#please tell Eve congratulations on both fronts for me!

[smoooothoperator]

untouchable

01: It's Begining To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Lando Norris x OC (Violet Sinclair)

same group friend, unrequited love, acquittances to lovers, ski trip, love triangle

Words: 2.1k

Warnings: lando being cute. nothing serious yet.

a/n: MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE! I think it was the perfect time to post this story since it's actually based on this time of the year. I hope everyone had a great year and that the one about to come is better.

If someone has ideas of songs to add on a playlist please dont forget to tell me!

Masterlist

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Every way of feedback is very welcomed

Winter. Most people love that season. Snow, shiny streets decorated with lights, hot chocolate, families reunited to decorate the house, cozy clothes… And what couples love: cuddling without melting because of the high temperatures the summer brings, holding hands, sleeping together.

Sounds cute, amazing, beautiful.

Unless you are single.

When you are single, you won't have someone to give you body heat, or to get your hand warm while you walk on the street. Instead of that, you have to wear gloves, scarfs and warm clothes.

I never wanted this to happen. I never wanted to be in this situation, wishing I was her. Everytime they got cozy on the couch, I wished it was me who he was holding. Everytime they walked in front of me, I wish it was my hand the one he's holding and keeping warm in the pocket of his coat.

But sadly, I have a crush on my best friend's boyfriend. It wasn't on purpose. Harry and I started college the same year and both of us were in the same classes, sharing tables and after the first months studying, sharing a group of friends. We were the link of our group, the ones that introduced our friends to the others.

And that's how Eloise met Harry.

Eloise was my childhood best friend, my neighbor, my forever supporter on everything I did, the one that was always behind me with a hand on my back and pushing me to follow my dreams.

Except that one time. But it wasn't her fault.

I knew she liked Harry and he liked Eloise. The moment they met for the first time, I felt how something changed, I felt how Harry couldn't stop looking at her, how his smile was bigger whenever he heard her talk or laugh.

That's why I had to take a step back and let them be happy together, even if it meant that I had to swallow my own feelings and watch how they fell in love with each other.

The winter vacations were getting closer and with that the plans of shopping gifts and decorations started. The last class before the vacations officially started was longer that it looked, time flew very slow and all of us were counting down the seconds to grab our things and leave the campus.

“Do you have something planned with your family?” Harry asked me, talking low.

“No, actually “ I sighed. “I won't go home for Christmas Eve. Eloise asked me to go to the trip you planned”

“Oh, right” he nodded. “The guys will go too”

“Yeah, she told me” I nodded. “Who will go, by the way?”

“Well… Max and Pietra, Lando…” he started to count, making me him and pay attention to the teacher again.

Or at least, look like I was paying attention.

Harry's group of friends is everything but normal. Max and Lando were always there, his childhood friends that met during his short period of kart racing when they were just seven years. While Harry decided to focus on his studies and start a career to follow the steps of his father, Max and Lando continued with their passion for motorsport, but only Lando could make it to the final level, to Formula 1.

“Lando? The season is already finished?” I asked, typing some things on my laptop.

“Yeah, it did some weeks ago” he nodded.

“Ah, nice”

Lando Norris. I rarely talked with him. Every time our group hangs out, he's always with Max and Pietra. What we say to the other is the basic two people from the same group can say. Sure, we texted to congratulate our own personal wins and our birthdays, or even to give details whenever he invited us to some races so each one of us could have their own paddock pass.

“When are we leaving?” I asked. “I have to make my suitcase”

“Then do it when you arrive home because we are leaving in two days” he chuckled, making me frown.

“Oh, okay” I nodded.

In two days. And my birthday will be in the middle of the trip?

When the teacher ended the class I packed my backpack, putting the laptop inside of it as well as my notebook. I saw Harry looking at his phone with a smile and I immediately knew he was texting Eloise.

“I'll send you the details, okay? Lando took care of the plane” Harry said, and I just hummed in response.

I hung the backpack on my left shoulder and walked out, grabbing my phone and getting out of the classroom.

Everyone ran through the corridors, excited to finally leave the classes and have free days for some weeks before going back to bury their noses on the books to study again.

The streets are cold, freaking cold. With only two minutes out of the building, my nose is as cold as an ice cube and the need of wrapping the scarf around my throat makes me smile, feeling the warm material caressing the skin of my cheeks. Only a ten minutes walk and then I'll be at home, where I can change my clothes for cozy ones and drink a warm coffee while reading a book.

I was excited for the trip. It's been a long time since all of us went on a trip. Since Lando is always working around the globe, planning something for all of us was hard. Max and Pietra are always together, if one can go the other will join, they go as a pack unless Max has to do things with Lando's eSports team Quadrant. Harry and I have basically the same schedule, working on the last year of our master to finally have the title of our career.

The group chat was already working, sending messages to check if everything was ready, asking the last details for the trip.

Then I saw a text from another chat. Lando.

Lando Norris: You want to have a single room?

Violet Sinclair: Wow, thank you for reminding me how single I am.

Lando Norris: I wasn't saying it in that way!

Violet Sinclair: I know, silly. And yeah, that would be great 🙂

I sigh, rolling my eyes and leaving my phone on my nightstand while I changed my clothes.

Lando and I are the only ones that are single in the group. Which is kinda a relief, because I'm moments where the six of us hang out together, at least I know that I won't be alone watching how two couples are cozy in front of me.

The list of rooms reserved was shown on the screen in front of me. Two double rooms and two single rooms.

When Max mentioned that Violet was going to come on the trip after Eloise asked her, I immediately started to search for a place to stay for a week for all of us.

It was my turn to organize the trip, last summer it was Max who did it, even if not all of us went. But this time Violet was coming with us instead of staying with her family or in her apartment to study. At least, she won't be alone during her birthday.

Violet befriended Harry when they started college, and the moment he introduced her to Max and I, it was immediate love at first sight. The moment I saw her walk inside Harry's apartment and her golden hair held on a ponytail wave with every step she made closer to me, I fell hard for her.

But the moment I saw how she looked at Harry, I knew I had zero chances with her.

Even if her best friend dated Harry, she couldn't stop looking at him with adoration, a way sometimes I wished she could look at me.

I never liked being in a love triangle, it always brings trouble, more if it's inside a group of friends. But I couldn't help but feel that way.

“Mate, are you really going to be alone? You won't bring that girl from Raya?” Max asked, walking inside my streaming room and looking at the screen.

“For what? To make things more uncomfortable than they are already going to be with two couples?” I laughed, trying to lock my phone and making sure he doesn't see my chat with Violet.

“I mean, you are always complaining that you are single…” he sighed.

“I won't make Violet be uncomfortable too” I said, raising my shoulders and rolling my eyes.

“So it's because of her?” he smirked, making me roll my eyes and turn around the chair.

It's always because of her.

I made a profile on a dating app, because of her. I flirt with girls, because of her. I try to be at parties, because of her.

Because it is the least I can do to try to forget a woman that will never want me. And no matter how hard the effort is, my mind always crawls back at her.

So yeah, I do many stupid things because of her.

The last stupid thing was buying the book she talked about with Eloise during one of our game nights, sending it to her without a name of who sent it on the package. But at least, I knew she liked it and she was happy because she had it on the coffee table of her living room the day some of us went to her apartment to help her build a new library for her books.

“Harry, Eloise and Violet will take the plane in two days” I told Max. “We can go from here by train”

Max and Pietra came to Monaco a few days ago after I returned back to Monaco once the season was over. I wanted to rest, to forget about the speed and the cars. I needed to disconnect and I knew that spending time with my friends was what I needed the most.

“I'm going to buy some things” I said, getting up from the chair. “You need something?”

“If you buy dinner on your way home, that would be great” he nodded, walking out of the room and going to the guests room.

I sighed and nodded, grabbing a coat and the keys of one of my cars, driving to the mall of Monaco.

Violet's birthday will be during the trip, and I didn't want to go with my hands empty. A few days ago I saw something she would like, so I decided to buy it for her.

It was a necklace of a violet, the flower, and a book.

If there's something that can describe Violet is her passion for books. Her apartment is not big, it only has two rooms, a bathroom and an open kitchen that shares space with the living room. What is supposed to be a guest's room, is her library but with a bed on it. It's full of books, and it makes me proud to say that the books I secretly buy for her are between those shelves.

“Is this what you want?” the shop assistant said, showing me the necklace. “That girl must be lucky, this is a beautiful piece of jewelry. What a lucky girlfriend”

“Yeah…” I nodded.

If only the girlfriend part was true…

Going back home after buying some other things was exhausting. I had to buy clothes for the trip as well as dinner for Max, Pietra and me. But the fact that I had a bag with Violet's present just made me happy.

This would be the first time that I was going to be with her during her birthday, because over the last years she always went with her family to celebrate it with them.

Just when I got inside the elevator with the bags, my phone received a notification.

Violet💜: I forgot to ask, how many days are we going to stay there?

I smiled looking at the text, immediately answering her after leaving the bags on the floor.

Lando Norris: A week, I reserved a house for all of us.

Violet💜: you did? You reserved everything by yourself? How much I owe you?

Lando Norris: It's okay, it was my turn to plan the trip. Don't worry about the money

Violet💜: you sure?

Lando Norris: a hundred percent sure

“Who got you smiling like that?” Max asked when he saw me opening the door.

“What? No one!”

Lie after lie. Why can't I be honest with him? Why can't I say that I'm in love with Violet? Maybe it's because I prefer saving it to myself rather than someone having pity on me because I want someone that doesn't care about me, that wants another man.

I prefer living on my own fantasies and illusions than accepting the fact that Violet is untouchable and I will never have her.

taglist

@elisysd @racinggirl @ninifee1802 @kakorrhaphiphobia @landoyesrizz @lorarri @bellwhysomean

#f1 #f1 fanfic #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #f1 fic #f1 serie #formula 1 #formula 1 imagine #formula 1 drabble #formula 1 x reader #formula 1 fanfic #formula one #formula one imagine #formula one fanfic #formula one x reader #formula one fanfiction #lando norris #lando norris x oc #lando norris blurb #lando norris x reader #lando norris imagine #ln4 #ln4 x reader #ln4 imagine #ln4 fluff #ln4 fic #mclaren

[venusthepirate]

like any unloved thing part three : weed and early nights

ao3 / part one / part two

Masterlist :  @avocado-writing @little-sunflower-bug @evangelineflowers @humbug5 @yume904 @chloeforde @sarcastic-sourwolf​

Hi ! I am so sorry for the late update, college has been kicking my ass :( but here we go !! I hope you’ll like this chapter ^^ please if you could reblog or comment it would mean the world ! I think Tumblr ate this post :(

Fawn steps inside the restaurant, relieved at the way the chill of the outside is suddenly cut short by the door closing behind her. She sighs, enjoying the warmth seeping into her skin. Her fingers feel frozen, even despite the mittens she put on before going out.

A waiter greets her courteously. She tells him she’s joining a friend, and gives him the name for the reservation.

It’s a fancy restaurant, but not too fancy. The kind normal people will go to when they want to treat themselves without spending all their savings on the meal, where, typically, Fawn doesn’t feel underdressed with her simple attire. It was too cold outside for her to be able to put anything on than blue jeans and a white turtleneck. Her long black coat does fancy it up a bit, though.

The waiter leads her to her table. Her friend/colleague Violet is already seated. She smiles widely when she sees Fawn stop in front of her, rising to kiss her on the cheek.

“Hi”, Fawn says, softly, detaching herself from her embrace. She pulls off her grey beanie, and then her coat, draping them on her chair, and sits down in front of Violet.

“How are you, baby ?” Violet asks, sipping on a glass of red wine. She looks sheepish, then. “Sorry, I hope you don’t mind, I ordered wine without you.” She raises a hand to catch the waiter’s attention.

“Oh, I’ll take the same thing, please”, Fawn tells him.

“It’s been a long time since we went out for a meal”, Violet continues. “Or drinks. Or shopping. Or anything, really. You’re always busy. Found some new friends ?”

Fawn’s traitorous thoughts take her almost immediately to Tangerine, but she shakes her head to disperse them. The truth is, Fawn’s days simply alternates between working at the café, clients, and going home to curl up under the comforter to scroll on her phone. Nothing very exciting or scandalous as Violet may think.

“Just the winter, you know ?” She offers to her. “Gets me a bit down. I’m hibernating.”

Violet snorts.

“You know, the cold isn’t a reason to isolate yourself ? Aren’t people supposed to stick together, share warmth ?”

Fawn smiles, twirling her glass and taking a sip. “Maybe.”

They order their meals, make small talk, talking of everything and anything. It’s only when their plates are deposited in front of them that Violet finally addresses the reason why they’re both here.

“So, who hired you ?” She asks.

“Kenneth Hall”, Fawn replies, dipping a piece of carrot in the sauce. “He’s hired me before. Only escort jobs, though. What about you ?”

Two days earlier, Fawn had received a call from her handler, telling her one of her clients had booked her for a night. A gala, apparently, for Christmas’ Eve.  She had been told Violet too had been hired, by another man, for the same event.

“William something”, Violet tells her, while she twirls pasta around her fork. “Never worked with him, and I asked around, and I don’t think the other girls know him.”

Fawn frowns. “Is it for an escort job too ?”

“Yeah, I only take those these days.” She smiles, then, leaning towards her as if she’s about to spill a terrible secret. “I found myself a boyfriend.”

Fawn arches her eyebrows, surprised.

“Oh, wow. I mean, congratulations. It must be serious, if you’re only doing escort jobs.”

“Yeah, he’s very sweet, you know”, Violet continues. There’s some sort of dreamy expression on her face, like she’s reminiscing herself of him. “But what about you ? How long has it been since your ex-girlfriend ?”

Fawn washes the bitterness in her throat with a mouthful of wine. The ex-girlfriend was… well. It didn’t last, did it.

“Four years”, she murmurs. “And no, I’m not dating anybody right now.”

Violet makes a disappointed moue, pressing her chin against the palm of her hand as she looks at Fawn with some kind of puppy eyes expression.

“Why not ?”

She shrugs, trying to act like she isn’t bothered. She is, though. She doesn’t like to talk about things like relationships and such. She’s crossed those off her list long ago.

“Too much of a hassle”, she replies, twirling her glass.

It really is. She knows of other girls who do it and manage to find the perfect balance between their work and the relationship, but Fawn has never been able to. It’s difficult, too, because it mostly goes against any expectation people have of a conventional relationship. Most people expect her to drop this job, others will try to “save” her, whatever that means. There are also cases of jealousy, and well. It just seems like a lost battle.

Violet eyes her critically.

“It’s not good for you to completely, you know”, she says, waving a hand in front of her, “close yourself.”

“I’m not”, Fawn protests, but it sounds a bit empty, even to her own ears. She shakes her head. “Look, you don’t need to worry about me. I am perfectly fine.”

Violet doesn’t look exactly convinced, but she doesn’t press the issue.

“I’m glad you’ll be at this gala too”, she says, changing the subject. “That way, we can look after each other.”

Fawn smiles at her, feeling oddly touched by her words. Violet is right, though. In their line of work, it is important to have someone to rely onto, someone who knows where you are, in case something happens.

“Me too. Though, to be honest, my client is more like a huge sort of… rich teddy bear. With sweaty palms. But he’s harmless.”

Violet snorts, looking disgusted at the mention of sweaty palms.

“Also, it’s good I won’t be alone to bear those pompous rich assholes”, she adds, and Fawn heartfully agrees with her.

A gala means good alcohol, and good food. It also means making awkward small talk with snobbish people, shaking hands with creepy old men and being scrutinized for every little mistake.

The rest of the afternoon is spent in a blur. Violet insists they go shopping for the night in question, even if the gala is three weeks away. Apparently, her client sent her money to buy herself a dress, and Violet insists the money is enough to buy Fawn’s one too.

So Fawn lets herself be guided into expensive clothing shops, where the sellers busy themselves with finding the right fabric and the right color. She chooses after a short while a long dress in a dark brown. However, Violet isn’t so quick to make her decision, and she seems to have an infinite amount of energy, trying on shoes and dress after dress. Fawn eventually has to admit defeat and just collapses in one of the comfy leather chairs inside the shop, watching as her friend tries on yet another piece of clothing.

Eventually she finally settles on a long, deep purple dress. Fawn can’t help but smile. It fits her. Besides, Violet has always aimed for clothes that match her names.

When Fawn finally gets home in the evening, she is exhausted. Her back feels sore from having to stand up for so long, her feet hurt and she can feel the beginning of a migraine creeping in on her.

She’s relaxing in a warm bath, planning on maybe smoking some weed and calling it an early night, when her phone rings.

She frowns, leaning outside and reaching out blindly until her fingers finally close around the device where she had dropped it on a pile of her clothes. She fails to swipe the screen a few times, her thumb too slippery, before she finally manages to accept the call.

“Yes ?”

“Your client Tangerine asks if you’re available for the night”, her handler tells her.

Tangerine.

Shit, this is really the worse moment.

She’s never refused, though, but right now, her limbs still sore and her head feeling like it’s wrapped in cotton, she really doesn’t feel like leaving the warmth of her apartment.

“I’m sorry, tell him I can’t tonight”, she says. “Tell him I’m available tomorrow, but tonight is going to be difficult.”

She hangs up after that, dropping the phone back on the pile of clothes and trying to relax again in her bath. She lets herself sink deeper into the water, until it covers her shoulders and only her head is out. She closes her eyes, breathes in deeply.

She’s surprised, then, when her phone rings again. She thinks she is imagining it, at first, but then it rings a second time. She sits up in the tub, swiping her phone back up.

She frowns. She doesn’t recognize the number.

She accepts the call, bringing the phone up against her ear.

“Hello ?”

“Hey”.

Fawn recognizes his voice instantly. She wrenches her phone away from her ear, incredulous, checking the number again. When it’s clear that she’s not having some kind of fever dream, she brings the phone back against her ear.

“How the fuck did you get my phone number ?” She demands, heart beating loudly against her chest. She grips the edge of the tub in her panic. What the fuck, what the fuck.

“Are you alright ?” Tangerine asks, ignoring her question. Anger starts to settle in, replacing the surprise and fear quickly.

“Al- Why wouldn’t I be alright ?”

He suddenly sounds less sure of himself.

“You… You didn’t fuckin’ take my offer for tonight”, he says. “You’ve never said no before, so…”

“Yeah, because I’m exhausted, not because I’m… Dead, or whatever”, she retorts, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Oh”, he simply lets out. “And it’s not because of, y’know, last time ?”

Meaning the time when he got drunk out of his mind and begged her not to leave. She does him the curtesy of not spelling it aloud.

“No”, she reassures him, even if she is a bit pissed off about him using her phone number, whatever way he managed to obtain it. “I’m just tired, alright ?”

“Right”, Tangerine says. He stays silent for a moment. “Look, I’m only here for the night, and I’d really like to see you, love.” Fawn opens her mouth to protest, but he cuts in before she can speak. “I’ll pay you as much as last time.”

She sighs, but she can already feel her resolve fading.

“I’m exhausted, Tangerine”, she argues. It doesn’t sound very convincing, even to her own ears.

“You won’t have to do anything”, he insists. “I’ll still pay you, alright ?”

“I was planning on smoking weed and falling asleep.”

“Well, you can do that at the hotel, can’t you ?”

Fawn guessed she could.

“ And you’re gonna pay me to do that ?”

He snorts. “Yeah, I’ll fuckin’ pay you do that.”

“Alright, it’s your money, I guess.”

“I’ll be at the hotel in, say, one hour, if you head there before me, you can just order room service or anything you’d like”, he tells her. “Or I can pick you up, if you want.”

“I’m not giving you my home address, Tangerine.”

He chuckles, amused. “Fair enough. I’ll see you in an hour, then.”

He hangs up, and Fawn is left sitting in the now cold water of her bath, holding a phone in her hand. Well. So much for trying to deny him for once. Boundaries, and whatnot.

Half an hour later she’s standing in front of the hotel. This time she didn’t even bother at all with the way she dressed, opting for the warmest and comfiest clothes she could get her hands on. The sweater she’s chosen is big, the sleeves completely swallowing her hands, and the hem of it falling down mid-thighs. She wonders, amused, what people would think if they saw her next to Tangerine, who she’s never seen leave the hotel in less than tailored, expensive suits.

He isn’t in the room when she goes up, just like he told her, so she makes the most of his offer, and orders herself a chocolate dessert from the room service. She takes the plate with her in the bed, and relishes in the soft mattress while eating.

She really loves chocolate.

She decides that she might as well start smoking now. She takes the spliff that she had packed into her bag before leaving her apartment earlier, and lights it. She sucks the smoke in, holding it for a moment in her lungs, before slowly exhaling, watching tendrils twirl in the air as she does so. Fuck, that feels good.

She relaxes back against the cushions, the taste of weed and chocolate heavy on her tongue. After a while, she feels like all tension just left her body, like her limbs have turned into jelly or something.

She realizes that she would have never done this with any of her other clients. It’s too late now to start second-guessing herself or panicking, though. She trusts him. Maybe she shouldn’t.

She hears the sound of the door opening, and Tangerine steps inside the bedroom a few seconds later. He’s still wearing one of his suits, but she can see that there are wrinkles here and there, and his hair has started reversing back to its natural curls.

“Started without me, did you ?” He asked, loosening the tie around his throat.

“Didn’t realize you intended for me to share”, she replies. Her tongue feels cottony in her mouth. She closes her eyes.

Tangerine collapses down on the bed next to her with a sigh, face down against the mattress. She snorts. He’s always been somewhat dramatic. She curls a hand inside his hair, lightly scratching against his skull. Tension seems to bleed out of his body from this mere touch.

“Rough day at work ?” She asks. She doesn’t even know what he does for a living.

“Yeah, more like a fuckin’ week”, Tangerine says, groaning and he rolls onto his back.

Fawn extends the hand holding the spliff towards him, waving it a bit in front of his face. She feels pleasantly warm.

“Want some ?” She asks.

“Why, yes, thank you so much”, he replies, sarcastic, but he does raise a hand to take the spliff from her. Their fingers brush against each other, maybe a bit longer than normal, but Fawn is too high to try looking into it more deeply.

He puffs it, and then immediately dissolves into coughs. Fawn grins.

“Jesus”, Tangerine says, voice choked up as he struggles to catch his breath. “That shit is strong, how the fuck can you smoke it ?”

“Aww, not used to smoking weed, are you ? Can’t handle it ?”

“No, I don’t, actually”, Tangerine retorts, passing her the spliff back, wiping at his eyes. “So, what, you won’t accept drunk clients, but you’ll smoke weed with them ?”

“I don’t smoke weed with all my clients.”

He looks up at her then, blue eyes seemingly searching her face for something. She takes a drag from the joint, holding his gaze. He arches an eyebrow.

“What, am I a fucking special case or something ?”                  

“Maybe you are”, Fawn answers, without really thinking about it.

He doesn’t answer for a while, like he’s deep in his thoughts. She continues to gently caress his hair. The curls feel so soft and his skin so warm underneath her fingers. Maybe she ought to feel overheated, in her chunky sweater, but she just feels pleasantly drowsy, lightheaded from the weed, but content.

He raises a hand eventually to ask for the spliff.

“Pucker up”, she tells him. He frowns, but does as she asked. He looks a bit ridiculous like this, and she can’t help the large grin that breaks out of her face. Jesus, she hadn’t realized weed made her act this silly.

She pops the spliff between his lips. He almost splutters in his surprise, but manages to puff it without actually hacking off his lungs.

“Good job”, she says, unable to resist, and patting his head lightly.

He glares at her in answer (it’s not exactly convincing) and blows the smoke into her face. She laughs a bit, taking the spliff back.

“Wait, are you really going to take the last fucking…” Tangerine tries to protest, rising a bit on his elbows.

Fawn arches an eyebrow, taking the last drag, but holds the smoke in her lungs. She scoots a bit closer to him, and taps a finger at his bottom lip. He seems a bit clueless, confused. Still, he opens his mouth all the same.

She doesn’t really know what suddenly comes over her, but she leans in, and blows the smoke inside his mouth. He sucks in sharp breath, staring at her with lidded eyes. She leans a bit closer. She doesn’t know who closes the few final inches separating them.

But then, they’re kissing.

His mouth is hot against hers, his lips soft and wet. He tastes like weed and coffee. She parts her lips, licking lightly at his bottom lip, and then she feels his tongue against hers.

Fuck, it’s been a while since she’s been kissed like this. Just kissed, just for the sake of it.

It might be the best kiss she’s gotten in months. Maybe years.

She cups his cheek, tilting her head for a better angle, and he hums against her, tongue sliding in deeper, rolling against her own. Fuck.

Her other hand, that had already been in his hair, pulls a bit at his curls.

Suddenly, he wrenches himself away from her, standing hastily from the bed. There is… some sort of panic in his eyes, his curls completely messed up on his head, his lips swollen.

“Fuck”, he says, pushing his hair out of his eyes, raking a hand through them. His chest is heaving. Fawn is completely lost. What is happening ? “Fuck”, he repeats, louder.

He doesn’t even look at her, storming out of the room. She hears the entrance door slam closed a few seconds later.

She stays rooted where she is, still sitting on the bed. Alone.

She feels like she just brutally fell of her high. The warmth that had been infused in the room mere minutes earlier seems to have completely disappeared. She shivers, wrapping her arms around herself. She doesn’t dare move.

What the fuck ?

She… Doesn’t understand.

They were kissing. Alright, she had kissed him first, yes, but he had kissed her back. He could have simply said no, if he didn’t want to. She wouldn’t have felt offended.

Fuck, the bastard just… Fucking left. She feels gutted, for some reason. Like someone just tore open her chest and left a gaping hole behind, not bothering to close it back. The loneliness creeps in, all at once. She is surrounded by it, sitting alone in a huge hotel room.

He couldn’t just… Leave. He was going to come back, right ?

He hadn’t even paid her.

Fawn swallows around the lump in her throat. Fuck. She’s not going to cry. Not for a man. Not for a fucking client, of all things. She’s long past that.

Okay, so maybe she had thought Tangerine was a bit different than the rest. But he is still a client.

She blinks furiously against the tears threatening to spill out. She feels cold. Humiliated.

Fuck, this really is humiliating.

Her mind keeps jumping to all sorts of possible explanation, each one worse than the other.

A small part of her keeps foolishly hoping that he’s going to come back. He’s going to come back. He just… has too. She had stayed, when he had asked her. Even though he had been drunk. She had stayed because he had asked.

She waits three hours, until she finally decides to go home. Confusion and sadness have long morphed into anger, and a deep feeling of emptiness.

She curls up in her own bed, back in her small apartment. She feels completely pathetic. For allowing this happen. For allowing herself to hope for a fucking client to be at least decent. For allowing him to put her in this situation. She shouldn’t have accepted his offer.

She just wasted a night of sleep, and she didn’t even get paid for it. And now, here she is, alone back in her apartment. Just… Alone.

#tangerine #lemon and tangerine #tangerine bullet train #tangerine fic #tangerine x reader #tangerine x oc #bullet train #bullet train 2022 #bullet train fic #bullet train fanfic #bullet train tangerine

[look-at-the-soul]

Matters of the heart

Tommy Shelby x OC (Eva Shelby)

A/N: Although this is written based on an specific character, it can be read as Y/N easily 😉

I wrote this little piece to celebrate @julyzaa / @evita-shelby 1st anniversary on tumblr! 🎉👏🏻🔮 congratulations and to many more!! I hope you like it!This is set on S5. I love this couple well because Eva is great! But also because she’s inspired after actress Adria Arjona, which I also got inspiration from the name to write Look at the soul. ♥️

Thank you @seleneshelby for creating the moodboard to go with this little idea ✨🔮

“Tommy…” Eva whispered out loud, but he didn’t turn to face her. She tried to move him away, but Tommy wouldn’t listen.

Eva woke up startled, something pressing her chest tightly, but there was nothing around her, just the room lighted by the bright morning.

Tommy must’ve instructed Frances to not disturb her, he was always so considerate, but this wasn’t a really good moment to sleep in… she needed to see him, make sure that he was alright. That’s why she rushed to change her clothes and brushed her hair and in record time she was ready to find her Tommy.

The drive was the longest Eva had ever been to, she hoped the chauffeur wasn’t doing it on purpose to drive her mad. Twisting the fabric of her skirt between her fingers, Eva tried hard to remain as calm as possible, right before the car stopped behind the vehicle parked in front of Tommy’s office, Eva was already opening the door, her feet touching the cobblestone.

Her heart skipped a beat as she saw a couple of kids kicking the ball on the street.

Just like in her dream.

“Park the car around please.” She rushed opening the door.

She could feel her heart up in her throat, thundering against her ribs. Taking two steps at the time and it wasn’t fast enough.

Please, let Tommy be fine, she pleaded.

As she was midway the stair, she saw Ben Younger making his way down, it was hard to see he would be dead in mere seconds, he wouldn’t be able to see his baby grow.

It was both a blessing and a curse to see sometimes the shadow of death following people around.

Not that she could go around telling people they were about to die, right?

“What are you doing here Ev?” Tommy found his wife on his way down.

“I needed to see you.” To protect you, she wanted to say.

“Well, how about you wait for me in the office and I’ll be right back?” He announced Ben forgot something at his office so he would bring it down for him.

Panic took over her. “No!” She tried to make him move upstairs, but Tommy wasn’t buying it. “I need to use your phone.” She tried to distract him with the first thing that crossed her mind.

“What is it?”

“Just, you know… that woman never wants to connect my calls.” She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath as she somehow managed to make Tommy walk back into his office.

She anxiously played with the necklace Tommy gave her, listening to a quiet tic tac in her mind.

“Who do you want to call?” Tommy held the phone and looked at her.

She frowned in confusion.

“Ev…” he realized then she was lying. “Is this one of those moments of yours where you see things?”

“I just didn’t want you to get hurt mi amor.”

Tommy walked towards the window finding the kids kicking the ball, he knew how protective she could be sometimes, but by now he had learned to trust her instincts. Just as he turned around to ask her about her vision, there was an explosion.

The window behind his back smashed into a million pieces and Tommy reacted by leaning against his desk, protecting his head. For a mere second, he was back in France.

Eva flinched and closed her eyes, trying to push away the images from her mind, the images she saw in her dream.

“Fuck. Are you alright?” Tommy demanded to know, worry written all over his face.

She could only nod, her heart tight.

She felt sad for Ben, for Ada… and their baby.

But also that innocent child lying across the street. He had a bright future ahead.

“Tommy.” She stopped him before he could reach the door. “You need to see Ada, she will need you.”

He flicked a long and quiet look at her. Over time he learned to read her well, he knew her silences and looks.

Eva finally allowed herself to sit, letting out a shaky breath.

It wasn’t her place to try to change the course of things… she only wanted to protect her Tommy.

****

Thank you for reading!! 🥰 if you like this and you feel up to it, I’d love to hear your thoughts xx

Master list

Tag list: @lyarr24 @runnning-outof-time @cillmequick @gypsy-girl-08 @datewithgianni @cloudofdisney @gretelshelby @ange-thoughts @lespendy @onlydeadcells @fastfan @stevie75 @prettylittlehoneyeyesxoxo @esposadomd @strayrockette @forbidden-forest-witch @elenavampire21 @forgottenpeakywriter @zablife @peakyscillian @moral-terpitude @babaohhhriley @shelbydelrey @shaddixlife @sloanexx @cilliansangel @rangerelik @sydneyyyya (can’t tag) @adaydreamaway08 @mrkdvidal1989 @dandelionprints @flippittygibbitts

#That’s what Cill said #evita’s birthday bash #cillian murphy #tommy shelby #peaky blinders #cillian murphy imagine #tommy shelby blurb #thomas shelby x you #tommy shelby fanfiction #Tommy Shelby x OC #tommy shelby x you

[lilpotatjj]

Wattpad:

Congratulation...Captain?

Chapter 6

"I'm sorry Vic, but I have to disappoint you. There's nothing going on between them. It's more like a bad atmosphere between the two of them," you drink your coffee and empty your cup, hoping they believe you. "Too bad, I had another 5 dollar bet that something was going on," Travis pouts and everyone has to laugh. "All right, work calls!", Vic shouts and you all leave the beanery.

"They've made bets that there's something going on between you and Sullivan," you grin and snuggle closer to Andy. "I don't know what's going on with him... maybe he wants to be captain again and sees me as a thorn in his side. He's been acting strange for days now." Andy takes you tighter in her arms and covers you more with her cuddly blanket. "Well... he can wait a long time. Because our captain is a stunner...and..." you kiss her tenderly between each word "...absolutely hot" She smiles under the kiss, takes your cheek with one hand and strokes it gently just to deepen the kiss even more. Everything about Andy drives you crazy. Her smell...her manner...her hair and the fact that she keeps whispering dirty words to you in spanish.

The days fly by and everything runs more smoothly. No big missions and you both spend every free second together being close and soaking up every moment from each other.

"ok 19, it's New Year's Eve! Means what?" Andy walks through the line and stops in front of a probie, looking at him with an intimidating look.

"uuuh meow...she's extending her claws," Travis whispers to Vic, who smirks at Travis carefully mimicking a cat. However, both immediately stand up straight again when they feel Andy's gaze on them and apologize. Her gaze returns to the probie and she raises an eyebrow. "a....so there could be increased fire incidents due to...all the fireworks...?" he stutters and looks down at the floor, intimidated. "Is that a question or your answer?" she asks.

"Answer...Captain!"

"right, so guys, stay on call! I want to see maximum commitment from you!"....19!"

"19!" and with this exclamation the group splits up.

"You really showed them today, Captain..." you join her in the office and close the door and curtains. Andy smirks cheekily and gets up to join you. "Well...it doesn't hurt to show a little...fire now and then." She pulls you close and kisses you demandingly. "we...need to stay on call..." Andy tries to resist the urge to undress you on the spot. "then stop being so dominant...that's hot..." you continue to provoke her and undo the first button of her shirt as the first alarm sounds.

Every vehicle is needed, as well as every single unit of the 19. Arrived, the basement of a house is on fire. Andy gets out and gets a picture of the situation within seconds.

"Ruiz and Bishop to the water supply! Warren and Gibson, you take care of the injured who are being rescued, keep me informed if I need to call for extra help! Hughes, Y/N and Sullivan contain the fire, make sure it doesn't spread to the neighboring houses! Montgomery you check the power lines and tell the utility company to shut off the power as a precaution!

"me and Hughes are going in!" said, done, and you and hughes disappear between all the smoke.

"Y/N, Hughes what's your situation?" Andy asks.

"no people in there! we'll keep looking" you both head towards the basement and start putting out the fire.

"ok copy" Andy says as one of the homeowners runs up to her and wails.

"my beautiful fireworks! please don't let them destroy everything!" Andy looks at him, confused. "what? where? in the house?" Andy gets nervous.

 "in the basement, we tinkered around and made our own fireworks. we want-" Andy immediately grabs her walkie talkie. "Y/N! Hughes you have to get out of the house now! I repeat, everyone out of the house now! This is a powder keg!"

You both exchange a panicked look and immediately start running, up the stairs and out of the house just as a huge blast behind you tears you away. The entire house is torn apart, pieces of debris fly around and a huge black cloud rises. Andy and the others immediately run to you and drag you both away from the rubble field. Andy looks at Hughes who is being taken care of and then runs straight to you. "Y/N hey, come on, come on!" she feels your pulse and gently slaps your face. "Ouch....didn't know that you get beat'n from the captain too..." you smile and Andy grins in relief.

You two will be taken care of the call and in the meantime the fire will be put out and the rest of the rubble field will be secured.

"Not bad Herrera, dividing the team correctly in such a tricky situation is a big challenge. Good job." Chief Ross smiles and Andy nods gratefully. "Thanks Chief"

"Make sure you don't get any more injuries on your team... the FDP is keeping a close eye on you..." she whispers to Andy and leaves, leaving Andy with a questioning face.

The cool evening wind blows Andy's hair as she watches the sunset on the roof from the station. "I wish you were here and could see me... you would certainly be proud..." Andy whispers quietly and looks wistfully into the distance as you also enter the roof terrace. "hey...looks great...the view" you come to her and put a hand on her back.

"My father always said: If you ever become a captain, never show weakness. Lead with a firm hand and fair love." Andy swallows hard and collects her words.

"I'm sure he would be very proud of you" you smile at her and give her a kiss on the cheek. "I miss him" Andy smiles sadly and takes a deep breath. "The FDP is probably targeting me. Chief Ross spoke to me. One mistake and they'll probably write me off. Pretty unfair and misogynistic"

You look worried when Jack suddenly comes to you too. "Hey you lovebirds" He sits down on a chair with a beer in his hand. "I didn't hear anything," says Andy and sits down at the table with Gibson. "I thought you would be interested in the latest" he looks at Andy with a serious expression. "Why, what's wrong?" She takes Jack's beer away and takes a sip.

"Sullivan has applied for a position as captain. Since we already have a captain here, I assume he will change the station." Andy looks at Jack with a serious expression and switches to you. You see the anger rising in her and she stands up. "What's wrong? Did I miss something?", Jackson senses the change in mood suddenly. "That...he had planned this from the start..." Andy almost growls.

"Ok babe...take it easy" You try to calm Andy who is clenching her fists tightly.

"Wait babe?" Jack looks slightly surprised. "Shut up Gibson...oh I'll...I'll kill him..." with these words she goes into the station to confront Sullivan.

Sullivan, who is currently in the fitness room, looks up when Andy suddenly enters the room. "Captain yeah? You are a snake Robert. How long have you been planning this!?" Andy raises her voice. "I certainly deserve a position as captain. There are plenty of vacancies, or do you enjoy pushing me around just because you're a rank higher?" he puts his weight down in anger.

"The FDP Robert! It's targeting me and is literally looking for mistakes. A stupid decision and they'll take away my position as captain once and for all!" Andy is totally furious and Robert suddenly looks surprised while you arrive and listen quietly. "Andy, I didn't know that the FDP would react like that. I'll explain to them that I'm changing." Andy folds her arms.

"Oh don't act like you didn't put yourself in the spotlight. You were captain here before. That's enough for them to think like that." Sullivan steps in front of Andy so she can literally feel him. "Then make sure you do your job properly...Captain Herrera!" Andy looks after him, completely stunned. "he is the worst...I can't believe it"

Andy is angry and hesitates for a moment, looks at you and doesn't let up, which is why she runs after him. "Andy wait..-" But she doesn't listen and you follow her. "Sullivan you could have at least told me that you were planning something like that...at least that you were changing the station." When he gets to the changing room, Robert is now annoyed and snorting. "You've been completely different since the last few weeks...as if you weren't the same anymore!" Andy continues to talk to him and Sullivan stands in front of Andy again, who just gives her an angry look. "You don't have anything more to say? So you don't care about me anymore? Did the years of marriage actually mean anything to you? What's wrong with...-" Without knowing it, Robert suddenly kisses her and Andy is completely shocked at first so she can't move but realises what's happening and pushes him away.

"Are you kidding me..." she whispers quietly and can't even look him in the eyes anymore. "The reason why I'm changing is mainly because I still love you. Andy, I have to move on and that's only possible when I'm finally away from you." Andy looks at him confused, his words weigh more heavily than he thought and as Robert leaves the changing room she looks at him completely at a loss. You stand with your back next to the door, have noticed everything and don't know what to think about it all. So many thoughts swirl in your head. What if you lose her because of Sullivan. Andy didn't even say that she loves you one single time. You are nervous and go in the room to her.

AN: Welp so much is happening right now. Andy's emotional world begins to shatter. Will she give in to Sullivan's feelings?

#romance fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction #lgbtq #smut #smut fanfiction #andy herrera #station 19 fanfic #station 19 fic #andy herrera fanfiction #andy herrera fanfic #andy herrera x reader #station 19 abc #station 19 fanfiction #station 19 #andy x sullivan #surrera #station 19 andy herrera #drama #long fanfic

[libraryofloveletters]

The Mistletoe Proposal

Eddie Diaz x Reader 

Warnings: fem!reader, kissing, a little bit of friendly bullying with buck. 

Category: Fluff

Word Count: 1.9k

Author’s Note: Based on this request and this request!! this is basically a part 2 to The Parent Trap but it can be read as a stand alone :)

---

It was Christmas Eve and the 3 of you sat on the couch watching how the grinch stole Christmas. Emily and Christopher had spent the day hanging out and playing video games while you put up last minute decorations and did some gift wrapping. Christmas was always super small for the two of you, it usually consisted of you buying gifts for Emily and then tv in your pjs all day but since Eddie and Chris came into your lives this year, you decided it was time to go all out. 

“What do you two want for dinner?” leaning back into the couch as you paused the movie. 

“Pizza” 

“Burgers” 

“How about both ?” 

A loud yes and the two of them getting off the couch to go get their shoes. Your phone buzzed as you tumbled through your bag for your car keys. Pulling it out of your pocket, Eddie’s name popped up on the screen. 

From Eddie: What are you guys up to ? 

To Eddie: Going out for pizza and burgers 

From Eddie: Did you starve them today ? Why both ? 

To Eddie: Haha very funny Diaz, they’re growing children

From Eddie: Swing by the station ? I miss you guys 

To Eddie: We’ll see, I'll message you if we’re coming by 

From Eddie: Bobby’s making dinner but sounds good 

“Kiddos! Can we take a rain check on burgers and pizza ? Eddie just texted and Bobby’s making dinner at the station. Maybe we should stop by ?” 

The two kids nodded, “can we take the cheesecake too ?” Emily asked you, her and Christopher were sitting on the bench by the front door. You headed back to the fridge to grab the cake before heading out. 

-- 

The drive wasn't very long, it was only 15 minutes from your place to the station. Helping the kids out, they went into the station a few seconds before you, you had to get the cheesecake from the car. When you got in, Buck was being smothered with hugs from the kids. “Hey pretty boy” you smiled at him, the nickname making him laugh, he pulled you in for a hug. “Hey yourself, I haven’t seen you in forever” 

“You saw me last week Buck” 

“Yeah but that’s too long, who’s supposed to make me dinner if Bobby doesn't cook ? Plus Eddie won’t share whatever you pack for him” he pouted at you, his arm over your shoulder. 

“Oh you poor baby, I'll make sure you make double next time. One for him and one for you” you chuckled, Buck smiled. Chim and Hen had already come down and helped the kids up the stairs and to the game machine. “This place is so cool!” Emily said to Christopher, Christoper smiled at her, “I know!” 

“Hey, I thought you said you'd text if you were coming ?” Eddie walked over, giving you a hug. “Surprise ?” hugging him back and chuckling, he kissed your cheek. “Did they say hi to you ?” the two of you looked over at the kids who were very into the game they were currently playing. “No,” he laughed, “they ran off. I’m gonna go say hi, make yourself comfortable” Eddie’s hand squeezed your waist softly before letting go. 

Turning to the kitchen, you were greeted by Bobby who was stirring something in a pot. “Is that cheesecake ?” he looks over at the box in your hand, you nodded. “A little something for you guys. Chris and Em helped me make it,” you glanced over at the kids before whispering, “if there’s any eggshells, just bypass that ?” Bobby nodded with a smile. “I’m sure it’s great.” 

“What can I help with ?” you washed your hands and took a look around. 

“You’re a guest don’t worry about that” he told you, you shook your head, “Oh please, let me help. It's a lot” 

“Fine, but only because you insist. The carrots and celery need to be chopped and someone needs to let the table” he said, his attention still on the pot in front of him. 

“I got the veggies. Eddie! Buck!” the two men found their way over to you in a matter of seconds. “Set the table please ?” smiling sweetly at them, Buck glanced over at Eddie. 

“Question Buck?” you glare at him,

He shakes his head, “Oh no, I’m fine”

“Why are you two still standing here ? Go set the table” you nod towards the table, the two men walk away. You can still hear them bickering as they set the table. 

“Is she always that bossy ?” Buck asks him, Eddie nods. “It’s hot though” Eddie replies and Buck agrees with him earning a smack to the arm. “Dude! c’mon that’s my girlfriend” Eddie groans making Buck laugh, “if only I had gone to pick up Chris that day” he jokes, Eddie walks away leaving Buck at the table. 

“You should come around more often. They stopped listening to me months ago” Bobby tells you, “they’re a handful. I don't know how you do it” you laugh, taking over at the stove. 

--

After dinner, Eddie disappears with Chris and Emily for a few minutes only to come back with a suspicious look on all 3 of them. “What's up with you ?” taking a seat on the arm rest of the chair Eddie was sitting in, his arm comes up and wraps around your waist. “Nothing, just a little conversation” he smiles at you, your arm around his shoulder now. 

“You’re losing!” your daughter giggles, Chim groans, “I'm not losing to children!” “You’re losing!” Chris laughs this time. You glance down at Eddie who has a smile on his face. 

Your heart felt like it grew 10 times its size when you saw Eddie’s reaction to them. 

“C’mon!” Buck shouts from the other end of the kitchen, he’s holding a mistletoe above Bobby and Athena. 

Bobby smiles at Athena before kissing her. “Okay Mr. Buckley, get out of here now” Athena pushes him away, Buck gives her a grin and walks away. 

He then finds his way over to Hen and Karen who are sitting at the table together. “What are you doing ?” Hen gives him a look, already tired of him. “Just spreading the holiday love. Come on, give your wife some lovin’” Buck and Karen laughed, Hen shook her head. “Say that again and I'll push you over the balcony” she gave Karen a kiss. Buck seems satisfied with his result, leaving them alone. 

“Hey love birds” Buck smiled making his way over to you and Eddie. “Don’t start” Eddie warned him. “Fine,” Buck walked around the couch to where you sat and held up the mistletoe. “I’ll just give her a kiss myself” Buck leaned down and kissed your cheek. You smiled at him, “you’re a sweetheart Buck, but I think I rather kiss Eddie” you patted his chest and turned to Eddie. Buck gasped, his hand dramatically hitting his chest, “I’m hurt! how could you?!” he pouted, “you’ll find the right one Buck, don't worry” Eddie said, pulling you down onto his lap. His hand cupping your cheek, you leaned in. Eddie’s lips touched yours, every time felt like the first time, you never got tired of kissing him. Eddie pulled away when a chorus of “gross” and “ew” started, you both looked over to see Buck and Chim encouraging the kids. 

Burying your face in the crook of Eddie’s neck, you could feel the heat on your cheeks. “Are you blushing ?” Eddie whispered, kissing your head.

“No, you are” you mumbled, he chuckled, feeling the vibration each time he laughed.  

“Let’s goooo!” Buck picked up Chris and ran down the stairs. “Okay little lady, your turn!” Chim picked up Emily and followed Buck down the stairs. “Where are you guys going !?” you shouted from the chair, “To show them the trucks!” Buck shouts back. You didn't think anything of it, you were glad you ended up coming to see Eddie at work. 

“You know,” you fiddled with the collar of his shirt, Eddie’s arm was around your waist, your legs swung over the other end of the chair. Eddie hums waiting for you to continue, “you look kinda hot in your uniform. I never get to see you in it” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah” 

“Maybe I'll have to wear it more often then” Eddie smiles at you as you get up. He grabs your hand, “where are you going?” he pouts. “C’mon, you’re gonna start pouting now ?” you gave him a look, he kept pouting. You leaned down and gave him a kiss, “would you look at that, the pout’s gone” 

“Let’s go find the kids” Eddie holds your hand, letting you walk down as he follows behind you. As you get down the stairs, you stop in the middle of the station. The kids are up on the trucks. On one truck stood Buck and Chris holding on the end of a rather large banner. On the other truck stood Chim and Emily holding the other side of the banner. Everyone else stood by the truck, watching you as you read the banner. 

“Will you marry me?” 

You turned around to see Eddie, who was down on one knee now. Letting out a gasp, he opened the little velvet box to reveal the ring. “Y/n, I know we’ve only been together for a year but you make me happier than I could ever imagine. You’ve been so amazing with Chris and he loves you so much, as do I and I love Emily so much too,” he glances at the kids and gives them a smile. “Would you do me the honour of being my wife and marry me ?” he let out a breath, looking up at you. 

“Yes! oh my god Eddie, yes” you leaned down, your hands holding his face. He smiled at you as he got up. You admired the ring as he slid the ring onto your finger, “you have excellent taste Mr. Diaz” you hold out your hand, admiring the ring again. “I had some help from Chris and Emily” his arm wraps around your shoulder. 

Everyone comes over to congratulate the two of you, the kids come over to you two. “How could you two keep this from me?” you ask the kids, they smile at you. “He made us promise” Chris said, Emily nodded. “Do you like the ring mommy ?” 

“I love it and I love you both so much” you give the two of them a hug. They run off with Chim to go play some game. Everyone clears out, going off to do their own thing. You and Eddie are still wrapped up in each other, most definitely in the honeymoon phase again. You look up at the kids with Chim when you spot the mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. 

“Hey” you poke Eddie’s cheek, “what?” his brows furrow, his eyes follow your finger to the ceiling. 

“That had to be-” he started, 

“Shut up and kiss me already Diaz” He laughed as he pulled you in for a kiss. 

---

Taglist: @ssa-volturi​ @advicefromnixxxx​ @keenmarvellover​ @takashishiroqane​ (only cause you loved the first one :) ) 

#eddie diaz #eddie diaz x reader #eddie diaz oneshot #eddie diaz imagine #eddie diaz fan fic #eddie diaz fanfic #eddie diaz fic #911 #911onfox #911 fic #911 fanfic #911 imagine #911 reader insert #911 on #9-1-1 #9-1-1 oneshot #9-1-1 fanfiction #9-1-1 reader insert #9-1-1 imagine #9-1-1 fic #911 fox #9-1-1 fanfic #9-1-1 fox

[kanmom51]

I don't know if I'm the only one but the way I interpreted this whole Vlive, Jimin felt quite nervous about being in front of the camera alone after awhile (considering the recent events we can understand why) and to me he was almost begging JK to come to help him. Even the whole phonecall when JK was talking about his body and it seems like he understood the urgency of the situation when he said 'should I come in now?'.

Also, to me Jimin grabbing him with both hands was also a silent call for him NOT to leave (please they're so cute!).

Sorry for my English. Love your blog!

Hey anon, thank you for your love and support. xx

Ok, so maybe this is a little premature answering your ask, as I haven't seen the fully translated Vlive yet. I was watching it without the translation and caught up on a few moments, but still want to see the whole thing in one go fully translated.

But, saying that anon, the vibe I got was different.

I don't think JM was nervous to do the live, I really don't think he was.

This isn't JM's first rodeo, and his last live was only around a month and a half ago.

The Vlive was done in JK's studio. Hobi accidently spilled the beans on that one (them getting all flustered and word stumbling, really only making it worse for themselves, as they do per usual in these situations).

I think he wanted JK there, he knew what that meant (the perception, the way they are with each other every single time you put them together in front of a live camera), and perhaps that made him a bit nervous, but also so so giddy.

That phone call with JK it was flirty and soft and JK, as per usual calling JM without honorifics (JM made sure we don't hear what JK calls him when he answers the phone only putting him on speaker after warning him).

JM was shy and happy, oh so happy.

Just one more closing point. We don't know how JM celebrated his birthday eve. We know he had this live and we know he went to meet up with his family after that. But although we don't know what he did, how he celebrated we do know what he told us in his Tweet after the Vlive. He is truly happy, reminiscing on the birthday surprise he had during the Saudi Arabia concert in 2019, saying:

"The thought of being happy because it's your birthday I don't think I've thought about it since when I was congratulated at a concert in the past."

Same concert JK arranged for that little happy birthday surprise during the concert. Same one he went on about during his live the next day.

JM had a good birthday celebration. Obviously his emotional needs had been met.

JM goes on to say:

"Having received such a big congratulation this time, I am happier than ever to meet you and my family. thank you again Thank you again."

He sees the love. He really does.

Notice the use of "this time" and repeating the "thank you again".

I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, or maybe just a little too hopeful but I feel a change, a realisation, a shift in the wind, and maybe, just maybe (if I'm not delusional) JM & JK feel it too.

There is still hate out there, but also a hell of a lot of love. And it seems that more and more are coming to the realisation that there is something special between those two.

Look, they are happy . They have the upcoming concerts, the ambassador appointments, perhaps even more in the pipe works we are unaware of, but I think that's not the whole of it. It feels like they are more at ease, with being themselves around each other. Idk. These are early days, and time will tell.

Anyway, point being, ugh, I finally arrived at the point, I don't think this was about JM being panicky begging his bf to come and save him. I think it was JM deciding he wants JK by his side during this live, and being oh so happy and giddy when it came to fruition.

#ask #anon #Jimin Vlive #Jimin birthday Vlive

[bxtchforstyles]

‘Tis the Damn Season

Harry Styles x high school ex!Y/N 

Y/N comes home from college back to her hometown for the first time in almost two years for the holidays where Harry, her ex boyfriend still lives. She didn’t know how much he missed her, but turns out, the feeling was mutual. 

Warning: none

Word count: ~2.5k

gif not mine. 

The winter wind brushed roughly against Y/N’s face as she walked out of the airport and into the open air of her hometown. She had decided to come home for her winter break, to spend time with her family during the holiday season. 

Shockingly enough though, she was not excited to be home. She had left almost two years ago to college, and didn’t have any plans of ever returning. 

But the girl loved her parents, and when they so graciously begged her to come home and enjoy Christmas with them, she couldn’t exactly find it in her to say no. 

This town held many bad memories for her, she spent her high school working her ass off to get into college instead of enjoying it like she should have, she had friends that she never really cared about having. But the worst part of this town was Harry. 

For as long as Y/N could remember, the only thing she ever wanted to take away from living in this tiny, no good town, was Harry. They had planned everything out, they were both going to go to college somewhere in America, fleeting the tortuous city that they had known much too long. 

But when Y/N had announced to Harry that she had received a scholarship from NYU, Harry wasn’t as excited as she thought he would be. That’s when he had told her that he would be staying in London to go to University. 

That broke her heart. 

Now that she was back for the holidays for the first time since she had last seen Harry, she had no plans of seeing him, it was for the better. 

“Y/N!” Her mother called for her, jumping out of her car door to embrace her daughter in a warm hug. “Gosh, I missed you so much.” 

“You just saw me a few weeks ago, mom.” Y/N laughed, wrapping her arms around her mother’s thin shoulders. 

The reunion was sweet, just her mother and her as they drove back to Y/N’s childhood home. Her mother had let her know that her father was at home preparing their famous ‘Christmas Eve dinner’ Where all of their family friends came over to enjoy the festivities of Christmas together. 

Y/N’s parents had almost been quite the hostess’, so it wasn’t really a surprise to her when she found out about the annual dinner, it was pretty much to be expected. 

But what she didn’t expect to see when she had walked into the well known house, was the Styles family, sitting at the familiar dining table. 

She had wanted to walk back outside right then and there, get back in the car, drive back to the airport, and go back to New York. It was hard enough for her to be here back at her childhood home, being reminded of everything she hated about being here, but now that Harry and his family had entered the equation, the only thing she could think about was going home. 

Luckily for her mother’s sake, she kept her composure and smiled sweetly to the multiple families that sat around the table. 

Y/N knew very well this was her mother’s doing, since she had always been the one rooting for Harry and Y/N to get back together again. It wasn’t fair for Y/N, having to sit at a miserable dinner just because her mom was mourning the loss of her daughter’s ex boyfriend. 

“Mom,” Y/N looked towards where he mother was standing, interrupting whatever useless story her mother was telling. “Can I speak to you, please?”  

She looked up at her with a smile, “Of course, what is it sweetie?” God, she hated that pet name. 

“Alone. Please?” 

“Oh…” She then trailed off, seeming to finally realize that her daughter was being quite serious. “Let’s go to the kitchen.” 

As soon as the French doors to the concealed kitchen shut behind her mother, Y/N felt like a fuse inside her was bound to burst. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” 

“Y/N, I can explain.” Her mother already seemed to know what she was talking about by the guilty look on her face. 

“Please, do explain why you decided to invite my ex boyfriend and his family to our family’s Christmas Eve dinner when you knew very well that I would be home.”

“You have to understand, the Styles family,” 

Y/N cut her off, “My ex boyfriend’s family.” She utters under her breath, 

“That's enough from you,” her mother seethes back. “Their family are very good friends of mine and your father’s, and we had no idea Harry would be coming with them.” 

“Mom! Why even are you good friends with Harry’s family?” 

“Y/N, your relations with Harry has nothing to do with our relations with his parents, whether you think Harry’s a good person or not, his parents are.” 

“Harry is a good person! That’s the problem!” 

Her mother’s eyes widened in shock, “How is that a problem?” 

“Because if I have to sit at dinner with they guy that still is civil with me, and is still nice to me even after I left him in the fucking dust, then I’m going to want to stay here! And I can’t stay here!” Y/N’s voice was rising as the tears began to well in her eyes. 

“Sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt.” When Y/N heard the familiar voice, she looked towards the door to see the person who had walked through the door. 

Standing in the kitchen, quietly turning to shut the French doors behind her, was Harry’s mom, Anne. 

That’s when Y/N realized exactly when Anne came in the kitchen. It was because she could most likely hear Y/N and her mother’s entire conversation, which meant everyone else did too. 

But Anne didn’t say anything about the comments made about her son, only walking quickly up to Y/n and wrapping her in a hug. This only made the tears in Y/N’s eyes fall quickly as she sunk into the motherly embrace. 

“You know, he still loves you, I see it in his face anytime we bring you up.” Anna whispered to Y/N, making her a sobbing mess. 

“Y-you guys still talk about me?” Was the first ridiculous question that came to mind. 

“Are you joking? Of course we do, when we heard that you had applied for medical school to try and become a doctor we were so proud of you, couldn’t stop talking about it for weeks!” Y/N smiled at her excitement, “And Harry isn’t the only one who misses you, we all do. You were a part of our family, dear.” 

The girl sighed, “I wish it could have been easier.” 

“Don’t worry about that, now let’s go upstairs and get you cleaned up for dinner, I promise that foolish son of mine won’t say a word.” She smirks, pulling Y/N along with her out of the kitchen and upstairs towards the bathroom. 

------ 

Thankfully for Y/N, the dinner wasn’t as awkward as she thought it was going to be. It had already been over an hour of all of the guests sitting around the table, and it was almost time for dessert. 

“So, Y/N, what kind of doctor are you planning on becoming?” One of the ladies who was friends with her mother asked, making everyone else look towards Y/N.

“Oh, Yeah! I heard you got into med school!” 

“Aw, congratulations!” 

Everyone continued to talk about her accomplishments and congratulate her before she had even gotten a change to respond.

After the conversation died down a bit, she finally took her opportunity. “Well, I really love kids so I would love to do something with pediatrics, but I haven’t even gotten to my clinicals yet, so I'm not one hundred percent sure yet.” 

Everyone was intently listening to her as she continued to talk about what she was planning on doing once she was out of school, and everyone was obviously very excited for her. All of the attention was on Y/N though, which was not something she genuinely liked, everyone asking her questions while gawking at how smart she seemed. 

It was difficult for Y/N to continue dessert after all of the talk about her going to medical school, mostly because she could only notice one thing among the people around the table. 

and that was the fact that Harry never looked up from his plate during the entire time people were talking about her, and she wanted to know why. Could he seriously not even look up and smile at her to acknowledge that he was somewhat proud of what she had done over the past year and a half? 

She quickly scrapped her plate into the large sink of the kitchen before opening the glass doors that led from the kitchen and into the backyard garden. Y/N always liked to walk around her when she was in high school whenever she needed to think, and there was even a wooden swing hanging from a tree that she used to do a lot of her studying while sitting on. 

“What are you doing back here?” The all too familiar voice threw her off balance when she whipped her head around to see Harry standing directly behind her. 

She stumbled slightly before quickly regaining her balance as she stood in front of her high school boyfriend. “I mean, this is my house, so I should be asking you that.” 

“I had a feeling this is where I’d find you.” Harry sat on the swing before using his hand to motion for her to sit next to her, she didn’t know why she did, but she did. 

“So then why’d you ask why I was back here if you knew this is where I would be?” She questioned with a confused face. 

He smiled at her lightly, “I said I knew you’d be here, not that I knew why you’d be here.” That answer didn’t really satisfy her, but she didn’t care.

 “Look, I know that you don’t want me here, but I wanted you to know that I miss you, a lot. And I told myself I’d never wait for you, because I had a pretty strong feeling that you would never be coming back. But now that you’re back in our hometown, standing in front of me, screaming about me in the middle of your kitchen, I knew that I was subconsciously waiting for you.”

At the moment Y/N definitely wanted to stop and say ‘wait, you heard that?’ But she already knew that he did. So instead all she could do was wait for him to begin speaking again, since she was much too shocked to speak for herself in that moment. 

It took Harry a while to speak up again too, making her quite nervous for what he could possibly have to say next. 

“You know I love you a lot, right?” He looked towards her, her eyes already widening at his confession. “I always did when we were together, and I never really stopped, even after you left.”

“I-” Y/N cut herself off with her own laughter, “This is definitely not how I was expecting tonight to go.” 

Then Harry started laughing with her, and before they knew it, they were both sitting on the old wooden swing, back like when they were in high school, making jokes and laughing over old memories. 

“I need to know that you won’t leave me again.” 

It was sudden, much too sudden for Y/N to even comprehend what he had said. “What do you mean?” 

“You know exactly what I mean, Y/N.” It was true, she did already know exactly what he was talking about, “Things were good between us, we were so happy together. But then you left, and I’ve never been the same.” 

“Harry,” her tone was warningly. “Don’t go trying to blame what happened to us on me leaving.”

“What am I supposed to blame it on then, Y/N? I thought you were the only one for me, I thought we were going to last forever. The only thing that changed that was you leaving to go to America.” 

Her eyebrows furrowed, “What do you think now?” 

“You’re the only one that I could ever think about loving!” He didn’t act like it was supposed to be a surprise to her, because it wasn’t. “And I want you to stay, for us. I want you to stay here.” 

“You know I can’t do that-” 

“And why can’t you?” Harry’s questions were being asked quickly. 

“Because I have nothing left here anymore, Harry!” She finally yelled, “I moved everything good about this shitty town with me when I left to New York, so no Harry, I am not going to stay here any longer than I half too.” 

“........” 

Tears began to well in her eyes, “I’m sorry that I left you, I know that I hurt you, I see that now. So whatever I can do to make us even, I’ll do it. Just tell me what it is that you want from me, that doesn’t involve me staying in this shitty town longer than this weekend.” 

The sigh that left Harry’s lips was an accurate representation of how he was feeling right then. He knew he wasn’t going to win with Y/N, she was stubborn and wanted her left to stay the same as it was right now. She didn’t feel any sudden urgency to move back to London, but he wished that she did. 

“Be mine for the weekend then.” He stated after a moment. “Like you were back in high school, let me see if I can change your mind by the end of the weekend, and if I can’t, you can leave. You can go back to New York and pretend that this weekend never happened. 

“Fine.” She nodded affirmatively, “Call us even, I’ll be yours for the weekend.” 

His facial expression said it all, and Y/N could basically feel the excitement radiating off of him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. 

Then she added, “I still love you too, by the way.” 

“And why are you just now saying this?” 

They both were smiling at each other at this point, making the night feel much shorter by the minute. She shrugged in response to his previous question though. 

“‘Tis the damn season, right?” 

#Harry Styles #harry styles imagine #high school!harry #harry styles #harry styles blog #harry styles blurb #harry styles x ofc #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x you #solo harry

[dreamersdreamloud]

Last Christmas

Lena Luthor x Reader 

Warning: Angst 

Lena POV

December 24, 2020 - Christmas Eve 

It’s been a year since I last celebrated Christmas but it wasn’t like any other simple December Christmas vibe. (Y/N) proposed to me last December and it was like a dream. Her original plan was to propose on Christmas Day in front of our friends and family. She couldn’t wait so she took me out on a lovely dinner, two weeks before the holiday week. 

I found out that she reserved the most popular restaurant in National City and that it took her weeks to get a table for two. Alex and Kara told me that she worked so much overtime almost every week at her workplace to get the most beautiful and expensive engagement ring. It was so selfless of her. 

The night she gave me the ring, we were both in tears. I promised her that I will not take off this ring until we get our official wedding rings for each other. We expressed our love for each physically until the morning rose. Our friends congratulated us and they couldn’t wait for the wedding day to come. 

It never did. 

Last year on Christmas Eve, (Y/N) was on her way to L-Corp to pick me up. There was a nasty storm coursing through our city. Frank, my driver was supposed to take me back to our shared penthouse but I forced the man to take an early leave to go be with his family. (Y/N) was being very protective and told me that she would come and get me. I knew it would take longer to get to L-Corp due to the heavy traffic of last minute shoppers and the storm making it dangerous for drivers to see clearly. 

“Be careful driving, Darling. I love you.” I said on the phone. 

“Yes, I know. I’ll be there in 30 minutes. I love you too, Love.” 

I love you too, Love . . . They were her last words to me. 

When those 30 minutes were up, I was starting to worry. If she were late, she would always call or text me. She never did so I tried to call her. It would ring countlessly and reach to voicemail. 

I would look out the windows from my office to see if the familiar car she drove would be nearby. Her car was nowhere to be seen. I constantly check the security cameras if she was arriving soon. Still nothing. 

I was going to call my future wife again until I got a call from Kelly. I wanted to ignore it but it was best to answer to see if she knew where my (Y/N) had gone. 

“Hello?” 

“Lena! Where are you?” 

“I’m at L-Corp. I’m waiting -”

“Lena, it’s (Y/N). She was involved in a really bad accident. Kara flew her to the hospital where Alex works.” Kelly spilled out all the information so fast. 

I couldn’t compose any response to Kelly. I hung up and ran out of the office. Once I was in the parking lot, a car blocked me from heading to my car. It was Kelly.

“Get in the car. I’m not letting you drive in this state of mind. (Y/N) would be mad at me if I let that happen.” 

She was right. 

We bolt inside the hospital and I tried to look for my fiancée who was going into emergency surgery. The nurse pushed me back but it took two more nurses to hold me back. 

“Lee, you need to stop. She’s in surgery. We have to wait.” Kara told me. I didn’t know I was shedding so many tears and my exhaustion was hitting me. 

Kelly rubs my back and pulls me into a tight hug, “Lena. Alex is doing everything to get your girl back to your arms. She’s strong. She’s always a fighter.” 

She fought. She really did. 

It was tiring. The waiting was so damn tiring. 

She didn’t make it. 

The moment Alex walked out of those double doors. She gave the look of defeat. Her eyes were all red and puffy. I tried to stand up to go talk to her. To get the official news but my knees buckled and I just fell to the floor. I didn’t want to believe what was happening. I cried so loudly, Kara and Kelly tried to help me get up but didn’t want to move. I knew. I knew she was gone. I could feel she was nearby but she also felt so far. She tried to fight off her death but Alex said her injuries took a toll on her. 

Alex told me that she saw her eyes open for a few seconds for the last time and gave her a sad looking smile. The older Danvers knew that look she gave. She was mentally telling her that she couldn’t stay alive. My (Y/N) couldn’t do it. She tried. If (Y/N) were able to talk to Alex during those last seconds it would have been “Please take care of Lena and the others.” 

Her heart flatline. The nurses tried to bring her back to life. Alex tried to bring her back to me. 

We were supposed to get married. 

We were supposed to plan our wedding date and decorations after Christmas. 

Last Christmas was the most terrible time of my life and I don’t think I’m able to recover. 

I wish you were still here. I’m sitting here all alone in our shared penthouse apartment when we were supposed to be sitting on this couch looking at our decorated Christmas tree. 

I miss our warm cuddles and playful kisses. 

If I knew we were going to have a last Christmas, I wished it to be that we were already married. 

I’m still keeping that promise. The ring is still on me. My engagement ring is on a necklace where I can always hold close to my heart. 

Last Christmas I gave you my heart and I will never give it to anyone else but you. 

Merry Christmas, Darling. I love you. I say in a whisper as I study the ring once more. 

“Merry Christmas, love. I love you too.” Could be faintly heard in my head. 

#lena luthor #lena luthor imagine #lena luthor x reader #lena luthor x you

[arcticguk]

santa baby | knj

❅ pairing, au, warnings: kim namjoon x reader, fluff, allusions to smut, angst, emotionally and verbally abusive parents, swearing, fake dating au, best friends to lovers au, christmas au

❅ précis: you ask namjoon to be your pretend boyfriend for the holidays.

❅ word count: 4,667

❅ part of my holiday drabble series

❅ a/n: pls lmk if u need me to tag anything extra! i put stuff in the warnings, but do not hesitate to tell me if it’s not enough. also we’re gonna ignore the fact that this fic is so much longer than any of my other xmas ones :)

“Namjoon, please?”

“No.” He says firmly, shoving another spoonful of noodles into his mouth. “If this is the only reason you invited me to dinner, I’ll stop coming.”

You snort, loudly. “Like that’ll ever happen. You can’t cook for shit.”

He frowns, setting his fork down beside his near-empty bowl. “And if I do this for you, what will I get in return?”

“Besides my lovely friendship?” You smirk, earning a glare from Namjoon. “I’ll make you dinner every night for a month.”

He presses his lips together, contemplating. “Sold!”

You roll your eyes playfully, flicking his forehead.

“Hey now!” He scolds. “Is that any way to treat your fake boyfriend?”

Your family was very big on appearance. They didn’t care that you sister and her husband practically hated each other, as long as they plastered on fake smiles and put on a good show in front of everyone. They didn’t care that your little brother and his boyfriend had been broken up for two months, they paid the boyfriend to come to a family event and pretend to be infatuated with your brother for one night.

You’d showed up solo to Christmas in the past, but according to your parents, this year was important. They were throwing a huge Christmas Eve party with all of their friends, coworkers, and extended family. They’d made it very clear that if you weren’t going to show up with someone, then you might as well just not show up at all.

And you knew you should just say fuck it and not go. That’s what your brother was doing, but deep down, as much as you hate to admit it, you still crave your parents’ validation and praise.

Namjoon knows how rocky your relationship with your parents is, that’s why he was so against the idea in the first place, but here you were, packing for a trip home with your ‘boyfriend’.

“Okay, we need a backstory.” Namjoon says from the passenger seat. Reaching for the coffee in your cupholder to steal a sip. “Like how we met and started dating.”

“Wait!” He perks up. “Do your parents know that we’re friends? Because then we could say we were friends and then fell for each other or—”

You cut him off with a sharp shake of your head. “No, they don’t know. I don’t tell them very much about what goes on in my life.”

“Okay.” He says softly.

You crack a smile, biting your lip to keep tears at bay, ones you didn’t even realize had formed.

“So, this backstory huh?”

Namjoon grabs both his duffel and yours, helping you shoulder your backpack as he does the same. You take a shaky breath before slamming the car door shut. Namjoon reaches for your hand, giving it a light squeeze.

“Five days,” He breathes in your ear. “You’ve got this.”

You squeeze his hand in thanks, pocketing your keys with your other hand. “Let’s go then?”

You and Namjoon make your way up the front walk, observing the perfectly decorated façade of the house, something you know your parents paid good money for. Before you can ring the bell, the door is yanked open, both your mother and father standing there to greet you.

“___!” Your mother chirps, pulling you in for a hug. She squeezes for a second before letting you go, prompting your father to do the same.

“And who is this handsome young man?” Your mother wonders.

“This is Namjoon.” You swallow. “My boyfriend.”

Your mother smiles, clasping her hands together underneath her chin. “Oh, how wonderful!” She squeaks. “You didn’t tell me you were dating anyone.”

You shrug helplessly. “I wanted to surprise you!”

“And what a lovely surprise it is.”

“So, tell me again why we have to change for dinner?” Namjoon wonders, buttoning his grey shirt. You fluff your hair once more before turning to smirk at Namjoon.

“Because, everything in this family is an event.” You say sarcastically, giggling. He laughs, wiping his palms on his dress pants.

“You did great by the way,” You comment, sliding silver hoops into your ears. “I think they love you already.”

He looks at you, admiring the way your chiffon jumpsuit fits you, how great the black material looks against your skin.

“Joon?” You wonder, ripping him out of his daze.

“What? Oh, thanks.” He smiles.

“Hmm.” You grin, reaching up to fix a piece of his hair. He’d recently dyed it black and you were obsessed, you can’t get over how good it looks on him.

“You ready for dinner?” You wonder, reaching for his hand.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” He sighs, pasting on a smile, gripping your hand tightly with his own.

As you make your way down the grand staircase, leading Namjoon, you smile with ease, surprised at the calm in your being. Family dinners always filled you with dread but having your best friend by your side seemed different, less scary.

When everyone is seated at the large, mahogany table, you start on your salad, taking a sip of water. For most of the meal, your parents focus their attention on Namjoon, peppering him with questions about his job, his education, and childhood.

Namjoon smoothly transitions the conversation back to your parents, wondering; “If ___ told you about her big promotion at work?”

Your mother’s gaze shifts to you, raising her eyebrows expectantly. “That’s great sweetheart, congratulations.” You smile at the praise, your face warming bashfully.

After dinner and dessert, you and Namjoon bid a goodnight to your parents, sister, and your brother-in-law, before heading up to your bedroom.

“Are family dinners,” Namjoon starts, tugging his shoes off, once your door is shut, “usually that tense?”

You nod solemnly, removing all your jewelry and pulling out the elastic from your hair. “You really impressed them though!” You exclaim. “And that’s not easy to do.” You mumble, looking down at your feet.

“I’m sure it is for you.” He laughs. How could your parents not be impressed by his beautiful, intelligent, kind, and brilliant best friend.

You shrug, pulling some clothes to sleep in from your bag. “I’m gonna change then the bathroom’s all yours.”

He nods, taking the opportunity to change into his own sleepwear, setting his watch on the dresser, and setting his phone on the charger.

When you emerge from the bathroom, clad in a hoodie and matching sweatpants, Namjoon smiles softly, switching with you so he can wash his face and brush his teeth.

When he exits the bathroom, you’re working your dinner outfit onto a hanger before placing it in the closet.

You flick the overhead lights off, turning on one of the bedside lamps to cast the room with a warm glow. Namjoon awkwardly stuffs his hands in his pockets.

“I can sleep on the floor.” He speaks up. You give him a look, arching an eyebrow.

“Joon, don’t be silly,” You comment. “It’s a king size bed.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

He smiles, gingerly sliding into the bed, tugging the covers over his lap. You smile, doing the same, pulling out your phone to watch something while Namjoon opens a thick novel from his bag. The two of you sit in comfortable silence, each doing something separate while together. It’s not awkward, in fact just the opposite. The space surrounding you and Namjoon is comfortable, calm, and it feels nice.

Namjoon learns that breakfast is the only meal where it is acceptable to dress down. After informing him that pajamas, are in fact, allowed when he’d gone to get dressed. After you slide into your slippers, he wraps an arm around your waist, letting you drag him down the stairs just as you had the night before.

You and Namjoon are the first people to arrive at the table, so you scoot your chair extra close to his, giggling when he stumbles getting into his chair. His smile dimples his pink cheeks, a sight that makes your heart flutter in your chest.

Your head is nestled in the crook of his neck, cheeks warm with laughter, giggles escaping your lips at the story Namjoon finished telling you. Namjoon’s lips are parted in a wide grin, one arm flung loosely around the back of your chair, the other one resting on your thigh. When your laughter has subsided, you nuzzle further into his neck, sighing heavily. Namjoon’s hand cradles the back of your head, lips near your ear.

“You doin’ okay?” He wonders softly. You nod against his neck. You reach for his free hand, squeezing it tightly with your own.

“I’m fine.” You breathe. “Just a little on edge.”

He nods in understanding, pressing a kiss to your hairline.

It was not unusual for you and Namjoon to be affectionate with each other, but this morning, butterflies were flapping in your stomach, the way Namjoon is treating you borders on couple territory.

“Well look who’s up!”

The warm, soft atmosphere Namjoon had created for you, vanishes when you hear your mother’s voice, your shoulder’s tensing, head whipping around.

“Hi, hey, good morning.” You stumble, moving you chair back to its normal spot, putting some space between you and Namjoon.

“Good morning.” Namjoon greets with a dimpled smile. He reaches for your hand underneath the table, giving it a big squeeze.

You smile at the small show of affection and squeeze back.

Your parents wait until your sister and her husband have joined at the table, taking their seats directly across from Namjoon and you.

“Orchid!” Your mother says, speaking directly to your older sister. “You should’ve seen Namjoon and ___, when we first came down.” She smiles motioning at the two of you. “They were all over each other.”

Your sister looks to you, eyebrows raised.

“We weren’t, I don’t—” You flounder for words in your haste, Namjoon smoothly cutting you off as he puts his arm around the back of your chair.

“It’s hard not to be when you’re with someone as wonderful as ___.” Namjoon chirps. You step on his foot under the table.

“Cheesy much?” You wonder, quiet, but still loud enough for the other members of the table to hear you.

“Only for you honey.” He produces a megawatt smile before pecking a kiss to your temple.

Your mother practically falls out of her seat swooning, but not before giving a pointed look to Orchid and her husband, Sungmin.

That was what your mother did. She pitted the two of you against each other, pulled out your insecurities and served them out on a silver platter. Orchid and Sungmin were on the brink of divorce, of course they aren’t affection with each other. You were just waiting for your mother to sink her claws into you.

“Oh but ___, did you hear about Orchid’s big case?” She wonders, a vile smile creeping up her face. “It’s very important and her boss has entrusted her with handling it. I have no doubts she’ll win.”

“That’s great Orchid.” You smile. “Congratulations.” You feel genuine warm feelings towards your sister, your shitty childhood making your relationship stronger. Orchid had often held you when you cried and let you sleep in her bed when you were really upset after something your mother had said.

“And ___,” Your mother shifts her attention fast enough to make your head spin. “How’s work?”

“It’s great.” You manage through gritted teeth.

“She actually just got a promotion.” Namjoon smiles. “Like I said last night, its super exciting.” You don’t miss the little dig at your mother, and you suppress the urge to laugh. He grins proudly and you can’t help but smile a little. Namjoon had been the most supportive person in your life ever since he came into, overwhelmingly proud when you became got your degree and again when you got your first serious job.

“I’ve never understood how people can find joy in accounting.” Your mother spits. “It seems boring and there’s so many numbers.”

“Actually,” You pipe up. “It’s very interesting and you can really—”

“Still, I could never do it.” She cuts you off sharply.

“___ is incredibly intelligent.” Namjoon speaks again, eyes locking right on your mother’s. “It’s not boring for her. Although I could see how it could be for those who don’t understand numbers as well.”

Your mother’s jaw drops just the slightest, before she shuts her mouth, arms falling helplessly to her lap. You could kiss Namjoon right there, no one’s ever gotten your mother to shut up like that and you revel in it.

Once your mother has composed herself, she clears her throat, gaining the attention of everyone, yet again.

“So Namjoon, what do you do?”

“I’m a writer.” He answers, posture tall and confident, his eyes right on hers again.

“That’s lovely.” She comments. “Did you know that Sungmin is a doctor?”

“I did not.” He says politely. “That’s a very admirable job.”

“So is writing!” Sungmin pipes up. “I’ve always wished I had a talent with words like that. I used to pay my friends in university to write papers for me.”

Namjoon chuckles at that, smiling.

“Namjoon writes for a magazine in our city and he does some freelance stuff for big companies too.” You say proudly and he grins at you.

“That’s awesome man,” Sangmin comments. “I’d love to read some of your stuff sometime.”

“Yeah, I can—”

“But surely writing can’t be as fulfilling as a doctor. Nothing can beat saving lives.”

Everyone straightens grimly, all smiles disappearing.

“Remember I’m a general care physician, I don’t perform major surgeries.” Sungmin smiles awkwardly.

“That doesn’t mean you don’t save lives baby.” Orchid coos, setting her hand on his forearm. “But no career is better than another.” She comments, looking directly at your mother. “Every job is important, and everyone has different things they’re passionate about.” She looks at Namjoon now. “And I think writing is wonderful. You must be really smart.” You smile at your sister in thanks and she winks.

Your mother just scoffs, finally deciding to be quiet and eat her breakfast.

That was really…intense.” Namjoon sighs, tugging a clean crewneck over his head. You look up from the mirror where you’re rubbing moisturizer into your skin.

“Hmm.” You hum in agreement. “I’m so sorry by the way. The way my mother treated you was unacceptable.”

“It’s okay.” He answers honestly. When he sees your frown deepen, he sets his hands on your cheeks.

“___. I promise you it’s fine.”

“I just feel bad. It’s bad enough you had to come here and do this but now my mother is insulting your career and—”

His thumb nudges your chin, prompting you to stop talking. “First of all, I didn’t have to come here okay? I chose to be here. And second, you are not accountable for the things that mother says. She’s not nice to you either.” He reminds you with a soft smile.

“Thank you.” You say simply. He kisses the top of your head before scrounging his suitcase for his Converse. “Okay, I’m making an executive decision for us.” You state, flopping down onto the bed. His eyebrow quirks in curiosity, smiling, encouraging you to go on.

“We’re going out.” You announce. “I can show you my hometown, we can go shopping, get food. And if we time it right, we won’t have to be here for lunch or dinner.”

“I like the way you think.” He smirks, winking as he laces up his sneakers.

You’re a little buzzed from the spiced cider you had at dinner, giggling when Namjoon helps you out of the car, one arm already full of bags from the purchases you’d both made that day.

One of the things you loved about coming home, was getting to visit all the little shops and restaurants that were set up in town. You and Namjoon spent the day supporting your local small businesses and you couldn’t have been happier. It was a great way to spend time with your best friend—and get away from your parents.

You lean into him as you make your way up the front walk, giggling again when he trips on the cobblestone, his stature pitching forward before he catches himself.

Your parents and sister are lounging in the front room, your parents seated on the large sofa, your sister and Sungmin across from them on the loveseat.

“___, Namjoon, come join us!” Your mom suggests cheerfully, a glass of red wine resting in her hand.

“Okay,” Namjoon nods. “Let us take these bags upstairs and we’ll be right back.”

Namjoon leads you up the staircase, hand on your lower back.

“We probably should hang out for a bit,” You comment. “We haven’t seen them all day.”

Namjoon nods in agreement, taking the bags from your hands, setting them in the closet alongside his suitcase.

“Lemme just change,” You say, peeling your sweater over your head, eliciting a blush on Namjoon’s cheeks, his head ducking down.

You trade your sweater and jeans for a hoodie and Christmas-themed pajama pants, heading into the bathroom to scrub off your makeup while Namjoon changes into sweatpants and a t-shirt.

Your parents look up when you reenter, smiling softly when they see the way you’ve nuzzled yourself into Namjoon’s side.

“Oh! Look what we put up earlier!” Orchid comments, pointing to the doorframe right above you and Namjoon.

Mistletoe.

“Oh, ha ha.” Namjoon chuckles awkwardly, his face heating up once again.

“Come on lovebirds,” Your sister laughs. “Give us a little show.”

“Gross Orchid.” You mumble, glaring right at her.

“You have to!” Your mother giggles. “It’s the rules.”

Namjoon looks like he wants to melt into the floor, scratching the back of his neck.

You aren’t sure if it’s the alcohol that’s lingering in your body, or how cute your best friend looks with his red cheeks, but something fills you with confidence, and you squish his warm cheeks with your hands, pressing a hard kiss to his pouted lips.

Your parents laugh and cheer, Orchid clapping good-naturedly. When you pull away from Namjoon, his eyes are wide, puffy lips parted in astonishment.

“So, this is it huh?” Namjoon wonders, straightening the red tie around his neck, which not-so-coincidentally matched the exact shade of your cocktail dress. “The big party.”

“Yup.” You nod, double checking your makeup in the mirror.

To say Namjoon was nervous about the Christmas Eve party, was an understatement. He was freaking out. He wants to make a good impression on everyone, in hopes that he can sell the lie the two of you have been living the past few days.

“You’ll be fine.”

He nods, swallowing harshly. He doesn’t admit it to you, but the party isn’t the only thing making him uneasy. You had never talked about last night, after you had kissed him, everything went on as usual, as if it never happened.

You slip into your heels, giving him a small smile.

“Alright,” You sigh softly, taking his arm. “Party time.”

You swallow another sip of champagne, gripping tightly to Namjoon’s arm. He had survived all of the introductions, and unsurprisingly, everyone loved him.

Dinner had already been served, and everyone was mingling, upbeat holiday music filtering through the speaker system, champagne and wine flowing easily.

Your parents were talking to some clients from your mother’s interior design firm, and you know without listening that she’s talking about you and Orchid.

That’s the thing about your mom—she’ll criticize every decision you make, but in front of everyone else she plays the proud, devoted parent, bragging about all of your accomplishments, as if she had anything to do with them.

Namjoon senses your discomfort and he nuzzles his cheek against the top of your head. The wine he’d been drinking had earlier served as liquid courage, but now that he was relaxed, he was just sleepier and cuddlier than usual.

“You okay?” He murmurs, lips at your ear. You nod robotically, leaning against his shoulder. Obviously, you’re not okay and he knows that, so he takes your hand, leading you outside to the back patio for a moment of fresh air.

Noticing the chill on your skin and the shiver in your movements, he drapes his suit jacket over your shoulders, wrapping an arm around you.

“You’re not okay.” He whispers. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s just,” You sigh, leaning into his embrace. “My mother. She’s so critical and finds fault in everything we do, yet when it comes to appearances and other people, she has nothing but good things to say.” You bite your lip to hold back the tears that fill your eyes, looking out into the wooded backyard. “If she really is proud, then why can’t she ever tell us?”

“Oh honey,” Namjoon frowns.

“It just feels like nothing I ever do is good enough. I work hard, I did well in school, but it’s like it’s not good enough. Why do I care so much about my parents’ approval, why can’t I just be proud of myself because I’ve done well?”

You don’t stop the tears from falling, splattering onto your cheeks and no doubt making tracks in your carefully applied makeup.

“I’m sorry.” Namjoon whispers. “I’m so sorry that you feel this way. I’m insanely proud of you and I wish you could see how wonderful you are, so deserving of love and praise.”

“I love you.” You blurt, the words spilling so easily from your lips, with a little help from the champagne in your system.

“Oh,” He smiles. “I love you too, you know th—”

“No Namjoon, I love you.” You murmur.

Something sparks in his eyes, you don’t see the way his demeanor changes, as he realizes what these feelings were—are. Spending all this time with you has made him feel different, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on the feeling. But now, he knows, he loves you too.

“Can we go upstairs?” You wonder. “I’m so tired, I can’t be down here anymore, I just want—”

He cuts you off with a nod, taking your hand and letting you lead him to the back staircase, so you can escape without anyone seeing you.

Once the door is closed—and locked, you fling off your heels, flopping onto the bed. You drag your ring finger under your eyes, in attempt to collect the mascara clumps that washed off your eyelashes with the tears you’d shed.

“I love you too.” Namjoon announces, throwing his tie and shoes in a pile before standing over you. “God, I love you so much. I never realized how I feel, but now I know and—”

You cut him off with a press of your lips on his, hands grabbing for his shoulders and pulling him down. His lips melt into yours, returning the kiss with more fervor, mouth warm and soft.

You’re gripping on his shirt, clawing at the buttons when he pulls back slightly, running a hand through his damp locks, slicking it up onto his head.

“H-honey,” He starts, stumbling over his words a little. “I don’t know if we should be doing this right now.”

“What?” You pout, sitting up. “Why not? Do you not—”

“No, no, no, trust me I want to.” He sighs. “But you’re upset, we’ve been drinking…” He trails off and you whine.

“Joon please, I want this, I want you, I love you.” You frown, setting a hand on his cheek.

He looks into your eyes, searching for an ounce of hesitation. When he doesn’t find any, he you pull him back down, hovering above your form.

“Are you sure?” He murmurs, his breath ghosting over your lips.

“Positive.” With your affirmation, he presses his lips to your own, lightly tugging on your bottom lip with his teeth.

He breathes in the groan that passes through your lips, sighing deliciously. After Namjoon’s tie is crumpled on the floor and a failed attempt at the buttons on his shirt, you tug on each side until it releases, the fabric literally ripping before you toss it away.

Namjoon only chuckles, shifting positions so that you can straddle his lap. Your hands grip his hair, exhaling when his lips meet the skin on your neck.

“I love you.” He simpers, lips behind your ear. “I love you so damn much.”

When you wake up the next morning, something’s changed. Not only between you and Namjoon—who’s currently cuddled into your side—but also the way you feel about yourself.

“Joonie,” You coo, tousling his hair. “Joon wake up, it’s Christmas.”

“Mmm, morning Christmas,” He murmurs sleepily. He nuzzles his face into your neck, eyelids falling shut.

“Namjoon,” You whisper. “C’mon. Let’s get up.”

“Please?” He whines. “Can we please sleep for a little longer before we have to go down there?”

“No Joonie, we’re going home.” You push back the covers and climb out of the bed, cold air flushing your skin.

His head snaps up, eyes perking up. “What?!”

“We’re leaving.” You announce, sliding on his t-shirt from two nights ago. “Unless, you want to stay?” You tease, raising an eyebrow.

“I’ll start packing now!” He gets out of bed, pressing a kiss to your cheek before grabbing some fresh clothes and entering the bathroom.

You dress and pack up your belongings, so that when Namjoon is ready, you are too.

The two of you hold hands down the stairs, leaving your bags by the doorway before venturing into the kitchen.

“Good morning!” Your mother chirps. “Merry Christmas!”

“Hey guys.” You greet awkwardly.

“Come, sit down—have some breakfast, then we’ll open gifts.”

“Actually Mom,” You breathe. “We’re leaving.”

“What!?”

“Namjoon and I are going to go home.”

“Absolutely not, sit down.”

“No Mom. I don’t wanna be here anymore. I thought now that I’m grown up you would actually treat me with an ounce of respect, but I was wrong.”

“Excuse me?” Your mother snaps.

“Come on honey, let’s just go.” Namjoon urges, squeezing your hand tightly. You shake your head, squeezing his hand back.

“Before we leave I have something to say, and you’re going to listen to me.” You tell your mother, tone firm yet gentle. “For my entire life I’ve taken shit from you. The verbal abuse, emotional abuse, all the digs, all the criticism. Nothing I ever did was good enough for either of you and I’m done with it. I’m happy with who I am, what I do, and who I choose to spend time with. I’m done trying to impress you, this is my life, not yours. I am more than good enough and shame on you for not seeing it.”

You take a shaky breath wiping the single tear that fell down your face while you were speaking.

“And you Dad?” You add, redirecting your gaze. “You never did say anything. Never stood up for us, and God forbid you actually were proud of us without Mom telling you, you were allowed to be.”

Your parents sit there, dumbfounded. You take a moment to catch your breath before turning to look at Namjoon, who is trying very hard to bite back his grin. Orchid’s face is a mixture of admiration and pure joy, mouthing; I’ll call you later.

“Honey, I’m sorry you feel that way.” Your mother manages, thinking for her next words.

You swiftly shake your head.

“I love you both, but we’re leaving.” You smile. “We can work through this, only if you’re willing. But for now, I want to go home and spend Christmas with my boyfriend.”

You and Namjoon turn to leave, collecting your luggage before loading up the car.

“Holy shit.” Namjoon blurts. “That was fucking amazing, I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you.” You smile. “It felt good.” He leans over to kiss you, hand cupping your cheek.

“It was also pretty fucking hot.”

© arcticguk 2020. absolutely no reposting, translating, or modifying, even with credit.

#mine #my work #my writing #bts fluff #bts writing #bts fic #bts imagine #bts drabble #bts blurb #kim namjoon writing #namjoon writing #namjoon fluff #namjoon fic #namjoon imagine #namjoon drabble #namjoon blurb #kim namjoon blurb #kim namjoon drabble #bts rm writing #bts namjoon imagine #kim namjoon x reader #namjoon x reader #bts rm x reader #series: merry merry #fic: santa baby #namjoon angst #namjoon smut #bts angst #bts smut

[just-another-ficwriter]

Holidate - Part One

Pairing: Sweet Pea x Reader

Words: 3000ish

Warnings: Overbearing parents, alcohol

Summary: Tired of being alone on holidays, Sweet Pea and Y/N decide to be each other’s plationic plus-ones all year round. What could go wrong?

Notes: I’m super late posting this and I feel awful about it!! I just couldn’t decide how I wanted it to go and ended up rewriting it three times🤦🏻‍♀️

“No Mom.” Y/N pinches the bridge of her nose, irritation seeping into her words. There’s already a dull ache drumming behind her temples and she hasn’t even made it home yet. “I’m not using this as an excuse because I’m running late.”

“Well I simply can’t just drop everything and come get you, I’ve got to stuff the Turkey and cut the vegetables and-“ She lets her Mother’s voice drowned out into background noise with a frustrated sigh on her end.

She hates Christmas, she thinks. Hates the decorations, the songs, the cheer. Every last bit. Nothing’s been the same since the truth came out about Hal and-

“Is Jug there?” She cuts her own thoughts short, desperate not to think of her Dad and all the things he’s done right now.

“Of course Forsyth is here!” Y/N can almost see Jug flinch at the correction and bites back a laugh. “But him and Betty have already opened a bottle of wine.”

“Can you just ask him for the number of his Dad’s garage please?” Another five minutes of Alice rambling on passes before Jughead’s voice appears on the other end with a joyful ‘Merry Christmas’ and a direct contact to someone who might be able to help.

She thanks him quickly, hanging up before she can even finish saying goodbye, so he doesn’t have a chance to hand the phone back. And as she leans against the car behind her, the same car that had given up on her just as she passed the town sign, she dials the number and hopes she’ll make it home in time for dinner.

Otherwise, she might never hear the end of it.

-

“Again, in English?” Y/N cocks an eyebrow at him, the string of words he’d just said sounding almost foreign in her head. 

 She doesn’t mean for it to sound as rude as it does, but she can’t help it. She’s tired, exhausted even, not to mention cold. The snow fall had picked up five minutes after she’d called the number Jug had given her and it had taken him, or Sweet Pea as he’d introduced himself, almost 40 minutes to reach her. 

But he just laughs it off, smirks before firing it straight back at her. “You aren’t getting anywhere in this car, anytime soon princess.”

“Great!” It’s official. Her mom’s going to kill her and she’ll be blamed for ruining Christmas. She throws her hands up in defeat, kicking a tyre in the process. “Just great!”

“If it makes you feel better, this isn’t how I planned on spending my Christmas Eve either.” He watches her amused, another laugh passing his lips before the sarcastic remark follows, his arms now crossed over his chest and she almost feels guilty. 

“I’m sorry for being such an inconvenience.” She throws a false apology at him along with  a fake grin that falls into a frown almost immediately. 

“Apology accepted.” She’s scowling at him now, eyes rolling back but he simply ignores it, happy to keep winding her up. “Want me to give you a ride somewhere while I tow this back?”

“Only on one condition.” She points a finger over her shoulder towards his trunk, the radio still on loud. “We find a station that isn’t playing Christmas music.”

“Hey, it’s either Mariah Carey, or you walk Sweetheart.” He shrugs, walking backwards, watching her make the choice. 

He can’t help but laugh again when she sighs and runs to the passenger seat, desperate to seek shelter from the snow. 

-

10 minutes after Sweet Pea kindly drops her off at her childhood home, Y/N finds herself still on the porch out front, mentally preparing herself for what’s about to come.

She sucks in a breath. Two, three. And with a fake smile so sickly sweet it makes her stomach hurt; she lets herself in.

Polly’s the first to spot her, catches her the minute she walks through the door and pulls her into a hug before she can even drop her bags. She can’t help but sink into the embrace, it’s always nice to see her older sister alone like this, but Y/N doesn’t even get the chance to ask her how she is before the twins descend down the stairs and push past them in a blur.

“Juniper put the presents down- Dagwood no!” She feels Polly gently squeeze her hand in a silent way of saying they’ll catch up later before she’s chasing after them, joining an exhausted looking Jason who pauses long enough to wave a quick hello before he resumes pursuit.

She moves further into the house, away from the chaos of the living room and towards the interesting smells wafting from the kitchen. It’s impossible not to hear her Mother barking orders from where she stands over the stove, while Jug and Betty listen to every word, working on the dining table and it’s fixtures like a well-oiled machine.

“Y/N/N you’re here!” Betty looks up with a soft smile but doesn’t dare move from her task and face the wrath of Alice Cooper.

“Finally!” It’s Alice’s turn to look at her now, a perfectly shaped eyebrow arching in distaste as her eyes roam over her middle daughter. “Please tell me you aren’t wearing that to dinner?”

Y/N lets out a breath she didn’t realise she was holding and prepares to fire back when a gentle arm lands around her shoulder with a calming chuckle.

“Oh come on Mom, Y/N looks fine.” Charles plants a quick kiss to her forehead before ruffling her hair and they both laugh. Her brother had always been her saving grace in situations like this, the only one brave enough to stand up for himself and the others, ever the mediator. But not even he was enough to put Alice off her persistent questioning, she was already sick of her Mother’s judgement and they hadn’t even touched on her job or her relationship status yet.

-

“You’ve definitely told them we aren’t officially together, right?” Sweet Pea takes one last, slow drag of his cigarette before stomping it out under his boot. Josie nods at him reassuringly but one look up at the exterior of her parents house has his stomach in knots. “They know we’re just casual?”

“Sweet Pea would you stop?” She playfully pokes at his ribs, but he just sighs and rubs a nervous hand down his face.

He couldn’t help it, that sick feeling rising from the pit of stomach by the second. The idea of spending Christmas with Josie’s family, a girl he’d only been dating for a month, was absolutely terrifying on all levels. But Fangs had ditched him to spend the holidays with his boyfriend in New York, not that he could really blame him, and he had no other family in town so when she originally offered, he’d jumped at the chance of not spending the day alone.

Part of him had regretted it since.

If Sweet Pea thought the outside of house was impressive, with it’s perfectly placed lights and overly decorated windows, it was nothing compared to what was waiting for him on the inside.

Myles and Sierra McCoy welcome them at the front door with bright smiles and open arms that engulf Sweet Pea before he even has the chance to say hello.

Josie joins in, the four of them becoming one big, massive group hug like he’s been part of their family his whole life and not just a stranger potentially only passing through. All three of them squeal in excitement before someone yanks him in doors.

If he had doubts before, he thinks, he’s almost certain he’s in over his head now.

-

Betty gets engaged on Christmas Morning.

Right in front of the Christmas tree, just after the last presents are opened and the twins are happily distracted by a mountain of toys; Jughead drops to one knee and pops the question under twinkling lights. 

The minute Betty gasps the word ‘yes’ the family erupts in cheers, fawning over the couple. Of course Alice is already crying, Polly demands to see the ring, while Charles and Jason pat Jug on the back. 

Y/N however stays put, her eyes falling down into her mug of spiked coffee that her mom had scolded her over, eyebrows raised over the rim as she knocks it back. 

“Aren’t you going to congratulate your sister?” Alice sends her a pointed look, catching her before she can slope off into the peaceful confines of the kitchen. 

“Congrats Betts.” She pulls her into a hug and paints on the biggest smile she can muster as she mumbles into her hair. “I’m so happy for you.”

And she is. Her sisters getting everything she’s dreamed of with Jug, of course she’s happy, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that her younger sister will be married before her. 

Even Charles has betrayed her this year and invited a date to Christmas dinner leaving her the last single Cooper. And her mom wasn’t prepared to let her forget it anytime soon. 

-

Sweet Pea successfully manages to make it through family movie night, forcefully sat between Josie and her mother, hot cocoa in hand and surrounded from all sides. He even grins and bares the series of photo albums that follow, another embarrassing photo of Josie lurking behind every page turn, but he draws the line when the marriage talk starts, declaring he’s suddenly tired and turns to run up the stairs so fast he’s surprised he doesn’t pull something on the way.

Sienna wakes them up on Christmas morning with a soft knock at 8am sharp, wearing a bright red Christmas jumper and holding two more for the both them.

The mere idea of it makes Sweet Pea’s skin itch as much as the material does once he begrudgingly pulls it over his head.

The rest of the morning is spent sipping coffee, watching the three McCoy’s exchanging gifts. He’s too distracted, wondering if it’s still too late to find a way out of the whole thing to even notice Josie standing in front of him until she’s shoved the present right under his nose.

“Merry Christmas my love.” She places it down on his lap and Sweet Pea finds himself wanting the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

“Jose I… I thought we said we weren’t doing gifts?” All three pairs of eyes are now on him, burning their way into his skin and he’s sure he’s never felt embarrassment like it.

“But that was just a joke, right?” He smiles awkwardly when she laughs, but the sound is humourless, and he can already see the anger bubbling behind her eyes. She doesn’t even give him the chance to reply. “What, so I’m good enough to sleep with but you can’t buy me a gift?”

He chokes, shocked by her transparency around her parents while his cheeks redden by the second.

Ten minutes later he’s out on the drive, bags thrown in the back of his truck, scrambling to get away as fast as he can.

-

Christmas Day ends the way it started.

Miserably sat at the kitchen table, sipping on something alcoholic held in her hand.

Polly and Jason had slipped off not long after dinner, taking two sugar high kids and all their loud noises with them. Betty and Jug now sit on one couch, his arms wrapped around her shoulders, her head resting on her chest, content in their own bubble of love while Alice sits on the other, quizzing Kevin Keller, Charles’ surprise date. She’d feel bad for him if she wasn’t already feeling relieved that her Mother’s attention had turned to someone else for five minutes. Her brother sits besides her, topping up a glass of red.

“He seems nice.” Charles hums in response, biting back a laugh. Was she missing a joke? “What?”

“If I tell you something, you can’t tell the others.” A quick eager nod and she’s shuffling closer so he can whisper his secret. “Kev’s just my Holidate.”

She blinks back in shock. “Holidate?”

“Just a date for the holiday, someone to keep Mom off my back.” He shrugs like it’s nothing, like it’s the simplest solution to the problem. He sips his wine while he waits for her to process it. “There’s no strings attached and I don’t have to spend events alone. I’m even heading down to his parents after New Years to return the favour.”

“Thats...” Y/N breathes out, she’s a little envious she hadn’t thought of it herself. “What an idea.”

-

Y/N sinks into a booth at Pop’s Chocklit Shoppe two days later with a sigh of relief, happy to welcome the peace that comes with being away from her family.

She loves them, her siblings, her mother, the twins, of course but it’s exhausting. The intruding questions, the never ending merry go round of pity and interfering. She knows deep down it’s only because they care, but sometimes she wished they’d just leave her alone.

Pops promptly brings her order of curly fries over, with a soft smile and an extra chocolate shake on the side she didn’t order. It’s been two years since she last stepped into the place, yet he still remembers her favourite like it was yesterday.

“It’s good to see you Y/N.” There’s something in his tone that just feels like home and she finds herself welcoming it, it’s been a long time since anything in Riverdale has felt anything close to that, not since the truth about her dad.

Pops doesn’t stick around, a light pat to her shoulder before he’s a retreating form, leaving her to her thoughts. She barely makes it through a fry before someone’s sliding in opposite her.

Sweet Pea pushes the key across the table, grinning cheekily as he helps himself to the basket in front of him. She barely knows him and he’s already stealing her food. “One fully functional car.”

“Finally!” She snatched them up, hiding them

in her bag and he can see the tension practically melting from her shoulders. “Now I can get out of the hell hole.”

“Christmas went that well? He asks, curiosity peaked.

“You could say that.” She presses herself further into her seat, huffing as she rubs the palm of her hands against her jeans. The anxious look in her eyes tells him that what ever she might say next won’t necessarily make sense and she’s a little embarrassed by it. “My sister got engaged.”

“To FPS son right?” He vaguely recalls his boss proudly telling anyone who would listen that morning. “And that’s a bad thing?”

“She’s my younger sister, and now, as I’m about to be the only official unmarried Cooper daughter my mom has even more of an excuse to interfere in my love life.” The words just slip out and she finds part of her gladly confessing her thoughts to a virtual stranger instead of keeping them in. He smiles in a way that tells her he gets it.

“Yeah well, bet you a chocolate shake mine was worse.” He ignores the glare she sends him when he innocently brings her existing milkshake to his lips and continues when she says nothing. “I spent it with someone I’ve been dating for four weeks and her parents.”

She almost chokes on a curly fry. “You got serious that quick?”

“Of course not, and we both knew it.” She stares at him like he has two heads, he knows she can’t quite fit ‘causal relationship’ and ‘family Christmas’ together so he does it for her. “Didn’t want to spend the day alone so I took her up on the offer. Cue overbearing parents, the cringest matching jumpers and the ultimate gift exchange where I got her nothing because we agreed no presents.”

“Aren’t you old enough to know by now that no gifts definitely means get her a gift?” She laughs when he rolls his eyes.

“Ended with her kicking me out before dinner.” She shakes her head, laughs again as she calls him tragic and a tiny part of him agrees. “And now I’m officially dateless for New Year’s Eve.”

“Thanks for reminding me I have to come back in a few days to attend Riverdale’s Annual Blossom New Years Eve Party alone for the second year running.” She wrinkles her nose in disgusted, unprepared to have her friends on her back as well as her family, and ends up missing the way his eyebrows raise in surprise.

“You know Toni and Cheryl?”

“T’s been my best friend longer than I can remember and Cheryl’s brother is married to my sister, guess you could say I know them pretty well.” She tilts her head to the side, eying him slowly, like she suddenly sees him in a different way. “How’d you know them?”

“Guess you could say I spend more time than I should at the Wyrm.” The mention of Toni’s bar lights up her face. “Plus Toni’s been a really good friend to me since I got here, I was actually meant to be taking Josie to their party.”

“I think I know a way to solve our little problem.” A plan suddenly forms in her head, he doesn’t know whether to be worried or not as he watches the smile on her face widen. “Sweet Pea how would you like to be my Holidate this Friday?”

“Your holi-what?”

Forever Taglist: @p-marie-sp

Sweet Pea Taglist: @80sand90simagine @wildberryyyy @hopelesslylosttheway @be-gay-do-crime-cutie

Holidate Taglist: @popcrone818

#riverdale #riverdale imagine #riverdale sweet pea #riverdale fanficton #riverdale series #riverdale au #riverdale edit #riverdale one shot #sweet pea #sweet pea x reader #sweet pea riverdale #sweet pea au #sweet pea fanfiction #sweet pea imagine #sweet pea one shot #sweet pea edit #sweet pea series #holidate #Holidate au

[generallybarzy]

hey there, stranger. x

one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine

an: this was supposed to be out on new years, but oh well! Let's keep the holiday magic going as long as we can!!! It has officially (actually at 11pm later today on the 22nd) been a year since i created this blog, and since Maty played so goddman well tonight, it’s only fitting to finish this. Its been three, beautiful, perfect months since you first met your loving boyfriend, and its the end of the year. time for the ball to drop, and for you to drop a metaphorical ball on mat to ring in the new year. A new year hopefully filled with so much more emotion and growth- both romantic and personal.

taglist: @selenophileangel @deleausvp @dunnwithlyfe @smit41 @softboybarzal @fallinallincurls @matbaerzal @brokeninsidebutnobodyknows @hockeyhughes11 @folkloreflyers @nazdaddy @shawnsreputation @comphybiscuit @aboveaveragehockeyboys @canadianheaters @ifiwasshawnmendesidslapmyself @baby-cat-nol-pat @heybarzy (i’m assuming you wanna be tagged, if not, lemme know), @d-cozens

word count: 3.7k (longer than usual!!)

playlist (specifially the song I Feel Good About This by The Mowgli’s)

The days between Christmas and New Years were always the slowest for you.  Having to spend the in-between of your holidays alone was tiring and the cold winter weather just wore you down more.

This year, though, you couldn’t be happier. 

After meeting Mat’s family on Christmas day, you were on cloud nine. You were becoming more and more confident in this relationship and where it was headed, and for the first time ever, you couldn’t wait to see how it played out. And though Mat’s hands had not traveled further than they had on Christmas, you could practically feel the sexual tension in the air. He just had to hold on for a bit longer. With your three-month anniversary approaching, you still felt it was much too soon to take that step, despite the emotions that were becoming more and more overwhelming every day.

The six days between Christmas and New Years were spent in Mat’s apartment, as your campus was closed for Christmas break and you didn’t want to stay all alone in that tiny dorm when you had such a loving boyfriend who was needy and had stayed in New York for you instead of flying to Vancouver to see his family. The quickest thing you learned during your stay was that the best treatment for the gloomy winter blues was a simple dosage of time with Mat. Though Mat still had three games to play between Christmas and New Years, every second that you weren’t there watching him or watching from the couch, you were together, cuddling on the couch in the central heating of his expensive apartment, baking cookies, and cherishing each little moment. 

Though you had hoped to be able to cuddle him all afternoon before going out into chilly Times Square to watch the ball drop, he had a game in D.C. on New Year’s Eve, and so you’d be spending most of the day alone before he got back. 

Mat woke up this morning, a few hours before having to leave for practice, his arms around your body. He wanted to wake you up so that you could spend time together before he left, but he didn’t have the heart yet to wake you. You looked so peaceful, lying against his chest like this, in all of your glory. Makeup-free, messy hair, but still just as beautiful as ever. Mat’s hand found its way to your cheek, warm to the touch, and his thumb dragged gently over the smooth skin, careful not to wake you.

The night before had ended in celebration, cheers and drinks and laughter, as the two of you had just found out that Mat made the 2020 All Star game in St. Louis, and Mat still grinned thinking back to your reaction. 

“Oh my God, Maty!” 

“Yeah, yeah!” he laughed along as you held onto him and jumped in excitement. “I know!”

“Congrats, baby!! I knew you would do it!” You were easily more excited than him, and he felt his heart swell with pride. Not pride that he had gotten into the All Star Game, he was excited about that, sure, but not as much as he was proud to have made you happy. Proud to have you proud of him. That, that was what warmed his heart. 

“Thanks, babe.” His arm wrapped around your waist and held you close, bringing your celebratory jumping to a halt. 

You looked up at him with confused, pretty eyes. “Aren’t you excited? I feel like you’re not celebrating as much as you should be.”

“Of course I’m excited! This is amazing.”

“You’re gonna be playing with all the stars!! All the players you used to watch and look up to!! You are one of the stars!! I can’t believe it, Maty. My boyfriend is a star!!”

“Hey, hey.” He laughed a bit, trying to keep his modesty. It felt amazing, being considered a star, sure, and he still couldn’t believe it. He was so excited to be in the All Star Game, of course, but he didn’t want you to think that was all he cared about. He didn’t want you to think of him as a star hockey player. No, he was your boyfriend. So, he played it casual. “This isn’t my first one, you know, you don’t have to congratulate me like this.”

“Mat.”

“It’s cool, but I mean, it’s not like it’s my first, it’s not as special as last-” 

“Shut up, shut up baby. My beautiful, amazing, talented boy. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first or your hundredth game, alright? I’m still gonna be proud of you. Because you’re talented, and beautiful, and so, so good and passionate about hockey.” Your small hands caressed his cheeks, and as much as he tried to play it cool, he felt the blood rise to his face and a smile breaking through his lips. And you noticed too. “Actually, Maty, you love hockey so much there’s no way you wouldn’t be ecstatic about this. I think you are excited, but you're trying to seem cool. Is that what you’re doing?”

His shoulders rose and fell as he started grinning more. You were proud of him, you supported his career and his dreams and his love of hockey, and he couldn’t ask for more. 

“You know me well.” 

“Yeah, I do.” 

Finally, he laughed breathlessly. “I’m super excited.” 

“I know you are, my talented boy.” 

“Hey there…” 

Your voice pulled Mat from his trance, and he refocused his gaze on your face after spacing out. He smiled, the way he always did when he saw you in his bed, and pulled the blankets tighter. “Hey there, baby.” 

“Looked a little lost in thought, there, buddy.”

“Yeah?” He laughed at your teasing and looked up to the ceiling. “I’m just happy.” 

“Yeah?” You leaned up to kiss his chin. “I’m excited for you.” 

“Not just that.” 

“Oh?” 

“I’m just so happy with you.” 

You reached out to cup Mat’s face in your hands, stretching up and pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. “I’m happy too.” 

“Good.” He held you to him and rolled to his side on the bed, a big leg coming to hook over yours and pull you closer to his body. From this position, you could kiss him much easier, so, playing with the collar of the t-shirt he’d slept in for modesty, you pulled him in. 

“How much longer until you have to leave?” 

Mat groaned, as if your question had pulled him out of his dreamy, blissful state. “Three hours.” You hummed in response, completely content with spending that time right here, in your little haven with Mat. “Sorry. I really wanted to be with you on New Year’s”

“You can’t help that you have a game. I’ll be watching, like always.” 

“But I wish I could be here with you.” 

“But you’ll be home before midnight, won’t you?”

“I promise.”  

“Good.”  

The morning dragged on slow and leisurely, with no reason or will to get up. Slowly, gently, you managed to migrate from bed to the kitchen, to the couch, where you cuddled back down with bowls of healthy cereal, both too lazy to make breakfast, some slow morning show on TV. There weren’t many words exchanged, but there didn’t need to be. You understood each other, and the silence was telling, his hand around your waist spoke loud enough, the way his eyes held your so softly and gently proclaimed his feelings loud and clear, his lips on yours screamed out his love for you without restraint. There was nothing he could do different than he was now to show you more how much he loved you- it was obvious, it was as clear as day, and the further and further along this relationship went, the more confident you were becoming that you loved him back. But you still couldn’t tell him, you couldn’t bring yourself to break down that final wall and give you all to him. You were still running on half of your heart, and you knew he was trying his best to build it back up for you. 

When the time finally came that he had to leave, it took all his strength to pull away from you. 

“I don’t wanna go. Can I just say I’m sick?” 

“No, baby.” You pushed him towards the door, handing him his backpack. “As much as I’m gonna miss you, your team needs you. Go score some goals for me, alright?” 

“Hnn.” He groaned in response but leaned down to press his lips to yours in goodbye.

You patted down the front of his suit, admiring the way he cleaned up so pretty, though wishing he could stay with you in sweats all day. “You look good, Maty.” 

“So do you.” His hands smoothed down your arms, down the sleeves of his jersey you had already put on for good luck. “I promise I’ll be home in time to head out, okay?” 

“You better. Now go play some hockey, bubs.” 

“I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.” 

His bottom lip jutted out in a look that should not be that cute on a grown man. But, oh fuck, it was. “One more kiss? Please?” 

“Okay. One more.” A smile tugged at your lips as he pulled you in to lock lips one more time over the threshold of the door, toothy and sweet and giggly. And Mat was hoping, in his head, that every game day would be like this from now on. Kissing his beautiful girlfriend before stepping out the door. Never again would he have to return alone after a long night, or find solace in some other woman after a loss. He had you. He loved you. 

He smiled as he pulled away, sighing a soft breath through his laughter. “Okay, bye now.”

“Bye, baby.”

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

They won.

The perfect, beautiful, Hollywood ending to a perfect year. The best way to ring in the new year, and you couldn’t be prouder of the boys. 

Immediately after you saw the team leave the ice on the TV screen, your phone started vibrating with a call. Mat’s name lit up on your screen and you couldn’t help but smile to yourself at the butterflies that erupted in your chest just at the thought of him, giddy and excited after a game, and the first thing he thinks of is you. It made you feel so special, so cared for, so remembered. So loved. 

You answered the call, your heart throbbing. There, on the screen, Mat was sitting, still in his uniform, helmet perched high atop his head, his locker in the background of the frame. All around him, you could hear the boys celebrating in the locker room. His friends were all celebrating, and he was here, calling you. He didn’t have to. But he did. He chose you. “Hi, Maty!” 

“Babe! Did you see me?”

“I always do!” 

You saw him get jostled around a bit by teammates on the other end, and the giddy grin that lit up his face was just too much. “Hey, hey, I uhh, I gotta ask something.”

“What’s up?”

“I, uhh, I know we planned to go out to Times Square tonight, and we still will, don’t worry! But, uhh, I got a buddy here who got his plans shot down last minute and he's gonna be alone tonight. Think this could be less of a date and more of the three of us? It’s alright if you don’t want him to come, he’ll be oka-”

“It’s fine.” You weren’t sure how the words came so easily to you, but something made you feel as if you were ready. Ready to get dangerously tangled with Mat’s personal life, with his friends and his life outside of you. You were ready.

“You sure?”

“As long as you promise to kiss me at midnight and not him.” 

He laughed on the other end, and you heard the echo of someone else’s laugh next to him and a shout of “Thank you!”. Mat glanced over to his friend for only a second before looking back to you. “Thanks. Hope he doesn't scare you off.” 

“He can’t be worse than you.” 

“Oh, yeah?” Mat cackled again, his cheeks pink and aching from the overwhelming happiness he was feeling. 

“I miss you, bubs.”

You heard his teammates cheer in laughter and roar “ooh!” as if they were high school boys cheering on their buddy in the background, seemingly the entire locker room started eavesdropping on their star player and his girlfriend. Mid-laughter, red-cheeked and flustered, he never took his eyes off the camera. “Miss you too, baby. I’ll be home in a few hours.” 

“See you then.”

I love you!

“Bye.”

I love you!

Things felt unfinished as you hung up the phone. ‘Bye’? It didn’t feel like enough, it felt wrong, and your throat was itching to say something else. Stupid, stupid, it’s way too early. 

Way too early, maybe but fuck it felt good. It felt so good.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

You couldn’t contain your excitement when you heard the key turn in the door to Mat’s apartment a few hours later. You jumped up from the couch to run over to the door, smiling immediately when you saw Mat’s face. 

"Hey, (Y/N)!" 

"Hi, Mat!” 

“Missed you, baby.” You wrapped your arms around his waist as he pulled you close and squeezed tight, forgetting for a moment that you had company. He was just burying his face in your hair when another man, who you only knew because of all the games you watched and had seen him next to Mat on the bench every now and then. You stepped back from the hug, but kept your fingers laced through Mat’s. “Oh! And hi Mat’s friend."

“Hi, (Y/N)!” His friend spoke up from the doorway. “I’m Anthony!”

“That’s Tito.” Mat said at the same time, jerking his head back to motion towards his friend without looking away from you. You laughed at their antics before Tito continued.

“Nice to meet you, finally. Mat hasn’t shut up about you for at least 2 months.” 

“Dude!!” Mat exclaimed and turned to whack him, causing his friend to laugh. 

“Oh, wow.” Something warmed your heart at the thought of Mat talking about you to his friends. There was something so amazing about the feeling that blossomed up in your chest knowing that you still existed in his mind even when you weren’t there with him. “Nice to meet you too.” 

“Sorry, we’re late. We stopped by my place so I could change. Didn’t want to go out in a suit. Wouldn’t have been really warm.” 

“That’s fine!” You were liking Mat’s friends so far. He seemed sweet. “Speaking of warm clothes,” You nudged Mat a bit, “You should go change so we can head out to the square, it’s getting close to time.” 

“Yeah, I will.” 

“Thanks for letting me crash your date tonight.” Anthony spoke up, interrupting your slight PDA. “I know you had plenty of big plans for ringing in the new year, if you know what I mean.” He laughed and had a suggestive tone as he glanced at Mat, who hit him again, looking frantic.

“Dude!! Shut it!!!”

“Hey, it’s true.”

You laughed a little, but couldn’t help but flush as you locked eyes with Mat again, imagining the things Anthony was suggesting. Plans? Big plans? You didn't have plans like that tonight, unless Mat had planned to try and sleep with you tonight. Was he planning something like that? Would he, knowing how uncomfortable you are with that? Despite you worry, the thought made you heat up all over, and you didn’t want to be so flustered in front of his friend. You squeezed his hand- heavy in your own- one more time, and he squeezed back hopeful, a plea for you to ignore what you’d heard, before you dropped it. “So, Maty. you should probably get ready to head out. Go put something more warm on. Then we can leave.” 

“Right, right.” 

Mat glanced over at his friend, locking eyes and engaging in a silent conversation you knew best friends always have. When Mat finally walked off to the bedroom, Anthony made himself at home on the couch, waiting, a new, tense silence in the air, and typing some texts out on his phone while you gathered up your jacket for heading out. It took Mat a bit longer than usual to get ready, and when he emerged, he had a beanie in his hand, and a black plaid coat paired with the Office hoodie you loved so much, and a grin on his face,, warm and bright like the one you knew. He bumped fists with Tito as he stood from the couch, and came over to you, lacing your fingers together, gazing at you softly.

“Are you ready to head out?”

You tried to compose yourself from how good he looked. "Absolutely.” 

“Not if you two are gonna be all gross all night.” Tito groaned.

“Ha ha.” Mat stuck his tongue out at his friend playfully. “You wish you had a girl like I do.” 

“Aw, Maty.”

“Ew, you two.”

The subway trip and final short walk from the station to to Times Square was how you’d expect it to be, with two dorky best friends, Tito willingly and happily third-wheeling and chirping the two of you every time you ever so much as glanced at each other, let alone snuck a little kiss on the crowded subways. And when you finally made it, standing alone together in the huge crowd of people and counting down each final minute, you knew, there, standing in the chilly New York City air with Mat and his best friend, there was nowhere else you'd rather be, ever. 

You felt Mat’s hand tighten around your, grabbing your attention the way he always did. “Hey, sorry about earlier.”

“Earlier?”

“Yeah, uhh, when Beau said we have big plans.”

“Ohh…” Your cheeks flushed again at the thought of what that suggested. 

“Yeah.” He shifted on his feet a little,his gaze falling to his shoes.

"Were, uhh, were you planning on trying to sleep with me tonight?"

“No, no, not necessarily. I didn’t mean anything like that. I mean, I wasn’t gonna try to do anything.” He ran a fumbling hand through his hair. "Not if you don't want to. I was just talking to him, about you, us, I guess, and just he thought it'd be funny to mess with me like that tonight. Guess it's playback, I've embarrassed him before."

"You're rambling baby."

"Sorry."

"Mat, it's okay." 

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. I mean we're together, I can handle jokes like that. We'll get to that eventually, anyway."

He laughed a bit, cheeks pink. We’ll get to that. He tried to ignore the thoughts that phrase had conjured up in him. "Yeah."  

"And we can have a serious conversation about these things later, before we do anything, okay? Preferably when we're alone and your friend isn't standing like three feet away."

"Yeah, yeah, we will. I promise." His lips found your forehead, before you fell back into comfortable silence, leaning against his chest as Tito took some snaps in the background. Your gaze rose to Mat’s face as he looked up towards the clock, counting down the final minutes of the year. His cheeks were pink and wind-kissed, his jawline sharp and his hair sticking out of his beanie in little dark curls you loved so much. His lips looked so soft, his gaze so warm and welcoming as his eyes met yours again. His lips quirked up in amusement at seeing you watching him, but before he could say anything cheeky, you spoke up, not being able to contain your feelings any longer.

“Mat. I gotta tell you something." 

“Quickly, it’s almost time, babe.” He smiled, bending down closer to you a bit, listening close for your soft words as you leaned up towards his warmth against the chilly New York winter, bringing an arm up around his shoulders. You made sure to be close enough to him to hide your words from Tito or any random eavesdroppers. This was for Mat. Just Mat. 

Only Mat, ever.

“I know it’s still so soon. We’ve barely been dating at all yet, right?” Mat nodded, a small smile at the adventure your relationship had been so far. “It’s only been three months, but they were three amazing months. Thanks to you. You’ve helped me open up, did you know that? In three months. I’ve never been happier. Or felt more comfortable. Or safe. I don’t know what it is about you… you're a special guy.” He laughed, breathless at your words, the look in his eyes soft and begging you to continue. “I’ve been thinking about this since you accidentally let… uh, those words slip, remember? It’s so soon, and we don’t really know where this is going. I don’t know where we’re gonna end up yet, a few months down the road. But you know what I do know?”

His answer was barely a minty breath against your lips, coming out with a puff of air in the below freezing air. “What?” 

“I feel good about this. I feel good about us. And I think this year is gonna be good to us.”  

His cheeks were pink and a cold breeze pushed his hair around. His grin fell into something softer, something more gentle. "(Y/N)...."

"Can I tell you a secret?" He nodded and leaned in closer, fluidly and slow as if in a trance, turning his ear towards you. You could hear the final countdown in the background, the crowd chanting five! four! three! "Mat," Your hand cupped his cheek, your lips found the shell of his ear, grazing across the skin as you sighed. "Mathew, I'm falling in love with you." 

“Hey, lovebirds! It’s midnight!” You could hear Beau yelling at you in the background, but all you were focused on, as you pulled back from your whisper, was your boyfriend.

Mat’s eyes were wide and gleaming wetly, full of visible emotion and unrestrained joy. His lips split into a shaky, breathless string of laughter, his hands trembling, gripping yours with everything in him. His tongue darted out quickly to wet his pink lips, and with one final shaky breath, he sighed:

“Kiss me.” 

And you did.

And with that kiss, you knew Mat felt the same. You could feel his passion, his genuine, hopeful, overwhelming feelings, seeping from his lips to yours, from his fingertips to yours, with every little breath he took against your lips, holding you against his body. Neither of you wanted to pull away, but when you couldn't go on any longer, your foreheads pressed against each other and your eyes gazed into each other's deeply. Mat opened his mouth to say something, cheeks red and lips swollen from the kiss, but before any words came out, Tito was clapping a hand on his back and teasing the two of you about the kiss. His words fell on deaf ears though, as you were still focusing on Mat, the way his lips curled into a smile as he finally let words fall out.

"Happy new year, (Y/N)."

#op #hey there stranger #mat barzal x reader #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal fanfiction #nhl fanfiction #mathew barzal #mat barzal #fic

[kuroo-shitsurou]

Communicate (Haiba Lev x kuudere!Reader)

note: first entry for haikyuu! i'm open for requests, just hmu! i apologize for any mistakes. some of my stories were intentionally made to be f!reader, but i figured gn!reader would be more appropriate. so i apologize if you see any she/her/names that are in the text. ^^

(i'm adding w/c now as well!)

word count: 3.8k

"He's not coming back tonight, no?"

For a few moments, there was silence. A gust of wind blew past the apartment complex, rustling the leaves of the trees planted down below. You sat on the chair set up on your balcony. Looking over the metal railings, you admired how the yellow and red taillights of cars stuck in traffic bobbed up and down the street. Somehow, they looked like Christmas lights tossed in a messy line; Like they were discarded the morning right after Christmas because the tree had to be taken down again.

You hugged the jacket closer to your arms, hoping to gain more warmth. Inhaling the fresh scent of laundry detergent, you smiled. Eyes crestfallen and tears just barely swimming in your ducts. The cold breeze of December brushed past your hair, tickling the back of your neck. It's the first Christmas I'm spending without you.

Your cat, Maika, jumped on your lap. She purred and mewled, rubbing her head against your warm hand. You managed to choke out a small chuckle, petting the white fur of the cat. You let your eyes wander to the glass doors connecting the living room and balcony. Your couch was there, a duvet carelessly thrown on top of it. You shouldn't help but let a few drops of salty tears fall down your cheeks.

You weren't really the type of person to cry over silly things. In fact, you rarely cried at all. As far as you remember, the last time you cried over something petty was back in second grade. You were teased for cutting your own hair; Your bangs looked choppy, and one classmate even mentioned how you managed to cut a giant chunk out from the back of your head. Admittedly, you were pretty stupid for messing around with the scissors you found on the table, but you didn't really know any better. Anyway, who knew that hair took so long to grow back?

Other than that, you don't recall crying anymore. Throughout your middle and high school years, tears weren't really present to disrupt your life. Not even when Kuroo accidentally spiked a ball into the back of your head, and not even when Yaku accidentally kicked your shin because you were standing too close to his original target, Lev.

Lev.

Although you didn't find any reason for letting yourself cry during those years, you couldn't help but tear up when you remembered Lev. You were incredibly proud of yourself for counting up to five days without crying every since Lev left your shared apartment. However, today was Christmas eve. There were approximately three hours before Christmas, and here you were, spending it with Maika, on the balcony, crying your eyes out.

To be completely honest, you knew that it was your fault that Lev left. You were a rather independent person. You had a bold personality; Never afraid of being blunt to people, never afraid of telling others if they needed to be scolded. However, you were an absolute novice when it came to showing affection to Lev.

It was a surprise, to say the least, to the entire volleyball team that the cold-hearted manager, _____-san, was dating the eccentric and hyperactive first year, Haiba Lev. Yaku, Kuroo, and Kai were in shock upon hearing the news from Lev. At first, they thought he was just kidding, but when they heard it from you, their minds were beyond boggled.

-

"Eh?!"

"Seriously?"

"Kuroo-san, why do you look so surprised? You too, Yaku-san. And Kai-senpai, I didn't think you'd be interested in my love life as well." You calmly said, clipboard firm against your chest, as your eyes scanned the volleyball posters displayed in the volleyball club room.

"W-Well, I didn't think it was actually true because Lev was the one saying it. I thought he was just bullshitting us." Yaku admitted, scratching the back of his head before sending you a sheepish smile.

"You're growing up too fast, _____-san!" Kuroo quipped, wrapping his arms around you like a doting aunt, "You have a boyfriend now, I'm getting old!"

"Kuroo-san, please stop patronizing me. I have feelings too. Why does this come as a surprise to you all? Inuoka-kun and Futakuchi-kun also asked me if Haiba-kun and I were actually dating. It's not like I'm a robot or anything, I can... contract love too." Your disheveled form pried Kuroo's arms away from you, and you dusted your shoulders off as if Kuroo left dirt atop of them.

"You don't contract love, _____. It's not a disease." Yaku laughed at your poor choice of words.

"You, see _____-san, we just didn't think that you were interested in romance for the time being, and for you to be dating someone like Lev, it's surprising. In a good way, though, don't get me wrong. Lev's a good kid." Kai was the calmest of the bunch, but he was simply masking his happiness. He was the one who invited you to be their manager, after all. He saw how you grew out of your shell gradually. It's nice to see you enjoying the years of your youth, as Kuroo would put it.

"Ah, I see. To be honest, I didn't think I would also participate in a romantic relationship with anyone this early on. However, Haiba-kun successfully caught my attention. I think it would be a fun experience. Whatever happens, I get to grasp a further understanding of our Russian first year, and I also gain knowledge on the department of... love." You mentioned nonchalantly.

Kuroo, Yaku, and Kai all exchanged knowing looks; Something that screamed: "Are you sure you're not a robot?"

"_____-chan!" Lev's excited voice was heard from outside of the gym. The first years finally arrived, signifying that practice would begin soon.

"Pardon me. Thank you for your time." You bowed politely to the three seniors and walked over to where the first years were leaving their things.

"_____-chan I missed you a lot today! I only got to see you in free period earlier, and that was barely 10 minutes, but you're here now!" Lev was like a puppy. He was bouncing around, showering you with genuine compliments and adorations, his smile reaching the heavens above. Perhaps, if you pat his head, an invisible tail would wag? You considered the idea.

You managed to hold back a smile of your own, only replying with, "Get prepared for practice, Haiba-kun."

"_____-chan, you can call me Lev, you know? Since we are dating and all." The Russian said softly, wanting to get his point across, but not wanting to scare you.

"Maybe next time, Haiba-kun."

-

When you slipped inside your living room, you couldn't help but let out a few more sobs. There was a Christmas tree left half decorated just beside your television. Cans of tea and red bull were laying just on the feet of the couch. Half-empty and empty packets of chips were on the coffee table. God, you left the living room in such a messy state.

You pulled Lev's enormous (Well, it was enormous on you. But on Lev, it was the perfect size) jacket closer to your body, wishing you could smell his scent instead of the laundry detergent.

Maika wandered into the living room and onto her cat bed, stretching her paws and making herself comfortable before she went to take a nap.

You couldn't help but acknowledge the absolute dumpster fire when you saw yourself in the full body mirror near the entrance of your hallway. You were wearing a pair of fuzzy pajamas, an oversized shirt covered in stains and crumbs, and Lev's Nekoma jacket. Your hair was messy and ruffled, and you looked... pale. Eyes red and swollen, cheeks puffy, but your lips were white. You had never looked so awful before.

-

"_____-chan, you look amazing as always!" Lev came bounding to you.

"Congratulations on graduating! I'm so proud of you!" He took you in a tight embrace, lifting you up and spinning you around.

"H-Haiba-kun, please put me down!" You squealed, wriggling around in Lev's grip, trying to get away. For a split second, you could've sworn that Lev's face darkened, but you decided to brush it off.

Once your feet touched the ground, you managed to say a short and quiet "Thank you."

"Ah, this is really happening, isn't it?" Lev shoved his hands in his pockets, looking up at the cherry blossom trees in full bloom.

"Y-Yeah. It will even eventually happen to you too, Haiba-kun. It's the way that life progresses," You knew that you were pathetic at mustering a good enough reply, so you chose to fumble with the hem of your collar.

"Hey, _____-chan, do you love me?" Lev asked, suddenly serious. His gaze was still fixated on the trees above, their branches freely swaying in the wind, a few cherry blossoms fluttering down as the breeze carried them away.

A blush creeped up on your cheeks. Of course you loved him! More than... anything, if you were being honest. More than volleyball, more than red bull, more than anime, but why couldn't you say it?

"Speak up, damn it!" You thought to yourself.

After a few minutes passed, you were still tongue-tied. You hated yourself for not being able to express your feelings. There were already tears in your eyes, but you didn't want to cry in front of Lev; You vowed that you never would.

Lev looked down to see his senior in a low mood. "Don't worry, _____-chan! It's okay if you can't say it yet, I understand." Lev caught a single cherry blossom as it was falling down and tucked it behind your ear, " I'll wait for the day that you can say it back, so for now, I'll say it for the both of us, okay?"

You were embarrassed. You were such an asshole for doing this to Lev. To make up for your lacking skills in communication, you tapped his hand. Curiously, he opened his palm, and you placed a small object on top of it.

Lev's smile contained nothing but pure, concentrated glee.

"Thank you for the button, _____-chan, I will always cherish this. Happy anniversary. I love you so much!"

-

You found yourself standing at the doorway of your shared bedroom. You longingly stared at the queen-sized bed. The sheets were crisp and the pillows were fluffed. You haven't been sleeping in that bed since Lev left the apartment. It just didn't feel right. There was something about a heavier loneliness whenever you tried to sleep alone in that bed when you were so damn used to having Lev sleep beside you. That's why you've been sleeping on the couch ever since; It's uncomfortable as all hell, yeah, but at least you don't feel a large empty space beside you when you sleep. Maybe a few crumbs here and there, but that was bearable.

You pattered your way back into the living room, where your laptop lay buried under the empty chip packets. You grabbed it from underneath the rubbish and brushed off other residue before plopping down on the couch. You slipped your arms into the sleeves of Lev's jacket and opened up your laptop. You've been neglecting your uni works for the past days because your sadness just didn't allow you to function properly.

Upon entering your passcode, the black background of the loading screen faded into a photo of you and Lev. He was wearing a minnie mouse headband, and you wore the matching mickey mouse one. You were standing in front of sleeping beauty's castle at Tokyo disneyland. You were wearing Lev's gray hoodie, which made it look like you were wearing a really short dress because of how long it was. You were both smiling like idiots, and you recalled that that trip was one of the best of your life. You never usually smiled like that, but because Lev carried you bridal style and kept touching your sides, you couldn't help but squirm and smile in the photo.

Once again, tears were brimming in the corners of your eyes. The stinging pain of heartbreak and regret stabbing you over and over again.

-

"It's Christmas in five days, _____." Lev popped up from behind you while you were decorating the tree.

"Jeez! Don't scare me like that, I nearly dropped the lights." You replied, calming your racing heart. Was it because of how he scared you, or because of how close he was? Honestly. you couldn't tell.

Lev could only chuckle at this, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He gave you a kiss on the cheek. "You know, my first year at uni has been great so far. Thanks to you and a few of my friends."

"That's great then." You said, tone of voice returning to a monotone one.

"I love you, _____."

You couldn't even recall all the times that you froze up whenever Lev admitted his feelings for you, but add one to whatever number it's at right now.

You could only swallow your saliva and grip the lights tighter. Say it, ______, say it! You kept yelling in your head. Why can't you fucking say it?!

"I knew it." A low laugh was heard from Lev's mouth. His fists were turning white because of how hard he balled them up. His nails were digging into his palm. "Sometimes, I wonder if you even actually love me. But I guess you never did."

You turned your head abruptly. "Haiba, that's-"

Lev let out a hearty laugh, throwing his head back. "We've been dating for over three years now and you still call me by my last name. Are you that uncomfortable with me, _____-san?"

You cringed at how he emphasized the honorific following your name, probably trying to prove a point.

"You know that's not true."

"Of course it is!" He snapped. " For god's sake, _____, three years! Three years, and not once have you told me that you love me!"

You were on the brink of crying. No. No, not in front of him. You weren't weak, you weren't going to cry.

"In all those years that we've been together, I have never seen you cry. Not even when we're upset with one another. Are you... that cold-hearted that you don't care or you don't even feel anything? Not even for your own boyfriend?"

Silence.

The words he spat were like venom.

You couldn't speak. Your mouth felt dry and your throat felt like it closed in an instant, like some sort of invisible throat cover just squeezed itself right there, preventing you from speaking.

"I see how it is."

With that, Lev spun on his heel and went to their room. He grabbed a backpack and stuffed it with a couple of shirts, his wallet, his phone, charger, and other necessities. He slipped on the thickest jacket he owned and went straight to the front door.

"Le-"

"Goodbye."

He slammed the door shut.

-

That was probably the first time that you broke down in years. Who knew that it would be a guy behind your facade fading?

Who knew that Haiba Lev would be the one to make you realize that being strong-willed didn't mean being cold-hearted and nonchalant?

"Stupid Lev." You muttered to yourself, hugging your knees to your chest. Admittedly, his name seemed to roll off your tongue nicely.

You desperately tried to wipe your tears away, but they just kept coming.

"Why do I love you so much?"

-

"Lev, are you sure you're okay with what you're doing?" Yaku asked the taller male, taking a sip from his beer mug.

"Yaku-san, we've been together for a little over three years. They've never told me that they loves me. Never even cried. I think they're just that stone-hearted," Lev replied, taking a shot of vodka. "Either that or they're a fucking robot."

He fiddled with the necklace around his neck, contemplating whether he was going to pull it off and stomp on it until it broke. The charm attached to his necklace was the button that _____ gave him on back during her graduation day.

"Lev, you better listen to me, and you better listen real fucking good." Yaku's tone of voice was sharp, and it was something that Lev hasn't heard since his years at Nekoma. "You do know that _____ can't express their emotions well, right? They're blunt with everybody, and they're honest. But when it comes to love or romance or feelings that make them happy, you know that they can't show it as easily as you do."

"Yeah, I know." Lev answered quietly.

"But you do know that they love you, right?"

"I don't."

"You're telling me that you've never even felt that they love you?"

Suddenly, Lev's eyes shot open.

-

"Christ, you're going to catch a cold! Why the hell did you run out in this rain?!"

"Sorry, sorry! I just had to rush here to see you! I missed you soooo much!"

"Get inside and hop in the shower. I'll prepare some warm food for you while you're in there. There's a spare towel in the cupboard above the sink."

"Thank you, _____-chan!"

-

"Stupid beanpole. I told you to change clothes after practice yesterday, didn't I?"

"Sorry, _____-chan. I totally forgot." He coughed.

"Here, drink this medicine. I'll reheat your porridge and grab you a cold towel for your head. I'll also bring in the assignments that Inuoka gave me."

"You'd be a good wife, _____-chan. My wife, that is." Another cough.

"Shut up and rest before I hit you with this notebook."

"Yes, yes, darling."

-

"Where were you?! We've been looking for you everywhere!"

"S-Sorry, _____-chan. I saw this cat stuck in a tree and I just had to rescue it!"

"Don't go running off like that! Do you know how worried the team was? How worried I was?! I thought you were gone! Look at how many scratches you have on your arm. You need to go to the infirmary, now."

"I-I'm sorry."

"Just... Don't do it again, please. Always be in my line of sight."

"Yes, _____-sama!"

-

"Haiba, here's your water bottle."

-

"Haiba, the forecast said that there might be a downpour in the afternoon. Don't forget to bring an umbrella."

-

"Haiba, you left your books at the gym. Here. Jeez, don't be so forgetful next time."

-

"Haiba, here, I bought your favorite meal. Furihata said that you forgot your lunch at home. You can't go hungry."

-

"Haiba, you're doing well. Your progress report shows continuous growth. I'm proud of you."

-

"I'm a fucking idiot." Lev said. His emerald green eyes were filled with tears. "Excuse me, I have to go."

With that, he dashed out of the bar, leaving a confused Yaku with a drunk Kuroo passed out behind him.

The former libero could only sight and take a giant gulp of beer.

"Damn right you are."

-

You were full on crying right now. Approximately 10 minutes before Christmas, and here you were, crying on the couch. Maika had given up on comforting you, but remained by your side as you bawled you eyes out, offering some sort of moral support or assurance that someone was there for you.

However, a few moments passed, and Maika's ears perked up. She jumped down from the couch and made her way to the front door of the apartment. She lightly scratched the door.

"M-Maika, I'm sorry. I know I'm being too loud, I'll pipe down soon." The girl blubbered, blowing into a tissue.

As if on cue, there were multiple knocks on the door.

Fuck's sake.

You didn't even care that you'd be facing whoever is on the other side of the door while looking like this. Your eyes were puffier, the bags under them more prominent. Your nose was a rosy red color, cheeks flushed and tear stains were obvious on them.

"Who the fuck-?"

As soon as you opened the door, a sudden warmth engulfed your body. The familiar fragrance you loved so much flooded your blocked nostrils.

"Le-"

"I'm sorry."

There was silence.

"I'm so sorry for everything that I said, _____. I take all of it back. I know that you love me. Your love language isn't vocal and I should have been more accepting and understanding of that. I may not know your reasons for being the way you are, but I promise you that I accept you wholly. I'm so, so fucking sorry that I left so suddenly. I love you so much. I'm never leaving you again."

Sobs racked through your body. Your form was shaking in Lev's arms. He was surprised. It's the first time he's seen you cry, and it breaks his heart knowing that he's the reason behind it.

"I'm sorry, kitten. Please don't cry anymore."

"Lev," You started, attempting to calm down, and Lev swore his heart stopped beating for a second, "I love you."

For a moment, everything stopped. They could hear the neighbors yelling "Merry Christmas!" in their own units.

"P-Pardon?"

You giggled. "I love you, Lev. I'm really sorry that it took me this long to tell you. I guess I was just scared of telling you how I really felt because... I didn't want you to think that I was cheesy or..."

Lev cut you off with a kiss. It was short and sweet. He could taste red bull and barbecue chips on your lips, and you could taste vodka on his. It was imperfect, but it was yours, and you loved it.

"I love you so much, _____. This is the best Christmas gift I've ever received."

"I love you too, Lev."

"Come on, let's get inside. I bought some takeout for us to eat." He easily lifted you up with one arm and grabbed the plastic bag of takeout with his free hand.

"Yeah, about that," You buried your face in his neck, "I'm sorry."

"We'll... Clean up tomorrow." He chuckled, looking at the messy state your living room was in. "We'll eat in our room, okay? Why don't you get cleaned up first, and I'll prepare the things we need." He placed a kiss on your cheek.

"Alright, Lev." You replied, "Sorry for causing a lot of trouble."

"Don't be sorry, malishka. We're fine now, okay? We have each other and we understand each other better now." He set you in front of the bathroom. "Now, go ahead and shower! I'll get a fresh set of clothes for you and leave them out here."

"Thank you, Lyovochka." You grinned, using Alisa's nickname for him.

"Anytime, babe." Lev turned around to go to the bedroom until,

"Hey, Lev?" You showed your head out of the bathroom door.

"Yes, _____?"

"I love you!"

The, the door was slammed shut.

"_____, you're too cute!" Lev had to use every strand of will power he had to not faint on the spot.

Who knew that his kuudere partner was such a huge softie?

Maola mewled and rubbed her head against Lev's leg.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Maika."

#lev haiba #haiba lev #haikyuu!! #haikyuu #haikyu #haikyu x reader #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu!! x reader #lev haiba x reader #haiba lev x reader #lev x reader #kuudere

[underoossss]

A Christmas Plan [1 /2] - H.O

pairing: Harrison Osterfield x f!reader

words: around 2k

warnings: none, just lots of yearning

AN: lmaoooo guess who’s back just in time for the holidays!!! Sorry for being so MIA and my crazy update schedule, things have been crazy in my mind my life and the world. I asked for prompts a while back and @hollandharrison asked for a best friends to loves fic with the prompt “It’s so hard not to fall in love with you.” SINCE ITS XMAS I DECIDED TO MAKE IT A XMAS FIC! This is a best friends to lovers, fake dating, mutual pinning, wedding and oh no there’s only one bed fic! Enjoy! And please leave some feedback I’d love to know if you enjoyed it. Part 2 on Friday!!!!! I hope you like this Rosalie!! ❤️❤️❤️

Masterlist

———-

There’s jazzy Christmas music playing in the busy restaurant, it’s Holly Jolly Christmas, you think as you try to listen over the chatter coming from the various tables surrounding you. The restaurant’s floor is cream colored, shiny, and marble glazed. There are fancy lamps hanging from the ceiling and many plants in expensive looking pots all over the main entrance and windows. One wouldn’t think one the best burgers you’ve tried in your life comes from a fancy restaurant in London like this, or that it’s the only thing you and your best friend order from the menu. It’s only during special occasions that the two of you meet to enjoy them, as the bill is quite high and always a problem. Harrison always wants to pay, and so do you. Right now, though, as fancy dishes like salmon, ravioli and gorgeous little desserts are being served all around, you’re not sure if you can even eat anything at all.

Nervous is an understatement. You arrived at the restaurant 15 minutes early to rehearse what you wanted to say and get ready for the likely rejection that could follow, but from the moment you sat down, you’ve done nothing but fidget with the napkin in front of you. The beautiful swan that had been placed on your plate when you arrived is nowhere in sight, it is only a wrinkled square in your hands.

“The worst that can happen is that he’ll say no.” You whisper to yourself, reaching for the glass of iced water next to your empty plate. “Harrison won’t judge or get mad because you asked.” Nodding to yourself you bring the glass to your lips and look around as you take a sip.

You nearly choke on your water when your eyes land on the main door and see Harrison walk into the restaurant. You’re quick to put the glass down and dab your chin with the napkin in front of you to make yourself presentable again and not caught off guard. Being 15 minutes early didn’t prepare you enough for this. He is like an apparition, dressed in brown checkered pants, a white t-shirt and a plaid brown jacket the host is soon to take from his shoulders. His dark blonde curls are styled backward, just enough to tame them but not too much that they look neatly combed. It’s just… perfect. You can’t look away from him, he is gorgeous, so much in fact that you have to make sure your jaw isn’t hanging right before he spots you. His smile is bright as the sun when he raises his hand a little and waves at you.

You can’t help but smile back as fireworks go off in your stomach from being at the receiving end of his. You fear that these fireworks will fly out of your mouth and ears before exploding around the whole restaurant if you’re not careful. Yeah, that wouldn’t be ideal.

You stand up when he reaches the table and embrace him. He’s warm and hugs you back tightly so you let your eyes close as you take enjoy his embrace. “Harrison! It’s so great to see you.”

“Tell me about it! I’ve missed you so much.” Harrison says once you step back and sit back down. Harrison takes his phone out of his pocket to sit down, then proceeds to turn it off and set it on the table. “It’s been what, two weeks? My schedule has been crazy, sorry I haven’t had time to hang out. You look beautiful by the way.”

You are still looking at his phone, not containing your smile at the small but very meaningful gesture before you meet his gaze again. “Oh! Thank you, so do you.” A chuckle leaves your lips as you glance down at your outfit. It’s a mid-length burgundy silk dress on top of a black long sleeve blouse with ruffles on the sleeves, a belt and black booties. “That’s alright, you don’t need to apologize Haz. We always try to make time to meet every once in a while, and here we are.” Everyone is busy, especially during this time of the year, when any free time is consumed by shopping, gift wrapping or preparing for any Christmas tradition.

Harrison is about to say something else when the server arrives. She’s tall and gorgeous and barely spares you a glance before addressing Harrison, all smiles and charm. “Have you had enough time to check the menu? What can I get for you?”

You move your gaze away from them and focus on fidgeting with the ruffle of your shirt sleeve. Better to let Harrison flirt back and give her his number if he wants without you looking. You’re forced to bite the inside of your cheek and think of something else other than the interaction in front of you, doubting if you’re still going to ask him or not. That all stops when you hear Harrison call your name, which makes you look up and meet his eyes.

He is smiling at you with a curious tilt to his head. “The usual, right love?”

You feel your chest warm at the smile he gives you and the endearment that makes the server twist her lips sourly. She loses all interest in the guy in front of you when you nod at Harrison, answering his question.

His smile turns even brighter for a second and he closes the menu. “We’ll have two of the Chef’s burgers with fries for the side dish and ketchup for the beautiful lady here.” The server nods and writes the order down.

“Drinks?” She asks, her tone much different than it was a minute ago.

This time it is you that speaks up. “Iced tea for me, please, and he’ll have a glass of lemonade.”

“As usual.” Harrison smiles and winks your way.

You roll your eyes playfully, dismissing the feelings your heart is bringing to the surface at the moment. Another server brings breadsticks with dipping sauces over to the table before you’re both left alone.

“How have you been?” Harrison asks while placing his napkin on his lap and reaching for a breadstick.

You take another sip of water. “Great actually. I got promoted at work.”

He puts his breadstick down, a smile appearing on his lips. “What! That’s amazing Y/N!! Congratulations!”

A laugh leaves your lips as you shrug your shoulders. “Thank you Haz. I’m the marketing manager now, which is pretty cool.”

“That’s huge, love, and well deserved as well. You’ve done an amazing job there since you started as an intern.” Harrison continues to praise you and you feel your face and ears burning up at his words and enthusiasm.

You smile, you’ve loved your job from day one and as years have gone by you’ve been constantly improving, but the promotion is still a bit of a shock. With another shrug of your shoulders, you thank Harrison again, knowing that his congratulations are genuine.

“What have you been doing?” You ask this time, wanting to know how filming for his upcoming project had gone. “Filming went alright?”

“Yeah, it went brilliant! We’re all done now but I still have to record some additional audio next week for a couple of days.” His eyes light up and he smiles while he talks about the series, making your heart warm. You know how much he’s worked to get the role and being cast as the main character, the Prince of England in fact, in a Netflix series had been his dream come true.

“So, the Prince of England has been busy.” You tease, resting your chin on your palm. Harrison only chuckles and looks away almost shyly. “I’m so happy for you and so proud, truly. This is going to be huge, Haz.”

“We’ll have to see, but yes I think it can be. Thank you.” He meets your gaze, a soft smile on his lips and an indecipherable look in his eyes. You smile at him for a couple more seconds before the food coming to your table makes you look away.

Your orders are served in front of you and the drinks placed by your side when you remember why you asked Harrison to meet you for lunch. The thought makes you nervous all over again as you pick up a fry and use it to poke the other ones on the plate.

“What’s on your mind?” Harrison asks, looking at you curiously. “Something tells me this isn’t just about your promotion and my new role. You’ve never been so hesitant to eat your fries before.”

You sigh and look at him again, he knows you too well, which is why you think this might work. Summoning all the courage you have you open your mouth to utter your proposal. “My cousin, Travis, is getting married on Christmas Eve.”

“Oh yeah I remember Travis, nice bloke. You need a plus on at the wedding?” Harrison takes a sip of his lemonade before leaning forward, giving you all his attention.

“It’s more complicated than that.” You squeeze your eyes shut. “The wedding is going to be at the family’s country house, but most of the family will go to the house on the 22nd until the wedding. They want to spend time together and catch up then instead of the night of Travis’ wedding.”

You finally pick up a fry and eat it, breathing in deeply to explain the most important detail. “I want to ask you to be my fake boyfriend that week.”

Harrison chuckles in disbelief, clearly thinking that you’re joking. “What?”

“Please Harrison, you’re an actor and one of my best friends so you know me better than anyone. Which make the chances of us getting caught in the lie very slim.” You look into his beautiful blue eyes to try and convince him. “Christmas is the worst time for single people. You remember my cousin Gladys?”

“Yeah. Superficial, conceited and can’t stand the conversation not being about her.” Harrison rolls his eyes. “Not to mention she’s always been rude to you.”

“She got married.” You state somberly. “Which means that because we’re the same age, every dating question from my family will be directed at me, and they’ll compare me incessantly. Not to mention her teasing and criticism will be even worse now that she has ‘accomplished’ something I haven’t.”

With another sigh you look down at your food, instantly regretting asking Harrison in the first place. You dip another fry in ketchup and chew it silently as you look around the restaurant. Harrison is staring at his food, seemingly lost in thought and hesitant to say anything. “You know what, never mind. Please forget that I asked, it’s a dumb request.”

You’ll deal with your nosy and presumptuous cousin on your own. You’re used to her criticism anyways, so you can take three more days. She’ll probably talk about her about her nose job all the time and her wedding ring, or if she’s bored, she’ll comment on your appearance. You hate it but you’re used to it.

“I’ll do it.” Harrison’s voice breaks you out of your own thoughts.

“What?” It is your turn to have a tone of disbelief. “You’ll really do it?”

“Y/N, you know you can always count on me. If this will help you have an enjoyable Christmas, then of course I’ll help you.” Harrison reaches his hand out to grab yours, its freezing and his warms it up in seconds. “Besides, can’t say no to a wedding.”

That brings a laugh out of you, your eyes glazy as they look into his. Gosh you love him, you love him so much. Will being in a fake relationship with him for three days hurt your heart once it’s over? Absolutely, but a selfish part of you wants to know how it would be, to date him whether it’s real or just pretend.

“Only if you’re sure.” You speak up, not wanting to force him into anything. “It’s only until the wedding. You’re free to spend Christmas day with your family, I wouldn’t want you to miss it.”

“I wouldn’t have said yes if I wasn’t, love.” He squeezes your hand, a soft smile on his face. “So, now that you’ve told me what made you so nervous since the moment I walked in, how about we eat.”

You chuckle and nod. “Thank you, Harrison. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Harrison smiles at you again, in that shy way he had previously done, before he steals some of your ketchup. “Now, tell me more about your promotion.” He says and takes a bite out of his burger.

The days seem to fly by between your lunch with Harrison and the 22nd. You were swamped with work all week as you got everything done and ready to leave for the holidays. It was a perk though, because it didn’t let you overthink every single scenario you could encounter with your family while lying to their faces. Hopefully you won’t be caught in your lie, and you won’t end up more heartbroken than you expect after your fake relationship with Harrison ends.

There’s a knock on your apartment door that brings you out of your own head. You take one last look around your home, making sure everything is in order before you go and greet Harrison by the door. His smile is soft just as his curls look, especially with the cream-colored sweater than brings out his eyes.

“Hello, love.” He gives you a hug. “Ready to go?”

You nod your head yes when you step away. “All ready, let me grab my bags.”

“I’ll get them.” Harrison says, stopping you from picking up your suitcase and doing it himself. “Not because you can’t but because I want to.”

You chuckle, that’s what he always says, and it always makes your heart skip a beat. “I know. Thank you.” You lock the door and make your way to the elevator where he two of you share a look before giggling.

“Last chance to back out.” You say, using a smile to mask your nerves. You need to get your feelings in check if you’re going to fake being his girlfriend. He must not know you’re actually in love with him, you’ve tried that before and he never took a hint. No use trying it now. “Oh, and what about–”

“Don’t worry about your dress, I got everything under control.” He bumps his shoulder against yours and smiles. “Trust me.”

He had asked you if you had your dress ready for the wedding during the same lunch you had asked him to pretend to be your boyfriend. Upon hearing you still had to go shopping for it, he had asked for your best fitting dress and claimed that he’ll handle the dress shopping. It took some insisting but finally you had agreed and given him a dress the next day, trying not to become anxious at the thought that if anything were to happen, you’d be dress-less on the day of the wedding.

Harrison opens the door for you when you both reach his car before placing your suitcase on the trunk and getting into the driver’s seat. “Here we go.” You smile, letting out a deep breath. “Who gets the aux cord first?”

“You’re the guest of honor, you’ve got dibs.” Harrison hands you cord and starts the car. “I hope you have some Christmas songs there.”

“Mhm.” You nod scrolling through your playlists to find the one you made for today. “I have a whole playlist ready.”

“I knew it.” He glances your way with a soft smile as he drives into the main road and starts to make his way to the highway. “You have Mariah Carey, right?”

You laugh. “Do you even have to ask?”

Half an hour has gone by when you bring up the plan for the next three days. The scenery that surrounds you is beautiful, though still not covered by snow, and Christmas songs are still playing through the car’s speakers. “So, let’s go over what will happen once we get to the house.” You take your journal out and find the small to-do list you had written down ever since you got the idea.

“We’ll pretend that we are a couple. If anyone asks, we got together during that trip we had with friends over the summer and we don’t have to kiss on the lips.” You keep your eyes on your journal when you bring up the kissing part, knowing that if you kissed him there would be no going back to being ‘just friends’ anymore. Your friendship would be gone. “I won’t make you do that.”

“Okay.” Harrison says, keeping his eyes on the road. “We can say that our friends set us up during the trip to finally tell each other how we feel, and we’ve been together ever since.”

“Right, good idea. If they ask why they haven’t seen us together in our social media, we’ll go for the ‘we don’t need to post pictures for our relationship to be real’ route.” You glance to your right to see his profile, looking for any reaction but his face doesn’t give anything away. “And if at any time, any of us wants to stop the lie, we can.”

You look out of the window now, not wanting Harrison to see the longing in your face. The one thing you want most of the lie to be real so there will be no stopping it from your side, if you have to fake a break-up it’ll be because Harrison asks you to.

“I don’t think anyone wants a break-up during Christmas.” He chuckles and you can see on your peripheral that he’s shaking his head and smiling. “Do I know everyone that’s going to be there?”

Going back to the journal you scan the list of guests and nod. “Pretty much, yes. The ones that will be staying until the wedding are my parents, granny, my aunts Ruth, Katherine and Cass, their husbands, my 2 younger cousins, Travis with his fiancé and my dreaded cousin.”

Harrison keeps nodding as you mention the people on your list only noting that he doesn’t know your cousin’s fiancé or your aunt Katherine, but other than that he’s met all of them.

“You shouldn’t let your cousin get to you. You know?” He says after a few minutes of silence. “Just ignore her. She craves attention, if you don’t listen to her, you’ll piss her off.”

“It’s harder than that I’m afraid, she seeks out to bug me specifically.” You laugh. “But now with you, dearest boyfriend, she won’t comment on me being single while bragging about her husband and being a trophy wife.” You take his hand that’s not on the wheel and give it a squeeze.

The smile he sends your way makes an even bigger one takes over your face. “I can instead brag about my beautiful girlfriend.” Harrison says squeezing your hand when you laugh and nod.

“Alright, if you want to.” You shrug, your eyes still trained on his face. The light coming from his window makes his hair look almost golden, and it takes your breath away. You feel your ears burning though when he turns to you briefly and catches you staring.

“Y/N?” He asks, moving his gaze back to the road.

“Hm?” You wonder if he’s going to ask you to let go of his hand, but another squeeze proves you wrong.

“Relax okay, it’ll be fine.” He brings you hand to his lips and places a kiss over your knuckles. “Now, do you still have that greatest hits playlist you made a while back?”

Your heart is beating a mile a minute and it’s threatening to climb out of your throat at Harrison’s kiss, only fueling your longing. Not trusting to speak right away, you clear your throat before you answer. “Yeah, I have it right here. Any requests?”

Harrison tells you the song he wants you to play and starts to sing along when it starts to play over the speakers, but you can’t focus on it. Your eyes and your thoughts are on the hand that’s still holding yours between both of your seats, the way they look intertwined and the warmth that his gives yours. How are you going to keep your feelings in check for three days when one tiny kiss has you in a frenzy?

Hopefully, you’ll figure it out in the rest of the car ride.

—— part 2 coming soon——

Tagging: @sunflowerspidey @hollandharrison @peeterparkr @soft-haz @angelhaz11 💖💖

#harrison osterfield #harrison osterfield imagine #haz osterfield x reader #haz osterfield #harrison osterfield x reader #christmas fic #pauwrites #haz #haz osterfield imagine #harrison osterfield fluff

[hubbytaeil]

hello! i've been into taeil lately, so i was thinking about requesting him with prompts 46, 55, and 93, if possible. thank you in advance! 🌝💛

Taeil + #46 What’s this between us?, #55 Ruin me, #93 Don’t tell your parents

genre: angst, friends to lovers to strangers(?)

word count: 1k7 (this is taeil’s fault I swear)

warnings: smoking, slightly suggestive

a/n: now im s a d lol, this is what happens after bing watching sex and the city

-ˏˋ⋆ ̥  prompts ( send in your requests if you want <3)

This could be a dream, and yet it feels more like a nightmare. When you walked into your go-to bar, like you always do every other Friday, Taeil was the last person on Earth you thought you’d run into. The place is packed and certainly there isn’t enough space for you to run away and hide so you decide to just stand next to the counter with your friends, hoping he doesn’t come up to you.  

“Well, look who it is.” your blood freezes in your veins. You turn around in your heels slowly, preparing yourself for what you should say. “Hi, it’s been a long time.” You had broken up with him years ago and you hadn’t seen him after that. You knew that he was working for some corporate in the city but that was it. You had never run into him, not even once. To be fair, you had pictured how your eventual meeting would’ve turned out many times before, however all your fantasies can’t exceed this exact moment. Talking to him feels unreal, like being teleported back in time, a time before responsibilities, anxieties and fears. “You’ve grown taller, I see.” Taeil looks up at you pointing at your shoes. You hear your friends giggling behind you. “And you haven’t lost your sense of humour.” “That’s my only charm, you know that.” He swings his gin tonic in a circle before taking a sip. “C’mon, we both know that’s not true.” You reply gently tapping your fingers on your glass of Chardonnay. It’s definitely hard to keep eye contact, something is keeping your eyes glued to the counter. Taeil can feel it too, as he adjusts his tie.  

Fifteen years ago

“What do you mean you broke my mother’s favourite vase?!” “Exactly what it means, y/n. Oh God, please don’t tell your parents.” “Well, I’m not taking the blame again! Why the hell did you bring your football inside the house?!” “I’m sorry-” “That’s it, I’m never inviting you to my birthday party ever again.”

Those were the kind of fights you would have; you were only thirteen, life had only just begun.  

The days were filled with stupid notes passed during Math class, making fun of each other at lunchtime, eating ice scream at the park. If anyone could’ve ever been your first love, it would’ve been Taeil. You joined the music club just to spend more time with him, but you never said a word on the matter. You have such a clear memory of sitting through hours of rehearsals just to hear him play the piano. It was just a mere crush, you thought, it would fade away eventually. Yet, even now, every time you hear someone playing the piano you are taken back to that sweaty auditorium, you are taken back to the first time ever you had ever felt anything for someone. You are taken back to him.

“Do you still play?” you ask after letting your friends exchange pleasantries with Taeil, introducing him as an ‘old friend’. Inevitably, when one of the tables was cleared, they asked him to join in along with his friends.  

“Sometimes, not as much as I used to. Do you still sing?” Taeil mocks you and you cover your eyes in embarrassment. “Oh God, no.” Your conversation reaches the ears of everyone at the table. “Y/n, you didn’t tell you could sing!” “It was a school thing, I was awful.” An echo of disapproval invades your ears. “Don’t believe her!” Taeil shouts slapping a hand on the hard wood as if to prove his point. You go on saying how Taeil plays the piano magnificently to shift the centre of attention.  

The night goes on between a few drinking games and ridiculous anecdotes about college. Suddenly you ask Taeil if he’d like to accompany you outside to smoke a cigarette. “Since when do you smoke?” he questions, his tone is not judgmental in any way. “I don’t really smoke...” you begin to answer as you try to light up the cigarette. A gentle wind is blowing so Taeil helps by cupping the lighter, you thank him with a nod. “...only when I drink.” you finish after inhaling. Taeil raises an eyebrow in disbelief before pulling out a pack from his pocket. “I guess that makes two of us.” You start to grin and you find yourself unable to stop. “What it is?” “Nothing.” you respond as your grin transform into a full-on laughter. Taeil glances at you and finally gets on the same track as you and joins you. “Man, we’re old.” he exclaims taking a deep draw. “I guess.” “But you haven’t changed much since I last saw you.” You mean when I dumped you. You shut down the little voice of guilt. “Really? I don’t think so...” “You’re still gorgeous.” all of a sudden, the atmosphere is heavier.  

Ten years ago

“I think I’m love with you, y/n.” Taeil told you after making love for the first time. You stared at him in disbelief, unable to wrap your head around the concept of someone loving you back, more than anything your middle school friend who you had known for so long. Even after confessing to him your feelings, him saying he felt the same, all your friends congratulating you because they knew you two would’ve ended up together, you still couldn't believe you were holding the boy of your dreams right in your arms. But when you’re eighteen it’s hard to accept love, even if we long for it with such ache. For a while, you two had your share of fairy tale. For instance, when he kissed you on the first New Year’s Eve you spent as a couple in a square full of people. The fireworks reflected in his eyes but you ardently affirmed how those were in fact stars.  

So where did you go wrong? Why did what you had grow cold one day? During college you realised something was off. You thought the distance between you and your boyfriend Taeil couldn't jeopardise your relationship. However, as time went by, the physical distance slowly became emotional as well, you two being so invested in your lives.There lied the problem, you were starting to lead different lives. The few times you two could meet it didn’t feel genuine, you were trying to act like the people you once were. But those two were mere ghosts at that point.  

“Taeil, what’s this between us? "During the Christmas break of your senior year, you finally sat down with him to have the so dreaded discussion. It went on for hours, but Taeil wouldn't hear any of that. “No, I don’t believe this.” “Taeil, we’ve changed. Everything’s changed and I don’t know if we can go on like this. I don’t want to ruin your life by chaining you up to me.” “Ruin me, I don’t care.” It was like running in circles. The fight burned out eventually, leaving you two exhausted. You both looked up and you knew. “So, it’s over?” you nodded, unable to come up with an answer. He asked you if he could walk you up to your car one last time and you let him. “You know I’m going to win you back one day, right?” Taeil had tears in his eyes but he managed to smile at you. “We’ll see.”

It’s getting late and the bar is slowly emptying. Your friends begin to take off as well, leaving you and Taeil alone. “Do you want to share a cab, y/n?” “Oh, no thanks. I live just five minutes away.” “Oh.” Taeil hesitates before speaking out again. “If you want, I can walk with you. Only if you want.” “That would be nice.” your answer is sincere, not only because you’re kind of scared of walking alone at night, but because you want to keep talking to Taeil. You want to hear about everything you’ve missed, anything at all.  

You start walking side by side into the night, two pair of hands in your respective pockets. Taeil makes fun of the weird noise your heels make when hitting the sidewalk. “Oh, shut up! You’re just jealous!” “Yeah, you’re right. Do you have an extra pair? I could use the few inches.” It definitely doesn’t feel like chasing ghosts anymore. No, you’re just two childhood friends picking up where you’ve left off.

“Okay, I’m going to pop out the big question.” “Shoot.” “Are you seeing anyone?” you knew it was coming, sooner or later. You run through your possible answers and decide that there’s no point in lying. “Absolutely not.” Taeil assumes a shocked expression. “Why so categorical?” he chuckles. “It’s just... I haven’t had much luck.” You go on, counting down mentally how much time you have before you reach your door. “Good.” Taeil says point-blank. You glare at him not expecting him to call you out like that. “Excuse me?” “That means karma is real.” You both burst out laughing yet again. “What about you, mister Karma? Are you dating anyone?” Taeil stays silence for a bit before looking at you dead in the eye. “Absolutely fucking not.”  

“Well, this is it.” You point at your door with you finger. Now you’re both facing each other in front of the stairs. You’ve reached the endgame, and you’re dying to see how all of this will end. “This was nice, y/n.” “It really was.” another break of silence and you feel your heart giving in. You know you both want to say something, yet it feels impossible to make the first step. “Is it okay if-” Taeil stops mid-sentence which sticks a dagger in your chest. “Yes?” you barely whisper, anticipating whatever he’s going to say. “Is it okay if we see each other again? I mean, not as... but as friends. Is that alright?” Those words bring you a kind of happiness you never thought could be felt again. You take a good look at your old friend. His eyes still sparkle and you thank whoever it is that brought him back to you. “I think we can arrange that.” You don’t what’ll happen next, but it doesn’t scare you. In the air there’s a feeling of expectation which you breath in as you walk up the stairs to your door. “Y/n!” you turn around immediately, Taeil is about to get inside a cab. “Remember what I told you!” and just like that you watch him disappear into the night. This scene somehow looks familiar.

Can it be that It was all so simple then? Or has time re-written every line? If we had the chance to do it all again Tell me, would we? Could we?

#nct au #nct imagines #nct 127 imagines #nct scenarios #taeil au #taeil scenarios #taeil imagines #nct 127 scenarios #nct 127 fluff #nct smut #nct angst #taeil fic #nct taeil #moon taeil #nct drabbles #nct dream scenarios #wayv imagines #nct dream imagines

[chocoluckchipz]

A Soulmate for Christmas - 2

< Previous

The Mayor had always thrown the most lavish parties in the city. The Christmas Eve Gala was the grandest of them all. Anyone who was deemed important or famous was invited. The venue sparkled and shined with extravagant decorations. Shimmering gowns of ladies whose beauty could rival the stars, handsome men in tuxedos, a multitude of servers to attend to the guests' every need; everything screamed wealth, influence, and power. With everything being of the highest quality, it was no surprise all the food was prepared on-site by the best chefs in all of Paris, including the pastries which her parents were hired to make. 

In previous years, Tom was the one who baked, while Sabine or Manon served in the ballroom. Today, however, Papa lay home with a broken leg, Manon was out of the city, and anyone else who could’ve stepped in was unavailable at such late notice. So, it was Sabine who was left to stir up a storm in the hotel's kitchen, while Marinette took the trays of sweets into the ballroom for attendees to enjoy.

The first hour went by splendidly. Neither Adrien nor his fiancée nor Chloe Bourgeois showed up. Marinette was starting to relax as she danced around the room with a tray in hand, offering attendees her Maman’s treats. It all changed when Adrien walked in the room with Kagami Tsurugi on his arm, her mother and Chloe Bourgeois following right after.

Perfect. Her torture had begun.

Marinette moved farther into the room, as far from the trio as possible. Unfortunately, being a waitress, she couldn’t remain in one spot for long. Which meant she had to constantly scan the room to be aware of Adrien's location at any given moment. His and Chloe's. Because even though she didn’t want to risk getting too close to Adrien, she’d take that over running into her high school arch-enemy. Unlike Chloe, at least, he wouldn’t recognize her.

"Excuse me? Mademoiselle?"

She peeled her eyes away from Chloe conversing with Adrien’s fiancée to look at the person calling her and froze. 

Those eyes.

Her heart took off in a panicked sprint. She knew those eyes. How did she not realize he was her soulmate before? She stared at his posters for hours at a time, days in a row. His eyes were always gorgeous but… the eyes that watched her now were the ones that haunted her dreams all these years. And that barely-there smile he was giving her was so different from his model one. Mischievous and kind, and somehow familiar. 

Butterflies raged in her belly, Marinette turned away and focused on her work. She was there to help Maman, not swoon over her unfaithful soulmate.

"I apologize, but have we met before?" He stepped in front of her, blocking her attempted escape. "I feel like I know you."

This couldn’t be happening. There was no way he recognized her! "I’m afraid, you’re mistaken, Monsieur. I don’t think we’ve met."

"Are you sure?" His hand slowly reached out for hers, the one his mark was on. "May I?"

With a swift move, Marinette slipped a serving tray between them, offering him what was left of an assortment of macarons, at the same time protecting her hand from his touch. "Of course. Which flavour would you like?"

He hesitated for a moment, then smiled. "Which one would you recommend?"

"Coconut. They’re a huge hit tonight. The white ones."

"Thank you." He took the treat and bit into it. "Oh! They are delicious."

"I’m glad you like it. Now, if you excuse me. I must get back work." Marinette gave him the most professional smile she could muster at the moment as she turned around to walk away.

He followed. Like an annoying stray. No wonder his soulmate mark was a black cat. "Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Adrien. May I ask for your name?"

"It’s confidential."

A fleeting look of bewilderment on his face, replaced by an amused sparkle in his eyes, he smirked right after. "Accept my apologies, Mlle ‘Confidential’, but may I ask if you ever visited Milan?"

He wasn’t beating around the bush. This was bad. "Curiosity killed the cat, and you’re one curious kitty, aren’t you, Adrien?"

His eyes widened just a speck, lips stretching in one of the widest grins she had ever seen in her life. "It is you, isn’t it?"

With a look of absolute innocence on her face, she looked away. "I’m sorry? I’m not following."

"Ladybug. I don’t remember your real name but your soulmate mark is a ladybug. I’ve been calling you that. I knew I would recognize you if I ever saw you. Your eyes haven’t changed. You still have those adorable freckles and that sweet smile."

Good thing Marinette and her father had taken up playing poker lately. Otherwise, she wasn't sure she'd be able to look at him with an air of indifference right then. "As I said before, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. My name isn’t Ladybug, and I don’t think we’ve ever met before. Now, if you excuse me, I have work to do." 

She walked past him. He followed.

"You called me Kitty after you saw my soulmate mark. A black cat. Right there." He pointed to her right hand. "I can prove it if you’ll allow me to touch it."

She couldn’t let this happen. He didn’t deserve to confirm his suspicions. This had already gone a lot further than Marinette ever intended for it to go. She didn’t have a choice but to cut this short and run. "I’m sorry, I have no idea who you’ve mistaken me for, but I’m not your soulmate. After all, aren’t you engaged? 

"Please, let me explain—"

"I’m sure Mlle Tsurugi won’t approve of you talking to other women, M Agreste. Especially me," she snapped. She forced herself to take a breath and a step back. "Congratulations on your impending engagement. Have a good life." 

Without giving him a chance to respond, Marinette strode away toward the kitchen. If anyone asked, it was only because her tray was almost empty, not because the hope in her heart was, too.

"Wait!" He rushed after her. "I can explain."

She didn’t want him to. She hurried away, but Adrien kept pace. Just as she was about to exit the ballroom, he caught up and grabbed her right hand. The black cat soulmate mark on the top of it burst with all the colours of a rainbow, glowing the most beautiful way Marinette had ever seen a soulmate mark to glow. 

She snatched her hand back before anyone else could notice, hissing at him. "What are you doing?"

"Begging you to let me explain."

"Your engagement is explanation enough," Marinette snapped, throwing open the door to the servers’ area and escaping him once more.

Adrien called after her, but she knew these hallways well enough to lose him. Turning a corner, she slipped into an old storage room and ducked under a desk, hoping he’d just pass by without a second thought. 

She was wrong.

"Ladybug?"

She froze in her hiding spot, careful not to make a sound. 

"Ladybug, please. I can explain. I promise I’m not—" 

"Adrien, what’s going on?" A female voice sounded closer to the door. 

"It’s her," he answered breathlessly. "I found her."

"‘Her’ as in?"

"Ladybug! I found my Ladybug! And the first thing she does is yell at me because she thinks I’m engaged to you."

"Please, don’t tell me it’s that waitress that you kept hovering over?" Another female griped. An unfortunately familiar female. 

"Oh, shut up, Chloe!" Adrien snarled. "I’m not in the mood for—"

"Calm down, both of you. No need to start a fight," the woman who Marinette guessed was Kagami Tsurugi cut in. 

"Like I’m going to fight him over Dupain-Cheng. He can have her, for all I care."

"You know her?" Adrien asked, surprise clear in his voice. "Chloe, please, tell me you know who she is?"

"Of course, I do. We suffered each other’s presence all through lycée."

"Name, Chloe! Tell me her name! Her number? Address? Anything!"

The scowl in Chloe’s voice was palpable. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She lived in the bakery across the street from my old school—" 

"Are you kidding me?! She’s been living less than a block away from me all these years?!"

"Just your luck." Kagami chuckled. "All the time and money you wasted on your trips to Milan. I almost feel sorry for you, Adrien." 

"You’re so kind, Kagami. Remind me, why are we still friends? "

"Because you needed a fake girlfriend."

"I think it was the other way around."

"Let’s be honest: we both benefited. Some more so than others, but who cares about the details, right?"

Adrien groaned. "I don’t have time for this. Chloe, where can I find her?"

"You remember that online fashion boutique I showed you? The one you ordered that blue scarf and a few of their Chat Noir pieces from?"

"MDC? Wait—was that her?"

"Yes. MDC is short for Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

Adrien pulled out his cellphone. "Good idea. The website should have her contact information."

"Not her personal contacts. Only a business email."

"Damn it, Chloe. I don’t have time for this. Where can I find her now?"

"Most likely in the kitchen," Chloe huffed. "Her parents’ bakery was hired to cater for the party. Tom and Sabine’s."

"Thanks." 

By the time the door shut, Marinette could hardly breathe, a single sentence played in her mind over and over and over again, 

 "Because you needed a fake girlfriend."

 What did she mean by—?

Bang!

Marinette’s heart stopped at the sudden slap of a hand on the desk she was hiding under. 

"Dupain-Cheng." Chloe leered down at her with a smile Marinette knew always meant trouble. "We need to talk."

Next >

Read it on A03 FF.net WattPad

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#miraculous ladybug #adrienette #soulmates #adrinette #fluff #light angst #misunderstanding #happy end #aged up #no magic au #soulmate marks #so much for He won't recognize me #Marinette

[bechloeislegit]

25 Days of BeChloe Christmases-2020

Day 6 - Christmas Surprise

Prompt from Tumblr User Anonymous: {Full prompt is noted at the end}.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beca sat in the conference room with most of the production staff waiting for Theo and DJ Khaled to start the meeting. Beca had no idea why the meeting was called; they were just told that Khaled had an announcement to make.

Beca thought about what it could be. Maybe a big name, like Beyonce, or something was going to need someone to produce their next album. Or maybe it was about Christmas bonuses. Beca had heard that Khaled was very generous with bonuses in the past.

"Quiet everyone!" Theo called out when DJ Khaled finally made his way into the conference room.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Khaled said after everyone had settled down. "The studio is going to donate two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars in one of your names this Christmas."

Everyone began murmuring and speaking in surprise hushed tones.

"Now, the recipient will be our Top Producer this year," Khaled continued. "All we ask is that in order to have the money donated, this person must participate in a prank that the studio execs have come up with. So, without further ado the Top Producer this year is. . .Beca Mitchell! Beca, please come up here."

Beca's eyes widened in shock. The first shock was that she was the studio's Top Producer for the year. The second was that some deserving charity was going to receive a quarter of a million dollars in her name.

"Come on, Beca!" Theo called out, spurring Beca to finally move and join DJ Khaled at the front of the conference room.

"Congratulations, Beca," DJ Khaled. "I knew when I signed you, that you would exceed our expectations. And, you did not disappoint."

"Thank you," Beca said quietly.

"Now, what charity do you want the donation to go to?" Theo asked.

"What prank will I have to be involved in?" Beca countered.

"You've learned the art of negotiation well," Khaled said, as he and Theo chuckled.

They went on to explain to Beca what she needed to do and Beca looked horrified.

"You want me to involve Chloe in this prank?" Beca asked. "I don't know if I can do that."

"It's a quarter of a million dollars, Beca," Theo said. "That's two-hundred and fifty thousand really good reasons to involve Chloe. I'm sure after it's all over and you explain everything, she'll understand and forgive you."

"Speaking of explaining to Chloe," Khaled said. "You can't tell anyone about the prank AND you have to keep the prank going until Midnight in order for the money to be donated on your behalf. Luke here will be your partner in crime for the prank. He'll also make sure you don't give it away before Midnight."

Beca stood, biting her lip in thought. "Will Chloe really be okay with this when she finds out it's all a prank and not real?"

"I'll do it," Beca said. "It's for charity after all."

"Good call," Theo said, clapping Beca on the back.

The assembled group started clapping and cheering.

"I just hope Chloe doesn't kill me before it's over," Beca mumbled.

~~ Day 6 of the 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2020 ~~

A week later, Beca was nervously pacing around in her home office. It was Christmas Eve and today was the day of the two-hundred and fifty thousand dollar prank.

At exactly five o'clock the doorbell rang throughout the house. This was the first step in the plan. A plan Beca had to keep going for seven hours in order for the money to be donated in her name.

"Beca! Could you come down here, please?" Chloe's voice called from downstairs.

Beca took a deep breath and let it out. "Coming!" she called back and slowly made her way downstairs.

When she reached the living room, Chloe was standing with her arms crossed, looking at the guy standing by the door.

"Luke?" Beca said, looking at the guy.

"Beca, love," Luke said, hurrying over to Beca.

Luke grabbed Beca in a hug. Beca looked over Luke's shoulder to see Chloe staring at her with her mouth opened in shock.

"Luke, what are you doing here?" Beca asked, pulling back from the hug.

"Is that any way to greet your husband?" Luke asked.

"HUSBAND?!" Chloe yelled. "Beca, what the fuck is going on here? And who the Hell is this guy?"

"Oh, God," Beca thought. "Chloe dropped the f-bomb. She's already pissed. How am I supposed to keep this up until Midnight."

"Chloe, I can explain," Beca said, moving away from Luke. "There's something about myself I haven't told you."

Beca stood looking between Chloe and Luke.

"Go ahead, Beca," Chloe said. "Explain this. . .supposed husband of yours I know nothing about."

"Um, well, it's, uh-" Beca stammered trying to explain to Chloe.

"We are married," Luke said. "We have been for twelve years now."

"WHAT?!" Chloe yelled.

"No, we're not," Beca said. "We, uh, we had it annulled."

"No, we didn't," Luke said.

"YES, we did!" Beca said.

"No, we-"

"Shut up!" Chloe yelled. "Both of you, just shut up."

"But, Chloe," Beca started.

"I said, shut up, Beca," Chloe said through gritted teeth. "I need to process this."

"We're not still married," Beca said, glaring at Luke.

"Yes, we are," Luke said.

"No, we're-" Beca snapped her mouth shut when she saw Chloe glaring at her.

~~ Day 6 of the 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2020 ~~

After standing around in awkward silence for a few minutes, Beca began fidgeting. Chloe looked at her.

"Okay," Chloe finally said. "Beca, explain how you two came to be married to him."

"Well, we, uh, were dating in High School," Beca said. "And I, uh, um, thought I was pregnant. So, my folks said we had to get married."

"You told me you knew you were gay when you were fourteen," Chloe interrupted.

"I did," Beca said. "But, I wasn't out yet, so I dated Luke so people wouldn't know I was gay."

"And you still fucked him?" Chloe asked. "Knowing you were gay?"

"I, I," Beca didn't know what to say.

"She couldn't help herself," Luke said with a smug smirk. He pulled up his shirt to show off his abs. "If I look this good now, imagine how good I looked back then. She didn't stand a chance."

Beca grimaced and jerked Luke's shirt back down.

"Babe," Beca said, reaching for Chloe.

"Don't touch me!"

"Chlo, come on," Beca said beseechingly. "I love you. You're the one I'm with now and want to be with forever. He's just a forgotten memory."

"If you're still married to him," Chloe said. "Then our marriage is null and void."

"But, I've been trying to tell you," Beca said. "We're not still married."

"Yes, we are," Luke said.

Beca glared at him and he took a step back.

"You never signed the annulment papers," Luke explained. "Which means the papers never got filed. Which also means, we're still married."

Beca let out a gasp and stood with her mouth opened in shock.

"I can't believe this!" Chloe cried, throwing up her hands and running out of the room.

Chloe ran upstairs and Beca heard the slamming of their bedroom door. Beca turned on Luke. "This wasn't part of the plan!"

"Theo told me to improvise where I saw it was necessary," Luke said. "I felt it was necessary."

"I can't do this anymore," Beca said, turning to go upstairs. "Chloe' more upset than I thought she'd be and I'm going to tell her the truth."

Luke grabbed Beca's arm to stop her.

"What about the donation?" Luke asked. "Think about how many people that money can help. Are you that selfish that you'd deny people in need? I thought you were better than that, Beca."

"But, this has gone too far," Beca said with tears in her eyes. "I need to go check on Chloe."

"I'll go with you," Luke said, turning to follow Beca.

"NO!" Beca screamed in his face. "You've done enough. Chloe now thinks our marriage isn't even legal thanks to your little improvisation. She's ready to walk out. How are we going to keep this going until Midnight to even get the money donated? How can I calm her down if I can't tell her what's going on?"

Beca sat on the steps and put her head in her hand. "Why did I even agree to this stupid prank?"

Beca heard a noise behind her and looked over her shoulder to see Chloe coming down the stairs with a suitcase. Beca quickly jumped up, blocking Chloe's path.

"Chloe, what are you doing?" Beca asked.

"I'm leaving," Chloe said. "I can't stay with you if you're married to someone else."

"But I'm not married to someone else," Beca said. "I'm only married to you."

"Then show me the divorce or annulment papers," Chloe said.

"I, I, um, I can't," Beca said. "I don't have them."

Chloe huffed and proceeded to push past Beca and walk to the door. Chloe stopped with her hand on the knob; she looked at Beca.

"I love you, Beca," Chloe said. "God knows I do. But, you can't be married to two people at once."

"It's Christmas Eve," Beca said. "Where are you going to go?"

"I called Emily and she said I could stay with her," Chloe replied. "Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year. Thanks to you, this Christmas will always be remembered as the worst one of my life. Goodbye, Beca."

Chloe lifted her suitcase and walked out the door, closing it softly behind her.

~~ Day 6 of the 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2020 ~~

Beca stood momentarily frozen in place as tears streamed down her face. She shook her head to clear it and ran toward the door.

"Chloe! Come back!" Beca was yelling as she yanked open the door and ran out. "Don't go! It was all a prank. A joke. It's not -.” Beca stopped short. "What the Hell?"

Beca stood looking down the front steps to see Chloe, smiling as she stood with Theo and DJ Khaled. There were several cameras pointed at her.

"What the Hell is going on here?" Beca asked, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

"Gotcha!" Chloe yelled, racing up the steps to stand with Beca.

Chloe moved to pull Beca to her, but Beca pushed her away.

"Gotcha! What the Hell does that mean?" Beca asked. "Someone explain, please."

"Well, we-" Theo started to speak only to stop when Chloe held up a hand.

"I'll tell her," Chloe said. "Theo called me and told me about the prank. He said if I could get you to break and tell me it was a prank before Midnight, Khaled would double the donation. So, now instead of two-hundred and fifty-thousand dollars going to a charity of our choice, it will be five hundred thousand dollars."

Beca looked at Theo and DJ Khaled. "Why would you put me through all this? I honestly thought Chloe was leaving me. Hell, I was even beginning to think Luke and I were actually married."

"You could do worse," Luke said from behind Beca.

"It was for a good cause," Khaled said.

Luke quickly moved past Beca and Chloe to join Theo and DJ Khaled.

"By the way," Chloe said, pulling Beca into a hug. "The suitcase is empty. I could never leave you; I love you too much."

"You're lucky I love you, too," Beca mumbled into Chloe's shoulder. "Why are all the cameras here?"

"You know that show Pranked?" Chloe asked

"Yeah," Beca said.

"You're going to be on it."

~~ Day 6 of the 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2020 ~~

Christmas Day found Beca and Chloe snuggled together on their sofa with most of the Bellas sitting around their living room. All the news stations and social media sights were hyping the extremely large donation that was given to St. Jude's Children Hospital for cancer research on behalf of Beca and Chloe Mitchell.

"So, Theo and Khaled did all that to give money to charity?" Stacie asked.

"Yes," Beca said. "And to have the prank shown on Pranked. They think it will generate a lot of publicity for the studio."

"Does anyone want to see the unedited version?" Chloe asked.

"No, Chloe," Beca said. "It's embarrassing."

"Yeah, for you," Emily said, snickering.

"And that's all the more reason we want to see it," Aubrey said.

The Bellas all agreed and Chloe set up the computer to view the video on their large flat-screen television.

Beca covered her face as the girls laughed through most of the video. That is until it got to the part where Chloe had walked out and Beca started crying.

"Aw, Becs," Stacie said, looking over at the quiet brunette. "You really thought she was leaving you?"

"I did," Beca whispered.

Tears came to Chloe's eyes when she saw Beca crying on the screen.

"Becs," Chloe said softly, pulling Beca to her. "I'm sorry. I didn't know my leaving would affect you that strongly. You know, it was just pretend, right? I'm in this forever, I swear."

"Good," Beca said. "If you ever said you were going to leave me, I would be devastated. You're my world, Chloe, and I love you more and more every day."

"You're such a softie," Aubrey said fondly. "I'm glad you and Chloe have each other."

"Me, too," Beca said, pulling Chloe closer to her.

"I love you, too," Chloe said.

Beca pulled back so she could grab Chloe's lips in a kiss.

"Merry Christmas!" the Bellas called out as the couple continued to kiss.

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Full Prompt from Tumblr User Anonymous: [I made a couple of minor changes from the original prompt, but kept the basic premise]. The studio Beca works for is hosting a Christmas contest in which half a million dollars will be donated to any charity of Beca's choosing in her name. The catch is that Beca has to go along with whatever prank is chosen for 24 hours. The prank is that a random dude Beca works with comes over to her house and Beca introduces him to Chloe as her ex-husband. "I never told you but I was married for a few months in high school." Naturally, Chloe is a little jealous and miffed. But Beca has to keep up the charade until midnight.

#behloe fanfiction #beca mitchell #chloe beale #Christmas 2020