#there are barely any jokes they straight up just sang a song about how they love each other just cuz they could

[jisungsmochi]

i’ve got this friend - mark lee

i’ve got this friend - mark lee 

based on the (unreleased) song by 5SOS 

neighbour & friend! mark + a very oblivious y/n (female)

word count: 1.7k 

summary: after a rumour stirs that you have a secret admirer, your neighbour and friend, mark lee begins to drop some, not so subtle, clues on who it might be. will his mission be a success?

//

mark hated lee haechan more than anything in the world right now. the little menace decided to spread the rumour that you had a secret admirer. mark was in panic mode, wanting nothing more than to roll up in a ball and cry.

“what the hell, man? what if she finds out?” mark groaned, holding the bridge of his nose, as haechan continued to giggle.

“would that be so bad? you’ve been pining over her since you became neighbours. isn’t it time for you to finally tell her how you feel?”

“what if she’s disappointed?” haechan immediately stopped laughing, furrowing his eyebrows at his glum faced friend.

“but what if she’s over the moon? you always look for the bad in these situations. you’re confessing to her, you have to” mark knew inside that he was partially right. it had been almost two years since he developed a friendship with you. although you weren’t attached to the hip, you were both friendly towards eachother and spent a fair amount of time together. haechan claimed he had a fool proof plan to ‘get the girl’ so let the games begin...

“hey! y/n, wait up” mark caught up with you as you exited your house.

“oh goodmorning mark” you smiled as you walked over to him, continuing to walk alongside him on your way to school.

“i gotta tell you something” he looks away from you, eyes drawn to the ground. you silently urge him to continue,

“i heard that someone likes you”

you immediately stop in your tracks, your face contorting into confusion yet also, excitement.

“really? do you know who it is?” you trailed slowly behind him, he didn’t even notice you had stopped briefly.

“uh yeah, i’ve got this friend, he doesn’t really want me to tell you who he is yet” you felt your heart sink, is this all some sick prank?

“mark, you don’t have to feed into these rumours-“

“no i’m being serious, you have an admirer” he softly smiled, making you feel slightly more at ease. mark had never lied to you before, why would he start now? you decided not to pry him anymore, wanting to keep this to yourself for the time being. of course you were curious as to who it was, but maybe keeping their identity hidden is giving them the courage to contact you eventually. you were hopeful, and so was mark. he wanted nothing more than for you to make your way to him.

“so is there anything else you wanna tell me about said admirer? is he tall? do i know him?” you begin to become impatient as you sat across from mark at your usual lunch table.

“um he’s kinda my size? i guess. you might know him, he does go to our school” you begin to turn around, scanning your eyes over the courtyard.

“don’t look now! he might be looking” mark hurriedly spoke, not thinking about his words.

“oh so he’s close to where we are?” you grew even more curious than before. you were going to get mark lee to crack, it was the only way.

‘oh fuck’ he thought to himself. what is he going to do now?

//

“mark, it’s honestly killing me! you really can’t tell me who he is? is he really that shy? or am i just intimidating?” you frown as you sit on mark’s couch in his basement. he invited you over sometimes whenever he was bored and needed someone to go over some of his song ideas with. mark was in a band with some of his close friends, they didn’t really have a proper name yet, and had barely played infront of people.

“you’re not intimidating at all! you’re one of the kindest people i know” he quickly jumps to your defence. he hesitates for a moment before continuing,

“well he plays the bass guitar, and oh! he thinks you would like him better if he had a car, kinda feels like a loser for not having one” your mind begins to wind, who do you know that can play bass and has no car...

well jeno was the official bassist of their band...and you remember him complaining at one of their practices that he was late because he had to take the bus. but really? did lee jeno have a crush on you? that seemed unrealistic. you barely had any interactions with him, only greeting him nicely whenever you tuned in to their practices. was mark trying to set you guys up or something?

“is it someone from your band?” mark froze, not expecting you to catch on so quickly. (not like he was being so discrete either)

“uh maybe, maybe not. i don’t know” he begins to ramble.

“i’m beginning to think you’re playing some weird prank on me, mark lee. i hope whoever this guy is, comes to me soon. the suspense is killing me!” and with that, mark knew he needed to speed up the plan.

//

“you gotta tell her soon, your stupid clues are probably making her stressed. and why the hell do you wanna make her stressed?!” haechan gave the older boy a hard smack on the back of the head.

“look, we need a new plan, asap”

“no shit, you’re lucky i’m the damage control” haechan huffed, putting on his figurative thinking cap.

“aha! you’re going to write her a song” mark raised an eyebrow at the younger boy as if he was insane, he can’t write a song in a day, not even a week sometimes.

“not an actual song! just a little snippet of a song describing your feelings, since you can’t seem to say it to her straight out. it’s a brilliant idea and you should thank me” mark understood where he was coming from. maybe if he sat you down, with his guitar and sang to you, it wouldn’t be as awkward or pressuring. lee haechan was in fact a genius.

//

“mark? it’s like 1am, what do you need me for?” you groan from your side of the phone call.

“i need to get something off my chest, meet me at the park in 10” part of you wanted to hang up and fall back asleep, but another part of you was curious as to why mark lee needed you so late in the night. you dressed yourself in a warm puffer jacket before making your way to the playground across from your and mark’s houses.

you saw him sitting on one of the swings, his guitar tucked close to him, his fingers strumming to a random tune.

“this better be good” you sigh, taking a seat on the swing next to him.

“the reason i asked you to come out here is because i haven’t been completely honest with you. i don’t want you to say anything until the song is done, it would really save me the embarrassment” he warned, making you slightly nervous. he took a deep breath, eyes focused on the strings of the guitar, before he began to play.

[ *cue ‘i’ve got this friend’ by 5sos hehe]

“I've got this friend who's crazy about you

I've got this friend who can't be without you

I've got this friend and I wish I could see

See what you'd say if I told you it was me

I want to tell you to see what you'd say

Before I jump in and I ask for that date

I've been that friend

I've been that friend and I wish I could see

How this would end if you knew it was me?”

your heart melted at each lyric. mark lee had been that ‘friend’ all along. the mark that always waited for you to walk to school together. the mark that always brought you home bubble tea when you were feeling down. the mark that always invited you over just because he enjoyed the company. it was him. it was always him.

you felt tears begin to fill your eyes, causing mark to place his guitar down and stand across from you, holding your shoulders gently.

“d-did i say something wrong? did i mess things up? i’m so sorry, y/n. i should have come clean so-“

“no mark, i’m not mad or sad! i’m just really overwhelmed. here i was thinking that this was all some silly joke when the whole time, you were my admirer” you slightly sniffled at the last part, making mark’s heart swoon. he wiped a tear that fell from your eye, as you leant into his warm palm.

“i don’t need you to say you like me back or anything, i just couldn’t go on with life without you knowing”

“i understand. and trust me, i’ve always seen you as my cute next door neighbour. and honestly, i’d be lying if i said that i haven’t thought about dating you” you felt heat rise to your cheeks, hoping he wouldn’t notice due to the cold.

“but all those clues! it must have been so entertaining to watch me struggle with piecing it all together! everything makes sense now, except for the bass guitar one. i thought you were just the lead guitarist?” you furrowed your eyebrows as mark began to chuckle.

“i kinda slipped up there, i can play both guitar and bass. i was actually the initial bassist of the band until we found jeno” mark explained, making you feel even more stupid.

“gosh, there i was thinking that jeno was my admirer” you saw mark begin to frown, causing you to stand and face him.

“but don’t worry about him, all my attention and focus will be on you now!” you smiled with glee, watching as mark copied your expression. he leaned down close to you, placing a small peck to your cheek, his breath slowly fanning your cheeks.

“so what do you say? go on a date with me?”

“of course, tell your little ‘friend’ he finally got the girl” you pulled him into a warm embrace, feeling him melt in your arms.

it was safe to say that you and mark didn’t remain friends for much longer.

#mark lee imagine #mark imagine #nct mark imagine #nct fluff #nct imagine #nct fic #mark lee fic #mark lee fluff #nct mark fluff #nct mark scenario #nct dream scenario #nct dream fluff #nct dream imagines #nct 127 imagine #nct writing #jisungsmochi masterlist #jisungsmochiimagines

[evienyx]

Hey so uh, sorry that this is kinda a personal question and unrelated to what you usually post but you seem really nice and I was wondering how you figured out that you were ace? I’ve been struggling with this myself for a while now, and was just wondering if you had any advice or something. Please don’t feel obligated to respond or anything, I totally get that this is kinda a weird question and might make you uncomfy, so sorry about that in advance. Thanks!

Well, I’m going to start off by saying that everyone is different. You won’t figure it out the same way I figured it out, just like how I didn’t figure it out the same way any of my friends did. That’s all right. Take all the time that you need.

Additionally, I only really figured this out for myself in the last few years, and one day something may happen that I identify with a different sexuality and that’s also okay. This is not a ‘one-and-done’ kinda thing. It’s all right. This is your thing. Yours.

For me, it was around my freshman year of high school that I started realizing that I had never really gotten to that phase where I started obsessing over anyone. Now, in middle school, even though that was the time when a lot of people around me really started going hard into the dating thing, I never did. I skipped a year in school, though, so it would make sense for me to be about a year or so later than everyone else hopping on the hype train of teenhood, but halfway through my first year of high school, it was still pretty mute.

People around me would joke constantly, say things like “Oh, well, once she gets her first crush, everything will change.” I remember distinctly my cousin asking me if I had a crush on anyone, and then me saying no, and then my grandma patting me on the cheek and saying “You just haven’t found the right boy yet.”

So, for most of freshman year, I sort of just accepted what people around me said, that I was a “late-bloomer” and I would one day fall for someone hard and everything would make sense. 

When the end of freshman year came around, I was quite sure that I was just another straight girl, who would get the whole ‘attraction thing’ soon enough. 

As the months went on, though, I realized a few things.

1. Whatever thing was meant to change, didn’t come to fruition.

2. I was perfectly fine and open to dating someone, but I didn’t care about what they looked like. When friends and cousins and the like would show pictures of actors and talk about how hot the actor was, I’d agree, but almost completely on a baseline objective level.

and 3. I was completely uninterested in the idea of sex. I didn’t seek it out, or care about it. It was barely even spared a thought in my mind.

I started thinking that there might be something wrong with me, or that maybe I had felt sexual attraction toward someone, and I just hadn’t noticed. But the further into the year I got, the more I came to recognize the fact that that was not the case. 

I recall on one specific wet day in the late winter of that year, I was walking my dog on the one day the temperatures were slightly decent, and I was just scrolling through the internet aimlessly when I noticed something that caught my eye. It was a post (which I cannot find) of around two dozen pride flags, each with a name and description of the sexaulity or gender identity it represented.

That day, walking the dog through slush that got melting snow stuck to his paws and mud clinging to my boots, as the temperature prepared to drop below freezing for another week, I learned, for the first time, what Asexuality was.

I had seen the flag before, of course, and heard the term ‘ace,’ but I had never looked into it, thought about it. I didn’t think much of it at that moment, either. I just filed it away and moved on to exhale sharply through my nose at whatever ‘Stonks’ meme came up on my feed next.

Quite a while (as in, literal years) passed, though, and I found myself thinking about the idea of ‘Asexuality’ that I had heard about more and more. 

The one thing that really held me back was the fact that I was fine with the concept of having sex with someone, though I was only really interested in doing it for the experience/intimacy, and possibly in the future to have a child, and I thought to myself, “I can’t be Asexual if I want to have a kid. That’s not how it works.”

Surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly at all), there was one thing that really did it for me in the end, and that was when Muffin ( @muffinlance ) announced on Tumblr (in a post I cannot find) that she was going to be having a baby.

An asexual (married too, so take that grandma!), having a baby. While still being asexual.

I looked into it, discovered the idea of someone being Asexual Sex-Positive, Sex-Neutral, or Sex-Negative. I found out, truly, about the idea of being Demisexual, or Gray Axsexual. The idea of an Asexuality Spectrum was opened up to me, and I realized suddenly that all of my worries, everything that had been holding me back, didn’t matter. 

My Tumblr bio shortly after changed from ‘she/her’ to ‘she/her, ace’ and it was one of the best feelings in the entire world. I don’t quite think I’ll ever be able to describe to someone who never went through the experience of finally feeling like your belong, if only for that one moment.

(also, currently, I’m of the opinion that I am either Biromantic or Panromantic. I’m leaning more towards bi, but I’m completely open still. I also have still not dated a single person ever, so who knows. That’s not what this is about, just thought I’d mention it)

You should take all the time you need, find what fits you. It’s weird to hear, and it’s hard to do, but I’m quite sure that once you find it, you’ll know it.

Last holiday season, while at a gathering with the more intensely religious and traditional side of my family, a cousin of mine sang “I Kissed a Boy,” by Adele, but changed the lyrics to “I Kissed a Girl,” so as not to appear ‘gay’ in any way, shape, or form. 

I noticed a different cousin of mine looking a bit upset while he sang the song, and so I talked to her alone afterward to see if they were all right, and after just a few minutes of speaking about nothing in particular, he came out to me in a hallway at a holiday party when no one else but me was around. And, in return, I did the same and came out to them.

He was the first family member I ever came out to, and that was the first time I truly told someone my sexuality. I told them I was asexual, and they accepted it and we hugged and it was one of the more exhilarating moments of my entire life.

So, in the end, how did I figure out I was ace?

I just sort of did. I feel I could have done more research earlier than I did, but that’s all right. It all worked out. I figured it out, and I promise you will, too. And if you get it wrong a few times before you get it right? That’s perfectly okay, too.

Anyway, one more additional personal thought about something I noticed that I think is kinda weird:

Muffin and her actions and stuff are so weirdly tied to such random core parts of my life. I published the first chapter of Fractures because I was encouraged and inspired when I saw her own stories. I finally figured out my sexuality and felt like I belonged, like one of those flags was mine, because of her. It’s just a bit crazy to me. Thanks, I guess, Muffin.

All right, that’s about it. I hope this helps, at least a bit. 

I wish you the best, anon, in figuring out who you are. You can take as long as you need or want, you don’t need to stick to a choice. This is your identity. This is yours. Not a single person gets a choice in the matter besides you. Good luck, and remember, you’ve always got me in your corner. If anyone ever gives you shit about this kinda thing, send ‘em my way. I did Tae Kwon Do for two-and-a-half years, and I’m also constantly fueled by spite and Twix bars. We’re all here for you. 

That goes for anyone. Don’t be afraid to embrace who you are. I’m proud of you, we’re all proud of you. This is who you are. Enjoy it.

#not atla #ask #ask away #ace things #this is a long post but #you know what im not gonna put it behind a read more #i mean unless someone specifically asks me too? #id do it then #if it was hindering ppl in some way #but other than if that happens #then no! #anyway im gonna go to bed #hope you all enjoyed my ramblings #remember #dont be afraid to be yourself #bc thats all you ever need to be #i promise #edit: ive changed the pronouns of my cousin as they've recently come out and now use he/they pronouns

[kakiwrites]

astronomy

Genre: angst

Hajime iwaizumi x reader

Warning: cancer, y/n death

Synopsis: when you get diagnosed with cancer, you wanted to spend what little time you had left completing your bucket list with iwaizumi.

a/n: blame @tendousfingerbandagess for this idea. I was just listening to conan gray's new song 'astronomy' then prompted this idea. I want to share my pain with you all hehehe! Let's get started.

"we found that you have acute lymphocytic leukemia…" were the first and only words you heard from the doctor before blood suddenly rushed to your ears.

You were rushed to the hospital by your boyfriend, Iwaizumi, when your very high fever kept coming back every few hours. Hajime sat next to you as the doctor broke the news to you, trying to comfort you by running his thumb over your clenched knuckle. He hoped to ease you into the harsh reality that was brought upon you but you couldn't feel anything then. All you felt was the piercing cold. You didn't know if it was a symptom of your new diagnosis or because of the news itself.

"w-well, can you still treat it?" Iwaizumi asked for you, squeezing your hand to attempt and bring you back into this conversation.

"we can but it'll be painful-"

"what if I don't want to be treated?" you suddenly chimed in. that caused Hajime to turn to you with a shocked expression. No. You have to get treated. He can't lose you.

"w-what are you saying, (y/n)? Y-you can't be serious." Iwaizumi let out a humorless chuckle, praying that you would laugh along and reassure him that you were kidding. But you didn't do that. You sat straight in the uncomfortable chair, waiting for the doctor's response.

"Well, though it is not ideal, we can delay putting you on the transplant list but that will lessen your chances to survive. Chemo therapy is also on the table." the doctor replied professionally, his clipboard opened on your file to take note of your wishes.

"I want to delay both as of now. I-I just need time to think…" your voice cracked. You wanted to be strong. To show your boyfriend that you could handle it and that you'll be okay. But from the looks of your face, how you trembled beside him, iwaizumi knew that it was the exact opposite of what you were trying to portray. The doctor nodded his head before he left you alone with a confused and distraught Iwa.

"why?" Iwa's voice was barely above whisper as his glassy eyes looked into yours in sorrow. He wanted you to live. He already planned his future with you. How you would have two kids running around the small house you two would purchase to accommodate your family. But now, he wasn't so sure if that same dream of his will come to life. The only thing he could do now was pray that you'll survive and live through this.

"I want to live my life, haj," you replied. You shot him a sad grin before you took a deep breath and spoke once more. "I want to live my life to the fullest before I grow weak and have to sit in a hospital room and wait impatiently for the small chance that I'll find a donor or see any big progresses." you let out a watery laugh. Damn, this was harder than it looks. "I want to live my last stronger moments with you." tears ran down your cheeks at the end of your little speech. You looked back to see iwaizumi's tears flowing down just like yours did.

Iwaizumi brought your hand up to his quivering lips and placed a soft kiss on them. "then I'll help you. I'll help you live your life to the fullest." he placed another kiss on your knuckle, a sign of a promise he was willing to do anything to keep.

"okay, I'm done!" you called Iwa. You placed your pen down and waited for him to pop out from your shared bedroom.

Iwaizumi smiled and sat next to you on the couch, reaching a hand out to take the slip of paper from you. You gave it to him willingly. "have a road trip around Japan, adopt a puppy, try delicacies in each city we visit, bungee jumping, and star gazing. Wow, it looks like we have a lot of things to do~" he said, wrapping his arm around you and bringing you closer as his eyes skimmed through the list once more.

You nodded your head in agreement. Iwaizumi explained to his team that he wouldn't be there as often because of your diagnosis. They all agreed that your health came first and that they'll be fine hearing his critiques on their forms and diet from home. Just like that, he already sacrificed so much for your sake. He now asked you to write down a small little bucket list you could do together before you decide to settle down and get better. He promised to help you live your life to the fullest after all.

"When do you think is the best time to start working on this?" he asked, waving the list in his hand. You shrugged. You didn't want to rush him into finishing this and risk burning your boyfriend out. This was his time to relax and have fun beside you. "We should get packing then!" he took both of your hands and pulled you up from your seat, causing a giggle to bubble up from your throat. You tilted your head when his words sank into your brain. Pack? Right now?

"You want me to pack? Right now?" you asked skeptically. Iwa chuckled before leaning in and pressing a quick kiss on your soft lips.

"because we're going on that road-trip tomorrow, you idiot." Hajime watched your eyes lit up with glee before you skipped into your bedroom and packed your shared luggage.

Even in the devastating predicament you were in, you didn't stop being so positive and happy. That was one of the things he loved about you.

"We drive through the woods

Rich neighborhoods to watch

We joked as we looked

That they were too good for us

Cause socially speaking we were the same

With runaway fathers and mothers who drank

A tale old as time

Young love don't last for life"

You sat in the passenger seat of Hajime's car, a blanket keeping you comfortable while Conan Gray's astronomy blaring through the speakers. Iwaizumi couldn't help but bop his head behind the wheel while you sang along.

"damn, your voice sounds amazing." he complimented, causing your cheeks to feel hot. Iwaizumi chuckled before he turned and parked in the wide parking lot of the animal shelter.

"wait! Are we getting the puppy now?!" you squealed excitedly. Iwaizumi clicked his seatbelt off and hummed in confirmation. You never got out of the car that quickly before.

Fortunately, this was only the beginning.

For the next few days, you traveled around Japan with your new puppy, iwaizumi named (y/n) Jr., went bungee jumping together, and tried delicacies in each town. you had the time of your life.

But fun had to end.

On the last day of your third week, you started to feel waves on waves of fatigue wash over you. You just wanted to rest with Iwaizumi but you felt like giving in was only admitting that you can't handle it anymore.

So you forced yourself to get up.

It was hard to hide things from iwaizumi. He was always perceptive, especially now. He was there to help you live.

He needed you to live. Because he knew that he wasn't anyone without you.

"you okay? We can rest today if you want." he asked worriedly, walking over and assisting you to a seat. He went into the kitchen to fetch you a glass of water.

"no, I'm fine." you replied, trying to reduce your shaking as you take the glass and chugged the water. You could only hope that your headache will subside soon. "do you have anything planned for today?" you asked, feigning cheerfulness. Iwaizumi glanced back at you worriedly before he sighed, flashing you a small smile.

"well, we have stargazing on your list so I was planning to do just that." Iwa sat next to you and stretched his arm over your shoulder. You giggled before you closed your eyes and nuzzled into him, wishing to store the last bit of your energy that you felt was seeping out at a rapid pace.

Iwaizumi could hope that it wasn't what he suspected. That you were just having an off-day. That you were okay, just like the last few weeks.

But that was all he could do. All he could do was hope.

The night air was colder than usual.

You pulled your thick cardigan closer to your chest and squeezed iwa's hand, hoping that his warmth would seep into you. Hajime looked back at you worriedly. "you okay? Dammit, we should've stayed home-"

"i'm fine, haji, it's just colder than usual." you lied, nudging him, telling him to keep walking.

You felt like you used up all of your energy climbing up the small hill where a picnic blanket was set-up on the very top, a small stereo playing Astronomy softly. You couldn't help but gasp in surprise. Maybe that wasn't a good idea, the lack of air in your lungs already making you dizzy. The gasp hid the shallowness of your breath from your already anxious boyfriend who helped you get settled on the blanket under the stars.

"just... Sit tight." iwaizumi took a deep breath before he stood in front of you, made a fist and pretended he was holding a mic as he sang along to Conan's soft voice.

"We've traveled the seas

We've ridden the stars

We've seen everything

From Saturn to Mars

As much as it seems

Like you own my heart

It's astronomy

We're two worlds apart"

He took your hand and pulled you up on your shaking feet. he got down on one knee then took out a velvet box. Your hands flew to your mouth. This can't be happening.

"(y/n), it might look like we don't have time but i know you can fight back and win. I can wait until then. So (y/n) (l/n), will you marry me?" he muttered to keep his voice from cracking. Your smile reached from ear to ear, nodding your head rapidly at a loss of words. Iwaizumi slipped the ring onto your finger and was about to pull you close into a hug when the unthinkable happened.

Your feet buckled under you, unable to support your weight anymore. Your breath was ragged and loud. You tried to suck in air to no avail. What was going on?

Your ears ring while black dots start to spread through your vision. The last thing you remembered was your now fiance's blurry figure in front of you, desperately trying to bring you back to him.

Cold. The cold just seeps into you, suffocates you until-

You woke up to the blinding lights of the hospital. Your tired eyes moved to observe the room. You felt someone squeezed your hand. You turned to see a sleepy iwaizumi slouched in one of those uncomfortable hospital chairs, his hand gripping yours tightly. Hajime jolted awake the second you squeezed his hand back.

"(y/n)!" he exclaimed in relief, bringing his head down and kissing the ring on your finger repeatedly. Little droplets littered your hand. Iwaizumi was crying. "i-i thought i lost you... You wouldn't wake up for days a-and-" he sobbed. You pulled him into your chest, letting him nuzzle into your weak figure.

That small reassurance that you still had that small fight left in you helped iwaizumi sleep that night.

It was only the beginning of hell for you.

For the next few weeks, iwaizumi couldn't do anything but watch as your once strong figure rapidly grew weaker by the day. He had no idea had to stop it.

He needed a miracle.

He picked up his phone, dialed a certain number and waited for them to answer. If iwaizumi needed a miracle, this was the guy to call.

Another week went by, you were looking out your window in boredom when your hospital room door opened. thinking it was another nurse, you used all your strength to crane your neck to look at the person who entered. Your eyes lit up when you saw Iwaizumi enter with the Argentina setter, Oikawa.

"tooru!" you cheerfully yelled. Oikawa immediately rushed toward you. The man was about to pounce on you but iwa came to the rescue just in time and pulled the setter away from your bed.

"what are you doing here?" you asked, wiping away the stray happy tears that accumulated in the corners of your eyes.

"simple!" oikawa said as he skipped back to the door and opened it to reveal matsukawa and hanamaki with an officiant. "i decided to provide a little bit of a miracle." You turned to iwaizumi who glowed pink beside you. Was this really happening?

Your little "ceremony" flew by too quickly for your liking. You wished you could just cherish this moment forever. How all of the former members of the volleyball team came in and gave their congratulations and told little anecdotes they remember about the early stages of your relationship, like the time hajime almost beaten up oikawa for flirting with you in high school or how iwaizumi accidentally hit you with his spike when he was staring a second too long.

The noise slowly died down to the beeps of your heart monitor connected to you. Iwaizumi sat beside you and kissed your hand once more. "we're officially married now." he whispered, not wanting to break the soft ambience of the room.

"yeah..." you leaned back weakly in your bed. A wave of fatigue suddenly hit you. Maybe it was because of the eventful day you've had.

"You gotta live through this if you want to enjoy our honeymoon." he joked, causing you to let you a soft giggle.

"i love you, haj."

"i love you too, baby..."

"We have a code blue!"

Iwaizumi shot out of his seat to be met by a slew of nurses bursting into your room. His eyes snapped toward your limp figure. No. Nonono. This cannot be happening. You were okay. You were laughing along with everyone. You were joking around. You promised to live, to be strong.

Why? Why did you let go now?

"sir, Please step outside of the room." a nurse said to him, hauling the trainer out the door and into the hallway. Iwaizumi dropped into one of the empty seats outside, burying his head in his hands. He prayed to every god he could think of, to spare your life.

But unfortunately, his prayers weren't answered.

When the doctor came out of your room with a somber look on his face. He already knew what happened. His tears silently flowed down his cheeks as his brain blocked out the doctor's voice, ringing growing louder and louder.

There was only one festering thought in his mind now and it was growing bigger the longer he stayed in that hallway. It kept nipping at him when he went back into the room to see your now lifeless body.

You were gone and he will never see you wake up again.

It all moved like a blur to hajime. Your family was as equally as distraught as he was. They offered their support to which Iwaizumi refused to take. At night he would imagine that you would come bursting into the room and cuddle with you and every time, he would feel tears prick his eyes when he would remember that it didn’t work like that.

The funeral wasn’t any better. Iwaizumi would acknowledge the typical condolence message here and there. He went out of his way to make his eulogy speech a bit more personal for your grieving family members and friends. He couldn’t stop his sobs when he watched as your casket got lowered into your final resting place. The pain felt unbearable.

He stood in front of your new and clean tombstone, tears pricking the corners of his eyes as he held (y/n) jr. In his other hand. He let out a shaky smile, the smile he usually reserved for you. He was going to miss you.

"don't worry love, we'll meet again." he whispered hoping you would hear him one last time. It was going to be hard to move on but he’s going to do everything in his power to pull himself back up and come to terms with reality and maybe to keep your memory alive.

And that's all! This was a real whirlwind and I didn't really anticipate it being this long! Hope you guys enjoyed this! Thanks for @tetsunormous for getting mad at me for spamming and beta reading! Requests are open so please don't be shy to leave anything in my inbox! Love you guys 💖💕❤️

General taglist (don’t be shy to comment your tumblr @ below): @tokyoghoose @macaronnv @reogou @midnightangelfox @wumboho @seiijixcia

#haikyuu x reader #haikyu x reader #haikyuu #haikyu #hajime iwaizumi #iwaizumi #hajime iwaizumi x reader #iwaizumi x reader #iwaizumi angst #kaki writes

[hlizr50]

Update: The Raven and the Songbird

Chapter 4

Gwyn is coping. Merrill is the worst. Az is... Az.

Read on AO3

Gwyn rubbed her eyes, the book spines blurring in front of her. It didn’t help that she’d been banished to one of the lower levels, where the dark creeped between the stacks and threatened to follow her. It also didn’t help that she had barely slept the night before. And that she’d come to the library straight from training.

It had been six days since she’d woken up bleary-eyed after Azriel had left her in the rain. And, as she’d thought, things were better. She had thrown herself into training and work, but she felt good about how she was managing.

She was tired.

But she could deal with that.

Merrill, of course, had sunk her claws into Gwyn’s wounds almost immediately, but she knew how to handle the haughty, hateful priestess. The first few days had been rough, but she sang to herself through the extra hours she spent in the library and let the melodies accompany her as she shelved and retrieved the tomes Merrill had demanded.

Azriel had even returned to training, which was oddly comforting despite this new distance between them. It was almost normal again – Cassian with the advanced females and Azriel with the novices. Neither of them lingered after like they used to, but she couldn’t help stealing a glance or two in his direction.

She would have to work on that.

With the last book shelved and her cart filled with new volumes for the white-haired priestess, Gwyn began the trek back up the ramp. She tried not to think about what Merrill would say when she found out that Gwyn couldn’t locate one of the tomes on the shelves. She’d looked at every pile left on a table or desk but couldn’t locate it. If she hadn’t already taken too long she would have started inquiring with every priestess she could find –

“Where is that miserable girl?”

The freckles on Gwyn’s nose bunched as she scowled, Merrill’s screech echoing over the ramps. She inhaled deeply and breathed out her sigh, steeling herself for the encounter.

“I’m on my way, sister!” Her legs burned with the extra effort it took to push the cart laden with leather-bound parchment. With her extra time in the library – to help her minimize the time when she was idle and alone – her body was still adjusting to the additional walking, pushing, and lifting.

Library work really was good conditioning.

Merrill was no longer at the rail when she reached level four so Gwyn pushed the cart through the stacks and down the hall to the sister’s office. Papers and books were strewn about, and the copper-haired priestess wondered how she could possibly keep everything straight. Of course, she’d had Gwyn to help – that was how.

“I hope you found the time between frolicking and singing to do what I asked of you?”

“Merrill, I was fully focused on your task,” she searched for a way to satisfy the female. “The work just makes me so happy I can’t help but sing.” Gwyn pasted a bright smile on her face as she lugged a stack into the office, searching for any clear surface that might hold them.

“Foolish Gwyneth,” Merrill hissed, not deigning to look at her. “Have you ever thought that some of the females here don’t want your songs thrust upon them? Have you ever thought about how they might feel seeing you so joyous when they cannot be?”

The younger priestess stilled, arms growing heavy with the weight of the tomes in her grasp. She hadn’t considered that, ever. The library was a place of sanctuary and healing, and she had been experiencing those things. She had never noticed if any of the other sisters were affected by it. Surely Clotho would have mentioned something to her if there had been complaints.

“Selfish, wretched girl.”

Gwyn sighed and set the books down as gently as she could on the corner of a small end table.

“I couldn’t find the third volume of The Continent. One of the other priestesses must have it. But I’m going to inquire with them now.” She turned to leave, hoping she could make it before the wintry female could toss more vitriol at her.

“Pathetic, Gwyneth. To prance around happy and content when you can’t even perform your basic duties. When you play at being strong and brave yet can’t manage to leave the library. You should learn that you are not special. You are utterly plain and ordinary and you should behave as such.” Gwyn kept walking although her shoulders sagged. She knew she wasn’t special – had never thought herself better than anyone else. But she also knew she wasn’t ordinary. She had been training in combat for more than a year. She counted some of the most powerful fae in Prythian among her friends. She had won the Illyrian Blood Rite.

But Merrill, of course – the cunning white witch – had snagged a claw in one of her buried insecurities and dangled it before her, as if it were on display for all to see. Gwyn still wasn’t comfortable with venturing into the city, for all of her growth and accomplishments. She walked proudly most days with a smile pulling at her lips, secure in her body and strength and heart. But somehow Merrill always knew what to say, where to push and prod. She had joked with Nesta that she must be daemati and would just gaze into Gwyn’s mind as if it were her own.

Nesta had just said she was a bitchy old crone stuck in a fae body, doomed to live for a near-eternity, and she was just bitter about being alive for so long.

The priestess grinned to herself as she went in search of… well, anyone. She pictured the list of females that she would have to check off, one by one, to ensure she found the missing volume. She was nimbly navigating the stacks when a familiar voice reached her.

“Gwyn! Somehow I knew I’d find you still here.” Gwyn paused and turned toward Nesta’s call, smiling wide at her Valkyrie sister. She noticed how the eldest Archeron had started wearing her hair down and smiling easily, and Gwyn felt her heart swell to see happiness reflected in those once-frigid eyes.

“Nesta,” she sighed as they met for an embrace. “What brings you down here at this hour?”

“Well you weren’t in your room,” Nesta fixed her with a pointed look before echoing, “at this hour. You’ve been working a lot.” Not an assessment, nor an observation. Just a statement to the priestess, a signal that she was onto her.

Gwyn flashed the most convincing serene smile she could muster and beckoned for her friend to walk with her. If Merrill caught her dilly-dallying she was as good as dead. “Merrill has been very demanding lately. Spending more time here helps me accomplish more and helps me make sure she gets what she needs.” She avoided Nesta’s skeptical reaction, knowing full well the look in those eyes would burn right through her defenses.

“So… you’re working yourself to exhaustion to appease that witch?”

Gwyn couldn’t very well admit that she needed to stay occupied, or that her exhaustion wasn’t just because of long working hours.

“You know how much I value her research, Nesta. It’s worth a little extra effort.” The two warriors continued to wander through the stacks, Gwyn making sure to eyeball every stray pile of books in search of volume three of The Continent.

“Well, tomorrow night you’re taking off,” Nesta mused, breaking the companionable silence. The young priestess halted, mouth opening to argue. “You’re spending the night with Emerie and me.”

“Nesta –“

“No, Gwyn. You’ve been working constantly, barely talking to us after training. We miss you.” She gave Gwyn the most un-Nesta-like face, pouting her lower lip and widening those ice-gray eyes. “Pretty please, Gwynnie?”

“Oh you know I hate when you call me that,” Gwyn huffed. But her nose crinkled with her grin as she reached up and pinched her friend’s cheek. “How could I say no to that face, though?” The Valkyries giggled together and Nesta leaned in to kiss her sister’s cheek.

“Perfect. Six o’clock, the House library. We’ll have dinner and dessert and books and Mother knows what else.” Gwyn smiled as Nesta gave her a look. “Don’t work too late, Gwyn. You’re tired. I can tell.”

“Oh, quit worrying you busybody,” she shooed Nesta away as she stuck out her tongue. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

~~~

Azriel paced around the group of novices, shrewdly observing footwork, weight distribution, and body position as they moved through their stretching and grounding exercises. Despite his neutral expression he was relatively impressed. It wasn’t like him to offer praise in the training ring – that was more Cassian’s and Gwyn’s nature – but he could acknowledge consistent improvement he was seeing.

“Alright, take a break,” he let his voice rise into the summer afternoon. “Get some water. We’ll start working core in a few minutes.” The shadowsinger quirked his lip as he ignored their groans and strode over to the other side of the training ring, where his shadows had been pulling him. They had been particularly insistent since he returned to training, eager to be nearer to a certain priestess after so long apart. Cassian stood, arms crossed, observing the sparring matches between the advance females. Gwyn and Nesta were a blur of punches, feints, and footwork as Azriel stopped next to the general.

“Berdara is sluggish. Watch,” Cassian muttered, and Az forced his gaze toward that ribbon-tied hair shining like copper in the sun. Even with her face red with exertion he could see the bruise-like circles under her eyes and the tightness in her features. Her breathing was ragged, shoulders slouched, weight too far on her heels.

“She’s dropped her left elbow every time she side-steps. She’s lucky Nesta hasn’t targeted that shoulder.” Azriel tried to sound like the seasoned teacher and watchful warrior, not belying the concern blooming within him.

“She’s lucky she’s talented enough with hand-to-hand. If they had weapons I would sideline her,” the general growled, frustrated. “It’s not safe for her to fight in that condition.” As soon as he said it Nesta’s foot connected with Gwyn’s shoulder. She swiped the priestess’ feet out from under her as she staggered and she fell with a resounding thud on her back. Azriel winced as he tried to control his twirling shadows – they wanted to go to her, to make sure she was okay. It was an effort not to give in to them.

“Water, you two!” Cassian called over as Nesta and Emerie pulled Gwyn to her feet. The spymaster’s eyes narrowed as he watched her. She bent over, hands braced on her knees, panting. Likely that fall had knocked the wind out of her. He looked up in time to see Nesta approaching, water in hand.

“Well fought, Archeron.” Azriel dipped his chin, acknowledging her effort.

“No. I’m not going to claim that victory.” She shook her head before looking to her mate. “She’s not herself.”

The shadowsinger bristled and his shadows seemed to twitch around him.

“What’s going on with her, then?” Cassian asked.

“I’m not sure. I know she’s working double shifts in the library. I’m not sure how she’s sleeping but she seems tired.” Nesta looked between the two Illyrians. “Even if she’s sleeping fine, spending extra time getting berated by Merrill can’t be healthy.”

Azriel grimaced. The priestess – Merrill – had a reputation, to be sure. And to hear that Gwyn was putting herself under so much stress was alarming. He glanced back across the ring and studied her. No laughter, no shining smile.

“I’ve staged an intervention for tonight. She’s spending the night here with me and Emerie.” Azriel felt Nesta’s eyes on him as she spoke. “We’ll get to the bottom of it.” When he dared to glance to the side he found them both with shrewd stares centered on him.

“What?” He knew his attempt at nonchalance was pitiful.

“Nothing to offer, Azriel? No thoughts you’d like to share?” Nesta raised her brow to challenge him. Azriel held his mask firmly in place, stoic and cold. But his chest was a chasm, guilt rushing in like a waterfall. He knew… he knew the changes they were seeing were because of him. He turned unseeing eyes across the ring, struggling to find a place to focus. But that copper-spun hair shining in the heat of the afternoon grounded him, a tether to reality. He couldn’t get the sound of her crying out of his head as he took in her wan features and sagging posture. Smoky tendrils settled over his shoulders in resignation.

He had been a fool. A coward.

He had been wrong to walk away.

Azriel turned from Cassian and his mate without a word, ignoring the questioning gazes and the racing thoughts. Instead he slipped into that quiet, observant, demanding presence with the females under his charge.

“Alright, ladies. You’ve had long enough. Time for core.”

He didn’t even grin like he usually did when they begrudgingly obeyed, his mind too full and his soul too empty.

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[minachuuu]

Unspoken Words Hurt Too [P2]

❣Unspoken Words Hurt Too❣ Part 2/2 (Part 1!)

❤ Pairing: Yves x (Fem) Idol!Reader

❤ Genre: Angst

❤ Word Count: 7.3k (I think I got a little too excited on this one, ups)

❤ Song Suggestions: One Way by LOONA/yyxy and Rock Bottom by Hailee Steinfeld

It has been two months since Yves phone stopped ringing with your name popping on the screen, but that didn’t mean her mind ceased to bring back your smile, your eyes and the way your arms felt around her. Her comeback with LOONA was useful to have her mind away from the issue for a while, but now that promotions had finished for them, there was nothing preventing you from dwelling on her memory.

Yves was sure that if her phone rang, just once again with your name, it wouldn’t take a second for her to answer it. She beated herself endlessly at the way she treated the situation from the first day. After the news broke, you tried reaching her endlessly but she kept declining call after call. But among preparations for their comeback, Vivi was the one to smack some sense into her, calling her attitude ‘childish’. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know that but her pride refused to surrender, avoiding any possible contact or even seeing your face anywhere.

It wasn’t until one day, the girls at the dorm were looking at a show were your group made an appearance. You looked tired, weared off. Her instinct was to get her phone out and text you to ask if you were okay, but a voice in her head reminded her of everything she had done wrong, the friendship she had broken. She promised to herself to answer your next call, but it was a little too late. 

On the other hand, you accepted that you had neglected your friendship a bit before the whole relationship thing even started, let’s not even think about a more serious relationship. So you perfectly understood if she didn’t want to waste her time with someone who didn’t know how to handle her priorities, but if you only had the opportunity...

And then, there she was. Her sight lost in the horizon, sitting in the most isolated bench at the park you used to visit together, to escape from life watching the Han River serenely flow. Her mind was rattling with a thousand thoughts as she gradually sipped on the hot beverage in her hands. The sun was setting in the horizon, turning the water below into a shaking quivering mirror, reflecting the sun rays straight to her face. 

You stared in silence, the girl unaware of your presence behind her, her silhouette as bright as you remembered from the last time you had seen her, all those months ago in the dance practice that would catapult you into stardom. You stayed there for some minutes, deciding on whether or not to interrupt her contemplating state. The only thing you had to grasp upon was a deep breath, before gently walking towards her.

“Excuse me, I believe you might be on my bench.” You joked, your whole self filled with hope that she would take it lightly.

“I’m so sorry!” She sprang from the seat in surprise, extremely apologetic. She gradually turned around, bowing respectfully. “I’ll move to-”

“I don’t mind sharing it though” You offered her a gentle smile when her eyes locked on yours. 

“Y/n-” She gasped, but her expression made it impossible to say if she was glad or not to see you there.

“Hi Sooyoung.” You responded, dryly but a hint of nostalgia managed to slip out. Revealing how much you missed saying your best friend’s name out loud. Your hand motioned to the empty part of the bench as she moved her body to one side. “May I?”

“Suit yourself.” She mumbled. 

You took a seat by her side, both avoiding making eye contact. The sun reflecting on the river in front of you bounced to your eyes now as the air around you two was cramming with a thousand words to be said. But the pressure of the silence was even more deafening, making it obvious that those times where you both were comfortable with your quietness were far behind.

“How did you find me?” She asked first. You sensed a certain hostile tone coming out of her, your energies crashing against each other.

“I wasn’t looking for you to begin with.” You answered in the same tone, a sting in your chest as you weren’t used to talking to her that way. “But it just so happens that we both choose the same spot to come and think about… stuff.”

“And what stuff do you have to think about that is so important to interrupt mine?” She scoffed.

You clenched your fists, tensing your jaw. The truth was that both of you only came here to think about each other. What any other reason could this spot have when you had spent countless hours here building memories together, thinking of a future full of dreams that you casually wanted to achieve together. But those now seemed far, far away from a reaching distance when every word right now seemed to scream ‘go away’.

“I just wanted to catch a breath.” You hid your real intentions behind a mask full to the brim with bottled emotions. 

“Yeah, I can’t imagine how tiring it must be to be you.” Sooyoung mentally slapped herself at the way she was talking back to you. But she couldn’t control the pride in her heart from swelling. 

“You know what? Yes, yes it is. I do have a problem” You snapped your head towards her, daring to look at her in the eyes. “But what’s yours Sooyoung?”

“I don’t know what you m-”

“I wanted my best friend back, I really did.” You continued but she refused to let her guard down. “But you made it really clear to me that you didn’t.”

“Then why are you here?” She spat. Her eyes getting glossy, staring at the paper cup in her hands as she averted your gaze.

“I-” The air was sucked out of your lungs, letting out an incredulous chuckle in defeat. “You’re right. I have no idea why I am wasting my time here.”

You bolted up from the bench, straightening your jacket as the last rays of sunlight lit up your silhouette. You stared at the colors of dusk, maybe the last time you saw them from this valued place of yours.

“Take care Sooyoung,” Your words barely made it through your choked throat, as you tried containing your tears. “Say hi to the girls from me.”

Each step you took away from her felt heavier and heavier. You couldn’t understand how only seconds ago you felt like her energy repelled you away, but now it felt like you were tied to a rope that she pulled against your strength. All your memories telling you to come back, that there was still something there to grasp upon, but your brain relieving the images of all you just witnessed was enough to power your walk, refusing to turn back.

With that, the last rays of sunlight caressed the sky as the sun hid behind the buildings at the other side of the lake. The sun took with it every ounce of might needed in Yves body to keep her from bawling her eyes out. As she buried her head in her hands trying to stop the outcome of tears from her eyes, and the flood of thoughts in her mind reprimanding every single one of her actions. 

It didn’t take long for her to stand up and run behind your trail, the terror in her soul reminding her that it might be already too late to try and fix what she managed to break even more. It was the rush of adrenaline that managed to help her run across the entire length of the park to the only other place you could have gone. A rusty set of swings where you both shared a first slow dance a long time ago. 

You found the place as cool for a photoshoot, blasting music on your phone to brighten the mood. A slow paced song managed to creep onto your upbeat playlist, but before you could change the song, Sooyoung had already put her hand on your shoulder, guiding your hand to her waist. You sang the lyrics almost as if you were singing them to her, as she gracefully led the dance. It was just a playful moment that would later come to haunt you both as you wondered if it may have been a sign of something more.

A deep sigh of relief escaped her mouth when she recognized your coated silhouette resting on the railing looking at the river. The set of swings still rusting it’s days away on your back.

“Y/N!” She choked as she approached you, making you spin around in your place. “Please, listen-”

“So now you want to talk?” Even if a part of you felt relieved that maybe she wanted to fix things with you, the rest of you felt conflicted. You already were building up the idea of a life without her, even if it broke your heart in an irreparable way.

“You- you don’t?” Yves halted her steps a few feet away from you after being slapped with your words.

“I wanted to Sooyoung.” Your body tensed up, your hands hiding away in the pockets of your coat. “And I wanted to talk for months. Months where you declined every single call, and then today… You made your message very clear.”

“How do you think I felt when I sat there in the cold waiting for you until midnight Y/n?” Yves cried back. “Until midnight!”

“I’ve already apologized for that-”

“You shoved me aside for your new famous friends.” Her volume escalated and for once you were grateful that the area of the park was mostly abandoned at that time. “I don’t know anything about you for months and suddenly I see your face on the news screaming about your new relationship! And I was supposed to keep believing I was your best friend?!”

“Maybe if only you had given me the opportunity to explain everything!” You took a few steps towards her, your eyes starting to sting as your hands, now free from your pockets,violently motioned . “I really thought you would understand, but I spent countless days and nights wondering what I had done wrong, what I made to hurt you so bad! I cried for days on end, I lost my voice Sooyoung. And for what?!”

“You… what?” Her mouth dropped open at your claims, making her drop her defensive stance.

“The last weeks of promotions were a torture! All because I couldn’t drill in my mind how I could have failed you so bad.” A tear managed to escape from your eyes, quickly falling down your cheek. “And to think I fatigued my eyes to sleep every night for someone who just decided to throw everything away!”

“But I always cared!” Yves defended herself. “I cared a lot.”

“Yeah sure,” You scoffed back. “I noticed.”

“I promised I would wait for you to tell you everything…” The knot in her throat tightened with each word she tried to get out. Her heart aching at the memories she tried hard repressing until this point. “But when the news broke out that- I was just so afraid!”

“Afraid of what? What did you want to tell me?” You walked even closer to her, now just a few inches apart as your heart ached at the sight of Sooyoung so broken and vulnerable.

She shook her head, unable to keep talking as her whole body trembled on time with her sobbing pants. Your hand reached for her chin, raising it up to meet her eyes.

“Why Sooyoung?” Tears were were choking your words already, “Why did you left-”

Her hands cooped your cheeks and pulled you aggressively towards her. Sooyoung crashed her lips against yours, taking you by surprise. But only a deep sight that filled your brain with her essence was necessary for you to melt into the kiss, your hands snaking around her waist. You boldly pulled her closer towards yourself, the force of the action smashing your back against the rail. 

Hungrily, you continued getting drunk in each other’s taste, her arms surrounding your shoulders as she tried feeling you even closer. The harmonious dance continued until both your lungs started stinging from lack of air. Slowly distancing from each other, it was your eyes locking with hers that made Sooyoung realize the gravity of her actions.

“Oh gosh-” She jumped aback, covering her mouth with her hands. Tears once again sliding down her cheeks as she kept warily taking steps away from you. “I’m so sorry Y/n-

“Sooyoung-”

“I’m sorry.” She snapped around, sprinting to the opposite direction from where you were standing. 

You watched dumbfounded at her silhouette moving away, your hand went up to your lips faintly longing the feeling of her lips against your, your chest raising up and down trying to even it’s breath, as your mind tried even harder on processing each second passing were Sooyoung was not by your side.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

If you struggled to get Sooyoung out of your mind before, You were condemned to rewind that moment again, and again and again. Endlessly for every day of your damned existence. Your hand often explored your lips, trying to relive the weight of hers against them, and there were moments you felt a chill traveling through your body when you could swear you smelled her perfume close to you. Sometimes you even wondered if that night really happened. But it did.

You came back into your dorm that night, and your members described you as a walking zombie. Expressionless, as if every step you had a chain attached to your ankles. Your leader quickly asked if you were okay, until she realized your smeared lipstick, the smudged eyeliner, your ragged hairstyle and your clothes tugged at all the exact places. 

She didn’t even have to ask about it, your leader knew you enough to know who you had encountered, immediately taking you in her arms in a deep hug, before you cried your last entire night asleep. 

But how do you convince your heart that it was all over when it’s always a kiss that marks the beginning of the happily ever after?

Another comeback was on the horizon, the beat of the new song rumbled through the mirrors in the practice room just like all those months before. But this time your eyes couldn’t stop glancing towards the door, afraid you would be missing the moment your best friend Sooyoung entered the room. 

The choreography was fine, it was fun and catchy. But if you were being honest with yourself, it lacked that spark that Yves contributed the last time. It passed through your mind the day you made her promise to be contributing to your choreos from now on. A promise you didn’t imagine could be broken so soon, alongside all the others that lingered in between.

You had no problem filling up every single one of your positions and hitting every mark and every beat on time, but it wasn’t really amusing this time around. The music faded in the distance, claps around you filling the air breaking your daydreaming. The choreo was completely done. Only the last rehearsals before the recording of the video and the comeback was feeling closer with each day. 

You thanked your choreographer and the dancers that aided everyone, leaving only your members and some of your managers in the group.

“Hey Y/n-Unnie!” The maknae of the group ran to you, with excitement pumping in every vein as she approached. A faint smile adorned your lips, grateful that her enthusiasm was very contagious. “I don’t mean to be noisy about anything, but I’m pretty sure I saw your girlfriend walking around the halls.”

“My- what?” Your eyes furrowed at her words. 

“Well, your girlfriend. Wink, wink” She laughed at the self added sound effects to her actions. “No but really, I saw Somi-Unnie out there just a few moments ago.”

“But she never comes here…” You hesitated, as you grabbed a towel to clean up the sweat from the back of your neck. 

“That’s why I’m telling you,” Your maknae rolled her eyes, “She’s not one to come just to stare at you with heart eyes like Sooy-”

Your maknae halted her words in time to avoid the name you both knew she was eventually going to let out. She looked like her body decided to stop knowing how to function as she stuttered and clumsily tried to keep the conversation going. But for her own relief, another one of your members came close to you.

“Hey Y/n, they’re calling for you at the door.” She announced, as the youngest member took advantage of the situation to fly away.

You snapped your head towards the door, a high executive gently waving his hand to you, signaling you to come close. You nodded back as you quickly put on some deodorant, your hoodie and finished by quickly sprinkling some perfume in yourself to mask the sweat odor off your body. 

You approached him and bowed respectfully, with the man commanding you to follow him. The walk through your company’s building was eerily quiet, a trip up the elevator to the managing offices was either something extremely good, or not a good sign at all. 

As the doors opened, you spotted the CEO’s office at the end of the corridor, swallowing hard. You walked along the man in the darkened corridor towards it, passing other offices that looked friendlier than the CEO’s. You only remember that office from when you and your group mates were called to sign your contract before officially debuting, but its grey walls and black chairs were not the first things that came to mind when asking for comfort. 

The man opened the door to the office, letting you in first. The blinding white corporate light filled your eyes as you tried recognizing the figures inside of the office. The CEO, sitting on her chair behind her huge cluttered desk. And the slim, graceful figure sitting in front of it, who turned around to face you with a smile on her face, Somi.

You politely bowed at the CEO, who signaled you to take a seat aside Somi. You offered her a sweet smile and a quick hug while walking toward your seat. An awkward silence cramming the office.

“Good night Y/n, I sincerely hope this meeting doesn’t take long, I’ll make my case quick.” She tapped a few papers on the table, and put them aside, crossing her arms on top of the table to address you and Somi. “I first got to ask, how are you two doing?”

You looked at each other, something in your eyes begging the girl besides you to answer the question. 

“We have been doing good, thanks for asking.” She politely answered and took your hand in hers as you offered a gentle nod back. You felt a knot in the back of your throat when the usual invasive thought of that night a month ago resurrected in full color. 

“I’m glad to hear that.” She sat back on her chair, posing her hands on the armrest. “To go straight to the point, I’ve been talking with the Black Label’s team and they have agreed to everything that I’ll be saying to you today.”

Your mind listened attentively to her words, but a little voice kept nagging inside of you, recreating that night aside Yves. 

“It has been ten months of this little affair in between you two. We are all proud that even in the forced situation, you have managed to establish at least a good friendship.” She motioned her hands towards you, “The publishing teams are satisfied with your work, and have agreed to cut the contract short as it no longer possesses significant importance in today’s media.”

Your breath halted at her words, trying to keep your entire attention at her instead of succumbing to your own thoughts.

“They believe a break-up could be a better source of publicity before launching both your firsts full albums, but they have decided to respect your decision towards this situation.” The CEO continued her speech. “We are going to respect you if you want to follow up this, or if you don’t. We’re going to leave you for a while so you can decide this.”

The man and the CEO walked out of the room, leaving you and Somi alone in the cold room.

“Somi-” You managed to whisper first.

“Look,” She laughed, easing the tension in lingering between you. “I love you Y/n, but you know, as a friend. We were never really a couple to start with.”

“Yeah” You scoffed back.

“And I also know you haven’t been able to get over her.” She continued in a more serious tone. The words made you snap your head towards her, but there was nothing to hide here.

Your mind started flowing with memories of those nights all across the last ten months, where you suddenly found yourself crying in Somi’s arms. You remembered that night when you started sharing secrets of who your real crushes were, spilling all the tea on your ongoing misadventures with Sooyoung. You never told her about the incident that happened a month ago, but something in the way she was looking at you gave away that she knew there was something bothering you more than usual.

Maybe neither of you were really eager at the idea of a relationship between you two, but between your very obviously staged public dates and those days where you had to take photos with each other or support at shows, a really cute friendship blossomed. 

“Promise me you’ll try your best.” She broke your train of thoughts as she grabbed your hands on hers.

“My best to what?” You questioned.

“To go for who you really love.” She launched towards you, hugging you tightly. “This world is not easy on love, so you really have to be courageous to do it. And I know you are Y/n.”

“Thanks Somi…” You tightened the hug back when the door opened again to the CEO and the man carrying beverages.

They offered one to each one of you when you broke the embrace before sitting back on their respective chairs. The silence lingered a little too long for your liking, but something inside you was eager to let this end.

“So, do we have a decision?” She crossed her hands and rested her head on top of it, ready to listen to you.

Somi locked eyes on yours offering a gentle smile back, giving you the necessary strength to say the words that needed to be said, words that were going to make the publicity team very happy.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I'm not kidding, I'm feeling very sick guys" You mumbled from the last seat in the back of the car. 

"You have been saying that for the last half hour on the road Y/n-Unnie," Your maknae turned around to make eye contact with you. "And I know that when you do feel sick you practically look like hell." 

"It's just another variety show." Your leader reminded you from her seat. "Smile, wave and be professional just like I'm sure she will be."

Another month passed and you found yourself in the middle of promoting your new comeback, but this time, a full album. Promotions were obviously an unavoidable thing, but everyone casually forgot to mention that your group was going to promote on Fact-In-Star, the show where Yves worked as a co-host. You hadn't seen her since that night that keeps repeating in your mind. What little you knew about her was thanks to social media and you were just minutes away from looking at her face to face and having to pretend that everything was alright.

But maybe everything was alright for her. Maybe it was only you who wasn’t able to move on.

The van finally stopped in the parking lot of the venue as your heart accelerated, making your entire chest rumble. You got out of the car and clutched your arms around your leader’s arm as you walked towards the greenroom. The halls seemed cold as crew staff, writers and other people politely bowed as you passed through the halls, unaware of the internal whirlwind of emotions inside of you. The room was already visible within distance, thankful that there were no unfortunate awkward encounters as of yet, but you had spoken a second too soon.

Just as the rest of your members entered the room, you on the back with your leader, the sight of a recognizable face paralysed your senses. Chuu was casually coming out of a room a few doors away from yours, what you assumed was Yves dressing room. She looked around for someone, but her eyes turned as big as the moon the instant they locked on yours, only for her to rush back inside the dressing room she came just as you entered yours.

The quick encounter only made you even more agitated, since the girl’s reaction could only mean so little things. All of the options crammed your brain endlessly as you watched your members playing with the table games in the greenroom. Your survival mode kicked in as you waved hello to the vlogging camera that your maknae was shoving into everyone’s faces and in less time that you imagined, your group was being called to the filming set. You latched again to your leader’s arm, to which she just giggled and patted your head.

“Everything’s going to be okay Y/n,” She whispered as you traveled the halls together. “You have us now.”

You gently nodded as your eyes warily lifted from the floor, just in time to lock again with someone in a few steps. Kim Lip and Chuu were just hanging in Yves' dressing room, but differently from your earlier encounter with the latter, they both offered you a gentle, nervous smile, waving her hands towards you and your leader. She took upon herself waving her hand back, as you responded back with a mild smile and a bow while you kept walking.

The bright colored set opened before your eyes, with both Yves and the other MC already chatting with the director in the corner. You saw Sooyoung’s eyes scanning cautiously over her shoulder, her arms crossed with her hands hidden under her armpits, rocking her feet nervously in place.

“C’mon,” You felt your leader tugging you towards her, clearly sensing your uneasiness. “Let’s go say hi!” 

Your fans and fansites all pulled up near the windows as you approached to greet them, it was only then that you dared moving away from your leader. You looked at the crowd cheering up on you with their lightsticks and bright smiles, and as you recognized some of your usual fansites you did cool poses for them.

But suddenly your own sight played you dirty, and the focus of your eyes shifted from the outside to your own reflection and the reflection of the set behind you. And not far behind, Sooyoung sat on her stool, staring straight at you with a delicate smile plastered on her lips, those lips you kept dreaming about every night.

Before you could even react, the crew was already asking for you to sit on your places, ready to start taping the show. Your members guided you to the middle seat at the back row, a gesture you thanked them for since it made you feel more secure that way. You made yourself as comfortable as possible, making an effort on avoiding the glances of that girl sitted a few feet away from you. 

The director called action and the male MC started their usual speech, pumping up the audience that would eventually be at the other side of the camera. Yves also introduced herself and you took advantage of the moment to take a peek at the girl. Just as your leader told you before, and you knew it too, she was someone very professional, she didn’t seem faced at all.

You spotted Chuu and Kim Lip amongst the camera crew, attentively looking at their older member. It was when Yves finished her introduction that you noticed Chuu giving her thumbs up, as Kim gestured to her to breathe deeply. You snapped your head towards Sooyoung, who nervously nodded back to them, took a deep breath and then shuffled her cue cards.

The MC introduced your group and you all stood up to make the greeting. Maybe it was a defense mechanism, but as soon as you sat down again your mind blanked. You zoomed out of the moment, your brain muffling all the words being spoken and laughed at around you. Your brain only caught the occasional scattered words, but not enough to truly understand what was going on. You laughed when everyone laughed and nodded when everyone nodded, that was until your brain thankfully caught your name being thrown into the conversation by the male MC.

“Y/n! Since it seemed that you suffered the terrible consequences of going viral on your last comeback,” The statement got a laugh out of the entire room, as you turned your head around to make eye contact with him, your eyebrows rising exaggeratedly to prove you were paying attention. “Can you talk to us a little about your new choreography and what are your strengths as a group over it?”

“I wouldn’t call them terrible consequences!” You giggled, trying to ease the tension on your own body. Your eyes locked on Sooyoung’s who tried attentively to listen to you too. “On the contrary, I’m thankful that so many people liked our new style and appreciated the risks implied. If it wasn’t for the bold choices we made last time, we wouldn’t be here promoting a full album now!”

The room clapped at your words, as a smile was drawn on your lips. 

“Was it hard to learn the choreography this time around?” The MC continued the questions towards you. 

“Just a little, it definitely was easier than last time.” You chuckled, a far memory returning to your mind in the moment took over your mouth. “But well, we’ve had really good choreographers and dancers these past comebacks, it would have been impossible to make it this far without them.”

“I’m so glad to hear that, credit where credit’s due. And talking about credit…” The room tensed from corner to corner as everyone was anticipating the next words of the MC, as he turned his body around to face Yves. “You participated in the making of the choreography with them on the last comeback right?”

“That’s- that’s right.” Yves mumbled, a faint forced smile visible over her face.

“And did you help this time around?” He kept making the questions, making Yves visibly more uncomfortable with each one.

“No, I didn’t” Her response was dry, surprising the room. She cleared her throat and forced the smile back on her face. “There were… schedule issues.”

“Aw that’s too bad!” The MC tried salvaging the situation by upping the energy in his reactions. “But since you’re our dance machine, I say Y/n can teach you the point moves with no problem!”

Your breath halted at the suggestion, the eyes of the entire room now over you. You took a deep breath and repeated the words of your leader over and over in your brain: Be professional just like I'm sure she will be.

“Sure, I can do that.” All your members raised their eyebrows in surprise at your eagerness as you jumped out of your seat, and fixed your clothes as you walked towards the middle.

But it was Yves’ movements who seemed more hesitant as she carefully left her cue cards over her seat and warily approached the middle.

You walked her through all the point movements of the hook of your new comeback. You knew perfectly she wouldn’t take long to get them, if only you weren’t staring at each other’s lips every time you talked around the movements. The movements were powerful, never lacking a sprinkle of sensual charisma on them. For anyone looking at you two without context, the scene could have looked as luring each other to something more.

“I think you have them!” The MC tried easing the tension that could be cut with a plastic knife. “Play the music!”

Your comeback song started glaring across the megaphones in the studio. And just a glance was enough for you to coordinate your bodies perfectly. Hitting every count and movement with the power and grace necessary. It had been such a long time that you had forgotten how much of a good chemistry you shared with each other, especially over a dance floor. 

The fragment came to an end, and in an adrenaline rush, you turned to offer Sooyoung a bright smile, as you fixed your hair. She smiled back at you, her cheeks slightly blushing at your image. For a moment it felt like everything was alright, like it was only you and your best friend and nothing else mattered. 

“Wow!” The MC cheered as the room exploded in applause. “I’m going to be the first one to ask for your two to have a special stage together someday!”

We giggled at his comment as we went back to our places, riding the high of the moment. If only the MC didn’t decide to drag the moment all across the floor.

“I also believe Y/n is available!” He teased Yves, and in that moment you swear you heard a cosmic facepalm across everyone that knew your history. “Maybe Yves can throw her shot!”

The mood in the room darkened, Yves alarmingly snapped her eyes to her bandmates, both of them offering her nervous smiles and breathing motions. The MC noticed the dreadful tension in the room and swiftly moved to the next game.

You were thankful for your group mates, as they didn’t compel you to participate for the rest of the show, since you once again entered survival mode, trying to avoid Yves as much as possible.

It seemed like a mutual sentiment, with all the questions she made, directly aimed at your other members. You knew she had it worse in some way, you just had to stand there and smile and nod but she had to be a functional interacting human, pretending to be okay with your presence there. 

It seemed like forever to you, but the taping finally got to an end. Your group thanked the crew and the MCs before heading back to the greenroom to gather your stuff back. And you sat there clutching your purse for dear life, ready to spring out of your seat when the managers arrived to get you to the dorms.

Your body bounced when a sudden knock at the door stopped the commotions inside the room, one of your members opened it, to reveal a crossed-arms Kim Lip and the usual cheery Chuu behind her. 

“Can I please talk to you for a moment?” Kim Lip motioned your leader, who promptly stood up from her seat and left the room with the other two girls.

You didn’t understand what was taking so long, you just wished everything to be over. You got your phone out to play some games while you waited, but your brain was trying so hard to distract itself from the situation that you didn’t notice each and everyone of your members and staff leaving the room, until an unfamiliar silence crammed the room and lifted your eyes.

Your leader and Kim Lip stood there with their arms closed looking at you, the door was wide open behind them, Chuu peeking out from it.

“What is this about?” You questioned, getting up from your chair. 

“How is it even possible that you both literally stop functioning correctly when the other is near?” Kim Lip reprimanded.

“What do you me-” You blinked slowly, trying to process her words.

“It’s childish and you both need to figure it out.” Your leader continued, you heard Sooyoung’s whines on the other side of the wall approaching, dawning on your mind exactly what they both meant. “And you’re going to figure it out now.”

“Please don’t, I really don’t want to do this!” You heard her voice coming even closer, just when Chuu pushed Sooyoung into the room with you, slamming it close behind her back. Silence filled the air while the only two people in the room couldn’t help but keep staring at each other for what seemed hours for both of you.

“Sooyoung…” You started, a sigh escaping your mouth when you accepted that this was happening one way or another

“Y/n…” She continued, imitating your stance. 

“Let’s make this quick, I really want to get out of here.” You defended. “And for what I heard you don’t want to do this either.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to Y/n-” She crossed her arms defensively. 

“Sooyoung, you literally just screamed that you didn’t want to do this.” You walked closer, your hands aggressively motioning towards her.

“I meant I didn’t want it to happen like this,” She warily moved closer to.

“How else were you planning for it to happen when we don’t even want to be looking at each other?” You furrowed your eyes, your head hurting from all the unreleased tension in your body. “I thought you didn’t even want to see me again.”

“Of course I wanted to,” Her hands fidgeted over her arms, “I just wanted to wait until this… thing faded away.”

“What thing?” You hesitated, genuinely curious at her words.

“You know, this thing that…” Her eyes locked on the floor, as she moved even closer to you. She took a deep breath releasing it all with a sigh, and gathered all the bravery available in her body to continue talking. “This thing that doesn’t allow me to forget that night, that it doesn’t let me forget how you lips felt against mine. Heck, it’s eating me on the inside and I know what I did was bad but I wish I felt even a bit remorseful, but I don’t.”

You glanced at her, the same posture you saw those months ago that afternoon in the park. She kept restraining her own thoughts, trying to contain the explosiveness for which you knew her very well. The silence following her confession crushed you both, her eyes painfully rising to meet your, silently begging for an answer.

“It was unexpected,” You cleared your throat, your tone flat as you tried to avoid her gaze now.

“I’m sorry if that made caused any trouble-”

“You don’t have to worry about it now,” You scoffed, trying to ease the friction in the air. “But you’re right, we should both wait for this thing to fade out. Maybe then we can try again.”

“We?” She furrowed her eyes at you.

“Yes, we.” You hid your hands in your pockets, shyly explaining. “We can’t have one of us still feeling the same way if we’re trying to get back our friendship.”

“Wait, you feel the same way?”

“Oh please-” You let your arms fall behind your sides, closing your eyes as you shook your head. “I have been thinking non-stop about that every day since it happened. There’s not a single day where I don’t think about you and your smile and your… stupidly good kiss and how much I want you to do that again.”

“But you and Somi-”

“Sooyoung c’mon! You really thought that was real!?” You raised your tone, incredulous. “It was all a PR stunt!”

“Well, how was I supposed to know if you don’t explain it to me?!” She replied in the same tone.

“How was I supposed to explain if you refused to answer my calls?!” You snapped back taking a step forward

“Are we really going to go through this again?!” She grunted, leaning in towards you.

“Apparently!” You growled.

You didn’t notice how or when exactly happened, but your bodies were so close to each other that your lips hovered hungrily above hers, not more than an inch away. You felt each other’s breath warm against the other’s cheeks, your eyes indecisively alternating between her lips and eyes. You both knew exactly what had to follow, you just had to confirm that the other wanted it as much. A necessity took up your will in a bolt of bravery as you dared to talk first.

“Finish this.” You urged. Your eyes latched on hers as you felt the rhythm in your heart accelerate, making your breathing heavier. “Or I’ll finish this myself.”

“Your turn.” She scoffed.

Your hands surrounded her waist, pulling Sooyoung to you as she quickly snaked her arms around your shoulders. Time stopped for both of you as your lips clashed in a starving exigency for each other. You felt your legs trembling, your stomach filled with butterflies as her hands lurked up, her fingers travelling through your hair with a mind of their own. A gasp escaped Sooyoung’s lips when you fiercely tightened your hands on her waist, pushing her against a wall in pure desire.

You recognized the flavor of her favorite sweet beverage in the taste of her lips, as a knot untied on your chest, warmth raiding every single cell in your body after you breathed her perfume and it didn’t feel prohibited. A cold drop of water caressing your cheek made you realize that Yves was tearing up. You gently broke the kiss, bringing one hand to clean up the falling droplets from the corner of her eyes.

“Are you okay Sooyoungie?” The mention of the cute pet name felt so pleasant to say as much as it felt delightful for Yves to hear it again, managing to get a delicate smile to her lips.

“Do you think this can work?” She gasped on your neck as she evened her breath. Her teary eyes looking hopeful for yours.

“We can try.” You smirked back to her, “As long as you answer my calls-”

“I hate you so much.” She sneered, pushing your chest with her hands, a playful grin, that first love smile that you missed so much emerging on her glowing face. 

Her hands latched at the collar of your jacket, bringing you close to her once more, her lips hungrily capturing yours once again, dancing together between unavoidable smiles and glares full of promises that seemed possible again. 

“Okay, I think we have given you both enough time so...” Lip’s voice ringing in the room as the door opened made you both jerk apart in surprise, paralyzing you in your place as you looked at the blonde innocently entering the room. But when her eyes locked on your intimate closeness against the wall, her eyes widened, clear panic starting to run through her veins as she sped up her speech, baking up her steps. “I’M GLAD YOU WORKED YOUR DIFFERENCES TELL ME WHEN YOU’RE READY TO GO HOME BYEEEE.” 

The burst of laughter both of you in the room let out when you heard Kim Lip screeching on the other side of the wall just after closing the door again, was enough to dissipate what little tension was left between you and Sooyoung that could still exist. She lured your chin with her hand to face her again.

“I think they can wait a little more…” She snuck her hand to the back of your neck, caressing seductively. “Where were we?”

“You haven’t answered if you’re gonna answer my calls though.” You jokingly replied.

“Ah, why do I even bother.” She mumbled, with a big sigh escaping from her smile. Sooyoung used the hand on the back of your neck to bring you back to her, pecking your lips once more, ecstatic that now she was able to do that as much as she wanted.

#girl group scenarios #girl group imagines #loona imagines #loona scenarios #loona reactions #loona yves #loona sooyoung #yves scenarios #yves imagines

[wrenhyperfixates]

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Pairing: Loki x reader Summary: It’s the Christmas season and Loki still has much to learn. Thankfully, he has his favorite little mortal to teach him all about it. Warnings: just straight fluff A/N: Alright, it’s December, and you know what that means: time for Christmas fics! Hope you enjoy my first installment for the holiday season. Happy reading folks :)

Tag List: @lucywrites02 @frostedgiant​​ @lunarmoon8​ @twhiddlestonsstuff​ @lokistan​ @thelokiimaginechroniclesficrecs​

Disclaimer: Gif not mine

It was bizarre, thought Loki, how seemingly overnight the world was lit up with red and green everything. Lights, wreaths, trees, inflatable decorations; you name it, and Loki could spot it from any corner in NYC. Everyone he passed seemed to be filled with joy, ready to start singing at any second. It was disconcerting, to say the least. Normally, people would give him the side-eye, but lately they passed by with a quick nod or wave. Loki doubted it had little to do with him and much more to do with the Christmas spirit floating in the air.

Ah, Christmas. He knew a decent amount about it, but had never paid too much mind to it. After all, it wasn’t like he ever really planned on living on Midgard. It was just the way things worked out. Now he wished he’d taken a bit more of an interest, for this fat, bearded, old man in a red suit made very little sense to him. And yet, he was everywhere this time of year. Though he could have asked any one of the Avengers about it, he refused to risk being teased. It should be easy enough to learn about if he truly desired to.

Loki marveled at the world in a sort of confused awe as he walked back to the Tower. This time of the year on Midgard, while so disagreeable to many, was perfectly fine with him. The bitter cold of the city at wintertime barely even felt like a summer breeze to him. One of the perks of being a perpetually cold frost giant, he supposed, was that you didn’t notice the freezing temperatures. As for those who did, well, he didn’t get why those silly little mortals didn’t just go somewhere warmer. You’d explained to him, once, that not everyone could afford to just pack up and move as they could on Asgard. A terrible shame, he thought, and he wished that he could do something to help, not that he would ever admit it. Feeling particularly generous, he dropped a one hundred-dollar bill in one of those collection bins that always popped up this time of year. It was guarded by yet another one of those strange, bearded men ringing a bell.

Hugging his so dark-green-it-was-almost-black peacoat to him, he rounded the final corner to get back home. Much like his gloves, it was more for style than anything else. Besides, no need to draw more attention to himself by dressing too lightly in the winter weather. Taking one last glance at the world around him, Loki pushed through the doors of the Avengers Tower.

“What in the Nine?” he sputtered as he was hit with a mouthful of glitter.

“Sorry, Mr. Loki,” Peter apologized. “We’re just decorating for Christmas.”

“By throwing glitter around?”

“Yeah. Why not? It’s Christmas, everything is glittery,” he said with a shrug.

“That, I can tell you,” Loki replied, patting Peter’s shoulder as he passed, “is absolutely true.”

All his other teammates seemed to be as excited about decorating as Peter was, though no one else was just haphazardly throwing that infernal sparkly dust. No, they were all using their special talents to hang garlands up from high balconies and banisters. Large ornaments and snowflakes were hanging from the ceiling. Every floor that Loki walked to was filled with merriment and yet more Christmas adornments. How they were put up so fast, the trickster god had no idea.

The common room was, much to his surprise, the least decorated place in the Tower so far. The team must have been saving this room for last, perhaps to do all together. Loki would have been upset that he wasn’t invited, but he was sure it was mentioned in one of those email blasts he always ignored. Now that he thought of it, he did remember seeing it in something that he skimmed. Regardless, this was a nice break from the hubbub in the rest of his home at the moment. In this room, there was only a tree put up and his angel working on prepping it. You.

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” you sang to the music you had blasting through the room, unaware of Loki’s presence. “Everywhere you go.”

He watched in wonder as you twirled about the floor, taking out ornaments and other assorted trimmings for the tree. You grabbed a silver and gold garland and began the tedious process of wrapping it around the artificial branches, still belting your heart out. Though Loki was unfamiliar with the words, he caught on to the tune and began humming along, startling you ever so slightly. He walked up to you and grabbed your hand, joining in your spinning and dancing. Prancing around the room with you, Loki was filled with unbridled joy, and he thought he might be beginning to understand the reason for all the joy the season brings.

As you sang the final notes, you and the God of Mischief collapsed onto the couch amidst the boxes of Christmas knick-knacks, laughing your heads off. When you tried to get up, Loki pulled you back down to him, starting another fit of giggles.

“And how is my little mortal today?” he asked, playfully ticking you a little.

“I’d be a lot better if you let me finish decorating,” you teased, poking his chest.

He sighed and relinquished you back to your duties, watching you walk back toward the tree. If only he had the courage to tell you how he feels, rather than just admiring you from afar. You were best friends, sure, but he longed for more. Much more.

“Loki,” you called in a sing-song voice, batting your eyes. “Can you help me, please?”

“Of course, little one.”

He helped you string the garland the rest of the way around the tree, using his magic to get even the highest boughs. You squealed in delight as you admired your work so far, throwing your arms around Loki to thank him for his help.

Soon, the rest of the team joined you and began to hang the ornaments. No one particularly cared about where they were put, just that everyone was having fun. Loki tried to stay on the outskirts of the activity, but everyone kept pulling him back in. It made him happier than he cared to admit that they all concerned themselves with him participating. That they wanted him to participate.

“What do you think, Mr. Loki? Here?” Peter questioned as he held up an ornament in a prospective spot. “Or here?”

“The first spot, I suppose.”

“No,” Thor chimed in, making Peter worried he was going to start one of their infamous sibling battles. “The second spot, for certain.”

“I guess. I still do not understand most of this ‘Christmas’ stuff, to be quite honest.”

“Well, why did you not say so, brother?”

“Yeah, we can teach you all about it,” you added, showing up beside them. Then you snapped your fingers, getting an idea. “The tree lighting is tonight! At Rockefeller Center. We should go to that!”

“That’s a perfect idea,” Peter agreed. “So it’s set then. A crash course, then a field trip to see the tree lighting!”

Loki smiled at his friends as they bustled around him, planning the rest of the day. He couldn’t wait for later, and it made the rest of the time spent decorating even more enjoyable. Between the constant singing and cracking of jokes, there was not a dull moment to be found. While it would have usually drained Loki, he felt as lively as ever. Maybe there truly was something special about the season, after all.

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

Hours later, Loki stood with his teammates as incognito as possible in Rockefeller Center. It had been agreed that they just wanted to be normal people for one, not celebrities. To keep your group warm, Loki had cast a heating enchantment that they were all more than grateful for as they waited for the tree to light. In the last minutes before it was set to shine through the night, you summarized your lessons on the holiday.

“So,” you began, “I guess it’s basically a time for love, showing others how much they mean to you. And sure, there’s all the commercial stuff about candy canes and elves and trees and Santa Claus, which is nice and all, but that’s not the real meaning. It’s about being with those you care about and spreading goodwill to all.”

Loki thought back to all the times he’d needed a little charity or a helping hand, or really just to be shown he was loved. There were certainly a plethora of scenarios to pick from in his life. A whole season to spread cheer and show everyone things are not as hopeless as they seem sounded like a splendid idea indeed.

“I quite like the sound of that,” he said with a smile. As you looked back at him, an equally warm glow adorning your features, Loki realized there was one person he loved more than anyone else. With a sudden burst of confidence, he went to tell you exactly how he felt. “I must say this now, I-”

He was cut off as the crowd began the countdown. You gave him an apologetic smile as the both of you joined in. Upon reaching the last number, the tree lit up, filling Loki with a warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest. That was only accentuated when you grabbed his hand, bursting with excitement and awe. Once the cheering went down, and your group began to depart, you remembered Loki had been about to say something to you.

“What was it that you wanted to tell me before?” you asked. “Before the countdown.”

“Oh,” he said, clearing his throat. He’d already lost his nerve. “It was nothing urgent. I hardly even remember now. Another time, perhaps.”

“Well, that’s ok,” you replied, though you sounded a little disappointed. “Whenever you remember is fine.”

Back at the Tower, everyone said goodnight and parted ways to go to bed, exhausted from the busy day. In the hall between your rooms, you and Loki stopped to say goodnight one final time. You paused mid-sentence, spying something green hanging from the ceiling above you. Loki followed your gaze upward and immediately went a shade of red that put Rudolph’s nose to shame. Even before all your lessons from the day, he knew mistletoe when he saw it. And, of course, the tradition that went with it.

He heard snickering from around the corner and spotted Peter and Thor waiting for one of you to make your move. Undoubtedly, they'd fabricated the situation to try to get you together faster than you were going by yourselves. To be fair, at said pace, you’d never be together.

“Just kiss already!” Thor shouted before ducking away to give you some privacy.

“Pardon my brother,” Loki said self-consciously. “If you do not wish to, there is no law saying-”

He was cut off for the second time that night. This time, however, it was by something much more pleasurable. You had stood up on your tip toes and placed a kiss to his cheek, too sheepish to do much else.

“Night, Loki,” you said to the still stunned god. “Talk tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow indeed, my little mortal,” he said, pulling you in for another kiss, this time on the lips.

Oh yes, it was decided. This season was magical.

#christmas fic #loki x reader #loki x you #loki x y/n #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #loki #mcu loki #loki fluff #fluff #mcu fluff #marvel fluff #reader insert #gender netural reader #marvel #mcu #marvel reader insert #marvel fanfiction #loki fanfic #mcu reader insert #loki friggason #loki friggason x reader #loki laufeyson x reader #loki odinson x reader #loki oneshot #marvel oneshot #thor odinson #thor #peter parker #spiderman

[miraculousluvbug]

WINGLESS | Ch. 8

***New to Wingless? Start at Chapter 1!

CH. SUMMARY: Ladybug has no idea what to do with her Lucky Charm, but she soon realizes it was never intended for fighting. She has one duty: protect Chat Noir.

> > > REVEAL DAY > > >

Ladybug hunched over, hands on her knees, bracing herself. She desperately tried to fill her lungs with oxygen, but each attempt felt like filling a sieve with water. This akuma was ranking pretty high up on the mental list she’d been forming since she first became Ladybug. She and Chat Noir could barely land a hit and Rena Rouge and Carapace weren’t faring any better.

And not to mention, they still hadn’t figured out the akumatized object.

She heard boots land beside her, but she didn’t need to look up to know Chat was there. She recognized the notes of his footfall like she would her favorite song on the radio.

“This is getting out of hand,” he said between pants. His voice was absent of its usual mirth and it frightened her. She relied on his lighthearted approach to imminent danger to contrast her immobilizing fear.

“I have . . . no idea . . . what to do with this,” she replied breathlessly, holding up her Lucky Charm.

Chat rounded to the front of her and squinted at it, scratching his head between his leather ears. “Is that . . . tin foil?”

Ladybug nodded, still a bit out of breath. “Rena and Carapace?”

“They’re distracting Sirena with illusions of us.”

“I wish we knew who she was.”

“Me, too.”

“And your shoulder?”

Chat tried to make a spectacle of rotating his arm. “It’s purr-fectly fine, I sw-- Ow!” Chat recoiled when his left arm hit just the right angle, spreading a frantic fire through his nerves.

Ladybug frowned.

“Okay, so maybe my shoulder isn’t fine. But it will be when we beat Sirena. I’ve been hurt in a battle before.” Fighting Riposte after injuring his leg as Adrien was not fun. Weredad was even worse. He shivered thinking of Tom akumatized and tried to play it off, but Ladybug remained unamused. “Really. It’s no biggie! Let’s just focus on a plan for the akuma. She’s already foiled our picnic plans.”

Ladybug held in a snort.

A silence draped over the pair as their minds raced and adrenaline coursed through their bodies. It was far from uncomfortable; they were quite accustomed to the quiet that sometimes accompanied their strategizing. Ladybug was a little--okay, maybe a lot eager to finish the battle so she and Chat could get back to their prior engagement: Reveal Day. She had worked so hard on his gift and the akuma had ruined everything, swallowing it and the picnic basket she had prepared in its ascending waters.

She even stayed up into the wee hours of the night baking him cat-shaped macarons!

But this akuma was accompanied by a sentimonster unlike anything they had seen yet. It was a whirlpool with teeth the size of limousines and its existence seemed to entail a supernatural rising of the tides. The thing was so grisly Ladybug tried not to look too hard at it in case her lunch decided to make a comeback.

That wasn’t even the half of it, though.

Oh, no, there just had to be more! The second anything touched said supernatural waters, it turned to seafoam. Humans included. Which is why Ladybug and Chat Noir had chosen to reconvene on the highest ground they could think of: Montparnasse Tower.

Like her sentimonster, the akuma was just as grotesque. Whenever Ladybug could get a decent look at her, she felt the itching sensation of goosebumps scorch her arms and back. Sirena appeared to be half-bird, half-human with razor-sharp talons for feet, splotchy feathers covering her legs, and gargantuan wings sprouting from her back. Her eyes were gray and devoid of life, and Ladybug had to wonder if they had the ability to also suck the life from a person. But what made Sirena the most dangerous was her affinity for song.

When she opened her mouth and sang, the whole world stopped to listen and obey, even if that meant walking into the perilous waters and ceasing to exist altogether.

“The ear plugs were a great idea, by the way, kitty cat,” Ladybug told Chat, beaming with pride.

Before Ladybug could process what was happening and that she was inching closer and closer to the water, Chat had stolen some toilet paper from a nearby convenience store and stuck it in all of the team’s ears, breaking the spell.

The compliment warmed Chat’s cheeks. “Thanks,” he said softly.

“How did you manage to snap out of it?”

“I--I don’t know. I don’t even know if I ever was under her spell. I think it has to do with my feline hearing?”

Ladybug’s brow furrowed. “So her singing didn’t affect you?”

Chat puckered his lips before letting out the most endearing laugh Ladybug had ever had the pleasure of hearing. “That was singing? All I heard was high-pitched screeching.”

Ladybug tried to stifle a laugh of her own but ultimately failed. Never one to miss an opportunity for clownery, Chat crossed his eyes, held out his hands like a zombie, and filled the air with velociraptor noises. Ladybug’s ribs hurt from laughing so hard.

“Maybe it has to do with frequencies?” Ladybug supplied, wiping a stray tear from her eye.

Chat shrugged, a goofy smile on his lips.

Rena Rouge and Carapace joined them then, but they appeared better off than Ladybug and Chat had been five minutes ago.

“I’ve got Sirena chasing Illusion Ladybug and Chat Noir, but I’m not sure it’ll last much longer,” Rena informed the team.

“Please tell me you have a plan, LB,” Carapace pleaded.

Ladybug and Chat Noir shared a look before Ladybug smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand.

“Oh, man, dudes.” Carapace hung his head. “Sirena is, like, no joke. Who even is she?”

“We don’t know,” Ladybug and Chat replied in tandem.

“Yeah, and didn’t we already have a siren akuma? Shadow Moth has gotten so lazy,” Rena complained, crossing her arms.

Ladybug chuckled softly. “There was a siren akuma, but it was nothing like this.”

That akuma was the more colloquial version, having presented like a mermaid rather than like she came straight out of a Greek epic. She also didn’t have a raging whirlpool for a sentimonster and Ladybug could touch the water without disappearing.

Without warning, Alya burst out in laughter. “Wait a minute, girl. I remember seeing you use a trash bin as a boat that day!” Chat gawked at his partner and Ladybug felt her cheeks redden in shame. She firmly avoided eye contact. “Geez, you were so suspicious. I should have put two and two together way before you told me.”

“Rena,” Ladybug growled. She clenched her fists at her side and felt the roll of foil yield to her iron grip. It crinkled, drawing Rena’s attention.

“Oh, is that the Lucky Charm?” Rena asked, gesturing toward it with her flute.

“Yeah, but I’m not sure what to use it for.”

Both Rena and Carapace stared at the Lucky Charm for a moment. Then they stared at each other.

“Right, well,” Rena started while Carapace slowly backed away. “We’ll keep watch over there while you figure it out,” she finished. Then she elbowed her best friend gently and winked. “I believe in you.”

When they were out of earshot, Ladybug’s shoulders slumped. “Thanks,” she muttered glibly to no one in particular.

Chat blinked. “Bug? You okay?”

The tenderness in Chat’s voice took Ladybug by surprise. As it always did. How did he do that? How did he always know when she needed it the most?

Because he’s your other half, her traitorous brain supplied.

Ignoring her subconscious, Ladybug gave him a small smile and raised her fist. “You and me against the world?”

Chat eyed her fist before his face softened and he met her fist with his own. “Always.”

The anxiety gripping Ladybug’s heart loosened a bit, giving her just enough leeway to inspect her Lucky Charm and pray for a plan. She unraveled the foil a smidge, holding it up against the sun to get a better look.

“Hey, watch where you point that,” Chat warned when the foil reflected an overwhelming white light into his eyes. Not wanting it to happen again, he elected to stand near Rena and Carapace for the time being.

Ladybug chuckled nervously and opened her mouth to apologize, but the words died on her lips. She stiffened. Chills shot down her spine.

There, reflected by the foil, was the akuma torpedoing towards them. Darkness shrouded her figure as the sun eclipsed her wings, and catching Ladybug’s eye in the foil’s reflection only spurred her on. Light glinted off something in her hand, blinding Ladybug in one eye. The moment she realized what it was, her body jumped into action.

Dropping the foil, the spotted heroine raced so desperately her speed could rival sound. Funny how it still felt like she moved in slow motion. Her heart thudded in her chest and all she could hear was her own breathing.

As she neared her teammates, it became clear whom Sirena meant to attack.

With deadly aim, she was hurtling straight for Chat Noir.

Chat Noir, who was too caught up laughing at Carapace’s joke then to hear Sirena’s wings slice the air.

Chat Noir, who had a bum shoulder.

Chat Noir, whose dazzling smile made her ponder if that’s what standing next to the sun was like.

Chat Noir, who had sacrificed himself for Ladybug so many times, she lost count.

Chat Noir, who loved her.

Ladybug’s leg muscles burned as she mustered every bit of energy her body had to offer. She had to push Chat out of the way!

You had Mayura right where you wanted her. I could have managed by myself. Why’d you do that?

Because while she knew Chat could handle himself against the akumas (bum shoulder or not), what she didn’t know was if the rogue blade Sirena wielded could pierce their suits, and she wasn’t about to let her partner become the test subject.

As Ladybug neared her partner, she realized that this was exactly what her Lucky Charm was meant for.

We’re Ladybug and Chat Noir. Ladybug by itself doesn’t sound half as cool.

The foil was never meant to defeat Sirena.

You’re nothing without your Chat Noir.

It was always meant to guide Ladybug.

Chat Noir and I are a team. If you take me on, you take Chat Noir on, too.

No matter what would happen, Ladybug knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was destined to protect Chat. Sirena may have been aiming for her partner, but . . .

If you take him on, you take Ladybug on, too.

“Chat, MOVE!” Ladybug cried, hoping that if she didn’t get there in time, a warning might be enough.

Chat’s Noir’s ears twitched. Turning, he had only a millisecond to process what he saw before Ladybug’s palm slammed against his chest.

-----

I've been anticipating this chapter (and the second part, Chapter 9) since I started writing this beast. After a few revisions, I'm pretty happy with this chapter. A big THANK YOU for reading 🥰 writing wouldn't be half as fun without sharing 🥺 Follow me for updates and check out my Instagram where I post art!

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#mlb #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #miraculous ladybug fanworks #miraculous ladybug au #miraculous au #miraculous fanfic #miraculous fanworks #miraculous ladybug fandom #ao3 fanfic #ao3 #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #lila salt #lila rossi #lila akumatized #akumatized lila #akuma #greek mythology #siren #charybdis #love square #ladynoir #adrienette #marichat #ladrien #miraculous fandom #miraculous season 4 #rena rouge

[taetaespeaches]

“You should kiss a girl before you leave.”

yoongi x reader (or oc) genre: fluff word count: 2.5K

a/n: Lovelies!!! Ya girl is back from camping, and my god did she write!!! We are getting into the folklore angst for Yoon and Kid, but before we get into the heavy shit, we have to set it up with some cute getting to know each other fluff. This takes place the night after their second date, “You just want to get back to your Zuko fan fiction.” So they’ve had their first kiss, they’re super giddy to see each other, and yeah. There are like two more fluff fics after this one before we get into the angst of it all. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy! :))

p.s. anyone who isn’t a fan of Min/Kid... I’m so sorry because that’s all you’re getting for AT LEAST the next week. Get ready for a honey boy take over y’all. 

THERE was something thrilling but terrifying about receiving a text from Yoongi saying he just arrived outside your apartment complex. You kissed yesterday, and you hadn’t stopped thinking about it, or him, since.

The knock on your door was a cue for your heart to follow the thump, becoming light and fluttery as if it would fly right out if you could open your chest.  

You took a deep breath, trying to calm your nerves, before you opened the door to a smiling Min Yoongi, skin slightly flushed from the cold weather.

“Hey,” you greeted lamely, a wide grin spread across your face. You wondered if you would ever not feel so giddy to see him.

“Hey,” he replied before patting his own chest, bringing his hands to run along his bare neck. “Shit,” he sighed. “I forgot the scarf.”

You giggled at the comment, opening the door open and stepping aside for Yoongi to walk inside.

“Look who owns a coat,” you joked, tugging on the side of the garment as he began entering your apartment. As he walked in front of you, your back to the front door as you both stood in the middle of the frame, he turned toward you, gummy beam pointed in your direction.

“I’m gonna kiss you, Kid,” he whispered to you.

“Ok,” you bit back a grin, chills spreading across your body as Yoongi’s hands found your waist. You made him lean all the way in, Yoongi noticing you didn’t meet him halfway, scoffing just before his lips met yours, your mouth curving up as you giggled into the kiss.

“Brat,” he smiled into the action, just before pushing you firmer against the door, deepening the kiss just slightly. After a moment of your lips moving together perfectly, he broke the meeting, resting his forehead against yours.

Placing your hands at the back of his neck, you playfully frowned. “No scarf, huh?” He kissed his teeth and you sighed. “Well, I didn’t finish my Zuko essay either.”

“No fanfiction?” He asked in feigned shock, stepping back as he looked you up and down.

“Essay,” you corrected.

“Right, not fanfiction,” he grinned teasingly, making you roll your eyes. Shoving against him, you pushed him inside your apartment before closing the door behind you.

You watched as he looked around the small but nice apartment, decorated in photos of friends and family, stacks of books atop tables, a record player across the living room and a few candles. “Do you want a drink?” You asked him, Yoongi’s gaze slowly shifting from the room to you.

“Uh, yeah,” he nodded.

“Any preference?” Yoongi shook his head, following you into the kitchen. You hummed in thought, looking inside the cabinet with various bottles of alcohol. Grabbing the bottle of red wine, you held it up to him. “This ok?” He simply nodded as he watched you place it on the counter, opening a drawer to your side to grab a corkscrew. As you worked on opening the bottle, Yoongi looked around at the kitchen cabinets.

“Wine glasses?” He asked, you pointing to the cupboard. You watched Yoongi walk past you, dragging his feet on your tiled floor as he went to retrieve the glasses.

It was a few more moments before the sound of glass clinking sounded across the room just as you pulled the cork out. Another few seconds passed before Yoongi’s shoulder brushed against your own as he appeared next to you, placing the glasses on the counter.

“Thank you,” you turned toward him with a soft smile. Instead of responding, he gave a small grin back before leaning toward you and kissing your lips quickly but gently. The ease of the action had your head spinning, though you forced your attention to the bottle, lifting it to pour as Yoongi stayed facing you, sporting a fond grin.

Handing him his glass, he nudged his nose against your temple, whispering, “thank you, Kid,” before leaving a kiss to the spot as he turned straight ahead and took a sip of the alcohol.

“I want to show you a song,” you told him suddenly, his eyebrows raising. “It’s nothing like super special or anything, just something I’ve been listening to a lot lately.”

“Show me,” he encouraged, turning his whole body to face you as you reached for your phone, searching up the song. He inspected your features as you began playing the song, a slow lofi R&B beat resonating through the kitchen, feeling his eyes on you.  

He listened intently for a moment as a slow voice dragged through the lyrics lethargically. “What is this?” He asked quietly, almost afraid of disrupting the atmosphere.

“It’s ‘Will He’ by Joji,” you told him. “For whatever reason I’ve been obsessed.”

Just as you finished speaking, Joji sang the lyrics will your tongue still remember the taste of my lips? Will your shadow remember the swing of my hips? Yoongi pushed a piece of your hair behind your ear. Will your lover caress you the way that I did? Yoongi set his wine glass down, bringing his hand to your chin to turn your face toward him. Will you notice my charm if he slips up one bit?

Your gaze fell to his lips and lingered as the chorus of the song started. Cause I don’t need to know, I just wanna make sure you’re okay. Yoongi leaned forward just slightly, you closing the rest of the gap as you kissed him, struggling to balance the bottom of your glass as you gently but hurriedly discarded it on the counter. I just wanna make sure you’re all safe. As soon as the glass was down, you moved your hand to thread it into Yoongi’s hair at the back of his head, letting out a low, quick moan into the kiss as Yoongi wrapped a hand around your waist, pulling you flush with him.

Forgetting about the partially drank wine, you pulled your face from Yoongi’s, his lips attaching to your neck, another small moan slipping from you. Turning around in his arms, Yoongi adjusting his position to hold you in a back hug. He kissed the side of your neck as you led him toward the couch. Standing in front of the sofa, you grabbed Yoongi’s hand and tugged on it, gesturing for him to sit.

He followed your lead, lowering himself onto the couch as he looked up at you with hooded eyes, you smirking as you placed a hand on his shoulder moving to straddle him. Your lips were on his as soon as you settled atop him, Yoongi’s hands holding onto your hips as he hungrily kissed you.

Your hands settled on the sides of his face and as a low groan left his lips, you smirked into the kiss, Yoongi soon smiling afterward.

“I promise I didn’t come over for this,” he chuckled against your mouth, you pulling away to look at him.

“Is that a complaint?” You teased.

“Absolutely not,” he said instantly, leaning forward to catch your lips in a soft kiss. “Just making it clear that I actually like you,” he told you more seriously.

“I like you too,” you replied with a small smile.

His thumbs began soothing circles overtop your pants, a soft tingling sensation overtaking your body from the sweet gesture. “How was your day, Kid?”

Your eyes widened at the question. Yeah, he liked you, but you had never had a person ask you about your day as you straddled them. As random as it was, your heart swelled when you noticed the genuine curiosity in his eyes. Damn, Min, who are you?

“Kind of long, actually,” you replied. “Better now, though.” With a soft smile, you leaned forward, brushing his hair off his forehead before placing a sweet kiss to the spot.

“Same,” he said simply, leaning forward to rest his forehead against your shoulder, leaving a linger kiss to your upper arm.

“Tell me about it,” you told him, bringing your hand to rest at the back of his head, massaging his scalp as you dug your fingers into his hair softly. Yoongi looked up at you, almost scrutinizingly, as he cocked his head to the side. “I want details, Min, don’t spare a thing.”

Yoongi attempted to hold back a wide smile, failing, as he directed his gaze to the empty sofa seat next to you both. Suddenly, he was leaning to the side, falling into a lying position, you falling with him. Facing each other as you both reclined on the couch, he began telling you about his day.

As you listened to the gently spoken words leave his pouted lips, you observed his features and basked in the tone of his voice, all while your body tingled from the drag of his fingers up and down your side.

You don’t know how much time went by as you both listened to each other speak about your days, bounced jokes off each other, laughed as you bickered, and opened up about insecurities within your respective jobs and where the future could take you both. As you spoke, Joji’s album In Tongues played on a loop.

The conversation never lulled, only falling into comfortable pauses occasionally. It wasn’t until Yoongi yawned, you teasingly sneaking your finger between his lips as his mouth closed, that you both realized how late it must have been. With his mouth closing over your finger, he pulled a feigned disgusted expression as he leaned back, grabbing your hand as he chuckled, bringing your limb to his lips, leaving a soft kiss to your knuckles.

“I have to be at dance practice at 6 in the morning,” he told you, a sadness overtaking the brightness of his orbs.

“You should probably head out then, huh?” You asked, smiling softly to show him it was okay.

“What time is it?” He questioned as he pulled his phone from his pocket. He hummed as he looked at the screen. Meeting your gaze, you raised your eyebrows. “2 am.”

“Oh?” Your eyes widened comically, Yoongi grinning at the expression. The man placed his hand at the small of your back, pulling you toward him so he could kiss your cheek softly. “You need to get home,” you mumbled, Yoongi humming dismissively as he pressed a series of kisses to your cheek. “Yoongi,” you whined through a giggle, Yoongi cutting you off as he moved his lips toward your lips.

You kissed him back. Of course, you did. Your lips moving together, both of you momentarily forgot about Yoongi’s impending departure. When Yoongi’s hand slid to your abdomen, fingers toying with the waist of your bottoms, he finally broke the kiss, resting his forehead against your own as he sighed.

“I should go,” he spoke, his voice huskier than before, you clearing your throat as you nodded. You moved first, sitting up and stretching your arms over your head. Yoongi pulled his phone out to order himself a ride home, running a hand through his hair as he did so. “The car will be here in three minutes. A silver Toyota Camry!” He added with playful enthusiasm.  

You turned around to look at him, giving him a wide-eyed expression. “A silver Toyota Camry?!” He sat up, shoulders shaking in light laughter as he placed his large hand on the side of your abdomen, kissing your lips, your hand finding the side of his face as you kissed him back. “I’ll see you again soon, right?” You whispered against his lips.

“As soon as possible, Kid,” he assured you, kissing the side of your mouth. “You have my time, remember?”

You nodded. “I don’t think you know how happy that makes me,” you told him, a vulnerability in your tone that he had never heard before. Even as you talked throughout the night, bringing up topics of fear of failure, and of losing passion for your dreams and goals, that tone never appeared until just then, as you admitted how happy you were to have his time.

It was in that moment Yoongi realized how much it meant for you to let someone in and allow yourself to feel this way for them. The awareness brought a nervousness. What if he wasn’t enough? You watched as the thoughtfulness passed through his eyes, his mind traveling outside the current moment, and you suddenly felt uneasy.

Yoongi simply gave you a forced small smile, pressing one last kiss to your lips before saying a quiet, “me too, Kid.”

With that, he stood up and made his way to your door, you following behind. As he pulled the door open, you almost worried he was going to walk out without looking back at you, but of course he didn’t. Turning to look at you, he smiled, reaching for your hand and pulling you to him. You wrapped your arms around his waist and he brought his around the back of your neck.

“I’ll see you, Kid. I promise,” he told you, you nodding against his chest.

“I’ll be waiting, Honey Boy,” you assured him, Yoongi’s chuckles vibrating against your frame. He kissed the top of your head before stepping back, your arms falling to your side as he reached for the doorknob, preparing to exit the apartment. “Bring my scarf next time, you thief,” you teased to lighten the mood, Yoongi’s gummy smile spreading across his lips as his shoulders shook in laughter.

“I think I might keep it for a bit,” he said as he stepped outside your door. “As a safety net. I have to keep you around, Kid.”

“Oh, shut up,” you said sassily. “I think you know you have me.”

The smile slowly faded off Yoongi’s face as he stared at you thoughtfully. “I really hope that’s true,” he told you as you grabbed onto the door frame.

“You should kiss a girl before you leave,” you told him popping your hip out as you stared at him.

The gummy grin was back in an instant as he stepped toward you, placing a hand on your waist, bringing his lips to yours, though he hovered over them as he whispered, “As you wish.” He kissed you without hesitation, though the action didn’t last near long enough. You would kiss him forever if you could.

“Bye, Kid,” he told you through his adorable smile.

“Bye, Min,” you grinned right back, watching him as he left before closing your door. 

Looking around the apartment, it suddenly felt bland and empty. It was too quiet. Spotting the partially drank wine on the kitchen counter, you were struck with the realization that you were all in with Yoongi. All you could do as you cleaned up the glasses and recorked the bottle was hope Yoongi felt the same way. If not, there was no doubt in your mind that he would shatter your heart.

#yoongi #yoongi x reader #yoongi drabble #yoongi drabbles #yoongi fic #yoongi fics #yoongi scenario #yoongi scenarios #yoongi imagine #yoongi imagines #yoongi fluff #yoongi bts #bts yoongi #bts #bts x reader #bts drabbles #bts fics #bts scenarios #bts imagines #bts fluff #bts reactions #suga #seokjin #hoseok #namjoon #jimin #taehyung #jungkook

[mcwriting]

Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!

In which the reader is the musical guest at Saturday Night Live the same week Tom Holland is hosting.

Ship: Reader x Tom Holland

Word Count: 5747 (what in the heck?? my longest piece ever lol)

Warnings: Mild alcohol consumption

Rating: K

Preface: I mention the NBC page program, which is like an intense internship/fellowship with the company where college grads work with at least 3 parts of the company over a year to get job exposure. A lot of famous actors and actresses were pages!

***

Walking into 30 Rockefeller Center on Wednesday afternoon was a surreal experience for sure. As a young NBC page led you through hallways and up to studio 8H, you were getting butterflies.

On one side of the hall was a sign for studio 8G, which hosted Late Night with Seth Meyers, but the page turned the other way, guiding you through doors to the Saturday Night Live studio.

There was hustle and bustle all around you as she took you to your green room, which had a sign printed with your name on it over an NYC skyline. You almost pinched yourself.

You had known for about a month that you’d be performing as the musical guest for SNL the upcoming weekend, but now that you were here for your first rehearsal, things were getting real. 

When your manager had asked if you wanted to play the show, she’d been met by your enthusiastic “YES! Are you kidding me?!” It was even better when she mentioned who the host would be:

Tom Holland.

You’d watched every season of SNL since you were probably in middle school. You could easily name off every cast member but would have to remember to keep your cool until after Saturday.

Another thing you’d need to stay cool about was Spiderman himself. You had the biggest crush on him, but who your age didn’t? He was charming and British, disregarding physical features. You were most nervous to meet him. 

The page let you put your things down and took you to Lorne Michael’s office where he and some of the production team wanted to talk to you about your set. You’d only get two songs, but one of the writers also asked if you’d want to be in a couple sketches, too.

Later that evening would be the normal pitch meeting, where writers who’d spent all Tuesday afternoon and night into the early hours of Wednesday writing finally got to show the host and cast their ideas. They’d narrow it down to eight, so you were surprised they wanted you in not one, but two sketches.

It wasn’t difficult to say yes to that. You wouldn’t be present for the pitch meeting, however, because in just a few short hours you’d be heading down to studio 6B to film a segment for Jimmy Fallon’s show. 

Your management team stayed behind at the hotel to work on details for a couple concerts you had and were planning to head up to the studio before your interview.

After the meeting, you were shown around to familiarize yourself with the studio and stage before starting your first rehearsal. For one song, it would be just you and a piano, but the other song would have a band playing while you sang and did some limited choreography. 

You sat in front of the keys of a beautiful grand piano, stretching your fingers. Someone requested you play one of your songs, so you looked around, as if asking for permission. Everyone in the room nodded for you to play, so you began the tune of your favorite song from your album.

Your voice wasn’t warm and there wasn’t a mic on you, but you got lost in the lyrics and chords like you always did. By the song’s end, you’d drawn a small crowd. They clapped and you blushed when you finished, closing the lid and standing to do a sheepish curtsy. 

Most of the small crowd dissipated and you were talking to some crew about stage setup when someone interrupted you.

“Sorry to bother, but that was incredible. Can’t wait to hear how good you’ll be this weekend,” said a male voice with a distinct London accent. You turned to find Tom Holland right in front of you. 

“Oh, well, thank you! I- I uh, didn’t expect to meet you so soon,” you stuttered, thrusting out a hand. “Y/n y/l/n.”

He gripped your hand firmly and shook it, nodding his head once, too.

“Tom Holland. You know I was excited when I heard you’d be performing the same week I host. The last film I did, we listened to your music like, all the time. You could say I’m a fan.”

Was this real? Tom Holland was a fan of you!? You chuckled.

“I could definitely say the same for you. I love your movies. ‘Been a fan for years.”

You both smiled happily and Tom was about to respond when the page who’d been showing you around the whole time came up.

“Sorry to interrupt, but Miss y/l/n, they’ve asked to get your measurements in costuming if that’s okay.”

“Oh! Yes of course!” you said to her, then turned to Tom. “Sorry. It was nice meeting you! See you around?”

“Of course! Nice meeting you also!”

As the young girl led you away again, you missed where a younger brother of Tom said to him,

“Think you’re in love yet?”

***

After an eventful visit at the Tonight Show that included you and Jimmy playing box of lies and performing one of your songs for the audience, you headed back up to 8H alone. 

You’d remembered leaving something in your dressing room and had let your team go on back to the hotel without you. You’d felt confident that you could sneak back to your hotel safely without causing a big ruckus. It was only a few blocks away.

You were digging in your bag for your phone when you bumped into someone. Each of you said a quick “oh, sorry!” before looking to see who the other was.

It was Tom again.

You hadn’t realized before, but his room was the one right next to yours. It made sense, both of you being guests and all, but you were still caught off guard. 

“Headed out?” he asked. You felt yourself blushing a little.

“Yeah, well. I just finished at Fallon’s and they don’t need me back here until tomorrow so I’m heading back to my hotel to order pizza for my whole team and then crash,” you laughed. 

“Oh yeah? That sounds about like what we’re doing,” Tom gestured back to his brother and best friend, who you shook hands with gladly. 

You talked as you wound through the halls and quickly realized you were all staying at the same place.

“That’s crazy! We were just going to get a cab if you want to just come with us. I’m already paying for it, so...” he offered. You were surprised.

“What? No, no, I couldn’t just ride on your coattails like that,” you started.

“No seriously, y/n. It’s fine! We’re literally all going to the same place and no one can bother us from a taxi cab. You don’t even have to talk to us if you don’t want to.”

You looked at the other two boys questioningly and they nodded, encouragingly nodding for you to accept the offer. 

“Okay, okay! If all of you are fine with it, I’ll come.”

They cheered and you continued in happy conversation as you headed downstairs. A doorman called a cab for you and you piled in. Harry took the front and you offered to take the middle, sandwiched between Harrison and Tom.

Never in a million years had you expected to be in such close proximity to one, much less all, of them. It was a short drive and the driver took you to a back entrance, the place celebrities usually entered.

You still weren’t quite used to the star life. Up until you’d hit it big, it was normal for you to do pretty much everything yourself and stay in relatively cheap hotels like any other person.

Now, your management team handled most things and you were staying in five star places with secret celebrity entrances and prices that would probably make your grandmother faint.

Inside, you’d also realized you were on the same floor, both of you staying in large suites used by many elites over the years. You parted ways, anticipating seeing each other in the morning for rehearsals and later that evening when you’d be doing Seth Meyers’ show together.

***

The studio was buzzing when you entered Thursday morning. Your small team headed straight for the dressing room as you were taken away to a sketch read. Both sketches the writers had asked you about had been greenlit, so you were excited to work on them

“Morning, y/n. How was the pizza?” Tom asked cheekily when you first walked in. A couple of people passing by gave strange looks but said nothing.

“Well, who doesn’t love a good New York slice, huh? I’d say it was pretty darn good. And you?”

“We ended up getting room service, but pizza’s definitely next on my list,” he joked before you were handed scripts and asked to review them. The writers and cast were trying to figure out some basic spacing as you looked over your lines and cues.

You finally got to work rehearsing the two sketches. You broke a couple times when Kate landed a punchline and when Beck accidentally tripped. 

When they decided to move on from those, you where whisked away to wardrobe and makeup to shoot "bumper” stills and videos, the photos and clips between sketches and commercial breaks. 

You were excited to see how they envisioned your style and personality and would bring it to life. The photographer collaborated with you and shot some really incredible photos, both serious and goofy.

Next you were back in music rehearsals figuring out more about the staging and running some diagnostic sound checks. Once lunchtime came around, your stomach was growling.

You just barely caught Tom as you went for lunch, he was finishing up as you built your plate. As it always seemed, you only got a few words in with each other before someone was dragging Tom off for his own photoshoot.

You got to talk to Harry and Harrison for a little bit, too, until your manager asked to have a quick meeting about your schedule. Once you were free, you were taken to costuming to try a few things on and figure out hair styles that would fit the show.

There were more music rehearsals and you read the new scripts (as they had already been rewritten twice now). You were pretty tired by the time someone asked you to head across the hall to prepare for Late Night.

You grabbed a quick bite to eat on your way out of 8H and finished is by the time you were in the doors of 8G and a page led you to your green room, once again located next to Tom’s. 

Since you were both doing SNL together, you and Tom were going to be interviewed together, but you also had the added bonus of being the musical guest again. 

You only needed to rehearse a couple times to get the sound down (it’s not like it’s live, so you could easily restart if something went wrong). Once you were finished, they brought in the studio audience and you got a chance to go back to your green room and chill for a little while. 

Seth had a couple other guests, so while you were waiting, you knocked on Tom’s door to greet him and discuss the talking points each of your management had given Seth.

As the in-house band was warming up, Seth came into the room.

“Well I didn’t expect to see both of you in here,” he joked, shaking both of you hands. Tom had been on the show before, but this was your first time meeting the host. 

After a couple minutes, Seth was informed of the time and made his leave, going out to meet his audience and begin taping. After his monologue and the first guest, you and Tom were called to the stage.

“Now for our nexts guests we have both the host and musical guest of this weekend’s Saturday Night Live, Tom Holland and y/n y/l/n! Come on out here!”

Tom gestured for you to go ahead of him, so you walked out, waving to the cheering crowd. You took the seat nearest to Seth’s desk. 

“Well hello, there. Good to see you two,” he greeted as you settled in. “Welcome back, Tom, and welcome for the first time, y/n.”

“Wait this is your first time here?” Tom asked incredulously. You laughed.

“Yeah! Up until a few months ago like, no one knew who I was. Not even Seth!” you poked right back. Seth jokingly agreed. 

The interview went well, both of you telling some funny stories and explaining how the week was going. Finally, you cut for a commercial.

“Alright we’ll return with y/n and Tom after this short break!”

You were right back to the interview after the commercial “break.” Towards the end of it, you all got off on the subject of alcohol.

“You are 21, right?” Tom asked you. You rolled your eyes and gave an exaggerated hair flip.

“Yes, I am of the legal age. You should know as well as anyone what it’s like to have a baby face,” you roasted, causing the audience to go “ohh!” and Tom and Seth to raise their eyebrows.

“Wow looks like we’ve got a little rivalry now. The real question is who can handle their alcohol better. I think we oughta bring you two back for my day drinking segment to settle this!”

Both of you overconfidently pointed at yourselves when Seth asked who was better with alcohol.

“Now that’s an idea I can get behind!” you exclaimed before the interview finally wrapped up and you got ready to go sing. Tom and Seth stayed at the desk while you performed, which thankfully only took one shot.

As you wrapped up the show, you gave final waves to the audience and then headed offstage. You and Tom walked through the halls together and Seth caught up with you after finishing his outro.

He thanked you both for being on the show, you took a few pictures, then talked for a while. Seth was eventually called away to look at something, so you said your goodbyes to him and continued towards the green rooms.

“You were great tonight. Your voice is phenomenal,” Tom said to you. “and honestly I can’t believe you haven’t been doing talkshows that long. You’re a natural.”

“I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I love to talk about myself,” you quipped. “But seriously, thank you. Everything leading up to now has happened so fast, it’s hard to really gauge if things are going well or not.”

“I can relate to that. It’s hard, but having my family and brothers helps keep me grounded, you know? Harrison, too. They know that they can call me out and, yeah, I might get mad at first, but I understand that they’re keeping me from getting a big head.”

“Yeah I can’t imagine how overnight it must have been for you. My family and friends definitely don’t miss the chance to poke a little fun here and there to keep my ego down, too. You know, it’s nice talking to someone who understands for once. I love them, but unfortunately they’ll never fully get what it’s like, but you do,” you smiled.

You talked a little more, then spilt off to actually go to get ready to leave the building for the night. The upcoming Friday was going to be a long one.

Once again, you let your manager and assistant and everyone leave ahead of you. Regardless of whether you would hitch a ride with Tom again, you could find your way around easily.

You waited by the door until you heard their voices nearing and the boys came into the hallway.

“Oh y/n, you’re still here, too,” Harry said.

“Yeah, I was trying to decide what to do for dinner tonight before I head back to the hotel.”

“Well we’re going to grab some pizza if you want to join us,” Harrison offered happily, causing Tom to look at him funny. 

“Y/n probably doesn’t want to be bothered by us all day every day and plus, she had pizza last night, I’m sure she doesn’t want it again. Sorry, y/n, don’t feel pressured by this div,” Tom said apologetically.

“Honestly, I could eat pizza everyday, so that’s not an issue, and I honestly love hanging out with you guys. You remind me of my friends back home. If y’all want to eat together, I seriously would not mind.”

“Really?” Tom asked incredulously, then recomposed himself. “Well, yeah, sure. We were gonna head back to the hotel to change clothes and then figure things out from there, is that okay?”

“That sounds perfect, except I’m paying the cab fare this time.”

***

In most situations, a group of guys you’d only known a couple of days asking you into their hotel room would be a major red flag, and it probably still should have been, but you threw caution to the wind and went to Tom’s suite anyways.

Harry answered the door and let you in, and inside you found Tom and Harrison on the floor of the living space drinking beers. They both raised their cans up to you as you came in.

All three of the boys were in simple sweats and t-shirts, similar to you in your leggings and sweatshirt. It wasn’t much later that Harry went to the lobby to retrieve the pizzas they’d ordered and you were all digging in, seated around the coffee table talking.

You all discussed random things, poking fun at each other like you were old friends. It was like they’d already accepted you as one of their own.

“How you think this weekend’s gonna go, y/n?” Tom asked between swigs of his ale.

“I’d say pretty good. I’m hella nervous though. SNL is like its own universe.”

“You can say that again. This is like nothing I’ve ever done before.”

“Oh, come on. You two are both going to do great Saturday. Don’t think too much about it and just have fun,” Harrison encouraged as you continued eating.

Throughout the evening, you couldn’t help but pick up on the way you and Tom kept making eye contact. It was brief, but it was different than how you and Harry or Harrison looked at each other. There was something else there.

Your stomach fluttered. Who else could say that they spent an evening drinking with their biggest celebrity crush? And then continually exchange flirty looks?

At one point Tom even tossed a wink at you after cracking a joke, causing your heartbeat to quicken momentarily. 

After getting lost in conversation with the boys, you realized the time and prepared to excuse yourself back to your own room. The coming morning was going to be an early one, after all. 

“Oh man, I better head out. We’ve got a long day ahead of us,” you commented, stretching as you stood up. The boys followed suit.

“Wow I didn’t even realize how long we’ve been sitting here,” Tom added.

“Yeah. Thanks again for letting me come over tonight. I haven’t gotten to do something like this in a while so it’s nice to just spend time with people who I don’t pay to hang around me all day, you know?”

“I understand and definitely can agree, since these divs are kind of paid to hang around me.”

You all laughed as Tom walked you to the door. 

“Well. See you bright and early...” you trailed.

“Yeah, see you then,” Tom answered, awkwardly sticking out his arms for a hug. You obliged, squeezing your arms around his neck as his held your waist.

And goodness did he give good hugs.

***

You were definitely tired walking into 8H Friday morning. The caffeinated drink in hand helped a little, but late night beers paired with waking up early didn’t quite go hand in hand.

It wasn’t really a hangover either, since you hadn’t been fully drunk, but it didn’t help the exhaustion from traveling, working the past two days, and a lack of sleep.

The first thing you had to do was rehearse your songs for Saturday as the set team worked on transporting and putting together large set pieces that had been made at the navy yard in Brooklyn.

Tom and the cast weren’t far away, figuring the live show with costuming and quick changes along with doing some pre-filmed sketches. The writers were continually making adjustments and figuring out how things would be done. 

They eventually called you over, too, to rehearse your sketches and film one of them. You had to get used to the costumes and cue cards and blocking of each. There had been some minor changes as well, so you had to be quick on your feet.

By lunchtime, all the cast took a well deserved break to sit and have a bite. The writers were having to shuffle around while they tried to eat as you and Tom sat down to talk some more.

“Hey, sorry to bug you, but do you guys mind if I take a picture or two for the SNL social media accounts?” a page asked while you were munching on sandwiches.

You and Tom looked at each other and shrugged.

“Fine with me,” you answered, Tom giving a similar reply. The two of you leaned in next to each other, holding up your sandwiches and laughing.

A few photos were snapped and you and Tom approved of them to be posted online. You thought nothing of it as you went to more rehearsals, working through the show’s order and trying to get down timing before Saturday’s dress rehearsal and show.

You couldn’t help but laugh watching the sketches, as this was your first time seeing the ones you weren’t a part of. Tom’s comedic timing and dry British humor paired well with the material he was given.

When the day came to an end, you were looking through instagram and gathering your things. You went to SNL’s page and put the post of you and Tom together onto your story, adding the text “Can’t wait for everyone to see my favorite sandwich partner host the show tomorrow!”

As before, you thought nothing of it and posted the story, heading out the door to ride back with Tom and the boys.

***

At the hotel, you and Tom had decided to not hang out for the evening since you’d be having a late, late night Saturday and wanted to get some sleep. You opened up social media as you laid in bed to wind down.

You decided to look at the picture of you and Tom from lunch again and read some comments, hoping there would be some funny ones and whatnot.

Instead, you found hundreds of comments saying “omg ship” and “my two faves together” and “this couple would be everything!!” 

You were honestly shocked to see people saying that about you, especially since you had never heard of your fans indicating that they wanted to see you two together.

Twitter was also buzzing over you and Tom’s picture, some fan pages just talking about either one of you, while others also talked about shipping you.

In your heart, you kind of enjoyed it, since you were hardcore crushing on Tom now, but you had no idea how he felt.

Did he like you back? Did he just think of you as just a friend or acquaintance? Was he secretly dating someone and you were just reading too much into it? 

It was much to think about, so instead you closed your phone and fell into a deep slumber.

***

You didn’t have to be in the studio as early as the past days since dress rehearsal wasn’t until 8pm and the show started at 11:30. You felt better rested than the day before, but butterflies were constantly erupting in your stomach.

You and Tom caught each other at the building’s entrance and went up the elevators together.

“Ready for tonight?” you asked, tapping a foot anxiously.

“Absolutely not. You?”

“Same here. Not only is it going to be watched by millions, but some of the most important people in my life are coming and I’m freaking out a little.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked softly. “And who would that be?”

“Well, my parents and some friends from home. I can sing in front of sold out stadiums but I still get nervous if I know they’re in a crowd. It’s stupid, I know.”

“No I totally get it. My parents and brothers will all be here, too, and my heart races when they watch my work. The best advice ever given to me, though was ‘turn nerves into excitement,’ and that’s exactly what I’m trying to do.”

You nodded and smiled up at him.

“That is pretty good. Thanks,” you replied as the elevator doors opened. 

The halls were bustling with what seemed like every employee as you headed to your green room. It wasn’t long before you were being thrown updated scripts and rehearsing again.

Finally as dusk turned to night, the dress rehearsal audience seats began filling up. You were bouncing nervously in the hall as you watched the cast begin the cold open on a monitor.

“Nervous?” a male voice asked quietly next to you. It was Tom, of course. You bobbed your head from side to side.

“Excited,” you replied cheekily. He smiled and was about to say something else when a crew member came by to lead him to his starting place for the monologue. He gave a quick wave before heading backstage, instead. 

The dress rehearsal went okay, certain jokes and lines being cut and rearranged by the end for time. Thankfully the audience received everything well, for the most part. 

Your own music and sketches felt like a rush, but you were proud. Tom’s advice had really gotten to you, because you were bubbling with excited anticipation for 11:30 broadcast to begin.

There was about an hour between dress and the actual taping, so you scarfed down a few bites of food and tried to shake out some jitters. You also sipped some caffeinated hot tea and did vocal runs to stay in tip top shape. 

Your friends and family stopped by the green room to say hi before they joined the audience, giving you hugs and encouragement for the evening ahead.

As the clock neared 11:30, you were walking down a hall already dressed for your first song when you almost bumped into Tom.

“Oh, hey! Great job at dress! You’re gonna do amazing,” you immediately said, making him beam.

“Thank you! And you too! Your voice is on fire tonight, as if it’s ever not.”

“You haven’t heard me try to sing sick, then. I sound like a diseased animal.” You shook your hands and head to dismiss yourself. “But, uh, earlier I was gonna tell you ‘break a leg’ and then I remembered you used to dance, sooo... merde.”

Tom raised his brows and chuckled. 

“You know that phrase too?” You nodded. “Well then merde to you, too. Oh, and I was wanting to ask if tonig-” 

Tom was cut off by someone once again needing to drag him away to prepare for the show, causing you both to toss waves at each other again. Maybe he’d finish his thought later.

This was it. The real deal. 

You took that as a cue to find your place by the monitors until after Tom’s monologue and the commercial break, when you’d start moving to stand with the band.

The cold open landed well, and you felt chills hearing two of the cast yell,

“And live from New York, IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT!”

The classic jazz music of SNL played over the intro and Tom made his way down the iconic steps to do his monologue. 

Your heart fluttered seeing him stand on that stage with a wide smile, waving at the crowd. He was dressed in a blue suit and his curls were styled just right. He looked incredible.

The monologue landed well and you felt an even bigger flutter as you heard Tom lead into commercial, saying the iconic line,

“We have a great show for you tonight! Y/n Y/l/n is here! So stick around we’ll be right back!”

With that the camera panned out and cut, and chaos began as the crew moved everyone to set the first live sketch. In the meantime, a prefilmed sketch played, the one you had participated in.

The audience cheered and laughed at your surprise appearance in the sketch, which made you feel really good. You had moved now to a place where you could see the stage in person.

The camera panned in as the audience applauded and the next sketch began. Even after having seen it multiple times that week, you couldn’t help but laugh as the ridiculous character Tom played so well. 

When they cut to another commercial break, it was your time to get ready to sing the first song. 

Your stomach fluttered like it always did before a show, but Tom shot you a thumbs up before the break ended and boosted your confidence. A camera was pointed in his face as he calmly said,

“Ladies and gentlemen, y/n y/l/n,” as he gestured towards you.

The lights came up and you began playing, and you became lost in the music like always. It came and ended quickly, and suddenly you were listening to the cheers of the audience. You waved and bowed in thanks as the cameras panned again.

Up came the weekend update, your favorite part of any Saturday Night Live. The jokes for the segment were typically written on Saturday, so many of them were new to you. 

Tom came and stood next to you during the update with a bowl-cut red wig dressed in khakis and a sweater vest over a button up. You looked him up and down amused.

“Your performance was amazing,” he whispered.

“Thanks. You’re doing great out there. They love you,” you whispered back.

“I sure hope so. Hey I’ve been trying to ask if-” he started, but then was cut off by someone grabbing him and leading him towards stage for the next sketch. Your stomach fluttered again.

What could he possibly want to ask me?

The live sketch transitioned into a prefilm and then you were up again, this song was more energetic and included some choreography, and you felt confident in the shimmering gold bodysuit and boots you were wearing. 

You happily danced and sung after Tom reintroduced you to the crowd and got a large round of applause. There was only one sketch left of the show and you were in it, so the team rushed you into a quickchange booth offstage to put on your costume and a quick wig.

The sketch began and you stood to the side nervously. When your cue came, you burst onto the stage clumsily, as directed by the script. Your character made some inappropriate comments to Tom’s which garnered you many laughs again.

It was satisfying.

Once the sketch ended, all that was left were the goodnights, so you were again rushed off to change into a cute jumpsuit and reaffix your hair. Tom came out in a blue suit with the jacket unbuttoned, a black tee underneath. 

You rushed to take your place next to him as other cast members filed in around you, Lorne standing in the middle of the room watching to make sure everyone came out. The audience applauded as the music played and camera panned.

After they gave the final countdown, Tom began giving thanks to many people, from cast and crew, to family, and to you.

“I want to give a huge thanks to tonight’s musical guest, y/n y/l/n,” he exclaimed, gesturing to you. The crowd cheered and you laughed and waved, giving him a joking elbow. 

“I love you all! Goodnight!” he finally exclaimed. 

With that, the music was brought up and everyone began hugging as the credits rolled. You immediately turned to Tom and he to you, both of you throwing arms wide. 

You wanted to hug him forever, but realized that it would look fishy and there were many people you still wanted to hug and thank.

Both of you pulled back, giving each other a quick “good job!” before turning to others.

***

You were finally offstage and had said quick goodbyes to your family, who wouldn’t be staying for the afterparty. As you headed towards the greenroom for the last time that night, you were stopped by Tom.

“Hey! Y/n,” he said, putting a hand on your shoulder.

“Oh my gosh there you are!” you said, turning to give him another hug, this one more emotional and less performative.

“I’m serious y/n, you were incredible. I know I’ve said it a million times but you have a real gift. Not to mention your acting skills,” he said into the crook of your neck.

You pulled away to look at him, arms still loosely wrapped around him.

“Well thank you, but you were great too. Everyone loved you. I loved you out there.” You paused for a moment, arms sliding from his shoulders as you continued to walk down the hall. “You know I had a lot of fun this week. Doing this and just hanging out. I was really nervous to meet you.” 

“I did too, and yeah, we were all super nervous to meet you, too. Like I told you before, we listen to your music a lot. But, uh, that being said. All night I’ve been trying to ask if you’d like to go to the afterparty with me?”

“Oh yeah that’s perfect! Are the guys coming too?” you asked enthusiastically, not detecting the nervousness in his voice.

“No, no. I mean, yeah they’ll be there but...” he stopped and you followed suit. “I’d like you to go with me with me. And ideally leave with me... alone.” 

Your eyes widened and breath hitched. Now it clicked. He was asking you out.

“Oh! Well then... I’d like that very much.” You smiled.

“Yeah?” he asked, incredulous.

“Yeah,” you answered.

Let’s just say you were singing a different kind of tune that night once you left to your empty hotel room “with him.”

***

A/N: omg omg omg I started this story forever ago but finally got around to finishing it! No new marriage project chapter this week, I thought I’d just post this to hold y’all over ;) Thanks for reading!

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[pastelwitchling]

               Alex had had a reputation when they were teenagers. Michael had heard more than a few mutterings about the emo kid with the skull-and-crossbones ring and the black eyeliner.

               “Don’t look at him,” girls had frantically whispered to their friends.

               “He’s so cute. Too bad he’s one of those.”

               Michael had wondered what ‘one of those’ was supposed to mean, but less-than-subtle stupid jokes from Kyle Valenti and his friends had told him everything he’d needed to know. Alex had been dark and angry and gay, which had made him a source of gossip, which had made him even more dark and angry.

               Michael had never had much of an opinion on Alex himself. The guy had looked so serious all the time, trouble etched in the tension of his shoulders, his straight spine, his permanent frown, as if he’d never thought anyone was worth his time – that Michael had known to stay away on his own. He’d had enough trouble to last a lifetime, he hadn’t wanted any more from some probably spoiled kid.

               It had been one afternoon though, when the last bell had rung and most of the students had left for the day, that Michael had discovered the truth. He’d heard guitar music coming from the music room, the door opened ajar. But there had been something else. Someone had been singing.

               Michael had slowed, and peeked in, curiosity getting the better of him. He had been shocked when he’d seen that the emo kid who he’d rarely heard speak was now playing a guitar and singing a song Michael had never heard before.

               But he had, in a way, known it. Alex’s words had spoken of masks, of lies that hid the ugly truth. The perfect veneer of a lovely, happy family, and being the furthest thing from it. Of being unable to tell anyone because who would ever understand? Who would ever listen?

               The longer Michael had listened, the more he’d realized how wrong he’d been. He’d recognized that pain in Alex’s words, in the furrow of his brows. His voice had been beautiful and soft and strong and terrified all at the same time. That this lie he lived with, this lie that people saw, that it was going to define him forever. He would forever be under the eyes of those who would never know, and never understand, how bad it really was.

               And Michael had suddenly thought of past foster parents who’d pretended to be caring and loving and happy to have him as their son, when the truth was beatings and shouting and pain. And Michael had tried too many times in the past to know that, after a while, trying did nothing. He’d managed to rid himself of that, of the cruelty and abuse and fear, but Alex . . .

               It was then Michael had started to notice things about Alex he’d never noticed before. Sometimes he’d scrunch his shoulders, as if pained to move a particular arm or reveal his hip. Sometimes Alex’s eye looked swollen underneath his eyeliner, and sometimes . . . sometimes Alex smiled around Liz and Rosa Ortecho and Maria DeLuca. Sometimes he even laughed, and it was . . . everything.

One day Michael had found himself wanting Alex to talk to him, eager for his attention. He had no idea if he was welcome to just walk up to him, and had no idea what he would even say if he could, so he came into the music room. And he found Alex’s guitar, and a stupid thought had occurred to him.

               But it’ll bring Alex to me, he’d thought, and that had been good enough.

               Since then, Michael had learned that Alex was usually better at communicating with music than words. Where confessing to his pain might’ve felt like a weakness to him, music was just a melody. Whatever people saw in it was up to them. It had been months since he’d last heard him sing, since he’d last heard the truth that he hadn’t told Michael in their conversations or the small smiles he’d given Maria.

               That Michael was Alex’s home, that Alex was his, that he was tired of being on opposite sides when all either of them wanted was to be together.

               Michael hadn’t responded then, hadn’t even stayed for the whole song. But he’d never stopped wondering if there was any other truth Alex had sacrificed for the happiness of the people he loved.

               Until he was witness to another one.

               He’d come to the bunker just as work had ended, the sun setting and casting the desert into gold. Michael had gotten word from an exasperated Kyle that Alex was still at the bunker, looking through the remaining Project Shepherd files they had left.

               “Yeah, he’s there,” Kyle had said with a sigh. “And on his only day off, too. He’s been running himself into the ground for you, so try to get him to rest, okay?”

               Michael had ended the call without a word, but had no sooner gotten into his truck and all but slammed on the gas pedal, eager to see Alex. Something about hearing his voice, having his attention, his dark piercing eyes, it helped Michael breathe better.

               When he’d gotten there though, the door was open ajar, and Alex was sitting at a table with a guitar in his hands. The workspace before him was littered with stacks of files, reports with official stamps, and two different computers with green coding from top to bottom.

               Alex’s weary shoulders slumped, his eyes remained closed as he played, his voice soft and sad, as if lacking the energy to pretend to be anything else.

               Michael’s steps came to a stop at the doorway. Alex didn’t seem to notice him, the biggest mark of his exhaustion, as he sang. His voice, as beautiful and melodic as ever, filled Michael with a warmth down to his bones, to the very core of his heart, and left him weak.

               And in Alex’s song, Michael heard his airman’s truth.

               A song of lost love, of a love Alex never wanted to stop fighting for. He understood why Michael would choose someone like Maria, a pretty picture, everything a man could want, but Alex wanted Michael anyway. He could love him, hold him, protect him, as he deserved.

               Michael’s eyes burned as Alex’s song confessed that Forrest couldn’t measure up to the cowboy, that no one could, that Alex only ever wanted to love – that he only ever could love – one man, and that was Michael. If only Michael let him.

               It left Michael wondering about their past, of all the times he’d gone where Alex had wanted. Hadn’t that been the same as asking Alex to stay? As giving himself over completely?

               But it had never cost Michael anything like it had cost Alex to keep coming back, to keep trying, to keep confessing what he felt only to keep getting his heart broken. As Alex sung, Michael realized the saddest truth of all; Alex still didn’t know that Michael had been his since before they’d ever spoken.

               Alex finished strumming, his brows furrowed as if he was in pain, the kind of pain he didn’t dare show anyone else. After all this time, Alex still didn’t feel like he was allowed to be honest about how he felt.

               Michael felt a tear roll down his cheek, and reached up to wipe it away, unwilling to look away from Alex. He sniffled as he shouldered himself in. Alex looked up, unsurprised.

               “I thought I heard someone.”

               Michael stopped at the foot of the stairs. “You knew I was listening?”

               “You’re not really subtle, Guerin,” Alex said with a smile as he set his guitar down. The guitar he’d tried to give Michael before, and which had been so cruelly returned to him. He didn’t seem bothered about holding it now.

               Alex raised a brow. “You okay?”

               Michael started to nod, but the suffocating truth overcame him, and he ended up shaking his head. “Alex, what you just said –”

               “It was just a song,” he said readily, his smile unfaltering.

               And the thing was, if Michael didn’t know Alex as well as he did, if he hadn’t memorized every slight change in that beautiful face, if he hadn’t learned what pain in those dark eyes looked like, he might’ve believed that Alex was okay. But . . .

               “You’re lying,” he said, his voice hoarse to his own ears. “You – Alex, you . . .”

               Alex’s smile softened to something sadder, something more resigned, as he handed over a file for Michael to look over.

               “It was just a song, Guerin,” he said gently, as if Michael was the one whose heart had been bleeding into his music only seconds ago.

               But then Michael noticed the circles around Alex’s eyes were darker than usual, his cheeks hollower, his hair more of a perfect mess, his fingers trembling as if he’d had too much coffee to force himself awake. And he knew that despite the strength in Alex’s voice, he was barely holding together.

               It’s time to go back to the lie now, Alex seemed to be saying. The truth only hurts me, and I’m too tired to hurt any more today.

               In his song, Alex had asked if Michael would let him love him. If he would let Alex take care of him, hold him. Michael wanted it.

               Instead of taking the file, Michael reached out and turned Alex’s chair so that they were facing each other. Alex frowned, startled.

               “Guerin, what –”

               “C’mere,” he said, tugging on Alex’s hand, the airman’s fingers cold in his. Michael kissed them. “Come on, c’mere.”

               Confused, Alex stood and came up to Michael until their knees were touching. Michael tugged him down, and Alex’s eyes widened.

               “You’re kidding.”

               Michael’s lips quirked up. “Sit down, Private.”

               “Guerin –”

               “Come on, Alex,” he said. “Don’t you want to?”

               Alex swallowed and looked around, as if to make sure no one could see what they were doing. Then he bit his lower lip, hesitant, and slowly sat down on Michael’s lap.

               Michael brought an arm around his back, his hand running up and down Alex’s spine as Alex’s head settled on his shoulder. His other hand was on Alex’s thigh, keeping him safe and warm against him.

               Alex exhaled shakily against Michael’s shirt, his hot breath sending a wave of relief throughout Michael’s body. Alex was here, with him, and for now it was all the comfort he needed.

               “This is stupid, I –” Alex tried. “I don’t need this.”

               Yes, you do, Michael thought, but instead kissed Alex’s red cheek softly, then raised his lips to Alex’s hair.

               “I need it,” Michael whispered, settling on another truth. “I need to feel you.”

               Alex clutched his shirt tightly and said nothing, and Michael realized he didn’t always need music to know how Alex was feeling.

***

Based on the songs; “Hiding In Your Hands” from the Dear Evan Hansen Album (Bonus Track), and “If You Let Me” by Beth Crowley. I’m exhausted 💞

#michael guerin #alex manes #malex #malex fic #malex fanfic #malex fanfiction #roswell new mexico #roswell nm #tw: referenced violence #malex angst #malex fluff #tyler blackburn #michael vlamis

[captainjimothycarter]

So silly image of sorts based on cousins, but Peggy and Steve vs other parents regarding their kid because their kid takes after serumed daddy and is big for his age. Someone giving them shit for being terrible parents cause their 'obviously' pre-school aged child is throwing a fit and the snap back that the kid is a year, 18 months, not pre-school don't expect a big kid just because he's tall/broad for his age, he's still a baby etc.

Okay maybe less funny but over protective Steve really wanted to showcase himself.

--

They knew that there was going to be problems down the road with Steve having the serum and he and Peggy trying for kids.

Howard had given his own input or two and it was nothing more than, “We simply don’t know what will happen, kid. It’s all guessing games. Peggy’s pregnancy could either be completely normal six, seven, eighteen months or she could have the kid in six and the kid be fine or worst.”

Peggy’s lips pursed slightly, taking Steve’s hand into her own. Their wedding bands gently brushed one another as she did. “First off, do you not know how long a woman is pregnant for, Howard? Nine months! Nine months. How…” She pinched the bridge of her nose and waved off anything he said in explanation.

“Second,” she continued with a huff. “What do you mean worse?”

Here now, Howard looked sheepish, more so for the worse than the lack of knowing how long a woman was pregnant for. “Well...when we first met Steve he did have that laundry list of problems and-”

“You mean our kid could be like how I was?” Steve interjected, interrupting an annoyed-looking Howard. “They could-could-”

“Hold up, before you start spiraling, Stevie.” Howard’s hands flew up, raised to defend himself and stop Steve from starting to panic. “I said could. If. Maybe. It’s a possibility, a slight possibility that we have to consider, even if I don’t think it’s possible. That serum coursing through your veins rewrites DNA. Genetics. Your little kid is more likely to have that serum than to have any laundry list of your problem.”

But it was still something they had to think about and Steve was struggling to wrap his mind around that.

All through Peggy’s pregnancy, that problem remained in the back of his head. It was a possibility. No matter how much he tried to reassure himself with the countless doctors and even Howard saying that Peggy was doing outstanding for her pregnancy, how big the baby was, and what naught.

It was still there, no matter how much he tried to drown it with optimistic thoughts.

It wasn’t until Chester Micheal Carter-Rogers was born at ten pounds and nine ounces, twenty-five inches in length did Steve breathe a sigh of relief. Even if Chest was three weeks early and Peggy had to have a c-section.

Peggy and baby were both fine and Steve was grateful, so, so, so grateful.

That’s when the problems began to show how it would be to raise a child with the serum. How much of the serum and if they’d later possess super-human strength, no one was sure. Not even Howard. It was all development.

At three months, Chester was already sitting up on his own and responding to his name with a toothless smile. At five months, he was holding his own bottle and loving to play with his parents. At six months, started the teething.

“Well, at least he doesn’t have your strength,” Peggy tried to joke as Chester chewed on the slushy-texture pacifier. “Else he would’ve bitten my nipple straight off with those three teeth halfway coming in. If he bites my nipple, we’re having a problem, mister.”

Chester just giggled at his mama’s finger and gripped at it, making Steve give that half-smile of relief.

Chester was eight months before he said his first word, “Broom!”

Steve dropped the broom he was holding, looking down at the heavy boy strapped to his chest. He’d dropped a glass earlier and was trying to clean it up, having strapped his baby boy to him so he wasn’t hurt. “Did you just…?”

Chester grinned a whole eight teeth in his mouth now. “Broom! Broom!”

“You just…” Steve swallowed, feeling faint and overwhelmed with pride as he picked the boy up and hugged him. “You spoke!”

It was near the year mark did Howard point something out over dinner. “You know...Chester has never been sick.”

Peggy shared a look with Steve, clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth. Steve lowered his fork and looked at their baby that he was feeding mashed-up food. “That’s true,” she said carefully after a moment of thought. “Not even a fever, a cold. I wasn’t sickly as a child but I had my fair share of colds as an infant and Lord knows you did too, Steve.”

“I think it’s safe to confirm that Chester has Steve’s serum,” Howard mused as if no one had already thought about that. “Good for him.”

--

Other parents started to notice the developments too during their daddy and me! classes. There were some snide remarks on how big their boy was for a one-year-old.

“Thirty-two pounds!” Gretta hissed, glaring at where Steve was showing Chester and the other kids how to blow bubbles. “He said Chester is thirty-two pounds and thirty-five inches! Can you believe that? Look at how big he is!”

Steve huffed in annoyance and tried not to let the other gossip get to him. It wasn’t until Peggy stormed home one day after a grocery trip with Chester, the little boy sniffling like he’d been crying did it hit him how rude the other parents were.

“I ran into our darling neighbor today,” she noted, slamming the eggs down on the counter.

Steve flinched and hope they weren’t broken as he finished buttoning up Chester’s pants after he’d taken him to the bathroom. “Darling,” he warned, knowing how sensitive Chester was to emotions. “Which neighbor?”

“Oh, the wonderful and perfect Kelly and her perfectly normal daughter Jackie. Don’t you know how perfect they are?”

Steve watched as she half-aggressively put up the groceries, only stopping her when she almost dropped the barely-survived eggs. “Peggy,” he breathed, cupping her jawline. “What did they say?”

“Chester went to hug Jackie as normal - he’s fascinated with other kids and you know him, doesn’t know his own strength, and is just getting the hang of walking right. He fell into Jackie and pushed them both down and Kelly acted like he had punched her daughter. She told me to keep my monster of a child away from her and her family. I told her then she needs to keep her husband home and away from his mistress on business trips.”

Steve’s lips pursed and looked over to Chester playing with his blocks, sighing. Yeah, he got that. The neighbors were not the most polite about Chester’s rapid growth. It’s not like they could say he was Captain America and Chester had some percentage of the super-soldier serum.

“Well, maybe she’ll learn to keep her mouth shut,” he grunted, taking the eggs from her to safely put in the fridge.

--

In the two months since that incident, Chester was speaking more, learning new words every day. He was even speaking full sentences and could name objects. Now he was walking by himself, kicking a ball back and forth, and even sang songs.

Unfortunately, that meant that Peggy had, of course, taught their son The Man With The Plan.

Right now, none of that mattered. Not when Chester, his beautiful son with his downy soft blonde hair, and hazel eyes, was screaming in the buggy. Not that Steve blamed his son, really. The kid was hot and icky and tired and after several boosters from the doctor, he wouldn’t want to be in public either.

But grocery trips had to be had.

And it didn’t help that Kelly shouldered by them, dragging her daughter and loudly stating that Jackie wasn’t allowed to hug Chester or even look at him.

Now how do you explain that to a child who’s already in a bad mood? You don’t.

Steve had given up on comforting Chester beyond rubbing his back and whispering to him as he looked at the options of oatmeal. He was still sniffling and hiccuping loudly and screaming every so often, even if Kelly had insisted on staying on the aisle with them.

“If that was my daughter,” she droned on without anyone asking her, “I would’ve taught her right and told her tantrums to get you nowhere, especially at that age.”

“And what age might that be?” Steve challenged, standing up and laying a hand on the cart. Chester’s little fingers wrapped around his middle finger to try to suckle on. Poor buddy. Still had that tooth coming in.

“Four, isn’t he?”

Steve just blinked at her, scooping Chester up to try to ground him. God, he wishes Peggy was here. She wouldn’t keep her temper in check as much as he was, but her comfort was greatly needed.

“You know damn well that our kids were born the same year, just months apart, and your daughter, who’s now pulling open the boxes of grits, by the way, is three months older than Chest. And by the way, Kelly, Chest is only eighteen months old! He’s just big for his age and upset because you’re a terrible mother who insists that our kids can’t play together.”

“Well-well-” Kelly stomped to her child and ripped the box from her hand, jerking her up. “He’s too big! He’ll hurt her! He’s nothing but a m-”

Steve didn’t feel his feet moving him until he was in front of the woman about to call his child a monster. He cradled Chester closer to him and glared down at her.

“Finish that sentence, I dare you. You and I both know damn well that Paul isn’t the father of your child and unless you want him to know…” The smile didn’t quite reach his eyes as he stepped back fixed Chester in his arms. “Come on, Chest. I know mommy is waiting for us at the house. Are you ready for our big move, huh? Away from judgemental neighbors who can’t keep themselves in check, yeah? We’ll find new friends for you to play with who don’t mind how big you are. Yeah, we will!”

--

It might’ve taken two months from moving from Brooklyn to DC and to finally get their house in order but Chester was a lot happier here.

More room to play around in, even having three play dates lined up in the last week with new neighbors who didn’t seem to mind their son was a little more advance.

It wasn’t until the four-month mark hit and Peggy came home from a doctor appointment within Shield did Steve feel the familiar dread hit him as she silently handed him a blank envelope.

Two sonograms were laid inside. One labeled baby a and the other baby b.

“Twins,” he breathed, looking over to Chester rolling his ball after the cat. “We’re having...twins.”

Peggy, seeing the familiar look pulled him in for a comforting kiss. “We are, but at least we have practice with Chester. And no judgemental Kelly around here.”

#Steggy #StevePeggy #Steve Rogers #Peggy Carter #CJC's story #Steggy Prompt

[joshuas]

that’s not even ramen

♫ pairing: yang jeongin x gender neutral reader

♫ genre: college/university student!au, slice-of-life, crack, fluff

♫ word count: 3.5k

♫ warnings: nil of note!

♫ summary: a bunch of chaotic misunderstandings, trot singing new years concerts that lead to lots of fluff at the end ^^

♫ tagging: @fluffyskzclub​

♫ a/n: happy april fools! my joke is... that i can’t do anything on time and post things that were supposed to be posted in january in april, so without further ado, i present the eighth addition to my seasonal drabbles! 

♫ skz seasonal drabbles: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

“I swear, this is the tenth time I’ve heard him sing tonight! If he’s going to continue to do this, he should at least sing a different song.” You sighed, exasperated as you tried to put your three-year-old sister to sleep. Her sleep, of course, being interrupted by your new next-door neighbour, Yang Jeongin. He had taken up trot singing over the last couple of weeks and decided only to practice his singing at 11 pm at night. Which, coincidentally, woke your baby sister up every time. And as if it wasn’t hard enough having sole custody over a sibling let alone having a teaching degree to attend to during the day. Your professors had been understanding of your... predicament after your parents moved out of the picture, but there was only so much patience they could hold. Of course, you couldn’t confront Jeongin about it — you were only acquaintances... barely even friends as you had only known each other through university... and now the thin wall that separated your living quarters. Well, it’d also be too awkward if you did (ugh, social confrontation), which is why you put up with it... Relief flooded through you when you heard the singing cease, sighing as your sister stopped fussing and fell back asleep. It’s not as though Jeongin was a bad singer. In fact, he was quite brilliant. But his singing was not appreciated at ungodly hours. The walls started to pulse as folk music blasted at a deafening volume, snapping you out of your reverie and forcing you to focus back on your crying sibling. You held back a scream, mentally cursing at Jeongin, I swear to God, the next time I see this boy—

“Mina put on your coat, it’s ridiculously cold out! It’s January, remember? And what season is it in Jan—“ You paused, observing the idiot that exited his apartment alongside you, “Oh! Hello, Jeongin—“ He walked away without a word, rushing down the stairs. Rude! First the singing and now he’s ignoring me? Does he have any human decency?

“Hello! Welcome — make sure you sign in your children before you leave!” Your eyes settled on Jeongin, who was beaming at the little kids that entered the daycare, holding out the sign-in sheet, Great and now he works at the only affordable day care. How... pleasant. Wiggling her hand out of your grasp, your sister waddle-ran over to Jeongin, giving him the biggest hug, for him to pick her up and spin her around. Ignoring the skip of your heart, you cooly approached the two of them, silently taking the sign in sheet and signing your name. “You must be Mina’s parent— I’m Jeongin, one of the part-timers here.” He held out his hand, Mina, still in his arms, blocking his view. You shook it, “Not her—“ You broke off as another kid ran to Jeongin, crying as he dragged him inside the daycare. Without turning around, Jeongin waved at you in dismissal. You scoffed, He won’t even acknowledge me at home but now that we’re in public and he’s literally being paid to be a decent human being, he’ll put on a face and pretend to be friendly? No thank you.

You rubbed at your temples, mentally snapping at yourself to focus. Tutorial time was probably the only time you had to yourself to study and get things done. But you know what? That wasn’t happening today. Why? Because of Yang Jeongin infiltrating your thoughts every five seconds. You grumbled to yourself, almost ready to pack up and leave, He should pay rent for how long he’s been living in my head. “Oh wait! Y/N, you’re leaving already?” A voice called out from behind a tower of books in their hands, not long before plonking them down on the table in front of you. You looked up, your gaze meeting Jeongin’s hopeful one. Why is he being so friendly? Especially since he flat out ignored me this morning... “Um... I was planning to. Not that it’s any of your business.” You said coldly, scrunching your eyebrows in confusion at his sudden friendliness. Really, Y/N? You’re being like this just because he snubbed you this morning? Okay, wait that’s pretty valid. Ignoring the little “no it’s not” in your head, you maintained your cold demeanour.  “Oh. Um. Sorry. I was just asking because I was hoping to study with you.” Jeongin rubbed his neck awkwardly. You looked at him doubtfully, ignoring the hopeful fluttering in your stomach, “Why would you want to hang out with me of all people?” “Well, you’re the top of the class—“ You scoffed disdainfully and he broke off, looking at you wide-eyed. Of course he only wanted to use me for personal gain. Whatever, Y/N. Just avoid him. Do not interact! “I’m definitely heading off now. Bye.” You grabbed your books, leaving the library and a slightly confused and shocked Jeongin behind. He’s not worth it, Y/N.

You buckled Mina in her little seat in the trolley, lightly humming as you pushed her along. After realising that you were out of ramen (a staple study food, fight me if you disagree), you had scrambled to pick up Mina from daycare before rushing over to the local grocery store, keen to get at least some ramen to fuel your study session after putting Mina to bed. That is if she’s able to sleep. Hopefully Jeongin won’t— You reached for the last pack of your favourite ramen, a hand brushing over yours to grab it with you. You whipped your head around, gaze meeting— yet again— Mr Yang Jeongin. How many times do I have to see him today??? This feels like a cruel joke. It’s not funny! You coughed, pointedly looking between Jeongin and his grip on the ramen you had so obviously grabbed before him. He sighed, pushing his specs up the bridge of his nose, pushing his hair back with the other hand, hand still fixated on the ramen packet, “Please, Y/N. I need this to study.” You inhaled sharply, trying not to be bothered by the impeccable College Boyfriend vibe he was exhibiting, dressed simply in a sweatshirt and track pants, “So. Do. I. In fact, I need it a lot more than you since your singing keeps up the whole neighbourhood. And no! I’m not calling you a bad singer, because on the contrary, you’re quite brilliant and I honestly don’t know why you didn’t decide to become a singer instead of a teacher. I mean, do you really want to waste your life away working at a daycare?” You rambled. Jeongin looked at you, stunned, loosening his grip on the ramen, and handing it to you, his cheeks lightly dusted with pink, “...You know what? You can have it. I’ll just buy... this one! Yep. This one.” He scurried away, leaving you stunned, “But that’s not even ramen!”You called out after him. “Doesn’t matter!”

“Mina, please. Isn’t your crying at least making you tired?” You rocked your sister, exhausted as you looked at the clock— thirty minutes she’s been crying. Jeongin had decided not to sing tonight for some reason. But your sister still had difficulty sleeping. Perhaps he is actually a decent human being... although, I can’t say that I don’t miss his singing... what? Yes, you can, Y/N. The guy literally kept you up til three because of his singing. Mina just felt so inspired by his vocals that she had to try herself... by crying. Ugh.  The walls started to vibrate as you sighed, Complimented him too soon. His melodic tone carrying through to the nursery, your sister’s not so melodic cries mixing in even louder than his singing. You steeled yourself, done with this nonsense. Putting on a coat, you stomped out of your apartment, knocking insistently on Jeongin’s door. The door opened to reveal a bewildered Jeongin as you thrusted your screaming sister into his arms, “You started this. You fix it.”

Jeongin held the door to his apartment with one hand, the other arm supporting your screaming sister. Allowing you into the apartment, you observed how spotless it was, giving it an appraising look. “Seungmin’s my roommate. Hence, why it’s so clean. It’s all he does when he gets home from the hospital.” Jeongin explained whilst trying to rock Mina to sleep. “I’m surprised he puts up with your singing.” You noted. “He works nights.” Jeongin deadpanned. You opened your mouth, closing it when you saw his attention turn towards Mina. Cooing at her, he slowly sunk himself into the cushions of the couch, lowly humming a melody familiar to the ones you had heard through the wall. However, it was more of a ballad version. A soft smile crept onto your face as you observed the two, your heart aching at the adorable sight. Mina slowly fluttered her eyes, slowly closing them as Jeongin hummed further, his chest vibrating comfortingly from his singing, the movement lulling her... to sleep! You looked amazingly at Jeongin, his triumphant gaze finding yours. You tried to take Mina off him as she fussed in her sleep, cuddling further into his chest, you sighed, putting your hands up in defeat — afraid to wake her. “So... care to explain why I had to do this?” Jeongin whispered, looking pointedly at you. “Well...you’ve been keeping her up with your trot singing that she’s been eventually falling asleep at almost 11 pm. The thing that I’m weirded out the most by is that she cried at the lack of your singing and when you sang a softer version of that folk song, she fell asleep straight away.” You explained. “Babies are weird like that. But why did you have to give her to me to calm down?” Jeongin asked, confused. “Well one, you’re studying teaching and working at a daycare. And two, you started this!” You numbered. “We’re in the same class and she’s your sister!” Jeongin pointed out, eyes wide. “Look. The main reason really is your singing. Why do you have to sing so late, anyways? It’s not like you’re preparing for any assignment... we don’t have to create a song for our assignment... right?” You asked, tone slightly laced with concern. “No, no.” He dismissed your concerns, sighing, “The real reason why I’m singing so late at night is actually because I’m preparing for something. I don’t really have time otherwise to prepare for it since I have uni and work.” “What are you preparing for?” You scrunched your eyebrows quizzically. “You have to promise not to laugh.” He looked at you pointedly. “I can’t promise that.” You scoffed. “Well then I can’t tell you.” He lifted his head, looking elsewhere. “Fine. Fine!” You whispered harshly. “Okay, well I’m doing this competition that’s basically a talent show for unusual talents. And mine is... trot singing. The whole point of this talent show, though, is to actually achieve your New Year goals and resolutions.” “And yours is... to win with your trot singing?” You looked at him bewilderingly. “No.” He lightly slapped his forehead, disappointed at your lack of piecing together what little information he provided you with. “My resolution is to perform on stage. However, my only formal singing training is in trot singing.” “Ah, I see.” “Yeah... you should come! Only if you can. Obviously. No pressure.” He asked quickly. “Oh! I’m surprised you want me there after everything that happened.” You said sheepishly. “What happened?” He widened his eyes in confusion. “Well— you were kind of a jerk to me all of today.” You noted. “I was? Oh—“ “You ignored me this morning, put on a face when I dropped Mina off at daycare, purely because you were at work and tried to talk to me in tutorial after that. Then you nearly stole my ramen!” You interrupted. “Oh wow, I really did all of that today? Anyway, let me explain. In the morning, yes I saw you and I could’ve yelled a hello, I admit it. But I was very stressed since Seungmin is normally the one to wake me up when he comes back from the hospital but I think he must’ve gone home with his partner or something because he didn’t come home last night, and I had no way to contact him because Jisung threw his phone in the bin.” He explained. “He what?” You recoiled in bewilderment at the last part. “Long story. Anyway, I actually just go straight to autopilot whenever I have to converse with the parents. And since it’s my first week, I wasn’t expecting to see someone I know, let alone you, so I just went straight to my Customer Service Polite Conversation Autopilot Mode... customer service is so hard. As for the tutorial thing, I wanted to study with you! Believe it or not, I actually do appreciate your company.” He said pointedly. You blushed, clearing your throat, “That doesn’t explain the ramen thing, though.” He sighed, “Ramen is my study food too, you know. But I figured you needed it a lot more than me... also your compliment caught me off guard.” He muttered the last part, you smirked slightly as you heard it. “Anyway, I would really appreciate it if you could come because... well, you- you’re one of my good friends.” He rubbed his neck tentatively. Your chest ached slightly, feelings of disappointment infiltrating your head, only to be met with confusion... and sudden realisation. Oh. No.

[00:37] (Jeongin) hey! you left all of a sudden, but I’ve emailed you the details to the comp. hope you can come :) [10:55] (Jeongin)...Y/N? Are you still alive? Actually, I know you are. But why are you avoiding me? It had been a couple of days since you realised your feelings for Jeongin. Trying to avoid him at any costs, you changed up your schedule — only taking morning tutorials, making sure you didn’t run into him wherever you went. It didn’t help that your lives were so intertwined. Mina had gotten particularly attached to him — you watched her from outside the daycare, her little legs wrapped around his, clinging onto him like a koala and reluctant to let him go when she saw you at the gate. That certainly did not help. But what could you do? In order to avoid hardship, you have to cut the relationship in the bud. Especially since he only sees you as a friend. You snapped your attention to the door, as a knock resounded through your apartment, redirecting your attention from your phone to... a very unkempt Seungmin, waiting behind the door. “Hey, Y/N! I was wondering if you could do me a favour?” He asked, words rushed. “That depends on what it is.” You crossed your arms over your chest, raising an eyebrow expectantly. “I need you to go to Jeongin’s talent show for me.” He said. You shut the door immediately on him, “Y/N’s not here.” “I— what? Y/N, please. I need to go to the hospital today and he really wants you to go!” Seungmin pleaded from behind the door. “Why can’t you get any of his hyungs to attend? He has like six other ones.” You proposed. “He really wants you to come. He really likes you, Y/N.” Seungmin sighed. You opened the door slightly, peaking out from around the door, “Yeah. As a friend.” “What gave you that impression?” Seungmin looked at you confusedly. “He said it to my face?” You said, equally as confused. “Oh my god. He like likes you, okay? He didn’t tell anyone except us two about the contest. He told me because we live together but he told you because he has feelings for you!” Seungmin inhaled sharply, trying ridiculously hard not to roll his eyes in annoyance. “You’re not just telling me this so I would go?” You raised an eyebrow sceptically. “No. I have nothing to gain out of that because if you found out I was lying, I know you’ll hold a grudge against me forever, and as neighbours that really would not work out.” He said a matter of factly. “...alright. Fine. I’ll go. And you do realise we’re also friends? Friends generally shouldn’t lie to each other.” You looked at him pointedly. “Right. That.” He said shortly. “Anyway, you should hurry since you only have... twenty minutes til it starts.” He checked his watch. You gasped, “And you only thought to tell me now?” “Some of us have more important things to do than helping your love story progress. For example, saving lives. So, goodbye!” He waved, ushering you to close the door before sprinting down the hall. Time to sort this out... I guess.

You rushed to the venue after purchasing flowers and chocolate and organising for Jisung and his partner to come babysit... although you weren’t exactly trusting of them after hearing of their lawsuit rendezvous at the shopping centre. That was irrelevant right now, though. After sitting through more than fifteen of the most unusual acts at the talent show, you questioned how Jeongin even found out about it. It wasn’t until he entered on stage, lights dimming around him as he sang a slow, but emotive trot song— eyes searching over the crowd, only to lock onto yours as he belted his last note, the audience standing in applause as he stood back, catching his breath, eyes never leaving yours. “And there you have it folks! First of all, a big congratulations to all of you— you’ve successfully achieved at least one of your New Years resolutions!” The MC walked on stage, passing Jeongin on his way out, “But now, it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for— the winner of this new year’s resolution talent contest is... Yang Jeongin!” A hearty applause echoed throughout the room, loud cheers erupting as Jeongin entered the stage again, you stood up, giving him an encouraging smile whilst cheering, “Okay, well first of all, thank you for the opportunity to do this. I don’t think I would’ve ever performed if it weren’t for making it a New Years resolution.” Low laughter hummed from the audience, “I guess— another person to thank is... well... someone that I really like and have for a while- Y/N. Even though our whole relationship basically consisted of a bunch of misunderstandings, you still came to this competition for me. At least, I hope it was for me. It’d be awkward if it wasn’t, since this is a sort of confession thing. Actually— do you think you could join me on stage?” The audience turned to you as you stared at him in shock. Shaking out of your reverie, you slowly stood up, making your way to the stage as he held out a hand, helping you up the stairs. You gave him a nervous but small smile, “Congratulations on your win!” You handed him the flowers, as he pulled you in for a quick hug. “Y/N, you’re probably the coolest person I’ve ever befriended. You’re incredibly driven, caring, and probably the person I respect most in my life. The way you’re achieving all your goals whilst managing the stress and struggles of raising your younger sibling astounds me, and honestly, that’s probably the feature that I find most admirable about you.” Jeongin spoke into his mic, gaze deepening into yours, the audience “aww”ing in response to him. “So, I guess where I’m trying to get at is— will you go out with me?” He asked as the audience cheered you on. You took the mic off him, pressing a quick kiss to his lips, “I’d love to.” He pulled you into a tight embrace as the audience cheered loudly, whistling as well. As you exited the auditorium, entering the foyer, you intertwined your hands with Jeongin’s, “Where should we go for our first date?” You asked, quickly putting on your coat and a beanie, wearily eying the snowfall outside, “I don’t know, I was thinking karaoke?” Jeongin suggested. You scoffed, “No.” “Why not?” He asked, genuinely confused. “Because you’d absolutely crush me. That’s why. Also, I know you’re only saying that because they gave you yearly access to the karaoke club as your prize.” You rolled your eyes. “You wound me with your words, Y/N. Do you think I’d cheapskate on our date?” He placed his hand to his chest, faking a gasp. “Never.” You mimicked his gesture as you exited the foyer. “Yah! Y/N!” “I’m joking, I’m joking! Ahh— don’t tickle me-“ You gasped as his fingers found your sides, giggles unwillingly being emitted. “Only if you give me another kiss.” He tapped his lips, you sighed, leaning over to give him another kiss, as he lightly drew your neck closer to him, deepening the kiss. You pulled back, eyes sparkling with joy, “Well...Even though I know you’ll trash me at it...Race you to the karaoke club?” You proposed, stretching your muscles. “Really? We just had the most epic kiss and now all you’re concerned about is karaoke?!” He raised an eyebrow expectantly. “Last one to the karaoke place gets no kisses for the rest of the day!” “Oh, you’re on.”

Thank you for reading! Would you like to read more?

#districtninewriters #stayhavennet #kdiarynet #fluffyskzclub #yang jeongin #skz x you #jeongin x you #in #yang jeongin x reader #stray kids x reader #jeongin x reader #jeongin #skz #stray kids #stray kids x you #stray kids imagines #skz imagines #stray kids blurbs #skz blurbs #skz x reader #skz oneshots #stray kids oneshots #skz fanfic #stray kids fanfic #kpop imagines #jeongin imagines #yang jeongin imagines #skz fluff #stray kids fluff #skz crack

[joezworld]

Toby - Rap God

Guys I was making myself laugh when I wrote this - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

Based entirely on one line from this.

2019

There are many engines on the Island of Sodor, and like many people, music is often part of their lives.

Some engines, like Percy and Duck, have no interest in the subject, having never been exposed to it in a real manner.

Others, like Gordon and Henry, have extremely well-defined music tastes. (Unfortunately for those around them, they do not like the same music, and arguments often ensue.)

James, being extremely vain, enjoys the songs written about him for the children's television show based on the writings of The Thin Clergyman.

And then there’s Toby...

-----------

Toby is a small brown steam tram. He has spent almost all of his life on Sodor on Thomas' branch line, where he and his coach Henrietta trundle up and down the valley at the top of the line - providing a valuable commuter service from the branch line terminus to the stone mines at Anopha.

Toby likes music, as does Henrietta; they like it so much that in 1989 the workmen installed a radio in Henrietta so that the two could listen to music on it as they worked.

This was very thoughtful gift, but there was a small problem:

The hills outside of the quarry meant that many radio stations couldn't reach the small antenna on Henrietta's roof.

Fortunately, a few did, mostly overpowered stations on the Isle of Man. These stations were designed to reach boats far out at sea, and mainly played uninteresting things like the Shipping Forecast.

There was, however, one station that did come come through loud and clear no matter where you were...

---

You're listening to ManxPirate - the Barely-Seaworthy voice of the Sudrian Sea. I’m your sea-going Deejay - or Sea-Jay - Musik Mike! Up next is our most popular block of the day - that’s right, the JAMS are LOUD and we're all gonna get DEF!

"Oh Henrietta! It's starting!"

"Just be ready on the choruses Toby"

------------------

The sounds of music echoed off of the Els river valley as Toby and Henrietta trundled towards Elsbridge.

Aside from their Quarry duties, Toby and Henrietta also worked 'the school bus', a daily train that carried schoolchildren from the remote farmhouses between Elsbridge and Hackenbeck to the Saint Pedroc's school in Elsbridge.

Toby loved this route - many of the children had been taking 'the bus' since Grade 1, and he felt privileged to have seen them grow up into fine young adults.

-

As he pulled into the platform at Elsbridge station, he saw those young adults crowded around each other.

'"Peep Peep! Let's go, everyone!" he called to the teens.

"Just a minute Tobes!" Called back Sera, one of the teenagers, before she turned back to her friends, who were filming her with their 'smart-phones'.

"Whatever could they be doing?" He asked Henrietta as Sera and her friend Phoebe bounced up and down in unison while waving their arms around.

"Undoubtedly something for the internet," the coach mused. "But I have no idea what - trends change so fast now".

"Internet?" Toby was puzzled. "Don't they need a computer for that?"

"Toby. Smartphones have been around for over ten years. How do you not know about this?"

"I'm sorry that I'm not as technologically advanced as you - but at least I know what steam is!"

"Oh my goodness, it's also a video game company now. You've heard those jokes before!"

Toby and Henrietta likely would have gone on like that until the guard blew his whistle, but Phoebe broke away from the group of teens, her phone in her hand.

"Toby?" She asked, clearly trying not laugh. "Do you know what Vossi Bop is?"

Toby was taken aback. "Of course I do. Vossi Bop isn't my favourite, but that's just because I don't like Stormzy that much - I'm not one for Grime."

Phoebe blinked like she'd been poleaxed. "What?"

"It's a Stormzy song, isn't it?"

"Toby," Henrietta sighed. "She was asking because she thought you didn't know. Was this going to be some kind of thing where you show rap music to the elderly and laugh at them being shocked?" She asked Phoebe, who nodded slowly.

"Well, you're going to have to better than that young lady," The coach smirked. "We've been listening to ManxPirate since before you were born!"

"Really?" The blonde asked slowly.

"Oh yes!" Henrietta boasted. "Eazy-E was still alive when we first tuned in!"

"Oh, em, gee!" The girl said, before turning and shouting down the platform. "Guys! They do know!"

-

The excited teenagers crowded around Toby and Henrietta as they quizzed the tram on rap music. Any thought of leaving on time was totally forgotten about as Toby's extensive knowledge of gangsta rap was laid out for them.

"Mate, mate," said John, one of the boys. "You gotta do The Challenge if you know all this!"

"What challenge?" Toby asked.

The teens clamored over each other, before they all stopped to let someone speak intelligibly.

Rachel Kyndley eventually spoke up: "It's a thing that ManxPirate is doing on TikTok. You sing along to a rap song and whoever does it the best gets to record a charity single with Stormzy!"

The teens again spoke over each other, all claiming that Toby and Henrietta should sing for the challenge.

Toby had to blow his whistle to calm them down. "I suppose there's nothing to lose by it," He said after a moment. "But I should say that my flow isn’t that good."

"Mate, I am amazed that you know what that means,” Said John. “But you just need to sing along to somethin’ that’s already out there.” 

“Oh.” Toby looked back at Henrietta. “Well that shouldn’t be too hard. Do you have any N.W.A we could sing along to?”

As he had the only ‘eye-phone pro’, Simon the student newspaper editor was volunteered as cameraperson, while Rachel set a small ‘blue tooth speaker’ on Toby’s bufferbeam so that he could hear the music.  

The remaining teenagers pulled out their phones as well - whatever happened next was going to be un-fucking-believable. 

-

The music began with record scratching. The kids looked at each other in shock. There was no way that Rachel had picked this.

"Right about now NWA court is in full effect” Henrietta sang.

Rachel had. The teens could barely contain themselves. 

“Judge Dre presiding in the case of NWA versus the police department.

Prosecuting attourneys are MC Ren, Ice Cube and Eazy motherfuckin' E”

Hearing Henrietta say ‘fuck’, was an astonishing experience for the unprepared teenagers.

“Order, order, order, Ice Cube take the motherfuckin' stand

Do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth

And nothin' but the truth so help your black ass?”

“You goddamn right” Toby responded. Rachel Kyndley barely could hold back a shout of astonishment. I hope there’s no book written about this! She thought.

“Well, won't you tell everybody what the fuck you gotta say?"

Then there was a record scratching sound. 

The teens knew what came next. They hoped that they were prepared to hear this song come out of Toby.

"Fuck the police comin' straight from the underground!" 

Toby and Henrietta not only sang this lyric, they sang it in harmony. 

The teenagers thought that they had been prepared. 

They were not prepared. 

Most of the next few verses were lost underneath the clamor of twelve teenagers losing their goddamn minds.

--------------------

A few days later

Toby was resting in his shed when a little car came tearing into the station parking lot. More girls than should have been possible to fit in it came tumbling out and made a beeline for his shed, Rachel Kyndley in the lead. 

“Toby! Toby! Toby! You won! You won!” She shouted as she skidded over the gravel. 

“Won what?”

“The Contest!” She shrieked. “Your video went viral and you won The Contest! Stormzy said on Instagram that he was excited to meet you!” 

She and her friends dissolved into happy squealing, preventing any further speech. 

“What’s Instagram?” Toby asked Henrietta. 

--------------------------

The Next Week

Stephen Hatt was enjoying his tea and tolerating his toast and marmalade, when his son Richard burst into his office, waving his phone around like a sword. 

“Were you just not going to tell me that you let Stormzy visit the engines? Or was I just supposed to figure this out when Kieran and Micah tore my ear off for not letting them meet him?!”

“I have a phone, you know. And a receptionist.” Stephen said as he cleaned tea off of his desk. Fortunately, most of it had gone onto the marmalade covered toast, which he unceremoniously dumped into the trash. “And who have I let meet the engines?”

“Stormzy? The rapper? He headlined at Glastonbury last bloody month?”

“I don’t follow.”

“He’s a musician, and you let him record an album with Toby!”

“He recorded music? With Toby? Our Toby?”

“Yes! It was supposed to be a single, but now it’s an album! It hit number one! And it’s been out for three hours!”

“You’re saying this as if I have the slightest idea what you’re talking about.”

“Just read the article!” Richard shoved the phone into his hand. The website for  BBC Sodor and Man was open. 

-

STORMZY DROPS SURPRISE ALBUM WITH SURPRISE COSTARS

ELSBRIDGE - Music fans across the world were surprised this morning when Stormzy unexpectedly announced via Instagram the release of his newest album, Back in Their Day - featuring two of the realest OGs I’ve ever seen.

Residents of Sodor were especially surprised to discover who those “two real OGs” were: Toby and Henrietta, an engine and coach on the Ffarquhar Branch Line. 

This unexpected collaboration began several weeks ago when a viral video on TikTok featuring the pair attracted the attention of the rapper...

-

Stephen skimmed the rest of the article, not quite believing what he was reading. “I didn’t authorize any of this.” He said at last. 

“Really?” Richard said, not quite believing him. “Because that’s what the staff on the Branch told me too.”

“I swear to you I didn’t do anything.”

“Then what, did the biggest star in the country just go to Ffarquhar and record an album with Toby? With nobody’s permission?”

----------------

[TWO YEARS LATER]

--CHANNEL 4 INTERNAL TRANSCRIPT: THE LAST LEG 2021 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL--

ADAM HILLS - So we’ve had a lot of questions, about, the last album you dropped-

[AUDIENCE LAUGHTER]

AH - The one with the train engine -  I think his name is Toby?

STORMZY - And Henrietta. Can’t forget her. 

AH - Of course not.

S - What do you wanna know?

[MORE LAUGHTER]

AH - Well, I don’t have any questions - and when I say we, I don’t mean Alex or our viewers - 

[PROLONGED LAUGHTER]

AH - I mean Josh.

JOSH WIDDICOMBE - [TO ADAM] You’re an Arse. [To STORMZY] - Um, I just wanted to know how you did it really. Is it, is it true that you snuck in and did it all in one night?

S - Oh yeah! Absolutely. ‘Cause, I thought that it was gonna be a one and done, like just a single y’know? So I just went there and was gonna do it and go. But as we kept talkin’ I realized that, that, I just had to make more, and then it became the album and we shot a music video for ‘scrapp’ on the same night and then I did some sound work  and then it went up. 

AH - Just like that?

S - Just like that.

#music #music tastes #fanfic #ttte #ttte fanfic #ttte toby #ttte henrietta #rap music #cursing #long #I wrote this one for me #and I was laughing hysterically the whole time #I'm american and listen to disco #why did I make this about rap and stormzy #story #headcanon #ttte headcanon #sodor #sodor shenangians #shenanigans #fic #toby rap god

[mysweetgeo]

Do You Want to Know a Secret ? (Part 7)

Summary: Reader and George have been best friends since they were kids, but when The Beatles got big, they were forced apart. What happens when George returns for a couple weeks wanting their friendship to return to normal?

It was a few days before you saw George again, and you knew his time back home was running out.

Fearful that he’d leave in three days and soon forget you again, you called him asking him to come over for drinks, something you’d have done a few years ago when you would snag a bottle of vodka from your father’s liquor cabinet and replace what you’d drank with water.

You’d gone to the liquor store and gotten a large bottle of vodka, and stopped at the grocery to grab a couple bottles of coke to chase the alcohol with.

You were wearing a green velvet mini skirt with a white blouse tucked into the waistband when George arrived, you’d told him just to come in and lock the door before he came upstairs.

“Hey,” you said with a grin as you held up the large bottle of vodka.

He smiled in return, “Hello, love,” he replied, sitting beside you on your bed.

“Straight up or mixed?” You asked, holding two square scotch glasses.

“I think I’ll do with just a coke for right now, let me settle in,” he said with a laugh, taking the bottle from your hand when you handed it to him.

“Suit yourself,” you mumbled before taking a shot straight from the bottle, your face contorting as the liquid burned its way down your throat.

He laughed at the face you made before noticing the Bob Dylan album you had on the turntable. he hummed at this realisation, “I quite like his tunes, don’t you?” He asked.

You nodded, “I do, lotsa bluesy ones on this one,” you replied, setting the bottle down as the disc came to an end. “What would you like to listen to?” You asked as you stood, removing the disc and placing it carefully back into the sleeve.

“Doesn’t much matter to me, whatever you’d like,” he replied, taking a sip from his coke.

You nodding, humming to yourself as you sat on the floor to look through your albums.

“You mind if I listen to With The Beatles again? I quite like All My Loving and haven’t been able to get it out of my head in days,” you said, grabbing the album and standing to place it on the turntable.

“‘Course not, just cover your ears at my tracks, they’re ear piercing,” he joked.

You walked back over to your bed as It Won’t Be Long began playing, “that’s not true George, I like all three songs that you sing on this album, your voice is quite soothing,” you said honestly.

He gave you a half smile and looked down at his lap, “No need to kiss up, love, you can admit it’s terrible—don’t go soft for my benefit.”

“‘m not George, honest. I adore your voice,” you said, lifting his chin so he would look at you, “I wouldn’t lie to you about that.”

“But you’d lie about something else?” He asked, teasing you.

You hummed in response, “Oh definitely, don’t ask me about your guitar skills, I wouldn’t be able to hold back.”

He grinned, a loud laugh escaping his mouth.

You smiled, realising your hand was still touching his face and suddenly it burnt you to be this close.

You removed your hand and placed it in your lap, smiling when you heard All My Loving begin to play.

You hummed along with the tune before joining Paul’s vocals, “And then while I’m away, I’ll write home every day, and I’ll send all my loving to you.”

George couldn’t contain the loving smile that spread across his face as you sang, “Your voice is lovely, (Y/N), just as lovely as I remember it being,” he spoke during the small instrumental break.

You flushed, “Oh hush, Geo, I’m no Paul McCartney—or George Harrison for that matter,” you said with a laugh.

He snorted when you’d said his name, “And I’m no (Y/N Y/L/N).”

You rolled your eyes as the song ended and Don’t Bother Me began playing, “You wrote this one, yeah?” You asked.

He nodded, “Terrible isn’t it?”

You shook your head, “On the contrary—I quite like this one, it’s got a darker mood that I cannot get enough of,” you said. “Who is it about?” You asked, looking over to him.

He just shrugged, “Not sure, maybe a bird,” he mumbled.

You nodded, not pressing him any further, “Fancy a shot now?”

He nodded, taking a gulp from the bottle, his face also contorting in disgust as a disapproving groan escaped his mouth.

You laughed, and took one right after him, which didn’t burn nearly as much as the last one you’d taken, though you chased this one with a sip of your coke.

You groaned and stood to flip the record, but grinned when you remembered what the first song on this side was.

“Why’re you smiling like that—you look absolutely mad,” George asked.

You tried to supress your smile, “You’ll see,” you said, coming to sit beside him again.

Well I’m gonna write a little letter, gonna mail it to my local DJ

George groaned as his voice filled the room, causing you to let out a laugh, your body pressing into his as you tried to contain it.

“Sing it for me Georgie!” You exclaimed, after your laughter had subsided.

He rolled his eyes, “You know my temperature's rising and the jukebox blows a fuse, my heart's beating rhythm and my soul keeps singing the blues roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news,” he sang, his eyes on you the entire time.

It was unlike anything you’d ever experienced, his voice wasn’t an exact match to the record, but it was incredible to be sitting across from George, and having him sing to you, and only you—it made you want to kiss him, but you knew you couldn’t do that without consequences.

He continued to sing, reaching over and grabbing your hand, only adding to the warm feeling that bubbled in your stomach.

You tried to push away the feeling as it intensified, and suddenly you were too close to George and it took everything in you to pull away for a second, breaking eye contact with him as you covered what you’d done by grabbing your coke and holding it in your hands.

George tried to his his hurt expression as you took your hand away from his grasp.

The song ended soon after, and you sat silently as the rest of the record played.

You got up to change the record, deciding to play your copy of Please Please Me.

“This okay with you?” You asked, holding up the sleeve as you put the needle on the disc.

George hummed in response, taking another swig of vodka straight from the bottle.

You leaned against your wall observing the cover art for a few moments, your eyes lingering on George and his sweet baby face.

“Who’re ye lookin at Paul or John?” You heard him ask from across the room.

You looked up and met his eyes, “Neither,” you answered honestly.

“Ringo then? Didn’t exactly peg him as your type,” he said with a half-hearted laugh.

You shook your head, “He’s not,” you answered.

“Surely you weren’t looking at me?” he asked incredulously.

“You’ve got a baby face, Geo,” you replied, turning your attention back to the album cover, flipping it over to observe the back.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asks.

“That you look young,” you reply, not looking up from the back cover.

He huffed and took yet another swig from the bottle, putting the top back on the bottle and leaning back on your bed.

Soon enough the first side was over and you flipped the disc before taking a large sip from the bottle and laying beside him on the bed.

You smiled when Love Me Do began to play, “I remember when you first released this one,” you said.

He nods, “Feels like so long ago,” he says.

“Can’t believe its been nearly three years,” you said, sighing contentedly.

He only hums in response, leaving the two of you in a comfortable silence for a few minutes as the song plays out.

You’ll never know how much I really love you

You’ll never know how much I really care

All of a sudden you were welcomed with a stirring of feelings in your stomach as a forgotten memory comes back to you.

He pulled you close to him, leaving barely enough room to breathe, and began to sway you back and forth.

He sang softly in your ear, “Do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell? Oh, closer.”

You felt yourself pressing yourself closer to him, aching for him to tell you.

“Let me whisper in your ear,” he murmured breathlessly in your ear, “say the words you long to hear.”

“I’m in love with you,” he whispered, softly kissing your neck.

You sighed in content, allowing him to attack your neck and jaw with kisses.

“Oh, George,” you mumbled softly.

George’s lips moved to your cheek, progressively moving towards your mouth.

You let out a groan when he pulled away, “Can I kiss you?” He murmured.

All you could do was nod, your body aching for his touch, your lips yearning for reciprocation.

You looked into each other’s eyes before George pressed his lips against yours, and your world stopped.

You gasped, sitting up and covering your mouth, looking at George, who seemingly had realized the same thing.

His eyes were wide, looking at you and not knowing what to say or do.

The song played out as the memory played in your mind, his hands on your body burning you as it played out.

You stood up, not knowing what to do with yourself, beginning to pace as you thought the entire moment over in your mind.

George watched you pace back and forth, not wanting to interrupt or say anything wrong.

All of a sudden you stopped and just stared at him, not caring that the music had stopped.

“Why did you kiss me?” You asked.

He looks at you, not quite knowing how to put his feelings into words.

After a moment, he spoke up, “‘ve been mad for you for years, (Y/N),” he said softly.

You felt tears in your eyes, “Years?” You choked out, it almost came out as a whine.

He nodded, confirming what he’d said as he stood up to meet you where you stood in the center of your room.

“You didn’t tell me, George, I-I’ve been trying get over you for years now,” you stuttered, anger coursing through your body. “How dare you keep that from me! I had a right to know!” You yelled, pushing him away from you.

“(Y/N)-“ He began but you interrupted again.

“No, George, I loved you for years—years, George. And then you left, you left and you didn’t even try to contact me or anything! No calls no letters, not even a bloody hello!” You raged, pushing at his chest as you cried.

“Years?” He asked, grabbing your wrists and holding them.

“Yes, years! What part of that don’t you understand?” you yelled, trying to get your wrists free.

“If I’m not mistaken you didn’t speak up either! And last time I checked—love is a two way street,” he yelled back, dangerously close.

“George you don’t get it! You left! You left me here and you just went!” You cried, fighting the grip he had on your wrists.

“You didn’t stop me!” He yelled in your face, maintaining a tight grip on your wrists.

“How can you say that! You know I could never stop you from leaving! What was I supposed to do? Tell you not to go? Even if I did—you’d have resented me for stopping you, the nerve you have to say that,” you said, as you stopped fighting his grip.

“I would have, y’know, I wouldn’t have gone if you gave me a reason to stay,” he says in a deep voice as he released your wrists.

“I wouldn’t have let you even if you tried,” you said quietly, not looking him in the eyes.

It was quiet for several minutes before you spoke again, “I think you should leave, George,” you said in a small voice.

“What? Why? We can work this out—“ He began to step towards you, but you interrupted him by putting a hand on his chest to keep him away.

“I need time, George, you have to give me time,” you said, backing away from him.

“(Y/N),” he said softly, if you weren’t so close you might not have heard him.

“No, George, please,” you begged, opening your door for him.

He looked at you before beginning to make his way to the door, but not before standing in front of you and pressing a kiss to your forehead.

“I love you,” he whispered, turning and walking out the door.

After he’d left, you closed your door, holding the handle for a moment, “I love you, too,” you murmured.

#love #george harrison #the beatles #1964 #beatles x reader #george #george harrison fic #george harrison x reader #john lennon #music #paul mccartney #ringo starr

[digitalworldbound]

koukari 24 or kenkari 30? sorry for the challenge :p but if you're not comfortable with the pairings, go ahead with takari! :3

Pairing: ken x hikari

Summary: “I can’t talk to cute people, okay? I don’t know how to flirt!” (#30 from the prompt list)

Author’s Notes: I was revisiting my old fanfiction from when I was thirteen, and it reignited my love for cheesy AUs. So, I present to you my first ever KenKari content (I apologize if it is bad, but I've tried my best!)

on the corner of thompson rd. and fifth street stood a quaint structure with walls that appeared to sag and well-worn stairs. a seemingly hand-painted sign hung above the door way read : ♡ book 'n' brew ♡

in full honestly, the crooked hearts would of been enough to draw ken in completely had he not been on a search for a new coffee joint. earlier that september morning, a bug placed strategically in his starbucks cup stirred up the motivation to search for a more tasteful choice in brew.

mindless trotting about lead him to the worn, brick steps. many customers were slightly deterred by the haggard appearance of the building, but ken thought otherwise.

it was charming and smelled of home. plus, the little pink hearts were hard to dismiss.

pulling the smooth handle and trapping the chilly air behind him, ken opened the door and stepped in.

the store was quite small, as expected, but seemingly transported him away. warm fairy lights hung on the edges of tall, oak bookcases. the lights made ken’s dark cerulean eyes dance with wonder. while the oak cases were aging, they were sturdy. books lined the shelves in every way imaginable. when the books filled up the shelves vertically, the left-overs were placed haphazardly in the spaces between, whether that be on top of, in front of, or behind other books. the smell of well-loved pages filtered through the air, mixing with the smell of freshly brewed something.

the coffee! ken reminded himself.

humming a mindless tune under his breath, he made is way to the countered that was nestled in between two bookcases. plants, napkins and even more books littered the counter top. the owner, however, was nowhere to be found.

"hello?" ken’s crystalline voice called out.

"how may i help you?"

ken made a noise of surprise, not expecting the light, feminine voice to come from behind him.

a girl emerged from behind one of the bookcases, her hair swept to the side and held in place with a barrette. she looked ethereal in her loose dress, the extra fabric making her look like a bird ready for flight. she coughed quietly, her amber eyes drilling into his own with curiosity.

blush erupted like wildfire across ken’s cheeks. the tips of his ears burned in embarrassment. he was caught staring, but the stranger’s beauty was disarming.

"so?" the owner lightly suggested, a gentle reminder that ken still had yet to respond to her initial question.

"oh, yes! i was wondering if you had any coffee?" he finally spoke up. all too late, he realized his mistake. a flush rose to his neck, and ken had half the mind to run out of the store and never return.

raising an arched eyebrow, the stranger purposely flitted her eyes over to the obviously placed coffee pots, before turning her attention back to ken.

"hm, i would say that i do." she chuckled. her dress gently swayed behind her as she slipped behind the counter. Looking over her shoulder, she smiled in his direction.

"obviously." the boy muttered under his breath, embarrassment consuming him alive.

"pick your poison."

ken pretended to ponder his options. on a normal day - which this wasn't - he could always go for a medium roast coffee with creamer and two sugars, but today felt inexplicably different.

"i think i might go with some oolong tea today, if it isn't any trouble."

"of course not, silly. it's one of my personal favorites." the barista smiled. she turned around, completely engrossing herself in the task at hand while ken decided to explore the shop.

his fingers danced on the spines of novels and novellas, enjoying the way they felt beneath his fingertips. as a child, ken never had the attention span for reading. he was always distracted by the butterflies or colorful markers or dandelions. these things were real, and for him, the words in the books weren't.

consumed by his thoughts and the texture of the spines, ken drowned out the shop owner's declaration of warm drinks.

when the surprisingly small hand cupped the boy's shoulder, he jumped, knocking several books from their perch.

"oh no, i'm so sorry. usually, i'm not this clumsy." he offered, quickly picking up the fallen objects and shoving them haphazardly back onto the shelf. anxiety swirled in stomach; he felt like an absolute fool.

the owner simply smiled and pushed the small mug into ken's cold fingers. how long had it been since he stumbled into the shop? ten minutes? an hour? the thoughts were washed away with the first sip of tea, as the warm, comforting flavor washed away the flush on his cheeks.

"my name's hikari," the mystery barista offered, turning towards the door behind the cluttered counter space, "yell for me if you need anything else." she smiled, then disappeared.

"i'm ken ichijouji!" he called after hikari, but it was too late. her delicate frame had already slipped away, disappearing into further into the shelves.

with a barely distinguishable pout on his pink lips, ken sipped his oolong tea languidly and perched himself in recliner nestled into a dusty corner. the cloth on the seat had once been beautiful, ken was sure. years of patrons had worn away the bright red velvet into a thread-bare pink. it was s comfy, so ken snuggled himself deeper into the chair.

glancing around, he browsed the titles nearest to him.

viva by e.e cummings

pride and prejudice by jane austen

star girl by jerry spinelli

the hobbit by j.r.r. tolkien

hikari apparently had an interest in most things, not unlike ken. they just had interests in different places.

losing interest in the books quickly, ken demolished the luke-warm beverage and placed his dirty mug (that he now realized adorned the same little pink hearts as the sign that hung above the entrance way) next to the coffee pot and hurriedly yelled out his goodbyes.

he closed the old, wooden door, walked down the brick steps, and turned onto thompson rd. his stride was strong and his gaze was fixed onto some imaginative point on the horizon.

ken was on a mission.

-

the rest of his week was rough, even by ken's standards. book 'n' brew had been closed for the past five days, much to his dismay. ken had inherited the ability to burn water and couldn't be trusted to make his own tea. with the name-brand fix no longer being an option, five whole days without caffeine had put ken on edge.

it was a rather dreary sunday. the rain fell in sheets and drenched the ken down too his sock-less toes. inky black hair plastered to his forehead; his eyelashes had already clumped together. his wet sneakers lead him down the familiar cement of thompson rd. and his heart leap into his throat when he saw the lights on in the infamous bookstore.

the warm atmosphere was once again barren of any patrons (besides ken, of course). hikari was much easier to spot, given that she was directly behind the counter. ken’s heart-rate picked up; he was almost giddy.

hikari's hair was swept to the side again, the ends barely dancing across her shoulders. her billowy dress had been replaced by jeans and a t-shirt. an apron hung loosely off her thin frame. she wore the tea stains like accessories. his heart gave another weird flutter.

however, before he could question his reaction, ken became far too preoccupied with the smells of the quaint shop. cinnamon wafted around his ears while cocoa assaulted his nostrils.

the owner physically perked up when the wind chimes above the door sang a song, signaling the first customer of the day.

rain dripped from his clothes as ken walked towards the delicious aromas while mulling over the half-baked plan that he attempted to conceive a week prior.

it wasn't much. he just thought that hikari was impossibly cute and wanted an excuse to strike up a seemingly casual conversation. the only problem that presented itself was the fact that ken absolutely despised reading.

so, during his caffeine withdrawal, ken invested a part of his meager wages into a hoard of "spark notes" books. these were easier to understand and got straight to the point, anyways. every morning of his coffee-less week began with a literary classic. much to his dismay, the plots bored him to tears. lovers would fight and makeup, enemies would always become friends. books were too predictable.

nevertheless, when the shop was finally reopened, ken had the basic knowledge of not one, but five(ish) novels to use as conversation starters. he wanted to be prepared to keep her interest, no matter how small his understanding of the material.

"hello, hikari!" ken chirped, a bright smile spreading across his wind-nipped cheeks.

"good morning, ken ichijouji, how have you been?" though she was talking to him, her eyes never left the countertop she was cleaning. the shadows under her eyes did not go unnoticed, but ken decided against bringing it up.

" i'm great! i've been put off, though, as your shop hasn't been open in nearly a week."

hikari chuckled darkly, her eyes meeting his for the briefest of moments. "don't worry about that. i'm here now. would you like anything to sip on or any novels to escape into today?"

ken was slightly confused by the unusual turn hikari's behavior. her voice was no longer sweet, but laden with exhaustion. however, he let none of this deter him from his mission.

"yes, please. i would like a coffee with creamer and two and a half sugars, please."

the blue-eyed boy watched intently as hikari made his drink. In an effort to bring a smile to her face, ken joked that his preferred his coffee the color of his sun-kissed skin. despite how stupid it sounded, her cheeks warmed as she giggled. looking like an idiot was worth it if it meant that hikari would laugh like that.

"so," ken began as the silence settled in, "have you read any good books lately?" he took a quick sip of his coffee and let the warmth sink to his icy toes. september was almost over, but the chill of october was already creeping around the corner.

the corner of hikari's mouth twitched, and ken’s heart soared when he knew he made the correct choice.

"hm," the young woman started, her body relaxed against the cluttered surface of the counter., "i had you pegged as more of a 'movies-are-better-than-books' type of guy." her elbow grazed a stack of books that were balanced precariously on the edge.

"ah, well, of course not! i have loved reading since primary school." ken stuttered out. his face was a shade of deep red, resembling the worn-out velvet of the chair he was sat in. the lie sat uneasily at the pit of his stomach, but ken pushed it aside.

"well, to answer your question, i just finished the book thief by markus zusak." by now, a smile had warmed up hikari’s amber eyes, brightening the mood. rain still splattered against the shop windows, but the pair paid little mind.

"what was it about?" inquired ken. while he had no interest in reading, he certainly had an interest in whatever hikari was talking about. her slow, languid voice soothed him.

hikari eagerly rambled on and on about the characters and plot, being careful to only tease at the spoilers. ken stared intently into her eyes. he didn't have a clue what she was talking about, but he loved every minute of her voice ringing in his ears.

the coffee sat abandoned in his lap, warm long gone and chilly. the raven-haired boy took a drawn out sip, absentminded. furrowed eyebrows and a quirk of the month made hikari giggle in the midst of her story-telling.

once hikari’s story lulled to an end, ken began to talk about the books he didn't really read. he steered away from specifics and danced around with the big ideas. though her attention was divided behind between making herself a cup of tea and ken’s pride and prejudice synopsis, she seemed at ease.

"you remind me of Lydia Bennet, actually.” hikari’s hair whipped around, her eyes wide with surprise. ken was too preoccupied with the speech he prepared, one that he was sure would enthrall her. “you have that aura about you.”

“i have the aura of girl that would run away with a grown man at the age of fifteen?” the incredulousness in her voice snapped ken from his coffee-induced stupor. He hands shook. oh god, i should have read the book.

“the sparks notes didn’t mention that part.” his mouth reveals him before his brain can put a stop to it. “oh, god, i’ve ruined everything. i can’t talk to cute people, okay? i don’t know how to flirt!” his absolute, all-consuming panic must have been obvious from the way the warmth crept across his face.

her giggle caught him off guard. “how can you laugh at a time like this? i just compared you to a mother’s worse nightmare.” ken was miserable, doing his best to disappear into the cushion of the recliner.

“because it was endearing to watch you pretend to know what you’re talking about.” hikari said simply, her cheeks pink.

ken only hummed in response, not trusting his voice to respond. Instead, he basked in the warm atmosphere and tried to gain the inertia to take himself to work. while they sat in comfortable silence, mulling in the conversation, hikari leaned down and pried the empty ceramic mug from ken’s now-cold fingertips.

the contact sent a shiver down his spine, his heartrate skipping sporadically in his chest. he was on fire.

and ken knew.

he knew by the blush that rose in the girl’s cheeks, and the look of confusion still in her eyes. ken knew that coffee was good, but it had never tasted better than when he was with her. he had never tried so hard to gain the attentions of the girl, never expecting himself to be willing to do research on a subject that didn't interest him just for the sake of conversation.

the realization shook him to his core.

ken knew that he was falling for her.

so he did what he was best at.

he ran.

"oh my, look at the time. i am going to be late for my shift. it's been good. thanks for the coffee." he slammed a wad of money on the counter and rushed to the door, wind chimes tinkling after him.

hikari's goodbyes were caught in her throat.

#kenkari #ken ichijouji #hikari yagami #digimon

[possiamo-andare]

Midsummer pt.5: JJ Maybank (Finale)

JJ x Reader

MASTERLIST

word count: 9k

a/n: this final chapter of Midsummer is dedicated to @shawnssongs for being the kindest soul when I was writing this series.They always had something nice to say and uplifted my spirits when I thought I had nothing good to write. You were my inspiration so thanks buddy!! I’m so sad to see this series come to an end but it has been so much fun. the first part of Midsummer has over 1,000 notes and I am so happy with all the feedback I received. Thanks to everyone who commented, liked and reblogged. You are angels!

~

JJ rarely slept in his bed. He had these fleeting, but clear, memories of his mother with her caramel hair and blue eyes, reading the Giving Tree to him. She sat on the edge of the bed, petting his head and she read to him, changing her voice when the tree spoke. As a child, it amused JJ but now, he couldn't think of that book or his bedroom without getting emotional. It didn't help that his father erased any memories of his mother around their house. The books she read to him were burned. The family pictures of a once lovely but poor family were discarded in the trash. JJ's father forbade the mention of his mother's name to the point where JJ started to forget what she looked like or what her name was. 

The only time he ever slept in his own bed was when John B. couldn't have him over and that rarely happened. John B. knew his situation and always made his home available. When his father went missing at sea, he needed JJ even more than before and welcomed him into his home twofold. Loneliness was contagious in that household and as much as JJ appreciated John B.'s hospitality, he was suffocating. 

Then she came along. You walked through those double doors with your arm through Rafe's in that beautiful dress and JJ knew he was done for. You had made him feel something in Peterkin's office but he suppressed those feelings and soon enough, he thought they disappeared. He had chalked it up to just a crush and when it disappeared he thought he was right. Then, that night, he knew it was more than that. Then, you kissed him. He had kissed you first because he had that 'screw it' mentality but he never thought you would reciprocate those feelings. He had no idea why you kissed him but you did and you wanted to be around him. Most girls never saw JJ as anything more than a Pogue and he thought he was okay with that. Now, he knew he would never be the same. 

You stirred beside him as he reminisced over the last weeks. He had never slept so soundly in his own bed before. Slowly, as to not wake you, he tightened his grip and your body and pulled you close. He usually hated sleeping on his back but he never thought of how uncomfortable he was when you were so peaceful beside him.

"Hm?" You grumble, completely unaware of what JJ was thinking beside you. You rubbed your eyes and looked up from the crook in JJ's neck. "Morning."

JJ smirked, feeling terrible he had woken you up. "Sorry."

You smiled, shrugging. "I had to wake up eventually." You glanced at the clock on JJ's cabinet and squinted. It was 9am. "We were supposed to get up one hour ago!" You move away from JJ, pushing the covers off your partially naked body.

You hurriedly bend over, looking for your shorts and tshirt. Some time in the middle of the night you had put your undergarments back on but for your tshirt and shorts, they were still on the floor. As you pull your shirt over your head, you feel JJ move from behind you. You know what he's about to do before he even gets a chance to do it but decide not to pull away. Instead, you wait as he wraps his arms around your waist. You feel his lips against the nape of your neck and you smile, the gesture tickling you a little.

"Harry Styles?" He laughs as he points to the flip flops on the floor beside his bed.

You gasp, quickly flipping over the sole of your shoes so he can't see the embarrassing drawings on your old white flip flops. "I was ten!" It was a stupid drawing of a heart with an inscription of your favourite One Direction member's name. You had meant to get new shoes but you had never grew out of your old shoes and thought no one would see it, much less your boyfriend.

"Is that who I need to be for you to stay in bed?" He teased, poking your side. You jumped from your seat in his bed and squealed, his teasing embarrassing you. You pull your shorts up and zip them closed as JJ watches your flushed cheeks turn a brighter red.

"You could never be Harry. Sorry." You joked right back, finally slipping into your shoes. 

JJ finally sits up, his shorts him yesterday now on the bottom half of his body. "Rude!" His eyes go to his feet for a moment and you can hear him whisper "How does it go..."

"JJ!" You giggle, knowing exactly what he was going to do before he even had to do it. 

"Straight off the plane to a new hotel!" JJ screams, playing an air guitar. You cover your face, embarrassed for him. "Just touched down, you could never tell. Big house party with a crowded kitchen -"

"Okay!" You finally jump over the bed and reach for JJ's mouth so he can stop teasing you. 

He pulls away but stops singing. Instead, he reaches for your neck and pulls you close. You can see it in his eyes and you indulge him, letting him kiss you. Surprisingly, his breath does not smell and you feel a little self conscious since you know yours does. 

You are the first to pull away. "I have to brush my teeth."

JJ nods, smirking. "That bad?"

You gasp, slapping his shoulder. "Rude."

He chuckles but nods, guiding you out of his room and to the bathroom that is closest to the front door. JJ opens the door to a very small bathroom with not even a shower. He goes in first, looking under the sink for a clean toothbrush. Once he finds one, he hands it to you and exits the bathroom. It's so small that there can only be one person inside at one time. JJ gives you a chaste kiss one more time before you step inside the bathroom and close the door behind you. You turn on the facet and slowly your mind wanders as you brush your teeth. As much as you know you shouldn't be smiling just because you're brushing your teeth, you can't help it. You can't seem to believe you're in JJ's house, brushing your teeth and actually acting like a couple. Nothing about your relationship so far has been normal. From buried treasure to murder, your relationship was never as peaceful as it was now. You sang a little song as you rinse your mouth, the smile still on your lips. However, once you shut the faucet off, your little happy bubble popped. Just a few feet away, you heard yelling. In seconds, you peered out the door and looked for where it was coming from. You saw that the front door was open and, as quietly as you could, you tiptoed closer to the front of the house. The door was wide open and the closer you got, the more you heard.

"What are you doing?" JJ raised his voice, finally walking in front of the door. At first, you thought he was speaking to you but he wasn't facing you. Finally, you saw as his father walked past him, a wad of cash in his hands.

JJ had been getting dressed in his room when his father arrived home after a night of gambling and liquor. He had not entered his house, only sitting on the singular chair on the porch. JJ’s father rarely was inside his own home. It reminded him of his wife and he had suppressed all his feelings over her. The less time he spent inside, the less he would think about her. JJ had initially approached his father with a coy smile on his face, handing the man the money he stole from the drug dealer. His father seemed happy and, for the first time in years, actually praised his son. Now, his smile faded as he watched his father stuff the money into a canister.

"I'm gonna take this south and triple it..." He trailed off, his mind in all different sorts of places. It was clear he was still drunk.

"Dad, that's my bail money I owe you." JJ pleaded, his eyes filled with worry. Your heart broke as JJ's father walked straight to JJ, gripping onto his collar.

"What'd you say boy?" He yelled, pushing JJ away from him. "You are nothing! Always getting in trouble. Wish you were never born."

JJ had heard these phrases before. His father was a predictable man and used the same insults. Before, they rarely affected JJ, mostly because his father was drunk. Now, however, it was different. The words were the same but the feeling they gave JJ was different. It had been so long since any parental figure had shown him even a small amount of love and he was getting tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. This time, when his father called him nothing, it stirred a type of rage JJ had never felt before.

By the time JJ realized he was fed up, you had enough as well. You had only heard this come out of his father’s mouth once and yet it already affected you. You couldn’t imagine how JJ could handle all these years. He had more self control than you thought. You were about to step in and take the pressure away from JJ but before you could do so, JJ lunges at his father, pushing him through the screen barrier around the door. The sound of both of their bodies ripping through the material makes a loud noise and you gasp. Although that sound scared you, the sound of JJ's body hitting the grass makes you scream. You push the screen door open and run to JJ who is on top of his dad, punching him viciously. 

"JJ!" You scream, trying to pull your boyfriend off his father.

All JJ sees is red and he doesn't even hear your screaming. Tears stream down his face and he continues to punch his father. "I'm not a failure! You did this to me!"

He continues his assault on his father, only once allowing him to get the upper hand and giving him a few good punches to the mouth and sides. JJ had learned how to take the pain. For years, his father beat him and after a while he built up a resistance to the abuse. Now, he barely felt the punches his dad lay into him, only concentrating on punching his dad as hard as he could. 

Only when you grab onto his fist, blocking him from punching his father again, does his mind clear and he realizes what he's done. He falls back, watching as his father crawl away from him. You wrap your arms around his body, asking him if he's hurt but he doesn't answer. He looks down at his hands and looks in horror as he sees his father's blood all over his knuckles. 

"JJ, are you hurt?" You ask again, cupping his face. He only shakes his head, his eyes still on his father. His father has gotten up from his place on the ground and now moves in front of you and JJ.

"Get rid of her before anything happens." JJ's father taunts, a beer bottle in his hands. You gasp in horror and wonder if JJ’s dad tried to hit him with a beer bottle. He walks past the both of you, not bothering to make eye contact with you. "Us Maybank men only hurt our women."

You don't know what to do. You heard the horror stories. You knew, to some extent, how terrible of a father JJ's dad was but never this. You try to ignore the man and look back to JJ, who seems to be zoned out. He's grasping his hands together and whispering to himself. You're scared. JJ's never like this and now that he seems to have broken entirely.

"JJ..." You call, trying to wake up from this nightmare.

JJ shakes his head, pushing you off him. This action hurts you and knowing the words his father has said really has cut him deeply. JJ shakes his head, getting up from the floor without your help. He winces as he does so, his father getting in some good punches before JJ got the upper hand. You follow behind him and call out to him but he ignores you. He can't seem to shake the words his dad said to him about all the Maybank men hurting the women they love. That was more true the more JJ thought about it. His grandfather drove his grandmother to drink which ended up killing her. They were never perfect and constantly arguing. When JJ's parents gave him to his grandparents for the weekend so they could party, JJ thought it would be a break from all the fighting his parents did but he was wrong. And his mother... She was gone because of his father. All the women in the Maybank family had bad endings and JJ couldn't do that to Y/N. She deserved better. She was better. 

"Where are you going?" You asked as you watched slip on his sneakers. 

"Don't follow me." JJ grumbled, tears threatening to spill. Although he didn't want to leave Y/N, he knew it was for the best. He couldn't ruin her life. He never wanted his dad’s words to affect him so much but his father’s words had planted a seed in JJ’s mind and it was growing in seconds.

"Is this because of what your dad said?" You follow after JJ, watching as he clutches his stomach. Before he can walk farther away, you run in front of him and place your hand on his chest, stopping him from walking too far away. "JJ?" 

JJ can't bring himself to look at you. "You shouldn't have seen that."

You shrug. "It's okay. I did and I love you."

JJ's head snaps up, glaring at you. "Stop." He hates that you’re being so supportive right now. All he wants for you to do is to leave. 

Your face contorts in confusion. "JJ -"

JJ pushes you away and walks past you. "No, leave me alone."

You stand in awe, watching as he walks farther and farther away from you. Finally, you feel the tears bead down your face and you realize that JJ has just broken up with you. A hand goes to your temple, the confusion giving you a headache. JJ just broke up with you and you don't even know why.

~

Kie was the only person you could talk to. Sarah was with John B. and you knew the second you vented to Sarah with John B. around, it would get back to JJ. The last thing you wanted JJ to know was that you were getting advice about him to someone else. Kie was friends with him but you trusted her more with keeping secrets. You found her at the Wreck with Pope. The second they saw you enter, they knew something was wrong. You didn’t have to say much. The second you sat down beside Kie, Pope excused himself so the two of you could be alone. You had kept most of your tears from falling. Your entire walk from JJ’s house to the Wreck consisted of you trying your best not to look like a crying mess. The second Kie asked you what was wrong, however, you began to cry. You barely got two words out before you began to weep. Kie let you cry and only held you as you did so. When you calmed down, you finally spoke and told her what was going on. You told her about the fight and JJ’s reaction afterwards and she said nothing, not interrupting you once. When you finally finished, she took a few moments to think of the right response before speaking.

“I hate JJ’s dad.” Kie scoffed, making you smile.

“Yeah, he sucks.” You agreed. 

“JJ loves you,” Kie begins, holding onto your hand. “I know. He’s never been like this with any girl. If he’s got any sense, he’ll realize how stupid he’s been.”

You nod. “What about his dad?”

Kie shakes her head. “He’ll never change, but he should not be ruining his son’s life. He’s already ruined it enough.”

You place your head in your hands. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Be there for him. Even if he doesn’t think he needs you, he does. Wait it out for today. By tonight, you should talk to him.” Kie explains, patting your shoulder in an attempt to comfort you.

You stand up, looking to the kitchen where Pope is acting as if he heard nothing. You almost want to smile because of how adorable Pope is acting. You finally look back to Kie, nodding to her. “So, can I help you guys with anything before we meet with Sarh and John B. tonight?”

Kie stands up beside you, smiling. “Of course you can.”

All things considered, the tasks Kie and Pope had to do were not complicated. Kie would go to the nearest Home Reno store and buy all of the equipment she could afford, while Pipe would go to his father’s dock and get the more expensive equipment for free. You decided to tag along with Kie instead of Pope, the sole reason being that Pope would have to sweet talk his dad into giving him the equipment and you being there would raise a lot of suspicion. You and Kie drove to the Reno store in her parent’s car, listening to music and talking intermittently. After she had consoled you, things between the two of you seemed way more mellow. It seemed like you were closer and without Sarah around as often, you couldn’t be more happy you had another girl to talk to.

When you pulled into the parking lot, you and Kie were happy to see that the lot was virtually empty. It was still mid morning so you both expected it to slow, but you were still pleased it was so deserted. It would look very suspicious to see two teenage girls buying rope, pulleys, and hammers so the less people saw, the better. Too many people gossiped in Figure 8.

“Let’s get to it,” Kie smirked at you, walking into the first aisle. You followed after her, unsure of where to go since you had never stepped foot into this store before. You had been to the Home Depot only a few blocks away but that place was way smaller and the signs were easier to read. Now, you blindly followed Kie as she guided through each aisle, looking for the items you needed.

“How long do you think it needs to be?” You asked, extending your hands as Kie made you hold one side of the rope as she measured it.

Kie shrugged, grabbing a pair of pliers and cutting it abruptly. “Hopefully this is enough.”

Slowly but surely you both made your way around the store, now pushing a cart that held the long rope and hammers. It had been easy to find the large hammers; they had their own section. Unfortunately, the pulleys were not as easy. Soon, five minutes turned into ten and you realized that neither Kie or you knew where they were kept.

“Do we need them?” You asked, pushing the cart beside Kie as she glanced through the next aisle. 

She shrugged. “Last time, we pulled John B. down but our hands were burning. It would be easier if we had a pulley.”

You nodded, imagining a tired Kie pulling John B., who was definitely yelling at her to hurry up. The scene you conjured in your mind was hilarious to you and when you giggled, Kie looked at you with a puzzled look on her face. You could tell she was about to question what you were laughing at but before she could, someone spoke from behind the both of you.

“Y/N?”

Your blood turned cold, the hair on the nape of your neck standing up. With a defiant look on your face (scared to show that you were surprised), you turned around and came face to face with Topper and Rafe. Both were dressed like asshole frat boys, black helmets in their hands. You knew they both rode motorcycles, only adding to their ego. Last time you had seen Rafe, he had broken into your home and now, although you were scared, you were more angry. Although, in that moment when you were hiding with JJ, you never thought of punching him but now you did. The blood rushed to your face, thinking of grabbing the nearest hammer in your cart and using it.

“Hi.” You glumly said, watching as Kie stood beside you, defiant just like you.

“Where’s my sister?” Rafe asked, stepping closer to you and Kie.

You shrugged. “Off with her boyfriend.”

You could hear Topper scoff from beside Rafe. “That thing is still going on?”

You felt a surge of confidence, wanting to defend Sarah. “Hi Topper. Still jealous?” Topper glared at you, saying nothing. You both knew he was but he wasn’t about to admit that to you. You looked back to Rafe, your eyes narrowed. “What do you want from her?”

Rafe chuckled, glancing at Kie and rolling his eyes. “We know you idiots stole money from Barry.”

You frowned, pretending to be oblivious. You were not about to rat out JJ, even if you were on a break. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Topper scoffed again, this time speaking. “What are you guys doing with these Pogues anyways?”

You glared at Topper. “Maybe because they don’t dress as if they’re frat boys from the early 2000s.”

Kie chuckled from beside you, mumbling a thank you. Topper only rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. Topper was not quick witted enough to have a good comeback so he stayed quiet, looking to Rafe. 

“What’s this I hear about you and Maybank?” Rafe asks, stepping closer to you. Topper stayed put, knowing the both of you were about to have an uncomfortable conversation.

You shrugged, trying not to show how the mention of JJ hurt you. “Why do you care?”

Rafe scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief. “Because a few weeks ago you were my girlfriend and now you’re with some nobody.”

This time you scoffed. “For a nobody, you sure are interested.” You pause for a moment and, without allowing Raf to rebuttal, you spoke again. “I’d like my key back.”

Rafe’s brows contorted in confusion but then shot up in surprise. You could see he was trying to control how he reacted but your comment had surprised him so much that he seemed flabbergasted. “How -”

“How did I know you were sneaking into my house like a stalker?” You cut him off, watching as his face turned bright red. Topper seemed just as shocked as him, clearly not knowing that Rafe was sneaking into your house. “I just do. Leave the key on my porch.”

You heard Kie giggle from beside you. You looked at her and smiled. She was the first to turn around and you followed after her, not bothering to look back at Rafe and Topper, both of whom remained quiet since you spoke. When you both were far enough away, Kie was the first to speak.

“What the hell Y/N?” Kie chuckled, pushing the cart into the next aisle. 

You pointed forward, finally spotting the pulleys laying on the shelf in all their glory. “I didn’t know I had that in me.”

You were right; you had no idea. But you were slowly realizing, with the help of your new friends, that you were capable of more than you thought.

~

Once all of your items were paid for, you took the liberty of driving back to the Wreck. Pope had said by the time you and Kiara drove back, he would probably already be there. He didn’t think it would take long to convince his dad to use his equipment, even if it was for one night. Pope had promised the two of you that it would be, in his words, ‘easy as pie.’ All Pope had to do was tell a small lie; a seemingly easy thing for a teenager to do. Yet, as you parked beside the Wreck, Kie pointed out what you already suspected.

“He’s not here.” 

You nodded, not bothering to unbuckle your seatbelt. There was no point to exit Kie’s car if Pope wasn’t here yet. Kie followed you, not moving to unbuckle her seatbelt either. “Should we go see if he’s still with his dad?”

Kie shrugged, watching the Wreck through her window. “Probably.”

You smiled, putting her car in reverse. “So much for ‘easy as pie.’” You chided, glancing at Kie and watching her smirk.

As you drive to Mr. Heyward’s dock, a place Kie said he usually was at, Kie and you stayed silent. It wasn’t an awkward silence like the ones you shared with her before. Now that she was friends with Sarah again, you both felt at ease with each other. As you drove, your mind wandered to JJ. You really tried not to think about him but every time you tried to divert your mind somewhere else, it went straight back to him. It was almost as if your brain was trying to tell you to confront your feelings head on. That was the last thing you wanted to do.

As much as you hated it, your mind went to a certain memory. The midsummer festival where you finally got to know JJ. You remembered how you felt that night. That night, you weren’t sure what it was let alone describe it but now you knew. Enchantment. You were completely enchanted to meet him. He was never your first choice for a boyfriend but the more you got to know him, the more you realized he was the only choice that mattered. He was more than anyone gave him credit for. So many people in Figure 8 saw him as a womanizing blonde with an ego the size of Russia, but he was more than that. He was caring. He cared so deeply about his friends, taking the fall so that Pope’s future wouldn’t be threatened. He was patient. He understood my caution and didn’t rush me. He seemed to care too much about what people thought of him, even if he would never admit it. He cared if Kie or Pope were upset with him. He cared that people saw you both as a weird couple since he was a Pogue and you were a Kook. JJ Maybank had more heart than anyone on OBX and you were so glad you gave him a chance. But now, it might be all gone because of JJ’s father. He had put that doubt in JJ’s mind and you could only hope JJ would soon realize he didn’t need to protect you from himself. 

“You okay?” Kie asked, breaking you away from your thoughts.

You pulled the car over, making sure the car was properly parked before you answered. “Yeah. Just distracted.”

Kie nodded. “I know you have a lot in your mind.” She started, waiting until you were both out of the car before she continued. When you met back up in front of her car, she spoke. “We’ll see JJ in a few hours.”

You don’t say anything, only looking across the boardwalk. You knew what Mr. Heyward’s boat looked like, seeing JJ and Pope drive it on the ocean a few times. Although you had trouble spotting Pope and his dad, Kie spotted them right away. In moments, she pointed to the left side of the dock. You followed her finger, your eyes finally landing on Pope and his dad who seemed to be in an awkward conversation. 

“Should we wait?” You cautiously asked, watching as she didn’t even answer your question and instead walked past you and towards Pope and his dad. You shrugged, following Kie even though you were sure intervening in Pope’s conversation with his father would only bring agony.

The closer you got to Pope and his father, the more you were able to listen to their conversation. At first, it was all mumbles but when you were six feet away from them, you could hear the confusion in Mr. Heyward’s voice. 

“No way Pope.” He grumbled, loading bags onto his boat.

“Hi Mr. Heyward.” Kie spoke politely as she approached the two men. 

Mr. Heyward glanced towards Kie and smiled. At first, he did not see you but the second you did you wish he hadn’t. His face instantly fell and he scrambled to wipe his hands on his pants. He seemed a little flustered and you were embarrassed because you knew why. Your father regularly picked up groceries from the trips Mr. Heyward went on all over OBX. Your dad spent a lot of money on Mr. Heyward’s groceries so you knew Mr. Heyward was confused as to why you were with Kie. You were even more embarrassed when he extended his hand, a polite smile on his face. To be kind, you shook it briefly.

“Hello Mr. Heyward.” You finally said, watching as a confused look crossed over both Pope and Kie’s face.

“Hello Y/N. What can I do for you?” He smiles, looking at Pope. 

Pope shrugged, glancing at you. “She’s hanging out with us dad.”

Mr. Heyward frowned, scratching his head. “I see. I didn’t know you were friends.”

Pope frowned. “She’s dating JJ.”

Mr. Heyward looked even more confused, almost startled. You got this a lot. In the weeks since you started dating JJ, you had told a total of two people including your mom and dad. They had the exact same reaction as Mr. Heyward. Although they were confused as to why you would date a Pogue, they dare not say anything to you. As long you were happy, they didn’t dare to voice their opinion. It didn’t help that their faces scrunched up like they just bit into a lemon every time you mentioned JJ though. 

“I see.” Mr. Heyward said cautiously, trying not to show his surprise but failing. “Now, Pope has told me that you plan to help him with his project for his scholarship and you need some materials. Is that true?”

You nod sweetly, glancing at Pope who was biting his nails. You wanted to roll your eyes. If he was acting that anxious as he lied to his dad, no wonder Mr. Heyward was so suspicious. “Yes sir.”

Mr. Heyward nodded at you and then looked at Kie who had the same fake smile on her face. “That true Kiara?”

Kie nodded nonchalantly, clearly better at lying than Pope. You figured anyone else was better at lying than Pope. “Yep.”

Mr. Heyward’s eyes narrowed, not entirely believing you all but deciding to do so anyway. “Fine, get it and go.”

Pope laughed, clapping his hands together. “Ah, thanks dad.”

You bid Mr. Heyward a polite farewell; you and Kie sweetly smiled until you both turned around. Pope followed slowly behind you, dragging the harnesses and helmets in a brown sack. As you all walked, he tried to call after you and Kie but you both ignored him. When you guys finally approached Kie's car, you were the first to turn around and watch as Pope continued to drag the sack behind you. After minutes of watching him struggle, he approached the both of you, his breath heaving. 

“Thanks for the help.” He grumbled, throwing the sack onto the floor in front of Kie who was now slowly turning around. You could tell she desperately wanted to laugh at Pope and she was trying so hard to control herself. 

“If you knew how to lie, we wouldn’t be here.” You teased, a smirk adorned across your lips.

Finally, Kie let out a breathy laugh and soon you joined in. Both you and Kie could no longer control yourself and soon you were both laughing hysterically at Pope. At first, he was not smiling but the longer you both laughed, the bigger his smile became. Soon enough, all three of you began to laugh together as if you hadn’t been lying two minutes ago. 

In that moment, you never felt closer to Kie and Pope. 

~

After the eventful afternoon you, Kie and Pope had, you all decided to head back to the Wreck for some food. You had promised each other that it would only be for an hour at the most. You had wanted to go back to John B.’s house where you knew JJ would be and you wanted to try and talk to him one last time. Unfortunately, you lost track of time and before you knew it, Kie was on her fifth story and this time it was about how she was almost bitten by a shark. The sun was setting and you had been there for hours, laughing and talking as your new friends entertained you.

“I swear!” Kie yelled, placing her hand over her heart.

You shook your head, indignant. “No way.”

Pope nodded along with you. “You might think you can fool Y/N, but I know that never happened.”

Kie chuckled, taking a sip from her glass that was half full of her third glass of lemonade. “I swear to you guys. That shark almost bit me. Got away within an inch of my life.”

You and Pope looked at each other and dramatically rolled your eyes. You spoke first, teasing Kie. “Are there even sharks in Figure 8?”

Pope nodded, pointing at you. “Y/N’s right. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a shark in Figure 8.”

Kie shrugged, taking a bite out of a french fry before speaking. “Well, it might’ve not been a shark -”

“I knew it!” Pope interrupted. Kie gasped at his interruption and threw the half eaten french fry at him. 

“Well it definitely looked like a shark!” Kie defended herself, reaching for another french fry.

You shook your head, laughing under your breath. As Pope and Kie lightly argued about Kie’s fabrication, you looked over your shoulder and watched as the sun set. The sky was a huey purple tonight with a hint of orange. You loved the sunsets in Figure 8.They seemed so peaceful and serene, something the other side of OBX rarely displayed. Although technically the other side of OBX was supposed to show people the lap of luxury, the atmosphere showed a different side. Yes, everyone was rich but they were also very unhappy. You envied Kie and Pope, although you would never tell them. You knew that they would laugh and ask you what there was to be jealous of when you lived in such a beautiful house. Although that may be true, your home never felt as cozy and warm as the places here. Here, there seemed to be a true sense of family. Neighbours seemed to look out for one another while in your neighbourhood, you weren’t sure if you ever met your neighbours.

“Hey,” Kie called out to you softly, touching your shoulder. 

You shook your head slightly, trying to break away from your thoughts to listen to what she had to say. “Yeah?”

“Let’s go see JJ.” Kie gave you a polite smile, almost trying to comfort you. You knew it was because JJ was still a sensitive subject.

Surprisingly, you didn’t protest. As much as you wanted to stay here for a little longer, you knew that you would have to talk to JJ eventually. Besides, when you all met up to get the gold tomorrow, you knew you had to talk to him then. He was unavoidable so you decided might as well get it over with. Kie decided it was best for her to drive to John B.’s house. Pope was a terrible driver and she could tell you were way too nervous to stay focused right now. You wished that it wasn’t true but you knew Kie was right. Even as Kie drove, your mind was in a million different places and you realized Kie was right in not allowing you to drive. Another thing you had to thank her for.

The sun had fully set and now was dark, making the drive to John B.’s house a little more risky. Thankfully Kie had made it there in one piece. You thought your heart would beat out of your chest as Kie parked in John B.’s driveway. With a deep breath, you opened the passenger side door and climbed out. Pope, Kie and you all congregated near the trunk of Kie’s car and started to whisper to each other. You weren’t exactly sure why you all were whispering but you didn’t bother to question it.

“Where are we putting everything?” Kie asked, peering over the trunk and looking at all of the equipment they had successfully retrieved.

“Sh.” Pope shushed Kie, only upsetting her.

“Excuse me?” She whipped her head around to Pope, glaring at him.

At first, you were going to give Pope an earful but then you heard it too and you found yourself shushing Kie as well. “Shh.”

Kie looked puzzled as you shushed her but when everything went quiet, she heard it as well. It was bubbles. The noise a machine would make when it was producing bubbles. You peered over the side of John B.’s house and found a trail of lights leading to the backyard. You didn’t know who was there but whoever was there, but it sounded as if they were in a hot tub.You didn’t know if John B. had money but you were sure he couldn’t afford a hot tub.

“What’s that?” Pope whispered, looking in the direction you were looking in only moments before.

Before anyone could give him an answer, Kie ran forward and towards the sound. Apprehensive, you ran alongside her while Pope was the last one to run. As he trailed behind, both you and Kie got closer to John B.’s backyard and, soon enough, entered his backyard. What you saw stunned you.

“What did you do JJ?” Pope asked first, standing in front of his friend. 

JJ was, in all his glory, sitting inside a hot tub. With small lights dangling above his head, he relaxed in a newly bought hot tub. It was the largest hot tub you had ever seen, bigger than the ones at pools. JJ had placed floaties shaped as swans and flamingos inside the hot tub along with floating glasses filled to the brim with champagne. He had a shit eating grin on his face but hid his eyes behind glasses. When you all stood in front of him, he finally slid his glasses down the bridge of his nose and smirked as he observed each and every one of you. When his eyes gotto you, you could instantly see how drunk he was. 

He chuckled, looking at Pope. “I got a jet going straight to my butt right now.”  Pope sighed, JJ’s response not really answering his original question. Just as he was about to speak again, JJ did instead. “Y’all should get in immediately. Ya hear?” JJ slurred his words, pouring himself another glass of champagne. He thought out a pathetic ‘salut’ before gulping down the glass of champagne.

You stood there dumbfounded.You had been to parties where JJ was shit faced but he never was like this. He was aggressive all the other times you had seen him drunk but now he just seemed pitiful.

Pope looked like he was about to have an aneurysm. “How much did this cost?”

JJ grabbed the entire bottle and chugged it before responding. “Uh, well, with the generator, the petrol and, oh hey, express delivery,” he started, pretending to calculate the amount in his mind. You watched as Kie’s shoulders dropped and her head tilted back in despair. He had used so much of that money. Your hands went to your mouth, hanging off every word and hoping that he hadn’t spent all of it. “Pretty much all of it. Yeah.”

Pope’s mouth hung open as did Kie’s. You refused to react, still in total shock. “All of it?” Pope angrily said back to JJ, confirming his worst fears. 

JJ smirked, avoiding eye contact with you. “Yeah, all of it.” He almost seemed proud.

“You spent all the money in one day?” Pope said in disbelief, clasping his hands together. 

JJ nodded, his head bouncing back and forth. He was hammered and everyone knew it. “Yeah. Burned a hole right through my pocket. But I mean, like, c’mon guys, like, look at this? Finest in jet based massage therapy. That’s what they told me.”

You looked to Kie but she was staring at JJ, her mouth still hung wide open. JJ seemed to notice her facial expression the same time you did because he turned his attention to her. “Kie what? Can’t a man have a little luxury in life? C’mon,” JJ asked, his tone shifting to anger. He took off his glasses before he continued. “All this scrimping and scraping, I mean guys, you only live once. Right?”

“JJ -” You said, the emotion evident in your tone. His cheek was black and blue along with his right eye. The beating he received in the morning was now turning to nasty bruises. 

“Stop!” JJ looked at you and yelled. “You always get what you want. Am I not allowed to get the one thing I want? Enough of this emotional shit, get in the cat’s ass.”

Kie finally spoke, her voice just above a whisper. “The what?”

JJ smiled at his joke, which made no sense to any of you. “The cat’s ass. That’s what I named her.” He stopped for a minute but then his eyes lit up again and he reached over the hot tub and grabbed something. “Oh, hey yo, I almost forgot.” He pushed a button and suddenly, a disco ball that hung from a strung above him turned on and water started sputtering out from all sides of the hot tub. “Huh? Yeah, that’s right, disco mode.”

“Are you kidding me?” Pope began to lecture, the most angry you had ever seen him. “You could’ve paid for restitution.”

“Or literally given it to any charity!” Kie butted in, just as angry as Pope was.

“Or better yet, you could’ve helped us buy some of the supplies to get the rest of the gold out of the well!” Pope added, pointing to the truck that had all of your supplies.

JJ rubbed the bridge of his nose, clearly distraught over Kie and Pope’s anger. “Ok! Well you know what?” JJ yelled over the sound of the jets, finally standing up. You gasped as you saw his abdomen but he continued to speak. “I didn’t do that! I got a hot tub!”

“Oh my god, JJ.” You whimpered, stepping forward to get a better look. If you had thought his face was badly bruised, his abdomen was a thousand times worse. There were nasty black and blue splotches all of his stomach where his father had punched him. You knew his father had gotten some good punches in but you never thought they would be this bad.

“For my friends. A hot tub for my friends. You know what? Screw friends. I got it for my family.” JJ softly said the last part, almost as if he felt weak. He looked to you finally and you saw the emotion in his eyes. “I got it for my girl.”

“JJ, I -” Kie started to say, all of the anger suddenly gone from her face and was replaced with worry.

“Look what I did.” JJ said, turning around in one spot and looking at the entirety of the hot tub. “Look what I did for you. Alright? Look at this.”

You looked to Kie as JJ’s back was turned to you and you saw her eyes brim with tears. As if she could read your mind, she looked at you and you both started to cry together. As the tears rolled down your face, JJ turned back around.

“JJ…” Kie started again, a tear sliding down her face. 

“No, stop.” JJ held his hand out, pleading with her to stop crying. “Stop being emotional, it’s fine.” But it wasn’t. The second he reassured Kie it was fine, he looked down to the water and you watched as JJ himself started to cry.

You couldn’t watch this anymore. Without allowing JJ to have time to push you away, you climbed into the hot tub and lunged at him, hugging him as tightly as you could. He instantly hugged you back, forgetting about the last day and weeping into your shoulder. Kie was right behind you and hugged him on the other side. Pope was after Kie and before long, you were all hugging each other. 

“I can’t take him anymore!” JJ cried into your shoulder, leaning against you. 

You stroked his hair and tried to comfort him the best you could. Kie and Pope helped you, patting him on the back and hugging him tight. No one spoke as JJ cried, not exactly knowing what to say. You stayed there for what seemed like hours. It was enough time for the jets to turn off automatically and then the only noise was JJ’s weeping. He weeped for a long time but no one stopped hugging him. You wouldn’t let yourself let go. You couldn’t let go. He was in so much pain and he had always tried to cover it up the best he could but now all his walls are crumbling. Finally, he seemed to calm down and stop crying. When you were sure he was calm enough, you all let go of him. Pope was the first one to exit the hot tub and Kie was the second. Finally, you and JJ exited together. Kie ran to her car to grab a towel to dry JJ off as you and Pope guided him to the hammock near the water. When Kie returned with the towel, you silently thanked her and wrapped it around JJ. It seemed like ages before anyone spoke. You, along with Pope and Kie, had I idea what to say to JJ. There seemed to be nothing good enough to say so, for a very long time, you all said nothing.

Finally, JJ spoke. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.” Kie said, looking at you. 

You, Kie and Pope looked at him, almost surprised JJ was apologizing. Kie sat on the ground in front of JJ as you sat beside him and Pope stood beside Kie. 

“I do.” JJ mumbled, his voice hoarse. “I spent that money when I should’ve never stolen it in the first place.”

You rubbed JJ's arm, consoling him gently. “It’s okay. Besides, I like the hot tub better.”

Everyone seemed to smile as you joked. Even JJ gave you a small smile. As the giggled died down, it became quiet between all of you again. This type of quiet, you had never experienced. It was almost as if there was so much to discuss, everyone just decided it was better not to say anything. 

Finally, JJ spoke. “I’m kinda tired. Can we all just go to sleep and start all over again tomorrow?”

You looked to Kie and Pope who were already nodding. When you looked back to JJ, he was only looking at you. You nodded along with Kie and Pope. Although you still wanted to talk toJJ about what happened, you knew he deserved to rest.

As you all got situated for the night; Kie bringing blankets from John B.’s house to his backyard and Pope draining the hot tub, you couldn’t shake the feeling that this was not over.

~

You had not lay your head down for more than five minutes before you were woken by the sound of someone rustling around. Your eyes flew open, not at all tired. Although your day was tiring, you couldn’t sleep. There was too much on your mind. You sat up from your place laying on the blanket and looked around to see where JJ was. He was no longer beside you. Your heart dropped.Your mind instantly went to the worst case scenario as you imagined where JJ could be. 

You got up from your place on the floor and made your way inside John B.’s house, where you hoped JJ would be. The second you entered his home, you saw a light in his kitchen on and smiled. Your heart relaxed a little. You knew you couldn’t completely relax until you knew where JJ was. As you made your way down the hall, you kept your eyes out for any noise signalling where JJ could be. Finally, you heard a sigh coming from the last room on the right hand side of the hallway. Slowly, you opened the door to see a quiet JJ sitting on the edge of John B.’s bed with a book in his hands.

“JJ?” You whispered, trying not to startle him.

JJ looks to you and weakly smiles, closing the book in front of him and placing it on John B.’s nightstand. “Hey.”

You move across the room slowly and sit beside him, reaching out to hold his hand. “How are you?”

JJ shrugged. “I’m tired but I can’t seem to sleep. Does that even make sense?”

You smile, nodding at him. “Yes.” You both stay quiet for a moment but soon your curiosity has peaked and you need to know the answer to a question you have. “What’s that?” You ask, pointing to the book JJ had put on the nightstand. 

JJ smiles when he sees what you’re pointing at. It’s almost as if there is a memory tied to that book and you start to think there is. “JB’s journal.” JJ answers, watching as you smirk, surprised at the answer.

“Didn’t know John B. journaled.” You admitted, glancing at the book again before looking back at JJ.

JJ nodded, grabbing your legs and letting them drape across his. “Not anymore. Kid gave up after two weeks.There’s only a couple entries before he dad went missing and they talk about our stupid antics.”

You raise your brows, nodding happily. “I’m very familiar with those.”

JJ smirked, reaching up to cup your face. “Speaking of stupid,” he started, sighing a little before continuing. “I’m sorry for what happened this morning. I let my dad -”

“JJ,” You cut him off, not allowing him to apologize. “You don’t need to.”

“No,” JJ argued, now both of his hands cupping your face. “I do. I let my dad get into my head and ruin things for me.”

“But JJ, what you put up with is far too much.” You argue right back, making JJ smile at your stubbornness. “I want you to know you can come to me.”

JJ nodded, letting go of your face and standing up, your legs falling back beside the bed. JJ extended his hand out to help you up and you gladly reached out even though you didn’t need his help getting up. When you were standing, JJ did not let go of your hand and instead guided you out of John B.’s room and down the hall.

“JJ,” You whispered, letting him lead the way because you truly had no idea where you were going. “Where are we going?”

Suddenly JJ stopped and opened another door to another room. With only a smile on his face, he nudged you inside and followed behind you. When you realized what room you were in,you couldn’t help the smile on your face. You were in a closet. The deja vu hit you like a ton of bricks.

“Y/N…” JJ whispered, getting your attention. 

When you looked at him, he leaned forward and captured your lips in his. At first, you were taken aback and didn’t react but you quickly recovered and kissed him back. You thought back to the word you used to describe how JJ made you feel; enchanted. It was like the first time all over again. It was always like the first time with JJ. You wondered, years from now, if the kisses would feel the same. You knew they would because it was different with JJ.

Finally, when you pulled apart, JJ spoke. “I love you so much it hurts.”

You smile wide, your arms wrapping around his neck. “I can’t explain how much I love you.”

JJ smiled just as wide and you and pulled you close.He smelled wonderful. He smelled like home. “Promise me, no matter what, we’re gonna be together.”

You nodded confidently. “No matter what.”

You both were not aware of the future and what it would bring. You didn’t know of the things John B. would find out in the morning on his boat ride with Ward. You didn’t know about what you all would have to do for John B. tomorrow, including evading the police. But even if you did know, your promise would have never changed. Because in the end, it was always going to be you and JJ.

The End.

~

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