz’s eyes widened. She reached under his bed for… the ectogun he kept under there. “I’ll deal with it. You sleep.”

The boy whined in his throat, worry blossoming.

“I’ll be fine.” His sister stood and walked toward the door. She paused at the threshold. “Sleep well, little brother.”

The lights flickered off and Jazz closed the door, leaving in darkness.

“Jazz.” The boy whimpered her name.

But his sister didn’t hear it, off to confront whatever danger he should have been. He should get up and help her, at least. She couldn’t handle the ghost on her own. He couldn’t…

The darkness pulled the half ghost under, sleep taking him.

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

Time passed in flashing moments. Brief snatches of consciousness. His ghost sense, still going off. So cold. So many ghosts. Another breath. It felt so cool….

He laughed, blearily. It almost felt good, like… like… What was it? Something Jazz gave him to put in his mouth and… make his throat feel better. It was like…. Cough drop. It was like a cough drop.

Something cold and… metal? In his mouth, under his tongue. Blurry red hair. She was… shaking something? “You’re way too hot.”

A cup, a white oblong pill. “Take this.” Medicine. He needed to swallow the medicine.

“Good job.” Jazz patted his head.

Jazz… she went off to do… something. Stomach churning with worry. Was she okay? Was she safe? The ghosts… did they hurt…

Danny drifted off again.

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

Later. The smell of chicken broth and noodles.

“Here.” Jazz helped him sit up. “You need to eat.”

Danny sniffed the food and…his stomach turned. He shook his head, trying his nose away. “Icky.”

“I know you feel icky. It’ll be better if you eat.”

His insides churned. His mouth tasted hot and acidy. But Jazz said it would help? Maybe he should try.

A tentative sip….

Danny turned to the side and gagged, throwing up in the trash can.

Jazz rubbed his back, whipped off his face. “We’ll try something else.”

Chalky pink medicine. Ginger ale and crackers. Danny managed to a few sips and nibbles before he fell asleep.

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

Flashing green lights. Shouts. Curses. A familiar cold. An electric hum…The sounds of a fight.

Panic claws up his throat. Ghost fight. There was a ghost fight. He needed to get up. Needed to stop the ghost. But… so tired. Everything was so heavy.

“Use your words. You don’t have to-” That was Jazz. “Ah! Now that was uncalled for. I’m trying to help. Now you listen.” Jazz was…

Fuzzy blackness pulled him down.

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

Awakening. Sweat running down his back. Shaking hands. A cold rag on his head. Someone was giving him gatorade. It was grape.

A beep. “In the park.” Tucker’s voice.

“I’ve got it.” Sam. The sound of an ectogun priming.

Why do his friends look blurry? They walked out the door… “Where…” Danny mumbled, weakly reaching.

“They’re dealing with the ghost.”

Eyes darted up, focusing. Red hair, a worried smile. Jazz. Jazz was safe. But… “Ghost?” His core pulsed, anxious.

“They know what they’re doing.” Fingers brush through his hair. “Do you want to try some food, now that you’re awake?”

Danny nodded, too tired and fuzzy to argue. Jazz offered a cracker.

A relieved smile as he finished. “Good job. I’ll bring you some soup.”

The half ghost fell asleep before she returned.

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

Danny blinked awake. His eyes focused, taking in… the glow in the dark stars on his ceiling. He could actually see them and…. A breath, through his nose. Through his nose?

The boy sneezed and his core churned. A cold burn on his face, his eyes…. A brief flash of blue. And.. a cloud of snow shot up, over his face. The flasks slowly drifted down.

Danny laughed, still a little fuzzy. “It’s… snowing.”

The door opened. “You’re awake.” Jazz’s eyes lit up.

Her hand on his forehead. After a thoughtful pause… “Open up.” A… thermometer, that’s what that was. An awkward few seconds. The device beeped and… “Your fever finally broke.” His sister sighed, relieved.

A brief bubble of relief stirred in his chest but…. He was forgetting something. Something happened. Worry churned…

“Do you want something to eat?” Jazz offered,

Numbly, Danny nodded.

Minutes later, the girl returned with a bowl. The half ghost didn’t complain as she spooned chicken noodle soup into his mouth.

He was forgetting something. He’d been sick, was still sick. Still so tired. And hungry… His eyes flickered over his desk. So many books and papers…

Eyes widened slightly. He’d had a bunch of homework to do. But… no, that wasn’t… The ghosts. What happened to the….

Danny fell asleep again, in the middle of his dinner, before he could ask.

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

The half ghost jolted up, ravenously hungry. His stomach grumbled, churning, practically trying to eat itself.

“Ugg. What hit me?” He mumbled out, throat sore. He rubbed the spot; at least, he wasn’t coughing up a lung. He’d have to count his blessings.

Danny’s head turned, surveying the room. His bedroom, still. Bright light poured through the curtain. It was probably the early afternoon. But… what day was it? How long had he been sick? And…

A puff of cold swirled in his lungs. His ghost sense. In an instant, Danny was standing. The ghosts! He’d been out of it for who knows how long and they’d been running free doing god knows what. The town must be in ruins. And his friends and family… where were they? What happened?

A brief memory flashed.

“No. I have a job to do.” Danny complained through a cough. “Who’s gonna do it? You?”

The girl swiped his thermos off his desk. “Yes.” A hard look. “You better still be here, sleeping when I get back. Or I’ll use this on you.”

Jazz! No! No! No! Jazz must have gone after the ghost. Damn it! He was the one that started this, that turned on the portal. He was the one that put everyone in danger. This was his responsibility.

Touching his core with his mind, Danny willed himself to transform but… his chest spasmed weakly. The ring of light formed around his torso before sputtering and going out. He was still too tired.

But there was a ghost somewhere, nearby, close. He needed to deal with it. He couldn’t keep slacking off, couldn’t let the ghosts put his loved ones in danger anymore.

Danny bent down, sweeping under the bed. There! His wristray! Wielding the ray with one hand, the boy hurried out. What direction…. Down the hall! A foreign ectosignature swirled through the air, not twenty feet away.

Voices rang through the house, one familiar one and ….someone was crying. The half ghost followed the noise. Jazz’s room…

Danny threw the door open.

“No one ever listened! Not… not before and not now. The only thing I was ever good at was music. It’s… it’s the only thing I’m good for but no one ever… ever listened. Even cared. Not my parents. Not my classmates. Or my so-called friends.” Ember (Ember!?) sniffed. “Why wouldn’t they just… just listen? Why wasn’t I good enough?”

What… what the… Ember and… Jazz?!

Jazz’s hand reached for the ghost’s arm, offering a comforting touch. “That wasn’t your fault, Ember. Don’t blame yourself. You are good enough, no matter what they say or don’t say, okay? Remember what we talked-”

“Jazz?” Danny finally spoke, sense breaking through his spinning confusion. “Ember?”

The ghost stiffened, shoulders raising. “Looks like the party’s over. Dipstick’s awake.”

“I’ll talk to him.” Jazz said.

“What’s…” The boy sputtered, motioning to the scene in front of him.

“I said I’d deal with the ghosts.” Jazz raised an eyebrow, challengingly. “And this is me dealing with them, my way.”

Danny just stared, open mouthed, mind struggling to process.

“Now go. Get something to eat. Ember and I aren’t done talking yet.”

“But… but…” The half ghost stuttered.

Ignoring her brother’s confusion, Jazz turned back to her chair. “Where were we?”

The rocker ghost smirked. “Yeah, get something to eat, Babypop. You look like death warmed over.”

At that, the half ghost’s mouth closed. His eye twitched. “Yeah. I’ll… I’ll do that.”

Slowly, he closed the door, his eyes not leaving the two teens, as if…. If he looked away, they’d disappear. But finally, the door shut, blocking his vision with a click.

Danny stared into the middle distance. What was that? A fever-induced hallucination? Was he still asleep on his bed, in the throws of his sickness? He’d think so but…. The boy shook his head. He wasn’t creative enough to come up with this. So, instead….

“Holy shit, Jazz. How?!”

Inside his sister’s room, two voices, one ghostly echoing and one humanly flat, laughed.

Note: I hope you guys enjoyed it, especially my giftee. I had been hoping to get this posted before Christmas but unfortunately didn't have time to edit it with all the packing, wrapping, and baking. Plus the sad irony of writing a sick fic and then getting sick myself two days before Christmas. Luckily, I wasn't as bad off as Danny, even if I'm still struggling with a bit of a cough and sore throat. 😢 Despite that, I had a good Christmas. I hope you did too. :)

#Danny Phantom #Holiday Truce 2022 #Truce 2022 #Phandom Holiday Truce 2022 #My fic #sickfic #light angst

103 notes · View notes

aliusworld · 2 months

Text

Flowers of Insanity / LAS / EFoT ✶

Aqua Hoshino x Reader

This is PART TWO, check out the other parts below!

REQUIEM: Sixth New Genesis

What's to come: [Lovenow], [Aqua Hoshino x Reader], [Akane Kurokawa plot points], [Reader likes both genders], & [mentions of suicide (Akane)]

[Songs of the chapter: "Marshmary" by MIMI, "Nonbreath Oblige" by PinnocchioP, "I hope you can be an adult someday" by TUYU]

[5,937 words]

˚⋆୨ ✶ ୧⋆˚

All the time you spent with Eruru Osawa made her remind you more of Hanae, but soon you realized they were nothing alike. They were both kind to you, but that was pretty much it. You soon found out that her family business was one in the entertainment industry, if you squint. Her family owns a somewhat-famous original amusement park here in Japan. You'd really like to go there with her one day.

Aquamarine Hoshino on the other hand was a lot harder to grasp because unlike Eruru, he doesn't speak as much, and he doesn't say what's on his mind either. What you find special about him though are his eyes, it's one just like Ai's... he must be really special. You don't think you've ever gotten close to anyone like him before, so you don't know what to expect from him.

You heard that he's an actor, he appeared in a Drama, an adaptation for a hit manga. Not that you've read it before though, romance never tingled your brain as much as an action pact filled one did. However, you kept seeing horrible reviews about the Drama on social media, so you decided to give it a watch.

Yeah, it sucked ass. Though, the last episode really shot the ratings up. That was the episode Aqua was in, it was kind of hot. The girl was quite a good actor as well, you felt bad for her throughout the entire Drama because you felt like her talent was being wasted away. Come to think of it, you saw that girl talking to Aqua before, so she might also be attending this school, interesting.

No matter what happens though, whenever you see Aqua, or hear anyone mention him, images of Ai flash into your brain. You know it's not probable for him to be anywhat related to her, but it's fun to see that her life still lives on in your head years after she passed away. You did wish for her eyes after all.

This year, you've already made two whole friends, maybe you'd have more if you considered people your friends other than acquaintances more easily, not that that's ever going to happen.

You spend most of my time at school on your phone, which sounds bad and anti-social, and it is. Most of Eruru's time is spent socializing with every person imaginable, and if she's talking to everyone, she's talking to everyone but you. Aqua on the other hand barely shows up to class, you saw him hanging around a girl who looked exactly like him though. A sibling relationship in school, that's cute.

That's okay with you, you don't need friends to survive until March 9th or find Hanae— Well, maybe you do need connections to find her again, but you doubt anyone here would know her, but then...

That's when you met someone special!

Matsuyo Mochizuki. He has the same last name as Hanae, so you should get closer to him to get more information out of him. Then again, the surnames of this world don't mean that they are inherently related but... you could still try. After all, Hanae did live in Tokyo back then, and we're in Tokyo right now. Maybe Matusyo is her... cousin?

He's really quiet, he first entered Yoto High School a few weeks later than the average student, he skips school all the time, and when he does show up, he's never on time. His hair is dark and short, but at some points, it's long... how strange, almost like he cuts his own hair. His eyes were like the opposite of mine, dark and darker. Not a single shine of light was seen in them. Oh, and his teeth. They're quite special too, he had sharp teeth all over, not just his canines.

He's not ugly though, you could most definitely use him to find her. Your stars darkened as you hid your smile with your right hand, your eyes shut as you started planning. You could feel Aqua staring again. Awkward. You opened them soon after, giving the boy next to you a quick glance, you locked eyes. He looked away quickly, do you have that kind of power with these eyes now? Your smile widens as you quietly giggle to yourself.

*"★Hi there, my name is [name] [last-name]. What's yours?" You ask as you smile, giving him a hand. He didn't respond. "Hehe, that's okay. I'll just stay here until you talk to me!" The anxiety that usually grew in my stomach has gotten smaller and smaller throughout your experience in high school. You guess that Eruru is really starting to rub off on you.

"C'mon, Matsuyo Mochizuki, I totally just lied. I already know your name, just talk to me! You look lonely.★" I lean on my hand, "You can't be silent forever!~"

*Aqua's eyes widened, he's staring at you again. 'Have you always acted this way?' His eyes didn't make you feel uncomfortable this time, you kind of felt like a star, Matsuyo on the other hand still hasn't said anything to you.

"...What do you want from me?" Matsuyo sighed, his dark eyes glaring deep into your soul. You close your eyes to get away, but keep a smile on your face. He's going to be a hard one to crack.

˚⋆୨ ✶ ୧⋆˚

You really do want to sound cool and everything, but you don't really know what to expect from anyone. That's why you were a shut-in. So, when you were invited to do a reality TV show, you were shocked.

Why would they need a faceless internet celebrity? Then the thoughts connected. Ah yes, your follower count. That would boost their ratings, wouldn't it? However, this show doesn't suit you at all.

Lovenow?

Another romance show? What would you even gain from this other than maybe a slip of the unwanted reveal of your face? You went over it all with the managers you hired for yourself to discuss the pros and cons. They came to the conclusion of 'If you join, it may boost your views by growing connections with the other members and their fans.'

Therefore, you sent the producers a message that reads something along the lines of "I'll join your show if and only if you sign this contract stating that you will never release my true identity to the public and blur my face in all the scenes I'm in."

It took a while for them to read the full contract, but they allowed it, making himself and all the other workers sign as well. You were happy with the product, but took extra precautions by *wearing a mask at all times.

˚⋆୨ ✶ ୧⋆˚

Today is the first day of filming for 'Lovenow', you wouldn't have guessed who showed up on set, Aquamarine Hoshino. Of course he didn't know it was you behind this cute [animal] mask of yours, and there's no way he'd know it's you from your voice since you haven't spoken yet... you decided to change your voice and tone to how you usually do when you stream.

Not to mention that you came extra early on set for someone on the makeup team to style your hair in a way you could never do on your own, plus you requested they add colorful highlights to show off the person you are on the inside! You've never felt prettier. You gave yourself so much personality with the way you looked, even your mask had colorful stickers on it.

The school uniform you were wearing was a lot more dull than the ones they had you wear in Yoto High School, but it still looked quite cute on you. Your new coworkers are all really cute as well!

The hit internet celebrity Memcho, 18, the new star Yuki Sumi, 16, the special dancer Nobuyuki Kumano, 17, the guitarist of a band Kengo Morimoto, 17, Aqua Hoshino, 16, and this other really pretty girl... Akane Kurokawa, 17.

Out of everyone in the cast, Akane was the girl who caught your eye. She's beautiful. Her hair falls to her shoulders, you think that if you wanted to get a partner out of this show, you'd choose her. Your plan for this is that you'll play along with the rest of the cast for entertainment, and then sit on the sidelines when people start confessing their 'feelings' for one another.

You watch as the first scene starts playing out, people walk into an empty classroom and start introducing themselves to each other, but most importantly, they're introducing themselves to the cameras set all over the classroom. Aqua goes right before you, from the way you're seeing this, he's acting like a more piped up version of the one you interact with at school.

You took a deep breath as you walked into the classroom, all eyes were on you, including the crews. With a slightly higher tone than you usually speak in, words start to leave your mouth, *"✧Hi everyone, my name is [alias], it's a pleasure to meet you!" you clap your hands together as you smile behind your mask.

"Woah! [alias]? Really?" Memcho bursts out, "I didn't know you were a highschooler!" She grinned as she put a finger to her chin, "We should totally collab together on my channel sometime!"

"Hmm... I've heard of you before," The band member pulled his phone out, "W-Wait..! You have over a-"

"A million!?" Yoto screamed out, "What in the world?! That's so cool!! I can't believe that I'm sitting next to a real celebrity!"

"Woah, calm down! You all are celebrities too!✧" You laugh as you sit down in a chair next to the rest of them, I rest my head on my hand, "Well, I saw that you played someone in 'I'll have it Sweet Today', Aqua!"

"Yeah, I sure did. It was only for one episode though." Aqua stared straight into your masks eyes, you sweat, does he know that you're...??

"Well because of that one episode, you single handedly lifted up that show to success!" Nouyuki grinned, you could tell that he's going to be a popular fan choice.

-End of Flowers_of_Insanity

After a few weeks of filming, you noticed the cast's quirks. Akane spends more of her time with the crew than the actual people on the screen, and she always has a notepad with her. Yoto and Nouyuki are the actual romance in Lovenow, and it really looks like they have something going on together. You and Memcho are more of the comedy relief of the show, it must be something about hanging around on the internet for so long. Last but not least, Kengo and Aqua tend to hang out on their own. You felt bad that you didn't talk to Aqua more often since the two of you were friends in real life, but you suppose it's better to keep a low profile.

It's so nice to meet all these people. To your suprise, they're all genuine and kind, even if some of it's an act. Even though it's only been a month of recording, you feel that you've really grown to connect with these people. Each episode focuses on one person in particular, so when it landed on you for the second time, you dropped the mask for the first time in front of the cast and the cast only, but the camera didn't know that you were wearing another mask underneath.

The reactions from the cast were nothing to laugh at, compliments were thrown at you, words couldn't describe it other than a little phony, but in a good way. Honestly, you didn't feel much for it, but after that episode aired, the fans seemed to have loved it. Though, there were a lot of people on Twitter and a few blogs asking your co-stars to reveal your face to them, but they had nothing to say to those people, you felt really grateful for that.

There were a lot of events that happened during the show to keep things spicy, you think that the producers really want you to end up with someone here because they made you and Kengo play together for a mini concert. It was one of your original songs, but they still had to make a deal and pay you to use it, oh, and Kengo had to learn the music in very a short amount of time. It really made you look up to him, so whatever the producers are trying to do is working, but Akane still owns your heart.

Speaking of, you've been trying to talk to her, but she's been so focused on other things. Almost like she's been having a tough time, "Hey Akane, are you feeling alright?"

"Hm! Oh... [alias], I'm doing okay... I just..." Akane sighed, sitting down at the table next to her, "I need to stand out more, I've been on the sidelines for this entire show and... I think that people are starting to forget who I am." She hid her face in her arms.

"No way!! No one would forget a face as beautiful as yours!" You shout unexpectedly, a little too loud, cameras start rolling, "I- What I mean is... all you have to do is apply yourself some more, let loose!☆" You grab her hands and hold them warmly, "And whatever you do, I swear I'll follow."

"W-wha... [alias]..." Akane's face grew red, "t-thank you."

˚⋆୨ ✶ ୧⋆˚

Akane acted differently today while on set, she was putting herself out there more often, but it didn't really scream at her. It was an awful experience to watch, but you didn't want to pop her bubble by pushing yourself too far into her business.

She was trying to make a role for herself by trying to separate Yuki from Kengo and that dancer guy, but of course, Yuki was still fighting back.

"Oh? Looks like Akane's finally playing her cards!" Memcho said, leaning against the rooftops railing, "I saw her talking to you the other day, [alias], d'ya know anything about it?"

"Hm? Oh, well I did hear her talk about needing to stick out to the fans more, but I don't know if this is the best suit for her. I mean, maybe if she started a other side love story it'd be cute but...★" You mumble, you didn't know what you were really talking about. 'Side love story', what a joke! The only other people available were you and Aqua.

"Hmmm? What does that mean, [alias-nickname]?~ Do you like Akane Kurokawa?~" Memcho giggles, as she smirks and punches my arms gently, "What about you, Aqua, do you think that [alias] and Aka-nene would end up looking good together?"

"Ah well, I wouldn't say I'm against it in any way... I suppose the two of you would end up looking cute together." Aqua forced out a chuckle as you stare at the both of them, deadpanned, though they couldn't see it, "But if that did happen, there wouldn't be anyone left for me."

"Hey! I'm still here ya know!" Memcho screeched out, grabbing Aqua's shoulders in a playful manner, you point and laugh for the camera you just noticed.

"★Me and Akane..." you turn around to look at Akane talking to Kengo and sigh, "Well if she likes me then I guess I'll like her back." You turned back around to Memcho and Aqua, you don't think they actually listened to what you said, but you're sure that the camera did. "☆What about you, Aqua? Who do you like?"

"Oh." Memcho stops attacking Aqua to listen for his answer, Aqua looks around before opening his mouth again, "I guess you could say that I like..." Aqua looked at you before smiling again, "Nah, it's a secret."

"WHAAAT!!? No way! You can't just say that! You have to tell us!! Or at least, you should come and tell me! Whisper it into my ear!!" Memcho whined as she began pulling at Aqua's uniform begging him to spill his secret, "Please please please please! [alias] told us!"

"[alias] barely said anything, all you did was mention Akane. They didn't even say anything about liking her back" Aqua sighed, his hand on Memcho's face, trying his best to push her away, "Plus, you haven't told us who you like either."

"Well all of you are too young for me! I'm 18, and all you younglings are just too much like babies compared to me! Especially you two, y'all are 16 still, aren't you?" Memcho asked. You and Aqua agree simultaneously, "See! Ah, and if I were to get into a relationship, it would totally mess up my streams, I think."

"Well I'm with you there, being an internet celebrity does have its downsides." You laugh, "But Aqua, you should totally tell me who you like! Don't worry, ☆I'm great at keeping secrets~"

"No way." Aqua sighed, keeping both me and Memcho away from him simultaneously, I laughed some more. I guess Aqua can be more cute and chill when he's outside of school, though it's probably not genuine at all.

˚⋆୨ ✶ ୧⋆˚

Last night, Yuki did your nails. She made yours really pretty, they had two colors, [color] and black with these shiny gems or what not. While Yuki was working on your nails you had a talk with Akane. You gave her your suggestion of trying to make a side plot love story instead of trying to push herself into one that already existed. You tried my best to convince her, even Yuki chimed in at some point, but to no avail. She was dead set on doing it this way.

"Well, it's game on then." Yuki smiled, focusing her attention on Akane's nails this time, "Give it your all, Akane. 'Cuz I won't be holding back at all!"

"Yeah." Akane smiled back, "Let's make this fair."

Fair, what a fun word. The world is never fair, and it shows. You saw it with your very own two eyes, the scene was set, Akane didn't mean to hurt Yuki at all-

So why was this happening to her?

Akane accidentally scraped Yuki's cheek with the nails that Yuki made her the other night. The media started to swarm against her. You saw that too, you even got questions from strangers on the internet yelling at you, asking for more information on it, though as per contract, you weren't allowed to say anything. Not a word, not even in her defense.

Akane didn't show up for the next few days of filming, you couldn't feel anything but dread for the days she didn't talk to the group. Even during school, you couldn't focus on anything else. Aqua looked fine, you really hoped he didn't notice your paranoia.

Then the calendar marked a faithful day other than March 9th, the day when a hurricane warning popped up on everyone's screens. The day Akane sent a message for the first time in days in the Lovenow group chat.

'I'm going to go out to get a few snacks from the convenience store.'

Yuki: 'Right now?? Akane! Don't go!'

Memcho: 'Akane there's a hurricane coming out.'

Kengo: 'Akane pick up your phone'

Nobuyuki: 'Akane are you home?'

Aqua: 'Akane?'

You audibly wince as you grab a thin jacket from your closet and run out of your apartment. Even though Akane wasn't answering any text messages or calls, she still had her location finder on her phone. You followed it as fast and as accurately as you could. Luckily for you, it wasn't too far away from where your apartment was.

It led you to a bridge... a bridge?

Then you saw the figure, you weren't sure if it was Akane, all you knew was that they were standing on the ledge, arms spread. You couldn't think, you ran as fast as you could. It was later than what you would've wanted to though, the figure had already jumped. You grabbed them, their body was still in the air, a little heavier than what you'd normally be able to carry, but the thrill was driving you on.

"No! No! Let go of me, please, just let me die!" The voice screamed, squirming her body around to get away from my grasp. It was Akane. Your eyes widened as the rain continued to pour down on the two of you.

"Akane! Listen to me! It's me, it's me, [alias]!" You yell out, grabbing her tighter, trying your best to pull her back onto the bridge.

"[alias]..? Just listen to me, let go... save yourself. You don't want to be seen with someone like me." Akane sobs out some more, "Let go [alias]!"

"No! Akane, stop fighting me! J-Just let me pull you up!" You start to tear up as well, your grip loosens as you get pulled over the edge. The only thing holding you up was the ledge Akane had just recently just jumped off from and your horrible back strength which was slowly dying out.

Before you could fall, however, someone from behind pulled both you and Akane back. You winced, the force of your body falling onto the concrete floor with Akane on top of you filled your body with a sharp and stinging pain. Though, it probably didn't hurt as much as the pain as the person underneath the two of you felt.

Akane turned around into your chest, sobbing. You comfort her to the best of your ability but start sobbing with her at some point. You didn't bother to look at the person sitting next to you, from the slight tone of his huffs you could tell that it was Aqua. The fact that you weren't wearing your mask formed a bubble of worry in your head, yet you hoped it was too dark so that nobody could make out who you were.

Your vision was blurry from the tears you were shedding. You stroke her head as you whisper to her about how everything'll be alright.

"...Who?" You were right, it was Aqua.

You try to cover your face with your hand as you quickly look away. Pulling the collar of your top over your nose, you then even tried to position Akane to cover yourself, even though you knew it was incredibly uncomfortable for the both of you

"[name], is that you?" Aqua repeats himself, this time, he gets closer.

"What? [name]? N-never heard of whoever that is before, nope! Not at all..." You stutter out, it's of no use anyway, he knew you were there. All you could hope was that no one else would find out.

"[alias], you got here before me?" Aqua asked.

"..." You couldn't say anything, not anything you'd admit to at least. Aqua should have never found out.

Another loud pair of footsteps ran over towards us, before they fully got to the three of you, Aqua covered you and Akane with his rain jacket. Your face grew red.

-End of Looking_All_Sad

It wasn't long before the rest of Lovenow's cast showed up, however, the first person to show up was Akane's mother. Aqua caught her all up on what happened as you sat back and watched as everything unfolded before you. The last people to show up was, who you guessed were, Aqua's mom and mother.

No one came for you though, not that you minded too much—

"Aqua! Isn't that your rain jacket?" A girl with sparkling red eyes asked as she pointed directly at you.

"Ah that's..."

"Is that the person you're going to end up with at the end of Lovenow?!" She giggled as she punched his arm, Aqua let out a disgruntled curse in response. You laugh at their antics.

Soon Akane left the room, walking out with her mother. She looked at you with her puffy eyes as she left the building. Not before Yuki ran her way towards Akane and slapped her directly across the face, you gasp and you clench your hands that lie on your lap. She was crying too, crying as she rested her head against Akane's shoulders sobbing as her yells turned into quiet murmurs.

The room fell silent when Akane officially left the building. Aqua's mom sighed and patted his back as she left with her daughter, telling him to "stay safe", how cute!

Right, Akane. This is a problem. You and the rest of the cast know that she really didn't mean any harm, however, people online don't. How could you fix this? A million thoughts ran around in your head. Aqua suggested that for Akane's safety she could leave Lovenow as a whole. Which is a viable option, but she shouldn't have to quit something she enjoys just because of strangers on the internet.

One by one, the people crowded in the hallway slipped out and went back home. Again, leaving only you and Aqua together. You thought about giving him his raincoat back, you wouldn't really need it anymore if he was the only one left. You were already found out. You bit your bottom lip before you spoke, but no words slipped past your lips.

"So you're [name]?" Aqua asked, turning back to look at your sweating figure, he didn't need to say your name out load again.

"Don't say it so loud! And... yeah. I am, uhm. Sorry you had to find out this way..?" You murmur, the hood was still covering your face, you liked that. It made you feel like you still had a barrier between your persona and the real you, even if you still felt phony

"Were you ever going to tell me?" Aqua slowly got closer to you. Weird.

"Why would I do that? It's totally unprofessional..! And... and...!" Why was he so close?? "You shouldn't even focus on this at all, what you— what we should be focusing on is to help Akane!"

"Right. Akane. The internet is horrible, not to mention that this show is just..." Aqua continued to mutter on and on about the recent news and the media's reactions. You zoned out for the most of it, "Reality TV... Ah, what about this?"

"Huh?"

"We're going to make a video to save her, real reality TV."

The media caught onto Akane's attempt at taking her life and went on a roll with it, word spread around like wildfire. Whether it be people talking about how this was just a sleazy attempt to get attention, people feeling sorry and making apologies, or what their opinions are about the situation. People just didn't shut up. Not to mention, Akane's taking a break from Lovenow until who knows when. There isn't anyone else to really look at other than her, Aqua's there but it's just uncomfortable now that he knows who you really are.

On the bright side, the video's production is going well. All of the cast members opted to help. For example: Memcho tried teaching Aqua more about Social Media and how to get people's attention quickly and Kengo offered background music with his guitar. You also offered music from a band you had connections with, 2You, and your voice as vocals. Aqua didn't mind, in fact, he appreciated it. To what you could tell at least.

The last, and more important, part of the plan is getting unused recordings from Lovenow's staff members. There wasn't anything you could do, it was all Aqua. He had the brains to figure something out, weasel his way to get the information out of the producer.

You kept trying to contact Akane, half of the time she didn't respond, she hasn't been going to school either. You threw your phone across the room and groaned into your bedsheets. All the pent up worry hasn't been doing too good for you, you barely show up to your classes either. Which as a consequence means your *relationship points with your classmates have slowly been decreasing ever so slightly, besides Aqua.

Eruru texts you ever so often about school events, you respond fairly quickly, but that's as far as it gets. You miss being around people again, not to mention you've been on hiatus for all streaming activities until you say otherwise. Matsuyo doesn't even try to reach out to you, which is a major bummer. You wonder how he's doing, you wonder how Hanae is doing. At this point, that's the only thing keeping you going besides Akane's well being.

Matsuyo Mochizuki, there's this slight chance that they could be related. You will stand strong and make sure you see her again in this life, even if you don't have much time left—

Beep!

"Hm...?" You wander to your phone, a new notification, this time it was from Aqua. You sigh as you open your phone. He's the only one who's actively talking to you. The other members in Lovenow didn't know you haven't been showing up to your classes, you're really grateful for that. Though whenever he does text you, it never brings you any joy. It's usually about something negative. Maybe it'll be different this time?

The text read: "Get ready and come to my place, everyone else is already here." You thought it was funny how Aqua talks all professionally even when it's through a text.

Quickly putting a hoodie on with sunglasses and a mask to hide your identity, you rush over to Aqua's place...

His place... where does he live again?

˚⋆୨ ✶ ୧⋆˚

You rushed over to find that all the other cast members of Lovenow were huddled in front of a screen with, you can only assume, Aqua in the middle. They didn't notice your entrance so you carefully walked over to see what it was all about. The video. Right, that's what this was all about. Aqua looked as if he was on the verge of death as he compiled pictures and videos of all of Lovenow's time together. The video, so far, was very nice. Like eye candy!

"Hm? Oh! [name] is here!!" Memcho brightly said after turning around, "Your aura reminds me of Aqutan! Dead! What have you been up to?"

"Nothing other than worrying to death about Akane." You sigh, putting your hand to your face, "Why did you call me here, Aqua?"

"Because I'm worried about you too. Everyone else here can tell that you look horrible" Aqua murmured, not looking away from his screen. That pissed you off, how could he say you looked horrible if he hadn't even glanced in your direction?? Before you could verbally react, Yuki had already punched him in the back, causing Aqua to bite his tongue, "And the plan is almost done."

"What Aqua's trying to say is that he wants everyone from Lovenow to be here when the video is all done!" Memcho says, clasping her hands together and smiling. You smile back under your mask, Akane will finally be free!

"Well? When are you gonna be finished, Aqua?" One of the boys asked.

"I'll finish quicker if you guys stop bothering me." Aqua murmured, to giggle to yourself about Aqua's comment.

"Well you heard him! Get out.★" You took your sunglasses off and glared at them, "I know he wants you here when he's all done, but saving Akane faster means no distractions!" You placed your sunglasses in your pocket as you watched all four of them slowly leave the office. You turned your head to look at Aqua's screen. He's so close... just a little more and Akane will get to show her face to the public again.

Half an hour of silence and hard clicks on the mouse, Aqua was still glued onto the screen. A few more dragging from his mouth passed by before he opened his mouth again, "Bring the others in."

You ran over and hugged him tight, "Thank you so much for doing this for her." You let go just as quickly as you latched onto him and skipped out the the room to go and get the others back. As you re-opened the door, Yuki rushed in before you could say anything.

"So?! Are you ready to post it??" She asks impatiently, holding onto her sweater tight.

"It's prime time to post it right now actually, my data shows that tons of people are online right now!" Memcho chimes in, pointing to a poorly drawn graph on her phone.

"Mm, yeah." Aqua mutters, "This has to work..."

"It better!" You say, bouncing on the back of Aqua's chair, waiting for him to finally click the export button.

"C'mon man, don't keep us waiting!" One of the boys said, putting their hand on Yuki's shoulder. With an annoyed sigh, Aqua clicked the export button while you hovered over him. When the final pixel reached the end of the loading bar, Aqua switched tabs and opened a popular blog site.

"Let's go Aqua! When I said it was prime time, I meant it! It only lasts a little white, so post it already!!" Memcho shouted, hurling herself on top of you, which consequently meant she hurled herself on top of Aqua. With one glance towards your masked face, Aqua added the professionally made video with a caption and finally clicked post.

With impatient eyes, everyone stared at the screen before them, waiting for the numbers to roll in. Did it not work? Why isn't anything happening? Aqua worked so hard— before another cruel thought entered your head, Aqua refreshed and the likes and comments started to bombard his inbox.

A few minutes passed as the cast watched in shock as everyone's opinions started to morph something in the favor of Akane. You were ecstatic that it worked, rushing over to grab your phone off the desk to check the post itself and to message Akane about it. The girls started jumping around with joy, the boys joined them after some time for the celebration while Aqua's head hit his desk in exhaustion. You slowly put your phone back down and laid your jacket on Aqua just as he did for you. Crouching down to be at eye level with him, you tell him thank you right before you call it a night and go back home.

You slipped past the *crowd of people with a smile on your face and went down the stairwell, but before you could make it out, you saw the same girl as you did the other day. The one that looked exactly like Aqua, she seemed to be in her pajamas and was quite caught off guard when she saw you.

"Ah!! You! It's you! [alias]!" The blonde, in what seemed like a millisecond, ran towards you, her face barely an inch away from yours. *"Ohmigosh, what's it like in Lovenow?! What do you think of my brother? Are you guys going to become a couple?!! How is Akane!?"

"☆Oh, uhm... Akane is... she's going to be okay. And Aqua is a really nice guy! He's done a lot for Akane and I'm really grateful for that." The girl in front of you asked a few more questions before you got the chance to slip off and excuse yourself to go back home.

-End of Eyes_Full_of_Tears

Check out the other chapters! {CLICK ME}

#aliusworld #aqua x reader #aqua x you #aqua x y/n #aquamarine hoshino x reader #aquamarine hoshino x y/n #oshi no ko #aquamarine hoshino #aqua hoshino #x reader #oshi no ko x reader #onk x reader

11 notes · View notes