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#she and five other people were in a car without seatbelts and the driver was being irresponsible
thepixelelf · 2 years
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and the universe said,
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01 "you are not alone"
genres/tags: soulmate au, idol au, comedy, romance, dumbassery chapter warnings: language, mentions of a non-fatal car collision relationship(s): ot13 x reader
When soulmates are suddenly thrust upon the world, you are one in a million who wishes they weren't -- and that's before you meet the person (people?!) making your life much harder than it needs to be. And before someone asks you to sign an NDA.
series masterlist
chapter one (2.2k) ⭒ next
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Choi Seungcheol, as humble as he is and as modest as he always tries to be, knows that he’s famous.
Sure, he rapped that they started from nothing — two pyeong — and that they built a company from a basement suite up. Sure, he whispered that no one does it like they do. Sure, he beckoned wannabes to trail after his success. But he knows that his success, their success comes from being part of a group that helps each other stand tall, members that love each other, a family (in so few words) that worked their collective asses off to get where they are today. It wasn’t always easy. There were mountainous bumps along the way, and bumps that still rock Seungcheol’s world even now.
He can feel the headache coming on already.
@/seokshinedk: seventeen are made for each other!! literally chosen by the universe your faves could never 💅
The boys sit, gathered in the conference room with nervous eyes and bouncing legs, a buzzing energy in the air around each of them that all have yet to address. A couple staff members are discussing, hushed but urgent, among themselves near the opposite end of the table from Seungcheol, who’s scrolling the forums against his better judgement.
@/mingyubies: carat always knew svt are soulmates 😊 this just confirms it
It started with two girls in eastern Canada. Something as simple as a car collision made global news, all for one simple reason. The girl driving said a small, red heart appeared on her inner wrist like a tattoo, and before she could even try to understand what it was or where it came from, an invisible force attempted to pull her out the driver’s side window. She was held down by her seatbelt, but the confusion had caused her to drive across a solid yellow line and almost hit a girl on the sidewalk.
Who didn’t try to jump out of the way, because she was too entranced by the red heart that had suddenly appeared on her wrist.
They fell in love by the time the police arrived. Within a month, their engagement reached the news.
The western world was quick to bring up the word “soulmates”.
Seungcheol remembers that day — a Tuesday — because he’d woken up with five solid lines, about three centimetres long, parallel to each other and equally spaced apart, on the flat of his right hand. It laid just atop where his thumb connected to the rest of his hand. He’d freaked out and scrambled his way into the living room to find Joshua and Minghao already awake, wide-eyed and just as frazzled as he felt, the same marks on their hands. A quick text to the group chat confirmed that the others (well, the ones that were up) had the marks too, and Seungcheol had to believe it wasn’t some prank. It wasn’t funny, if it was.
At first, the staff hadn’t believed any of them when they went to work that day. As the leader, Seungcheol was reprimanded for letting everyone get matching tattoos without the company’s permission. One of their managers had tried to defend the boys, saying at least the tattoos weren’t anything graphic or could be interpreted as such. But when he’d turned to Seungcheol with a confused expression, asking “What’s the tattoo supposed to be, anyway?” Seungcheol could only shrug.
That certainly didn’t help their case.
They’d been told to go home for the day, to repent, or something stupid like that, and it was only when word of soulmates reached the company that they asked if the tattoos were really tattoos.
By then, cases were popping up all around the world — people with matching or similar or connected marks appearing on their skin, leading them to people they ended up loving. There’d been a handful of cases with three people sharing the same mark, and one case of a group of four. Just under two hundred pairs came forward in the US alone.
Thirteen… even Seungcheol, with as much love as he has for his members, his brothers, felt like that was a lot.
The staff had their doubts, too. Each of the boys got sat down, asked how they were and if they felt any different. Seungcheol doesn’t know how the rest of them answered, but he told the staff honestly;
He didn’t feel any different. The only change was the five black lines on his hand, and the fact that he felt like he was missing something. Like all the reading he’d done up on the newfound “soulmate phenomenon” still wasn’t telling him everything he wanted— needed to know.
Whatever the other boys told the staff, they ended up proposing to pass the marks off as regular old tattoos.
The idea was shot down as soon as it flew up.
Maybe they could pass off their marks as some sort of friendship tattoo — if only their marks didn’t move.
Even the boys had no idea what their marks were, or what they meant, until a meeting with the staff, where they asked if, instead of painstakingly covering the marks with caked-on foundation, the members could just say they decided to cement their brotherhood in something a little more permanent than a ring. One of the stylists was going over possible meanings they could give the five lines when Seokmin practically leaped up out of his seat, yelling out.
“HOLY SHIT,” he went. “HOLY SHIT GUYS.”
He shoved his hand in Jihoon’s face, who recoiled in annoyance and swatted Seokmin’s hand away, but in that time, several of the others, Seungcheol included, figured out what Seokmin meant.
Seungcheol gawked, wide-eyed and slack-jawed at his hand, where his mark was… playing.
No noise came out, but notes, unmistakable with their stems and flags and heads and bars, moved across the lines they all realized in that moment made up a staff, dancing from right to left in a steady rhythm. They disappeared as soon as they ran off the bars. A commotion erupted in the meeting room, and the staff were helpless but to watch as the boys scrambled to each other, staring at their own marks and each other’s, coming to the conclusion that all of them were exactly the same. Each showed the same notes at the same pace.
It was a marvel. It was magic.
It was undeniable that their marks were a prime example of the soulmate phenomenon, and their boss decided, fine, it might actually be good publicity for the group to be “the first and only kpop act made up completely of soulmates”.
And it was.
@/eissasuperstar no wonder they are always so synchronized!! they’re soulmates!!
Seungcheol has to scoff. They’re synchronized because they stay in the studio until five in the morning. They’re synchronized because they’ve been practising their asses off since debut. They’re synchronized because they put in the work, put in the hours. It’s about drive, it’s about power…
It’s not because the tattoos on their hands just so happen to be magic.
After confirming that, yes, the marks they all have appeared the same day as the rest of the soulmates in the world, Seventeen blew up. More than any comeback or song or award or interview or photoshoot ever did for them. Pledis seems eager to ride the wave of news fodder while it lasts, to release a surprise comeback or something, which is what Seungcheol thought this emergency meeting was going to be about.
“Please pay attention, Seungcheol,” Shin Yejung, one of the PR representatives and the person who's been on top of this whole situation from the start, asks, making Seungcheol look up from his phone to find the entire room watching him.
Sheepishly, he puts his phone face-down on the table and nods to show he’s listening.
Yejung sighs, then addresses the group again. “A lot of news outlets are saying that platonic soulmates can also be a result of the phenomenon, but…”
She trails off, and Vernon raises a brow. “But?”
“Most of them cite you guys as an example.” Yejung doesn’t like what she just said. She grimaces like the words taste bitter in her mouth.
“But they’re not wrong,” Joshua speaks up. “I mean, look at us.” Limply, he raises both arms to gesture at the group. “We’re not madly in love with each other like all those couples on tv.”
“Ouch, hyung,” Chan says, if only to lighten the mood.
It doesn’t work.
“What is this all about?” Seungcheol finally asks what everyone’s thinking. He sees all the boys turn to Yejung with expectant faces, except Jeonghan, who regards her with a blank expression. She returns his gaze for half a second, so fast that Seungcheol almost misses it.
She takes a deep breath. “There’s no certain way to tell right now if there isn’t such a thing as platonic soulmates, but I don’t know if that’s… well, your case.”
Mingyu, interest piqued, sits up straighter in his chair. “What do you mean?”
“From what we can tell, none of you feel the pull,” one of the managers says. Myungjun was mostly quiet while Yejung spoke, but now he makes eye contact with Seungcheol.
“The pull?”
“It’s what they’re calling the connection between soulmates,” Yejung answers. “Apparently, once soulmates meet, there’s this… pull. I don’t really know how it works, or what it supposedly feels like, but they say it’s, um— irresistible.”
Myungjun waves a hand at the group. “You guys don’t have that.”
“Maybe platonic soulmates just don’t get the pull,” Wonwoo reasons. “And that’s what makes it platonic.”
“Sure.” Yejung nods, but her doubtful frown betrays the action. “It’s just; I’ve been doing some research on marks—”
“We all have,” Minghao interrupts.
“Music related marks, specifically.” Yejung silently bows her head at Minghao to apologize for continuing over him, even though he’s the one who cut into what she was saying. She seems extra jittery today, for some reason. “The notes show up at random, right?”
Some of the boys share looks before they all nod.
“And they never last that long— about a song’s worth at most, but usually snippets rather than full songs. Right?” Yejung seems to already know the answers, but the boys nod along anyway. “And you’ve never found a correlation? To anything you’re listening to? Or something any of you are singing?”
Jihoon mutters, “It’s a lot of Day6.”
More than a few heads turn his way, and he sinks in his seat, shy under the scrutinizing gazes of his members.
“You can read the music?” Seungkwan interrogates. “How the hell— the notes move by so fast.”
Jihoon just shrugs, looking at Yejung and silently pleading with his eyes for her to continue so he doesn’t have to explain himself.
“Anyway,” she saves him. “Jeonghan came to us with a possibility we hadn’t considered before, which is why I did this research in the first place.”
All eyes turn to Jeonghan, who doesn’t react in the slightest, calm gaze still locked on Yejung.
She considers her words, chewing on the inside of her cheek. “I video-called a couple who had the staff as their mark, like you guys. Their notes appeared when the other sang.”
“What are you trying to say?”
Shin Yejung doesn’t often interact directly with Seventeen for her job, but this isn’t the first time she’s been toe-to-toe with Choi Seungcheol, the guy who famously said he cares more about his members than the company. She’s a strong woman who, in many ways, worked just as hard as the boys to get where she is today. She can hold her own. Right now, though, under Seungcheol’s hard gaze, she seems to waver.
Once more, she meets Jeonghan’s eyes, who nods silently as if to encourage her to say what she needs to.
“Jeonghan— I… We—” She waves a weak arm over towards the staff side of the table. “—think you might have a soulmate.”
The silence that follows is awkward and painful, until Soonyoung, who — against his character — hasn’t said a single word yet, raises his hand and goes, “You… you mean…”
“Someone out there is connected to each of you, and whenever they sing, it appears on your marks.”
Seungcheol feels the shift in the room. The nervous energy that was buzzing lowly before is now at a quiet but undeniably present hum. Some of the boys share looks, some of them stare at their hands, or their laps. Some are still gawking at Yejung for that bomb she just dropped. It’s like someone flipped the switch. They’d all been talking in the dark until now. Seungcheol watches Jeonghan lean back in his chair with a satisfied grin, arms crossed, and he swears he hears someone whisper, “Soulmate…” under their breath.
Wait. Wait! This is all too much all too fast. He needs to understand the situation in order to handle it. He needs to reign in his friends before they manage to do something astronomically stupid. He needs to—
Chan stands up, and the sound of the chair scraping across the floor is deafening.
“Sit down,” Myungjun says, monotone as ever.
Next to Seungcheol, someone’s leg starts bouncing like it’s attached to a motor engine. Or, wait, is that his leg?
“We need to talk about what this means for Seventeen.”
But Seungcheol can already see the awestruck, elated look shared between Mingyu and Seokmin. He can already see Vernon on his phone, googling how to find your soulmate. He can already see the flaming red tint of Jihoon’s ears.
Oh.
Oh no.
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chapter one (2.2k) ⭒ next
updates for and the universe said, are not on a schedule. there is no taglist. thank you for reading!
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darlink-xoxo · 1 year
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part two for this please? where they see each other's playlists and get jealous bc they think it's for other people 😭❤️
OUR FAVORITE SONG PT. 2!·˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ♡
in which, a simple request for the aux cord leads to some unexpected jealousy
and maybe a long awaited (sloppy) confession too..
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GIF isnt mine
─ͥ─ͦ─ͮ─ͤ➼♥″
oh my
forgive me if i didn't do the request right 😓
i haven't done this before (pt 1 is right here)
Warnings: Fluff, Aged up!Enough to have a drivers license, Tiny Misunderstanding, Kinda a rushed ending, Possible ooc bakugou, Light Swearing, Puppy love 🫶.. and spelling mistakes
❥ · ゚₊ in you're opinion, you'd say you had good music taste. a little bit of everything, not really sticking to one genre. but you've been on a kick recently, it's been difficult to listen to your songs if they weren't on a certain playlist. yeah, that's right, it slightly bothered you to listen to any song outside of your 'thinking about him <3' playlist. why? you had absolutely zero clue.
maybe it's because you've listened to that playlist on repeat for so long, that it's just abnormal at this point to listen to anything else..
yeah.. maybe that's it. but it isn't your fault. ever since that staredown with bakugou, he was probably the only reoccurring thought in your mind, one which you happily welcomed. not without the secondhand embarrassment of course. i mean, it was probably pretty awkward for him to catch you staring at him in silence.. luckily he never brought it up, after all, how were you going to explain how giddy you were feeling to someone who was probably hearing crickets??
well anyways, for some god forsaken reason, you and the bakusquad had planned an outing earlier today after school. bakugou demanded that he'd be the one to drive, declaring that he'd rather have his vocal cords ripped out than let any of you guys drive. which was reasonable enough.
that just doesn't explain how he managed to pick you up first, didn't you live the farthest away from him??
"will you get in the car already? i'll leave your ass behind if you're still there in the next five fucking seconds."
you knew he wasn't joking about leaving you behind, and you didn't feel like driving yourself. hopping into the passenger seat, you slipped on your seatbelt and shifted to get comfortable. you heard him grunt a small 'finally' before revving up his engine and speeding off to the next house.
once everyone was picked up, the six of you were headed to the arcade. the car was filled with endless chatter from ashido and kaminari, with kirishima joining in and sero simply listening to the conversation. somehow the topic had switched to who's playlist should be played as background noise.
"i'm telling you guys, i should have the aux cord. i've got the best taste here!" kaminari held up his phone, the screen showing off one of his multiple playlists.
sero peeked at the phone screen before snorting and settling back in his chair, "kaminari, just because your songs are all famous tiktok audios, that doesn't make them good."
"thank you sero, clearly we should play my songs. mine aren't limited to tiktok!" ashido childishly stuck her tongue out at a pouting kaminari.
kirishima gave a once over at mina's phone screen, before deadpanning, "y'know ashido, you literally only have like, four main artists on there. i dont think any of us wanna listen to the same songs on repeat"
gasping in a mock offense, she retorted, "maybe you don't, but i'll listen to rihanna and twice till the day i die!"
already crossing out sero, who didn't have many song options, and kirishima, who pretty much only had songs for a workout, ashido whined in frustration. she turned to you and practically demanded your phone. you barely had the chance to unlock it before she grabbed it from you.
ashido immediately dived into your lists of songs, "okay, okay, taste.." she muttered with a satisfied nod before she came to an abrupt pause. you saw her eyes zoom in on something in particular, and a devilish grin appearing on her face.
"hehe, y/n? babe? bestie? what is this playlist?"
"what playlist?"
she shoved your phone in your face, "this one!! what is this 'thinking about him' playlist?!? WITH A HEART TOO AWWWW" your eyes widened as you instantly tried to take your phone back, "ashido give it back!!" you narrowly skimmed the device when she scooted farther away from you.
the coral colored female giggled loudly as she scrolled through the playlist, squealing like a middle schooler with a crush when she saw all the love songs. you could only groan and slump into your seat, hoping the cushion could swallow you whole.
while sero and kirishima were cackling loudly at your demise, kaminari was actually making an attempt to help get back your phone, "ashido, it isn't nice to gatekeep someone else's phone- WAIT IS THAT 'DARARI'?!? DUDE, YOU'RE WHIPPED!!"
now both ashido and kaminari were hogging your phone. you couldn't bring yourself to glance at the spiky haired blonde to your side, the sheer humiliation would be too much..
he was quiet. unusual drop dead silence came from the driver's seat. 𝘺𝘰𝘶.. 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰..? 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 '𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮'.. 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 '𝘩𝘪𝘮'??!
you had 'something about you' by eyedress, 'cloud 9' by beach bunny, 'darari' by treasure, and even 'i'm yours' by isabel larosa.. you definitely liked this guy.. tch..
"turn that shit off, you all have shit taste," he lowly demanded with a slight growl to his tone.
without much care, he tossed his own phone behind him towards the pink haired female. his eyes focused on the road, yet his thoughts kept him occupied. his own mind racing at who this guy you thought about was, did you like someone else..? was it really only him who felt sparks during your staredown a while back? did you feel nothing at all?
his grip on the steering wheel tightened as his thoughts got the best of him, he barely registered the annoyingly loud gasp ashido let out.
"oh. my. GOSH AAAAAA!!! BAKU HAS A LOVE PLAYLIST TOO OHMYGOODNESS!!!!"
.
..
𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠..
"NO WAYYYYYY!! he has 'juliet' by cavetown, HE HAS 'JULIET' BY CAVETOWN GUYS!!!" kaminari practically fought ashido for the phone, eagerly scrolling through the songs in the playlist.
kirishima was able to get a peek at the playlist when kaminari tried holding the phone out of ashido's reach, "you named it 'only them' bro? i gotta say, that's pretty manly. you too y/n!"
sero sat frozen in his seat, eyes blown wide with a hand covering his mouth. he had just connected the dots, and didn't wanna say anything in case it made you two uncomfortable. but lord was he trying not to.
ashido managed to yank back bakugou's phone from kaminari, her eyes scanning each and every song, "'babooshka' by kate bush is a little unexpected, 'despair' by leo is a great choice... still in denial i see, any song by chase atlantic was obvious.." she let out a huge dramatic gasp, to the point she started coughing.
kaminari gently rubbed her back and kirishima handed her water. sero subtly backed away, as to not get infected, quietly asking if she swallowed a bug.
after what like, three minutes? ashido muttered a small 'excuse me' before shoving bakugou's phone in an oddly silent y/n's face, "look y/n! this guy has 'overdose' by natori!! HOW ADORABLE IS THAT?!?!"
he side eyed the interaction, eyes slightly narrowing when y/n only gave it a once over before turning away, choosing to let out a short hum of affirmation.
no matter how hard he tried to focus on the road, his eyes kept drifting towards you. you seemed strangely downcast. were you alright? he couldn't bring himself to ask, he didn't trust his voice to be quiet enough to speak softly with you. not when his anger was spiking up because of a certain raccoon eyes and dunce face.
"CAN YOU JUST PICK A FUCKING SONG AND PLAY IT ALREADY??!" he shouted at the two, as a playlist still hasn't been chosen.
ashido giggled, staring at the rearview mirror with a smug grin, pressing play on his love playlist. bakugou could only grunt with a deepened scowl, choosing to be silent so he could engage himself in steering. he didn't feel like getting his ear talked off by the old hag if he were to get a speeding ticket.
sero felt sweat drip down his forehead as 'moment' by vierre cloud flowed loud and clear through his ears. sure it was meant to be background noise, but with the connection already assembled in his mind, his hearing seemed to focus on the radio. he cleared his throat and faced kirishima, no longer wanting to be the only one who knew, and as kirishima wasn't occupied by a phone that wasn't his, he was the best choice.
kirishima looked over when he noticed sero giving him a wide eyed stare, subtly asking if he was alright. the red head could only blink in confusion as sero pointed at bakugou, then y/n, then at bakugou's phone in ashido's hand. he grinned sheepishly when sero stared at him with a 'how tf do you not get it?!?' sorta glare.
sighing and slumping in his seat, sero pulled out his phone and instead texted his thoughts to kirishima instead. making sure to give a pointed look when the red head rushed to check his message. sero watched the shark toothed male's expressions contort from confusion to interest and finally to an 'OH MY GOSH YOU ARE SO RIGHT' kinda look.
sero skimmed his phone when he saw kirishima furiously typing away. sero uread the text that went, 'how did they not figure it out yet??' sero gave kirishima a sharp look. the simple message of 'says the one who needed a dang message to figure it out,' had the red head putting his phone down and instead choosing to take a nap.
when the six of you finally managed to get to the arcade in one piece, you all agreed to go on your own for about an hour before meeting back up to play games that needed more than one person.
you wandered around aimlessly, everything seemed to have a line and you were also deliberately avoiding a certain someone. you settled down at a simple claw machine, just as you thought you were in the clear, a voice rang from behind you.
"oi, if you're just gonna stare at the prizes ya mind moving? i wanna see how many i can win." a sharp demand came from behind, leading you to turn around as you got out of the way.
low and behold, it was the damn person you were trying to avoid..
he stepped forward, slipping two tokens into the slot before beginning to play. silence was all that came out of you two. and it was hella awkward. more awkward than being left alone in an elevator with a stranger.
you were about to speak out, when bakugou's boastful voice cut you off, "HA! think that bastard of yours can do better?" he turned to you with a smug grin, it almost made your heart beat if it weren't for the six prizes he managed to get in the five minutes he'd been playing laid out behind him.
how the hell did he get those prizes so fast?? in a claw machine no less??? and wait, did he say bastard? whomst tf-
"what bastard are you talking about?" you squinted at him with utter shock in your eyes.
"that guy you think of? think he can do any better than this?" he just won two more prizes..
this the guy you had a crush on, did you have a thing for jealous and oblivious men? did he just gloss over the probability that this 'guy you think of' was him in the first place??
"what does it matter? don't you have your own person you think of?" yeah you haven't forgotten, i mean he had 'sofia' by clairo on his playlist. this guy for sure was serious about his feelings. and it stung, already having repeated it to yourself about a thousand times.
the male before you kept silent, seemingly thinking before he abruptly stood up, thrusting the prizes he won into your hands, "they aren't just someone i think about," he glared at the floor beside you with his voice suddenly going quiet, "they're someone i'd do anything for, even if it means winning every damn game in this fucking arcade to prove it." he fiercely stared into your eyes as if he just made some sort of declaration to you.
it took you a second to process what he said, and when you finally got it he was already trudging away. speeding after him, you grabbed him by his arm, "what if, what if you never had competition to begin with..?" goodness your brain was for sure fried..
he scowled at you, "dont even dare think about fucking lying to me just because i told you the truth," gosh you hated and loved his stubbornness.
"dont you get it bakugou? you're the one i made the playlist for, did arctic monkeys not give you any clues??"
bakugou tensed, yet he didn't seem to look at you, opting to look down instead, "you dropped them," his quiet doting tone made you squint in confusion, he better not be ignoring your confession.. deciding to listen, you glanced underneath you, true to his word, they all lay fallen on the floor. you let out a silent sigh as you knelt down to pick up all the stuff he won. the least he could say was a 'no', now he got you doing labor.
just as you were about to get up and kinda run away and maybe bury yourself in the nearest hole, he knelt beside you, and kissed you. although more of a peck, he made sure it was clear how he felt about you. it was soft and gentle, it caught you off guard. you stared at him with wide eyes, and he stared back. suddenly remembering the staredown you both had, yet this was different. first of all, he was up in front of you, right next to your face, and HE HAD JUST KISSED YOU??!?
making sure not to overstep any of your possible boundaries, he lightly traced his fingertips up your arm to get your focus back on him. with his other hand, he cupped your cheek, softly chuckling when he felt your face heat up over his palm. then, he leaned in once more,
"you give shitty clues"
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Text
Hydrokinesis
Paranormal Preteens AU: Episode Six
A JSE Fanfic
Who’s ready for over 6000 words of kids fighting a water monster? :D Honestly I didn’t realize this chapter would be so long when I planned the outline XD Yeah, there’s not much else to say. The boys all gather together on a day when the pool is closed, then break in to take down the weird bubble creature living in the water. Things don’t go exactly as planned. Have fun! ^-^
++++++++++++++++++++
When Sunday came around, Chase told Mom that he and Schneep were going to meet up with the others at the park. As expected, she offered to drive the two of them there, but Chase insisted that they wanted to walk. Luckily, it was a nice summer day outside, so Mom relented. Good. He was sure she would insist if it was cloudy or about to train. And that would’ve delayed their plans.
Schneep was quiet and on edge when they left the house. He didn’t even say goodbye to Mom, just waved silently. As the two of them walked down the sidewalk, he clutched the straps of his backpack and kept looking back over his shoulder.
“Dude, stop looking,” Chase said. “People are gonna think we’re suspicious.”
“Sorry,” Schneep muttered, head snapping forward. “I just...do you think we should have told her the truth?”
“That we were gonna go to the pool to fight an underwater bubble monster?” Chase laughed. “C’mon. She wouldn’t believe us. Even if we showed her, she’d probably say it was in her head or something.” Besides, Chase didn’t want Mom to tag along with them. This was their thing. Five kids fighting the supernatural. So cool. It would be a lot less cool if parents came along.
Schneep nodded. “You are right. Adults do not believe you. I-I think...I am worried about if she finds out.”
“Yeah, it’ll suck,” Chase said casually. “Probably be grounded. Which is why we’re gonna make sure she doesn’t know, okay? Or anyone else.”
Again, Schneep nodded, suddenly looking more serious.
The two of them only walked a couple blocks, until they were out of sight of the house. The pool was on the edge of the city, there was no way they were going to walk all that way. Instead, they waited on a street corner for a while, until a green hatchback appeared and pulled over to the side of the road. The driver’s side window rolled down. “Hey guys,” Jackie said. “Ready to do this?”
“Heck yeah we are!” Chase punched the air with his fist. 
“I have everything we need in here,” Schneep said, tugging on his backpack straps.
“Alright, hop in, then.” Jackie gestured to the back with his head.
Chase walked up to the driver’s door, looking past Jackie into the passenger seat. “What?! I wanted the front!”
“Well then you should’ve got picked up first,” Marvin said, leaning around Jackie to grin at Chase.
“I got the front both times I’ve been in Jackie’s car, I should get it this time, too. This isn’t fair!”
“Yeah it is. Get fucked.”
“Just get in, Chase,” Jackie said. “You can sit in the front some other time.”
Chase groaned, but opened the back car door for him and Schneep. Jameson was already in there. He waved and smiled at the two of them as they climbed in. “Aren’t you upset about not getting the front?” Chase grumbled.
Jameson shook his head. M-twin gets C-A-R-S-I-C-K.
“M-twin?” Schneep repeated. “Oh, that is how you say Marvin’s name.”
“Schneep, take off your backpack, I’m having a hard time getting the seatbelt on with it,” Chase said.
“Ah, okay.” Schneep took his backpack off, resting it on his legs.
“That backpack is stuffed,” Jackie noted, pulling back into the street. “What did you guys bring?”
“We have towels and a change of clothes in case we get wet,” Schneep explained. “And Chase wanted to bring his toy gun. I wanted to take his baseball bat, too, but there was no way to get it out of the house without Aunt Jess asking questions. I know it would probably not help against the bubble monster, but it is better than nothing.”
“We brought some knives for that reason, too!” Marvin said. “But Jackie took them.”
“I just don’t like the idea of thirteen-year-olds carrying knives,” Jackie said defensively. “You guys could hurt yourselves!”
The B-U-B-B-L-E could hurt us, too, Jameson pointed out. But here we are.
“I—well—” Jackie stammered. “Uh...whatever. God. Sure, let’s let kids carry knives.”
“So you’re gonna give them back when we get to the pool?” Marvin asked.
“No, that was sarcasm.”
“Aw.” The twins slumped in identical disappointment.
About ten minutes later, they got to the pool on the edge of town. The parking lot was completely empty, but despite being able to park anywhere, Jackie chose the farthest spot. “That way, we can deny what we’re doing here,” he explained. “We’ll say we were going to explore in the woods or something and this was a good place to park.”
The five of them piled out of the car and slowly walked the long distance to the pool. “Do you think they have security cameras?” Schneep asked.
“No, I checked when we were here last week,” Marvin said. “There’s nothing. I guess they’re not worried about people breaking in?”
“I think it’d be really weird to have cameras at a pool,” Chase said. “What if they get wet? What if you put them in the changing rooms and see something you shouldn’t and people get upset? Nah. I don’t think they’d risk that.”
“Still, it’s weird,” Jackie muttered. “The city put so much money into this new pool, and then they didn’t install security cameras? Actually, why’d they build a new pool in the first place?”
“Cause the first one sucked,” Chase said casually.
Anyway, how are we going to get in? Jameson wondered.
“We’re gonna climb the walls.” Marvin grinned.
“No, we’re not.” Jackie immediately shut down that idea. “If you’ll notice, the front entrance is only blocked off by this little gate thing. It’s only as tall as me, but the wall around the pool is, like, twice that tall. So we’re going to climb that.”
Can’t we U-N-L-O-C-K the G-A-T-E? Jameson asked.
“Not unless any of you guys know how to pick locks,” Jackie said. “I did consider bringing my dad’s bolt cutters, but he already almost caught me grabbing the scuba gear, so I decided against it.” He patted the duffel bag he was carrying.
Jameson frowned. Give me a minute, he signed, and ran ahead of the rest of the group.
“What the—?!” Jackie blinked, and hurried after him, followed soon by the other three.
They caught up to Jameson at the front gate, which had been swung over the entrance. A metal sign with the pool hours was bolted to the bars. Jameson was crouching on the ground, staring at the metal gate lock. He took something out of his pocket: a small bit of folded metal. “What is that?” Schneep asked.
“That’s a bobby pin,” Chase said. “Mom has a bunch in one of the bathroom drawers, haven’t you seen them?”
“I did not know the name for them.”
“Jameson.” Jackie stared with wide eyes as Jameson poked the end of the bobby pin into the lock. “You can’t seriously think—”
“Shhh!” Marvin hushed. “He needs to concentrate.” Jackie looked at him with that same wide-eyed expression, but fell silent.
About thirty seconds later, Jameson stood up. He pushed the gate and it swung open. “Bro, holy crap!” Chase gasped. “That was so cool!”
“I know, right?!” Marvin laughed, bouncing on his feet.
“What...wh-what the hell.” Jackie just stared at the open gate, completely gobsmacked. “How...did you...?”
“We saw it in a movie once,” Marvin said. “I don’t remember the name—” Jameson signed something. “Oh right, it was Improbable Task. The main character knew how to pick locks and we thought it was really cool so we started checking out library books about this stuff. I gave up, but JJ kept going, and now he can do it!”
Only simple L-O-C-K-S, Jameson said. It’s not that I-M-P-R-E-S-S-I-V-E. But he still grinned proudly.
“Yeah it is!” Chase laughed. “Alright, we saved some time! Now let’s go in.” The four younger boys immediately filed into the building, but Jackie had to take a moment to process what just happened before following.
The pool looked weird when it was empty. The water was still, a surface of blue glass undisturbed by swimming. And it was so quiet. Chase could hear a faint humming: the pool filters. The only sound now that the shouts, chatters, and splashes were gone. The massive water slide was no longer running. It was just sitting there, its surface dry. In fact, the concrete ground around the pool was also strangely dry, now that there weren’t people walking around dripping water everywhere. “This is weird,” Chase muttered.
“Very,” Schneep agreed.
“I wanna jump in that water and ruin the surface,” Marvin added.
“You might be able to do that,” Jackie said. “Come on. We were over there when Chase got dragged down, that might as well be a good place to start. Central, too.” They walked over, and Jackie set down his duffel bag, unzipping it. “I have adult-sized scuba gear and kid-sized scuba gear. Only one of each. The adult one is for me, obviously. I suggest that whoever’s the best swimmer out of you guys gets the other. I also have this.” He dug into the bottom of the bag and pulled out a metal rod that came to a point.
“That’s one of those fireplace things, right?” Marvin asked.
“Right, a fireplace poker. I have two. They came with the house when my parents bought it.” Jackie laughs. “Funny, I don’t think we’ve ever used the fireplace. So Dad definitely doesn’t mind. We agreed that popping the bubble thing would probably get rid of it, right?”
The others all nodded. “Well...I’m a pretty good swimmer,” Chase said. “And I know what the bubble monster looks like. I could do it.”
“Chase!” Schneep gasped. “No! You promised!”
“Huh? Oh.” Chase nodded. “I think I promised to look at the water before I jumped in. Not to never go in water again.”
“But—but—” Schneep stammered, trying to find the right words, then gave up on English. “Ich will nicht, dass dir etwas passiert!”
“I dunno what that means, Schneep.”
“Ugh!” Schneep grabbed Chase’s arm, holding it tight as if he could physically prevent him from going into the water.
We can talk about it for a while, Jameson said. We have time.
“What do you mean?” Jackie asked.
Jameson looked at Marvin, who immediately started talking. “We were thinking about it all week, and this bubble thing can’t be there all the time, right? People would notice it. I mean, I was scanning the water this whole time, and I didn't see any weird bubble monster with lights in it. So we think we have to wait for it to appear. When the water gets all still or choppy when it shouldn’t be.”
“What do you mean it’s not there all the time?” Chase asked. “Where does it go?”
Marvin shrugged. “I dunno. But people would see it from the surface, right? Do you see it?”
In unison, everyone turned to look at the pool. Even in the deepest part of the deep end, the bottom was visible, even if it was harder to see. None of them saw a spot of darker water filled with green lights. “So we have to wait for it to appear,” Schneep said, repeating what Marvin said.
Jameson nodded. So let’s talk about who should S-C-U-B-A with J-A-C-K-I-E.
“Well...Schneep, you kept saying last week how you can’t swim that good,” Chase said. “So it can’t be you.”
Schneep sighed. “You are right. But it cannot be you, either! It already almost got you!”
“It can’t be these guys, either.” Chase waved at the twins. “Jameson already took down the ghost, so he should sit out this time and let someone else do it. And Marvin’s not that good a swimmer either.”
“Hey!” Marvin gasped, offended. “I can swim great! Sure, you’re better, but that doesn’t mean I’m bad.”
“Maybe it should just be me,” Jackie suggested. “I don’t want you guys to get hurt.”
“So it’s okay if you get hurt?” Chase asked. “Besides, what if the thing grabs you? Someone else would need to pull you away.”
“I...” Jackie tried to come up with a rebuttal for that, but couldn’t. “Alright. Fine. We’ll need two people. If we’re talking about possibly pulling each other away from this weird bubble thing, we’ll need someone who’s strong and a good swimmer.”
“Like me!” Chase folded his arms.
We’re older than you, Jameson pointed out. So we’re S-T-R-O-N-G-E-R, too. We would be better!
“Alright, prove it!” Chase said. “We’ll do an arm wrestling contest. Right now. We need a flat surface so, uh...we’ll use that lounge chair!” He pointed over at the nearest chair.
The twins looked at each other. Then nodded in unison. “Schneep, you be the referee,” Marvin said. “Make sure it’s fair.”
“Alright.” Schneep nodded. “There will be no cheating from anyone.”
“You guys have fun.” Jackie started pulling scuba gear out of the duffel bag. “I’ll get things set up.”
The four boys rushed over to the lounge chair and set up for a contest. Marvin and Jameson went first, figuring out who was the stronger of the two of them. It was close, but Marvin won in the end, meaning he would wrestle Chase next. They grasped hands, made sure elbows were resting on the chair, and started pushing on the count of three. Chase expected to win easily, but surprisingly, the two of them were also pretty closely matched. They struggled, and Chase was sure that he managed to push Marvin’s hand down, but Marvin refused to give up and kept going. Until, eventually—“Marvin pinned your arm, Chase!” Schneep said.
“What?! No!” Chase protested. “I totally had him earlier! This should’ve ended a minute ago!”
Schneep looked at him. “Well I am the judge and I say that you did not have him earlier. So you are going to stay out of the water.”
Chase stared at Schneep with narrowed eyes. But he let go of Marvin’s hand, who scrambled to his feet. “Whoo!” he shouted. “Now I get to see the water monster! Hehehe.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black marker. “Okay, so I’m gonna put a protection spell on myself, and on Jackie if he wants,” he said, drawing a star on the back of his hand.
“That’s gonna come off in the water,” Chase pointed out.
“No, it’s permanent marker. And even if it does, the spell will stay in place.” Marvin closed his eyes and began humming under his breath. Chase quickly stood up and walked back over to Jackie, who was sitting on the ground by the pool edge.
“Hey, little man,” Jackie looked up. He’d gotten into his scuba gear: a pair of air tanks strapped to his back, attached to a tube that led to a respirator. The respirator had straps to go around Jackie’s head, but he wasn’t wearing it right now. A pair of goggles was perched on his head, and he’d taken off his hoodie and pants, leaving only a T-shirt and pair of boxers. “So Marvin’s going into the pool, huh?”
“Yeah.” Chase sighed. “You know...I think Schneep lied about who won.”
Jackie shrugged and smiled. “Well, he’s worried about you. It’s nice of him. I know you want to help, but I think Schneep wouldn’t be able to do anything if you went underwater. And we need support up here, too, you know. In case something goes wrong, you guys can dive in.”
“Huh. He’s...worried?” Chase nodded slowly. “Alright. I guess I’ll stay.” Then he hurried to add, “Because you guys need me up here! I’m jumping in if you take too long!” 
Jackie laughed. “Okay. That’s fine.”
The other three walked over, Marvin grinning excitedly. “We’re ready!” he said.
“No you’re not,” Jackie said. “Here, I’ll show you how to put on the scuba gear. You’ll want to take off that cape.”
As Marvin did that, Schneep asked, “I thought that scuba-ing needed a special suit.”
“A wetsuit? Yeah, you usually want to wear that, because you’re usually going deep into water and it gets cold. The wetsuit keeps you warm. But this is just a pool. It should be fine. Besides, we can adjust the gear. But I’m not sure if the old kid wetsuit my dad had would fit any of you.” Jackie picked up the kid’s sized scuba gear. “You three watch the pool while I help Marvin.”
Chase, Schneep, and Jameson all sat down at the edge of the pool, looking out at the water. Only about a minute later, Jameson gasped. He pointed towards the deep end of the pool by the diving boards. There, under the water, was a strange green glow.
“That’s it!” Chase shouted, standing up. “You guys gotta go.”
Jackie and Marvin looked back over. “Oh shit,” Jackie cursed. “Marvin? Is your air tank secure?”
“Yeah.” Marvin pulled some straps tight. It looked like he was trying not to fall backwards with the weight of the tanks on his back.
“Alright. Put your respirator and goggles on, we’re diving right in.” Jackie put his own gear on after he said that, picking up the pair of fireplace pokers. Marvin copied him, taking a moment to adjust.
“The water is getting choppy,” Schneep noticed. Indeed, the water around the green glow was developing waves, sending ripples throughout this end of the pool. “Be careful!”
Be very careful, Jameson added. I love you, M-twin.
I love you, J-twin, Marvin signed back. Then he gave the others a thumbs-up. He and Jackie walked over to the edge of the pool. In unison, they jumped into the water, causing a huge splash. The three on the surface watched them swim closer to the green glow, until, eventually, the green light blocked them from view.
“Schneep, you still have my gun in your backpack, right?” Chase said.
“Ja.” Schneep nodded.
“Good.” Chase stared at the pool. “We all gotta watch. If they’re underwater for more than...more than like five minutes, we start talking about what to do.”
++++++++++++++++++++
It was weird, being underwater but still able to breathe. Marvin instinctively held his breath as he started swimming after Jackie, but eventually, he had to inhale. The air coming from the scuba gear tasted weird. Almost metallic. But whatever. He could get used to it, and he could get used to the heavy weight on his back that pushed him down.
The green glow looked pretty far away. Strange, they couldn’t have jumped into the pool more than a few feet away from the glowing water. But it took him and Jackie a while to swim closer.
They stopped swimming when the glow was under them. Jackie looked over at Marvin. Are you okay? he asked, using his limited knowledge of BSL.
Marvin nodded. He pointed beneath them, and they looked down.
The strange bubble was exactly as Chase described. It looked like it was made of darker blue water, with several balls of light inside it, swirling around each other. It was sitting on the tiled bottom of the pool. Not moving, other than the light inside.
Marvin and Jackie looked at each other. Jackie held up the fireplace pokers he was carrying, offering them to Marvin, who took the shorter one. Then the two of them started diving deeper.
Again, the pool seemed a lot bigger than it should have been. Marvin kept swimming down, pushing water to the side, propelling himself deeper, and the bubble at the bottom was barely getting closer. They must have been in the water for three minutes, at least.
And then the bubble moved. The yellow-green lights swirled faster, and a long tendril grew out from the side of the bubble, reaching upwards...towards Marvin. His eyes widened in alarm behind the goggles, and he swam to the side, legs kicking him out of the way just in time. The tendril followed him. But Jackie followed it, jabbing the tendril with his poker. It recoiled, shrinking back towards the main bubble.
Thank you, Marvin signed.
Jackie gave him a thumbs up, then pointed down. They had to keep going.
The bubble was a little closer now. Its tendril waved in the water, then suddenly disconnected from the main body. The darker water that made it up dispersed into the surrounding pool. And another, thicker tendril formed, causing the rest of the bubble to shrink a little. Before either of them could do anything, the tendril shot upwards, grabbing Jackie’s arm and pulling.
Marvin couldn’t hear Jackie shout in surprise, but he could imagine it. The tendril pulled him downward alarmingly fast, and Marvin hurried after it. Jackie tried to pry at the tendril with his free hand, but the surface must have been slippery, because he couldn’t get a good grip. His fireplace poker wasn’t any help, because the tendril had wrapped around it when it grabbed his arm.
Marvin reached down, grabbing the edge of Jackie’s shirt and using that to pull himself closer, until he managed to grab Jackie’s arm, and after a while, hook his elbow around it. Jackie looked at him, then gestured upwards with his head. Marvin nodded, and the two of them swam upwards with all their strength, legs kicking, free arms waving and pushing at the water. They didn’t do much at first. But slowly, slowly, they climbed towards the surface.
A strange groan echoed through the water. Marvin looked back down. The bubble had moved. It was no longer sitting on the bottom of the pool, but instead, a few inches above it, and a little to the side. There was something...weird about where it had been sitting. Marvin stared. The pool floor was covered in cyan tiles, but...where the bubble had been, those tiles were missing. It was just a bare concrete circle. And in the middle of that concrete circle was a crack. A broken crack, which looked black inside.
He didn’t have much time to think about this. The lights in the bubble swirled faster. It jiggled like jelly, and another tendril sprouted from the top, reaching up towards Jackie and Marvin.
Jackie stopped swimming for a moment out of shock, then started kicking faster. They were getting closer and closer to the surface. The sun was shining through the water. But Marvin didn’t think they would make it before that second tendril grabbed them.
His mind whirled. They had to pop the bubble. Wait a minute. If the bubble was on the bottom of the pool, why were they trying to swim up? Wasn’t that away from their goal?
He had an idea. Marvin let go of Jackie’s arm—causing his head to snap towards him—and wrapped both arms around the tendril that was holding him. It was as slippery as he thought, but his two-armed grip kept him in place. He swam downwards as fast as possible, legs kicking up a flurry of bubbles. The dark water and swirling lights of the bubble monster grew closer. It was bigger than he thought—as tall as he was! But he refused to be scared of that.
Soon, he was in arm’s reach. He let go of the tendril, floating in the water besides the bubble. His grip was tight around the fireplace poker. Putting as much force as possible into the gesture, he stabbed the bubble with it.
Again, the bubble shook and wriggled. The swirling green lights whipped into a frenzy. The two tendrils detached from the main body and dissolved into plain water.
Marvin looked up at Jackie, expecting him to be surprised and happy. Instead, Jackie was staring down at the bubble with a wide-eyed, horrified expression. Marvin looked back down. The bubble was...it was pulsing, growing bigger and smaller, sending waves through the pool water. The green lights whirled faster and faster, getting farther away from each other. 
And the bubble was getting bigger.
Panic surged in Marvin’s chest. He immediately started swimming towards the surface again. Jackie grabbed him when he got close, pulling him upwards. The currents in the water were growing stronger, pushing them up, up, up—
“That’s them!” Chase shouted.
Marvin and Jackie’s heads popped out of the water, which had just grown wilder, for some reason. They began immediately swimming to the nearest pool water. Jameson hurried over to grab his twin and pull him out, while Chase and Schneep helped Jackie.
“Did it work?” Schneep asked. “There is still lights!”
Jackie pulled his goggles and respirator off. “I think it’s mad,” he said, out of breath.
Chase blinked. “What do you—”
A colossal splash came from behind them. The five of them turned around and saw a sphere of water rising from the pool. The sphere was taller than two of them combined, a massive droplet. Inside the sphere was the original bubble with the lights, its dark water distinctly different from the clear pool water. Three pillars dripped from the bottom of the sphere, connecting it to the rest of the pool.
“It’s smaller!” Marvin gasped.
“It’s smaller?!” Chase repeated.
The surface of the pool was roiling. The lights in the bubble swirled, and a huge wall of water rose up from the pool, looming over the five of them. “Run!” Jackie shouted, and they all turned and sprinted in different directions just in time to avoid the water wall that crashed down, breaking into spray particles as it hit the ground.
“All of you, away from the pool!” Jackie shouted, backing up towards the outside wall.
The twins took cover behind the nearest lounge chair, tipping it over to form a shield. Chase grabbed Schneep and started to run, but his shoes slipped in a puddle and he fell hard onto the concrete. Schneep cried out as he was dragged down.
The water sphere hovered over the pool, moving closer to the edge. A tentacle made purely of water rose from the pool surface and darted towards Chase and Schneep. Luckily, they scrambled to their feet just in time to avoid the water that slapped down onto the concrete where they just were. But more water tentacles formed, reaching for them. Chase pulled Schneep out of their reach.
“What the fuck do we do?!” Marvin shouted. Next to him, Jameson signed something that Chase couldn’t quite see. “Yeah, it’s smaller! I mean, the rest of the water wasn’t there, but that dark bubble was smaller!”
“How much smaller?!” Jackie asked.
“I don’t know! It was as big as me before! Now it’s, uh...maybe half that?”
“What happened down there?!” Chase yelled.
“I stabbed it!” Marvin answered.
“It is losing water!” Schneep pointed over at the water sphere, and the rest of them all turned to look. “There is a leak in the side!” Though it was a little hard to see, there was a spot in the main bubble that was spraying dark water, which dissipated into the clear water of the surrounding sphere.
“We need to poke it again!” Jackie gasped. He looked down at the fireplace poker still in his hand. His grip tightened, and he took a deep breath. Then he ran forward, all the way towards the edge of the pool, until he was just a few feet from the water sphere. And he threw the poker.
It sailed through the air and into the water sphere. The momentum carried it towards the bubble in the center, where the sharp tip punctured the side.
The bubble seemed to writhe as the lights within whirled even faster. The poker was suddenly ejected from the sphere, leaving behind another leak. But before anyone could celebrate, a glob of water rose from the pool. It wrapped around Jackie, pulling him into the pool in a second.
“Jackie!” Chase shouted.
More water tentacles appeared, jabbing towards him and Schneep. The two of them ran, going into the lounge chairs that surrounded the pool, weaving around them. Chase heard Marvin cry out, and looked to the side. Another glob of water had reached for the twins, but had only grabbed the chair they were using as a shield. The twins ran, and the glob reared back, throwing the chair towards them. Luckily, its aim was terrible, and it only managed to throw the chair over the wall of the pool.
“We must pop it fast!” Schneep shouted.
“How?!” Chase demanded.
A moment passed, with both pairs of kids pressed against the outside pool wall at different spots. Then, Marvin shouted. “JJ says it doesn’t have to be pointy! We just have to break the tension!”
“But we should not get close!” Schneep protested. Indeed, the entire surface of the pool was waving water tendrils.
“JJ asks if we have anything to get it from far away!”
Chase gasped. “Schneep, my gun! Could that work?!”
“Na sicher!” Schneep laughed. “Brilliant!” He turned around so Chase could access the backpack he was still wearing.
Chase fumbled with the zipper for a moment before getting the backpack open, grabbing his fully-loaded Nerf gun. He started to take aim at the water sphere—
“Watch out!” Marvin shouted.
One of the water tendrils reached down and scooped up a ball of water, throwing it towards Chase and Schneep. The two of them ducked, but got sprayed with water.
“I need to be out of range of it!” Chase said, shaking his head and causing water to fly from his hair and cap.
“What about the water slide?” Schneep pointed. “That is high, and it has a fence that could protect us. More than being out here, I mean.”
“That...might work,” Chase said slowly. “But it’s so far.” The water slide was on the other side of the pool.
“You guys go!” Marvin shouted. “We’ll distract it!” Jameson nodded in agreement.
“Alright!” Chase gave them an OK sign. “You be careful.”
“We will!” Marvin and Jameson looked at each other. Then, in unison, ran forward. “Hey you fucking dumbass bubble!” Marvin shouted, taking off his goggles and throwing them at the pool. “Can’t catch us!”
As soon as the pool’s water tendrils turned towards the twins, Chase and Schneep began to run. It wasn’t as fast as Chase wanted to run, but he had to be careful. The wet concrete had already slipped him once before, and he could constantly feel it about to slip him up again. Marvin was still shouting at the bubble monster, while Jameson was hitting and kicking the lounge chairs to be just as noisy. The two of them narrowly dodged each glob of water thrown at them, barely out of reach of the water tentacles, which seemed to be getting longer.
In just a minute, Chase and Schneep reached the base of the water slide. “You...you go up,” Schneep said, panting. “I think I am done running.”
“I’m not gonna leave you here,” Chase said, squeezing Schneep’s arm. “It’s safer up there! Just a little way more.”
Schneep hesitated, then nodded. “Alright. I will try.”
Despite all the water being thrown around, the metal stairs of the water slide had remained dry. Which was lucky, because Chase didn’t want to risk slipping on the steps. Up, up, up the two of them climbed, until they stopped at the top, peering over the surrounding fence. Even though the water sphere didn’t have eyes, Chase was pretty sure it couldn’t see them. It was focusing on trying to attack the twins below with globs and tendrils made of water.
“Alright.” Chase checked the ammo on his Nerf gun. Six foam bullets, ready to go. They weren’t sharp, but he knew the gun could launch them with enough force to knock over an empty bookshelf. That had to be enough to pop the bubble, right? He tested the trigger, not fully pulling it but testing to see if it would jam. “It’ll look right over here when I shoot it. Be ready. I’ll count down from three.”
“Alright.” Schneep nodded, holding tight to the metal fence.
“Three...” Chase pointed the gun, resting his arms on the top of the fence for balance. “...two...” He stared at the water sphere and aimed for the bubble inside. “...one!”
He pulled the trigger as fast as the plastic mechanism would allow, unloading six foam bullets. One missed the sphere altogether, two got caught in the water making it up and didn’t hit anything, but the last three managed to pierce through the liquid and hit the dark bubble in three different spots.
A weird groaning sound rang through the air. The lights in the bubble spun around so fast that they blurred into a single green glow. More dark sprays were coming from the bubble, dissolving in the rest of the water. It was...shrinking.
A large column of water rose into the air. Schneep grabbed Chase by the arm and pulled him away from the fence. “Down!” he shouted, pushing Chase into the mouth of the water slide. He sat down behind him.
The column of water crashed into the side of the waterslide. Luckily, the two of them were now shielded by the plastic rim of the slide. Unluckily, the slide wasn’t one of those tube ones, and water splashed down on top of them, pushing them down the slide. Schneep screamed, holding onto Chase tightly. Chase didn’t scream, because he was cooler than that. But he did make some loud, possibly high-pitched noises.
The water didn’t carry them all the way through the pool, but it almost did. They slowed to a stop just as the pool came into view. The surface was choppy, but there weren’t water tendrils coming from the surface. There was slight splashing, but that calmed, and soon it was quiet.
Then someone laughed. “Yeah! Take that, you fucking bubble bitch! Whoooo!”
“Marvin?!” Chase shouted. “Is it gone?!”
“Chase?! Where are you guys?!”
“Hang on!” Chase looked at Schneep. “We gotta climb over the edge of the slide.”
“Was? That is against the rules.”
“It’s fine.” Chase slowly got to his knees and peered over the edge. “Look, there’s ground right here. A bit of a drop, though. Besides, are you really worried about breaking the rules after everything that just happened?”
Schneep paused. “Fine,” he sighed. He took off his glasses and wiped them on his shirt sleeve. It didn’t fully get the water off, as the cloth was also wet, so he just folded them up and put them in his pocket. “But you are going first and catching me when I climb out.”
“Fine.” Chase carefully stood up. He swung a leg over the plastic side, then the other, and dropped the two feet to the concrete ground. “Your turn!” he shouted. Schneep copied him, though in a much more awkward way, and Chase helped him get down.
“There you are!” Marvin and Jameson were on the other side of the pool. “You guys should’ve seen that!” Marvin shouted, waving his hands. “It made that weird groan, then suddenly it was spurting brine out of several holes, and it was shrinking like a balloon, and then the lights went out and it was gone! And then all the water collapsed and splashed everywhere! I think like half the pool water is out of the pool now. JJ says the level is definitely lower.”
“So, it is over?” Schneep wondered.
“Yeah,” Chase said. “It looks like. But what about—”
There was a splash at the edge of the pool. All four of them jumped, only for a figure to grab the pool wall and pull itself out.
“Jackie!” Chase shouted, running as fast as he could on the wet ground towards him. Jackie didn’t even have time to fully stand up before Chase tackled him in a hug. “You’re okay!”
Jackie patted Chase’s back, then pulled away. He was still wearing most of his scuba gear, though it looks like the goggles had disappeared at one point. Before he could say anything, he took off the respirator. “Yeah, I’m okay,” he said, and laughed. “I’m really lucky I was wearing this. And that I could put it on underwater. What happened up here?” He glanced around. “I don’t see any weird bubble monster.”
“Chase did it!” Schneep shouted, beaming. “It wav very very awesome! After you threw the pointy poker at it we climbed the water tower and Chase shot it! While the twins were down here being distracting! He hit it and it lost water and disappeared!”
“Yeah, that’s what happened!” Marvin shouted. Jameson nodded in agreement. “Hey, why are you guys all the way over there?! Come over here!”
“You meet us halfway!” Chase shouted.
The two separate groups each carefully half-ran around the pool, meeting by the shallow end. “What was it like after the thing grabbed you?” Schneep asked Jackie. “You disappeared. I-it was...it was not good.”
“I was just...underwater,” Jackie said. “I couldn’t really see cause I lost my goggles. I did open my eyes, but it was all just blurry and stinging. Like I said, I managed to put the respirator on. There was still a little water inside, but better than nothing. It was just...it looked like I was in the deep end of the pool. But it was a lot deeper. I kept swimming for the surface, but it took a while. I mean, I was going kind of slow. There’s a thing about, like, swimming too fast up if you’re really deep in the ocean, and I remembered that. Even though it probably wasn’t that deep.”
“It was really weird,” Marvin said. “It was like that bubble made the pool deeper around it.”
I wonder why, Jameson said.
Chase shrugged. “Well, whatever. The important thing is, we did it! Heck yeah!” He punched the air. “That’s two to nothing for us! We’re on a roll!”
“It was very cool,” Schneep said, grinning.
“So now we just go home, then?” Marvin asked.
Jameson shook his head. We need to dry off.
“Ah!” Schneep gasped. He took off his backpack. “Chase, my backpack! It is wet! H-how are our dry clothes?”
“Oh shoot!” The two of them unzipped the backpack and began immediately pawing through the towels and clothes inside. Then, Chase sighed in relief. “They’re fine.”
“Really? That’s a thick backpack,” Jackie said, impressed. “But before we dry off, I think we need to find anything we lost in the water. The pokers, our goggles, apparently Chase’s foam bullets...we can’t give away any evidence that we were here.”
Marvin groaned. “Really? I just want to go home. I’m fucking tired.”
Well too bad, Jameson said. You’re the W-E-T-T-E-S-T, and so is J-A-C-K-I-E. You two have to find our things.
“Uuuuuuugh fiiiiiiine,” Marvin whined. “But Chase has to look for any of his bullets that didn’t go in the water!”
“That’s okay, I can do that,” Chase said, gripping his Nerf gun tight.
“Good. Let’s go fast,” Jackie said. “I dunno if anyone was nearby to hear all that commotion, but it was pretty loud, so there’s a chance people are coming.”
It took a good while for them to clean up, almost twenty minutes. Jackie and Marvin found the items that had fallen in the pool, while the others scoured the surroundings for Chase’s tiny Nerf bullets. Once everything was collected, they went back into the locker rooms to dry off. Only Schneep and Chase brought a change of clothes (which Schneep carefully chose to look as close to what they were already wearing as possible) but the twins and Jackie didn’t seem to mind being a little damp. They left through the same front gate they came in through, making sure it was locked behind them.
The ride back in Jackie’s car was pretty quiet, except for one short exchange. “So, what’re we gonna do next?” Chase asked.
“I don’t know, seat thief,” Marvin grumbled, upset that Chase got the passenger seat.
We’ve heard all sorts of W-E-I-R-D things about town, Jameson said, ignoring his twin. I guess... one of those?
“Okay, but what?” Chase pressed. “There’s the monster dog, of course. Then apparently there’s weird mushrooms in the park. Maybe something with the planetarium and second school. Which one do we do?”
“Can we talk about this later?” Jackie asked. “Today was a lot. I think we need a break.”
Schneep nodded. “We need to process things.”
“Hmm. Yeah, I guess that’s a good idea.” Chase nodded.
“But, like, we can still hang out outside of fighting the weird things, right?” Marvin asked. “Or at least text each other and stuff.”
“Mm-hmm.” Chase was happy that his cell phone had been tucked in Schneep’s apparently-waterproof backpack this whole time. “Sure. We can do that.”
“Awesome.” Marvin glanced at Jameson and grinned, who laughed silently.
The rest of the drive, Chase was buzzing. They already took down a ghost and a weird bubble monster. He was ready to handle whatever came next.
Something laughed. But Chase didn’t hear it. Nobody did.
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soggykookiesandcream · 10 months
Text
𝐵𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝒴𝑜𝓊 - 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒳𝒱𝐼
Taehyung's POV
I hear a loud crash and feel my car tumble and roll. I couldn't even react. Once the car settled on its roof, I look over to see my dear unconscious and bleeding. We both were hanging from our seats because of the seatbelts.
"Dear," I grunt, "Dear!"
I slowly unbuckle my seatbelt and free myself. I support her hanging head and neck. Tears roll down my cheeks, "I'm sorry."
Soon, I hear the siren of the paramedics. No, the paramedics can't save her. She needs my venom to heal completely. I try to unbuckle her seatbelt.
"Sir!" I hear the paramedics, "Please remain calm. You will be okay. Please do not move."
They hold onto me and slowly pull me out. I couldn't do anything much because there were a lot of people around. I look at my dear. They unbuckle her seatbelt and take her unconscious form onto a stretcher.
"Dear!" I call out to her in tears.
"She will be fine sir," a lady tries to soothe me. No, she won't. She needs me. She needs my venom to heal properly. My venom can heal her better than anyone can. They push my stretcher into an ambulance and the paramedics start checking on me.
"You seem fine," he hums, "Are you feeling pain anywhere?"
"No," I grunt to sit up.
"Lay down, sir," he slowly pushes me back, "You could be injured and moving around can make it worse."
"The woman with me," I ask, "Where is she?"
"She is in another ambulance," he says, "She was hurt bad. She is being rushed to the hospital."
"Can we get to the hospital fast?" I ask in annoyance. I was totally fine. I needed to get to Yuna before anything bad happens.
"Yes, yes," he says and asks the driver to move. 
"I'm fine," I state.
"We cannot confirm that without a doctor," he replies.
The ambulance reached the hospital and they roll me into the ER. They transfer me onto a bed and I look around to see Yuna barely breathing and the doctors performing chest compressions. 
"Dear!" I cry out.
"Sir, please calm down," a nurse pushes me back.
"No," I cry, "Please let me get to my Yuna! PLEASE! SHE NEEDS ME!" 
"Sir, we're trying our best to help her."
"I can help her! Please, let me go to her!" I cry, tears trickling down my face and onto my neck and shirt. 
"Defibrillator!" I hear the doctors shout.
"Sir," they all push me back onto the bed, "PLEASE CALM DOWN SHE WILL BE FINE."
"Let me go!" I push one of the nurses and run to her. I flick at the instruments at the nurses holding me and the doctors drop the defibrillator. 
"What the-" One of the doctors couldn't complete after I threw a piece of glass on the floor right at his chest. I push the other doctors away and quickly bite into her neck. I let my venom flow into her as I notice the monitor beeping faster. The doctors that were on the floor look up at us and the monitor in shock. 
"Oh my God," one of the doctors whisper, "What the hell did you do?"
I let all of my venom flow into her to make sure all her wounds heal. I open my mouth and let go of her neck and stand up breathing heavily. I see all her wounds closing up. 
"Her wounds are healing!" One of the nurses scream, "What did you do?"
"It doesn't concern you," I turn to look at him, "after all you'll be dead."
"W-what?" He backs up.
"I don't want my little secret spilling out," I walk towards him, "And you held me back from getting to my dear. She could have died."
"I-I didn't know you could do all this," he stutters.
⚠️MATURE CONTENT - TORTURE ⚠️ I'll mention where it ends if you want to skip
"Of course," I smile and get hold of his throat and lift him strangling him to his death. I drop his dead body to the ground and move on to the next person.
"We have five doctors here?" I ask, "All useless."
 I walk to the doctor who was screaming for a defibrillator, "You wanted a defibrillator?" I grin and stick my hands out in the direction of the machine. It rolls over to us and I grab it in my hands. I start the machine. 
"P-please don't do this," he stutters.
I give him a disgusted look, "Your pleading makes no difference," I pin him onto the wall and press the defibrillators onto his chest electrocuting him. The other doctors try to run out but I shut the door and jam it with my powers. I continue till his face grows pale. He drops dead to the group. I grin and look at the other doctors huddled up in a corner out of fear. I walk towards them.
"I don't have time to kill each and every one of you. I need to tend to my dear," I smile and look at her, "So you will have to die at the jaws of my wolves." 
I quickly teleport them to the wolf chamber and return to my dear.
⚠️MATURE CONTENT ENDS HERE⚠️
"Dear," I caress her hair, "I'm never letting you go again. I'm going to kill whoever did this to you."
I gently pick her up while admiring the mark she received from my bite, "I always wanted to do that," I nuzzle my nose into her neck, "I love it."
I teleport with her to my mansion. I lay her down on her bed.
"Clean her up," I order the maids and they rush to being water and towels.
"Sir?" A maid calls me with concern.
"Yes?" I ask.
"What justification will you give to her?" She asks, "Won't she be confused to know that she was in a huge accident but there's not a scratch on her body?" 
"She's waking up!" Another maid shouts in a whisper to us.
"I'll figure out something," I reply, "Give me the towel."
I walk towards my dear to see her slowly open her eyes. 
"Taehyung?" She asks rubbing her eyes, "Oh my God, Tae, are you okay?" 
"I'm fine, why?" I ask her.
"Didn't we get into an accident?" She asks.
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"Accident? What accident?"
1088 words
A/N- Idek at this point.
0 notes
deenoss · 1 year
Text
Dreamcatcher Chptr. 40
Out of sheer brilliance, not one magazine or newspaper article reached Arcadia Bay to announce Rachel Amber's pregnancy. It had taken much time and effort and money to bribe the delivery services in Arcadia Bay without exposing the daily papers and magazines.
Being five months pregnant was not easy at all for Rachel. The longer the months went on, the bigger her struggle to model. As a result, Rachel was given time off for maternity leave.
Meanwhile back in Arcadia Bay, Clark Price was experiencing quite a large tide in his school career. He'd been getting by without his girlfriend, but due to his reputation being Rachel Amber's girlfriend, students at Blackwell Academy always managed to find a way to annoy him for three months prior to her claim to fame.
Most days, Clark sat in his dorm at Blackwell Academy, staring outside his window at the sky and the birds that flocked across so freely; freedom he wished he had from the dreadful hellhole run and governed by Raymond Wells.
During the many months since Rachel Amber left Arcadia Bay, there had been a lot of change: the most significant being that Nathan Prescott's mental illness worsened the more time spent around his abusive, manipulative asshole of a father, all the while Victoria Chase became more and more nasty towards all who unfortunately crossed her path or by those whom she took interest in; being at the top of the list was Clark Price and his sister, Chloe.
Every couple of months, Clark re-applied blue hair dye, but at the same time, continued to baby-feed Victoria things for her to abuse him with verbally and via technological and degrading slander.
This would be the case for a few new arrivals at Blackwell Academy in the late Summer of 2013.
~Time Skip~
After spending a lot of time away from her home of Arcadia Bay, a certain gifted individual had made her return shortly before the Fall. She felt this was her chance to catch up on lost time between her and her two best friends - as she'd hoped they still reciprocated the bond she hoped they maintained after a few years of absence from each other's lives.
Max Caufield had returned to Oregon.
Practically nothing had changed about Arcadia since Max was last there a few years ago except the barren forest near the Bay. Seeing the trees husky and faded made the young brunette sad. Being in the backseat of their family car allowed Max a nice view of everything around her. She sat in the centre back seat as she would naturally sit straight and stare out the front window while also looking at what they passed by with ease.
As they came up towards the town, Max leaned forward in her seat and held onto the driver seat as she stuck her head in level with her parents. Returning to Arcadia Bay was something she'd been both excited and worried about.
"Somebody's excited," commented the father. "Remember what we talked about, Max. You're a big girl now, so this is where you get to make your own decisions. Your mother and I are very proud of you. Taking this big of a step isn't common for people your age to do. Normally they wait until they're a bit older, but this really shows how much you've achieved and how ready you are to take up the challenge."
"Thanks, dad," Max said sincerely.
The brunette smirked to herself as she watched the road twist and turn; dip and rise as they were driven along the main road into Arcadia. When the car pulled over to the side if the road, Max unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out and waited for her parents to do the same.
Max Caulfield could not believe that she got enrolled into Blackwell Academy. Once upon a time, she was overjoyed that her best friends were accepted to begin their senior year in school. She could only hope that her old friends would be so forgiving of what she had done to them: the very pain that haunted her every day. Now, she had the chance to rectify everything and absolve the pain she distributed across the three of them.
Max followed her parents up the steps towards the front doors which hid the chaos behind it; ironically entailing the brilliance and intellectuality and sheer cunning manipulation behind it all. They immediately made their way into the principal's office to uphold the scheduled meeting arrangement.
Raymond Wells was most pleased to finally meet Max Caulfield and her parents. He greeted the family of three upon their entering his office and begun the meeting about Max's enrolment.
"Words cannot express how joyful I am to sit with you here, today, Max. If only you'd applied earlier, then you would have had more appropriate experience in attending Blackwell. However, I strongly believe you will fit in quite well here, Max. However, with that being said, it is my obligation to inform you of the rules and boundaries: for example, the stairwell in both boy and girl dormitories is strictly forbidden access." Raymond acknowledged the young brunette seated opposite him with delight.
When his demeanour changes, Max visibly tensed but remained cool as she hoped not to be a victim nor experience first-hand Raymond Wells' outrage.
"You will attend your classes at the allocated schedules and remain in that class for the full hour. During those hours, you are not permitted - except for reasonable excuses such as permission to access the lavatories - to leave your class nor school grounds. If you are caught by the faculty, you will be suspended. Sleeping hours commence at seven pm - if you are caught wandering the halls anywhere else, you'll will also face the ramifications of your actions. As you can imagine, the consequences will be severe. Yet unfortunately, I've had to carry out these punishments to those responsible for breaking my trust."
There was a knock at the door, to which Raymond called for the appearance of his visitor.
The door clicked and swung open, revealing a young girl Max's age, with long hair tied up in a bun. Her lips were rosy red and her eyes were hazel. She wore a golden crossed necklace to express her religious belief and she wore a white buttoned shirt and a black thigh-long skirt.
"Ah. Ms Marsh. How lovely for you to join us. Please, do come in." Raymond invited the young Christian girl pleasantly.
The girl with dirty-blonde hair sheepishly entered the room and dawdled towards those in the room.
"Kate here is also a new member here at Blackwell Academy. Since I have already discussed the rules and guidelines not half an hour ago, I believe that Kate will be a valuable candidate to assist Max in familiarising herself here."
The blonde girl smiled awkwardly and waved slightly at the brunette who met her gaze. Her orbs twinkled as she prolonged her staring at Max until she snapped herself out of her thoughts and drew her attention back to Principal Wells.
"Ms Marsh, do you feel up to the task in befriending Ms Caulfield and being her guide?" Raymond addressed the Christian girl in a gruffy voice that she found slightly intimidating.
Kate froze slightly but quickly found confidence by encouraging herself that it would be a good way to keep her devotion and faith to God very strong.
"Of course," Kate replied in a moony voice. "I would be happy to help those in need."
"Excellent. Mr and Mrs Caulfield, I believe Kate and Max have got it from here. You may say your goodbyes. And if you have any questions... well, you have my contact details. Enjoy your trip, and I wish you both the best of luck, girls."
Max and Kate shook hands with the principal, followed by Max's parents. Everyone but the principal evacuated the room, where Max said her goodbyes to her parents before commencing her new life; a life of independence and her start to uncovering strange goings on in Arcadia.
When the two girls were left alone, Kate's arms hung by her sides as they both struggled to start a conversation.
"S-So... what brings you to Arcadia, Max?" Kate began, her voice trailed off as she sheepishly rubbed her forearm.
"Oh, umm... I used to live here before I moved to Seattle. I just got back, in fact. I've lived there for a few years. Now, I'm back." Max replied coyly.
Both girls were somewhat used to talking to others, except in this case, it felt different. It felt new. It felt good. It was the start of something new.
"Oh, that's lovely to hear, Max! How was it there? Do you miss Seattle?"
Max chuckled softly.
"I did, actually. But I'm glad to be home."
The two girls then proceeded to make their way for the girl's dorms. Kate shared with Max things she needed to know as well as pointing out all of the classrooms and their based subjects along the way. Although, Kate didn't dare draw closely to anybody who gave her bad vibes, some of whom included Victoria Chase and her cronies or Nathan Prescott, whose mental state cascaded further and further into instability and insanity.
There was something that Max found intriguing about the girl in her company, like the moments she experienced with Kate would be untarnished as both girls endeavoured through the next few years of their high school career together.
"So, Max... do you like tea?"
0 notes
favefandomimagines · 3 years
Text
I Bought A Ring (e.b.)
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Summary: Abby’s back and Buck doesn’t know how to handle the news. And neither do you. 
AN: i’m still PISSED that abby came back even if only for an episode, my poor buck was so hurt ): this was something i had deep in my drafts and now that buck is blowing up it seemed like a good time to post it!
there is a buck fic similar to this and i just wanna say that i did not copy or steal the idea. i’ve had this in my drafts for months since season 3 ended so no one stole anyone’s idea! if you wanna check out their fic their username is @lotsoflovefromlea and the fic is titled ‘Second Best’ it’s really really good
You didn’t think you’d have to face the day when Buck’s past came back to haunt him. You were hoping it would stay in the past and you would be his future. But life has a funny way of putting us to the test. 
After the train crash, and Buck saw Abby again, he had been acting distant. Distant enough for you to notice that something was wrong. It wasn’t hard to notice, especially when the two of you live together. 
He would rarely talk when you had the same shift at the 118, there was no conversation during dinner and he’d come to bed long after you had already fallen asleep. 
It had gotten to the point where you didn’t even remember the last time he kissed you or touched you. And you had enough of the maltreatment. 
You exited the shower and saw him standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter. You walked down the stairs and stood across from him, the tension between the two of you painfully obvious. 
“What’s been going on with you?” You asked, breaking the ice. “What do you mean?” He asked, not meeting your gaze. “Seriously? Buck, you’ve been acting like I killed your dog for three weeks since the train crash. What the hell is going on?” You explained. 
Buck sighed before looking up at you. He knew he couldn’t keep secrets from you. Including ones that could possibly change your relationship. 
“Abby reached out to me. She wanted to meet up to talk.” He said. Buck could tell by the way your right eyebrow was raised and your eyes narrowed that you were not happy. “Really? And you went?” You asked. “Yeah.” Buck answered quietly. 
You laughed bitterly before walking around the counter back towards the stairs. “God, you just can’t seem to let her go, can you?” You started. “It’s been, what? Two years? Two years since she left you for her ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ experience and got engaged? And who was the one who never left your side? Me. It was me, Evan and even now, you can’t seem to realize how terrible she was to you. Face it, you were her midlife crisis and you fell in love with her and never fell back out. All while making me fall in love with you.” You finished. 
Sure you were a tad bit cruel, but it was what he needed to hear. No one wanting to be the one who had to pop his perfect bubble when it came to Abby. 
“I stayed with you when you were suing the department for christ sake! And I can’t do it anymore, Evan.” You added. There it was again. His dreaded first name. The name you never used unless you were beyond angry with him. And he hated hearing it come from your lips. “Y/N, what do you mean?” He asked. 
Fear was coursing through his body as he waited for you to finally leave him. After everything he put you through, Abby was the last straw. 
“I mean, maybe we should take a break. Until you figure out what it is you really want.” You answered. It wasn’t something you wanted nor did you think it would ever happen. “No. No, no, Y/N, don’t do this.” He begged, walking towards you. “I have too. Since she came back, this relationship has been one sided and I don’t deserve that.” You said. 
“Please, Y/N, I love you.” Buck told you. “Do you? Because you have a funny way of showing it.” You replied. You swiftly grabbed your keys and your purse and made a path towards the exit. “So this is it? You’re breaking up with me?” Buck asked, causing you to stop. 
“I don’t want to. But you seem to have unresolved feelings for Abby and you can’t claim to love one person wholeheartedly when you clearly don’t. Figure it out, Buck. But remember who was here when no one else was.” You answered before leaving the house. 
You didn’t know where else to go after you left. So you decided to go to Bobby and Athena’s. Bobby was like a father to you when you joined the 118 and you trusted him more than you trusted most people. 
After trying to straighten yourself up and wipe the tears from your face, you got out of the car and headed to the front door. You knocked a couple of times and waited for the door to open. 
When it did, Athena’s face softened when she saw you and instantly knew something was wrong. “Y/N? What’s wrong? What happened?” She asked, ushering you inside. “I didn’t know where else to go.” You answered. 
Bobby, wondering who was at the door, turned the corner and saw you standing in the entryway. “Y/N, what’s wrong?” He asked. “Buck and I got into a fight. He went to meet up with Abby and he didn’t tell meand I just, I just don’t understand why he won’t let her go. Am I not enough?” You explained. 
Athena shushed you and pulled you into a hug to comfort you. She knew Buck was stubborn but not so much that you felt you had to leave. Bobby was furious. He hated seeing you so upset and he was frustrated with the young man for making you think you weren’t enough for him. 
After a few minutes, Athena made up the guest bedroom for you and said you could stay as long as you needed. But you hoped it wouldn’t have to be for long. 
__
Bobby arrived at the station in search for Buck and found him sulking while Hen and Chimney were grilling him about his mood. “What’s wrong with you today?” Chimney asked. “Him and Y/N got in a fight last night and she walked out on him.” Bobby answered for him. 
Buck looked up at his captain with wide eyes, wondering how he knew about the prior events. “She stayed at mine and Athena’s last night.” He added. Buck let out a sigh of relief, mainly because he was worried sick about you. You didn’t answer a single one of his calls or texts and he didn’t know where you went off to. 
“Why did she walk out on you?” Hen asked. “Because I may have went to meet up with Abby the other day. And apparently I had been acting distant towards Y/N and she confronted me.” Buck explained. “Seriously? You still have feelings for Abby?” Hen asked. “No, Hen-” Buck tried to explain but was interrupted by his coworkers. 
“Y/N is the perfect girl for you and you’re throwing her away for someone who left you?” She continued. “Hen,” Buck started. “You’re stupid but not this stupid.” She said. “Hen! I don’t have feelings for Abby anymore. I wanted to give her a chance to explain why she left and to thank her. Because if she wouldn’t have left, I wouldn’t have met Y/N.” Buck interrupted. 
“And I,” He started before he stopped himself, not sure if he wanted to tell everyone his secret. “You what?” Eddie asked. Buck looked up at his friends before sighing. “I bought a ring.” He answered. “Wait, what?” Chimney asked. “I bought a ring. I was going to propose but then I got all in my head after Abby showed up. I thought Y/N would say no and she’d leave me just like Abby did.” Buck explained. 
The rest of the 118 crew was silent as they looked down at Buck. Hen sat down across from him before speaking. “That girl is head over heels in love with you, Buck. She has been since the first time she met you and the last thing she would do is leave you like Abby did. Though, because of Abby, she felt she had no choice.” She said. 
“I need to get her back. I didn’t even know what to do this morning without her.” Buck said. “When does she come in for her shift?” He asked Bobby. “She was supposed to be here by now. She left before me.” The man answered. 
Before anyone could form a theory about your whereabouts, the bell went off signaling they had a call. 
They soon arrived to the scene of a car accident, one car completely flipped upside down. 
The 118 stopped short, however, when they noticed who’s car was upside down. It was yours that was hit by a guy texting and driving and ran a red light. 
“Y/N?” Buck called, running to the driver side door. “Buck, you’re too close to this.” Bobby stopped him. “We’re all too close to this, Bobby.” Buck rebutted. Bobby looked at Athena and gestured for her to keep Buck away from the scene. “Keep him away from her.” He instructed his. wife. 
Eddie began trying to get the door off and Hen and Chimney noticed you were still conscious, struggling to get out and stay awake. 
“Y/N, can you hear me?” Hen asked. “Yeah. I-I can hear you.” You stammered. “I have a piece of shrapnel between the third and fourth intercostal space. Mild to severe concussion and around three broken ribs, and a possible pulmonary contusion.” You told them. 
Both EMTs were surprised that you could still diagnose and recognize your symptoms while having a concussion and actively bleeding. 
Once the door was off the car, Hen and Chimney set down the backboard and Eddie began cutting your seatbelt. 
“Where’s Buck?” You asked him. “Bobby won’t let him help. He’s too close to this one.” Eddie answered. “Aren’t you all though?” You joked. Eddie laughed dryly as the seatbelt was cut free. “Can you move?” He asked. 
You looked down at the piece of metal from the seat and back up at him. “You have to pull it out.” You told him. “Y/N,” Eddie started. “Eddie, you have to pull it out or I won’t be able to move. I have a concussion, I’m already bleeding and in about five minutes I’m going to pass out. I will slowly bleed out from the inside if I don’t move. Pull the damn thing out.” You snapped. 
Eddie looked at you for a moment before glancing over at Buck, arguing with Athena. As Eddie pulled the piece of metal out of your side, Buck broke free of Athena’s grasp and fell to his friend’s side. 
“Y/N, baby, are you okay?” He asked frantically. “I’m going to pass out in a couple of seconds so I’m sorry, Buck. For what happened last night.” You spoke, your breathing becoming shallower. “Buck we gotta move her.” Eddie told him. 
Your eyes fell closed slowly and the heart rate monitor attached to you started beeping rapidly. “We gotta get her out now.” Hen instructed. Bobby pulled Buck back as he watched in horror while his friends began giving you CPR once they pulled you from the car.
Your heart beat thankfully went back to normal and Chimney and Hen loaded you into the back of the ambulance. 
Buck took the liberty of joining you considering he was your emergency contact, having no other family in LA.
Once the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Buck, Chimney and Hen were forced to stay at the ER bay, not being allowed to go with you. 
Buck watched as the doctors took you away and this quickly became his worst nightmare. What if you didn’t make it? What if the last conversation you had was a fight? 
Bobby’s hand rested on Buck’s shoulder as they all watched you disappear down the hallway. 
__
It had been hours. Hours of the 118 sitting in the waiting room for you to come out of surgery. Buck was a nervous wreck and no amount of consoling from Maddie or Eddie made it any better. He knew she should have told you about meeting with Abby but he was afraid of ruining everything. But not telling you made it ten times worse. 
“Evan Buckley?” A doctor called, alerting the entire crew. “Th-That’s me. I’m Evan Buckley.” Buck replied. “Y/N is going to be okay. We repaired the damage to her lung as well as the other internal damage she received from the car crash. She still had a major concussion and she’ll be out of commission for a while, but she got incredibly lucky.” The doctor explained. 
Buck let out a very visible sigh of relief, as did everyone else. “Can I see her?” Buck asked. “She’s in the ICU so only a couple of people at a time.” The doctor said. “You go, Buck. We’ll see her when she’s moved to a normal room.” Bobby told him. 
He nodded his head and followed the doctor to your room. He saw you lying in the hospital bed, multiple IVs in your hands and arms and an oxygen tube in your nose. 
Your eyes were still closed but he could tell you were awake, though hearing the doctor’s voice alerted you. 
“Y/N, someone’s here to see you.” You turned your head slightly and saw Buck standing in the doorway. “Hi.” You said quietly, your voice still hoarse from the breathing tube in surgery. 
Buck sat in the chair next to you, his eyes red and watering. “I am so sorry, Y/N,” He whispered. “I should have told you about Abby but I met with her to get closure. And to thank her because if she wouldn’t have left me, I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you.” He added. 
“It’s okay. I should have let you explained.” You replied. “I have something else to tell you.” Buck said. “Oh no, now what?” You joked. “I bought a ring.” He said. “Like, a ring ring?” You questioned. “Yes, a ring ring.” Buck laughed. “Where is it?” You asked.
Buck let go of your hand for a moment and fished the piece of jewelry out of his pocket.
“You have to put it on for me.” You said. Buck looked at you in disbelief as he smiled, sliding the ring on your left finger. “I’m assuming that’s a yes.” He said. “Of course it is. I’d be stupid to say no to you.” You told him with a smile.
Buck squeezed your hand gently as he looked at the ring on your finger. “I never want to come that close to losing you ever again.” He muttered. “You won’t. I don’t plan on leaving you for a long time.” You said. “Good. Because I really don’t know what I’d do without you.” Buck said. 
He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on your forehead as you looked down at the ring. “You did a good job.” You commented. Buck laughed at your comment, causing a smile to grace your face. “Hen and Maddie helped.” He said. “I figured as much.” You replied. 
The rest of the evening, or whatever time of day you thought it was, Buck stayed by your side. Even when the doctors were running their tests and looking over your condition. After almost losing you, there was no way you were going to get rid of Buck even for a moment. 
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mischiefmanaged71 · 3 years
Text
Turning Tables (2/8) - Joaquin Torres x Reader
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Summary: Nothing riles up Y/N more than stubbornness, especially when those she cares about get hurt. Y/N checks up on Joaquin when he arrives back from a mission gone bad.
Author’s Note: Continuation of my series! Hopefully I’ll be able to complete this series. I’ve planned to write at least five chapters. Like, reblog and comment if you enjoyed it! Should we have a counter by the end of the series how many times Y/N calls Joaquin ‘Flyboy’. IDK I love that she calls him that and it’s a cute nickname 
Warnings: FLUFF, slowburn
Pairing: Joaquin Torres x fem! reader
Word Count: 1.5K
You were relaxing at home when you got the text from Sam. Joaquin got injured on a mission in Switzerland, investigating the Flag Smashers. He had tried to arrest one of their members, or who he thought was the leader of the heist, when he was knocked down and unconscious by the incredibly strong individual.
You thanked Sam for letting you know and grabbed your keys to rush to the Airbase. 
As soon as Joaquin’s plane arrived, you were there, walking up the airstrip to interrogate him.
“What happened to keeping me updated?”, you approached him with furrowed eyebrows.
“I was kinda preoccupied in the moment.”, gripping a bag over his shoulder.
You sighed, clicking your tongue and tilting your head.
“All you had to do was ask and I would have been there.”
He waved his hands, his bruised orbital causing him to squint slightly.
“It's just a broken orbital, Y/N. I’m fine, honestly.”
“You’re lucky all you got was a broken bone. I gave you my number so you could call me in for these types of missions.”, you shook your head. 
“Look, it was just supposed to be recon, it happened to turn sideways.”
You left out a huff as your hands travelled to your hips. Your lips pursed but you made eye contact with Joaquin’s slouched posture and tired eyes. A patch of blue and purple bloomed under his eye along with a scatter of scratches and cuts. 
You stepped closer, gripping his arm delicately,
“The last thing I-,we want is for you to get hurt when we could have stopped it. I’ve faced all sorts of threats in the past so nothing really fazes me anymore.”, you chuckled.
Joaquin let out a breathy laugh, nodding his head as you rubbed his arm.
“Also, Sam can be annoying sometimes so it’s refreshing to hear someone else’s voice.”, earning a slight chuckle from Joaquin as he gripped his injured side.
“What I’m saying is, you don’t have to do it alone.”
Joaquin relaxed his shoulders, feeling the work of the last couple days hit him.
“I know, it’s just - I’m still trying to get used to it, ya know? Having people there for me. It’s been quiet these five years.”
Here is where you had two differing experiences. Almost half the universe had been blipped out of existence. 
For those that remained behind, they had to move on without their friends and loved ones. 
For those that came back, they had to get on with what they lost - time and coming home to a place that was changed.
“I know that must’ve been really hard. I barely recognise half of the places I walk by. Everything is so different now…”, you trailed off.
Once you returned, your family was broken. Natasha and Tony had sacrificed themselves to bring everyone back, Steve had left them to return the stones in the past and Wanda…
Wanda left after Tony’s funeral. Vision was gone and so was Natasha - her grief was different from the rest. 
You had all drifted apart after the Blip, trying to find your way to who you are now. After Steve left the shield with Sam, you’d always wondered what would happen next. Bucky was trying to adjust to the times, still recovering from his trauma. The US Government had mandated therapy for him with a weekly therapist but he didn’t seem to like her much at all. Y/N knew the therapy was good for him, but the therapist’s methods were questionable in her mind. 
They were all changed by what happened, but they were trying to find normalcy. They came back into a world far different than before. They were different people from before it all happened.
“I didn’t call you because I thought it was nothing at the time. I’ve been tracking these guys online for months. They’re dangerous and I didn’t want to drag anyone else into it unless I was sure.”
Joaquin ducked his head down to play with your hand, 
“I wouldn’t be able to deal with myself if something happened to you.”
You paused for a moment at his revelation, gripping his hand tightly in response.
“That’s different-”, you shook your head
“How? How is it different?”
“I’ve got powers to protect myself, you don’t have to worry about me.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that I do.”, he shook his head.
You both paused, sighing in the silence before you decided to jump back in to break it...gently.
“I’ve had my fair share of broken bones but I gotta say, that looks painful.”, you pointed at his bruised cheek.
Joaquin rolled his eyes and chuckled, nudging your shoulder.
“Well some of us aren’t invulnerable. Also pretty sure the guy who knocked me out was enhanced.”
“No shit...and this is why we always?...listen to Y/N, yes!”
“Oh, c’mon! You’re gonna milk this for ages, aren’t you?”, Joaquin groaned.
“Yup.”
A smirk grew on your face at his grimace.
“Ok ok, how about we grab some food? My treat?”, he opened his arms in defeat.
You scoffed, slapping Joaquin’s bicep, 
“Are you kissing up to me, Flyboy?”
He swatted your hands, a grin playing across his face as he chuckled,
“No… but would it get me back in your good graces?”
You pondered on it for a few seconds, nodding furiously at the proposition to dinner.
“Hmmm, I’ll have to consider it. I’m craving Italian food. Pizza?”
Joaquin nodded his head along as you both walked towards the front entrance where you had parked your car.
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
You walked side by side, slowing to meet his pace. He had a slight limp as he favoured his left, being cautious about his sore side.
“You better not say you like pineapple.”, Joaquin jabbed.
You huffed, eyes widening in shock.
“And what is wrong with pineapple on pizza?!”
“Aside from the fact it’s disgusting! Fruit does not belong on a pizza.”, he scrunched his nose in disgust, laughing at your aghast expression.
“Tomatoes are a fruit!”, you pointed out.
“That doesn’t count!”
You nodded your head as you unlocked the car, 
“I think it does.”
Grabbing his bag off his shoulder, you placed it in the backseat, opening the passenger side. Nodding your head to the side, you gently nudged Joaquin to sit, pushing the door closed behind him. Jogging over to the driver’s side, you got in  and plugged in your seatbelt before reversing the car.
“Well since you’re paying, why don’t you decide this time, Flyboy?”, you glanced to the side as he relaxed in his seat.
“Alright but don’t come at me with those glowing hands if you don’t like it.”, he grinned.
You shook your head,
“Yes, because pizza toppings are the peak of my tolerance.”
Your eyes track back to the road in focus, the radio peaking through. Joaquin’s head leaned against the window on his hand as the rumble of the car lulled him to sleep. You got lost in your thoughts as you continued along the road.
“You should take better care of yourself, Flyboy. I don’t wanna come down here again and see you hurt.”
“I’m-I know that we haven’t known each other for that long. Heck, I only met you six months ago.”, you spoke softly.
“It’s been a tough adjustment since I got back. I haven’t really felt like myself at all - but then here you are and everything just…”, your rambling filling the quiet.
“It's better… I-”
You glance over at Joaquin but his eyes are closed shut, his head leaning against the window. He’s sound asleep, looking far more relaxed and peaceful than when you first saw him. 
Your chest tightened as you scanned over the bruising scattered over his smooth, tan skin. 
“Let someone take care of you for once.”
***
Thanks again for reading, lovelies xx 
Hope you enjoyed it and tag me in TFATWS fics!
Comment if you’d like to be tagged. I’ll make a Masterlist...when I figure out how to create one (lol).
TAGS:
@asoftie4bucky @remmysbounty @cjsinkythoughts @bubblegum28universe  @farfromjustordinary  @hocusbowie @alainabooks143 @marvelnerd18 @samscaptain @alexlynn16 @dontstahpmemeow @plllover86 @petewentzfrommcr80  @literallyjustfanfiction @captainbarness @parkjammys @the-and-sign-anon @nialeesato 
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Text
Cult Girl: Doctorate (Hannibal x Female!Reader) pt. 3
Bundy
Cult girl gets some unbelievable news.
Trigger warnings: death, emotional manipulation, discussion of cult leaders Koresh, Jones as well as Ted Bundy
"Who the fuck are you, and what the shit are you doing with my dead cousin's phone?" You said, the slam of the car door audible from the speaker.
"Cheerio to you too, [F/N]." Anna answered.
You brought the phone to your chest to muffle the speaker and heaved a sigh.
"It's fucking Anna." You told Hannibal as he climbed into the car.
He buckled his seatbelt. "Put it on speaker."
You pressed the speaker button. "Froot Loops. Why do you have Theresa's phone?"
"Don't you remember?" She asked. "I took it when she died. Hers had a much better camera than my old one. I thought I told you to update that in your contacts?"
"Oh yeah, I do remember that." You nodded. "The body wasn't even cold and you'd already gotten to grave-robbing."
"Hey, that's my sister you're talking about." Anna snapped. "Show a little respect."
You rolled your eyes so far back into your skull you could practically see your brain cells dying. "Why are you calling, Anna? I'm fairly fucking certain I told both you and grandma to never speak to me again."
"Well, grandma won't be doing much speaking anymore." Anna snapped. "Because she's dead."
You sighed. It wasn’t the first time you heard those words, and it was never true. Faking her death was the hammer in her gaslighter toolkit. Meaning that the desired outcome could be produced just as effectively using a combination of other tools, but none were as efficient as a good old-fashioned bashing. The first time, you went through the whole five stages in ten minutes to really sell that you felt something other than relief at her passing. This time, you didn’t have the energy. 
“Did somebody finally strangle her to death?” You asked. “Shame, I would have liked to do it myself.” 
“Are you so completely void of human emotion that you can’t even pretend to be sad?” Anna shouted. 
“No, because I think this is another one of her manipulations.” You explained. “She probably roped you in thinking I’d believe it if it came out of your mouth. But the joke’s on her, because you’ve been her puppet since preschool.”
“You really are something else, [F/N].” Her voice wobbled, as if on the verge of tears. “The woman who raised us had a stroke and died. That’s not a manipulation, it’s the truth!” 
You began to consider the possibility that Anna wasn’t lying. Your voice took on a more solemn tone as you resigned to give her the benefit of the doubt. "A stroke, huh?"
"She died in the hospital." She said, softly.
There was real emotion in her voice. You thought back to that high school production of Legally Blonde, which proved that she was not skilled enough at acting to fake it.
You sighed. The crushing realization that you may very well have been the jerk in this conversation hit you. "So, what now?"
"I know better than to ask you to help out with the funeral." She said. "You didn't come to Theresa's, after all."
The reason you gave for not going to Theresa's funeral was schoolwork. It was a flimsy excuse, but hid your real reasons well enough. Those were much touchier. You couldn't bear the thought of listening to people lie and embellish stories of your cousin's positive influences on people's lives. But you also couldn't bear the fact that at least some of it wouldn't be lies.
You were the one that killed her. Your fiancé chopped up her body and served it to your friends for dinner. Theresa was a sociopath, a narcissist, and plenty other highlights in the DSM-5, but the pain she left after her death was real. It was the most real thing about her. You weren't desensitized enough to face that.
"Good call." You answered, flatly.
"Liam and I will be flying out tomorrow night." She said. "I know I'm in no position to be asking for favors, but if you could come pick us up from the airport-"
"Sure." You answered with a nod. You didn't know what exactly you were agreeing to as you did. Anna's words were just dissipating into the air, hardly reaching your ears.
"Thanks." She said, as emotionlessly as you. That was perhaps the most mutual understanding you'd ever achieved with Anna. And it only lasted a couple of seconds.
That was about as natural a conclusion to the conversation as you could have hoped for, so you hung up.
Hannibal pulled into the driveway and turned off the car. "What are you thinking, love?"
You leaned your head against the window and looked up at the few visible stars. "I've spent so many years wishing her dead and now that it's finally happening, I don't know what to feel."
He wrapped his arm around your shoulders, knowing exactly how to keep you grounded when your mind started to wander off. You rested your head on his shoulder and closed your eyes. He kissed you on the head.
"I thought her dying meant I never had to think about her again." You shrugged. "But now I'm thinking about her and hating every minute of it. And that probably means I loved her. Which is terrifying to think about."
"You think about Jim Jones and David Koresh quite a bit, don't you?" Hannibal asked, squeezing you tight. "Do you love them?"
You shook your head. "That's different. That's academic curiosity."
"But why do we remember them?" Hannibal posited, stroking your arm. "Is it reverence?"
"It's to learn." You answered. "To make sure history doesn't repeat itself."
"Death isn't a sacred thing, my love." He whispered. "Don't feel bad for remembering her as cruel. That's what she was. Don't let anyone forget it."
You chuckled. "Did you know that when Ted Bundy died, a bunch of people near the prison shut their breakers off so the electrocution would be more painful?"
"Interesting." He said, referring less to the fact itself and more to the reason why it came to mind when it did.
"That is to say, I don't actually feel bad that she's dead." You clarified. "I feel bad because I know I should and I don't."
Hannibal pulled you into his arms and placed a kiss on your forehead. "I thought after four blissful years together, you would know you don't have to pretend around me."
You lowered your head. "I guess I'm just scared that if I take off my person suit around you, I'll never be able to put it back on."
"You never need to worry about that, my love." He assured you. “I know it’s scary, but all it takes is a little practice.” 
“In that case,” You felt a smile creeping onto your face, so you let it. “I think we should celebrate.” 
"Well that can be arranged." Hannibal rolled your hair. "With a bottle of Cava in my office."
You felt a laugh coming on, but it just came out as an ugly wheeze. "That is so unethical. I would love to."
"No," He corrected, opening the driver's side door. "It would be unethical to empty a bottle of wine down that pretty throat of yours without a little food."
"It's the middle of the night, Hanni." You objected, though the rumbling of your stomach told a different story. You slammed the car door shut.
Hannibal smiled to himself, disregarding your protests entirely. "Foie gras au torchon, with a bit of brioche, perhaps?"
"Well that sounds like a proper celebration." You grinned, tightening your grip on your clutch excitedly. “Do you mind if I get cleaned up?” 
“Of course not, love, take your time.” Hannibal said, releasing you from his embrace. 
You headed towards the house, a little extra spring in your step. 
“Oh, [F/N]?” He called out after you. 
You looked over your shoulder. “Yeah?” 
“That thing you said about Ted Bundy.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’m sorry to tell you, but that’s a myth.” 
You frowned, feeling kind of stupid. “Shit. I really wanted it to be true.” 
Hannibal smiled, reassuringly. “But hundreds of people still celebrated his death.” 
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lubdubsworld · 3 years
Text
Change of Heart ( TaehyungxOC) (Chapter 6)
Pairing : Taehyung x OC Werewolf AU!!
Genre : Romance, Explicit Content.
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3/ Chapter 4/ Chapter 5
[ Summary :
Times are changing.
After years of being oppressed, werewolves are taking a stand against humans , demanding equal rights and fair treatment. Heading the movement is Kim Taehyung, the breathtaking heir to the Kim fortune and one of the few remaining Alpha werewolves in the country. His disdain for the human race is well known and well warranted. They killed his family after all…..
He wants to change the world , to put humans in their place but when his five year old daughter takes a shine to their very human neighbor , maybe he has to start with a change of heart , first.  ]
Warnings : Get ready for the unsexiest sex in the history of sex.  werewolf sex, knotting etc 
You can completely skip this chapter if it makes you uncomfortable . 
Literally nothing happens except that they mate. 
Chapter 6
“Luna is staying with Jimin for a week. Jimin’s sister and her kids are home so he’s sure she’ll be fine.” Taehyung said, when I asked him about the young girl. 
I nodded, slightly disappointed because I loved her and was looking forward to seeing her.
Although I suppose he probably didn’t want her to be around when he was doing....well whatever it was that he intended to do to me. I felt my pulse raise, the first tendrils of fear and panic beginning to weave through my veins. 
“You look terrified.” Taehyung commented mildly, fingers curled gently around my elbow as he led me to where his car was parked. I swallowed.
“I am terrified.” I pointed out.” I have no idea what I just agreed to.”
Taehyung hummed, fumbling with his car key and a second later the lights in a swanky black car , a little bit ahead of us, flashed with a familiar beep. Taehyung’s car looked as expensive as it probably was, black and sleek .
“Is this the car you choose anytime you’re seducing unwilling humans?” I teased. 
 I stared at the glossy metallic finish, the swanky lights that lit up along the car’s sharp and beautiful lines and my eyes caught the small exquisitely detailed silver wolf, carefully mounted on the bonnet. 
“Hmm....no one has been unwilling , so far.” Taehyung’s eyes danced with mischief. 
I rolled my eyes at that, handing over my carry-all bag when he held his hand out for it. 
“This isn’t what I would have chosen for myself.” He moved to open the boot space, lifting the small suitcase I’d packed and stowing it inside carefully.
I stared at him wondering what he was talking about.
“Someone like you...for a mate.” He pointed out and I wondered if he even heard the insult . 
“Someone like me for the rest of your life?” I gave him a dry smile.
He closed the boot sharply, the sound making me jump a little.
His gaze was intense, lush lips twisted in a frown.
“A human ...for the rest of my life.” He corrected. I felt a pang of hurt at that. It was somehow worse, knowing that I was just interchangeable with every other human of his acquaintance . He moved closer to me, reaching past me to touch the sensor on his key to the door. 
The door opened when he touched the handle, arms brushing my body as he leaned in close to me  and I flinched back instinctively..
He gave me a look. 
“Sorry...I’m just a little on edge.” 
He sighed.
“I won’t hurt you.” His voice was steady and firm , his gaze calm and soothing as he stared at me and for the millionth time, I found myself utterly enthralled by his beauty. The perfect , sharp as a blade jawline, flawless skin and sharp, bewitching eyes. 
“I think.... you know that’s a lie.” I smiled a little. He had the good grace to look a little contrite. He stepped back a bit to give me space to get in. 
“It’s not a lie.” 
I tilted my head and stared at him.
“Really? You’re telling me a human mating a wolf isn’t going to do a number on the human? ” 
Taehyung frowned, thick eyebrows furrowing. 
“It’s not going to leave any permanent damage.” 
I let out a slightly strangled laugh.
“How comforting!” 
Taehyung shrugged. 
“ It is how it is. Mating is..... an ancient ritual. Something that we’ve been doing for centuries. At the heart of it, it is something animalistic and feral because it isn’t the human part of me that’s going to be involved. And my wolf isn’t familiar with being gentle. I can’t promise he won’t hurt you but I can promise that I will help fix what he breaks.”
  What he breaks, I thought with a slightly hysterical flash of trepidation. His wolf was going to break ....what exactly?
He must’ve caught the look on my face.
“I think I could have worded that better.” He muttered. 
My tongue felt like sandpaper in my mouth.
“I’m just wondering if perhaps , a week from now,  I’m going to prefer being shot in the shoulder, to having sex with you.” I croaked out. 
His lips quirked at that.
“Not unless being shot in the shoulder gave you multiple orgasms.....no.” His eyes flashed red, boring holes into mine and my lips parted in a soft gasp. 
Arousal shot straight through my center, hot and heavy and I felt the blood rush to my face so abruptly that I was momentarily lightheaded. Feeling a bit like there was steam gushing out of my ears, I dropped my gaze away from him, down to his knees and then turned away, face flaming. 
I moved to the open door, ready to climb in hide but Taehyung moved quickly, gripping my arm and pulling me around till I crashed into his chest. 
“Tae-” I broke off when he reached out to gently cup my face, thumb brushing across my lower lip in a gentle caress. 
“You’re beautiful.” He whispered, smiling gently, “  I find you incredibly desirable and I intend to show you that when you’re in my bed. The fact that my wolf also approves of you will only make the whole thing more enjoyable for you. Trust me, I’ve never had any complaints before.” 
Certain that I was probably the same shade as a ripe tomato, I yanked my hand away from him, turning around and stumbling to the door. I got into the car quickly, slamming the door shut. I could hear him chuckling lightly outside as he finished putting away the rest of my bags. 
I tugged on the seatbelt with shaky fingers, trying not to overthink. I felt torn, confused. Like he was toying with me. He was so carefully vague about what he wanted and what he felt , it was impossible to understand him. I watched the seat belt click into place and the sat back to stare straight ahead. 
The driver’s door opened and Taehyung climbed in, powering the vehicle and slipping his belt on in one smooth move before letting his fingers play across the backlit dashboard. Soft music began crooning through the speakers and he carefully adjust the mirrors manually before gripping the steering wheel and carefully easing the care out of the parking lot.
“We’ll pick up a few supplies on the way.” He commented mildly. 
“Supplies?” 
“Medical supplies.” 
I felt my pulse jump again.
“I’m beginning to regret this immensely.” I whispered, fingers digging into my thigh as I willed myself to not scream. 
Taehyung turned to give me a look.
“you do know, I’d have to bite you, right?” 
I felt my jaw come unhinged.
“I...you... what?!” 
Taehyung groaned. 
“please don’t freak out. “ H’s voice deepened, probably in an attempt to be soothing, “ It’s just a small bite. It won’t be that deep or anything but it will leave a mark. It’s supposed to. Kind of a sign that you’re mated.”
I stared at him , dread pooling in the pit of my stomach and making me feel mildly nauseous. 
“Would it.. Would i... ?” I couldn’t even finish it. 
Taehyung looked confused for a second and then his face went completely blank.
“No.” He said shortly. 
“No, I -?”
“No, you won’t turn into a fucking werewolf, Jesus Christ” He snapped furiously,” Do you really think I’m gonna turn you into a were without your fucking consent? “ 
I felt myself sinking back into the plush leather seat in the face of his anger. 
The air was heavy with a tense silence for  a few minutes and then he sighed loudly, breath leaving him in an exhale.
“I’m.... I’m sorry. I know this is frightening for you and I’m grateful that you’re here. I want... Fuck. I want to make this... good for you. And if not good at least ...bearable. “ 
I stared down at my shoes. 
“I’m just... I feel scared because I don’t know what I’m walking into.” 
I looked up when the car slowed down and I noticed he was pulling into the parking lot of an all night mart of some  kind. I watched as he carefully pulled in between two smaller cars .
“You wanna come in with me? Or would you rather wait here?” He asked casually. 
“I’ll...I’ll stay here.”
He hummed and kept the air conditioner and the music running , moving out of the car . I watched him leave , his tall suave figure earning him dazzled looks from the people in the parking lot. 
I watched as nearly every single woman in the place ogled him, taking in the perfectly tailored slacks, the silk shirt and his striking good looks. He looked a little rakish today, having run a  hand through his hair earlier and even from a distance, there was no doubting that he was one of the most gorgeous men in the entire country. 
And no one in their right mind would think he was anything but an alpha, I thought balefully, watching the way he stalked across the tarmac, his gait predatory and focused. People stepped out of his way instinctively. No one met his gaze head on and I knew exactly why.
Staring at Taehyung was like staring down an apex predator. 
Even the dumbest of men wouldn’t be dumb enough to provoke someone who looked like  that. 
 i caught my own reflection in the mirror and felt myself shrink in on myself. 
I wasn’t ugly. 
Far from it.
 I could even be beautiful if I had a couple of hours and access to some good beauty products. But I wasn’t werewolf level beautiful. I couldn’t think of a single quality in me that would qualify me to be Kim Taehyung’s significant other. I remembered the model he had been dating, Ji hyun. She had been so beautiful. Tall and lissome with perfectly sculpted features. 
in what world could I compete with that?
 And What about.... the emotional connection?
 I groaned at the very though of it. 
Love was such an abstract thing to define but I wasn’t a cynic. I could imagine myself being in love with Taehyung, falling for him and in fact, I was pretty sure that I was already half way there already. 
I had wanted him to be interested in me when he had asked me to look after Luna. Had wanted that hot and heavy gaze on me, had wanted him to touch me,  with  less than pure intentions. But it had still  been just  a crush, albeit a big one.
Back then,  I had convinced myself to forget about it because of the sheer impossibility of it ever happening. But now, my traitorous heart was beginning to whisper little phrases of hope at me. 
 What if he likes you too....
What if he fell in love with you too....
I had to tamp down that voice before it grew any louder, I thought miserably. Did I not remember how he had looked, when he’d asked me to come with him? Like he was being held at gunpoint? 
The door clicked open again and I blinked. Taehyung opened the rear door and tossed a few bags on the seat there before the slamming the door shut and climbing in next to me. 
“I’ve asked the house keeper to stock the pantry and get the rooms cleaned. The staff won’t be around for a week so I would have to make sure it doesn’t get too filthy.” 
“I can help... to cook and clean.” I said quickly.
He hesitated before smirking a little. 
There was something feral in the smile, something lewd and suggestive and I felt myself blushing although I had no idea why. 
“What? Why are you looking at me that way....”
He shrugged.
“I just think its cute that you think that.” 
I frowned, not at all sure what he was implying.
“What does that even mean? What am I thinking that’s so ridiculous.?” 
“It cute that you think that you can still move around after getting fucked by an alpha werewolf on his rut. “ His eyes fairly danced with amusement and I felt my jaw drop.
“You- That's- “ I was momentarily incoherent with how much his words had scrambled my brain, “ ... ...How dare you!” I finished in a hash whisper. 
He laughed out loud at that. 
“I’m supposed to be selling this whole mating thing to you . I think I’m doing a bad job of it.” He shook his head, before starting the engine again. 
I didn’t reply, my cheeks hurting from the effort it took not to scream. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I held the bags carefully, while a couple of young men carried over my suitcases into the elevator. Taehyung was leaning on the counter at the reception desk and the girl behind the desk was making moon-eyes at him. 
"Mr. Kim, we’ve already spoken to the other residents. The penthouse suit if off limits for the rest of the week as you requested. Your daughter’s nanny was here earlier and she said she’ll bring Luna back when you ask her to.”
Taehyung nodded.
“Excellent. This is my fiance, Yoon Mi Rae.” He said casually and I flushed at the phrase. 
“Oh, fiance?” The woman made no effort to hide the disappointment and disbelief on her face. I smiled weakly.
“Yes. Surprised?” He chuckled and I frowned when the girl laughed too.
“Never thought you would go for a human, Tae.” She tilted her head . 
The nickname surprised me. So they were close, then?
“ Sometimes life surprises you that way.” 
I sighed, turning away at the words. I tamped down the urge to yell at him that I didn’t particularly savor the thought of being mated to him either. That given a choice I would rather be with a man who actually  wanted  me. 
But that wasn’t why I had agreed to this whole thing was it? Taehyung’s cause was bigger than both of us. My father was doing something illegal and damaging and he had to be stopped. 
That was what this was about. 
If I lost sight of that bigger picture and focused on the little things, then I would likely be miserable for a long long time. 
Little things like the fact that Taehyung had absolute no interest in falling in love with a human. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The apartment was spacious and decorated s tastefully that I couldn’t help but stop and stare. It was very obvious that Taehyung had painstakingly picked the decor out himself. A few Van Gogh paintings hung on one of the walls and the entire living space was done in muted tones of beige and also colors of rich mahogany brown with lush red and maroon trinkets for relief. 
Taehyung directed the med to leave the suitcases in the master bedroom and then once they left, he carefully closed the door behind them.
I heard the sound of the lock clicking in place and slowly, the dread from earlier returned. 
“Do you drink?” Taehyung asked casually, shrugging out of his jacket and tossing it on the couch., I watched him move to the massive fridge in the kitchen, and felt my lips trembling a bit.
“Just- Just water.” I said softly. 
He grabbed a few bottles of water and carefully poured me a glass. He looked up then and his gaze caught mine. 
Feeling incredibly vulnerable, I merely stared back. 
“Are you hungry?” He asked gently. 
I shook my head. 
He nodded, stepping out from behind the counter and walking over , holding out the glass of water. I took it from him cautiously and took a sip. 
“We need to talk about this. I don’t... I don’t want you to be blindsided by anything that happens tomorrow. “
 Tomorrow. 
“Okay. I’m listening. “ I took a few more sips of the water and he carefully took the glass from me. 
I moved to sit on the couch but he stopped me with a hand to my arm. 
“Do you dance?” He said casually. 
I blinked.
“Dance?”
He smiled and snapped his fingers a couple of times. 
I gasped when the lights in the living space dimmed down not turning off entirely but bathing the entire room in hues of gold . The light made him look ten times more enthralling and the soft smile on his face made me want to weep. If I had been half in love earlier, I’d certainly fallen the entire way down in that damned smile. 
“I think you should get used to my body first.” He smiled and stepped closer, gently wrapping one arm around my waist before grabbing my wrist and guiding it to his shoulder. I curled my fingers tentatively, feeling my pulse pound at the smoothness of the silk and the underlying strength of his muscles. I brushed my fingers gently against his shoulder blades, stroking down to his pecs and stopping when my palm rested right over his heart. 
“You like that?” He smiled, “ Because I certainly do” and there was no hint of teasing there, just genuine pleasure and in the face of such honestly, I couldn’t help but blush. 
“You’re.... big.” I finished , feeling my face flame. 
He nodded. 
“I am. Everywhere. its probably going to be a bit of a problem for you later.” He smiled and pulled a small square remote from his pocket. 
Music began to spill into the air from the speakers and I laughed at the song.
“ I was made for loving you”  Tori Kelly’s beautiful voice crooned and I shook my head.
“You are good at this, Alpha Kim.” I said softly. “Is this the part where your conquests begin taking off their clothes?” 
He hummed and began to move, one hand curving around my waist and the other lightly resting on my back. I swayed with him, enjoying the gentle intimacy.
“I actually prefer doing that myself.” He smirked and I nodded, relaxing a bit. Taehyung was likeable, not an asshole by any stretch of the imagination and surprisingly humble considering the kind of wealth he had at his disposal. 
I liked him deeply and while it was obvious he thought he had to handle me like fine china, the truth was I wasn’t even half as scared as I ought to have been. 
“You’re pretty calm now. You were..... very would up earlier.” I pointed out.
He hummed,  his fingers tracing up and down my back before resting at the base of my spine, thumb gentle as it stroked my skin through the fabric of my dress. 
“I can control it easier because you’re right here. My wolf is calm because you’re in my arms. And my rut probably won’t start till I’m ... well , for a few hours at least. “ 
I nodded.
“How do you know its starting?” I asked, curious.
He gave me a grin.
“Oh trust me you’ll know.” He muttered, pulling me slightly closer till I was pressed right up against his body, hips pressing into me gently. I felt the hard press of his erection and even with the layers of fabric between us I could tell how well endowed he was  and I stilled, backing away a little. 
“I’m.... Sorry, I...” I whispered.
But he grabbed my wrists, tugging me back gently.  
“Don’t apologize. Its alright.  You need to get used to me. Like this, I can watch how you react and back off when I want but later...I may not be that coherent. I just want you be comfortable before we start anything. “ He said softly, fingers fluttering down to link with mine. 
“Are you saying you won’t stop if i ask you to?” 
Taehyung hesitated.
“No...if you’re actually hurting or in danger , I’ll know and I will stop. But my wolf probably won’t stop if its just you getting cold feet and you aren’t in any real danger from me. “ 
I looked away, not feeling very reassured. The bigger picture, I reminded myself. I wasn’t here for a good time. I was here because he needed me and not the other way around. 
Taehyung took my silence for disapproval and gently touched my face, eyes wide with apology. 
“I’m sorry.” He said calmly, “ Wolves have....different moral codes and that's probably why its incredibly rare for a wolf to mate with a human.”
“What do you think happened with us?” I asked him, “ You obviously need a were in your life. So why did your wolf pick me?”
He didn’t reply. 
“Is this permanent?” 
“For me, yes. For you, no.”
“What does that mean?” 
“When you leave here , you can go back to your old life. You can probably meet another guy and get married if you want. I however would not be able to have another relationship...” 
I felt my jaw drop.
“That’s....” i began but he shook his head. 
“It’s alright. I’m not a huge fan of relationships. I have my work and Luna. My life is complete as is.” 
There was nothing much to say to that. 
“You wanna go to bed now?” He asked quietly . 
I smiled at how nervous he looked.
“Lead the way.” 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taehyung’s bedroom was almost surgical suite clean and also incredibly huge. The large four poster bed had huge ornate frames and I felt my eyes redden when I saw the handcuffs neatly cuffed to the lowest rung.
Taehyung followed my gaze and smiled.
“Ah. Thats just a precaution.” 
“you want to put me in handcuffs?” i blurted out and he laughed.
“No...I’ll be the one in the handcuffs. When I’m knotting you, my claws are going to pop and I don’t want to hurt you accidentally. The handcuffs will make sure that my hands stay off you.” 
“Okay.... “
He moved around the room, casually fixing the lights , turning most of them off and leaving only a couple of lamps near the bed on. 
“Would you like to shower?” He prompted. “ I bought... well, there's a nightgown in the bathroom that you could wear. Only if you want to .... No pressure.”
Nightgown?
I nodded and moved to the attached bath .
“the towels are in the cupboard.” He called out behind me when I closed the door. 
I stared around at the bathroom which was almost as large as the living space. A bathtub stood in the corner and it looked large enough to hold three people comfortably. A shower stall stood on the left and I quickly stripped out of my clothes and moved to the shower. 
The buttons took a little time for me to figure them out but the hot water on my body was a welcome relief. The water helped loosen my muscles and the slight twinge in my shoulder was almost fully gone. 
I wrapped myself in a fluffy towel and noticed the white box , tied together with a satin ribbon. I opened it carefully half expecting something scandalous.
It wasn’t. 
I pulled out the plain white cotton nightgown, and it looked especially fragile. 
Confused but willing to indulge him, I slipped it on quickly, brushing my teeth and fluffing my hair before stepping out. 
Taehyung was half naked on the bed and I froze near the bathroom. He was wearing just a pair of boxers which did nothing to hide his arousal. 
“You alright , sweetheart?” He said gently and the nickname made my teeth hurt. 
“Umm...yeah. So...we’re just doing this then?” 
“I think its starting...” He said tiredly. 
I startled.
“You said... I thought it was tomorrow..?”
“Guess the guy doesn’t wanna wait that long.” Taehyung muttered tiredly and his eyes flashed red. 
But it didn’t fade back to chestnut brown, the way it usually did.
Instead the irises stayed red, like a ruby , glinting across the distance between us as he stared me down. . 
I could feel the hysteric fear beginning to build and I fought to keep it down. It was okay... He was an Alpha and so his eyes flashed red... that’s all. Jungkook’s eyes had flashed red plenty of times when we were together. 
“Come here.” He patted his lap. 
“Okay. “ I squeaked. 
Feet leaden, I walked over to the bed , climbing over carefully and then scooting across the clean white sheets to reach him. i stayed kneeling near him. 
He was staring at me expectantly.
“Oh, you want me to sit there?” I pointed at his lap.
He looked amused. 
“If it isn’t too much of a bother.” He said primly.  
 Stop acting like its your first time.
I yelled at myself internally before throwing one leg over his thighs, raising myself up to hover over him. Taehyung grabbed the back of my thighs. gripping me hard through the flimsy night gown and yanked me forward till I was seated right on his hardness. 
I grabbed his shoulders to steady myself, staring down into his red eyes as he smiled, a slow calculating grin.
"You're beautiful. I had more than my fair share of dirty dreams about you when we first met." He confessed softly, and I felt pleasure bloom inside me at the shallow compliment. Whatever, no compliment was bad if it came from a guy like Taehyung. 
“I’m sure anyone who meets you has the same compulsion,” I pointed out and he chuckled. 
“I wanted to talk to you about tonight. It isn’t because I want to scare you but because I don’t want to blindside you when it happens. Humans aren’t built to take a knot. They just aren’t. I’m going to go out on a limb and say you haven’t tried anything ....along those lines before?” He asked carefully. 
I shook my head.
“The only were I’ve slept with is Jungkook and he never-”
Taehyung snarled, so sudden and uncalled for that I nearly toppled over. A ripping sound near my waist made me balk, and I stared down at my side, where one incredibly sharp claw had popped , tearing cleanly through the fabric of the nightgown. 
“fuck... I’m sorry... Are you okay?” He whispered urgently, the claw retracting and I could only cling to him, shaking a bit.
“Um....” I stared at him and there was a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead like he’d run a mile. I realized he was struggling to control his wolf, eyes flashing red intermittently. “ Are you alright, Tae?” I asked him, pressing a palm to his chest . He grabbed my wrist before pressing a kiss to the inside of it. 
Taehyung gave me a strangled smile.
“Perhaps, you shouldn’t mention other wolves you’ve slept with when you’re with me,” He suggested and I felt my head swim. 
“Okay. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I’ve always thought possessiveness is a pathetic thing to feel for someone but unfortunately as an alpha it pretty much defines my wolf.” He grimaced. 
I reached out, carefully tracing my thumb across his forehead, dabbing up a bit of the sweat gathered there before wiping it on my gown.
“I’m sure you have other redeeming qualities.” I shrugged , grinning and he smiled in return, hands coming up to gently cup my face leading me down for a soft kiss.
The pillowy softness of his lips completely threw me off and I moaned into the kiss, one arm hooking around his neck so I could kiss him better. He tasted heady and minty and altogether delicious, tongue tracing the seam of my lips before slipping in.
There was something incredibly gentle about how he kissed, so at odds with how he behaved when he let his wolf take over and the dichotomy of it was so fascinating to me. 
Kim Taehyung with his soft subtly seductive words, his gentle touches and patient kisses was also Alpha Kim, the wolf with ruby red eyes, blood lust and violence in his gaze when he was threatened. 
When he pulled back I was panting and almost in a trance. 
“I wanted to help you get through tonight without being too hurt. Is that okay?” 
I gave him a bemused smile.
“No, I’d rather you put me through immense pain.” I said drily. 
His eyes narrowed at the sarcasm, and he lightly spanked my thigh. I flinched at the sharp pain, gone before I could fully process it but the delicious heat from the impact stayed, thrumming under my skin. 
“Vixen.” He growled.
I quieted down, watching him expectantly. 
“Why don’t you lie down?” He gave my hips a small squeeze. 
I quickly climbed off him, sinking into the mattress and carefully lying down . 
“I’ll be back. Give me a second.” 
I watched as he carefully climbed off the bed , my gaze drawn to his naked back, the strong width of his shoulders and the way it tapered to his waist. The silk of his boxers left nothing to the imagination and I had to look away, gripping the sheets and breathing evenly through my nose just to curb the urge to whimper. 
Muscle memory is a hell of a thing, I thought desperately, feeling my thighs begin to tingle. Naked man, dim lighting and bed equaled sex in my mind and my body was responding easily to the atmosphere and Taehyung’s gorgeous body was just an added bonus. 
He grabbed something from the cupboard and a bottle from the dresser and I stared, curious as he made his way over. 
“Have you ever dabbled with ....bdsm?” He asked casually , tossing the bottle up and catching it easily.  I stared at his long , long fingers, the way they looked, gripping the surface. 
I felt myself flush from the top of my head all the way down to the soles of my feet. 
“Uh... A couple of times. I was really young.” I said hastily. “ He was...uh..well he was older and...”
“Don’t worry about it. I just didn’t want you to get scared. You’ve been in subspace then?” He was making his way over and I could feel nervousness build. It took a me a second to process what he’d just asked. 
I hesitated. 
“It... I was too scared to fully let go..” I admitted. “ I fall easily and it terrified me because I didn’t fully trust him .” 
Taehyung hummed, moving closer to me and carefully placing a strip of black cloth on the pillow next to my head. He dropped the bottle on the mattress and knelt on the edge, next to me, stroking the hair back from my face and smiling.  
“I understand. Do you  feel that way with me, too? If you do, we can think of some other way to do this. “ 
I felt my eyes flutter shut at the gentle touch of his fingers. 
“I trust you.” I said softly.
He nodded.
“It’s nothing intense , I swear. I just want to blindfold you. And then maybe a little bit of impact play...i noticed you liked that....” His lips quirked. 
I blushed , nodding. He picked up the dark strip of cloth, stretched it between his fingers, testing the give of the material. 
“The blindfold is going to help keep you grounded. No distractions, yeah? I want you to follow my voice and feel my touch, don’t think about anything else ....is that clear?” 
I nodded.
“Words, angel.” He said gently. 
My toes curled at the endearment. 
“Uh... Yes.” 
“Yes, sir.” He corrected gently. 
I felt my body run hot and cold all at once, lips parting and throat going dry. 
“S-Sorry?”
Taehyung chuckled gently and I jumped when he gently placed the blindfold over my eyes, the world dissolving in black before me as he carefully tied the strip behind . 
Once it was secured, I felt the gentle touch of his finger across my cheeks.
“It’s not just about you tonight, is it, pet?” His voice had dipped lower, the drawl more pronounced. “ Don’t you think I deserve to feel good too?” 
I almost sat up , nervous and jittery because I couldn’t see him and I startled when cool hands gripped my waist and shoulder, holding me down.
“What’s wrong, angel?” 
I swallowed.
“Nothing.. I... I’m sorry. “
“Colour?”
I blanked out for a second.
“Red for stop, yellow if you want me to slow down and green if you’re okay to continue, angel.” He said gently.
I nodded again. 
“Words, angel. I need you to use your words at all times.” 
“Yes...” I whispered.
“Yes?” He prompted. 
“Yes sir.” I answered quietly.
“Good girl.” He whispered and I felt the light touch of his lips against mine. I felt my breathing even out at the gentle caress. Fingers fluttered over my hand and I felt him gently loosen my grip on the sheets. 
He gripped my wrist gently and moved it over my shoulder.
“I want your hand over your shoulder at all times. Can you do that for me? If you can’t , I can restrain them for you.” 
I was already moving them down almost unconsciously. He hummed, pulling my wrist back up and I flushed. I wasn’t going to be able to do that. 
“Please ..tie them up for me.” I whispered. 
He didn’t reply and I felt him move away , my body suddenly cold from his absence , and I took deep steadying breaths. I felt myself relaxing against the covers, lips parting as I stopped trying to hold my hands up, just letting them rest on the pillows , limbs loose. 
The touch of something silky to my wrists, made me jump, but fingers pressed my hips, stroking gently.
“Shush....its okay , baby. Let me just take care of you, yeah?” Taehyung’s voice came from right near my ear and I exhaled.
“Yes sir.” I whispered and he laughed softly, the sound mellifluous against my lobe. 
“Now you’re learning. ” He pressed another kiss to the corner of my mouth, lips slightly wet and forceful as he breathed , “ Good girl.”  and I felt the words all over me, like euphoria in my veins, spreading to every part of me.
 It was blissful, the way warmth spread through me, my limbs going lax as I felt him carefully tie my wrists to the bed post, the thought if tugging on them didn’t even cross my mind.
 All I wanted to do was to stay here forever, my head clear and thoughts practically nonexistent. It was like nothing existed, except for the endless dark I was in and the touch of his fingers on me. The music of his voice as he whispered praise against my skin. 
I felt bereft when he moved away but he was back before I could fully miss him. 
“I’m going to touch you baby.....Going to make you feel good. Is that okay?”
“Yes sir.”
“Perfect.”
I heard the pop of a bottle opening.
I felt the bed dip as he climbed on, kneeling near my legs. 
A few seconds later, fingers lightly gripped my ankle, warm and smooth.  lifting my foot up and placing it on his lap. 
My lips parted in a filthy moan when he dug his fingertips into my ankle, smoothing out the skin and pain blossomed where he squeezed, the muscles protesting as he gently massaged the knots away. 
“I’m going to get familiar with your body first.... wanna know what makes you feel good.” 
“Okay Tae....” I breathed out.
A sharp spank on my thigh made me jolt in surprise and I gasped, heat licking its way up my leg and making me clench my thighs together . The pain was sharp and stinging and it made my eyes water just a bit.
“That’s not what you’re supposed to call me, is it pet?” He sounded annoyed and I felt myself scrambling to apologize. 
“No..I’m sorry ... sir.. I’m...”
“I’m being very patient with you , pet. Next time, I won’t stop with one.” 
I nodded before quickly remembering.
“Yes sir.”
He hummed and went back to massaging my feet, first one then the other. I relaxed against the pillows, feeling my eyes grow heavy as he worked his magic on me and time became insignificant.
I didn’t know how long I’d laid there and it was only when his hands moved up, past my knee, across my thighs and then closer my inner thighs that I began to come to myself. 
“Can I take your panties off baby....” He whispered, voice hoarse.
I was breathing through my mouth, slightly dizzy. 
“Yes, sir.” I whispered. Fingers hooked on the edged of the fabric, tugging my underwear down and off me swiftly. Somehow everything inside me shifted when I felt him against my skin. The soothing pleasure disappeared, replaced by apprehension . 
“Beautiful .” He whispered and I swallowed, nervous and scared.
I opened my mouth to speak but the words wouldn’t come.
“What’s wrong angel? You alright?” He asked urgently. 
I swallowed again.
“I’m...Sir... I... what are you... I want...” I couldn’t get my thoughts in order and the panic rose again. 
“Its okay baby... tell me what’s wrong?” He whispered gently, and I bit my lips. 
“Red.... I... I’m not... I can’t ....”
He moved away at once and a second later, the blindfold came off . i blinked at the dim light and Taehyung was kneeling right next to me, worry clouding his eyes .
“You okay?” He whispered. 
“Can you ....on top of me? I’m just.. I feel so cold.” I whispered. 
Taehyung smiled, wide before nodding. 
“That’s fine. Anything for you...” 
The next second, I felt him move on top of me, hot and warm, heavy and firm and solid as he pressed into me. I wanted to touch him, to reach out and grip him and anchor myself because I felt like I was about to float away. 
“Should I take the restraints' off?, “ Taehyung read my mind so swiftly , it left me reeling. “  Do you wanna touch me?” He whispered and I nodded. 
“Okay... as you wish baby...we’re doing it your way... okay?” 
“Okay...sir.”
“You can call me Tae....” He  said warmly and I felt myself relax a bit more. He pulled on the restraints quickly and my wrists dropped to the bed t once, my shoulder beginning to throb a little but even the pain was muted, barely there. 
He massaged my wrists gently, pressed a kiss to them and I felt affection bloom inside me along with regret. 
“I’m sorry...” I whispered.
Taehyung glanced at me in surprise and shook his head.
The first time isn’t going to be perfect. It happens.” He kissed me again, gently but firmly, fingers fluttering down my waist .
“First time?” I grinned. “ Wow I didn’t know I was your first, Alpha Kim.” 
“First time with each other , brat.” He lightly spanked my hips and I yelped.
“I’m beginning to think, this whole spanking thing is more for you, than me...” I wrinkled my nose.
Taehyung grinned.
“I prefer paddles and whips actually. “ He said coolly and I felt my heart leap to my throat. 
“I-”
“Don’t worry... only with  absolutely willing partners.” He winked.
And then he groaned, eyes flashing red. 
“Fuck....” He groaned. 
“What’s wrong...?” I whispered, worried. 
“Can I touch you... I think... It’s ... My wolf... “ He muttered and I smiled wrapping both arms around his next and drawing him down for a kiss. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Is this okay....? Fuck...” Taehyung grunted and I keened as his fingers slipped in deeper, stroking and searching and I blinked away tears, face pressed into the pillow as I lay face down on the bed. Taehyung was on me, finger fucking me so well that I’d already cum twice and now my limbs weren’t functioning at all. 
“Okay...just please....” I groaned when another finger traced my entrance and a sob got wrenched out of me when he dipped it in lightly.
“Doing so well for me baby, taking my fingers so well... Can’t wait to see you wrapped around my knot....gonna claim you and fuck you so well, my pretty , pretty pet...” He pushed the fourth finger in and the stretch made me wail. 
Taehyung had a filthy , filthy mouth and everything he said made me want to cry. The stretch of four fingers was too much and I had to grit my teeth, breathe through my mouth just to stay in my senses. I took deep shuddering breaths, willing myself not to start sobbing. 
“I’m so sorry... “ He kept apologizing, alternating the push and pull of his fingers with wet, messy kisses along my shoulder. I groaned , eyes heavy as I tried to stay conscious.
“..’s too much...” I slurred, my eyes wet with tears and lashes damp. 
“Just a bit more... I don’t wanna hurt you when I... when we ... please baby...just hold on a little yeah...” Taehyung sounded desperate.
I sobbed out in protest when his fingers went in deeper, cleaving my insides and trying to make room where there was none. It went on for a few minutes and then his thumb was brushing my clit, lightly , barely a brush and I was cumming again, clamping around his fingers so hard that I felt like I was crumbling on the inside.
“Okay.... “ Taehyung kept his fingers inside me, soothing me through the tremors., “ I think... It’s okay... I think this should work.” He pressed one last kiss to my shoulder and I made to turn over but he held my shoulders down. 
“Let’s do it like this, angel.... It’ll hurt less.” He whispered and then he was pulling his fingers out , spreading my thighs apart so he could lie in between and I whimpered at the emptiness, feeling like I’d stepped right off a cliff , but before I could hit bottom and shatter, he was on me, grounding me, gripping me tight as he pressed his hardness against me.
“You ready?” He whispered.
I managed a weak nod and a second later he pushed in .
It felt a little like being stabbed straight through, only a million times more pleasurable. 
And then he was gripping my waist, lifting me up and moving me till I was on all fours, staring at the rungs of his four poster bed. He moved his hips gently, pulling out just a bit before pushing back in and I felt my eyes roll back in my head. 
He was so fucking big even the four fingers felt like too little of a stretch. 
His hands came around to grasp the lower rung of the bed. 
“Put the handcuffs on me .” He said from behind me and I exhaled harshly, trying not to collapse into the bed as I fumbled with the metal restraints. My head felt heavy, my body thrumming with adrenaline and exhaustion and I could feel the messy wetness between my thighs, dripping down the length of my legs and pooling on the soft white sheets. 
When the handcuffs had locked both his wrists in place he shuddered behind me. He was so big inside me that I couldn’t even clench down on him, my inner walls stretched so wide around him that I felt like I was inch away from coming apart.
“We’re doing this... any last wishes?” 
I smiled despite myself , shaking my head.
“Is it too late to say I don’t put out on the first date?” I choked out and his laughter, warm and inviting flooded my senses, a better aphrodisiac than the hour long foreplay he’d subjected me to. 
“Is it too early to say that I want to do this to you, everyday for the rest of our lives.” He whispered and I felt my eyes widen in shock, the confession so unexpected that I actually nearly pulled away from him. 
But before I could fully relish what I’d just heard, he was gripping the bed hard and pulling out before shoving right back in. 
“Oh, God...” I choked out as he fucked into me, each thrust carefully sharp and strong. He had insane control over his hips, the steady staccato of his body hitting the back of my thigh, loud and incessant in the quiet darkness. 
“Touch yourself for me baby..... come on make yourself cum so I can make you mine...” He said harshly and I felt the warm wetness of his lips against my shoulder, kissing and leaving wet trails as he mouthed at the skin there.....and I slipped a finger between my legs , rubbing lightly at my clit , my body screaming in protest because I had long fallen over the edge of overstimulation and this was just too much , too fast now. But I kept my eyes closed, listening to his voice as I gently rubbed circles on the swollen nub at my entrance and when I felt my orgasm hit, my eyes flew open.
“Tae, I’m....” I began , raising my head as I began to clamp down on him . My eyes widened as the hands in front of me transformed, claws popping out from each finger , razor sharp and deadly. 
I closed my eyes in terror, a scream getting torn out of me just as Taehyung growled behind me, pushing hard inside me, going deeper than I thought was even possible. The lips at my shoulder moved, pulling back and my eyes flew open in shock when twin pricks of pain bloomed on the junction between my neck and shoulder. 
Fear broke through the adrenaline fueled mess of pleasure in my head and I whimpered when he sank his fangs into me, teeth breaking skin without any effort and the hot, warm wetness of my blood as it gushed out of the tear. as right. 
Humans did not belong with wolves because this...this was just so effing painful.
And then before I could fully recover from the pain of the bite, I felt him shifting inside me. And then somehow he seemed to be getting bigger, inside me. 
“I’m so sorry , baby.” Taehyung whispered, “ Can you get the  handcuffs.?”
I pulled on the safety in the handcuff and he pulled his hands away, gripping my waist and lightly turning me over till I was on my side, panting as he stayed inside me . We lay there, staring at the side wall, him spooning me as he struggled to stay still inside me, because everytime he moved, I whimpered. 
“Just a few minutes.... I... I can’t pull out for a few minutes.” He whispered, now licking away at the blood on the bite mark and I couldn’t bring myself to respond because it felt a little like I was being split into two. 
“How... how much bigger are you going to get?” I choked out , vaguely aware that he was still cumming inside me that there was so much of it that it was beginning to drip out of me.
Taehyung didn’t reply and I closed my eyes. 
The pain was building , now, steady and sure, slowly replacing the pleasure and I wondered briefly if I should have gotten drunk for this. But Taehyung had been very adamant about me being sober. 
I flinched when he shifted a little.
“So that’s it then ? We’re werewolf married now?” I choked out.
Taehyung chuckled.
“Yes, we’re werewolf married.” He said gently and moved to touch my face but the movement jostled him inside me and I let out a low keen of pain. Taehyung froze. 
“Does it hurt too bad?” he asked worriedly.
I grimaced.
“Not the most pleasant wedding I’ve been to.....But definitely prefer it to getting shot though.” I choked out and he laughed,  stilling quickly when I whined at the movement. 
“I’m sorry. Don’t worry...Once I can move, i’ll get you the pain killers and I’ll clean the bite mark too. It’s not too bad. Don’t think you’ll need stitches even. “ 
I blinked back tears as the pain intensified steadily. 
I felt my eyes grow heavy , exhaustion slowly seeping in along with the pain.
“I think... I’m gonna pass out.” I whispered. 
Taehyung kissed me gently.
“That’s probably your body offering you some respite. You should probably take it up on that offer.  “ He whispered and I couldn’t even muster a smile. 
Instead I closed my eyes and let the darkness wash over me. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author’s Note : Did I really just write 7k of bad porn ?  Why yes...yes I did. 
Also poor taehyung, my baby really tried to make it good for her :’( 
As always comments are love <3 Please show me more love <3 I’m needy.....
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sincerelyasomebody · 3 years
Text
Mama || Leticia "Letty" Cruz
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(GIF: @angels-reyes)
A/N: This was created because I've seen some speculation that Letty may not make it to the end of Season 3 (😭🥺). My mind needed something fluffy to combat this and so this piece came about. Apologises for grammatical errors and please let me know if the Spanish translation needs correcting.
Characters/Pairing(s): Letty x Reader (mother-daughter relationship) ▪︎ Coco x Reader (mention) ☆ Mayans MC (brief mention) ▪︎ OCs (receptionist, mother and son duo) 
Summary: Just a mother protecting her daughter. 
Warnings: brief mention of altercation (male and female), description of injuries, fluff, language, nicknames, painkillers (reference to injury) 
Word Count: 1755
- ♤ - ♡ - ◇ - ♧ -
(Y/N) couldn't believe how busy the roads leading to the local high school were. It was a Wednesday, a little after ten and the streets were just packed with cars. She thought it was ridiculous considering people were usually at their jobs and children were in their age appropriate schools. There was no reason for people to be out and about. 
"The light's been green for five seconds!" she yelled and honked her horn, "move!" The driver in front gave her the finger before taking off, "you're so fucking lucky I've got somewhere to be, asshole!" she called out as she drove in the opposite direction. 
When her phone rang during her break, the last person (Y/N) expected to hear from was the receptionist for Santo Padre High School. According to the woman, Leticia (Letty as she was mostly referred to) had been in an altercation with another student and her parents or caregivers were requested to come and meet with the principal. Rachel, the receptionist, mentioned trying to reach her father but going straight to voicemail. With (Y/N) being listed as an emergency contact she was called. 
(Y/N) immediately asked about Letty, but was told that specific details couldn't be discussed over the phone. She found that odd, but accepted it (for the time being) and informed Rachel that she would be there as quickly as she could. After hanging up, she grabbed her belongings and told her manager she had a family emergency to attend to. She was cleared and (Y/N) informed him that she would be taking a week off as well and would keep them updated on her situation. 
From the moment she received the call to the time she pulled up in front of the high school, her thoughts revolved around Letty. Being with Coco for several years allowed (Y/N) to gain some insight to the type of life he had been subjected to. Through a lot of tears, constant reassurance and love (Y/N) was able to break through his tough exterior and get him to believe she was in it for the long haul. When (Y/N) was told by him about his daughter being in a similar environment to what he was in growing up, she demanded him to bring her home.
The second she laid eyes on Letty she saw Coco's features and personality shine through. (Y/N) didn't expect the teenager to respect or trust her right off the bat, but she made sure to let her know that she was here if she needed someone to talk to and gave her space. With every door slam, harsh comment and glare sent her way, (Y/N) continued being herself and showed Letty she wasn't a threat. It was challenging, especially when Coco left on runs, but she pushed through. Eventually the teenager began to accept her father's girlfriend without second guessing her. 
(Y/N) stepped into the main office and found a woman standing beside a teenage boy, who held some paper towels to his nose and had a couple of scratches on his face. She moved closer and realised the pair were towering over Letty who sat in the corner and was looking down at her lap. Clenching her jaw, she strode over to the trio. 
"Get the fuck away from my daughter!" she glared at the duo and turned around to Letty, who was now standing, "mi niña, are you okay?" she kissed her forehead and cupped her cheeks, "Leticia?" 
The teenager nodded, "uh… y-yeah, I'm fine," she went to move (Y/N)'s hands but winced, "completely fine." 
(Y/N)'s eyes widened at the state of Letty's hands. They were most likely bruised and what shocked her even more was that there was no ice-pack beside her seat. The boy clearly had been given assistance, but her baby girl hadn't and that pissed her off.
"Rachel!" she called out and a woman appeared around the corner, "you're the one who called me right?" 
"Yes." 
"And, you said you couldn't go over specific details of what happened over the phone?" 
"That's correct." 
(Y/N) nodded and gestured towards Letty's hands, "well I'm here now and would like an explanation on why my daughter hasn't been treated and that young man has?" When the mother tried to give a reason, she raised a hand in her face, "this doesn't concern you, this conversation is between Rachel and I." 
Rachel gulped and could feel the anger radiating off of (Y/N), "well… uh, he was bleeding and –"
"Were there other staff members present?" she asked and when she was given a nod, she continued, "why couldn't they have provided medical assistance to my daughter?" 
"She… didn't tell us she was hurt, ma'am, she said she was fine so –"
"Bitch do her hands look fine to you?" 
The mother scoffed, "at least we know where your daughter gets her attitude from." 
(Y/N) turned to her, "shut up, nobody asked for your ass to speak," she gestured towards her son, "the reason your son's looking like a fucked up tomato is completely justified I can vouch for that." 
"Are you kidding me?" She shrieked and pointed to his face, "he's most likely got a broken nose and there's scratches on his face!"
"Exactly, be glad my daughter didn't have a screwdriver on her." (Y/N) replied and almost laughed at the disbelief on the woman's face, "your son deserved every scratch, bruise and possible broken bone."
"Excuse me!?" 
(Y/N) ignored her and turned back around to face Rachel, "Letty and I will be leaving now."
"Mrs Fraser hasn't seen –" 
"My main concern right now is my daughter's well-being," she told her, "and you've got my details on file so I'm sure Mrs Fraser can contact me at a later date." 
Rachel spoke again, "please if you'd just –"
"No." 
(Y/N) picked up Letty's bag and walked over to the desk, with Letty trailing behind her. She quickly signed out on the tablet and the pair walked out of the building. Reaching her car, (Y/N) unlocked it and helped Letty into the passenger seat. Closing her door, she rushed to the driver's side and got in. 
She helped Letty buckle up, before buckling herself in, "everything okay, sweets?" 
"Yeah… uh, thanks." was the response she received, before she started up the car and pulled out of the school parking lot while explaining where they were off to next. 
-- ♡ -- ◇ -- 
"He's always talking shit," Letty explained to (Y/N) about the guy in the office, "it was about time someone shut him up." 
"And you were the person to do so?" 
She shrugged her shoulders, "he ran his mouth and then touched me, so I beat his ass." 
"Two for one special?" 
"Pretty much." 
(Y/N) chuckled, "when your hands heal up, we'll ask one of the guys to teach you a few moves in the ring, thankfully your hands are just bruised and not broken." 
"They still hurt like a bitch." 
"You've got another two hours before you can drink some more painkillers." 
"What would've happened if Coco answered the phone?" Letty questioned.
(Y/N) shook her head, "honey, I don't even think I wanna know what would've happened," she noticed the teen wince, "are you okay?" 
"Yes." 
"Are you sure?"
She huffed, "I'm fine, okay? I was fine when you picked me up. I was fine when we went to the doctor's office. I was fine at the grocery store and I was fine the last time you asked me." 
(Y/N) nodded and pulled into their driveway, putting the car in park, "I'm not gonna apologise about asking how you're feeling. I'm just – I just want to make sure you're okay. But, now I'll stop because I can see I'm annoying you." 
"Yeah, you are." 
She chuckled, "okay, I'll stop, but you'll tell –" 
Letty sighed, "yes, I'll tell you. You really take this parenting thing seriously. I mean… you've been referring to me as your daughter all day and I–I'm not. But you defended me –" 
"And I always will." 
" – against Kyle, his mum and even the receptionist. I–I've never had that before. And, even at the doctor's office you made sure I was seen by a female because you knew it'd make me more comfortable." 
"Letty?" 
"You treat me like I'm yours and you called me your daughter and I… I don't know, I just," she took a deep breath, shook her head and looked out of the window.
(Y/N) waited for her to continue, but she didn't. Thinking back on today's events, she realised she had referred to Letty as her own. She had been doing it in her mind for so long and didn't realise she had said it out in the open. Letty had heard her reference and it seemed to make her uncomfortable and that was something she vowed she wouldn't do. 
"When I started dating your dad he told me about the kids he had. He told me that he wasn't involved in their lives because being away from them was for the best. I asked him what would happen if one day a kid reached out and his response was "if they do, they do. I ain't gonna turn them away", (Y/N) spoke up, "and then you reached out, sweetums. You reached out and your dad took that as a sign. From the moment you entered our lives, it's been a whirlwind of emotions. We're not this picture perfect family, but we're our own version. Despite being almost an adult, Coco still views you as his baby girl. And, honestly, I've been viewing you the same way."
Letty sniffed and looked up, "really?" 
"Absolutely, gorgeous. The moment you stepped through that door you became mine as well," (Y/N) pointed at the front door of their home, before turning to her, "but that doesn't matter if you're not okay with it. I'm not trying to force you to be –" 
"I'm Coco's daughter," she cut in and smiled at (Y/N), "and now I'm yours too." 
(Y/N) beamed with joy and unbuckled her seatbelt, and Letty's, reaching over the middle console to bring the teen into her arms. Letty wrapped her arms around (Y/N), breathing in her (scent). The woman chuckled and kissed her cheek, "I love you, baby girl." 
Letty pulled her closer, "I love you too, mama." 
-♤ - ♡ - ◇ - ♧ - 
Spanish Translations: 
Mi niña - my girl / baby girl
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evermorehaikyuu · 4 years
Note
hi can i request for an atsumu fic where his daughter meets osamu for the first time and confuses him with atsumu and she starts calling osamu daddy and atsumu is just offended and when she sees the twins together she kinda cries cause she doesnt know who's who and atsumu just tries to calm her down but kida fails cause shes clinging to osamu
JHGFDFGHJKKJH THE WAY I LOVE THIS SO MUCH, THIS IS SO CUTE, OF COURSE!
Mix Ups
Atsumu had never been happier in his life, he could stay content like this forever with his daughter Akari and his wife, Y/N. Everyday he’d come back home to both of them jumping into his arms and if there was a heaven, it’d be with them both. His daughter was quiet and reserved around other people most of the time, but when it came to her parents, she was an absolute angel. 
“You know, we haven’t taken her to meet Osamu.” Y/N said quietly one night, her head on his chest as one of his hands slowly ran up and down her back, his other arm under his head as he frowned at her words. “She’s five years old, she should go meet her uncle, don’t you think?” She looked up at him, her gaze clashing with his.
“What if he’s busy?” Atsumu replies.
“He’s not, I checked with him, he’ll be free tomorrow. We can go over to his place.”
Atsumu sighed before kissing the top of her head with a slight smile on his face. “I didn’t have a choice, did I?”
“Nope and I checked your schedule too, so you’re coming anyways. It’ll be fun, come on!” Y/N started pressing small kisses all over his face, making him chuckle and nod in agreement.
“Okay okay, I give up! We’ll go tomorrow.” 
~
“So you’re finally here, did he wake up late, Y/N?” Osamu grinned at the woman walking up his driveway and she laughed in response, shaking her head. Osamu and Y/N had a special kind of bond, they were best friends and Atsumu couldn’t be happier about that. Except when they started teasing him.
“The only reason I came was because you’re cooking!” Atsumu yelled at his brother as he slid out of the driver’s seat and unbuckled Akari’s seatbelt, helping her out of the car and allowing her to walk where Y/N and Osamu were currently chatting.
“If I didn’t wake him up, he would’ve kept sleeping.” Y/N rolled her eyes at the thought. “How’s the business going?”
“Very well, we’ve been invited to serve food at some games, like the MSBY vs Adlers game.” Osamu looked at the wobbly toddler walking their way and he crouched down, a slow smile spreading across his face as he reached out for her. “This is your daughter?”
“Yep, that’s Akari--”
“Daddy!” She chimed in cheerily, walking as fast as she could to who she thought was her father. She hugged him tightly and Osamu looked at Y/N, bewildered as she covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hold back her snickers.
Unfortunately Atsumu had heard what Akari called his own brother and his jaw dropped, blinking slowly. Just that expression made Y/N turn away from the whole scene, barely restraining her laughter. It’s as if she knew this would happen. “Did she just confuse me for you?” He asked Osamu, squinting at him.
“Guess she knows who’d be the better dad.” Osamu remarked, grinning.
“Sweetheart, you’ve got the wrong person, I’m your dad.” Atsumu cooed at Akari and she turned around to look at her actual father and at her uncle and back. Atsumu walked over to crouch next to Osamu and brought his arms out for her. “I’m your dad, kiddo.”
Akari took a doubletake before tears welled up in her eyes and she started blubbering, “Daddy?” She looked again at the twins and burst into tears, clinging onto Osamu’s shirt.
Atsumu, baffled, tried to reach out for her to comfort her and saying, “Hey, it’s okay, come here, princess, it’s me! I’m your dad!” But that resulted in making her cry more as she kept herself close to Osamu.
The blond stood up and glared at his laughing wife, her shoulders shaking from trying to hold back her giggles. “Help me! Next she’ll think I’m her uncle!”
Y/N shook her head, wanting to see all of this unfold and letting out a final chuckle as she crossed her arms. “No, you do it.”
Atsumu groaned and turned around, clutching his hair in his hands as he tried to rack his brains for an idea on how to convince Akari--his own daughter--that he was her father before shaking his head and his posture changed visibly. “I can’t.”
Akari saw this and walked over to Atsumu, tugging on his pant leg as she reached up for her, tear stains on her cheeks. “You’re Daddy?” She pointed at Osamu. “Uncle.” 
A swell of pride came over Atsumu as he picked her up, kissing her forehead. “Yes, sweetie, that’s your uncle.” She quickly hugged him and he finally smiled.
However, Y/N behind him merely said, “Well, she met her uncle and seeing as she could get you two confused, maybe we should head home--”
“Are you insane?! I came here for my brother’s cooking, I’m not leaving without it!”
Osamu answered, “Never thought I’d see this day come, I have truly been blessed.”
Atsumu covered Akari’s ears before saying, “Shut yer trap, Samu!” Needless to say, Akari did not confuse her father and her uncle throughout the whole reunion, making Atsumu relax as he didn’t have to worry about that anymore.
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kpop-zone · 3 years
Text
The Lady in Red | Jennie
Mafia AU | Meet messy/Strangers to lovers | “Are you sure this is legal?”
Warnings: blood, death, anxiety symptoms
Wordcount: 3,373
A/N: The gif is kinda flashy, please tell me if that’s a problem for someone, then I will switch it out!!
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“I guess I don’t need to tell you that his infiltration into the ‘circle of trust’ was unsuccessful.”
Seungyeon chuckled sadly next to you and you turned around with a shaky sigh, not being able to look at your patched-up colleague in the hospital bed any longer.
“When will we finally manage to take them down?!”
You growled while angrily kicking the chair that was standing next to the door for the police officer that would have to be there 24/7 for safety reasons from now on.
“I’m starting to believe that we will never be able to. The Kim Clan isn’t the most powerful criminal organization in the city for no reason. Their network is bigger than we could have ever guessed when we started to investigate them and the mastermind behind all this seems to be a ghost. I mean we have no idea what The Lady in Red even looks like. Five years of thorough investigation and there are no clues about her, except that she has to be the most ruthless person on this planet considering that none of her subordinates dare to betray her...”
Seungyeon buried her face in her hands in defeat but you instantly shook your head. You couldn’t let The Lady in Red win; especially not after all the blood, sweat and tears that you had put into this case. You had become a detective to make this world a better place. You couldn’t let the biggest criminal of this city get away.
“Let’s wait till Jihoon wakes up. Maybe he remembers something.”
You tried to sound hopeful although you weren’t even sure whether Jihoon would wake up at all. You had found him in front of the police station this morning, drowning in his own blood after he had joined the Kim Clan almost a year ago to investigate undercover. He had been the great hope in your team. No other cop had ever managed to be a part of the clan for that long before, making you think that you had finally achieved a breakthrough. A foolish hope that made you feel like a failure now that you were standing in front of his hospital bed.
“Do you really believe that?”
Seungyeon replied doubtfully and you huffed in frustration. Of course, you didn’t believe that. With his injuries, you could be glad if Jihoon would ever be able to walk and talk again. But it was too hard to admit that you had hit another dead end; that Jihoon’s sacrifice had been in vain. Angrily, you clenched your fists and closed your eyes in order to calm down again, but it felt like you were riding a roller coaster. Your heart was beating out of your chest and your head was spinning, making you feel nauseous. You couldn’t bear to look at your half-dead friend any longer.
“I need to get out of here.”
You uttered breathlessly before bursting away. Blindly, you stumbled through the hallways, bumping into people left and right before eventually reaching the underground parking. You just needed to get away from those bright lights, the sterile smell, and the constant beeping of Jihoon’s heartrate monitor that seemed to be making fun of your obvious incapability to catch The Lady in Red. This was all your fault. If you were a better team leader, Jihoon would still be making his bad jokes that had always made night shifts more bearable in the past in some way or another. Tears immediately started to pool in your eyes when you thought about the possibility of never being able to hear your friend’s goofy laugh again that had managed to make everyone join in even when his joke had been terrible. What had you done? How could you have allowed him to go undercover?
In hopes that you could flee your bad conscience if you were only fast enough, you hastily unlocked your car before diving into the driver’s seat. It still seemed like your head was spinning in circles and the extreme ringing in your ears didn’t really increase your fitness to drive, but you didn’t hesitate a second before starting the engine and backing out of the parking space full speed.
You just needed to get away.
A loud collision, however, cut your escape short and forced your car to come to an abrupt halt, causing your body to be painfully pressed back into your seat by your seatbelt. For a second, you stared ahead dumbfounded as you tried to understand what had happened until a roaring voice managed to rip you out of your state of shock.
“You idiot!! Use your eyes!!”
A man yelled and you realized that you must have rammed another car. Frustrated, you huffed because your day really couldn’t get any worse before exiting the car reluctantly. A tall man dressed in a suit came rushing towards you and judging by the crimson color of his face, he seemed to be nearly exploding from anger. Subconsciously, you took a defensive stance, ready to parry off a punch in case that he would decide to physically attack you. Just before the man could reach you, however, a loud, high-pitched whistle suddenly made him stop. Like a well-behaved dog he froze and turned around to look at the source of the noise.
“Junho, where are your manners?”
A mysterious voice asked, and you tried to look past Junho in order to catch a glimpse of your savior. You could only see a pair of red high heels and slender legs emerging from the car that you had rammed before a breathtakingly beautiful woman eventually got out of it. Against your will, your eyes automatically started to scan her from head to toe and you had to stop your jaw from slacking. She was simply stunning. Something about her was mesmerizing although you didn’t know whether it was her piercing gaze that seemed to be sharper than a knife, the way she moved her body so gracefully or her clothes that screamed ‘rich’ to you. Of course, you had managed to damage the only car that cost more than your annual salary out of all the junk cars in this parking garage... Remorsefully, you looked to the floor when the woman walked closer to you, figuring that you should probably show respect to her as money usually equated power where you lived. As soon as she was standing in front of you, you opened your mouth to give the most heartfelt apology that you could come up with in order to save your own neck, but the sound of her voice put an end to your plan.
“Are you ok?”
The woman asked and to your surprise her voice wasn’t filled with anger or annoyance, but with concern instead. Confused, you looked up and you realized that her feline eyes appeared to be a lot softer now while scanning your face worriedly. Automatically, your hand reached up to touch your face and you discovered to your surprise that your cheeks were tear stained. In embarrassment, you quickly used your sleeve to wipe away the remainders of your breakdown just a few seconds ago and cleared your throat to sound more or less poised.
“Yes. I’m sorry for ramming your car. I’ve been incautious for a second.”
You pointed at your cars that were surrounded by bits of red, broken glass, but the woman didn’t avert her gaze from you.
“I don’t want you to worry about the cars right now. Are you sure you’re ok? That was one hell of a collision. Are you hurt?”
Her reaction caught you off guard and you stared at her speechlessly. Why wasn’t she yelling at you? Was she that rich that she didn’t even care about her car anymore?
“I-I...yeah...I’m fine.”
You stammered, causing you to facepalm yourself inwardly. It seemed like you were trying to do everything in your power to prove that you were a complete idiot.
“I’m glad to hear that. I was worried for a second.”
The woman smiled softly, causing you to feel weak in your knees. If she would continue looking at you like that, you could not be held responsible for whatever rash action of yours it would cause. A blush started to spread in your cheeks as the two of you simply stared at each other and you frantically tried to come up with something smart to say in order to save your face. Once again, however, the woman beat you to it.
“I’m Jennie by the way.”
She introduced herself while holding out her hand and you quickly wiped your right palm on your pants just in case that it was as sweaty as it felt.
“I’m Y/N.”
You shook her hand, feeling how the touch caused a tingling feeling in your stomach. Embarrassed, you wanted to pull away again, but Jennie kept holding on to your hand a little longer before allowing you to loosen your grasp.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Y/N. I hope that we’re not the reason for you to be late to something, you seemed to be in a hurry earlier.”
For the first time, Jennie averted her gaze from you to assess the scene of the crash before calmly looking back at you as if her multimillion won car wasn’t damaged. You expected her to finally scold you for your lack of concentration that had caused this accident, but Jennie didn’t seem to blame you for anything. Instead, she patiently waited for you to reply to her assumption, so you quickly shook your head.
“No, don’t worry. I don’t need to be anywhere. I just...”
You trailed off because you didn’t know how to finish your sentence. I just needed to get away, because it’s my fault that my friend is probably dying, and I couldn’t bear to look at him anymore? It wasn’t like you could blindside a stranger with a confession like that. Your head immediately started spinning again when you thought about Jihoon and your eyes roamed around the parking garage as you thought about your answer before focusing on Jennie again. As soon as your eyes met, you felt how her serenity had a soothing effect on you and a sense of calmness spread from your chest to your whole body. Somehow her intense yet gentle gaze seemed to draw you under her spell, and you opened your mouth without even being aware of it.
“I just had a really bad day because my friend was hospitalized because of me.”
You blurted out, feeling how tears immediately started to pool in your eyes. Ashamed you turned your head to the side to hide your emotions, but a sensation on your arm caused your gaze to dart forward again. Jennie had reached out to you and was now patting your arm encouragingly.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Y/N. But I’m sure your friend wouldn’t want you to torment yourself. I don’t know what you did, but you don’t seem like you would have wanted your friend to be hospitalized.”
She tried to cheer you up and you nodded hesitantly. She was right. Jihoon wouldn’t want you to blame yourself for what had happened. He was a dedicated detective and it had been his decision to go undercover.
“I-I think you might me right... Thank you.”
You stammered perplexed, wondering how it had been possible for Jennie to calm you down that fast. You loved whatever she was doing to you though and you sighed in relief when your head started to feel steady again, causing Jennie to smile at you widely, seeming to be genuinely happy that she had been able to help you.
“Well, now that this is settled, let’s take care of this mess?”
Jennie giggled while pointing at your cars.
“I feel very guilty for this accident. Junho was driving too fast; you couldn’t have braked in time. Please, let me invite you for a coffee to apologize and we can discuss how we want to handle the costs.”
She continued and your eyes widened in shock. This was not how you remembered the accident; it had definitely been your fault. You simply couldn’t steal any more of Jennie’s time after causing her so much trouble, even if you wouldn’t mind talking with her all day long.
“Aren’t you here to visit someone?”
You asked hesitantly, not wanting to be the reason for her to miss visiting hours.
“Ah yes. I’ve been very unsatisfied with the way how one of my dear friends has been... taken care of. So I came here today to do it myself. Some jobs are better done by yourself, you know? But I’m confident that Junho will be able to get the job done as efficiently as I would have done, right?”
Jennie looked at Junho who had grimly stood at the side till now and simply nodded in response. Satisfied, Jennie grinned before giving you her attention again and wordlessly asking you with a slight movement of her head to agree to her offer. Not being able to resist her charms, you sighed in defeat and locked your car again.
“Ok fine, one coffee.”
You agreed, causing Jennie’s eyes to glint in excitement.
“Great! Junho, go park the car and then go upstairs. I know that you will take proper care of my friend. I don’t want any more...complications. I want everything to be clean and neat. Let’s give my friend what he deserves.”
Jennie smiled sweetly and you felt your heart flutter. It was endearing to see how much she seemed to care about her friend. Happily, you looked at her before following her back into the building to grab a coffee in the little café for visitors on the first floor. It didn’t even need you a minute to figure out that Jennie apparently was a master of distraction. The way she talked was simply captivating and you almost didn’t think about Jihoon at all. Your conversation flowed with ease right from the start and it seemed like you had known each other for years already. Together you sat down at a table, each with a steaming hot cup of coffee in your hands and Jennie immediately propped up her elbow on the table to rest her head on her hand in order to look at you attentively.
“So what do you do for a living?”
She asked curiously and you straightened up proudly. You loved your job and it made you really happy to talk about it.
“I’m a detective.”
You stated, causing Jennie’s expression to change like expected. Most people were impressed when they heard that you were a detective and wanted to know more about your work.
“A detective? Wow. What kind of cases do you work on? Is your job as exciting as in K-dramas or is the movie industry just lying?”
Jennie raised one eyebrow suspiciously and you giggled in response.
“Well, I’m afraid my job is not quite as spectacular as in K-dramas, but there are definitely more boring jobs. Right now, I’m working on a really interesting case for example. We’re investigating the Kim clan; you might have read about it in the news maybe. It’s a huge criminal organization with a ruthless leader. We only call her The Lady in Red.”
You started to chat, feeling how you suddenly had the urge to talk about all your built-up frustration.
“The Lady in Red?”
An amused smile played on Jennie’s lips as she curiously tilted her head to the side, and you chuckled.
“Yes. We don’t know a lot about the leader, not even her name. But over the past years we have accumulated some bits of information about her. We’ve managed to catch some of the criminals that worked with her and although none of them ever betrayed her, they revealed little details. For example, we know that she often could be found wearing red lipstick or a red trench coat. And in combination with the trail of blood that she leaves all over the city, we eventually started calling her The Lady in Red.”
You felt a little embarrassed to admit the ridiculous nickname that you had given a serial killer, but Jennie seemed to be very intrigued by your story.
“Is this top-secret information? I mean, can you even tell me all this? Are you sure this is legal?”
She joked, causing you to laugh off your embarrassment.
“As long as you’re not a journalist...”
You narrowed your eyes to fake mistrust and Jennie put on a serious face.
“No, don’t worry. Your secrets are safe with me, I promise. I’m just a simple businesswoman, not a journalist. I own a little company and try my best to survive.”
She crossed her fingers to underline her statement, causing both of you to crack up. After calming down again though, you had the urge to know more about this seemingly perfect woman in front of you. Considering her expensive clothes and car, you doubted that her company was as little as she described it and you were genuinely interested in learning what it took to get all the way to the top of the food chain.
“You own a business? That’s impressive! What kind of business?“
You asked, but you shouldn’t get to hear her answer right away. The moment Jennie inhaled to start telling you about her life story, the screens of both of your phones on the table suddenly lit up, indicating that you had gotten a message.
“Excuse me.”
You excused your bad table manners before picking up your phone to check the incoming message because you were technically still on duty and obliged to be reachable. Unless someone had been murdered, however, you didn’t plan on working today after the events of this morning, so you simply wanted to skim the message before giving Jennie all your attention again. The content of the text message was very short and comprehensible at a glance though, managing to instantly knock the air out of your lungs. As if you couldn’t trust your eyes, you read the text over and over again in disbelief, hoping that it’s meaning would change eventually. But the cold, harsh words stayed and mercilessly slapped you in the face.
Jihoon is dead
The three words were simple, but that didn’t make their impact any less destructive. An intense pressure seemed to crush your chest and your eyes started to burn immediately. How could this be? How could he have died so quickly? He had been stable when you had seen him just a little over half an hour ago. Helplessly, you looked at Jennie who was smiling at her phone before meeting your eyes. Her expression changed in a split second and she was quick to leap to her feet to walk over to you.
“He’s dead.”
You managed to choke out before a loud sob tore from your throat as your tears began to fall in a rapid pace. Without hesitation, Jennie wrapped her arms around you to pull you against her body and you clung to her in need for comfort while your whole body shook violently.
“I’m so sorry, Y/N.”
Jennie said on a loop while rubbing your back in circles, attempting to get you to calm down again. Her gentle touch and soothing voice prevented you from completely breaking down and you tried to remember her words from earlier. I’m sure your friend wouldn’t want you to torment yourself. You repeated this simple statement over and over again in your head to allay the weight of the guilt that was pressing down on you. No matter how much you tried though, you weren’t able to completely erase the ugly voice in your head that told you that this was all your fault. Nevertheless, you were glad that you had Jennie by your side right now. You hoped that her serenity would manage to save you once more, so you held on tighter to her in an attempt to allow her strength to prevent the darkness in your head to seize you.
Who would have thought that joy and sorrow could be so close together?
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ncssian · 3 years
Text
A Favor: Part Seven
Nessian Modern AU
Masterlist
a/n: so this chapter doesn't exactly have a hay bale maze but it has something even better :)
***
Being a legal consultant is surprisingly easy.
Years of studying business law in order to take down big corporations in the courtroom is now being used to help a big corporation— Nesta wants to be disgusted at the state of her morals. Fortunately for her, all the issues that have come across her desk so far are minor negotiation matters. The way Night Court Inc. is run is virtually perfect, and she almost hopes a blatant lawsuit drops into her lap just so she can give Rhysand and his sycophantic workers hell.
Though Nesta knows better than to dream big. This is essentially busy work that Night Court’s actual lawyers don't have time to do, but she's grateful for it either way. She's grateful for the man who got her this job even more.
When her car finally gets back from the auto shop one sunny November morning, Cassian suggests they go out to celebrate.
“Celebrate what?” Nesta says. “Not having to rely on you for rides anymore?”
“Exactly that.” Cassian grins and leans his elbow against the kitchen counter. “There’s a fall festival an hour north of here that pops up every year. There's good food and hot cider. Let’s go.” He nudges her excitedly.
Nesta narrows her eyes at him. “You’ve been planning this,” she accuses.
“I go every year,” he shrugs. “Come on, we have the whole day ahead of us.”
He makes pleading puppy eyes that have absolutely no effect on Nesta, but she doesn't want to hurt his ego by letting him know that.
There is nothing appealing to her about going out into the cold and doing autumn-related activities, so she surprises herself and Cassian both when she agrees to go. He rewards her with a wide smile and tells her to get ready.
Nesta feels oddly giddy afterward. She can't recognize the feeling, so she tamps down on it while she gets dressed and braids her hair.
Outside, her burgeoning smile drops when she sees Cassian getting the truck started. “I thought the point of this was that we could use my car now.” She gestures to her beat up blue sedan, a sad little thing parked next to Cassian’s fancy truck.
“Nes, if I thought your car could go anywhere near a mountain road without falling to pieces, I would get in it without hesitation.”
It's as close to apologetic sympathy as she’ll get from him, so she only grumbles a little before climbing into the passenger seat she's gotten all too familiar with.
The door slams as Cassian gets in the driver’s seat, and something on the dashboard catches Nesta’s attention. Reaching out, she picks up one of her coloring books and her zipper bag full of markers and pencils.
She glances at Cassian. “Is this for me?”
He looks up from where he’s buckling his seatbelt. “Oh, I just picked it up on my way out. Cell signal gets spotty the closer we get to the mountains, so you might get bored.”
Nesta looks down at the coloring book she's clutching, surprised.
“Did you want anything else before we leave?” Cassian says. “I can run inside and pick up some books.”
“No— no, this is good,” she says softly. She flips the page open to a fresh landscape scene, black on white lines staring back at her. “Thank you.”
She unzips her pencil bag with a new reverence, barely noticing as they pull out of the driveway and head for the highway leading out of town.
Nesta is intent on her coloring the entire ride, falling far too easily into that little bubble of her own mind where she forgets that other things and people exist. Cassian, unlike most people, doesn't seem to mind this. He's content with driving in the quiet, the only sound the soft crackle of the radio and the scratch of Nesta’s pencils.
She’s trying to get the blue shades of the lake just right when she feels the truck start to slow, and she looks up to see that they're in some kind of parking lot. Ahead, a market-carnival setup sits at the base of the mountains, and it sprawls as far as her eyes can see. “We’re here already?”
“Yeah.” Cassian glances at her hesitantly. “Is it lame?” He gestures to the autumn-themed affair, as if he’ll turn around and drive them right back home if it isn't to Nesta’s liking.
Nesta can’t pay the festival any attention yet. “I’m not done with this picture yet,” she says simply. She holds it up for Cassian to see, even though he probably can't tell that the mostly-completed picture is still missing a couple of details.
He just says, “We’ll wait till you're finished, then.”
She brightens with relief, and takes her time adjusting the colors of the landscape to her liking. As soon as she's satisfied with what she has, though, she throws her pencils and book down like they're on fire and grabs her coat. “Let's go,” she demands.
If Cassian is surprised at her sudden change of pace, he hides it well and follows Nesta onto the fairground. “Slow down,” he calls for her.
Perhaps the fall season isn't terrible, Nesta thinks as they buy warm candied apples. The air smells nice and the weather is brisk and Cassian stands so close to her that she never quite gets cold.
It feels almost like a date.
Nesta glances at Cassian from the corner of her eye as she chews on her apple. Wind ruffles his hair and his brown cheeks are flushed red, but he looks content. It's too bad they're just friends, because this would have been a nice date.
She has to stop her train of thought before she gets distracted by how Cassian’s hand isn't holding anything, and how her hand isn't holding anything, and maybe their hands should—
She makes a fist with her free hand and shoves it into her coat pocket. This is why she doesn't usually have friends, she remembers— because she can never stop hungering for more.
Nesta and Cassian’s not-date is spent with Cassian throwing his money at every other thing he sees on sale, and Nesta biting her tongue at the unnecessary waste of it all.
“Eight dollars for a cup of cider? Come on, you're being scammed.” Nesta pulls at his elbow, trying to lead him away from the drinks stand.
“But it comes in one of those cute little jars,” Cassian protests as he’s pulled away.
There’s a laughably small hay-bale maze that they complete in less than three minutes, thanks to Cassian being tall enough to see over the hay bales. Then there’s a ferris wheel that Nesta adamantly refuses to get onto, regardless of how high it goes or not. And then, without either of them noticing, the sun starts slipping behind the mountains.
With her arms full of bags of snacks and random knickknacks that she’ll never need in her life, Nesta finds herself back in the market area.
There’s a painting at an art stand that has caught her attention. Something about the brush strokes and choice of color palette… it reminds her of Feyre’s art style. Amateur, but warm and comforting, clearly made with love and dedication. She approaches the elder salesman carefully, only wanting a closer look at the piece.
It’s of a glittering forest in the peak of autumn, ruby and flame-colored leaves littering the scene. An unwalked pathway cuts through the scene, and a longing Nesta can’t place swells in her stomach.
“My daughter painted this one,” the salesman says to her, pride peeking through his voice. She glances up at the kind-faced man. “Only this one?” she asks. The rest of the paintings don’t have the same art style, Feyre’s style.
“Yes.” He places a protective hand over the canvas. “She’s still learning, but she’s got heart and potential. One day she’ll be a better artist than me.”
Nesta blinks at his words. “How much is it?”
“How much do you have?”
She looks down at her hands full of shopping bags and realizes not one of them is carrying her wallet. “Oh, I must have left my money with my—” She glances up then and looks around. “Cassian?”
He was just here with her. They were walking together and she took note of the pretty fairy lights that were starting to turn on, and then she saw the art stand. She scans the milling crowd for a glimpse of his face, but it’s five p.m. and fully dark now.
Unease starts to pump in her chest. “Cassian?” she calls again. She wanders away from the art stand, painting and salesman forgotten. Maneuvering her full hands, she wrangles her phone out of her back pocket and turns it on. Just as she suspected— no signal. Waving it high in the air doesn’t do much for her either.
Shoving her phone back in her pocket, Nesta takes a strained breath and resolves to keep looking. If she can’t find him, she can always make her way back to the parking lot—
Something shoves hard into Nesta’s back, and her glasses slip right off her nose in the collision. She feels a metallic crunch under her boot and gasps. Suddenly there are people everywhere, heading in the opposite direction that she is, and whoever bumped into her yells a quick apology that gets lost in the crush of bodies.
Nesta stumbles out of the crowd, blinking quickly. She can’t see a thing, and the fairy lights are now blurry orbs. “My glasses—” she says to nobody. She scans the flattened grass and dirt furiously, squinting until she gets a headache, but she can’t find them. “Shit.”
She ends up roaming out of the market area, finding herself back on the fairgrounds. There are a few tents around her, but they're empty and the noise has died down. She doesn’t know where she’s going.
At one point, Nesta simply drops her bags and keeps walking without them. She barely notices leaving them behind. The magic has drained out of the festival, and she just wants to find her way back to Cassian’s truck. If the ferris wheel is that way, then the exit should be that way… she thinks.
She looks around in the dark, frustrated tears rising at her inability to recognize anything. She's alone. She’s cold. She was abandoned.
Nesta doesn't know how long she stands there, hopeless in some deserted corner of the fairgrounds. She forgets what she's supposed to be doing, and just stands there staring at nothing. Escaping to a numbing void in her mind.
The desperate call of her name brings her back to earth.
Blinking, Nesta turns around to find a tall figure heading towards her. Cassian.
He’s holding something in his hand, she can tell, but he drops it when he sees her face and breaks into a run.
“Nesta!” Hard warmth crashes into her as strong arms grab her and yank her close. Her face presses into his chest, and hot tears fall despite the lingering numbness.
“Where did you go?” Cassian is demanding. “You had me so fucking scared—”
“I lost my glasses,” she says weakly into the wool of his coat.
“I know.” He goes from stroking her back to clutching her face. His thumbs rub at the wetness beneath her eyes, and finally she can see his face. He’s close enough that she can read every detail, their foreheads pressed tightly together. He isn't letting go.
She presses her lips together. “I lost you.”
“I know.”
In the next moment, Nesta feels everything all at once: Cassian’s heavy breath on her face, his fingers digging into her scalp, his hazel eyes looking relieved and apologetic and terrified at the same time. His heartbeat racing beneath her hands.
For the briefest eternity, Nesta and Cassian share the same mind. They are thinking the exact same thing.
There’s a moment of painful hesitation, where Nesta has the opportunity to pull away. She doesn't take it, and by then it's too late— Cassian’s mouth is on hers.
Oh. Oh.
Nesta buckles a little under the weight of his kiss, but he holds her upright with his grip. His fingers wind so tightly into her braid she worries he might undo the whole thing, but then she's tucking her cold hands into the warmth of his sweater and wow, what a wonderful end to a terrible night.
His lips break from hers for a breath, only to come in again and kiss her deeper this time. A helpless noise escapes from one or both of them. She’s unraveling with every stroke of his tongue, and she thinks distantly that if kisses were flavored, this one would be sweet enough to make her teeth ache.
It's over far too soon, with Cassian’s series of kisses slowing until they stop completely. He pulls back far enough that they both have room to breathe, and with oxygen comes sharp reality.
For once, Nesta has no words. Her thought process is a tape jammed on a few moments ago, so Cassian is the one that has to slowly drop his hands from her hair and clear his throat.
“Let's go home,” is all he says.
***
The drive back to the cabin is silent. Nesta puts her earbuds in and turns on music as soon as they get in the truck, and halfway home Cassian glances over and realizes she's fallen asleep.
His knuckles are white on the steering wheel, and it's a struggle to keep his eyes on the headlight-lit road ahead.
Losing track of Nesta with no way to contact her was one thing, but nothing scared Cassian more than when his eyes caught the metallic glint of broken gold rims in the trampled dirt of the marketplace.
After running from stall to stall searching for Nesta, only one man was able to give Cassian a straight answer. “She was looking at some art and then she went that way,” the old salesman pointed. “She seemed upset; I think she was looking for you.”
The pieces of Nesta's glasses sit in a bag in the backseat now, tucked alongside a canvas painting of an autumn landscape.
The relief Cassian felt when he found her in one piece, when she turned to him with the saddest eyes— he was more cemented in his feelings for her in that moment than in any late night he’d spent dreaming about her.
And when she looked at him like that, fighting not to cry… it was over for him. Weeks of restraint that he hadn't even noticed building up snapped at the last second, until he was kissing Nesta like it was his final dying wish. All of it, utterly over.
He glances over to her now, where she sleeps with her head against the fogged window, exhausted after the day she's had. His hands twitch with the temptation to reach out and touch her.
Gravel crunches as Cassian pulls up into the driveway, and he looks at Nesta again and sighs. He almost goes to wake her, but changes his mind at the last moment and gets out of the car instead. Circling around to the passenger side, he opens the door and carefully lifts her out of her seat.
Her head lolls against his chest, but she doesn't wake. Stress and high emotions have no doubt knocked her out for the rest of the night.
Realizing there's no way to unlock the front door while holding Nesta, Cassian has to circle around to the back of the cabin, entering through the open kitchen door and carrying her on silent feet up the stairs.
Once she's safely tucked in her bed, Cassian can relax his shoulders for the first time all night. Later, he sits down in the half-lit kitchen with Nesta’s broken glasses before him. The frame is split right down the middle, but he already knows Nesta won't allow him to get her a new pair. He’ll need wire and some pliers.
Tying his hair back, he settles down and gets to work.
***
a/n: i'm trying to apologize less for my work but this chapter is not only short and late but also super iffy in terms of writing quality 🥴 so im sorry. if my secret snowflake gift has anything to do with it part 8 will also be a little late (i'm looking for balance guys i really am).
tagging: @ladywitchling @sjm-things @thewayshedreamed @drielecarla @sensitiveillyrian @superspiritfestival @aliveahaahahafuck @cupcakey00 @sayosdreams @rainbowcheetah512 @claralady @thebluemartini @nessiantho @missing-merlin @duskandstarlight @lucy617 @sleeping-and-books @everything-that-i-love @cassianscool @awesomelena555 @julemmaes @wickedqueenoffantasy @poisonous-bloom @observationanxioustheorist @gisellefigue08 @courtofjurdan @theoverlyenthusiasticwriter @wolfiixxx @cass-nes @seashade @royaltykxx @illyrianundercover @queenestarcheron @monstrousloves-explodinggalaxies @humanexile @that-golden-lyre @agentsofsheilds @mercy-is-alive @cassiansbigwingspan @laylaameer01
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cherryrogers · 4 years
Text
Tumblr media
➸ call me baby {3/3}
BROOKLYN
pairing: bucky barnes x reader | biker au
warnings: Swearing, smoking.
word count: 8k
synopsis: Returning to Brooklyn for the summer after a year of travelling from city to city, you hadn’t expected to find your best friend, Peggy Carter, hopelessly in love with a biker. And when she decided to introduce you to the rest of his club, you hadn’t expected to fall for one either. That was until you met one with pretty eyes and a habit of calling you baby.
series masterlist
a/n: jfc,,, i can’t believe i’ve finally finished writing this lmao i’m sorry it took so long my dudes. thank you to everyone who has shown support for this fic, and i hope you all enjoy the final part !!💛
“I’m going to miss having you around, _____. It’s been nice having another girl here who isn’t afraid to put a shitty customer in their place.” Wanda smiled, handing you a white envelope with your final salary enclosed inside.
Folding the envelope and tucking it into your jean pocket, you chuckled heartily. “I think you and your pistol will do just fine without me. Thanks for having me here for the summer, Wan. I wouldn’t even be leaving if it wasn’t for this job.”
Her grin widened as she pulled you into a warm hug. “There’ll always be a job here for you — summer, winter, any time you need it.”
After you’d said one final thanks and goodbye to Wanda, you exited the bar doors for the last time and crossed the sidewalk to where Peggy was waiting in her car for you. In a matter of hours, you’d be spending the night in Brooklyn one last time, and your summer would be over.
Initially, you were expecting a couple of months solely spent with your best friend. Lounging on shimmering sandy beaches, drinking wine and laughing till dusk in your backyard, listening to her harp on about her dreamy new boyfriend while you rambled about all the places you’d visited. You couldn’t have imagined it to be more different than it was. Sure, you had done all of that with Peggy, but she wasn’t the only one that’d shaped your summer. Following the motorcycle ride at five in the morning with a certain biker, you’d only grown more attached to each other. He couldn’t ever keep his hands off you, and you couldn’t ever bring yourself to leave the clubhouse after a day spent with him. If the rest of the club ever caught on to yours and Bucky’s affair, then they never mentioned it. You were sure that was because of Peggy. She knew it was better to leave you be, considering Bucky was the first person you’d opened your heart to in a long time.
Some days were spent simply in his bedroom, wearing nothing but a pair of underwear under his silk sheets, constantly switching between telling one another about your lives, your childhoods, passions, fears, and stripping out of your little clothing and letting yourselves completely give into each other. Some days were spent wandering the streets of Brooklyn hand in hand, Bucky showing you all the alleys and parks he’d found Steve attempting to fight guys twice the size of him, you pointing out the diners and stores you used to drag Peggy to on the weekends in high school. Every day was spent getting to know one another though, and every day spent with Bucky was never a day wasted. The only down side to every moment your were with him was that they’d only add up to it hurting even more when you inevitably left, and that time was arriving very soon.
Peggy drove you home from the bar to collect your packed backpack and suitcase before bringing you down to the clubhouse for the rest of the night. She teased you about going soft since you’d gotten close to Bucky, wanting to spend your last night with your summer love as she called him. The girl received an unimpressed glare for the comment, but what she said wasn’t exactly untrue. If you’d told yourself a year ago that your summer in Brooklyn would find you all starry-eyed for a biker you’d only just met in June, you would’ve likely pushed aside any plan to return to the place at all. Peggy would forced your ass back to Brooklyn, of course; perhaps there would’ve always been something that led you back to your hometown, to him. Christ, you were getting soft.
There was a crease between your brows as you retrieved the envelope of cash from your pocket and gently ripped it open in your lap. It felt a little... thicker than it usually was — more than what you normally earned from a week’s worth of work. As your eyes met the wad of green bills inside, they widened in shock. Yep, definitely more than your usual salary. Way more to just be a mistake on Wanda’s part.
The large sum of cash even caught Peggy’s eye from her place in the driver’s seat. “Wanda must’ve really taken a liking to you. Perhaps doubling your salary is a plea to make you stay.”
A breathless laugh escaped your lips as you ran your thumb over the edges of the bills. “If it is, that girl knows exactly what she’s doing. Maybe travelling isn’t my true calling after all.”
While they was a playfulness to your tone, you couldn’t help but notice the brunette’s smile falter at your words. Peggy was like you in a way; she wasn’t soft, often being as upfront and stubborn as you were. However, she didn’t like opening up to people about herself all that much. Not that you were necessarily thriving in that department either, but when it came to Steve, she’d said it’d took her a while to even mention her brother’s passing to him. He hadn’t known she even had a brother before Peggy brought it up a long while after they’d began dating. Peggy possessed a lot of self confidence, and she had every right to do so. Being vulnerable and open just tended to put her at unease, and when you caught her acting a little off, it took some gentle coaxing to get her to open up.
“Are you okay?” You offered her a comforting smile, to which she didn’t quite return.
“Peachy,” She replied half-heartedly, hands tightening on the steering wheel. Glancing briefly at you, she spotted the crinkle in your brows and your pursed lips. Seeing as you never took your eyes off her, she sighed. “What is it?”
“Peggy, I don’t know how long it’s gonna be before I see you again. If something’s up, please tell me.”
Her tongue hesitantly ran across her bottom lip, fingers readjusting on the steering wheel. “It’s nothing, really. It’s just... I didn’t realise how much I’d missed having you here. I know it’s selfish, but I’d be lying if I said I was excited to see you off tomorrow.”
You shuffled in your seat, turning to face your friend more directly. “It’s not selfish, Pegs. Of course you don’t want me to go, I’m the shining light of your life—”
“_____...”
“Sorry, I know I’m annoying. Can’t help it,” You apologised, internally cursing yourself out. One serious conversation. You can have one serious conversation, come on. “I mean it, though; I don’t think it’s selfish. If you were jetting off to London tomorrow, I’d feel the same— oh, red light!”
The car came to an abrupt stop in front of the traffic lights, your seatbelt pressing tightly against you chest. Before you could reprimand your friend and tell her that putting you in hospital isn’t a viable way to stop you from leaving, she was turning to you with a surprised stare.
“You’re going to London? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I mean, I actually just made the decision five minutes ago, but yeah, I’m going to London.”
Peggy let out a disbelieving laugh. “You haven’t even booked your flight yet?”
“I didn’t even have the money to go an hour ago!” You exclaimed. “But with all this cash from Wanda, I think I’ll be able to make it there. I’ve been travelling the US for a year now, Pegs. I wanna go somewhere new. Somewhere fresh, the land of milky tea and buttery crumpets. I can go to the Queens house—”
“You have a lot of nerve saying all of this to someone who was born in England.” She glared softly, pressing her foot down on the gas when the green light appeared.
An amused smile crept onto your lips. “Hm, I will need someone to Facetime twenty four-seven to tell me all the places I need to visit, preferably English and born in London...”
“So you’ll talk to me solely because my nationality is of use to you?”
You rolled your eyes. “I might miss you a little bit too.”
“Thanks.”
“It’s hard being without you too, you know,” You spoke more seriously, catching Peggy slightly off guard. “Travelling is great and all, but some days I do wake up in my motel room and wish I was back home, spending the day with my best friend.”
While her eyes were still focused on the road, a warm smile was clearly pulling at the brunette’s lips. “Just... don’t stay away for too long this time, okay?”
“You’ll see me again before next summer, I promise.”
“Hm, I’m going to need that in writing.”
“I’ll even record a video for you; I’ll buy a tripod, get some good lighting, one of those fluffy microphones—”
Peggy cut you off with a hearty chuckle, dark, conditioned curls bouncing as she shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’m actually going to miss your ability to make a joke out of everything.”
You scoffed, placing a hand on your chest in mock shock. “Christ, now that is something that needs to be in writing. I’m hiring us a lawyer, he can draw us both up contracts.”
“Dont forget to book your flight first.” Peggy chimed in.
“Right, I have a lot of things I need to do today. Bucky’s gonna have to give me a minute before he can have me to himself... and I’ll need to lend his computer.”
As your gaze averted to the passing by buildings out of the car window, Peggy grinned contentedly to herself. She could see exactly why you’d been the one Bucky had really fallen for, though she couldn’t help but wonder how he’d handle your departure to a whole other continent.
However, you’d promised you were coming back soon, and there wasn’t a doubt in Peggy’s mind that he’d be counting down the hours once you stepped onto your flight.
* * *
“London, huh?” Bucky’s voice caught your attention as he entered the office, a beer bottle in each hand.
As you confirmed the booking of your flight for the next morning, you swirled around in the cushioned desk chair, taking one of the bottles once the man had approached you. “Did Peggy spill the beans already?”
“Heard her talkin’ to Steve in the garage,” He pressed his own bottle to his lips, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Doesn’t seem like five minutes since you first arrived, when you came into the backyard in those little black and white shorts.”
Standing up, you shot him an eye roll. “I’m sure that’s all you can remember from that day, perv.”
“What do you remember then?”
You hummed, leaning into Bucky as you let his arms envelop your waist. “I remember wondering why everyone was wearing leather jackets in eighty degree weather. Oh, and that I thought you were a dick.”
The biker didn’t seem offended in the slightest at your statement, only grinning and pulling you closer. “Hm, and what about the day at the carnival? Wasn’t that a good day?”
“No, I had to endure you flirting with those girls in front of us in the drop tower line. I was almost sick before we even got on the ride.”
“Oh, that?” He let out a laugh, cheeks faintly tinting pink. “I was only trying to make you a little jealous. Seems like it worked.”
You scoffed. “It did not work,” It definitely had worked.
“You liked when I held your hand on the ride though, didn’t you?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You know what? Fine. I did,” You admitted, eliciting a smug smile from Bucky. “But I’m only admitting that ‘cause I’m leaving tomorrow. Don’t think I’m going soft on you.”
He ran his tongue along his lower lip, leaning closer to speak against your lips. “Wouldn’t be stupid enough to dream of it.”
Smiling in satisfaction, you moved an inch closer and let his lips meet yours, a warm feeling emerging in your chest. The kiss remained gentle as your fingers pushed some of his hair away from his face, before you pulled back reluctantly to breathe. Blue eyes pierced into yours after fluttering open almost hazily.
“Would it be stupid to ask you to stay?” Bucky asked quietly, though he knew the answer already.
A weak nod and an empathetic smile; you pecked the corner of his lips before stepping back completely as if you suddenly felt you’d been standing too close. Bucky had never seen you holding your tongue, but that seemed to be what you were doing as you put some distance between the two of you.
There was an uncomfortable silence, the warmth from your body dissipated and replaced with an aching coldness. Perhaps telling yourself all summer that you could worry about yours and Bucky’s future at the end of August was a terribly bad idea, because now it was hitting you — maybe there’s wasn’t a future for the two of you at all.
“I’ll wait for you, you know.” The biker’s voice broke the quiet, the words slicing through you.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, Bucky. I don’t think I can ask you to do that.” You breathed, meeting his eyes hesitantly.
“You’re not asking me to, I want to,” He stated, worrying his teeth over his bottom lip. “Unless... that’s not what you really want?”
Truthfully, the idea of Bucky seeing anyone else once you’d left made your stomach turn. In an ideal world, you’d like it if he was just yours. Only yours, because you guaranteed that there wasn’t anybody else that could make you feel the way that he did. But you couldn’t force him to wait for a girl that strayed away from their hometown for longer than they stayed, no matter how much it’d end up hurting you.
“It wouldn’t be fair, Bucky, to either of us. We can’t really be together when I’m only gonna come back for the holidays—”
“Was this just a summer thing to you?” He questioned, a mix of regret and frustration flashing in his eyes. He knew he shouldn’t have asked that, but some part of him was oddly curious to.
Your previously calm expression turned sour as you furrowed your brows and scoffed. “You’re—you’re kidding, right? Did you just— of course it wasn’t just a summer thing to me, you asshole.”
Admittedly, it hurt that he’d even had the nerve to think that. You’d asked him if you shouldn’t have started something together that inevitably was going to end and he said he didn’t regret it. While being together could technically only last for the summer months, it wasn’t just a fling. There were feelings there that you weren’t going to be able to shake off, memories that were going to be carved into your mind forever. Did he seriously think that it was all just temporary on your part?
“Then would staying really be so bad?” Bucky retorted. What he was saying was only making you angrier, but he couldn’t help but be honest. Perhaps it just hadn’t hit him that you were really leaving in less than twenty four hours until that very moment, and everything that left him mouth was coming from a deep place of, well, sadness.
You shook your head in disbelief. “You’re being selfish.”
“Aren’t I allowed to be? We’ve spent a whole summer together and this time tomorrow you’re gonna be thousands of miles away from here—”
“And you don’t think I’ll be hurt either?” You intervened, cocking a brow. “You think I’ll be skipping through the airport utterly thrilled to be leaving you?”
Bucky was silent, too silent for too long. You scoffed, ignoring the way he was biting down in his cheek and the faint glossiness of his eyes in your annoyance. “You knew I was gonna have to leave eventually, Bucky. If you knew weren’t going to be able to accept that... then you never should’ve asked me to stay that night.”
That night; no further explanation was needed to identify which of the many nights spent together you were talking about. It was that night when you fell inexplicably hard for Bucky, when you decided that you might never have the chance to fall in the way you’d fallen for him ever again and that you’d only regret not staying the night. Not letting him strip you of your clothes and shed his own, not letting him make love to you, not letting him wake up to you admiring his every feature. If he knew he wouldn’t be able to let you go so easily, then having you stay that night was purely unwise of him.
When Bucky didn’t you respond one again after a few moments, you sighed deeply, crossing your arms over your chest. Though your expression had softened, your tone was still rather cold. “It’s never been just a fling with you, and if after all the damn time we’ve been spending together you thought there was a chance I might’ve thought that, then maybe you don’t feel the way I thought you felt about me at all.”
The biker’s features fell as he watched you chew your bottom lip and stalk towards the door — doubting his feelings for you was the last thing he wanted you to do. He let his boot collide with the bottom of his desk in frustration as you shut the office door behind you.
He hadn’t meant to start a dispute. It was your last god damn night in Brooklyn, of course he didn’t want to spend it receiving the cold shoulder from you. You’d probably gone out and found the rest of the guys, perhaps even went to drag Peggy aside to tell her how much of a dick he’d just been, which he’d understand. He had a feeling you wouldn’t do that though; instead you’d go out and pretend everything was fine because you wouldn’t dare let anyone know that he’d managed to hurt your feelings — always so stubborn.
Relationships were not Bucky’s forte. It’s not like he’d ever been looking for one; he was still young, he had still wanted to have fun for a little while before finally settling down like his mother had been bugging him to since he’d moved out. While he wasn’t the type to sleep with a girl and never call them again, he wasn’t exactly the type to, well... sleep with a girl and do anything else with them. He hated the talking stages of a relationship, despised them with all his being. Everyone he knew insisted that he had to get through them to actually have a deeper relationship with someone, but he really just couldn’t will himself to do it. So when there didn’t seem to be a weird talking stage with you, he was pretty happy about it.
It wasn’t like he was forcing himself to try and develop a connection with you, he’d hardly been interested in dating anyone when you’d first arrived. But then it all happened so naturally and now look at the two of you — well, you were mad at him and he was standing in the office alone like an idiot.
He knew better than to follow you outside and try to play friendly with you in front of everyone else. Giving you and himself a bit of time to cool off and think, Bucky took a shower upstairs in his bathroom. The longer the hot water pelted his skin, the more he felt like an asshole for what he’d said to you. He couldn’t just ask you to stay for him, that was wrong for a start. That was definitely selfish. Accusing you of thinking it was just a fling too? Christ, what was he thinking? He didn’t actually think that you thought of him as a fling, he just stupidly asked that in the heat of the moment when he was frustrated that you one hundred percent didn’t want to stay.
Maybe he ought to get out of the shower before he steamed up the whole clubhouse and make things right.
As Bucky neared the bottom of the staircase after putting on some clothes and towel-drying his hair, he bumped into Steve, who seemed to be heading towards the living room.
“Hey, Buck. We’re starting a movie soon. _____’s just finishin’ her cigarette out back; you two joining us?”
Bucky plastered on a smile, shaking his head. Perhaps he sounded selfish, but watching a movie with everyone wasn’t exactly the way he wanted to spend his last night with you. “I don’t think so, man. Another night.”
“Suit yourself.” The blond patted his friend’s shoulder before allowing him to scoot past him and head outside.
The sky was a deep blue, the sparse, grey clouds almost bleeding into the dark hue as the stars began to peek through the dusky blanket. A single garden lamp lit up the area, just about showing your figure sitting on the picnic bench that’d never been replaced since they’d moved into the clubhouse. Between your parted lips rested the remains of a cigarette, smoke twirling through the slight breeze that’d picked up once the sun went down.
You didn’t flinch as Bucky slid onto the bench next to you, and he couldn’t help but let his mind wander back to when the two of you had met. At that time, he was sat in your spot exhaling clouds of smoke, not knowing who you were when you first walked outside. Fast forward to now and you were exactly where he was all those weeks ago, except now he wasn’t sure what he was going to do without you.
“You mind if I take a drag of that?” He spoke up suddenly, suppressing a smile at the way you paused in your actions.
While you didn’t offer him the stick between your fingers, your loosened grip on it silently gave Bucky the permission to pluck it out of your hand into his own, which he did. After taking a long drag of the cigarette, he stubbed it out on the ashtray to his right before turning his attention to you.
“I know we aren’t a summer fling to you. I- I know how you feel about me, because I feel the same way.”
Bucky felt himself relax a little as you faced him, no longer staring off into the night. A slight frown pulled at your lips; he didn’t like the sight. “If I was going to stay for anything, or anyone, it’d be you, you know.”
Not sure what to say, the biker only gave you a nod of acknowledgment, taken aback by the statement. He wasn’t sure whether it was a compliment or something he shouldn’t be happy with.
“There’s a difference between me wanting to stay and wanting to be with you,” You bit down on your bottom lip. “I don’t wanna stay, but if you asked me... if you asked me to stay again to be with you, I probably wouldn’t get on my flight tomorrow.”
Breath hitching, Bucky narrowed his eyes. “You’d stay if I asked you to again?”
The look in your eyes was enough of an answer. If he asked you to stay, you’d say yes. Yes to waking up beside him during the colder fall mornings. Yes to motorcycle rides to anywhere and everywhere. Yes to never having to worry about how much time you have left together, because you’d stayed; you weren’t leaving Brooklyn anymore.
Saying yes to that however, would mean saying goodbye London, to travelling. Exploring different cultures, trying new food, experiencing a part of the world you never thought you could reach as a child. No more reading in motel rooms until midnight. No more tours around cities with a camera wrapped around your neck. No more living the life you’d been dreaming of since you’d barely started middle school — you weren’t ready to let go of that just yet, and Bucky didn’t have to read your mind to know that.
“I’m not gonna ask you to stay again,” He declared, prompting you to raise a brow. “I’m not gonna be a jackass and make you stay if that’s not what you wanna do.”
To his joy, your frown slowly curled into a soft smile. “I know your heart’s in the right place, Buck. That you weren’t trying to start an argument. And— and I can’t stop you from waiting for me if that’s what you wanna do. I’ll be back at some point, but I just don’t want you to put your life on hold for me, you know?”
“I wouldn’t be puttin’ it on hold. I wasn’t planning on finding someone I— I liked so much ever, really. I don’t know if it’ll happen again,”
Your heart — it was going to explode. Who knew you’d ever meet someone that had the power to make you feel so... disgustingly lovesick.
“...unless you happen to take a liking to a London boy while you’re there...?”
You chuckled, a warm sound amid the cool night. “London, Paris, Berlin... none of those boys will ever come close to the one I have in Brooklyn.”
A wide grin spread across the biker’s lips. “Who’s the sap now, huh?”
With a playful eye roll, you couldn’t help but place your hand on Bucky’s jaw, caressing it with your thumb as you leaned in and captured his lips.
He reacted immediately, putting a hand on your outer thigh to pull you closer to his side.
Wherever you were in the world, you’d always have Bucky in Brooklyn — he hoped that you didn’t doubt that.
* * *
Too many mornings spent lazing in Bucky’s bed meant that reality hadn’t yet set in after a few minutes of being awake. It was so natural at this point, to wake up and feel the warmth of him next to you, to have your legs tangled with his and to feel his nose grazing against the back of your neck.
Turning around in his arms, you leaned in and laid a kiss on his nose, smirking at the way he scrunched it in response before pinching at your bare hip. You smacked his hand away before settling your head back against the pillow, gazing at him through your lashes.
“Have I ever told you beautiful you are?” You asked without a second thought.
Heat evidently pooled in Bucky’s cheeks, and you rested a hand on the side of his face before he could roll himself over to hide his embarrassment.
“I’m serious.” You pressed.
“I know,” He grinned, voice raspy with sleep; he knew you never lied to him, you were as honest as they got. “And no, you haven’t told me.”
“Well, now I have. You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”
“Shut up.”
“Never.”
Bucky sighed, tracing a hand down the curve of your back. He could keep you there forever, laying so close to him and calling him beautiful. If someone would’ve told him at the start of the summer that this was where he’d be by the end of it, he would’ve laughed in their face. “Where’d that come from, huh? You’re being scarily nice.”
“I’m trying to be sentimental, jerk.”
“Oh, right,” He smirked. “Just like last night when you told me to fuck—”
You interrupted him with a finger pressed to his lips. “I think that was pretty sentimental in its own way, actually.”
“Uh-huh,” Bucky kissed your fingertip gently. He had a feeling you were being a little softer than usual since the circumstances of the day were different. You weren’t sure when your next moment like this would be, if there ever would be one. Truthfully, there was an ache in his heart that was caused by that thought too. He sighed, almost sadly. “What time’s your flight?”
“Eleven.”
“Well, I think that leaves us enough time for me to show you how beautiful I think you are...” He trailed his hand lower down your spine and followed the curve of your ass.
You smirked, glancing over your shoulder to the small clock sat on the bedside table. It was nearly nine. There was just over an hour until you had to be at the airport...
“Thirty minutes, then we have to get up. Peggy will be up and banging on the door for us otherwise.”
“More than enough time, baby.”
That was a lie, however. It wasn’t nearly enough time, because once the two of you finally pried yourselves out from underneath the sheets, it hit you that that was the last time in a long time that you’d wake up in Bucky’s bed. The last time you’d be able to have him so close to you. It made you wonder what life would’ve been like if you met him before you first left to travel. If you’d fallen for him that hard so long ago, would you even have left Brooklyn in the first place?
You both took your time getting dressed, you tossing on a tank top and some leggings from your packed suitcase while Bucky put on his signature biker attire. He smugly asked if he could keep a pair of your underwear as a memoir; you told him to go fuck himself before planting a kiss on his lips. It was amazing how quickly he could switch between acting like a dick and being a sweetheart. You’d miss that, admittedly.
Everyone was eating breakfast in the kitchen when the two of you made it downstairs, the sound of your suitcase thumping against the steps signalling your presence. It was rare that you and Bucky ever saw the morning outside of his bedroom in the clubhouse, and that was proved by the raised brows and mock gasps you recieved when you entered into the room. You rested the suitcase against the doorframe as Bucky strided towards the counter, clearly eyeing the half-full pack of cigarettes placed on there.
As he reached for them, Steve looked up from his bacon and eggs, a frown pulling at his lips. “Hey, you can’t just smoke and call it breakfast.”
“I haven’t had breakfast for months,” The brunet snorted. “Don’t think it matters that much.”
“Have some coffee at least?” Steve pushed.
Cocking his brow, Bucky glanced over to you in hope of you having his back. It wasn’t like you’d had breakfast since before summer either, but you weren’t going to let the guy smoke for breakfast. Not when everyone else had a hot meal and the scent alone was making your mouth water.
“How about we get something at the airport?” You offered, strolling over to the seat next to Peggy and sitting down.
“You’re not going the airport so soon, are you?” She asked, sipping her coffee.
“Well, my flight leaves in two hours—”
The brunette almost choked on her coffee, prompting Steve to gently pat her back as she recovered. “Two hours? Oh my— why are you sitting down? We need to go—”
“Would you calm down?” You chuckled, placing a hand on Peggy’s forearm as she started to rise from her seat. She was right, though. You were cutting it very short by still being at the clubhouse when you wanted to grab some breakfast too. You moved your gaze to Bucky. “I mean, maybe we should go now...”
While he looked reluctant to nod, Bucky did so anyway, grabbing the keys to his motorcycle from his designated hook on the the wall next to the light switch.
“Hey genius, how am I gonna put my suitcase on your bike?” You furrowed your brows, grinning as the realisation hit him.
“Uh...”
“Bucky can take you on his bike,” The blond perked up, standing next to his girlfriend. “Peg and I can take the jeep with your suitcase.”
Looking to your best friend for permission, you smiled when she gave you a sure nod. She knew how much it would mean to you if your were able to ride with Bucky one more time. “Go on, we’ll be right behind you.”
After thanking her, you grabbed your suitcase and said your goodbyes to those sitting around the table. Though you didn’t speak to them as much as you’d wished you had, you’d still miss them. You all shared the same sense of humour, having a laugh with them was easy when you spent the day with the group, even when you were all simply lazing around the clubhouse. You gave each of them a quick hug, rolling your eyes when Clint told you to ‘have a right good time in London’ with a horrible English accent.
Bucky lead you out of the house, handing you a helmet and kissing the crown of your head quickly before climbing onto the bike. He didn’t say anything as you got on behind him, enveloping his waist and comfortably setting your chin on his shoulder. With every passing moment, you could tell that he wasn’t looking forward to finally waving you off at the airport. Usually when he was getting grumpy, you’d make a stupid comment about it and it seemed to cheer him up; it didn’t feel right to do so in this instance.
So as the the bike roared to life, you turned to look at the clubhouse. The place where you’d spent the majority of your summer, where you’d met everyone, where you’d met Bucky, where you’d kissed him for the first time, done other things for the first time. It’d become another home to you in a way, like a place you’d always be welcome back to. You hoped you’d always be welcome there anyway, even after being gone for months on end once you stepped onto your flight.
It’d barely taken thirty minutes to get to JFK Airport, Peggy’s jeep only a few cars behind you as you wound through the streets of New York. Bucky noticed when you didn’t start cussing out the bad drivers that were practically skimming the side of his bike like always, your head never leaving its place against his back. It was unlike you, but he didn’t mind. Perhaps like him you were just savouring the moment, the last ride you’d have for a while. Christ, Bucky had never felt so many emotions at once. He didn’t know whether to fall to his knees and beg you not to forget him or to kiss you passionately and tell you he’d be waiting for your return. To maintain his dignity, he decided against the former option.
Almost too fast for your liking, you arrived just outside of the entrance, climbing off the motorcycle reluctantly and spying the jeep just coming to park behind you. It wouldn’t be able to stay parked there for long, and you felt an ache in your chest as you saw Peggy stepping out of her car, Steve not far behind her pulling your suitcase along.
He handed it to you with a smile which you returned as you took it from him. Setting it beside you, you let out a sad chuckle upon realising how glazed over Peggy’s eyes were.
“I’m not about to cry, before you say anything,” She stated, plastering on a grin. “It’s just allergies.”
“Allergies my ass,” You smirked, stepping forward and wrapping your arms around her neck, grinning into her shoulder as she hugged you back tightly. You spoke again, this time more quietly next to her ear. “I love you, okay? And I won’t hesitate to fly back here and beat Steve’s ass if he does anything, I swear.”
Truthfully, you didn’t think Steve was capable of hurting a fly, never mind the smartest, kindest, most gorgeous woman you knew. However, Jay-Z was capable of cheating on Beyoncé — Beyoncé, so being a little sceptical of any man you met wasn’t unreasonable, in your opinion.
“I appreciate the gesture, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” She chuckled. “You just focus on looking after yourself, alright?”
“Right,” You responded. “And... you’ll keep an eye on Bucky for me, won’t you?”
It wasn’t that you didn’t trust Bucky, or that you wanted a daily report of what he was up to while you were gone. You just wanted to know that he was going to be okay. Being apart would be hard on both of you, but you’d been doing the ‘being alone’ thing for over a year now, and you had a feeling that there was more to how he felt about you leaving than he was letting on. Even when he said he wasn’t going to ask you to stay again, you still felt like he wasn’t as okay with the situation as he was acting to be.
“Of course I will, Steve too,” The brunette assured you, giving you a final squeeze before beginning to pull back. “I love you too,” She sighed, returning to her place stood next to Steve. “Right, you know where you’re going after you arrive, yes? If not, you can call me and I’ll give you directions to the motel. If you’re hungry I know there’s a takeaway place just outside of the airport—”
“Pegs, I’ll be fine. I’m going to London, not Narnia.”
“Just— just be safe, okay?”
“Can’t make any promises.”
“_____—”
“I’m kidding! How about you learn to take a joke while I’m gone, huh?”
You smiled as Peggy rolled her eyes in amusement. Perhaps she wouldn’t be as amused if she knew about what happened with Brock Rumlow at the bar. You decided you’d tell her in London when you were in a whole other continent, otherwise she might not have let you leave in fear that you’d be getting into more trouble at English bars with assholes like Brock. Even if you did, Peggy knew you weren’t soft, you could handle yourself. She just worried that you were a little too unafraid of confrontation.
Turning to Bucky and picking your suitcase back up, you have him a slight tug on his hand. “We should probably go for breakfast now, I’ll be boarding soon.”
He nodded, offering to take your suitcase and rolling his eyes when you made a comment about him being ‘such a gentlemen’. You gave the blond a quick hug, warning him to take care of Peggy and grinning as he teased you about being more like her mother than her best friend, before saying a final goodbye to the two of them, giving your friend’s hand a final squeeze and turning away to head into the airport.
There was just over an hour until you had to be on the plane, so you and Bucky decided to head into cafe near the entrance and get a proper breakfast. Two steaming black coffees sat opposite each other on the small booth in the corner you were sat at, complimenting the stacks of pancakes dripping in syrup and sugar that you’d impulsively ordered and that Bucky had insisted on paying for, saying that you should save all your cash for exploring London.
“I’ll probably come back for Christmas.” You said in repsonse to him asking how long you’d be travelling for this time, stuffing a sliced bit of pancake into your mouth.
Bucky furrowed his brows. “Really? You’re not staying away until summer again?”
You cocked your brow, looking at him in the corner of your eye. “Why, do you want me to?”
“Course not,” He smirked, reaching out to swipe a drop of syrup from your lip with his thumb. “I hope that means you’re getting me a Christmas present then.”
A chuckle left your lips. “My return will be your Christmas present, how about that?”
The biker scoffed. “Okay... getting to kiss me when you get back will be your present then.”
“Eh... can’t you think of something better?”
He glared at you playfully, though you felt a little bad making the joke. You knew from the argument the night before that he wasn’t still one hundred percent okay with you leaving. Comfortingly, you placed a hand above his knee over his dark jeans.
“In all seriousness, though— I shouldn’t have told you not to wait for me to come back. If that’s what you really want, I can’t stop you from waiting for me. In fact, just seeing you again will be the best thing I’ll get on Christmas; I know it. Well, unless someone gets me some rollerblades. I always wanted them as a kid but my mom refused since I have issues with ‘being careful’—”
Bucky’s laugh cut you off, rolling his eyes at your attempt at covering up your sappy words with sarcasm. He could definitely understand why you never got rollerskates, however — you did have a tendency to be a little reckless. God knows what you were like as a kid.
“I’d have to agree with her on that one,” He smiled, sipping his coffee. “You have been punched in the face more times than the average person. You never told me about the other time you got punched, actually.”
A chuckle fell from your lips. “You remember me mentioning that?”
“Uh-huh.”
You sighed melodramatically. “I guess we have some time to kill — fine. So I was, surprise-surprise, in some random bar in Chicago...”
The hour you had left before your flight finished soon after you’d told Bucky enough stories from your travels to last him in your absence, and before you knew it, you’d reached the flight terminal.
There was an invisible force tugging at your heartstrings. While you were bubbling with excitement to get on your flight, to explore a whole new place outside of what you’ve always known, you hadn’t anticipated how hard it would be to leave what you did know behind. The thought of depending on somebody else, allowing yourself to let their feelings come into play with your decisions, had practically disgusted you only a few months ago. But with Bucky, it only felt wrong to cast his feelings aside.
The biker noticed the change in your demeanour as you neared the terminal, and a smile crept onto his lips. “C’mon, _____ — don’t tell me you’re gonna pussy out on leaving now.”
“Shut up,” You scoffed, elbowing his ribs. “I’m just... thinking.”
“About what?”
It took you a moment to come up with an answer. “About how everything has changed, and how everything is going to keep changing.”
You turned to look at Bucky, whose brows were furrowed. The corners of your lips upturned. “Bucky, nothing in my life is consistent. I’ve always liked travelling because where I am changes all the time, and I never feel stuck anywhere; I always feel free. And with you, I don’t feel stuck either. I want you to be a constant in my life, no matter where I am in the world or whatever else changes in it. I always wanted to get out of Brooklyn ‘cause it never felt like where I was supposed to be forever, but now I know that you’re here... well, maybe Brooklyn is where I’m supposed to end up...”
“...and I swear to God if you call me a sap for that—”
To your delight, you’re not teased for the most heartfelt thing you’d ever said to him, or anyone for that matter, but cut off with a intense kiss. Savouring the feeling, you placed a hand on the back of Bucky’s neck, letting yourself melt into him for one last time that summer. You’d found that Bucky wasn’t necessarily vocal in expressing his feelings, but that didn’t matter. The way he kissed you said more than a thousand words ever could.
After reluctantly pulling away from the kiss, Bucky didn’t let you go just yet. He wrapped his arms around your shoulders and held you to his chest, an affectionate action that he didn’t necessarily do so often. Nevertheless, you leaned into him and let your arms encircle his waist, your cheek resting comfortably against his shoulder. This wasn’t the last time you’d be so close to him, you had to keep reminding yourself of that. But you’d never felt so hesitant to leave someone behind since you’d left Peggy the first time you left New York. You found your way back to her, though, and you were sure you’d do the same with Bucky.
“On second thought, I’d be fine if you pussied out of leaving now...” He spoke into your ear, making you chuckle against his chest.
“I’m no wuss, Bucky Barnes,” You moved back from his embrace, patting his jacket. “You’ll see me again soon, don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”
The feminine voice over the intercom informing you that your direct flight to London was departing soon cut your final moments with Bucky short, enabling the both of you to let out a disheartened sigh.
You leaned forward once more, pressing a soft but fleeting kiss to his lips, before giving his hand a squeeze. “Stay out of trouble, will you? At least until I get back?”
“I think I should be the one tellin’ you that,” Bucky laughed, his eyes taking in the curve of your nose and your cheekbones, the colour of your eyes and the softness of your lips; the features he’d had the luxury of waking up to every day for the past two months. Not that he could ever forget how beautiful you are, but he’d be a fool not to take advantage of looking at you properly in the flesh for the last time for a while. “Running away from a fight isn’t a bad thing, you know.”
“Practise what you preach, pal — does that mean you won’t be socking Brock Rumlow in the face next time you run into him?”
“...touché.”
A grin graced your lips as you clasped your fingers around the handle of your suitcase. “Mhm, that’s what I thought. Now, I’ve gotta get going. There might be a fight waiting for me on the plane already — a forty-five year old lady named ‘Karen’ that’s upset she didn’t get the window seat, perhaps?”
“Well, I can’t keep you waiting, can I?” Bucky stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets, watching as you began to walk in the opposite direction to him, the opposite direction to the summer you’d forever hold dear to your heart.
The smile on your face widened, your last words to him falling from your lips before you turned around and headed towards the next part of your journey, which would eventually, hopefully, lead you back to him in the end.
“I’ll see you when I’m back home.”
Home. Where you belonged. Where you’d circle back to when you’d travelled across the world and back. With him, in Brooklyn.
“See you when you’re back home, baby.”
There was a time when you didn’t believe in love. When you thought that those who did were only fooling themselves, and when you once told your best friend that you’d never fall in love. Maybe you’d proved yourself wrong with Bucky.
The reason you’d always told yourself that love wasn’t real was because you never knew what it was, how it felt. However, if it felt like gliding through a sunlit sky with all the time in the world to spare, with all the space around you to explore; if it felt like finding home in more than just four walls and a roof, but in two bright blue eyes and a soul just as carefree as yours (...and a worn out leather jacket...), then maybe you had fallen in love with Bucky.
Perhaps when you returned home, you’d let him know.
-
@dark-academics-and-florals @thefallenbibliophilequote @kimvmarvel @broco8 @domolovee @barnestruck @igotkatiepowers
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missinghan · 4 years
Text
to my youth ⤖ lee felix
❖ genre : summer au; high school au; fluff
❖ word count : 11,6k.
❖ warning : explicit language, slow burn
❖ summary : it is official that life hates you because not only was your first few days of summer ruined by a stupid field trip, but things also got somewhat freaky… whatever kind of ‘freaky’ you’re thinking about.
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❖ note : i know i said i’m ‘experimenting’ with new stuff but guess who’s back with another mediocre, not-that-well-written mess of a domestic au; please (kindly) yell at me to dabble into a new genre after bearing through this fic- happy reading!
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one.
The echoes of your summer days remain as flowers immune to the winter chill, they say.
You’re not entirely sure who even fathomed their time and effort to come up with that statement but from your point of view, those flowers would most likely have either died out from the summer heat or withered horrendously because of the arbitrary showers of rain. Or you’re the only one who doesn’t have the luxury to see life through a rose-colored lens.
Because the first thing that comes to mind for you is the bucket of ice-cream and a YouTube OG that you’ve ceased to finish since finals started two weeks ago. The bell rings, pens down, everyone pours out of the classroom after handing in their exam papers. No one really bothers to check up on each other’s answers anymore; the last subject for today was AP Psych and you don’t know about them but you honestly can’t care any less thereafter cramming the entirety of five chapters. 
Sprinting down the staircase, you easily spot Felix amongst the midst of drowsy high school students for the bright color of his hair. He truly believes that if he slaps enough hair essence and coconut oil on his head four times a week, his hair won’t feel like straws when he changes it every other three weeks. But it’s only a matter of time before balding catches up to him, he’ll learn eventually.
“Please don’t tell me that you left your keys in class,” you sigh upon the sight of him fumbling with his folders and textbooks while trying to open his locker in vain. Just thinking about walking all the way back to the third floor makes you want to use your backpack as a pillow and take a nice nap in the middle of the hallway.
“Gee, Y/N,” Felix makes a face to not show the sense of relief washing over him when he locks eyes with you. “Who do you take me as? A clumsy person?”
“No, just a dumbass.” You coldly snatch a slipping book from his arms before turning to twist the disc in the combination of your birthday until the lock clicks, shaking the shackle off to swing his locker open. It’s a silent tradition that you both set each other’s birthday as your locker’s combination since elementary school; it started out as a stupid joke at first but neither of you really bothered to change it. 
“Why the hell would you put your keys in the locker?” you widen your eyes in disbelief as he grabs the bright yellow Spongebob plushie to collect his keys with a shit-eating grin
“My alarm didn’t go off today, so I was running a little late,” he defends himself while dumping everything out of his backpack, hugging an empty water bottle to his side. 
You throw a wave at a very tired Hyunjin walking side by side with Seungmin on his right and Jisung skipping happily towards your direction. Seungmin looks exceptionally moody today, you pray he didn’t mess up an easy question to take it out on all of you later in the car. “Bet you were staying up late to play Overwatch with Chan.” 
Felix manages to grin stiffly at your comment, turning on his heels and trudges onto the school’s parking lot. “Fine, walk home.” 
“Hey, you forgot to lock this!” you pull his steps into a halt by making a grab for his hand, utterly oblivious at how his cheeks flare up with a bright shade of red at your touch. Or out of embarrassment. Whatever, same thing. 
Felix might be a better driver than you, but he’d be fired ten seconds into the job of a babysitter.
With that being said, when Jeongin decides it’s a good idea to cheer a passive-aggressive, post-exams Seungmin up with a carton of strawberry milk and then proceeds to get lost in his own school, the very same school he’s been attending for who knows how long, you’re the one who manually pulls his ass back into Mrs. Lee’s Jeep within ten minutes. 
And Seungmin has already fallen asleep by the time Jeongin’s back, so now he’s the passive-aggressive one while sipping on the milk bitterly. Either way, this is why you headcount although there are only six of you after Changbin starts getting busy with his college applications. 
“What took you so long?” Jisung looks up from his phone the moment you climb into the passenger’s seat, clicking in your seatbelt (drive safe, kids). 
You immediately feel the need to snap a photo of Jeongin accidentally breaking the cafeteria’s door with the staff running towards him in a panic. They’re more scared for his life than the door itself and that’s… sweet to say the least but with the way that the embarrassed boy is glaring at you through the rear-view mirror, you decide to keep your lips sealed. 
“It’s getting dark so all hallways start to look the same, you genius.”
Jisung momentarily sticks his tongue out at you. “God, you’re so rude to me. You’d never talk to Felix like that.”
“Because,” you drawl. “Lix is a pure-hearted angel descended from the realms of Heaven. Whereas, even Lucifer would see you as an eyesore in hell.”
“See! You’re doing it again!” Jisung points a finger at you in accusation, jumping up and down in his seat but no one really cares. It’s not like you’re speaking any false facts. “Stop bullying me!”
Seungmin shifts his body a little, nose scrunched up at the noises that wake him right up. “Jisung,” he warns his friend without opening his eyes. “Sit the fuck down, you have five seconds.”
Felix smirks when Jisung immediately cowers, slumping and leaning himself against Hyunjin in utter defeat. He learned not to mess with Seungmin after throwing a wallet at him on impulse. “Jealous much, Han?” 
“Nah, she’s all yours bro,” Jisung waves it off tiredly; bickering and making fun of Felix’s gigantic crush on you is too much for his brain to process today. He can really use a long, solid twelve-hour summer hibernation after getting home. 
The statement prompts Felix to look over at you when there’s a red light—the same exact moment as you stop staring at the bakery from across the road to lock eyes with him. There’s a little spark igniting at the pit of his stomach, stirring up butterflies inside his rib cage. But he snaps out of it after seeing you raise a brow at him, implying a silent ‘what?’ before turning away again. Felix has always been the type to stare so you don’t bother to think about it too much. 
The problem is: he only stares at you that way. 
A shade of coral creeps its way up to his cheeks, his gaze averting back on the roads when the light turns green. As Felix tries to calm the erratic tempo of his heartbeat, he also thinks about how much time he’d have left to confess before high school is over and everyone takes their own different paths. Then again, the future is far too blurry for him to make out anything and the thought of changes petrifies him a bit too much. 
Felix wishes to hold your hand until the very end but he’s a little scared...because what if you never wanted to be with him in the first place?
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two.
Your brother has one talent, and that’s his ability to irritate the living daylight out of you even when he’s practically on the other side of the planet.
Minho (un)fortunately finished his finals with flying colors, and inevitably, you’re the first victim to receive a series of texts that consisted of nothing but self-indulgent, excessive bragging. Basically, he’s allowed to do whatever slash go wherever for a good three weeks before his summer internship begins, dragging his dumb ass back to hell—where he rightfully belongs. 
He’s probably chomping on a terribly unhealthy amount of pizza, pretzels, and any type of New York street food that you can name from the top of your head. It’s not like he’s paying for them anyway since Chan doesn’t allow people to touch their wallets if they happen to eat out with him. 
Your phone vibrates obnoxiously on your desk, the judder slightly muffled because it’s lying on top of your wide-open psych textbook. You haven’t bothered with cleaning up yet; finals only ended yesterday and you decide that you won’t touch anything until the disarray starts to scrape against your nerves. 
Side note: you’ve specifically told everyone not to call you three consecutive days after finals because yes, you’re that much of a loner, and yes, your stamina level for tolerating human interaction is awfully low. 
Second side note: no one ever listens. 
“Good morning, this is Lee Minho’s personal bullshit pail,” you mumble after your thumb swipes against the screen to pick up, your limbs curled up on the floor. “How can I possibly help you today?” Your morning voice isn’t necessarily threatening but rather scary; according to what Minho claimed, it sounds identical to that creepy girl from The Grudge so he groans aloud, his voice suddenly going out of focus on the other line from pulling his phone away.
“Jesus Christ are you still in your hermit phase after finals?” he questions callously, sounding not at all pleased with the way you greeted him. “Where’s mom and dad? Usually, they would have slammed your ass by now for staying inside like a vampire.”
“Don’t be insufferable, it’s only like…” you trail off while bending forward to take a good look at the little Sumiko Gurashi alarm on your bookshelf that Felix gave you during middle school. “Nine thirty-something and they’re at the park to exercise, duh- why do you care?”
Your brother almost sings on the phone, “Because you’re my little baby sister-” And this prompts you to pull the device away for the sake of your poor ear. It doesn’t help when you’re already surrounded by a group full of obnoxiously loud individuals on a daily basis. Not trying to call anyone out but Han Jisung is at the top of the list, his name in bold, capital letters being circled and underlined multiple times with a red marker.
“Who do I gotta kill to sleep in on a dreadful Sunday morning as any normal, cranky, antisocial high school student would?” you deadpan and rub the bridge of your nose dreadfully. 
“I don’t know, go murder Jisung or something.” Honestly, that’s tempting… but no.
You can physically see the smug smile on his face right now, simpering in delight at your imminent misery. He knows goddamn well about your relationship with sleeping schedules and that’s the perfect excuse for him to ruin those little specks of time when your brain cells are getting an actual break. 
These are also the times when you wish phones don’t fucking exist. 
“By the way, are you gonna go on the field trip tomorrow?” 
This question wakes you up almost completely because your eyes are now wide as a fish’s out of water, your hand automatically putting him on speaker before digging through the folders inside your backpack. What field trip? No one said anything about a field trip. And who thought it’s a good idea to force some worn-out, post-exams, sleep-deprived students into a field trip right after finals?
Minho hums coyly when the only response he’s getting is the rustling sound from your backpack, “Hmm, see what I meant there, little sis? Oh, the downside of living under a rock at its finest.” He doesn’t have to be here for you to fully picture the way that his lips curl up, dark brows wiggling whenever he’s right about something. Your brother wins most of the time against other people but overtaking you is an entirely different story.
“Oh screw off and go buy yourself a sense of humor.”
“Don’t be so mopey, isn’t Felix gonna be there?”
“What does Felix have to do with this?” you grit after managing to pull out a piece of paper from the very back, buried under countless of your essays. And it reads ‘field trip’ in caps at the top with tomorrow’s date right beneath. The trip lasts for three days, you’re going camping with the grizzly bears for three days—a total nightmare, basically. 
“Pfft, you’re actually dense for someone with a sparkly report card,” he sneers. “That kid has been crushing on you since elementary school. Are the signals that fucked up?”
“You mean when I accidentally spilled orange juice over his head? Sure, bet that’s why he’s so head over heels for me,” you snicker, unfazed by these kinds of statements. Minho only knows Felix because he was the president of your school's dance club and you fully believe that your brother is simply trying to mess with your malfunctioning, cranky mindset. 
“I fucking beg to differ, he always stares at you like you’re the love of his life, even when you stupidly poked yourself with a needle,” Minho announces as if he’s a love expert, tsk, amateur. “He might just confess during the trip, who knows? Campfire flickering. Sharing the same s’mores. Surrounded by nature. That sounds romantically ideal to me for a confession.”
He’s visioning everything like a terrible cliché film where two high schoolers stubbornly deny their feelings for each other until they start noticing how cute the other person is while magically being forced to be alone together. The worst kind of high school movie—which is also almost every high school movie. And you best believe that you’d a hundred percent kick your brother’s ass off that director’s chair because people live and breathe for this kind of overused entertainment. Tragic. 
“Alright, fuck this, I’m out-“
“Wait!” Minho exclaims out of nowhere, almost blowing up your eardrums. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
You swear you’re rolling your eyes so hard, they’re about to fall out of their respective sockets. “Well, obviously,” you put the piece of paper down with a sigh, contemplating ways to minimize the amount of socializing in the upcoming three days. “Haven’t you bothered me enough? No?”
“You can’t leave me like this,” he whines in an annoyingly high-pitched voice that sends chills down your spine. 
“You need me, we’re connected.” 
He sounds like a whack version of Minnie Mouse for a second there, the kind of plushie that looks cute but with disturbingly creepy voice audio; no parents would let their children go near that aisle. 
You yawn as if there’s no tomorrow, stretching your limbs tiredly. “What I need is for you to shut the fuck up and leave me alone so I can go on my merry way to pick up snacks for this stupid field trip,” you utter lifelessly. 
“You hurt my feelings,” Minho pretends to clutch onto his chest and lets out a dramatic gasp, his voice doused in pure sarcasm. “What a heartbreaker, Y/N.” Said the one who always keeps his apathetic front up like a fortress’ wall and tosses every single love letter on Valentine’s Day into the recycling bin, handing the chocolate out to his classmates like he’s giving leftover vegetables to his least favorite relatives.
“Oh, I can tell,” you reply with fake enthusiasm and mock empathy. “You know how I can tell?”
“Do not finish th-”
“Cause we’re connected.” With that you hang up, slamming your phone harshly onto the surface of your textbook. 
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three. 
You might love your room a little too much, it’s getting somewhat unhealthy.
It was furnished with a rather meager budget after your family moved out of your hometown when you stepped into elementary school. Things stay the same, well, most of it as time passes by you unknowingly. Your sad bookcase used to exist for one sole purpose—carrying countless books and plushies has now been upgraded with too many polaroids of your dumb group of friends, a neatly framed photo of Class of 2020 and two trophies that don’t even belong to you since Minho ran out of space as he kept participating in random dance competitions. 
The morning beams find their way through your white curtains and stain your walls with patches of yellow, eventually bugging your vision until you successfully convince yourself to either 1) wake up and get ready for school or 2) lazily stride across your room to shut the blinds completely so you can head back to bed. It’s summer… so option one is temporarily non-existent for a solid three months. 
Hey, you’re just simply making up for those all-nighters with a new cup of coffee every two hours.
Speaking of your bed, it’s soft but takes up so much space to the point that Hyunjin keeps complaining about not having enough room for his legs when he’s sprawled across the floor with Jisung, vigorously focusing on a presentation’s outline. Seungmin calls you lame for not throwing away your childhood plushies and letting them hog at least one-third of your bed, but Felix doesn’t mind since he always needs something to hug. All the more reasons why you can only trust Felix.
You might miss having those idiots being loud and invading your personal space...maybe.
Your phone rings for the second time that morning when you’re walking downstairs, shoving your keys into your pocket and grabbing a protein bar on the counter. “I’m not in the mood for your bullshit right now, Minho,” you bark into the device, chewing on your breakfast aggressively, not bothering to look at the caller’s ID.
The closest convenience store is only twenty minutes away from your house but there’s a sticky note on the fridge from your mom, reminding you that she needs eggs to bake cupcakes for her company’s twentieth anniversary while your dad is running low on his Red Bulls. Basically, you’re in distress. It’s not like your dad should be inhaling those sugary drinks on a daily basis and your mom can just buy premade goods from the bakery. But there are more options for snacks at the supermarket…
“Y/N, the fuck?” The response of a voice as deep as the Pacific ocean almost makes you choke on air. “Did I wake you up or something?” Felix sounds flabbergasted on the other line, slightly taken aback. You almost feel bad because he’s the only sweetheart in your chaotic squad (besides Chan, obvi) except when he stays up late gaming with Hyunjin, pleading for your notes the next morning with puppy eyes.
“No, Minho did,” you grumble before tossing the wrapping into a bin.
“You don’t say,” Felix replies flatly, but his voice soon grows merry again after pushing the topic of your brother aside. “Oh, and I’m coming over to return your earphones, wanna grab breakfast?”
He practically lives ten minutes away from you, sees you almost every day even if it’s the weekend since he can’t stay in the same house with his sisters for too long and puts you on FaceTime every night to prevent himself from slacking off on assignments. The only time he didn’t get to see you for a week straight was when he visited Australia and accidentally dropped his phone into the ocean. It was a rough week without you nagging him for doing something stupid. Fundamentally, he’s merely making up more excuses to spend time with you after finals.
Chuckling, “Only if you’re treating me, I’m about to go broke from buying snacks for our field trip tomorrow.” you say breezily. 
And you’re only telling him that because he might just pay for your snacks as well since Felix Lee eats freshly grilled steak and mashed potato for breakfast. Baffling, absolutely. Plus, he works at a boba shop every summer either way and he would never hesitate to spend the entirety of his paycheck on any of his close friends. Irrelevant but the point is: you kinda don’t wanna go out alone today.
Or you’re just in the mood to go with Felix. That’s a useless statement since you both see each other at least ten out of twenty-four hours per day. 
“By the way, you know what I just realized?” Felix smacks his palm on his forehead. “This is our last field trip, like ever.”
Walking over to the rack of shoes down the hallway, you let out a large exhale. “That’s unfortunate on your behalf. I, on the other hand, don’t have a problem with that,” you tell him with zero consideration, your brain cells too busy picking out a pair of shoes to process the five basic steps to empathize with another human being. 
“No,” he emphasizes helplessly. “I meant, it’s like our last high school field trip. We’re graduating next year, no time to sleep with the grizzly bears again.”
You can only manage to utter, “Oh.” Shit, college is right around the corners. 
“Jesus fucking Christ what the hell am I supposed to do after high school? Stay here? Go abroad? Wait, aren’t applications for going abroad supposed to be turned in a year beforehand? Why are you only telling me this now!?” 
Felix laughs wholeheartedly through the phone, amused at your sudden outburst. “Y/N, calm down. You’re going to college, not prison,” he brushes it off casually but in a way, college is technically prison. Slaving over a degree while working part-time jobs, chasing time relentlessly like you’re driving in the middle of a foggy night with one headlight out. And you’re forced to open up with more strangers. It’s terrifying, actually terrifying. And you’re not the type to be easily terrified. 
Now come to think about it, you don’t get why you were so pressed about it five seconds ago. It’s a good opportunity not to leech off your parents as much, like dabbling, taking one baby step at a time into adulthood. After that, you’ll graduate again, probably settle somewhere with an adequate job and find someone, starting to think about having ki-
Hold up, you’re going too far. You’re barely a senior. 
“I guess we’ll just have to make the most out of this summer,” Felix’s voice snaps you back to the surface of Earth faster than a tick of a clock. “We’re outside, by the way. Open up.”
That fast? Furrowing your brows, you hang up to slip into a pair of sneakers before sprinting to the front door. Wait, your hand freezes as it grazes the doorknob. We?
Not again. 
“Why the fuck..” you cracks a lifelessly crooked smile after pushing the door wide open. “..are you here?” It’s only ten in the morning, and you don’t think you should be screaming at the top of your lungs to be jumped on by the whole neighborhood.
Felix takes a step back, a little scared for his life. “Uhh, to return your earphones?”
“No, no,” you run a hand through your hair tiredly. Just when you thought this day was gonna be peaceful. “I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about them. Since when was this an agreement? How dare-“
“Why yes, I missed you too!” Jisung exclaims like the little shit he is, throwing an arm over your neck to ruffle your hair. No one ruffles your hair without getting their ass slammed- except for Minho. “Why the long face? Let me guess, until this exact second, you thought there’s a fucking squirrel, a lama, a dog, and a kitten standing at your front porch? No, it’s us, your Forever BFFs.” He’s one of the reasons why you refuse to understand the humans’ language sometimes.
With a harsh shove from you, Jisung staggers backward only for Hyunjin to prevent him from rolling like a ball in the middle of your neighborhood. “One more word and I’m telling the whole class who your crush is,” you threaten, earning an involuntary snort from Seungmin. 
“I hate to admit this, but she might actually say yes if he makes the first move.”
Hyunjin supplies unconstructively, “That’s why he didn’t ask.”
“You know what, Hwang,” Felix says with a smirk tugging at his lips, bumping his fist against Hyunjin’s without turning his head. 
“Oh screw all of you.” Jisung’s getting all the attention he wanted this early in the morning yet he still feels like a loser. Perhaps he should try shutting up once in a while. 
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four.
“Thanks for giving me a ride, uncle, you really didn’t have to,” Felix says generously from your dad’s back seats, scratching the nape of his neck as though this is the first time he’s ever shared a ride with you. 
He’s too humble sometimes you just want to smack him across the face with a pillow to stop being so formal with your dad. Heck, Felix downright called him ‘dad’ by accident once during a Christmas dinner back in middle school and your dad even encouraged him to keep addressing him like that. 
Not to mention, Felix is chomping on a turkey sandwich that your mom made this morning specifically for him after finding out that his parents are currently out of town and there's nothing but ramen in the cabinet. God forbids her to starve the same kid who helped your dad fix his bumper. So really, he should be expecting these things by now. 
“Oh it’s not a big deal, you’re too nice,” your dad laughs as he pulls over to your school’s front gate, careful not to run into that one really tall, ugly tree. You’re lowkey paranoid that people might die if it collapses during a storm or something. “Perhaps you can return the favor by getting a drink with me sometimes.”
Felix blinks numerous times, slightly gobsmacked. “...but I’m not old enough to drink yet.”
“Correct answer.” And you snicker when your dad turns around to toss a wink at your friend’s direction. “Doesn’t mean that I’m forbidding you kids have fun,” he clarifies upon the baffled expression on Felix’s face. “But not too much fun, got it?”
“Okay, okay dad, I’ll see you in three days,” you shake your head before climbing out of the car. “Don’t starve the cats while I’m gone. Oh! And Soonie still needs his lactobacillus-“
Your dad brushes it off with a sheepish smile, “I’ll leave it to your mom, muffin, I can’t even remember which dry food is for which cat. I also don’t think they’ll be starving anytime soon, those little demons are getting quite fat actually since your brother spoils them all the time.” You can only give him a mere eye-roll because as much as he claims to hate having pets, there have been countless times when you caught your dad red-handed trying to tuck the cats into bed in the middle of the night. 
Felix soon catches up with your steps after bidding him farewell, crumpling the sandwich wrapper in his palm. “Wait up, muffin,” he says breathlessly with a few skips, starting to think about not skipping dance practice again this summer before his body gets out of shape. 
“Shut up,” you grumble, followed by a harsh elbow jabbed into his side. Felix grunts in pain, slowing down a little but still tries to walk side by side with you nonetheless. “You don’t deserve that complimentary breakfast, I’m telling mom to cut your portion off next time.” 
“Ah! Come on, muffin! You’re being mean.”
Your biggest fear has inevitably come true—after all those years of erratic mood swings and other weird things puberty puts you through, Felix still makes fun of you for the nickname that your parents came up with on your first day of school. It doesn’t help with the fact that he meets them quite often too. Like four out of seven days a week since your parents love coming over to each other’s house for dinner. 
“Flip that scowl upside down now, will you?” Felix cups your cheeks and squishes them together, attempting to make your smile by tugging at the corners of your lips. “Aren’t you excited about the trip?”
You scoff at him, “Are you even hearing yourself? My entire existence reeks off ‘excitement’ 24/7.” 
“That’s bullshit.”
“I’m not responsible for whatever happens next to your face.”
But when you reach up to peel his hands away, you’re bound to make a grave mistake by looking straight into his eyes. The morning light hits his face at the right angle and it makes him look like a puppy—which you wouldn't mind starting at all day. Although it’s not like you haven’t got a good look at him before, something’s different today. From the way his irises twinkle gently like thousands of celestial bodies to how his freckles scattered across his cheekbones like the remaining bits from a supernova, his full lips with a prominent Cupid’s bow and his cute crooked teeth. 
You know all of these things; perhaps you’ve never put too much thought into them before. Not when you’re constantly facepalming at him for doing stupid TikTok dances and trying to eat a banana with its peel on. But now when you actually acknowledge them, your heart momentarily skips a beat. Or two. 
Doesn’t matter, you hate this feeling either way. 
“Get a room, this is disgusting to watch.” 
Seungmin steps in between you two with his backpack slung over his shoulders, hands resting on his hip like he’s babysitting you and your biological parents don’t pay him enough for this tedious job. But Felix is too busy making sure that his eyes aren’t malfunctioning when he sees a pink tint on your cheeks to focus on whatever nonsense Seungmin is spewing at him. 
“Get on the bus, losers! Y’all are embarrassing me!” Hyunjin yells as he plants a foot onto the bus, trying his best not to be subtle about the fact that all of your classmates have already been seated. 
You can practically see Jisung making weird faces from the window and next to him is a very cranky-looking Jeongin with his earbuds plugged in, deciding not to tolerate any chit-chatting this morning. It’s a shame how the school’s always on a low budget when it comes to transportation; consequently, some random freshmen got squeezed in with your class. 
So you elect to ignore your friend’s questionable behaviors (sometimes you wonder what he’s on to be this zealous at six in the morning) and grabs Felix's hand to climb onto the vehicle before coach Kim kicks your ass for slowing the schedule down. 
As you shuffle down the narrow aisle, you quickly realize there are only two seats left at the very back—basically, you feel a little guilty for not getting a good spot for Felix but he doesn’t seem to mind because he taps you on the shoulder lightly, signaling for you to move.
“Ugh, I wanna go home,” you sigh, slumping into your seat after tucking your backpack neatly on the small compartment above. 
“You’re boring,” Felix comments flatly but he’s partially glad that he got to sit with you instead of some blabberer. “Need this?” Fishing his earphones out of his backpack, he wiggles the banana milk case in front of your face. 
You only nod lazily at the offer, causing him to huff in disbelief before slipping in a side of his AirPods into your ear. You both have pretty similar taste in music so you don’t mind when he puts one of his playlists on random and Fly Me to the Moon bleeds into your eardrums. The soft melody makes you yawn a little, eyelids getting droopy. 
“Tired.” Is the only warning Felix gets before you decide to drop your head onto his shoulders, slipping your arm around his torso comfortably like it’s a pillow. You personally don’t do cuddles but since he’s into those things and smells nice—very fruity, somewhat musky too, you might as well take advantage of that with the hope of sleeping throughout the entire ride. 
“What is wrong with you today?” he asks with glowing cheeks. 
“Shh shh, I’m recharging my battery.”
Felix is a little flustered, to say the least. But instead of complaining about your sudden clinginess, he rests his head on top of yours like second nature, allowing his childhood song to drown out some of the background chatters. 
You should really be clingy more often… though he’s not gonna risk his pearly white teeth by telling you that. 
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five. 
Your school actually knows how to manage money in a smart way. Shocker, you know. 
You are thrown off upon hearing that no one needs to worry about the grizzly bears, or wolves (hey, one can never be too careful) because everyone gets to share a log cabin with a maximum of three other people. 
In fact, the camp counselors have confirmed that even though they’re throwing a bunch of inexperienced, dumb high schoolers smacked in the middle of the wilderness, there’s really nothing to do other than boring team-building exercises...and fishing. In other words, the only creature that can somewhat do harm to you is mosquitoes. 
It’s been pouring nonstop when your classmates tried to set up the campfire with coach Kim screaming into their eardrums last night, no wonder those little shit are thriving to make your life more miserable—they’re in their element, reproducing at a terrifying pace. 
“Jesus Christ, Y/N!” 
Hyunjin clutches a hand to his chest in both relief and terror after realizing the curled up figure sitting by the window is just you. He steps inside the cabin completely and flings his wet bangs away from his face, shoving the umbrella in his hand into a stand by the shoe rack. “You look like shit, are you okay?” he furrows his brows, slightly concerned about your eyebags and the way your lips crack from dehydration.
A soulless smile finds its way to your face. “I’m pretty sure ‘shit’ and ‘okay’ aren’t supposed to be in the same sentence but thank you for asking, I appreciate it.”
Here’s another downside to being a homebody: you can’t fucking sleep on any other beds that aren’t yours. And surprisingly that two-hour nap on the bus wasn’t enough to fuel you for the rest of the trip. But lucky you, it’s most likely going to keep raining cats and dogs and trash pandas for the rest of the day. Outdoor activities are no longer mandatory and you can almost hear your non-existent muscles crying in sheer joy. 
“Drink,” Hyunjin sighs at your pathetic state and decides to toss a water bottle in your direction. 
However, all you do is retrieve your limbs deeper into Felix’s fluffy blanket since he refused to use the grey one that’s draped over every bed beforehand. You’re far beyond grateful for that because those fading, questionable-looking stains just scare the crap out of you. And also because the fluffy blanket smells like him; you rest your case.
“You were knocked out for the entire bus ride, so why the hell can’t you fall asleep on a decent bed?” Shaking his head, Hyunjin plops himself onto Jisung’s bed like a potato, accidentally knocking over the neatly folded pile of clothes. He really doesn’t give two flying fucks about the fact that his friend spent an excessive ten minutes to organize his stuff so coach Kim won’t be barging into their cabin with a megaphone at five in the morning again. 
“She can only fall asleep on Felix, that’s why.” You roll your eyes in the bitchiest way possible, not bothering to chuck the abandoned water bottle at the unwanted guest of this terrific conversation. 
Hyunjin almost lets out a shriek when Seungmin jolts up from his bed, hair messy, a leg sticking out from his comforter. “You know, until this exact moment, I thought that you were dead or something.”
“What I’m trying to say is,” Seungmin elaborates as he bends over to reach for his glasses with squinted eyes. “There’s a 99,9% that Felix will make the first move but at the same time, it doesn’t mean the other 0,01% won’t happen so you,” he jabs his index finger towards you. “Better be doing something other than walking around camp like a zombie.”
Hyunjin tilts his head in confusion. “Since when was this even a thing?” You’re this close to have a permanent hand imprint on your forehead for facepalming every two seconds with your idiotic friends around. 
“Uhh, since forever?” Seungmin feels the need to voice out. “Listen, since the day Y/N spilled orange juice on Felix’s favorite shirt, the amount of times they’re forced to be together has risen tremendously. And when their parents found out their families live like ten minutes away from each other, they practically see each other every single day. Even outside of school. They tolerate each other, meaning the dynamic is long-lasting. Their bonding encouraged friendship.” 
“But we’re her friends too?”
A deep breath. “No, their friendship was incited to grow into something bigger, more profound because Felix has a special ‘click’ with Y/N that he doesn’t with us. God, Hyunjin, it’s been what, almost a decade! How could you not see it?” Seungmin says with expressive hands, almost yanking every strand of hair off of his head. It’s too early for this, his brain is about to implode. Hwang Hyunjin being dense just feels like a metaphoric chokehold to him. 
“Y/N,” Hyunjin simply ignores his frustrated friend to look over at you slipping into your sneakers. “You’re being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal.”
“That’s because she’s about to either shut the door in my face then find Felix or kick my ass and then find Felix,” Seungmin informs with a yawn, and this prompts you to muster a fake smile. 
Oh, I’m fucking livid. 
“You know me too well.”
He questions with heavy irony, “I’m sorry did you just agree with me?”
“Oh no, no, I take that back,” you brush him off. “Is Felix still outside fishing?”
“I think so?” Hyunjin replies while running a hand through his hair in mere distress; Felix’s competitiveness goes a little mayhem sometimes when it comes to Jisung being better than him at something since they’re so close. That’s one of the sole reasons why Felix always manages to maintain his flying GPA because Han Jisung procrastinates like no other but still tops his class every single semester. 
“I didn’t find him at the lake, though, wonder where he went.”
You widen your eyes, somewhat alarmed since it’s almost lunchtime, and Felix Lee never, and you mean never, ever let himself skip a meal. He always gets a nice nap after stuffing his face with enough good food too, so that’s a bonus. But that’s not the point, the point is: you’re starting to get a little worried because he’s been fishing all morning, wandering alone in the wilderness without a camp counselor. 
You’d better not find him sleeping with the fishes. 
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six.
Maybe you were right, maybe Felix is a dumbass.
Because listening to his ego and coming back to the lake after breakfast was a horrendous idea. 
It’s such a pity how those weird-looking vehicles have stopped driving around camp the moment it started pouring outside. Heck, he didn’t even bring an umbrella after asking the coach to check today's forecast. 
So tragically, he’s now stuck underneath the canopy of a cafe ensuing coursing his way through the water blizzard and seeking refuge but can’t walk back to his cabin where his cabin-mates are probably having the time of their life drinking hot chocolate and nibbling on hand-picked fruits.
Felix exhales in torment while gazing outside, everything’s completely white-out thanks to droplets of raining streaking the horizon. Perhaps dashing back might be his one solitary option, but shivers soon run up his spine again, reminding him that he’s probably looking like a wet rat—his black Converse sodden, water seeping through the thin fabric of his uniform, numbing his skin. 
Ruffling his wet fringe, Felix’s hand fishes inside his pocket to look for his phone only to realize that it’s not there. “Shit...great..just great, today is my lucky day.” Even if the camp counselors didn’t confiscate all the electronic devices, there wouldn’t be any service in the middle of the woods either. Splendid. 
“Ugh, Y/N,” he groans under his breath. “Why did you let me do this?”
“Shit.”
 “AHH!”
Felix shrieks upon the tiny voice squeaking out from behind him. And he sighs in pure relief to see a little girl standing mere inches away, looking no more than a seven-year-old dressed in a yellow raincoat. “Hey kid,” he chuckles and crouches down to her eye level. “Where are your parents? You’re not supposed to be out here alone when it’s pouring like crazy.” 
And to his dismay, “Shit,” the little girl giggles, finding a new profound interest in the curse word that he accidentally spewed out seconds ago. 
“Shh shh,” Felix frantically places an index finger on his lips while darting his eyes around in terror—he might be sued if her parents found out how their daughter picked up a bad word from some random high schooler. Suddenly he feels bad for his future kids. “No, no, we can’t say that. It’s forbidden. What’s your name?”
“Mina,” she answers cutely and fiddles with the ends of her braids. “Who’s Y/N? Is she your girlfriend?”
Felix chokes on his own saliva. “...no, why would you say that?”
“I don’t know, my dad always calls my mom’s name when he messes things up.”
“What does that have to do with- oh, shit,” he facepalms himself. This kid is going to give him a cardiac arrest any second now. “It doesn’t matter if she’s my girlfriend or not, what matters is I need to get you back to your parents. Do you know where they are right now?”
Mina simply shakes her head with a pout. “Okay, let’s go find them then,” he can’t help but cracks a smile, ruffling her hair endearingly. Most kids would be bawling their eyes out by now knowing that they’ve strayed from their parents; she’s a tough one. 
Felix gently grabs Mina’s hand, biting down on his lower lip as he prays that a cold doesn’t catch up to him tomorrow and ready to dash out of the canopy that’s been keeping him dry for the last hour or two. But then a figure comes into view from afar, holding an umbrella while squinting their eyes through the thick streaks of rain. 
“Y/N..?” he mutters to himself in disbelief when you quickly skip underneath the canopy, collapsing the red umbrella in your hands. Felix recognizes that umbrella anywhere—isn’t that Hyunjin’s? Have you been looking for him? And for how long too?
“Didn’t even think about bringing an umbrella, smartass,” you say with a raised eyebrow. “Oh dear, who do we have here?” Before Felix can defend himself in vain with lame excuses, you’ve already taken your attention off him to stare at the unfamiliar presence. Your intense gaze scares Mina a little, causing the little girl to squeeze Felix’s hand, hiding behind his leg. 
Your friend laughs, patting her little head in reassurance. “Mina, this is Y/N, my classmate. Don’t let her intimidate you.”
“Are you really going to bother with this little one?” you scrunch your nose a bit. “We’re having pork rib soup, by the way, better hurry if you don’t want Han to hog your portion all to himself.”
Felix rolls his eyes at how utterly apathetic you are towards children. If you can get a perfect A in calc then why is it so hard to simply comprehend that every twelve-year-old needs to be returned to their hypothetical parents safely? “What part of ‘a common sense of morality’ can’t you understand?” 
“I don’t want to, actually, sounds like a lot of work,” you hum sarcastically. 
“Your girlfriend is scary,” Mina ensconces herself further behind your friend, officially detecting you as a threat rather than someone who will potentially bring her back to the cabin where her parents are probably flipping the whole place upside down in a panic—which is exactly what you’re planning to do. 
In your defense, you don’t detest kids in general. Only the bratty ones. And Mina is borderline bratty. 
“You know, I can spare her some time, Lost and Found is like..ten minutes away from here.”
“Y/N-” Felix wants to scream at you, rubbing the side of his temple in distress. Imagining you babysitting your neighbor’s newborn last summer with nine bucks per hour, ten hours per day, and five out of seven days per week is one of the few things that constantly keeps him from having a good night's sleep. It baffles him how you haven’t accidentally drowned the infant while giving her a bath. 
Mina gives the side of his jeans a tug, round eyes staring up at him expectantly. “Or we can get juice pops!” she exclaims happily and looks over to you, mustering her best puppy eyes. “Please? I don’t want to be alone..” 
“Twenty seconds ago, you called me scary and now you’re guilt-tripping me?” you crouch down to get a good look at the kid. Bright, innocent brown eyes, cute button nose, and a chipped front tooth—perhaps she’s a little too cute to not get her juice pops. 
Then, “And juice pops too? You evil mad mind genius,” you say after standing up to unfold Hyunjin’s umbrella, swinging it over the top of your head. “That’s extortion, kid, you’re too young for that.”
Felix breaks into a fit of giggles upon seeing you failing at trying to keep a straight face and steps in beside you under the umbrella. His next problem just pops up right then and there—Mina can’t squeeze in considering the umbrella that Hyunjin gave you is solely used for one person. 
“Mina, hop on here,” he decides to get on his knees, permitting the little girl to clumsily climb on his back and eventually plopping herself onto his shoulders. 
“Oh, oh, oh, can you two hold hands?” Mina suggests with a shit-eating grin on her face. This causes Felix’s cheeks to burn with a bright shade of red while you’re too busy throwing daggers at her with your eyes to notice. “My family does this all the time, my dad would carry me on his shoulders and my mom would hold his hand as we walk home after going to the park.”
You and Felix yell simultaneously, “We’re not your parents!!” But that doesn’t seem to scare the little girl. You’re both just encouraging her. 
“Yip yip, horsey, don’t be disobedient now,” she giggles to herself and pulls at a solid patch of Felix’s hair, making you cringe because his hair and scalp have already had enough from his questionable obsession with bright hair colors. 
“Ow! Mina! Stop it! Ow!”
“Okay quit torturing my friend,” you tell her and decide to slip your hand in with Felix’s, intertwining your fingers to secure the grip before showing it to Mina so that she’ll stop before any blood is drawn. “There, we’re holding hands just like your mommy and daddy, you happy?” 
Felix doesn’t say anything even when Mina nods happily, releasing her monstrous grip off his poor scalp. He only lets you tug him away from the canopy of the cafe as he gazes downward, eyes glued to how your hand fits into his perfectly. The sound of rain tapping against the umbrella suddenly bugs him, suffocating him in a way. In other words, it’s really unnatural to think this way about his best friend but he doesn't want you to let go at all. 
Everything seems to move faster when you’re holding onto his hand so certainly. Felix thinks you’re fully aware but try to fight off the voices that are taunting you to just drop it. And truth is, you can care less because your head is now far too fuzzy to focus on anything but the road ahead. 
You pray he doesn’t feel the pounding rhythm from your veins. If your red ears haven’t given it away already. 
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seven.
Jisung has weird friends, that’s a fact. And no, you’re not talking about the gang that saved his ass every time he got into trouble aka you plus JeongMinLixJin. You’re talking about those kids from Class 2C that are mutual friends with Changbin.
Because the moment Jisung barges into the cabin and starts babbling nonsense that you can’t comprehend (not that you can comprehend any of his shit on the daily), you know that he just came back from a get together with those sketchy dudes who managed to sneak some booze inside a shampoo bottle.
“Uhm okay, who gave Felix alcohol?” he squints his eyes hard. 
You are more than aware that Jisung is mildly smashed by the way that his cheeks are tinted with a light shade of coral, hiccupping every ten seconds and slightly more clumsy with his feet. He almost tripped over the rug at the front door if it weren’t for Hyunjin who caught him in time so that he wouldn’t break one of his precious teeth. Those painful years of constantly slurping on watery porridge after every dentist appointment to tighten his braces shouldn’t be going down the drain. 
Speaking of bland rice water, that’s all Felix has been fed with after returning to camp because he has no choice. The sickness finally caught up to him as a result of staying outside for too long while still dressed in his rain-soaked uniform. Even under the cotton comforter, he’s radiating heat on the outside but stoically shivering on the inside, his energy level is as diminished as his appetite. 
The nurse said there’s really nothing that can be done but give him some pills and let him ride it out so now Felix’s all curled up in a corner of his bed, cheeks burning flush of fever, coughing and sneezing occasionally. He refuses to be moved to a completely separate cabin because sleeping alone in a confined place knowing that the grizzly bears might be roaming outside your door is quite frightening for a junior in high school. 
“God, what makes you think I’m the batshit drunk one here?” Felix croaks, his voice more hoarse and gruff than usual because every word pains him, his vocal cords pulse in agony at each syllable. And that sentence was probably the longest thing you’ve heard from him since dinner. 
Jisung lets Hyunjin toss him onto his bed, face down, and props himself up on his forearms. “Uhh, have you checked yourself the mirror?” he hiccups, words a bit slurred, palms outstretched in a grabby motion. “Seungmin, water- ow! What the fuck was that!?” 
He rubs the side of his head while babbling incoherently like a fucking five-year-old because Seungmin decided to chuck a water bottle at him. Those years of playing baseball during retreats indeed paid off. 
“I went for the head,” Seungmin looks up from his book calmly, acting innocent. 
Jisung whines and turns to his side, watching as the water bottle rolls back towards him after coming in contact with the wall. “God, I miss Minho. You guys suck,” he takes it before sitting right up but flops himself back down when a pang of pain claws at his temple. Who even allowed him to drink?
“Didn’t he make your high school experience miserable?” Hyunjin laughs, sitting down on the corner of his bed, legs curled into his chest. 
“Hello? That was me,” Seungmin clarifies, he sounds a little offended. “He called me a nerd for studying late at the library for our finals! Our fucking finals! Do you know how insecure my freshman self was? I was so hurt!” 
You cross your arms and mumble, “He’s the same guy who treated you ice-cream after finding out you got a B in physics.”
Hyunjin hums, butting into the topic, “And he made me do fifty push-ups because I unintentionally skipped a day at practice. Our Dance Club really didn’t need a president who effortlessly snatches the Asshole of the Year Award like he’s stealing candies from a kid.”
“Please, you’re practically buddies now,” you scoff. “You always play Mario Kart and rewatch the Avatar series with him, even during midterms!”
“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Jisung suddenly gets on his feet, jumping up and down like a maniac. You’re highly concerned for the bed by the creaking sound that it’s making—sounds just like something straight out of a horror film. “He almost threw a knife at me!”
You’re running out of excuses to defend your stupid brother at this rate. What’s the point in trying anyway? “Han, it was a plastic knife, chill.”
Jisung crawls off his bed to approach you, pinching his thumb and index finger together before shoving them to your face. “I was this close to dying! You try having someone threaten to throw a knife at you during lunch break,” he complains like it’s the end of the world. Truth is, you’ve seen (and experienced) worse things. 
“Minho’s still my brother.”
Staring at you, Jisung looks unimpressed. “He wanted to kill me because I commented on his puffy cheeks that day.”
“He’s adopted.”
The conversation is pulled to a halt right there when Felix does a full-body groan, his head spinning and sweats starting to collect at his hairline. With his mind buzzed like he’s floating, the bickering only adds to the pressure that’s squeezing each of his functioning brain cells. In other words, it feels as though Han Jisung is a fucking hamster going on a marathon across his body, nibbling on his limbs and ears as he’s going through a hangover, his immune system going on a rampage. 
Felix doesn’t even drink. 
“That’s my call for a bedtime story.” You glare at Jisung when he clears his throat while you’re attempting to tuck Felix into bed, pressing your palm against his forehead to check his temperature. It’s not climbing anymore, he should be okay after sweating everything out. 
Hyunjin pulls his friend back onto his bed, locking his limbs in tight before he waddles around and potentially breaks one of those decorative pieces on the bookshelf. “Not to burst your ego, but I don’t think you’re sober enough to give us a good story,” he says unapologetically. 
“Puh-lease,” Jisung lets out the weirdest chuckle at that, wagging his forearm like those Japanese ceramic cat figures that are supposed to bring people good fortune; and Han Jisung is notorious for bringing people anything but good fortune. “They didn’t even have vodka, only Strongbow. That shit is too weak for me.”
You snort involuntarily, “Actually, I think you meant you’re too weak for those bottles of cider.”
“Wow, Y/N, what a snake.”
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eight.
The bonfire crackles, flaring up to life when coach Kim tosses a lit matchstick into the pyramid pile of branches and woods. The flame projects long shadows of the trees all round along, swirling and curling in obscure shapes with the high schoolers that each hugs their own cup of hot cocoa, chomping on their marshmallows of choice. 
Glowing embers beneath are colored by the inferno that seems to be moving with the rhythm and melody of the song that they’re all singing along, drumming their feet and bobbing their heads simultaneously. 
“Are you guys sure you don’t want to join them?” Felix says apologetically after sneezing into a piece of tissue, his nose all red and swollen. “I can just… I don’t know, read a book or something.”
When he refers to those oddly colorful and rather bulky-looking books on the shelves, Seungmin immediately stops putting a cookie inside his mouth midway. “Those are called ‘aesthetically useless interior decoration’, Lix. Good luck trying to open those plastic blocks,” he expresses with his hands after stuffing the cookie into his mouth, chewing rather aggressively. 
Felix feels quite bad because, for all he knows, Hyunjin and Seungmin have been planning on going kayaking today and trying out volleyball tomorrow. You’re all going home in two days yet they’ve done nothing but pigging out in pure distress. “Still, it’s a summer camp, you all should be out there having fun, not stuck inside to look after me while tolerating...that,” he quietly looks over at Jisung who just exited the bathroom after splashing his face with some water. 
At least he doesn’t look crazy and homeless now. 
“How are they doing that again?” you join Hyunjin as he rests his head lazily on his forearms, staring outside from the cabin’s window like Rapunzel in an alternative universe where Flynn Rider managed to escape the tower with the crown, leaving her behind longing for civil human interactions in vain. 
“They sing..” he drawls. “And turn their heads to look at each other in the eye.”
You wave it off absentmindedly, falling on your back so now your head is hung upside down from the bed, your arms dangling midair. “Well, that sounds exhausting,” you mumble, ignoring the way that Seungmin is internally judging you. 
Hyunjin sighs, “Never one for sentiment, are you?”
“Easier to let it burn,” you answer flatly, sitting upright when blood starts rushing to your head. 
“Don’t feel bad,” Seungmin immediately forces a smile at Felix. “We’re not really into sitting with a bunch of idiots just to enjoy a mildly decent hot cocoa either way.”
Suddenly the lights go out, and Felix immediately curls himself further into the blanket, a little thrown off. Jisung’s face comes into view out of nowhere when he makes a grab for the oil lamp that no one seems to take notice of, lighting it up with a single match. “C’mon, kids, no bonfire is complete without a good ghost story,” he crosses his legs on the floor happily, still somewhat tipsy so his body is bouncing in excitement with occasional hiccups. 
Hyunjin and Seungmin exchange questionable looks before scrambling to the floor, settling themselves a few solid inches in front of the oil lamp with a sigh while you only shrug at Felix, propping your head onto your hands. Laziness is starting to hold you hostage on Hyunjin’s bed at this rate. 
Seungmin spares Jisung a slight glare, “Better not bullshit us with the same one that you heard at school-”
“No,” Jisung’s lips morph into something similar to a smirk, he looks concerningly confident for someone who’s utterly terrified after watching IT. And now he’s attempting to give his bros who are equally jumpy about everything and anything, you’re excited to see how this goes. “I heard this one from a camp counselor, true story.” You definitely don’t like the sound of that.
At first, the ghost was no more than a chill in the air, a shimmer of mist to the common eyes. Through the heavy rain and fog that seeps through people’s skin, chilling the core of their bones, it slowly came into focus. It wasn’t until the camper found refuge under a canopy of an abandoned café that it congealed into a form—a small child with brilliant round eyes, dressed in white clothing. 
For a moment, all was silent and still. It was as though the camper got hypnotized, feet planted to the ground. Then, he could hear a small lullaby in a cheerful voice. 
“Oranges and Lemons say the bells of St.Clements…” They know how that one ended. 
Suddenly someone blows out the candle, but Jisung’s voice still rings in your eardrums. “When the camper took a step back, the ghost spoke again, this time with the voice almost of a smoker and grin…” You can feel Hyunjin hop back to bed with you in a tick of a clock, holding onto you for dear life with the infrequent whimpers of fear. 
Jisung proceeds to continue, “The grin soon became a snarl, baring teeth like a wolf when it finished the lullaby…”
A muffled silence descends. And, “Have you come to play…?”
“AHHH!!” Felix lets out a petrified shriek, but what confuses you is the sound of Jisung grunting rather in pain. Seungmin sighs in disapproval, flickering the lights on while leaning back against the wall. 
And now before your eyes is a slightly traumatized, feverish Felix with clattering teeth, quivering inside his blanket. Whereas, Jisung is sprawled across the floor, hugging his poor stomach, hacking up lungs. Deserve.
“This is why you don’t give people who can high-kick jump scares, dumbass,” Seungmin comments and crouches down in front of Jisung like his knight in shiny armors, letting a bottle of ointment dangle between his fingers. “Put this on, bet it’s already bruising.”
Hyunjin releases his arms around you and walks towards the freckled boy who looks like he’s about to slip into a coma. “Lix, are you okay?” he knits his brows together, starting to feel somewhat concerned. 
Felix only waves it off with a raspy laugh, standing on wobbly legs with his blanket still wrapped around his figure. “I’m fine, I’ll just go wash my face.” Truth is, he’s anything but fine. And it doesn’t help when he accidentally has a glance of his own reflection in the body-length mirror from across the cabin—his hair is sticking to his forehead, his face is slightly more puffy than usual, and his eyebags look like he hasn’t slept in decades—he looks worse than a trash can, basically. 
“Hyunjin,” you raise a brow at your friend’s current state.
“What?”
“Catch him.”
“Huh-” Hyunjin snaps his head back when a loud thud is heard, eyes growing twice as big in sheer panic upon the sight of Felix laying on his stomach, mere inches away from his feet. “Felix!!” Your friends rush to his side while you’re too busy checking the thermometer by his nightstand. The temperature doesn’t seem to be too alarming, he should be fine after sleeping and sweating it out. But really, Felix looks more like he’s having the nap of a lifetime rather than passing out from the worst fever of the century. That doesn’t stop everyone from freaking out, unfortunately. 
Also, everyone can agree that this is the first and last storytime to ever happen.
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nine.
Felix sits on the beach, eyes moving from sand to stone, from rock pools to breaking waves. He lets out a sigh, an exhale of relief when a breeze passes by him, tousling his hair as he buries his feet deeper into the primrose-colored grains. The briny aroma that exists in every fiber of air makes him feel at ease, as though unknotting all his angsty-teenager worries with grace. He feels a bit better, partially because his fever has already gone down when he shook you out of your half-asleep state at four in the morning. 
“Why?” you ask without turning your head after sensing his tense posture.
Felix looks confused, a little startled when you break the silence. “Why what?”
“Why the long face?” you unknowingly exhale too, stubbornly gazing forward. “Thinking about something?” For some reason, you’re too...scared to even spare him a small glance. This isn’t you, did his fever rub off on you or something?
To your dismay, his sudden inquiry catches you off guard. “High school is going to be over in a year, have you thought about what to do?” 
You open your mouth to protest with something along the line of he’s overthinking again and there’s still an entire year ahead to make new memories but when you’re about to utter the first word, your mouth automatically snaps itself close. It’s like you have an entire masterpiece planned out in your mind but when someone tosses you a blank canvas, you’re standing there in defeat like the biggest idiot. Felix is serious this time, you know it’s not because he’s lightheaded after riding out the fever. 
“Honestly?” you breathe out. “No, I haven’t. God, I don’t even want to think about it, the future scares me a little.”
Upon the mossed rock and vibrant horizon, comes the sun rays that are promised by the starlit sky. It makes you both a little breathless, not exchanging a single word nor moving a muscle for a while. 
Until, “Fine, it scares me a whole lot,” you confess, gaze cast downward as you hug your legs closer to your chest. “It sucks because everyone seems to have their lives together, Jisung is finally taking his interest in music seriously, Hyunjin is planning on being an actual theater kid, and Seungmin is...I don’t know, but he’s definitely onto something. Point is, everyone is already one too many steps ahead of me, I’m just..here, stuck. And I don’t feel like I have-”
“A lot of time left.” Felix finishes your sentence, prompting you to look at him this time. His delicate features shine under the cracking lights of dawn, starry eyes twinkling and lips outstretched into the smile that you absolutely adore. He has such a contagious type of smile that it makes you feel a little less dead inside whenever you see it. But your heartbeat also grows a little more ecstatic. 
A hearty chuckle. “You’re not alone, you know,” he says while not breaking away from the eye contact, this makes your throat grow dry. “I still have so much to do, so much to...say yet too little time. So yeah, don’t think about it too much, I’m never gonna leave you behind no matter what.”
You have to hold back a playful scoff at that; and to think he was the one who brought up this sappy topic. “If anything, you’re the overthinker in this relationship,” you tell him with a nudge on his rib. “But if you’ve already had my back, then you should know that I’ll always have yours too.”
Because what would you do without an overthinker like Felix? Drowning your sorrow by stress-eating in the middle of the night? Bottoming out on questionable drinks to end up like Han Jisung? Winging every single important choice that can potentially flip your life upside down in either a good or bad way? Not in a million years. He knows that you need him as much as he needs you, harsh truth but you still hate it either way.
You both don’t look forward to the future, like at all. 
You’re too apathetic and overall just a big ‘meh’ about it. You’re the type of person that goes with the flow, letting life toss you around like a ragdoll until you finally snap at some point to fight back because you know where the line between giving up and knowing that you’ve had enough is. Meanwhile, Felix is rather anxious about things. If a piece of paper with a pencil can draw out the map of his entire destiny ahead then he’ll have it finished in one night. But he’s grown out of his middle school self to know that things don’t always go as planned.
Guess if things turn out to be shit, you’ll still have him.
“Does that mean if we’re still single in our thirties, you’ll marry me like how our parents always joke about?” Felix cracks a shit-eating grin this time, one that makes your heart swell but for the most part, you wanna whack him unconscious with a pillow. 
You sneer in return, “Sure, but you’ll have to fall for me first.”
There’s a pang in Felix’s chest, it’s so loud and evident that he’s afraid you might hear it. You really didn’t have to slap him in the face with that seemingly harmless statement. “Hmm, who would even fall for a stubborn hermit crab like you?” he jokes to hide the nervousness that’s crawling upon his spine. His ears are probably bright red right now. “Although...that wouldn’t be a problem with me.” Because he’s already fallen for you, a little too hard actually.
“What does that even mean?” you only hum after questioning his statement, nothing makes sense right now since you’re getting a little sleepy because a certain someone wanted to watch the sunrise which simply lasted for about two minutes after two(ish) hours of waiting.
“I don’t know,” Felix laughs before standing up, dusting the sand off of his jeans. “You go figure it out, smartass.” With that, he runs off with his Converses dangling between his fingers, leaving you dumbfounded in the middle of the beach like a total dimwit. Slowly, within those five seconds of making eye contact with your best friend again, his words zero in on you like a wakeup call. 
Urgently grabbing your sneakers, you chase after him. “Hey- wait! GET BACK HERE!” By looks of it, you’ve probably figured it out now. It’s not like he’s trying to be subtle either.
Felix feels like he just gained strength from spewing out that indirect confession, and it gives him a tiny ray of hope that he still has his entire youth before his eyes to tell you how he really feels. Or his whole life if you don’t start resenting him for crossing the line that no one dares talk about when they have a thing for their best friend. 
Either way, as long as Felix sees your presence side by side with him at every ups and downs, he’s home.��
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{Metanoia}
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Pairing: Jungkook x female reader, Older brother! Jimin x Reader, Hoseok x reader
*8k- ongoing
Genre: Enemies to lovers, childhood friends, major misunderstandings
Warnings: Thigh riding, Fingering, Oral (male receiving) 
Summary: The first time you meet Jungkook, he pushes you off the slide. Second time he calls you ugly. After that things continue spiraling downwards: he cuts your dolls’ heads off, tells everyone you’re a freak at school, spreads malicious rumors; Jungkook’s sole purpose in life is tormenting you. So why five years later is he insisting you two belong together?
Based on a prompt request  by @bangtaened-army​ turned fic. Sorry bangtaened-army for the wait, and the fact that I still haven’t touched the original requested prompt..
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  "I can't believe you would do this to me, Jiminie. After everything I have ever done for you. " you hiss into the phone. Your low voice does little not to garner the nosy looks of other people awaiting their luggage. Despite it being two am at an airport people never tired of drama, and you plotting the murder of your older brother could feed a whole TV show. See Jimin was supposed to pick you at the baggage claim. Keywords supposed to. However, instead of being greeted by your annoying yet lovable sibling you were greeted by someone just plain annoying. 
    "You're being dramatic, (Y/N). I sent Jungkook to pick you up, not Ted Bundy." Jimin replies dryly. Even through the phone you can tell he is rolling his eyes at you. He never understood your hatred towards Jungkook. To him, the dark haired boy is a sweet innocent boy who could do no wrong but you know better. The devil lives inside Jungkook. 
   "I would've preferred the serial killer. At least he'd be less of an ass-" Jungkook grabs the phone from your hand purposely shifting away so you can't take it back. Not that it makes much difference. Even if he was facing you, you would have to jump to reach him.  "Hey man, it's me. Yeah, I know she's a pain but I'll bring her home. No don't worry about it I'm used to it by now. "
    You roll your eyes at this. "Used to it by now," once again everyone sees you as the problem, not Jungkook. Forget the fact he tortured you all throughout childhood. Or that he's the reason everyone bullied you throughout high school.  "Here, you going to behave now or throw another tantrum?" Jungkook asks, hanging back your phone. 
    Immediately you snatch it from his hands clutching it close to your chest. "Never take my phone out of my hand again. You hear me, Jeon?!"
   "Then stop acting like a child and we won't have a problem." Jungkook snarks, arms folded over his chest as he looked down upon you as a parent would. 
    "Fuck you, Jeon! I'll find my own way home." You snap spinning around on your heels. 
     However before you can even take a step, caveman Jungkook throws you over his shoulders. He smacks your ass undoubtedly grinning as he does so. "Alright princess, enough playing. I promised your family to drive you home safely and I'm going to do just that. "
     "You heathen! Let me down!" You pound against his back to no avail. He merely hits your butt again continuing to walk through the airport without a care. Seriously where did airport security go? Aren't they supposed to be on alert for kidnappers or something?
    Apparently not because Jungkook strolls straight past a guard twiddling his thumbs. "Seriously?! Way to keep Korea safe man. I'm being kidnapped before your eyes here, dumbass."
    The guard shoots Jungkook and you a questioning look, clearly unamused by you calling him ‘dumbass.’ Jungkook lets out a nervous laugh, bowing apologetically towards the guard. His grip on you not slipping for even a second. "Sorry she's drunk. Please ignore her." 
    The guard nods. "Best get her out of here or  I'll have to detain her for drunken disorder."
     "Will do. Thanks." 
    "I am not drunk-" you start only Jungkook to hit you yet again hard. You yelp face turning red as the guard laughs. "I swear to God I will murder you. "
    "Do you want security to detain you? Because I'm pretty sure you'll be flagged as a flight hazard and stuck in Korea forever. " 
  Just the mere thought sends shivers down your spine. "No, thank you. "
"Didn't think so. " Jungkook replies. He carries you all the way to his car parked in the visitors' center. Not even letting you go as he climbed the three flights of stairs to get there. Undoubtedly he guessed-and correctly so- you'd run the second he let his guard down. Even when he sets you down to open his car door one hand remains firmly wrapped around your wrist.
     You sigh loudly. "Isn't this a little overkill? We're at your car now."
  "Sit." He merely says, pointing at the seat.
Tossing him a glare you do as told. Despite your previous bravado you know full well Jungkook is right, he is your only way home. Taxis are too expensive, and the rideshare apps went nowhere near your home. As much as you don’t want to admit it, Jungkook’s won this round. Still that doesn’t warrant the victorious grin on Jungkook’s face or the added salt of him reaching over to buckle your belt. "Overkill. Utter overkill. "
   "Got to keep the princess safe don't I?" he says sweetly.
    You cringe. "Enough with the princess stuff. You know I hate that. "
“You didn’t hate it when you were riding my dick last time you came home.” Jungkook mentions, sliding into the driver’s seat beside you. Heat rises to your cheeks at the memory of your last visit: Jungkook’s large hands gripping your waist as you fucked him in the backseat of his car.  His hot breath against your ear whispering dirty things that would make a porn star blush. That feeling of your toes curling as he hits the right spot-
    You shake the memory away. Fucking Jungkook was a mistake. It should’ve never happened. “That was a one time thing, Jeon. I was vulnerable last time. I just got out of a three year relationship-”
   “And you just happened to fall on my dick several times.” Jungkook snorts. His tone stays calm but you can see how his knuckles whitened gripping the steering wheel. “Look you can make all the excuses you want, but it doesn’t change what happened between us. We had sex. Good sex if I might add.”
   “Great sex.” You admit. “But that’s all.”
     As great as Jungkook and you were together, you couldn’t let yourself fall into his trap again. The dark haired boy bullied you for years. He made you cry countless times. Great sex didn’t change anything. Not when you know Jungkook would hurt you in the end.  Neither of you speak as Jungkook pulls out of the parking lot. Whatever conversation you have ends like it always does in harsh words. So for the next hour and a half you stare out the window contemplating your life until your eyes close shut.
   It’s not until a door slams that you open them again. Half awake you can barely make out the familiar street lights of your neighborhood hanging above, or the equally memorable 
houses of it surrounding you. Your car door opens to reveal a haggard Jungkook. He leans over unbuckling you without a word. His soft lush hair tickles your skin as he struggles to get you free.  You reach out to comb your fingers through it. 
   “Are we here?” you mumble, entranced by the silky feel of his hair. “Do we need to get out?”
      Jungkook nods. “Yeah, we’re here. Go back to sleep princess. I got it.”
     You yawn barely comprehending as an arm slides underneath your knees. “Okay, but only if you’re sure.”
     Closing your eyes again you miss Jungkook’s soft whisper of, ‘I’m sure.’
-----
Sunlight hits your face chasing away your dreamless sleep. Your eyes open slowly, greeted by the harshness of lavender colored walls filled with high school photos and cringey boy band posters from way back in the day. Nothing about your bedroom has changed moving out all those years ago.  Everything stayed exactly the same from when you were a teenager. Dreadfully so unfortunately. 
    Groaning you stretch trying to remember how you got into bed. Last thing you remember is asking Jungkook if you were home as he unclipped your seatbelt, so you had to have gotten up.  You must’ve been so tired nothing really processed. A thirteen hour flight would do that to you after all.  “Look what the cat dragged in. I see you survived the car ride with Jungkook alright.” Jimin grins, standing in the doorway of your room. 
   You toss a pillow at him only to miss. “Barely. Seriously what were you thinking having him pick me up? You know how I feel about him.”
     Jimin rolls his eyes. “I was thinking I have work the next day, and that Jungkook is the only guy I trust to pick up my little sister. Because not only would he keep her safe, but he’s the type of guy to carry her inside when she’s passed out.”
    Your mouth dried. “What?”
“I said Jungkook carried your ungrateful ass inside.” 
    Suddenly the memory of Jungkook carrying you in comes to mind. His strong arms wrapped around you as your fingers buried themselves into his shirt. You were only half awake, but you remember everything from the way his cologne smelt to the soft beat of his heart lulling you back to sleep. ‘Sweet dreams princess.’
    “No way. He hates me-besides I’m wearing pajamas!” You protest.
Jimin sighs. “Yeah. That I may have punched him for doing, but (Y/N), Kook doesn’t hate you. Trust me, that boy couldn’t hate you if he tried.”
    “I don’t believe you.” How could you? The first day you ever met Jungkook he kicked you off the slide causing you to scrape your knees. Second time you two met he called you ugly before running off to play with Jimin. After that things got worse, from destroying your barbies, putting kick me signs on you, spreading rumors about you in high school, to telling your crush you were a slut. If those weren’t the actions of a boy who hates you, then you don’t know what is.
    Jimin murmurs something about  ‘misunderstandings’ under his breath, but doesn’t clarify. Instead he simply says. “Look, think what you want, but Jungkook spent the night yesterday since he was too tired to drive home. So be nice okay?”
   “Whatever.” you reply, not mentioning the fact he lives down the road. Just this once you’d behave. After all, he did carry you home.
   Jimin smiles, tossing the pillow back. Naturally it hits you right square in the face.  "Good girl. Now get dressed. The last thing I need to see is my best friend eyeing up my little sister. "
  You let out a silent curse, but do as told. Honestly it really didn't matter. When you lived at home you walked around in yoga pants while braless all the time, Jungkook be damned. This was your house and you refused to give up comfort because your brother's friend came over. It drove Jimin insane. To the point he'd throw random items until you either changed or returned to your room. However that was ages ago before Jungkook ever saw you naked or bent you over the counter of his kitchen.
   “Stop it.” You slap yourself. “Thinking about it will do you no good.”
    Unfortunately the pep talk does little to stop the wanting ache between your legs. Jungkook is the last person you slept with since breaking up with your ex. After you returned to America the last time you simply threw yourself into work, barely sparing a glance at the opposite gender. “Fuck. You need to get laid, (Y/N). Preferably not by Jeon this time.” you whispers.
----- 
   Breakfast is an interesting affair. Like always your parents and brother treat Jungkook as if he's part of the family, your mother piles food onto his plate while your father and Jimin discuss the latest sports and news trends with him. Occasionally one of your parents will praise Jungkook on something he did, mentioning how proud they are of him to which Jungkook eats up like a starving man at a feast. 
     Meanwhile you play around with your rice ignoring the sour feeling of getting ignored by your own family. After all, it's not like you lived out of the country and only came home once in a blue moon. So what did it matter if your childhood enemy ate up all your attention? "Thank you again, Jungkook, for bringing (Y/N) home. I know how much of a pain she can be to you. " your mother says. 
   Jungkook grins, the sun practically illuminating him from behind as he tactfully shrugs off the gratitude with a, 'It's no problem, Mom.' His butter wouldn't melt in my mouth routine sickens you to the point you want to vomit. 
     "I would've been perfectly fine finding my own ride home. " You mumble indignantly. 
   The comment earns you a sharp whack on the head by your mother's slipper. "The words are, 'thank you, Jungkook. ' I swear I don't know how I raised such an ungrateful daughter. "
     You roll your eyes, swallowing the comment about her shitty parenting skills. "I mean how are you ever going to find a husband with that bad attitude of yours?" She laments, projecting into her usual rant of marriage and grandchildren. 
    Like always you ignore it taking the few blows to the head she gave whenever ranting about your marital future. Besides you, Jimin snickers enjoying your torment, having been born a boy he's safe from your mother's wrath since 'no girl is good enough for my precious Jimmie.' Thankfully your father has an ounce of sympathy left for you. "She's doing fine, hunny. (Y/N) has a good home and a steady job-"
    "You're too soft on her! That's why she's like this. " your mother dismisses. "I mean what man would fall for a woman with such an ugly personality?"
   Your heart gives a painful squeeze at her words, while such speech is common with your mother that doesn't make it hurt any less.  "Actually I know someone who'd be interested in going out with (Y/N)." Jungkook pipes up, a big grin stretching across his face. 
   You shoot him a warning glare to which he shrugs off. A surprise gasp- that is way too exaggerated in your opinion- escapes your mom, she looks at Jungkook as if he hung the moon. "Oh Jungkook, that would be wonderful. But we ask you to risk your friendship like that."
    "I promise you're not. This guy has loved- liked (Y/N) for a long time. He knows what she's like. " Jungkook waves off. 
   "Really? Who?" your dad asks, causing you to frown. Why does everyone think you are so unlovable? Seriously you are starting to get insulted, although you also question Jungkook and his 'friend. '
  Jimin snorts, giving Jungkook a weird look. "Yes Jungkook, who is this mysterious guy madly in love with my sister?"
   The tips of Jungkook's ears turn red and he ducks his head sheepishly, probably not expecting Jimin to call him out on his bluff.  "What does it matter? A man is interested in our (Y/N)! All my prayers are answered!" Your mom cries, saving Jungkook from whatever bullshit he is about to spout. "Oh Jungkook, you're so wonderful. Any mother would be lucky to have you."
    "Hey!" Jimin protests, earning a string of reassurances and praises from your mother. For a man who prided himself on his cool nature,  Jimin was a mama's boy.
   "I'm going to get started on the dishes. " you sigh, collecting the empty plates. As much as you love your family there's only so much one can take of them, hence moving to America. 
  "I'll help." Jungkook says, quickly gathering the dishes from your hand. Without another word he disappears into the kitchen like a little boy eager to impress his mom or in this case your mom; it  adds to your rising irritation. You don't know what his game is, but if Jungkook thinks he can pull a fast one on you, he'll be sorely surprised.
    You enter the kitchen to find Jungkook already washing the dishes, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up displaying his smooth muscular arms. Your eyes roam over them taking in the tattoos littered on his tan skin; he had gotten more since you last saw him, practically a full sleeve now. They look good on him not that you would ever admit it. "Hey, I wash, you dry?" Jungkook offers, throwing a towel your way. 
    You frown. "I got it. Go back to the table."
    Jungkook scoffs. "Seriously? You would rather do dishes- which you hate doing- then spend five minutes with me?"
   "Oh don't try to guilt trip me,  Jeon. That whole 'I know someone who likes (Y/N),' what utter bullshit. " you snap. "Tell me, were you going to laugh when I arrived at some restaurant only and no one comes?"
    Jungkook rolls his eyes. “You really need to see someone about this paranoia issue of yours, because this is beginning to get ridiculous.”
    “Excuse me? Paranoid? You bullied me all my life-"
  "I pushed down the slide when we were four. Get over it."
   "You cut off my barbies' head! Repeatedly called me ugly. Spread rumors about me in high school, and to top the cherry off you told Hoseok,  I was a slut. So no I won't get over it." You stomp your foot. 
   Jungkook clenches his jaw, the cup in his hand practically cracking under his grip. He says nothing, dropping the cup and sponge into the sink, before storming out like a madman.From the living room your parents call out Jungkook's name only for him to ignore them. The front door slams shut shaking the house so hard that the dishes tremble in their drying rack.
 "What happened to being nice to Jungkook?" Jimin's voice surprises you from behind. Disappointment is written all over his face, and the way his body positions itself (arms crossed, legs parted) tells you, you're in for a lecture. 
   You turn away not in the mood to be parented by someone two years your senior. Especially not when he allots Jungkook to bully you without a single reprimand. "He started it. Telling mom he'd set me up with some imaginary guy only to laugh when I get 'stood up."
     Jimin groans, pinching the bridge of his nose.  "You two are killing me. Look I can't spell it out for you, that is Jungkook's business, so I am just going to say this...I destroyed your barbies not Jungkook. "
   You froze. "What?"
 "I cut off Minnie's, Hana's and Lany's heads. You pissed me off by eating my snack. I wanted revenge." Jimin shrugged. 
   "B-but I caught Jungkook red handed! I saw him with Minnie's head!" 
   A sheepish look grew on his face. He tucks a piece of hair behind his ear, a habit he did whenever nervous. "Yeah, he was trying to fix her. "
   The dish in your hands drops shattering against the kitchen floor. Your mouth opens but no words come out; funny seeing how thousands of thoughts run through your head. "You asshole!" 
     Jimin winces. "Sorry. It was a dick move- but my point is you thought Jungkook did it and he didn't. So isn't it possible you are wrong about everything else?”
------
       You spend the next few days wandering around town bored. While you feel grateful to be home and see everyone you love, the list of things to do in your town is actually quite small compared to home ( perks of living in a small town). Outside of grocery shopping with your mom, reading on the veranda with your father, and bugging Jimin whenever possible, there’s not much to do. Things are especially boring since Jungkook disappeared after that morning. The bunny looking boy normally makes it his personal mission to bother you as much as possible. Disregarding the few hours he has to work, Jungkook always was there first thing in the morning to laugh at your ridiculous bed head. Yet for the last few days he’s been nowhere in sight.  When asked about it Jimin merely shrugged saying he was busy, before smirking and stating unnecessarily, “If you miss him that much, why don’t you call him yourself?” 
       It isn’t that you miss Jungkook, despite what Jimin said about your Barbie dolls, you still believe deep down he hates you. After all just because you were wrong about one thing didn’t mean you were wrong about everything else.  No, you asked Jimin, because it’s unusual given that the boy practically lived at your home. It’s not like you actually miss his stupid face over something. Perhaps if you had more friends this boredom wouldn’t be an issue. Sadly you weren’t much of a social butterfly back in high school; unlike Jimin who was part of the “popular” crowd, you were an outcast. As much as you tried, the only people who would hangout with you were Jimin’s friends.
     At first you thought it was something you did, but later you found out Jungkook told everyone you were a ‘freak of nature,’ and it was only because he and the others felt bad that they hung around you. Hearing what he said devastated you. It was the first time you realized how much Jungkook hated you. Moreover his words stopped you from ever really trusting anyone who wanted to be friends.
 “Isn’t it possible you are wrong about everything else?”  
Pushing the thought back you try to ignore the nagging feeling growing inside birthed by your brother’s words.  You fucking doubt it. How could something like that be so easily explained away? “I think this is your fifth lap around town.” a familiar voice calls out, snapping you back to reality. “People are beginning to think you’re a weirdo.”
       You don’t even have to look up to tell who it is. On this planet only one person owns a voice so annoying it instantaneously grates on your nerves. “Get lost, Jeon. I didn’t ask for your opinion.”
He snorts, continuing to follow you in his car. “You know it’s supposed to storm today right? You should head home before it pours.”
“Like I said: No One Asked You, Jeon.” you reply, promptly turning on your heels to head in the opposite direction.  He’s the last person you want to see given your current thoughts. Whatever longing you might’ve previously had for him disappeared the moment you remembered why Jungkook was your enemy. Thankfully he doesn’t follow most likely finding something more interesting to waste his time on.
You continue walking onwards too infuriated by the past to notice the dark clouds starting to form above. It’s not until something wet hits your skin that you take notice of the sudden drop in temperature and gathering winds. “Fuck.” you hiss feeling another raindrop.
Of course Jungkook would be right. The universe just fucking loved him like everyone else did. You get stuck with the short end though: running in the rain searching for shelter, only for you to naturally find yourself in the part of town  empty of all businesses. “Perhaps I can stand under a tree until it calms down.” 
 Lightning flashes across the sky followed by a loud BOOM of thunder making you jump. A small sob escapes your lips as you subconsciously curl yourself into a ball. Thunder always scares you no matter how old you get. “I’m not here. I’m not here.” you whisper, rocking on balls of your feet.
 However the deafening sounds of thunder destroys any hopes of pretending to be elsewhere. So you curl tighter into a ball praying for it all to stop. Overwhelmed with fear you don’t process the feel of someone’s jacket draping over you or the angry voice of Jungkook saying, “I told you to go home.”
It’s not until he yet again scoops you into his arms that you snap from your trance. You watch shocked as he carries you to the car. Through the rain and lightning he looks nothing like the boy you remember. Instead...he looks like a man you could very well fall in love with. 
  “Jung...Jungkook” You mumble, gripping his shirt as he sets you down into the passenger seat. He looks up at you in a mixture of curiosity and surprise. Neither of you can remember the last time you called him by his first name. It’s always been Jeon never Jungkook. “Thank you....”
“Don’t worry about it.” Jungkook replies, shutting the car door. He walks over to the driver’s side sliding easily into it.
 Now clear from the rain you can make out how drench he really is: hair soaked, clothes sticking to his skin, it makes you all too aware of the jacket covering you. Reluctantly you shrug it from your shoulders missing the comforting weight of it almost immediately. “Here. This is yours. You should wear it.”
Jungkook glares. “Keep it.
“No. It’s yours. You must be freezing without it-” 
   “I said keep it! God damn it, (Y/N). Why can’t you listen for once?” he snaps, hitting the steering wheel. You recoil taken back by his outburst. Never have you seen Jungkook so angry. At most Jungkook stormed off or glared whenever mad at you, never did he raise his voice at you. "I told you to go home. I told you it was going to storm but you didn’t listen."
    "I'm sorry…" 
     "You don't get it. You could've gotten sick if I didn't find you in time. Or worse you could have gotten hurt…"
   "Oh."  You reply, unsure what to say. Worrying about you wasn't something you expected from Jungkook, but it strikes a painful chord within you. Your heart should be warmed by the thought instead a painful sinking feeling fills it. Suddenly you want nothing more than to burst into tears. “You were worried?”
   Jungkook lets out a long tired sigh. "Of course I was worried. You’ve been terrified of thunder storms since we were five, why wouldn’t I worry about you being out in one?”
       ‘Trust me, that boy couldn’t hate you if he tried.’ Jimin’s words ring in your ears. ‘My point is you thought Jungkook did it and he didn't. So isn't it possible you are wrong about everything else?’
   Could Jimin be right? Is everything you thought  one big misunderstanding? You were so sure of Jungkook’s guilt previously, but now...you couldn’t picture him as the sinister bully you’ve known all your life.  “I’m sorry. I should’ve listened and turned around.” you admit, “I’m so used to chalkin everything you say off as meaningless teasing, I didn’t consider you actually meant well.”
    “You never do.” Jungkook huffs. For a second you swear you can see pain fill his dark bambi eyes as he looks at you. It is an expression you’ve never seen on his face before, a look of hurt and dejection. Again your heart twists painfully in your chest. “You always assume I’m out to get you, when really I’m just trying to be nice. I mean sure I tease and joke around with you, but (Y/N), I would never purposefully hurt you. I know you don’t believe me-”
   “Okay. I believe you.” 
Jungkook’s foot slips hitting the break. The car lurches forward causing you both to nearly hit your heads on the dashboard. His head snaps in your direction so fast it practically gives you whiplash. “What? What did you say?”
 Around you, cars honk aggravated by the standstill in the middle of traffic; you don’t care though. All you care about right now is the look of disbelief, shock, and hope marring Jungkook’s beautiful face. In that moment you realize how little you care about the truth. It’s unexplainable the sudden urge to move on from your prior hate, but you want to...you want to believe Jungkook is a good guy. “I believe you, Jungkook.” you swallow hard. “And I’m sorry for being such a bitch to you. So please forgive me.”
   You don’t know what you expected Jungkook’s reaction to be, however it certainly wasn’t this. “I’ll think about it.”
  If not for the sudden smirk pulling at his lips, you would’ve felt horrible. Instead you feel infuriated. “You asshole. I take it back. I’m not sorry. You hear me?! Not sorry!”
  Jungkook merely laughs, shaking his head. “No backsies remember, (Y/N)? You can’t take it back.”
  You glower remembering the childish rule Jimin, Jungkook and you made up in elementary school. It was to keep each other from ducking out of any dares or promises made, and apparently apologies now. “I hate you.”
         Jungkook laughs harder. “I’m sure you do. Let’s go home, huh? I’ll make you hot chocolate if you behave.”
“I always behave.” You mutter, rolling your eyes. A second passes. “There better be whipped cream and marshmallows with that.”
     “Anything you want princess. Anything you want.” 
----------------------------------------------
You wonder if it’s creepy to find Jungkook so attractive while wearing your brother’s clothings. On Jimin, this grey sweatpants and hoodie combo makes him look like a homeless man, but on Jungkook, it has your mouth practically watering. The normally baggy material conforms perfectly to his body hiding nothing to the imagination. You see every curve, groove, muscle and bone (especially a certain large one in the middle of his sweats) in this boy’s body, and then to make things even worse you catch a sliver of tan skin anytime Jungkook raises his arms. Beautiful tan skin whose tantalizing taste and feel plagues your mind. 
    Suddenly you regret not putting up a fight about Jungkook coming over. Sure he was soaking wet from giving you his jacket, however Jungkook also lived down the street from you-he didn’t have to change into Jimin’s clothes. “Do you know if the dryer’s free?” Jungkook asks, lifting up said bundle of drenched clothes.
    “Ummm, yeah I believe so. You want me to put them up for you?” you offer, trying not to stare. Although things are technically supposed to be cool between you guys now, they’re not. Years of mistrust and hatred don’t simply vanish after an apology or sudden decision to forgive, instead the emotions built between you two need to be sorted through and really only time could do that. Which is why you try super hard not to let lust takeover and destroy the fragile truce recently made.
  Jungkook shakes his head. “Thanks, but I can manage."
You nod not knowing what else to say. Again his lips twist in that disgusting smirk you so despise, this time paired with a wink. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon enough for your ogling pleasure.”
 Quickly you look away, “Who’s ogling who, Jeon? Cause it’s certainly not me.”
   “Oh really?” Jungkook says, cocking an eyebrow. He steps forward caging you against the wall. Something dangerous gleams within those large eyes of his as Jungkook stares down at you with a ravenous look.  Shivers run down your spine sending a delicious shock through your body. “That’s too bad, because I was definitely ogling you, princess. Seeing you wear this oversized shirt gives me sooo many ideas.”
    You swallow hard, licking your suddenly dry lips. “Stop joking around. You and I know there’s nothing sexy about this shirt.”
    “I disagree. Believe it or not, I find girls sexiest when they’re comfortable with themselves. All that lace and lingerie is nice, but nothing is hotter than a girl wearing my shirt and nothing else.” Jungkook admits. “It brings out the territorial side in me.”
  Your brows crease. “That makes sense I guess, but this isn’t your shirt. It’s Jimin’s-”
     “Mine. I left it here one night after sleeping over Junior year. “ he explains. “You stole it from Jimin’s drawer thinking it was his.”
    “Oh….sorry. I’ll give it back.” Despair fills you at the thought. This is your favorite shirt regardless of it being a plain white t-shirt, it always makes you feel safe and comfy when wearing it as odd as it sounds. However you can’t afford to disrupt the newfound civialty between Jungkook and you.
      Jungkook snorts. “Keep it. Not like it will fit me anymore. Besides like I said, nothing turns me on more than a woman in my shirt. Why do you think I never asked for it back, princess?”
 He reaches out to toy with the hem of the shirt, his fingers drawing soft circles against your hip bone.   "Although I think I'd prefer you without it on, or rather anything on at all."
    "Jungkook…" you barely managed to get out as he lifts the material upwards. Cold air hits instantly pebbling your nipples despite the rush of warmth growing below. Instinctively you move to cover yourself only for Jungkook to grab your wrist. 
  "Please (Y/N). I've been dying to touch you since day one of your return." He begs, bringing your hand down. 
     "Okay." You whisper. 
"Okay. " he smiles, pressing his lips to yours. Those large hands clutch your shoulders as he presses further against you. All those curves and muscles you admired previously push up against your bare skin. Through the sweatpants you can feel how hard he is.
     A gasp escapes you as Jungkook's hands move towards your breasts caressing the underbelly of them. His fingers circle the outer edges of your nipples tracing them,  before finally moving to touch them.  He treats you like glass, a vast difference from your previous encounters and it's starting to annoy you . "I'm not made of glass you know?" You remind, stopping his hands. "You can be rough with me. "
      "Trust me, I know.  If memory serves correct you prefer it when I do something like this-" Jungkook snorts, grinding into you. The friction of his length against your clothed heat is exactly what you need. Moaning loudly you grip onto his arms trying to steady yourself. 
"That's it. Such a slut for friction. You honestly thought I'd forget how you made yourself cum on my thigh that night?" Jungkook smirks, fingers grazing along the edges of exposed skin. Goosebumps rise along wherever he touches and you squirm like underneath him. His smirk widens as he plays along the hem of your booty shorts. "I had to wash my jeans afterwards, they were so drenched from you. "
    "I didn't hear you complaining." You shoot back, pressing your hips against him in efforts to regain that delicious friction. "If I remember correctly you had fun flexing your leg underneath me."
     "Never said I didn't.  In fact I would very much like a repeat of that night." Jungkook grins, shifting so his thigh is between your legs.  The muscle in his leg flexes teasing your core; in a commanding tone he whispers, "Go crazy, princess. Ride me. Right here, right now, I promise I'll take care of ya. "
    That's all you need to hear to descend into madness. Almost instinctively you latch onto Jungkook digging your nails into his firm shoulders as you wantonly thrust against his leg. Moans escape your lips in wild abandon as his muscles rub against your clit at the perfect angle. Jungkook is right you are a whore for thigh riding. 
    Just when you think it can't get any better Jungkook's hand slips under your panties, fingers immediately finding that hard pearl between your legs. He brushes it softly causing you to hiss as your knees close in unwillingly to give up such feeling. Now this is more like it. 
    "You like that?"  He teases, forefinger circling your clit slowly.
    "Mmhmm…" you nodd, grinding harder in an attempt to pick up his pace. 
   "Words princess. Tell me exactly what you want. "
       "More. " you cry out. "Kook. More please. I need you. "
   Oddly the nickname spurs him on if the harsh whisper of, 'fuck' says anything. If not then certainly the desperate opened mouth pressed to your lips does. Silently you make a mental note to use the nickname again but it's momentarily lost as his fingers pick up speed.  This time it's you uttering curses as Jungkook brings you right to the edge of cumming.
    "Please, please, I'm so close."  You want him so badly it's ridiculous. The smirk widens on his face, Junkook decides to reward you by slipping two of his fingers into your core. "Fuck Kook!"
   "That's it, princess. Come for me. Show me how good you feel." Jungkook pumps his fingers into you. All words leave you as a haze of ecstacy falls over you, all you can is moan rocking deliberately against his hand.  With every thrust his fingers somehow hit that special spot inside you. 
     Jungkook's an expert at knowing all your spots and kinks, almost as if he memorized everything about you, last time he and you were together. Either way impressed doesn't even begin to describe how you feel about his abilities. You moan his name, holding onto to him tightly as you orgasm onto his thigh. It lasts longer than expected small waves of pleasure still coming despite the relaxed posture of your body resting on his. 
        Gently Jungkook strokes your hair in a  manner similar to what lovers do after such an event. Alarm bells ring out at the action, but you make no move to stop him. "Was that a good enough reenactment for you?" You mention, half teasing. 
    Jungkook grins. "Better than good. You got me so hard, princess, I don't know how I can last."
   This time it's you who smirks. Sliding off of his thigh, you get on your knees anxious for the next act. "Well then, I better make what little time you do have as great as possible. "
    Before Jungkook can say a word you reach under the waistband of his sweats gripping his length tenderly in your hand. The groan uttered from Jungkook's lips at the slightest touch of your hand ignites another fire within you. Smirk widening you pull out your prize, taking a second to admire the gorgeous cock. Despite having seen it before you can never quite get its length or the beautiful curve of it. 
     Running a finger along the thick veins you see a bit of pre-cum at its tip. "You weren't joking when you said that last act turned you on." You tease, swiping over his head with your thumb.
     Staring into his eyes, you put your thumb into your mouth sucking off the cum.  The salty taste makes your mouth water, with an exaggerated pop take your thumb out. "Fuck, (Y/N). Don't tease, I'll go insane if you do." Jungkook pleads.
    "So needy." You say, taking him into your mouth. Thankfully your last boyfriend was somewhat of a blow job junkie, and while Jungkook is twice as large as he was, you have no problem taking his length into your mouth. The tip touches the back of your throat, instinctively you hollow your cheeks sucking in a slow teasing manner. 
   You  swirl your tongue about his base enjoying the beautiful noises Jungkook made under your tongue. Soon a hand buries itself into your hair, gripping tightly in an attempt to control the pace. Normally you wouldn't allow such behavior preferring your lover to suffer under you, however there's something about Jungkook's desperation to get off using your mouth that sends heat pooling to your core. It doesn't take long until he's spilling into your mouth, hands pulling on your hair he thrusts his hips forward pushing himself further into your mouth.  
  “Shit, princess. That was great. Almost as good as cumming inside you." Jungkook sighs running a hand through his messy hair. 
    You smile wiping the corners of your mouth clean. "Unfortunately you're going to have to miss out. Jimin will be home soon."
  Again his hands make their way to your hips, already you can tell he's angling for another kiss. "We'll have to be quick then. "
       Jungkook leans forward, but this time you pull away. "The last thing Jimin needs is to walk in on us….besides we need to wash these sweats before he gets home. "
     His lips curl into a smile practically relishing in your embarrassment, "Fair enough princess, but don't think we are done yet. I plan on making your toes curl as much as possible until the plane ride home. "
  You cock an eyebrow. “Those are big words coming from a man who just begged me to cum. What makes you think I’m going to let you?”
      “Easy, because you like it as much as I do.” Jungkook replies, grinding himself once more against you. A sharp hiss escapes you; almost uncontrollably you push back desperate for that sweet friction, however Jungkook moves away denying any sensation. “ Nuh uh, Jimin’s going to be home soon. Wouldn’t want him catching us, now would we (Y/N)? You’ll  have to wait until next.”
    “You, son of a bitch!” You snap, glaring daggers at his retreating form. As much as you hate to admit it, something tells you this newfound friendship with Jungkook is going to be more than you bargained for.
    --------
Despite what your parents may think, your summer vacation home isn’t an excuse to be lazy. While it is true that Korea’s summer vacations are shorter than American's, as a teacher you still have plenty of work left to do during the student’s time off. One such thing happens to be reading over the posts written by your honor’s literature course throughout the break. Normally you graded them at night when everyone was asleep, but as your class delves deeper into the context of Frankenstein, you find yourself unable to keep your nightly routine with the density of the topic. Hence why you now sit in a cafe  hunched over your laptop rereading Joni’s obviously copyrighted post. 
    “You look lost in thought.” A cheery voice teases.
   For a second your brain tricks into thinking it’s Jungkook talking, after all he’s been bothering you extra since the two of you made the transition from enemies to fuck buddies. So it wouldn’t be unusual if the dark haired boy stalked you to the cafe to annoy you. However when you look up it’s not tattooed arms or a dopey bunny looking face you see, instead a pair of smiling almond shaped eyes stare down at you, their owner a very familiar reddish brunette. 
    “Hoseok!” you cry, leaping up only to hit your knee on the table. It throbs causing a sharp expletive to escape your lips. Embarrass you try to shake it off as if it never happened. Last thing you need is to make a fool of yourself in front of him. “Hi, I didn’t see you there.”
   “I can tell.” he laughs gesturing towards your knee. “I didn’t mean to startle you, (Y/N). It’s just been ages since I last saw you.”
   Your heart skips a beat. Nervously you tuck a strand of hair behind your ears in attempts to play cool. Logically you know you have no reason to get nervous, especially not when Hoseok ditched you at a restaurant after getting told you were a slut by Jungkook. Yet, for whatever reason that small high school girl who idolized him still remains inside you.
    “Almost six years. “ You smile. “Time has sure flown by hasn’t it?”
“Maybe but you haven’t changed much.” Hoseok winks, causing your brows to furrow. Haven’t changed much? What was he talking about? Did he not see your clear evolution from loner geek into potential adult? “You’re still as pretty as you were back in high school.”
   This time you are pretty sure your heart stops. It takes everything in your power not to gap like a wide-mouth fish out of water. Time seems to slow down in the small coffee shop as you work to come up with a response. Suddenly all the previous noises of chatter, whistling kettles and clanking plates become overwhelming rather than peaceful. Unfortunately even after being in a committed relationship for two years, your flirtation skills are still rusty. “You obviously need glasses then, because I looked like a hobo back then.”
      You can slap yourself. Literally-actually slap yourself for that stupid ass comment. Thankfully Hoseok doesn’t seem to mind only laughing even harder than before. “Nah, you were the prettiest girl on campus. Everyone was just afraid of you, because Jimin and Jungkook always hung around you-speaking of which, I want to apologize for how I acted back then. I shouldn’t have ditched you over such a stupid thing like that.”
    “Oh, it’s fine. Water under the bridge trust me.” you lie, ignoring the pang in your chest. Just remembering that day brings a new fire of hostility towards Jungkook. No matter how many years pass you still remember the day clearly. You were waiting for Hoseok at a local dinner, anxiously checking your phone for any messages or calls. A full hour passed with you insisting multiple times to the kind waitress that your date was arriving soon, however Hoseok never showed up. 
     You tried contacting him, worried that something terrible happened only to never get a response. Once home, you even bug Jimin who was friends with Hoseok then about the cheery boy, only to be brushed off. It’s not until you went to school the next day and confronted Hoseok in the hallway that you found out the truth. Jungkook let it loose that you were a slut and Hoseok being the knight in shining armor he was, fought him. They were equally matched with both of them garnering bruises and bumps because of it, but ultimately they were tied. 
“Look (Y/N), you seem like a nice girl, ” Hoseok said, brushing you off. “And what Jungkook said about you being a slut probably isn’t true, but I really can’t handle all this drama between you two.”
  That day your heart broke in two as dramatic as it sounds. Moreover from that moment you vowed to hate Jeon Jungkook for the rest of your life. “No, it’s really not and I might be overstepping my boundaries, but I would like another chance to get to know you.” Hoseok asks, rubbing the back of his neck.
   "Okay. " the word slips through your lips before you even have a chance to think it over. 
     His face lights up and any doubt you once had shatters completely. People change, Jungkook did so maybe Hoseok matured too. Either way it wouldn't hurt to try again. "Great. It'll be fun, I promise. "
     "I'm going to hold you to that Hoseok. " you tease. Inside you the giddiness grows, it feels as if you walked into some sort of dream or something. Didn't every girl dream of her high school crush finally realizing what a catch she is?
   "You won't regret it."  Hoseok swears. "Anyway I should let you get back to work, but first can I get your number?"
   You rattle it off to him, doing your best to appear stoic, unfortunately the aching in your smiling cheeks suggests utter failure.  Afterwards your students' work feels like less frustrating or maybe you're feeling a little generous seeing how Trisha totally bullshited her review yet you still gave a ⅘ on it. Whatever the reason you finish up faster than expected, leaving the cafe with an extra hour of free time.  "Well if it isn't a princess set free from her tower!" Someone whistles. 
  Unlike earlier you have no issue distinguishing the playful voice of Jungkook. Turning towards the noise, you unsurprisingly find him propped up against his car in a cool uncaring fashion. His work clothes only help amplify the appearance; the black suit jacket paired perfectly with his white dress shirt and pants ensemble make him look like a Chaebol rather than plain Jungkook. All in all he looks absolutely mouth watering, but you'd die before ever admitting it. "If it isn't the ogre coming out of his swamp to play. " you tease, pinching his arm. 
  He chuckles, opening the passenger's door of his black Lexus. "I think you forget the ogre got his princess in the end. "
   You wrinkle your nose in faux disgust. "Good luck, finding one. I don't know how many people can put up with your ugly mug. "
  "Don't need to. I already captured you. " Jungkook replies, closing the car door. 
    You blink registering what he said.  "That's the cheesiest line I've ever heard."
 He shrugs slipping on a pair of faux Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses. Paired with the rest of his outfit, the glasses shattered the image of the rich Chaebol man. Their paint chipped arms and scratched off logo scream 'fake' and you wonder why Jungkook kept such hideous knock offs. "You should get rid of those. They make you look cheap. "
    Jungkook scrunches his nose. "No way, they were a gift. "
   "A gift purposefully bought from some shady street vendor, because my mother insisted I buy you a college graduation gift." You say, reaching out to grab them.
     Naturally Jungkook only needs to lean away to thwart your efforts. "So? I like them. "
    "You look like one of those wannabe entrepreneurs on Instagram. "
   "How dare you! I have over five hundred followers, I'm legendary!"
     "Did Jimin make five hundred accounts? Because he's the only who would follow your ass!"�� You say, attempting one more shot at retrieving those vile glasses. 
     Once more Jungkook merely tilts his head blocking your stubby little arms from reaching. "Whatever you say princess, we both know you're the one following my ass around here. "
  "I'm following you? How laughable. I didn't know you were a comedian, Jungkook…" the two of you continue bantering the rest of the car ride home.
--------------
Author’s note: Special thanks to @dreamsfromthesandman​ for editing and putting up with my craziness even if she’s not army.
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