#these were pretty rushed ngl but i think they turned out decently!!

[90gemini]

Falling Up 🌇 Steve Rogers x Reader AU

Summary: A meet cute on a morning train between pediatric intern Steve and reader.

Word count: 2.9k

Warnings: big crowds, just too much fluff ngl

A/N: hope this makes you smile, i really love this AU, might be a part 1 of a whole series:)

Every single morning, as if on cue, approximately two minutes before my train leaves the station near my apartment, I come to the realization that if I do not get into full sprint mode right that second, I will miss my train and then be late to my first class and then have to walk in embarrassed while everyone is already inside and then proceed to feel embarrassed over it the entire day. So, considering the fact that I never seem to make myself leave the house just a few minutes early, for the past three years that I have been going to college, almost every morning I run into the train the last moment before the doors close completely out of breath, and have to subtly work on composing myself much longer than I am comfortable to admit.

Yet today, without even realizing, I got out of my apartment solid seven minutes earlier than usual. My roommate and I were so engaged in our conversation about the events of last nights party so we walked out together still invested in the drama which left me pleasantly surprised with the time I was left to spend before my train leaves after we went our separate ways. The extra time opened a whole lot of opportunities for me, almost made me believe I should wake up earlier every morning and not leave for class at the last possible moment. So, with the 420 extra seconds I got today, I managed to actually dig my earphones out my bag, plug them in and wait for the train with the sounds of my morning playlist filling my mind.

Inside the train, when I wasn’t preoccupied by catching my breath but also, even more importantly, focusing on not making it too obvious I was out of my breath, I became very much aware of my surroundings, noticing everything and everyone around me.

There was a girl sitting down right across from where I was standing, she looked about my age and she held a little baby in her arms, slowly rocking it and I noticed the way she was looking totally spent but the moment her baby made this cute laughing sound, a smile spread on her face completely overshadowing the exhaustion in her eyes. Next to the door was an older woman not so subtly judging everyone who was sitting down and has not offered her to sit and right next to the door was a man sitting down and sleeping like a log. I had the urge to wake him up and ask him when he has to get down or if he has already missed his stop, but in all honesty, it was too early in the morning for me to be considerate like that. While continuing to carelessly look around, my eyes landed on something that opened drawers in my memory I did not even know existed.

It was a book cover. A simple white background featuring a boy with frizzy hair who was flying over a drawn-on city with the words ‘Falling Up’ in the middle. So many moments of my dad reading poems from that book to me before bed when I was a kid came up and instantly forced a smile on my face.

In my head, I started reciting the words to my favorite poem from that book, remembering my dad teaching me how to read with those poems when my eyes fell on the arm holding the book and the man attached to it.

And God, was I thankful for the boosted-up heating in the train this morning because that made him take off his leather jacket and throw it over his arm, leaving only a thin, too tight white shirt to cover his upper body and it worked amazing for me that the shirt wasn’t doing its job well.

I heard the sound of the door opening and saw way too many people try to make their way into the train making it way more crowded which pushed the mystery man to move closer to me. Not as close as I wanted though.

My mind was focused solely on him that at one point I wasn’t even aware what station we were at and have I maybe missed mine, but I found myself not caring at all. The point my eyes landed on his face I was basically addicted. His hair was a gorgeous mess, a bit outgrown but looking so good. And, oh my God, his eyes. I was so upset I am only seeing them under the fluorescent light of the subway because I am positive that it would be an out of body experience seeing them under the sunlight.

At that moment I was sure he was the most beautiful man I have ever laid my eyes on and was already cursing myself because I knew I was too nervous to talk to him and will regret that forever.

His lips would occasionally move into a small, barely noticeable grin while he was reading and every once in a while, his tongue would go over his lips leaving them all full and glistening which led to a whole new set of unholy thoughts entering my brain. And his fingers, the way he flipped over the pages was just so-

‘’May I help you somehow?’’ I was snapped out of my trance by his voice and met his eyes that were looking into mine with the coldest, most unimpressed expression as if he was in front of the most annoying person to ever grace the Earth.

‘’Shit, sorry,’’ I apologized quietly and pulled out one earphone to hear him better because no matter how rude it looks he is going to be right now, his voice was just heavenly. ‘’I zoned out when I saw that book.’’ I pointed to the book in his hand and his eyes followed the direction my finger was showing as if he was surprised I wasn’t staring at him but at the book. I was most definitely staring at him though, but I don’t plan on revealing that. ‘’My dad used to read it to me when I was a kid so just seeing the cover brought back too many memories. Sorry.’’ I said in a soft voice and gave him a forced smile hoping he was not going to talk to me again because I really don’t want to be yelled at by the most attractive man alive at 7.23am on a Tuesday in the subway.

‘’You know this book?’’ his voice broke the short-lived silence between us, making my head snap up to look at him again and I was met with a much softer face adorning an adorable smile. ‘’You must think I’m so weird for reading poetry for children.’’ He let out a small laugh which was, without exaggeration, the greatest sound I have ever heard in my life.

‘’No, I think it’s cute.’’ A sly smirk found its way on my face as I felt my usual confidence come back now that I knew he wasn’t planning on yelling at me.

‘’So, you think I’m cute?’’ The smirk on his lips, on the other hand, was not as subtle as mine was as he turned more towards me, quickly closing the book and focusing his eyes on my face.

‘’I didn’t say one thing about you being cute, I was talking about the book.’’ I lied to keep my cool even though cute truly wasn’t the first word that came to my mind when looking at him. It would be something more in the neighborhood of I-would-drop-on-my-knees-for-you-right-this-momentor whatever.

‘’Okay, so you don’t think I am cute?’’ he leaned closer and licked his lips instantly sending shivers down my spine. This man is too much for me to handle right now.‘’Because I think you are really cute.’’ He whispered loudly enough only for me to hear and moved away a bit to fully appreciate my flustered expression because he obviously was aware of the exact effect he had on me.

‘’Well, I guess you aren’t that bad yourself.’’ The fact that I was not literally falling apart in front of this god cosplaying as a man is still not something I can understand. ‘’And thank you.’’ Saying that my voice got super quiet, and I could see him grin proudly at my reaction.

‘’You are welcome,’’ he didn’t finish that sentence and looked at me asking for my name.

‘’Y/n.’’

‘’Y/n.’’ he repeated and stepped closer to me with an excuse of letting someone else pass and giving them space. ‘’That is a real pretty name.’’ I smiled to say thank you and looked at my feet for a second to get myself together.

I didn’t even run to catch this train yet I’m still out of breath.

‘’I am Steve by the way.’’ He stretched out his free hand in my direction but not for one second broke the eye contact between us. ‘’It’s so nice to meet you, Y/n.’’ God, just to hear him say my name was killing me.

‘’Nice to meet you too, Steve.’’ I connected my hand with his much larger one and was painfully aware of the fact he must have heard the soft sound I made the second my skin first touched his.

‘’So,’’ he continued while slowly pulling his hand from mine. ‘’do you like poetry in general, ‘’he lifted the arm with the book and nodded towards it. ‘’or is it just this one book you like?’’ he asked with so much interest in his voice making me absolutely thrilled he was keeping the conversation going.

‘’I love poetry.’’ I kept my answer short because forming decent sentences was a though job while looking at this man and seeing the way he was looking at me.

‘’What kind?’’ he adjusted in his spot somehow that he was even closer to me, leaving basically no space between us, yet to everyone else it seemed normal because the morning rush in the New York City subway never was famous for the spaciousness.

‘’About love.’’ I said softly and witnessed his expression changing from the cocky, overconfident one he had on, to a completely soft one.

‘’Same here.’’ He replied and as if he can do it on cue, looked even more deeply into my eyes. ‘’I like reading about how people feel things I have never felt, it lets me to feel the emotion without risking being hurt.’’ He confessed to me and I couldn’t believe a guy that has such a hard exterior is ready to share that much emotion after talking to a stranger in a train for only a few minutes. But I was thanking all the gods he was.

‘’That’s much deeper than my reason for loving it.’’ A small smile appeared on his face as he looked at me to continue. ‘’I just like reading about love and watching movies about love and basically everything about love. Makes me feel all warm around the heart.’’ He let out a small laugh reminding me why it’s my new favorite sound. ‘’That must sound so cheesy.’’

‘’I don’t think it’s cheesy. I think like it is really nice to love love.’’ he said matter-of-factly. ‘’It’s cute.’’

‘’So you are calling me cute?’’ I looked at him with a raised eyebrow as he let out a huff once again leaning all into my personal space.

‘’I am. I have once before too.’’ He whispered near my ear and I know he knew just what he was doing to me.

‘’What poets do you like the most?’’ he moved away leaving me upset over not feeling his breath on my neck anymore.

‘’I don’t read a lot in English.’’ I fumbled with the edge of my jacket and lowered my eyes to focus on my boots because his face was way too distracting. ‘’My dad is not from here and I got the gene for loving poetry from him so most of the things I read are in his mother tongue because it’s really the only way to keep myself from forgetting it.‘’ Making a mental note to call my dad tonight because it’s been too long, I suddenly became extremely aware that I am sharing so many personal information about me with a random man I met on the subway. ‘’So yeah, most of the poets I read, never got international fame so you unfortunately didn’t have a chance to hear of them.’’ I felt a dash of electricity go through my body when he put his hand under my chin tilting it up so we can once again face each other.

‘’Don’t hide that gorgeous face doll.’’ Dear Lord, I can’t believe I might actually die on a train because of a hot, poetry reading guy. ‘’I’d love to read some of that poetry you like if it is translated.’’

‘’I don’t know if any of it is translated but you can check, I can write down some of the names for you.’’ I said quickly really happy that he wants to read something I will recommend, still recovering from that ‘gorgeous’ comment.

‘’I don’t have anything you can write it on, we can just-‘’

‘’Oh, I have a piece of paper to write it on to, it’s no problem.’’ I interrupted him while flashing him another smile and started digging through my bag for pen and a paper only to have his hand stop mine making me look at him with confusion written all over my face.

‘’I was thinking something more in the lines of you writing your number in my phone,’’ he took his phone out his pocket and directed it at me. ‘’then I can text you and we can meet up so you can tell me more about those poets and maybe translate some for me on the spot if you want to.’’ The smile was evident on his face when I took the phone out his hand and started writing my number into it.

‘’I would really like that, Steve.’’ I gave him his phone back with a smile a bit too big for the cool persona I was trying to present myself as.

‘’Well, I am really looking forward to it, Y/n.’’ he returned the big smile and focused his eyes on my face once again.

‘’Can I ask you something?’’ I looked at him curiously.

‘’Anything, doll.’’

That nickname is going to kill me.

‘’How come you are reading poetry for children?’’ he left out a chuckle and gazed over the book in his hand.

‘’There are two reasons, actually.’’ He shifted from one leg to another and started talking kind of nervously. ‘’Firstly, this book is something I always come back to for some reason. My grandma bought it for me when I was just a kid and I reread it for too many times, so I always go back to it because it’s safe. Something like playing Friends in the background because there is nothing else to watch but it always makes you feel good, you know?’’ I nodded and he continued. ‘’Second is that currently I am interning at the pediatric wing at the hospital downtown and kids love me reading these poems to them so I always find a few I think they would like the most when I am getting to work in the morning.’’

‘’That is really amazing, Steve.’’ I put my hand on his forearm and looked at him with so much affection in my eyes. ‘’Those kids must feel really special having you read to them, it’s really heartwarming you do that even though you don’t have to.’’

‘’They are going through too much shit, if I can make it any better for them, I will.’’ How pathetic is it that talking about kids with this guy I met literally minutes ago, makes me think about having his kids?

‘’That is really too sweet.’’ I had plans on saying so much more to him, but I heard the automatic voice announce how my station is next. ‘’Shit I have to go; this is my stop.’’

‘’Oh.’’ He said and I swear I could hear some disappointment in his voice. ‘’I guess I will see you again?’’ he asked as if he is not sure if that is going to happen.

‘’You most definitely will see me again.’’ I looked at him fondly again and I don’t even know what force gave me the confidence to do so, but before making my way to the door I got on my tip toes and kissed his cheek.

‘’Bye, Steve. See you soon.’’ I said while walking away from him but still keeping my eyes on his as I saw him put his hand on the place I kissed him with a small smile on his face.

‘’See you soon, Y/n.’’ Was the last thing I heard before exiting the train, completely sure that I won’t be able to focus today in class.

But I don’t mind.

really hope you enjoyed this, any comment on it would truly mean a lot!<3

#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers fluff #doctor!steve #chris evans x reader #steve rogers imagine #chris evans imagine #steve rogers x you #chris evans fluff

[idontblushsrry]

Inuyasha Characters As Roomates

In honor of yashahime’s release i’ve decided to post this for no real reason.Can you tell who my bias is lmao. Lmk if I should do a Part 2 with the people I missed. Also I apologize I haven’t updated in like a year I have a post addressing this coming up soon. Thank you for your continued support despite the fact that I’ve been updating infrequently, I really appreciate it. Without further ado:

Warnings: Some swear words oop

Word Count: 1632

Inuyasha

You want Inuyasha as your roommate???Chile anyways...

No but fr tho in general Inuyasha isn’t an awful roommate, he pays his bills on time(ususally), doesn’t make too big of a mess but that’s just because he owns like 3 things and 2 outfits.

No, the real problem with Inuyasha is that he is LOUD

You walk outside to throw the trash away and he’s in his room screaming about a video game or something and the WHOLE neighborhood can hear him. 

People pokin they head out in concern and everything

Another time he was watching a horror movie and you guess the characters did something stupid because you hear a scream from the character and then Inuyasha screaming “WHAT THE FUCK, WHY WOULD YOU GO THAT WAY DUMBASS! THAT’S WHY YOU’RE DEAD NOW!”

Shit woke you up out of your sleep

After that incident you knew you’d have to ask him to be a bit more considerate of your eardrums.

So, you ask him to quiet down and he pouts like a child and huffs and puffs.

He does quiet down tho...for about 2 minutes until he stubs his toe on the end of the couch

God bless you and your patience but god bless his girlfriend Kagome

She’s a saint

If it were up to Inuyasha your groceries would consist of a cabinet of ramen like the man has the budget for ramen and paying his share of he bills why would he spend money on things like fruit???

This is where Kagome comes in, she comes by pretty regularly and she brings food or groceries because she of all people knows how terrible Inuyasha’s shopping habits are.

Bless her soul truly and every time she does this you thank her lmaoo

Inuyasha eventually does move out with Kagome but he does apologize for being loud before he leaves, you aren’t sure if he did that on his own or if Kagome made him do that

Kagome

She’s so sweet

Fair share of chores, groceries, she cooks for yall sometimes, truly a saint

Only 2 problems:

Ms. Girl has no moneyyy

Poor Kagome, she always tries to pay her bills on time but between trying to feed Inuyasha, helping out her family, and school the paycheck only spreads so thin(She does eventually quit school to start working more but)

Nothing wrong with this but you do end up having to cover for her sometimes.

She of course thank you and you don’t usually mind and your routine was functional for you two, until you meet problem number 2 

The loudest mf on the planet Earth, her boyfriend, Inuyasha

One day you’re in he kitchen grabbing something to eat and you hear pounding on the door like the police showed up.

You proceed cautiously because...what the fuck and you almost reach the door before you hear 

“I’ll get it!”

You’ve never seen Kagome run faster

She opens the door and you see this 5′5 mf who was banging on the door like he paid the bills

Inuyasha just has rbf but you don't know that so you think he’s making faces at you

Immediately you have a problem with him

“Hey Kagome, who’s this?”

She looks between you two before immediately rushing to introduce you to each other

“Oh, I forgot my purse be right back guys.”, Kagome left not knowing that yall were about 2 seconds from fighting

You didn’t like Inuyasha for banging on the door and glaring and he didn’t like you for glaring at him

After that you just avoided talking to inuyasha for the sake of keeping the peace

When he came over you exited stage left 

Eventually Kagome does move out with Inuyasha and she asks why you and Iuyasha had never spoken to each other

“Are you kidding me the first day we met he was already glaring at me?!”

“Ohhh, that’s just his face, he’s really sweet promise :D”

You doubted that

You liked Kagome as a roommate but you were glad she was moving out so you could find someone who could pay the bills on time.

Sango

She a baddie ngl

Aside from that, Sango is the perfect roommate

However, I hope you aren’t allergic to cats or Miroku because they’re pretty much a package deal

Also hopefully you don’t hate children because she does have Kohaku to worry about

But she makes pretty good money at her job so expenses aren’t a issue

She also isn’t home too often between her job, taking care of Kohaku and Kirara, and her relationship

She ends up spending more and more time at Miroku’s place anyways

Sango finally moves in with Miroku when she gets pregnant, yall still keep in touch tho because you’ve become good friends

And thus you say goodbye to the best roommate to ever grace this Earth lmao

Miroku

Miroku is the shortest lasting roommate on this list

Mans is a little creeper pervert and that shit gets annoying after a while

You’ll be walking out the shower and Miroku’s standing there like “hey lil mama lemme whisper in ya ear”

Needless to say you smacked the taste outta his mouth and he stopped with that real quick

He stops but you’re surprised when you see Sango come over 

Your hand starts itching with the urge to slap him again...

You meet Sango and what she sees in him is... baffling, scientists to this day still don’t understand 

Baby girl, you’re Sango do better, self love

Anyways, Miroku moves out eventually and he takes his nasty ass ways with him

Later you find out that Sango moved in with him and sje’s gon have a baby by him

But you know that’s none of your business 

Koga

If you thought Inuyasha was loud...

Inuyasha doesn’t have any friends, Koga has a wolf pack...

Parties all the time good luck homie

If you were tryna study, sleep, do work, etc. best wishes lmao

You come home and mans got 2 random people over like how ya doin   O-O

“Hello”

“Where’s Koga?”

They point to the kitchen and you head here ready to just “talk” with Koga

He turns around and gives you the cutest smile known to man and you immediately lose your will to argue

Can’t argue with a man that beautiful sorry...

Anyways besides being loud af, Koga is HYPER

Mans is up at 5 am knocking on your door like “hey you wanna jog to the gym”

“No Koga, goodnight”

‘No problem, it’s the morning btw!”

He’s actually a decent roommate and he moves into a bigger house with his friends and calls it the ‘pack house’

He actually invites you to come move in w him and his buddies 

You tell him you’ll think about it

Sesshomaru

The king of “I’m better than you”

He has his life so well together and you’ve gotta give him props

Mans is basically Caspar the Friendly Ghost of roommates 

Does he actually live here? the lights stay on and his name is on the deed so... I guess

Seriously tho, Sesshomaru doesn’t need a roommate but he does need someone to mind Rin

You might ask, what about Jaken, Jaken is busy (following Sesshomaru) or so he claims

Sesshomaru isn’t too bad honestly he covers the majority of the expenses in exchange for you watching Rin and feeding Ah-Un

So you’re basically Rin’s stay at home nanny

But you don’t mind because she is a SWEETHEART

Ah-Un isn’t too bad, just feed 2 lizards

(Although depending on who you are feeding them bugs might be your worst nightmare)

Jaken and you buttheads all the time, it’s almost comical

The times you interact with him mainly consist of you telling him to leave Rin alone or him telling you something Sesshomaru said

Speaking of Sesshomaru you don’t see him often and the only times you hear from him are in the form of notes he leaves around the house to the degree of ‘I fed Ah-Un this morning’ or ‘Make sure Rin takes her vitamins’ 

The other times you “hear” from him are when Jaken comes by saying things like ‘Lord Sesshomaru has requested that you prepare Rin to go out’

And for a while you were like who tf does he think he is because like yea he pays most of the rent but like he isn’t paying you for this so why does he think he can order you around indirectly

The first time you see Sesshomaru, it’s late and Rin’s been asleep for hours.

You walked into the kitchen and didn’t bother with turning the lights on but then you heard the smallest shuffle and a groan

And the moonlight comes through the window at the perfect angle and it reflects so beautifully off his silver hair

He turs some and you see his face and immediately take back all the times you’ve cussed him out mentally

And the you realize you’re in your pajamas staring at this man you’ve never met before that’s sleeping on the couch. For all you know he could be some random guy who broke in

He looks so peaceful that you loathe to disturb it but you poke at him w a stick and he groans out something to the tune of “Go away Jaken”

“I’m not Jaken”

He immediately sat up and stared at you like he was trying to figure out who you were in his head for a moment 

“Don’t you want to sleep in your room?” you asked him. He stood up and begun to walk towards his room in response 

You just watched him walk away but before he turned the corner into the hallway you swear you heard him say “You should get some sleep too.”

#inuyasha imagines #inuyasha imagine #and they were roommates #sango #miroku #sesshomaru #koga #koga inuyasha #kagome #inuyasha

[orphic-osamu]

Hello can I request “You bake when you're stressed and sometimes you give me cookies, but recently you're giving me whole baskets each day, now I'm not complaining but are you okay?" au w/Akutagawa? Congrats on 800 🎉🎉😊!

title > fresh cookies

genre > fluff

wc > 1.3k

song > out like a light ii

a/n > hello i’m so sorry i took so long. few things about this: imo it’s vv sloppy n frankly i think i shouldn’t have posted this but i didn’t wanna keep this sitting in my inbox for longer. akutagawa is ooc here? bc ngl don’t feel like doing a whole mafioso vibe for him rn, so he’s a soft boy here. i will fix the template of this post tomorrow

— AKUTAGAWA RYUUNOSUKE —

when akutagawa first made cookies, they were quite horrible. some pieces were burnt, some tasted like rocks, and some had hardened into a weird, melted shape. he’s never cooked or baked, let alone make a full batch of cookies. however after meeting you, the cute baker across the street, he figured he’d try it out to impress you. the first try made him scowl for days after gin giggled and told him that they were barely edible.

the second time akutagawa made cookies, gin had invited you over without him knowing. you caught him in the midst of trying the treat fresh from the oven. his face twisted in disgust and he rushed to spit out the remnants of the cookie. he didn’t even see you reaching to grab one off the tray. when he realized, it was too late. grimace was written all over your face as an awkward hello slipped out of your mouth. akutagawa flushed red. how was he supposed to impress you now?

“i don’t think you put sugar, akutagawa-san.”

from across the room, gin laughed at your comment. “he’s been trying to bake cookies over and over again, he just can’t get it right.”

akutagawa wished that the ground would open up and swallow him whole right then and there. he was already so embarrassed and gin just loved to make it worse. he expected you to laugh at him, call him stupid for not being able to make such a simple delicacy.

“would you like me to teach you?”

there was visible surprise struck across his face at your suggestion. his fingers pulled on the edge of his sleeve as he fiddled with it back and forth.

“o-okay,” he stammered.

the third time akutagawa tried to bake cookies was the morning after his embarrassing encounter with you. he stood anxiously by the kitchen counter, his fingers dancing around to ease his distress.

“where’s your apron?” you asked, reaching into your bag to wear your own.

“apron..?”

akutagawa couldn’t bring himself to say he didn’t have one. you smiled knowingly at him, pulling out an extra you had. “it’s not like you have to wear one, but it puts you in the spirit, y’know?”

he wasn’t sure if he agreed. especially when the one you gave him was frilly, streaked with red and white flowers. nonetheless, he wore it. perhaps the apron was the secret to making a successful batch of cookies.

“do i look silly?” he asked, seeing your grin turn teasing more than assuring.

“mm, a little, but you still look good.”

his body flared red. admittedly, it was flustering, but if it meant seeing you smile, he supposed it was worth the trouble.

you hovered over his shoulder throughout the entire baking process, helping out here and there (like saving him from switching up the salt and sugar). until finally, all that was left was to leave them in the oven to bake.

“so, why’d you suddenly go on a cookie craze?” you leaned against the counter, trying to rest your body whilst waiting for the timer to go off. the boy fussed around with the straps of the apron, itching to take it off.

“uh, it just seems like a fun thing to do.” it wasn’t entirely true, but it’s not like he could openly say he wanted to make you a batch and pose as an expert baker to possibly strike up a conversation with you. though after you taught him, he decided that baking was enjoyable, and was definitely something he’d do again.

after that, you two settled into comfortable conversation. drowning in laughter and stories to the point where you hardly heard the timer going off. the cookies looked decent and akutagawa could only hope they tasted decent as he watched you take a bite. your eyes lit up in excitement, taking more and more bites off the cookie.

“is it good?”

you nodded, pushing him to try it too.

the next time akutagawa baked, he did it to take his mind off work. his blood was boiling and taking it out with the use of violence didn’t seem to help. his movements were harsh and rushed as he mixed the ingredients. his mind was clouded with red and he barely stopped himself from pouring an entire bowl of salt into the mix. once he caught himself, he sighed and pushed everything aside.

his eyes shut as he took deep breaths to calm himself. he already learned how to make this exact same recipe from you, he didn’t want to mess up again. his mind drifted of into thoughts of you. the way you teased him by making him wear such a girly apron, to the soft tone in your voice as you reminded him to put sugar instead of salt.

feeling the haze clear up, he picked up the spatula and resumed, movements more relaxed and calm.

the fourth, fifth, sixth time akutagawa baked, was for the same reason as the last. with every time going almost exactly the same. rage making his hands tremble until he thinks about the sweetness in your aura when you helped him. and for every time, you and gin were the only people he gave the cookies too. with every batch came a conversation with you. and soon you learned the pattern.

whenever he’d have a rough day, he’d come and give you a freshly baked batch of cookies. pretty soon he begun baking other sweets. cakes, donuts and the list goes on. and you were there to try everything, to provide him with constructive criticism.

you didn’t mind at all. if this was his way of relieving stress, then so be it. not only did you get treats from it, but you also got the baker behind them to come and talk to you. it’d happen at least once a week, usually on a sunday when he’s finished for the week. thus, you’ve learned to keep your sundays free just for when he comes by.

however one day, he baked a cake for you. and it wouldn’t be a problem if the following six days he didn’t come to give all sorts of things. he hardly noticed how drained he looked, and he would’ve gone baking for weeks straight if you didn’t ask him about it.

“are you alright? i know you use baking to cope, but you’ve been giving me so much every single day.”

“i am?”

the frown on your face tugged on his heart. you invited him in to sit down and relax for a bit, to talk about anything that was bothering him. but when he sat down, he couldn’t find the words. having you near him made everything dissipate into thin air, and suddenly nothing was wrong in the world.

“so? what’s wrong?”

he shrugged with a sheepish smile, “don’t quite remember.”

you sighed and shook your head. “but it helps when you bake, right?”

he nodded before averting his gaze from yours. all it once it hit him how close you were, and how he was sitting on your couch, in your cozy little place. his cheeks were painted red in embarrassment, causing him to shuffle away from you.

“and you don’t wanna talk about anything? you just wanna bake?”

he nodded again. another sigh left your lips. you tugged him off the couch and into the kitchen.

“well then, what are you waiting for? let’s bake. hmm, i saw this recipe and i wanted to try it out...” your words trailed off as he looked at you admiringly.

god forbid he say anything now. but maybe one day he’ll tell you. he’ll tell you about how baking isn’t so much of a reliever, and instead it’s the memory of you baking with him that came with it. maybe one day he’ll tell you that it wasn’t about making cookies, but rather seeing you get excited after he gives you a batch. that it wasn’t about learning new things, and more about the time he got to spend with you.

#bsd #bsd x reader #bsd x y/n #bsd x you #bsd akutagawa #bsd ryuunosuke #bsd ryunosuke #bungou stray dogs x reader #bungosd #bungou stray dogs akutagawa #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs scenarios #bungou stray dogs #akutagawa x you #bungo stray dogs akutagawa #akutagawa x reader #bungo stray dogs x reader #akutagawa ryunosuke

[danifics18]

↪  Tutor Sessions  (M)  ↩

Tags : Mature//Dirty Talk//switch! Reader//switch! Hongjoong//Slight throat grabbing//Slight Hair Pulling//Dorm Fucking//PWP//

Word Count : 3042

    General Masterlist    Ateez Masterlist

 A/N : This is my first requested, so I do hope it’s meeting expectations. I only speak one language, so I hope i’m not playing too much into bi-lingual stereotypes. Things said in English will only be bold, and things in Korean will be bold and in italics. Ngl this has a bit of a porn type of cheesiness to it. I don’t know why, but I got major switch! vibes when I was planning this out, so if anything seems a bit odd, please keep in mind that I am a bratty sub trying to write something that is way out of my league 💕

  “Mom, I know, I know. I’m really having a nice time here, and I feel like I enjoy it a lot more than I would’ve if I’d stayed back closer to home,” You say into your phone before briefly pausing to take a sip of your quickly cooling coffee “Mom, I’d really like to keep talking, but I do need to make it to my class. I’ll call you before I eat dinner, yeah?”. After a few more I love you’s, and a promise to go home for Christmas, you finally say your final good-byes before hanging up the phone.

   Your family never quite understood your need to move away for college, them preferring if you stayed closer to your small hometown. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to be around your family, you just took the first chance you could, to explore the world a bit before you felt like you really had to settle down. And while that was easier said than done, you had made the plan to move away for college since your first teenage job at a Korean Market, in the town next to yours. You’d been quite close with the owners, since you and their daughter had grown up together as best friends- you would be staying at each other’s houses multiple times a month since you guys were eight years old. As you’d gotten older, and had stayed around your best friend’s family, you ended up learning quite a bit of the Korean language yourself. It wasn’t until you got into high school that your friend’s grandma moved in from South Korea, and had decided that she would help out at the store by counting inventory in the back ( although that really meant getting invested in a Korean show, until someone walked back to check on her ). She didn’t know any English, and you only knew basic Korean, and feeling rude for not being able to effectively communicate with her, you enlisted the help of your best friend to help you learn. It took a lot of work, but you got a hold of the language eventually. And from that point on you were able to really connect with your best friend’s grandmother ( not to say you didn’t have a few language slip ups, because you definitely did ), but soon enough, one of your favorite past times became watching Korean daytime shows, and listening to your friend’s grandmother talk about her past time in her native country and all the places you should visit if you go. In your third year of high school, she unfortunately past on, but your past conversations sparked a need to travel in you, although you didn’t know how to make it happen. It wasn’t until your best friend brought up that she felt the same way, that you two made final plans to attend college in Seoul.

   Years later, and you two were in your second years of college, living in a dorm together ( even though you guys were excited to have a roommate, you were even more glad that you didn’t have to share any space with another person ). It was difficult learning how to live in a new country, but it kept you on your toes in a way that you learned to enjoy.

   Tossing your head back to down the rest of your now cold coffee, you walk to your last class of the day. Your counselor had convinced you that even though you were a foreigner who knew English, you should still take the English Language class for some easy credits- and it really wasn’t a hard class. You obviously knew everything, although, you did forget some words occasionally, due to speaking only Korean most of the time.

   Sitting down at your seat and pulling out your laptop for notes, you look to the side as your seat neighbor sits down, pulling his earbuds out from his ears. As he glances over at you, you smile and give him a small

‘Hello’

, smiling even wider when he does the same. Kim Hongjoong was a boy you didn’t really know personally, mainly because of how quiet he was, but you heard about him from the way people usually talk about him. At any of the good parties, you would hear both the cheers and complains if he would show up. The cheers due to the fact that people felt like they had a chance to get with the handsome and charming Kim Hongjoong, and the complains due to how he and his friends would be the only ones getting most of the female ( and some male ) attention- supposedly taking it away from any other men at the party. You didn’t really understand it, yes, he’s handsome, and you have no doubt in your mind that he could probably be charming, but he never asked for attention at parties. Most of his time would be spent helping his drunk friends not cause too much chaos, or just generally looking like he’s having a good time with his friends- you’ve never seen him talk to anyone else, unless it was to help a random drunk person from stumbling over as they walk by him.

  Shaking out of your thoughts, you focused on your professor and the topic of this week- human anatomy. You knew you really didn’t need to take notes, but you decided to anyway when the professor started showing slides that were titled with the scientific words of body parts- although they mentioned that you wouldn’t lose points on the test if you couldn’t remember the scientific words rather than the non-scientific.

  As class ended and you were packing up your bag you heard a soft “Excuse me,” from the seat next to yours. Turning your head to look at the blue haired boy, you raise your eyebrows with a small “Yes?” “I don’t mean to bother you, but you’re the only person in this class that already knows English, and I really didn’t understand these notes at all. If you have the time, do you think you could help me review?” he asks with a small hesitation before continuing his ramble “If you don’t have the time that’s fine too, I could probably find someone who could help, I thought it would just be easier since we sit next to each other,” He finishes with a slight hue of pink on the tips of his ears.

  Giving a small smile at his shy state, you tell him of course you’d have time to help him. Other classmates have asked you for help before as well, so it really wasn’t anything new to you. After exchanging numbers, you both decided to meet up the next day at your dorm, since your friend had work and school until later on that night- and his apartment would be way too noisy since he shares it with three other boys.

  The next day, you’d woken up at a decent time, and immediately cleaned around the house and got ready for your guest to come over for the day. By noon, you had a knock on your door, and you walked over to let in Hongjoong with his laptop, bag and two cups.

  “I hope you like fruit smoothies, because I feel bad that you’re helping me without any payment I would've got you a coffee, but I didn’t know what you liked, and I figured that most people like fruit,” he said while handing you the smoothie and kicking off his shoes. “Thank you! I really like fruit smoothies, I haven’t had one in a while, especially since I usually drink coffee to keep me up,” you retort,” Here, we could study in the living room if you want, but since we don’t have any extra plugs here, we’ll have to move to my room if we need to charge anything.”

  The first hour of studying went well, you both had taken pretty good notes, and your previous knowledge helped out quite a bit as well- so you two decided to order some food, and by the time it would make it to your apartment, you’d both be ready for a break from studying. The extra thirty minutes of the food arriving made you both restless, both shuffling and readjusting yourselves on the couch- occasionally brushing arms and thighs together- both getting up to get the food at the door. Chuckling at how eager you both were for not only the food, but for a break as well, you told him to wait at the table while you got the food.

  Settling everything out, you guys began eating and talking. You learned that Hongjoong is a music major, and he works at a local radio station, which explains why he comes into class with dark circles under his eyes at times.

  “You know, I’m actually really glad that you asked me for help. I haven’t had the chance to talk to you yet, and you always seem really friendly,” You tell him while taking a bite of your food. He looks up from his plate, with evident surprise in his eyes “Really? Well I’m really glad I talked to you then. You’ve always seemed a little bit intimidating because of how unbothered you act, but I like that...,” He trails off, eyes following the your fork leaving your lips, a stain of red sauce next to your lip,” Oh, you have a bit of..,” He gestures to the side of your lip, eventually just licking his thumb and gently wiping the sauce off your face and resting it on your bottom lip for you to lick off.

  With wide eyes, you wrap your lips around his thumb, licking it clean, with a heat rushing through your cheeks and core. Hongjoong cuts the groan erupting from his throat off with a cough and pulls his thumb out- letting the groan out when he sees the string of saliva from his digit to your mouth. As you both gravitate towards each other slightly, you rest your hand on his upper thigh and ask “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”, “I mean we do need to study, but I think I figured out a way we can study, and I can repay you for your kindness,” he replies with a devious glint in his eye.

  And with that, you put your hand on his jaw and guide him to your face to meet in a searing kiss that leaves your head reeling. Pulling back to leave a few pecks on his bottom lip, you catch his lips into a proper kiss, catching his lip with your teeth. The whine he lets out goes straight down, causing you to clench on air.

  After a few moments, he finally pulls back from you, chest heaving, and strokes your head. Humming in thought, you get up and pull his hand to follow after you to your room. You lead him to sit on your bed, while you stand in the middle of your room, with a hip cocked out to the side, as you eye each other with a hunger in your eyes. Running his tongue over his lips, he decides to speak, “Are you going to do something, or are we just going to stare at each other all day?”, “Depends. Are you going to be good for me?”, Seeing him vigorously nod his head, you continue “Good. This is how it’s going to work. I’ll ask you questions about the names of body parts, if you get them right, I’ll undress. Get them wrong, and I stay dressed. If you’re really good, I might even let you touch. Got it?” , “Yes ma’am,” He replies, now sitting forward on the edge of the bed, leaning his hands on his knees.

  Moments and a few items of clothing later, you were down to your lacy bralette and underwear, nipple piercings glinting through the see-through fabric, in the dim lighting of your room. Hongjoong was leaning back against the head board of the bed- clad in boxers only, after him whining about it being unfair that you were undressed but not him- with a hand poorly covering his covered hard on; while you sat on the foot of your bed, resting on your knees, legs spread enough that your arousal could be seen starting to run down your thighs.

  “Okay baby, here’s the last pieces. Since you’ve been so good for me, I’ll let you touch me once they’re off,” Once the words come out your mouth, Hongjoong jumps up, resting in front of you on his knees as well. Reaching your hands down, you cup your breasts, slightly teasing your nipples through the fabric. “M-mammary glands?” He hesitantly questions, before speaking with more confidence, “Most people call them breasts, or tits,” he finishes, face lighting up at you slowly taking the bralette off.

  Quickly pushing your hands away, he reaches around your back to pull your chest closer to his. Thumbing your nipples, he gently pulls on the metal barbell, relishing in the moan that leaves your lips. Clearing his throat, he begins “These are nipples. Fuck, I didn’t expect you to have piercings, you’re so fucking hot,” he finishes before leaning down to wrap his lips around your nipple, other hand gently pulling on the other. Letting out a whine as his teeth graze your nipple, you run your hand through his hair, feeling your resolve slip the more attention he gives you.

  Opening his eyes to peer up at you, he detaches from you before pushing you onto your back, and straddles your thigh, his leg against your hot core. Grabbing his face, you bring him into a kiss, sucking on his tongue while your hips move to grind on his leg. Swallowing your moans, he pulls back, hand resting on your neck to keep you from following him, “Sweet girl, you aren’t done helping me, are you?,” Watching as you dumbly shake your head with blown out eyes, he chuckles “I’ve barely touched you and your this fucked out? Poor thing. Maybe if you’re good I’ll let you come on my cock,” You let out a groan, not expecting him to sound this good while saying dirty things to you.

  Rutting against his legs, you beg for him to touch you, and you quiet down once he places his hand over your core. “Right here? You want me to touch your little pussy?” He mockingly asks, smiling at the gasp that leaves your lips. He tears the flimsy material off your body, and spreads your thighs, sitting back to get a better view of you. “What do you want me to do, little one?”, “Please just fuck me, I need your cock,” You plead, hips raising up to search for friction.

  He looks at you for a brief second, as if he were debating saying something, but chooses not to as he takes his remaining clothing off, his member slapping up against his lower stomach. Saliva fills your mouth as you realize how much you want to taste his leaking shaft, but you push that thought to the side as you whine for him to hurry.

  “You don’t want me to prep you baby? You seem so small, and I don’t want to hurt you,” He starts before you cut him off “Please just fuck me, I know I’m wet enough for you. Just really need your cock to split me open,”. With your final plead, he grabs his length, pushing into you with a groan. You moan out from feeling the delicious burn of his cock stretching you open. As he bottoms out, you feel his cock twitch in you, clenching around him, and you reach forward to pull him down to kiss you.

  Feeling you relax, he starts to pull out slowly, just to thrust back in with enough power to make you breathless. Leaning back up onto his heels, he increases his pace, one hand snaking down to rub your clit, the other being pulled by you to wrap around your throat. With the change of his angle, his cock hitting your sweet spot, you let out a loud whine, which makes him in turn thrusts faster into you while grasping the sides of your neck enough for you to see stars.

  “Fuck baby I’m so close, be a good girl and come for me. Let go for me,” He huffs out, sweat on his brow, somehow making him look even hotter than what he already was. The knot in your stomach felt different that it had any other time you’ve came, and although you were sensitive, you were curious to see how this would make you feel. Grinding your hips up, you didn’t know if you were trying to chase this high or get away from Hongjoong’s stimulation.

  “Stop running from me baby, c’mon, take what I have to give you,” the blue haired man says, his hips going at an even faster pace, his thumb following suit. Just as you feel him twitch inside of you before releasing, he slaps your clit- you cry out at the feeling, the knot in your stomach erupting, and your vision going white. Breathing unevenly, you come back to, seeing Hongjoong’s form looking down at your shaking body, giving you a tired, blinding smile. “You with me sweetheart? You did so well,” He says as he helps you sit up to sip the water bottle that was on your nightstand.

  After calming down, you finally look down, noticing that not only was Hongjoong’s lower half soaked, but so was your bed sheets. “Holy shit Hongjoong, you made me squirt,” you exclaim out in shock, “It was really hot, you’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” He retorts before laying down next to you, wrapping his arm around you. “Like I’m the only one?” You huff out a laugh, “What happened to you needing help with English? You’re definitely a lot better than what you claimed you were,”, “Hey I needed some type of excuse to get to talk to you, alright?”, he explains as he presses a kiss to your forehead. 

#hongjoong #hongjoong smut #ateez #ateez smut #requested smut #kpop smut #switch hongjoong

[mischiefandi]

Prom? - Peter Parker

A/N: sooo, it’s been a hot minute since my last fic on this blog haha, and by hot minute, I mean over a year and a half hahaha (not counting my drake fic). This also happens to be my very first Peter Parker one-shot, so I really hope you guys enjoy it!

Summary: Peter wants to ask Y/N to go to prom with him, but will it go as planned? 

Warnings: it’s pretty fluffy ngl

Word Count: 4,3k

“Y/N, wait up!” Y/N whirled around instantly at the sound of the familiar voice calling out her name.  

The corners of her lips quickly quirked up when her eyes rested on her best friend, Peter. He was running towards her, his backpack jumping up and down against his back as he leapt across the hall and past the lockers to catch up with her. His eyes met hers, a bright smile on his face.

“Didn’t get much sleep last night?” she asked him, glancing at his obviously mismatched socks peeking out from under his pants and disheveled hair.

“Uh, yeah, not really. Ned and I stayed up really late to finish building the Lego Death Star.”  

“How’s it looking?”

“She is officially up and running- I mean obviously not- up and running, I mean, it’s just a bunch of Legos- what I’m trying to say is-,”

“-Peter?”

“Yeah?” he asked, lips slightly parted, eyes wide with anticipation.

“Why are you rambling? You only ramble when you’re really nervous about something,” said Y/N, smiling tentatively at her friend.

“I’m not rambling? Why would you say I’m rambling?”

Walking alongside Y/N and passing by the brightly-colored prom posters plastered on the walls, Peter looked down at the floor and she laughed, the angelic sound turning the color of his cheeks to a deep shade of red. He was nervous. Truth be told, she had always had that effect on him. Making him blush and stutter was something she did a lot more than she noticed. But he was more nervous than usual that day. Prom was right around the corner, and the students of Midtown High had been asking their significant others to the dance. Almost everyone had a date at this point. Except for Peter, and hopefully, Y/N.

Y/N chose to ignore her friend’s anxious antics and spoke again, her skirt twirling a bit as she danced ahead of Peter, still facing him. His pulse quickened at the sight of her. She truly was the most gorgeous girl in the world, at least in his eyes. She always wore sweet dresses and skirts, and she was never seen without two little hair clips in her gorgeous hair. She didn’t wear makeup aside from a light shade of pink lightly applied to her soft lips by her delicate fingertips. Her eyes sparkled with joy everywhere she went. She was sunshine. She was his sunshine. Or at least, he wholeheartedly wished she was.

“I had lunch with Tobias and Jessie. It wasn’t half as fun as building a toy spaceship would have been but-”

“-it’s not a spaceship Y/N! We’ve talked about this,” he whined with a smile tugging at his lips and she burst out laughing before hooking her arm around his own and kept walking, dropping her voice to a lower tone.

“I’m just messing with you, Parker.”

Her breath hit his neck and every single hair on his body raised at the warm feeling, his muscles tensing as she held onto his arm and swung it a little on their way to History.

It was moments like these, harmless to her but so utterly overwhelming to him, where he wished the simple action meant the same thing to the both of them. Where he wished her heart fluttered when she saw him run towards her, where he wished she was holding onto him because the idea of not feeling his touch was simply unthinkable.

Moments like these, he wanted nothing more than to lower his lips to hers and kiss her in front of everyone. They didn’t matter. Only she did.

“When do you go home? I always confuse Ned’s timetable with yours,” said Y/N, furrowing her brow.

“I-uh- have History with you and then Calculus right after.”

“Ha! Sucks to be you! After this, I am done for the day, and thank God too ‘cause I’m exhausted!” she added with a sing-songy voice.

Peter rolled his eyes at her but grinned from ear to ear as she rushed into the classroom, his body feeling light as air. A feeling that was about to disappear in just a matter of seconds.

“Oh my god Toby-…”

Inside the classroom, a dozen students stood next to Tobias who was holding a bouquet of pink roses in his hands, a dorky smile splashed across his face. Peter’s heart sank as he glanced at Y/N. She looked completely dumbstruck as the crowd held up a large poster with the words : “WiLL YoU Be mY DaTe To PrOm?” written in bright purple glitter letters.

Peter suddenly felt like melting into the ground and disappearing, the harrowing reality striking him. She was going to prom with Tobias and he was a fool. Squeezing past the students who had gathered around to watch the promposal unravel, the distraught boy slid out of the classroom and walked past the lockers.

An eruption of cheers coming from inside the class made his heart throb and he shut his eyes, accelerating his pace, knowing full well that what he had prayed wouldn’t happen, had.

Peter burst through the main doors of the school and stumbled down the stairs as he chewed on his lower lip, trying to inhale and exhale through his nose with serenity but failing miserably. He wasn’t going to admit it, not even to himself, but he was fighting tears right then and there. Ignoring the confused looks students were throwing him, he dashed down onto the sidewalk and turned a sharp left. Crossing the street, Peter ran towards the small alley by the dry cleaners and he stopped to catch his breath. He was probably going to get in trouble for skipping class, but he didn’t care. He needed to get away.

His eyes stung with emotion and he groaned out loud, weakly huffing before resuming his journey. After running past the dodgy trash cans and garbage, desperately trying not to inhale the unpleasant air engulfing him, he finally came to a halt and placed his backpack on the concrete ground. The strong smell of something rotting and other things he’d rather not think about filling his nostrils, Peter grimaced as he hurried to take off his blue sweatshirt and beige pants. Throwing his clothes in the backpack, Peter struggled to get into his spidey-suit, his shaking fingers making his task a little bit more difficult than usual.  

The disguised teenager then spewed a web at his things, sticking them to the brick wall opposite him, looked up, and leapt. Closing his eyes, he felt his feet leave the ground and the wind blow against his suit-covered skin. He always embraced the feeling he got while jumping up into the sky, the sensation unparalleled, but this time, his thoughts were clouded by the cheers he had heard just minutes before.

Peter shook his head as he landed with a smooth flip, his breathing slightly ragged, and he resisted the urge to yank his mask off, knowing it was still too big a risk taking it off so close to the ground.  

Again, he spewed webs all over the place, pulling and jumping and spinning around the towers and buildings that surrounded him. A few excited squeals could be heard as he flew above the crowded streets of New York but he didn’t bother stopping for a selfie. He needed to go somewhere quiet, somewhere he could be alone with his thoughts and his dejected self.

He found it soon enough.

It was the small fire escape he had spent most of his summer and early fall lunches at, calling Happy every single day to tell him what he had done around New York and to describe the crimes he had stopped. It was a place he knew well, a place he had gotten used to. His old faithful.

Peter huffed and rubbed the back of his neck after pulling off his tight mask, his hair messy and uncooperative. He tried to pass his fingers through the locks but his disheveled mop refused to set itself straight, so he gave up.

Looking out at the horizon, Peter gazed at the Manhattan skyline, the lines and corners of the buildings in front of him clashing with the sunlight. He had always loved this view. It wasn’t the best one in the city, but it was something, and it was his. You could still hear the cabs and the people down in the streets, but the sound was music to Peter’s ears, as was the sound of Y/N’s laugh, the sound of her voice.

Peter’s eyes welled up and he angrily rubbed at his them. Tobias was an idiot. He was. He liked baseball more than breathing and his stupid smirk made Peter’s blood boil. He wasn’t a bad boy, but he liked to pretend he was and that was something that annoyed Peter more than anything else. He seemed to think it was cool to say idiotic things, and he thought it was fun to smoke and drink cheap beer and wear a leather jacket. He was a walking cliché.

But…he was nice, and pretty funny once you got used to his sense of humor. And he was a decent chess player. He even liked Star Wars. He was a good guy, and that’s what Peter hated about this most of all.

Peter had liked Y/N for months, but he had always been so afraid of telling her how he felt. It was because he knew his awkward rambling would quickly turn him into a blabbering fool and he would hate himself for making his friend feel uncomfortable. But mostly, it was because he was terrified she didn’t feel the same way. It wasn’t just the obvious humiliation that scared him, it was the idea of losing the beautiful friendship he had with her. She was his everything, and losing her would hurt more than anything else.

As he gazed at the view, Peter thought back on the wonderful times he had spent with her since the beginning of the year.

They had met in that very same classroom in September. She was sitting in front of him, her back turned on him. He was absent-mindedly staring at the blackboard, his thoughts on something unimportant when she suddenly turned around and clapped her hands against his desk, bright yellow nail polish painted on her nails catching his eye.

“Do you have a highlighter I can borrow?” she asked, her voice smooth as honey.

Peter’s mind blanked, his eyes widening at the sight of her beautiful eyes, eyes he would often get lost in later down the line.

She watched him curiously, a confused but kind smile on her lips.

“Earth to Parker?” she insisted playfully and the boy snapped out of his daze.

“You know my name?” he asked her, bewildered.

“Well yeah, aren’t you in Debate Club?”

Peter’s brow furrowed and he leaned in a little, the sudden scent of sweet vanilla and strawberries invading his senses.

“Yeah, how do you do that?”

“Oh, I’m psychic,” she replied, shrugging nonchalantly as though this was a perfectly normal statement. Peter’s eyes widened a bit and she giggled, shaking her head with a grin.

“I’m kidding, obviously! I talked to Mr. Harrington about joining this morning. He showed me a picture of last year’s team and told me everyone’s names,” she explained.

“Right, obviously. My bad,” Peter replied, chuckling softly. His eyes clinged to hers. They were beautiful and vibrant, twinkling with joy as she smiled at him. He was enthralled by her. Though her smile became hesitant as the seconds grew longer.

“So, um, about that highlighter?” she said, laughing nervously.

“Right! Yes, a highlighter. I’ve got plenty of those!” Peter exclaimed, shoving his hands in his pencil case, retrieving a bright blue felt tip pen. He grinned, victorious, and she laughed again, the sound sending butterflies in his stomach.

“You’re a lifesaver! Thank you,” she said softly as the History teacher walked in and sat himself down at his desk, the students starting to quiet down.

Peter smiled at her and shook his head.

“No problem. By the way, it’s cool you’re thinking of joining Debate. I like it a lot.”

“Yeah, there weren’t many clubs at my old school so I really wanna branch out, try something new,” she said.

“Alright everyone, let’s all use our inside voices from now on. I suggest we start the year off with a reading from your textbooks, page 7,” the teacher drawled and Peter reluctantly looked down at his history book, his fingers slowly flipping through the pages in sync with the other students, the girl’s back facing him again, though not for long. She turned around again and held out her hand.

“I’m Y/N by the way, Y/N Y/L/N,” she said with a grin.

Peter smiled at her and took her hand, his body jolting at the feeling of her skin against hers, soft and soothing like herself. He calmly shook her hand and chuckled.

“Peter Parker. It’s nice to meet you.”

That had been the first of many History classes filled with laughter, fun, and inside jokes, all so dear to Peter. Y/N finally joined Debate which he was thrilled about. He also introduced her to Ned, and the trio started to hang out after school, watching movies and going on walks around the city. Y/N especially loved nature so she constantly dragged Peter to Central Park, giggling at the sight of squirrels and little children running around the pathways. He always felt so lucky falling in step with her, her arm linked around his, something she always did.

Months later, their friendship was even stronger than before, the pair confiding in each other and exchanging stories and secrets they hadn’t told anyone else. Peter told her about his uncle’s death and how difficult it had been going through that, and she told him about her insecurities and fears. She was afraid of being alone, of being left behind, and she wasn’t confident, something he just couldn’t understand.

He couldn’t think of anything he didn’t like about her. Yes, she was very stubborn, she hated to admit when she was wrong, and she didn’t like Star Wars. But that was all fine. It was who she was, and he loved who she was. Because aside from her flaws, she had wonderful qualities that made her so very special. She was a joyous and optimistic ray of sunlight, happy and enthusiastic about everything. She was understanding and kind too, always by his side in case he needed anything at all. Y/N was curious as well, asking questions about anything and everything, constantly in the mood for an adventure. She was vibrant and just the sight of her made his days a hundred times brighter.

He couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment where he had fallen for her. It was all of the little things about her: how her eyes sparkled when she was happy, how she always skipped ahead of him to get to History, how she hummed to herself whenever she looked up at the sky. Insignificant things in the eyes of a stranger, but so precious to Peter, like little drops of gold gifted by the universe, destined only for him. He cared so much about her. Which is precisely why he wanted to invite her to the prom.

He had spent weeks trying to come up with the perfect way to do it, afraid of doing something too tacky or cheesy. He wanted to do something memorable, but what if he messed it up with his rambling? Peter had so much he wanted to tell her, his extracurricular activities being one of those things. He still hadn’t told her he was Spiderman. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her. He knew she would never betray his confidence, of that he was sure. He wasn’t sure, however, that she wouldn’t see him differently. Maybe she’d think he was lying, or maybe she’d only like him back because he was Spiderman. So many maybes and what ifs.

Peter eventually told Ned about his feelings and fears, and Ned wasted no time, immediately encouraging his friend to confess the truth to Y/N. The whole truth.

“She won’t see you differently, it’s Y/N! She’s the most down-to-earth person we know. And she’s crazy about you, even I can see it.”

“She’s not crazy about me…” Peter replied shyly, his eyes fixated on the floor.

“Um. Yes, she is. Do you not see the way she looks at you? Heart eyes!”

After much deliberation and planning, Peter had finally mustered up the courage to reveal himself to Y/N, tell her how he felt about her, and ask her to go to prom with him. It was no small feat. But now it was too late; she was going with Tobias. Peter was so disappointed, angrily cursing at himself for wasting so much time and for letting her get away.

He had worked so hard on what he was going to say and on the actual promposal, and he had been so nervous as well. When Peter got to school that day, his lungs felt like they were about to burst from anxiety. He was unbelievably scared, terrified even of what was going to happen later that day. After school, Y/N was going to go home and see what he had left for her.

Oh no.

Peter shot up, the sudden realization hitting him square in the face like a pack of bricks. She was going to go home and see what he had left for her. A huge pit formed in his stomach and he hastily covered his face with his mask, immediately spraying his webs onto the building opposite him and leaping off the railing of the fire escape. He had to get there before her.

Almost out of breath, he jumped and somersaulted off apartment complexes, flying above tourists excitedly calling out for him just like they always did, but again, he paid them no mind, mentally apologizing to them. The air grew a little cooler as the late afternoon settled in, a welcome breeze blowing against Peter’s warm body.

“I’m almost there, almost there. Can’t let her see it.” He thought to himself when a ding sound suddenly interrupted his inner dialogue. He gripped onto the side of a deli, taking out his phone and his heart sank further down.

Y/N: peter?? where’d u go?

Y/N: I told the teacher u were sick, what’s going on??

Y/N: peter you’re scaring me!! where are u??

Y/N: I’m heading home cus I cant find u

Y/N: pls call me and tell me ur ok

Peter groaned. He quickly typed in a vague but somewhat explanatory answer, praying it would stop her from worrying.

Peter: I’m okay. Just had to take care of stuff!

Y/N: I’m almost home, r u sure ur okay??

The suit started to have difficulty clinging to the building so Peter decided to shove his phone back in his suit and leave. He couldn’t risk her seeing what he had done in her room. Thankfully, he wasn’t too far from her apartment, only a few blocks away.

After what seemed like an eternity, Peter finally reached the apartment building, his nerves wracked and fingers shaking. Shooting a small web onto the glass window of Y/N’s bedroom, he managed to slide the panel up, effectively slipping inside, eyes immediately landing on the giant web he had meticulously created for her. It spread from her bed to her desk like a gleaming trampoline, only much more delicate. The shiny white strings clung to each other, forming a large and uneven set of letters that spelled out the word he had planned to say out loud to her.

Prom?

He sighed loudly, removing the mask from his face, his hair messy and disheveled as usual. Passing a hand through it, he turned around to shut the bedroom door, but he stopped dead in his tracks when his eyes met Y/N’s.

They were wide with astonishment and shock, her lips slightly parted, expression completely blank.

Peter gasped, desperately gesturing towards the webs behind him.

“I can explain! I-“ he exclaimed, but she cut him off, taking a step forward.

“You’re Spiderman?” she almost shrieked and Peter’s finger immediately reached his lips in a shush signal.

“No one can know, Y/N!”

“You’re Spiderman?” she tried to say in a hushed tone, her voice wobbling a little. She couldn’t believe what she had just seen.

“Yeah. I’m Spiderman.”

“So that’s why you run off after school and you’re always really jumpy and nervous?” she inquired, eyes still wide open.

Peter’s heart stopped for a second.

“Well-um, that’s part of it,” he croaked.

“Peter, what’s going on?”

The boy looked at his friend, the girl he cared so much about. She seemed genuinely concerned, her brow furrowed as she gently contemplated him. He hated the thought that he was the cause of her worries, so taking a deep breath, he looked down at the ground, and finally, spoke.

“The truth is yes. I’m Spiderman, and I’ve been meaning to tell you that for a while, because I really care about you and you mean so much to me and I hated not telling you but I was afraid that you’d see me differently or that you’d think less of me, so then I talked to Ned about it and he told me I should tell you, and I wanted to, and I also really wanted to ask you to go to prom with me, so I thought I’d do both, because you’re amazing and you deserve the truth and you also deserve a great promposal but I didn’t know what to do so I figured I would do both at the same time, right?

“So then I did this and I was gonna walk you home and skip Calculus and I was gonna tell you once you saw the webs in your room but then at school, Tobias asked you, and I’m really happy for you, and I didn’t want to make you feel bad, so I came here and I was gonna clean it all up but you’re here too and I’m sorry, I’m so sorry- I didn’t mean for you to see this- I mean I did, but-“ he rambled on and on, unable to stop the words from spewing out of his mouth, only to be cut off by Y/N.

“-Peter, I said no. When Tobias asked me. I said no,” she said, her voice gentle and sincere.

Peter couldn’t believe his ears. Had he heard her correctly? His hands trembled a bit as he passed them through his hair yet again.

“What?” he asked, unsure.

“I mean, I said yes in front of his friends because I didn’t want him to feel bad in front of everyone, but I talked to him right after and told him no.”

“Wh-why would you do that?” Peter muttered, bewildered by her words. Why would she say no to Tobias Pierson?

“Because I don’t want to go to prom with him. I want to go with you,” she replied hesitantly, her cheeks filling with red as she bit her lip.

Y/N Y/L/N wanted to go to prom with him. He just couldn’t believe what was happening. He found the courage to look her straight in the eyes and the kind look she was sending him made his heart skip a beat.

“You do?” he whispered, unable to take his eyes off her.

Y/N giggled nervously, her arms tense with anticipation hiding behind her back as she shifted her weight.

“Are you kidding? I’ve been dropping hints for weeks!”

“You were? When?” Peter exclaimed.

“Um, like when I sent you pictures of prom dresses and asked you which ones you liked best. Or when I told you about how Marcus had just asked Jess and I told you it was really sweet and she was a lucky girl, and-“

“-those were hints?”

“Yes! Although, now that you mention it, obviously not very good ones.”

“Well, technically, your hard work paid off,” Peter said, a soft smile drawn on his lips as he gestured back at the large and shiny webs.

“I still can’t believe you’re Spiderman.”

Peter tried to suppress a frown before speaking again.

“How does that make you feel?”

“Peter, I don’t care if you’re Spiderman or Batman or Wonder Woman for that matter. You’re Peter. You’ll always be Peter to me. You’re the one who always makes me smile, the one who makes every day, no matter how terrible, so much better. You’re the person I care about the most. I’m just happy you felt like you could tell me.”

“Really?”

Y/N nodded with a grin, her beautiful eyes twinkling like they always did.

“You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that,” Peter said, breathing out for the first time in what seemed like ages. His heart felt light and airy, utter joy settling in his abdomen like warm tea. She cared about him too, and that simple fact sent a whirlwind of butterflies straight to his stomach.

“So, weren’t you going to ask me something?” she said playfully, her grin widening.

Peter laughed, suddenly remembering why he was in her room in the first place.

“Y/N, will you please go to prom with me?”

Y/N stepped closer to him, just inches away from the suited teenager, her gleaming eyes boring straight into his before lifting her body on the tips of her toes, reaching up to place a soft kiss on his crimson cheek and saying:

“I thought you’d never ask.”

A/N: I hope you guys liked it! feedback is always appreciated and feel free to reblog :)

if you would like to be added to my taglist(s), feel free to fill in this form

Peter tag:

@stiles-o-dylan24 @duskholland @mersuperwholocked-lowlife @r0s3mm @hcomet28 @decaffeinated--fangirl

Forever tag:

@stixnstripesworld @masterofbluff @drakewalker04 @superapplepie

#peter parker #peter parker fanfiction #mcu #marvel #spiderman #spiderman homecoming #spiderman far from home #peter parker fanfic #tom holland #reader insert #v writes #hehehe #i missed writing #im very happy with how this turned out #i hope u guys like it! #promposal trope

[artificialqueens]

Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, 1 (Branjie) (and background everyone) - Ortega

a/n: hey everyone! no ur not getting deja vu, i’m reposting what i have of this fic again just with a few necessary adjustments if u kwam. rip all my notes and lovely comments as i’m going to have chapter 1 deleted after this for obvious reasons, so feel free to still leave me some luv bc i’m ngl, re-jigging two fics is taking it out of me asdfghjklkjhgfds. without further ado may i now present to you strictly au 2: electric boogaloo xo

(this one goes out to the anon who wanted radio 1 DJ Heidi Nina Closet xo)

fic summary: Strictly Come Dancing enters its 18th series and its producers, after being goaded by a rival dance show on its inclusivity, commission it to be an all-female cast. Unlike Akeria who’s just here to bone her potential dance partner, dancer Vanessa is ready to act like a professional.

And then TV presenter Brooke Lynn walks into the rehearsal room.

***

8th August 2020

Political correctness gone mad. Or at least, that’s what all the straight, white, 50 year old men have been tweeting. But the TV bosses thought that a same-sex version of the nation’s favourite dancing show would pull the viewers in, at least get some hype going like the good old days. The show’s been going since 2004, Vanessa thinks, as she rolls her neck and looks at the various alleged celebrities opposite them. This is what caused the death of the X Factor, all these sensationalist spin-offs, and now they’re doing the same with this one. She supposes the BBC were intimidated by Dancing on Ice, who had a single solitary same-sex couple on their show and were called out live by H from Steps. How humiliating. She’s only been part of the show for two years; this is her third, but her first one with a partner. She scans her eyes back down the line again, her gaze interrupted as Akeria whispers to her.

“Who you gunning for? I like that goddess, third from the right. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin. Shit, our babies would be beautiful.”

Vanessa pauses, looks at who Akeria’s talking about and snorts a laugh. “Keeks, that’s Asia O'Hara. The chef? She’s been on Saturday Kitchen a couple times.”

“You actually watch that shit?” Akeria side-eyed her.

“Hey, drop the judgemental tone, bitch! It’s easy, chilled-out Saturday morning viewing. Anyway, chefs? Nah. Two left feet and they stomp their way across the dancefloor.”

“It ain’t the dancefloor I’m worried about. I’m more interested in what’s going on in the bedroom,” Akeria wiggles her eyebrows, making Vanessa snort a laugh. Seeing her friend’s expression of disbelief, Akeria rolls her eyes. “Oh, come on, Vanj. You telling me you never thought about it? A lil’ steamy affair? Get the Daily Mail’s tongues wagging?”

“Shut the hell up. You’re awful,” Vanessa laughs long-sufferingly in reply, casts her eyes back down the line of celebrities. Scarlet Envy is at the top- Vanessa knows her, she’s in one of the big soap operas. She’s talking quite earnestly to Yvie Oddly. Vanessa is aware of Yvie only because her niece is obsessed with her Youtube channel. What is it she does again? Gaming walkthroughs? She can’t remember. There’s a tall newsreader with dark hair that Vanessa doesn’t remember the name of but she knows that Jan’s eyeing her up from across the room, so even if she ends up being half-decent and Vanessa gets on well with her Jan will still cut her to make sure she ends up with her as a partner. There’s a black girl with a mane of dark hair and a gap tooth chatting to a blonde woman with glittery makeup, some pretty girls that must be influencers or makeup artists or something (in fact, Vanessa definitely recognises one from Love Island), and Monet X Change. Vanessa definitely knows her, and she’s quite surprised the show managed to net Monet given that most of the singers that appear on the show are usually washed up talent show rejects. Vanessa’s seen some clips of her touring, she knows she’s a good dancer. Maybe she’d be good.

Vanessa takes one final sweep down the line as she sees the producers readying themselves to begin. One, two, three, four…hang on. There’s only eleven celebrities, and unless she’s suddenly lost the ability to count Vanessa knows there’s twelve dancers. Maybe they were going to be more cutthroat than she thought, maybe this would be where they decide which dancers they’re giving partners to and which one they’re cutting. Vanessa nervously shifts in her character shoes as the producers begin their welcome.

As they’re talking, the huge rehearsal room doors burst open and a tall blonde comes rushing through them, dressed in white trainers, a baggy white gym top, and black Nike leggings. She looks on her way to be sweating half of her perfectly made up face off as she runs over to join the other celebrities, sweeping her long, curling-ironed hair up into a bun and apologising frantically as she does so.

“Kiki,” Vanessa whispers to her friend. “Who’s that?”

She feels Akeria shrug beside her. Luckily Monique is standing by her right side and has heard her question.

“Oh, bitch! That’s Brooke Lynn. She presents stuff.”

“What the fuck’s stuff?” Vanessa laughs quietly, not wanting to incur the wrath of the producers by talking over them.

“She did, uh…The Voice. An’ she did some kind of consumer show in the evenings. She does The One Show now. Bunch of boring ass shit, basically,” Monique waves a hand dismissively towards the end, gets distracted by a wink and a small wave across the room from Monet X Change.

“Damn. So they give her all the boring shows to present because they know people will tune in ‘cause she’s hot?” Vanessa muses. It’s just a fact, after all. She’s not been able to tear her eyes away from her since she rushed into the room. Vanessa hopes she’s a good dancer.

“Oop. Here we go already. The Strictly curse claims its first victim,” Akeria overhears her, sticks her tongue out at her as Vanessa bats her on the arm. The sudden movement causes one of the producers to whip round and glare at Vanessa and she immediately drops her arm and fixes him with an easy smile.

When she looks back at Brooke Lynn, she’s hiding her mouth with her hand and her eyes are twinkling at her in a laugh. Vanessa presses her lips together to keep from smiling back.

They all warm up together, even though Vanessa’s already warmed up, but it’s a good chance to see who has potential and who looks more like an octopus out of water with half its limbs cut off. She scans the mirrored wall as she rolls her shoulders in time with the EDM that’s blasting from the speakers. The blonde influencer-looking girl is fucked from the start, Vanessa notes. She’s rolling her shoulders both the wrong way and off-beat. One of the celebrities, the pouty one from Love Island, is already complaining that she’s pulled a muscle. Vanessa makes the executive decision that if she gets partnered up with her then she’s quitting the show and also possibly going on a killing spree in Elstree Studios.

Brooke Lynn hasn’t met her eyes since they caught each others’ earlier. She’s not being weird, it’s just an observation. Vanessa’s, however, have drifted her way a couple of times. Brooke seems to be sailing through the warmup that Jaida’s leading easily, and Vanessa notes how easily she’s managing the split stretches, how she can bend her body almost in half until her head touches the floor. She’s clearly had some sort of dance training before, and Vanessa thinks her good looks would just be a bonus of being partnered with her. She sweeps her gaze across the room again as she stretches out her other leg, her gaze landing on Yvie. She’s bendy, her forehead pressed to the floor as she stretches out and giggles at Scarlet beside her whose body appears to be made almost entirely of cardboard. Vanessa stifles a giggle herself as Jaida starts leading them in squats, hears Monique muttering something to her as she drops to the floor. Vanessa fixes her with a confused face.

“Think you’ve got an admirer,” Monique repeats a little louder, raising her eyebrows and jerking her head behind them to where the celebrities warmed up. Vanessa brings herself up out of the squat, whips her head round to see Brooke looking right at her.

Or rather, her ass.

As Brooke suddenly looks at about six different places in the room in the space of a second and her face turns roughly the same colour as a fire engine, Vanessa turns her head back round, trying to ignore the heat she can feel attacking her own face.

It’s kind of ironic that every year at least one couple is claimed by the Strictly curse and yet the producers still call the process of finding a potential partner “Speed Dating”. The curse is a phenomenon that Vanessa has felt the brunt of and knows all too well- a partner and a contestant, almost every year, end up either falling for each other or falling into bed with each other. It’s natural, she supposes- you can’t spend practically every waking moment of every day pressed up against someone else and not trip and fall onto their dick. However, this is a room full of girls, at least half of whom Vanessa knows are gay as all hell, and maybe this year there’ll be a bit more nuance and obliviousness and just general all-round idiocy.

Looking at the celebrities, she sees Scarlet joke-grinding against Yvie, both of them almost falling over laughing. Maybe everyone will be a little less oblivious than Vanessa has given them credit for.

One of the producers launches into a spiel about how the pairing up process will work. Everyone knows they won’t get properly paired up until the launch show, but this will be more of a chemistry test than a dancing test, he explains, to see who gets on with each other best. Then at the end, all of them will get to write down their top three potential partners.

“After all,” he laughs, “You’re going to be spending a long time together!”

There’s a polite bubble of laughter that pops in the room, and Vanessa feels her stomach explode suddenly with butterflies. What if she gets paired up with someone she doesn’t get on well with at all, never mind someone who can dance? Her mind drifts. Phi Phi’s standing beside her, her face set in a small frown. Vanessa whispers to her.

“Who you got your eyes on?”

Phi Phi doesn’t shift her gaze, and Vanessa follows it. Her gaze lands on the woman with the glittery makeup who’s laughing like a seal at something that gap tooth girl has said and isn’t paying any attention to what the producers are saying. “Anyone with a pulse who’s taking the competition seriously. I know who I don’t want, put it that way.”

Vanessa indulges her in a laugh. Phi Phi has reached the semi-final four times and has never advanced further, and her frustration is starting to show. Vanessa supposes she’s at an advantage here- she’s fresh on the show, she doesn’t have any chips on her shoulder. As she looks around the room, she can see each of the dancers’ past experiences reflected on their faces like battle scars: four-time World Championship finalist Courtney is smiling easily, happy in the knowledge that she won last year and will probably get a dud partner this year, Shea, former West End Choreographer who could literally get given Theresa May and still manage to advance to the finals has a calm exterior, and frowning determinedly is 2018 Latin European champion Vixen, who bowed out early last year with her partner and has expressed very openly and very loudly to everyone who’ll hear her that she’s going for the glitterball this year. In a similar boat is World Cup Freestyle Latin Champion Aja, who was up against Courtney in the finals last year and lost by only a tiny margin of the vote. The girl doesn’t seem bitter, but she’s already got her eyes trained on Monet and has clearly backed her winner already. Crystal is lost in a daydream, classic. To the untrained eye the girl may look as if she couldn’t even do the macarena in time, but the girls know better. Crystal is hard-working, determined, creative, clever, and one of the highest-ranking ballroom and Latin dancers in the country. Vanessa knows that whoever she gets as a partner she’ll be able to mold into something amazing.

Vanessa’s gaze then lands on Plastique. The girl is a fierce dancer and it’s her fifth year on the show already. If she’s nervous, she doesn’t show it. Then again, she trained under Alyssa Edwards so she’s very possibly not felt butterflies in her stomach since the year 2012. Vanessa’s eyes widen a bit as she notices Plastique eyeing up Brooke. She’s going to need to turn up the charm all the way to 100, as Plastique’s reputation precedes her and she’ll be top choice for a lot of the girls opposite.

One by one, the dancers introduce themselves. Vanessa keeps her introduction short and sweet. She doesn’t like to brag about her titles unlike some of the other girls, and she knows that her achievements are outshone by many so she focuses on the fact it’s her first year with a partner instead.

“I ain’t got a track record like Courtney, but I also ain’t got one like Monique either,” Vanessa jokes, her friend nudging her and shouting in protest as the other girls laugh. Monique takes it in good humour though- she’s been an early out for a few years in a row having kept landing Olympic sportsmen with limbs like toy soldiers, so it’s a fair enough comment. Vanessa continues, trying not to let her eyes land on Brooke all that much. “So whoever gets paired with me don’t need to be worried ‘cuz they’re gonna always end up being special to me. My first partner on the show, and the first person I get to experience it with. And I’d be happy to get any of you, because you all look nice and smiley an’ friendly!”

She adds in that last bit to come across as gracious, and it seems to work as the celebrities opposite all smile at her gently and she hears a couple of “aaw!”s thrown her way. She can practically feel Phi Phi, Aja and Vixen all roll their eyes at her, but she doesn’t care. It’s a point in her favour with the girls opposite at least.

After the professionals have all said their piece, the celebrities pipe up. To give them their dues, there are quite a few that Vanessa would be glad to be partnered up with. Peppermint, a TV journalist, seems like she’d be great to gossip with if nothing else, Gigi, the once so intimidating-looking model has got a goofy side that would keep Vanessa sane in rehearsals, and Instagram influencer Blair seems similarly sweet and is so eager to please that it almost hurts. Then Brooke steps forward, her expression the serene calm of a woman who’s used to speaking in front of an audience, and all Vanessa can think about is how much of a point that confident, in-control body language would be in their favour when they took to the floor in week one.

No, not when. If. She’s getting ahead of herself.

“Hey everyone! I’m Brooke Lynn Hytes, uh, I present stuff. I’m basically like Ant and Dec but without the loveable double-act element and the millions of national TV awards clogging up my trophy cabinets and gathering dust.”

Vanessa lets out a snort. The actual joke isn’t even that funny, but Brooke’s delivery was so deadpan and matter of fact that it made the whole thing ten times more hilarious. Akeria turns to face Vanessa, raises her eyebrows and hisses over to her.

“Girl. Any further up her ass and your new nickname is gonna be suppository for the rest of the season.”

“Uh, dance-experience-wise I actually have a fair bit. I did exams and dance shows in high school. I don’t know if I should’ve mentioned that, now you’re all gonna be fighting over me like a pack of zombies,” Brooke laughs. The other girls join in with the laughter and Vanessa shifts from foot to foot. Brooke doesn’t know how accurate she’s just been. Oblivious, she carries on. “So yeah! Good luck to us all. Please don’t tear me limb from limb.”

Another laugh that Vanessa joins in weakly with. Unsurprisingly, Brooke introducing herself to the room has done nothing for Vanessa’s nerves. She has a favourite now, but it’s akin to putting money on a greyhound race- it’s a complete gamble. She tells herself that she can’t pin her hopes on getting partnered with Brooke, even though that thought is a bit like locking a stable door after the pony’s bolted, or whatever the goddamn figure of speech is. As gap-in-teeth-girl who’s standing beside Brooke begins to introduce herself (Heidi’s a Radio 1 DJ, and that explains why her voice sounds so familiar) Vanessa jumps a little as she hears Monique whisper to her out of nowhere.

“Girl, Jesus. Dare you to be less obvious.”

Vanessa narrows her eyes at her as she turns her head. “What?”

“Brooke Lynn,” Monique cocks her head towards the girl in question. Vanessa keeps her gaze steely. “Put your tongue back in your mouth, sis.”

“Oh, like you’ve not got a favourite already,” Vanessa whispers back. She’s got the Monet card she can use if she wants to.

“You know you don’t have to take that partner thing literally, right? You don’t actually have to fuck the person you get matched with,” Monique shoots back, pressing her lips together to stop herself from laughing. Vanessa rolls her eyes.

“You’re being ridiculous. She’s got dance experience, the height difference is good, I could win with her. There’s nothing more to it than that. I’d be happy with any of these bitches.”

Monique raises her eyebrows. “You’re not tryin’ to be Miss World, Vanj, it’s okay to say you wouldn’t kick her outta bed.”

“Okay, so what about Monet? I’m sure the reason that you keep lookin’ all the way down that end of the room is definitely…shit, I don’t know…some sort of eye condition?” Vanessa uses her trump card, smiles and sticks her tongue out at Monique who gives her a little shove and clamps her mouth shut in a pout, knowing she’s been outmanoeuvred. Vanessa tunes back in to the introductions. The Love Island girl introduces herself as Farrah, and she’s pouting and asking the pros not to work her too hard. Vanessa thinks back to what Phi Phi had said. She’ll give the girl some credit. Maybe Vanessa should focus more on who she doesn’t want after all.

The producers start leading girls from their side of the room to the middle so that they form two big vertical lines in front of each other. Vanessa starts in front of Blair, who smiles kindly at her and appears too shy to speak. There’s no time for Vanessa to really attempt to strike up a conversation as they’re all getting shuffled around based on their heights. She watches as Brooke gets moved from in front of Aja, past Shea, past Crystal, and finally given to Jan.

Fuck.

Vanessa shakes the disappointment off. She’s being ridiculous, she knows she’ll get a turn with mostly everyone and the fact that Brooke’s tall, statuesque frame contrasts with her pint-sized self means that she’s a dead cert to get a shot at dancing with her. There’s not many people smaller than her so she knows she’s not going to be leading. This is good, as she’s obviously not used to it. The girls paired up with the smaller celebrities are going to have to work twice as hard.

Blair gets shuffled around to be partnered with Aja, and eventually Vanessa gets Gigi deposited in front of her. She gives her a friendly wave and a pleasant smile, and eventually everyone is paired up- for now. Vanessa looks over at Akeria, notices she’s been given Asia to dance with first. Akeria meets her gaze and gives her a smile that Vanessa doesn’t think she’s going to be able to wipe off her face until mid-June of next year.

As the producers give the girls some time to teach the celebrities an incredibly basic salsa step to start them off with, Vanessa relaxes as she begins talking Gigi through the steps. She’s glad she’s finally getting to do what she loves instead of being consumed by nerves and what-ifs. She knows how to dance and she’s good at it- it’s just a fact- and she knows she’s able to teach things, having helped out with the kids at her dance school when she was younger. To her delight Gigi picks things up quickly, and the two of them are simply dancing the same four basic moves in a loop as they move on to chatting.

“You’re a good teacher! It’s taking some of these other bitches ages,” Gigi laughs, Vanessa giving a guilty giggle at the comment as she notices Jadia, very patiently and very deliberately, walking Scarlet through the steps again.

“See, you wouldn’t think I never had a partner before!” Vanessa beams back at her, twirling around and landing back in Gigi’s hold. To some of the girls it might be a little awkward trying to make small-talk with someone they’ve just met whilst holding one of their hands and having another pressed to their back, but to Vanessa it comes naturally. She notices that Gigi is scanning the room and looking at the other girls. Vanessa knows a searching pair of eyes when she sees one. “You got your eye on a girl?”

“Well, you’d be good,” Gigi says immediately, although how much of that is out of courtesy Vanessa doesn’t know. “Or, I mean. Jaida’s a fierce teacher, and she’s won it before, right?”

Vanessa nods. She knows that Gigi is still holding back the namedrop of the girl she really wants. “But I guess, you know, Crystal’s a talent. It kind of seems like everyone sleeps on her despite the fact she’s got all these trophies and ranks so highly and she does ballroom and Latin. She ever won before?”

“Not yet. She got paired with some stompy politician last year and was an early out, but she made the semis before that,” Vanessa indulges her, although she’s quite sure that judging by the slight blush on Gigi’s face that she’s well aware of where Crystal’s ranked in previous seasons. Gigi seems nice, and she’s complimented Vanessa so she decides to throw one her way too. “You’ve got potential, you could take her to the finals easily. She could do a lot with you.”

“That’s sweet. Thanks,” Gigi smiles, Vanessa giving another twirl just as the producers get everyone to stop and switch round again. Time passes by in steps and twirls rather than minutes, but the variety of people she gets paired with ensures that things don’t become boring. Vanessa gets Scarlet, who steps on her toes about three times and, in her own words, dances like an inflatable waving tube man stuck outside a car showroom, then actress Willam, the one with the laugh like a seal and sparkly makeup and scant regard for the moves she’s been taught, preferring to make Vanessa laugh the whole time. After that she is paired with Jackie, the newsreader she’d noticed earlier. She shows promise but Vanessa does notice Jan’s head bobbing about looking at them from the other side of the room the whole time they’re together like an invasive meerkat so Vanessa does her a solid and talks Jan up a storm. She can’t really focus too much on Jackie, to be fair, because Plastique’s been partnered with Brooke and the two of them are already laughing and hitting it off with each other and Vanessa feels her blood fizz with determination.

Finally, mercifully, Brooke gets led down by one of the producers to stand in front of her, and for a moment Vanessa is tongue-tied. Brooke’s dark green eyes and her gorgeous face are a little intimidating, not that she’s got a crush or anything, and Vanessa feels herself growing shy for a second. But then she remembers that they only have minutes together, and if she wants to be partnered with this girl she’s going to have to up the charm offensive. The producers have been stalking the room like lions with notebooks, recording every laugh and lingering glance.

“Hey!” Vanessa starts cheerfully, fixing Brooke with the winning smile she always used to flash at the judges when she was competing. “I’m Vanjie. Well, Vanessa. Either. Is fine.”

Brooke smiles back at her despite the fact that her introduction was so awkward Vanessa feels like digging a hole in the ground and leaping into it. “Nice to meet you, Vanjie-Well-Vanessa. I’m Brooke Lynn.“

Before Vanessa can feel any more embarrassed at Brooke’s teasing, she takes a little bow and stands ready, her hand held out for her to take. "May I have this dance?”

Vanessa lets out a laugh at the cheesiness of it all, takes Brooke’s hand and stands in hold with her. Their hands seem to fit perfectly together and even though their bodies are still quite far apart Brooke’s hand on her back makes Vanessa feel close to her in a way she’s not felt dancing with any man before.

Monique’s teasing face appears in her mind and Vanessa shakes those particular thoughts away.

“I bet you said that to all these girls,” Vanessa quirks an eyebrow at her, and Brooke tilts her head to the ceiling in thought.

“Uh…no, don’t think so. Just you so far,” she shrugs, and it definitely doesn’t make Vanessa feel special in any way at all.

They start to step and oh shit. This is exciting. This is the first girl that’s properly led her, the first one that the moves have seemed to come so easily to, and Vanessa can feel her heart going like a train as she imagines what she could actually choreograph with a girl like Brooke to work with. She’s a bit quiet as she’s lost in thought, so she cracks an impressed face at the girl opposite her.

“You’re good.”

“Yeah, so are you,” Brooke looks at her a little funny, her face inquisitive. “Hey, how come you didn’t mention any of your accolades? Y'know. World Latin Champion 2016, four-time finalist. That’s a bragging right.”

Vanessa almost loses her steps she’s so shocked. How the fuck does Brooke know about all that? She’s not mentioned it. Brooke can clearly see the shock on her face and a blush hits her cheeks. “That probably sounds weird. I looked you up when I knew I was coming on the show.”

Vanessa laughs, pulls a face at Brooke. “Nah, that sounds even more weird. You’re just digging yourself a hole now.”

Brooke gives an embarrassed giggle, looks up at the sky to avoid Vanessa’s gaze and oh fuck she’s still moving perfectly and she’s not got her eyes trained on her feet holy shit. “No, I mean I looked all the girls up!”

Vanessa bursts out laughing again. The girl’s not helping her case. “Dig, dig, dig, bitch!”

Brooke squeals in protest as Vanessa feels her smile hurt her face. “You know what I mean! Ugh, God. Just answer the question and stop picking on me. I’m a very important celebrity. Don’t you know who I am?”

Brooke’s deadpan sort of humour is killing Vanessa. She tries to get out another jibe through her laugh. “Jesus, I hope that’s not how you normally interview people.”

There’s a pause as Brooke laughs back. Vanessa thinks over her question. “I don’t know. Guess I just didn’t want to come across like a showoff.”

“But it’s just a fact. You’re good,” Brooke shrugs. The praise makes Vanessa’s heart light up.

“An’ I guess I didn’t want the same as you. People fightin’ over me,” she shrugs back, making light of Brooke’s compliment. Brooke pulls a face.

“I don’t know about that, I think I’m going to have to fight off a couple of these girls if I want you,” she comments offhandedly, Vanessa suddenly feeling like she’d been shocked with a tazer. She’d been so focused on trying to charm the partner she wanted that she had no idea the celebrities would’ve been gunning for her too.

“Who wants to be partnered with me?” she asks, thinking retrospectively that she could’ve tried to appear a little less keen.

“Well, Asia’s making a bee-line, I know that much. And Willam was all smiles after she left you. And, I mean, I wouldn’t mind getting you either,” Brooke says, her last comment making Vanessa happier than it should.

“Wouldn’t mind? You’re gonna have to work harder than that,” Vanessa raises her eyebrows, faux-unimpressed. She has to slam her mouth shut at the end of her sentence to avoid tacking on a “baby” to the end of it. Jesus, what is wrong with her?

“You know they give us that card at the end where we write our top three partner choices on it,” Brooke continues. The fact she is trying so hard to come across as nonchalant is making her seem everything but, and Vanessa is loving it. “Hypothetically…would I be on yours?”

“Hypothetically? You might be,” Vanessa grins at her, spins round and misses the look that Brooke gives back at her. Is this flirting? She needs to stop.

“And, uh, hypothetically, of course, would I be first, second or third on that list?”

Vanessa looks to the ceiling, maintains the charade of not appearing overly keen. “At the moment, you are…third.”

Brooke’s face is so actively shocked that Vanessa bursts out laughing. “Third?! You bitch! Why?”

Vanessa composes herself. “Well first of all, I don’t know where you’re putting me on this list, girl, so I gotta hedge my bets. Second, I’m still trying to recover from wouldn’t mind, so that knocks you down a place. Also you just called me a bitch, so you’re now reserve-third.”

“If I told you you were first on my list, does that move me up a place?” Brooke smiles at her cheekily. Vanessa tries to keep a calm exterior and not show Brooke that she’s maybe-sort-of-a-little-bit melting at her words.

“You could. How do I know you’re telling the truth, though?”

Brooke shrugs a little. “Well, I guess you’ll just have to trust me.”

With that, Vanessa feels Brooke’s hand being ripped out of her own and coming to rest in between her shoulder blades, and suddenly she’s being dipped to the ground and brought back up again. She ends up pressed up against Brooke’s chest, her face tilted up to meet hers and her lips way too close to be good for Vanessa’s heart rate. She hears an impressed cry from someone- probably Monique or Akeria stirring the pot- and there’s a kind of hush that falls over the room in response to the move that’s a little bit more advanced than anyone was expecting.

“O-kay!” a producer exclaims, and Vanessa melts out of hold, only a little bit captivated. “If we could all switch round again, uh, I think we’ll have Aja with…Farrah-”

Brooke gives her a wink and a smile as she walks away towards Courtney who she’s been paired with next, and Vanessa attempts to compose herself as she gives a little wave back and tries to focus on Monet who she’s now in front of.

If things all ended up the way she wanted them to, this was going to be a very interesting season.

#rpdr fanfiction #bet you look good on the dancefloor #ortega #strictly au #lesbian au #branjie #background crygi #background jankie #background scyvie #background momo #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #akeria davenport #monique heart #asia o'hara #gigi goode #heidi n closet #monet x change #crystal methyd #jaida essence hall #scarlet envy #plastique tiara #yvie oddly #phi phi o'hara #willam belli #courtney act #shea coulee

[everymovie2020]

Malice (1993)

Date watched:  23 February 2019

Okay, so on Saturday I was like, I probably need to catch up on some TV shows, I haven't even started Grace and Frankie yet, I need to take a break from movies, so I won't watch any movies tonight.

Then I'm scrolling through Stan, as you do, and what do I stumble upon but this movie from 1993, starring Nicole Kidman AND Bill Pullman AND Alec Baldwin.

And I'm sorry but like what am I supposed to do with that?  Just not watch it?  Just leave it for another time?  I am incapable of doing that.  I had to watch it.  I had to know why I'd never heard of it before!  Why have I never seen this movie?  Probably because it's not that great, but that's beside the point.

It's twisty and turny, so I will try to break down the plot (spoilers for this 26-year-old movie by the way):

Bill Pullman and Nicole Kidman are happily married and they live in a big old house (that is honestly really ugly).  Bill Pullman is the dean of a university where several students have been raped and murdered by a serial rapist and murderer.

Bebe Neuwirth is the no-nonsense, tough-talkin' lady cop trying to solve the murders.

Alec Baldwin is this amazing doctor/surgeon/handsome lothario type dude, who swings into town all, "YOUR SAVIOUR HAS ARRIVED."

Turns out that Baldwin and Pullman went to high school together but weren't friends, so they bond over that.

Then it turns out that Pullman and Nicole met and fell in love while she was his student at university, which I guess is to make you wonder if he's a predator? He's not; he's just kind of hapless.

So Pullman lets Baldwin move into their big old house as their tenant, because he needs a place to live, and Nicole isn't super happy about this but anyway.

In the meantime the serial rapist/murderer rapes and murders a young Gwyneth Paltrow and tries to pin it on Bill Pullman, but we know it wasn't Bill Pullman because he's very, very hapless and not at all capable of that (sidenote – I've got a real soft spot for Bill Pullman). Also at this point I realised that the serial killer/rapist was the janitor at the university, because he eyed Gwyneth Paltrow in her one scene.  So if they expected me to believe that it was Bill Pullman for any amount of time, I'm sorry to tell them that I'm smarter than that.  It's always the creepy janitor.

Then Australia's Nicole Kidman starts having pain in her lady parts (sidenote – she and Bill Pullman had been trying to have a baby, this is important for later), and Baldwin knows of this because he's ~SUPERDOC~, and one night the pain is so bad that she's rushed to the hospital.

The hospital calls Baldwin, who has been out a bar DRINKING, and he goes to the hospital, under the influence of ALCOHOL, to have a look at Nicole.  They find that her ovaries are twisted, and they have to take one out, but they can't tell if the other one is completely fucked or not, AND she's pregnant.  So Baldwin asks Pullman what he should do and Pullman wants his wife to live, of course, so he says to take it out.  So they do, and the baby is terminated (obviously).

Then when Nicole wakes up, she is fucking PISSED OFF.  She walks out on Pullman and sues Baldwin.

At this point I was kind of like, where is this going, there's this serial rapist guy still out there, and to my way of thinking Bill Pullman did the thing he thought was right to save the life of his wife, so like… maybe Nicole is getting carried away there?

So there's a settlement between Nicole and the hospital for like $20 million, because they find out that Baldwin had been drinking before he cut her open.  At the same time Bill Pullman gets hauled in by the police to give a semen sample to prove he didn't kill baby Gwyneth Paltrow, and THEN it turns out that he is shooting blanks and therefore COULDN'T BE THE FATHER OF NICOLE'S BABY.

PLOT. TWIST.

His first thought is that she was fucking her hot lawyer, but Peter Gallagher is like, "Nope dude, wasn't me."  Then Bill Pullman discovers the serial killer/rapist is the janitor of the school and gets beat the fuck up, but the dude is arrested – that plot is merely to facilitate the other plot in which we find out that Bill Pullman is sterile, and has zero impact on the rest of the movie.

So then Bill Pullman is like, okay, I need to find out who the fuck Nicole was fucking, so he goes to her mother (played by Anne Bancroft) who is like, "Bill, you're a nice guy but you should know that my daughter is a con artist and she was playing you."

And I was like, huh.  BUT WHY?

So Bill tracks her down to this fancy house on a hill where she's shacked up with none other than – you guessed it – Alec fuckin' Baldwin.

And again, I'm like, BUT WHY?

Here's the why – Nicole wanted money, so she and Alec Baldwin hatched a scheme to have him perform completely unnecessary surgery on her (they were injecting her with this drug to make her have pain?  Idk), get sued, lose the lawsuit and split the proceeds.

Why does Bill Pullman come into this?  Look, it's been three days and I still don't know.  I feel like she needed the husband to make the decision that they should take out both ovaries and thus fuck her up reproductively (finding out later on that the other ovary they took out was healthy, thus the basis for the lawsuit, etc etc), but it just seems like a hell of a long con to date this guy, marry this guy, live with this guy for years and then fuck him over?  I mean, I get conning someone if they've done something to you, but Bill Pullman in this movie was a genuinely decent guy so I just don't understand the twisted depths of Nicole Kidman's mind.  And it’s not like he was rich so I don’t understand the reasoning.

ANYWAY, Bill Pullman is like well FUCK, and then he discovers a syringe in their bedroom with liquid in it, so he has that analysed by his friendly neighbourhood police officer Bebe Neuwirth (sidenote – I totally vibed that Bebe Neuwirth wanted a piece of the Bill Pullman action in this movie, and when it ended with them driving off together, I was like GET IT GIRL – end sidenote).  Then he trolls Baldwin and Nicole by leaving a syringe in their bed, which they find, then Nicole goes to meet him and he's like bitch, you give me half of your money or I'm going to the police, and she's like, mate, you've got no evidence, and he's like, yeah I do, the neighbour saw you and Baldwin FUCKING IN OUR BED.

Additional plot information – they have no curtain on their bedroom window and the neighbour boy across the way can hypothetically see right in.

So Nicole is like well mother fucking FUCK – at this point, ngl, I was kind of Team Nicole.  She goes home to Baldwin and she's like, I'm not splitting the money, and Baldwin is like, yeah you are and she's like well I'll just fucking KILL EVERYONE THEN, so she kills Baldwin and goes after the neighbour kid.

But Pullman and Bebe Neuwirth have hatched a scheme, and when Nicole breaks into the neighbour's house the boy isn't there, but Bill is, so they have it out, but then Bebe Neuwirth is like, "Nicole Kidman, you're under arrest," and Nicole is all well fuck.

THEN it turns out the neighbour kid was blind ANYWAY, and Bill Pullman fucking PLAYED HER.

At this point I was back on Team Pullman.

End thoughts:

This was okay.  It wasn't what I thought it would be but I’m not mad about it.  I don't think it was very good, because… it seems to me like their plan was way too convoluted to ever work, and the only reason it completely collapsed in the first place was because Bill Pullman found out he was sterile and therefore not the father of their baby, so therefore she had to have been having an affair, which made him doubt her, yada yada yada.

And ALSO, if the serial killer/rapist hadn't been serial killing and raping at the same time, Bill Pullman would never have had to provide his sperm and he would've never known that he wasn't the father.

So really it was a series of unfortunate events that coincided to lead to Nicole's downfall.

I will say she looked AMAZING in this; her hair was INCREDIBLE and she pretty much out-acted everyone, because she's a goddamn LEGEND and I love her SO MUCH.

#malice #1993 #movies #movie review #nicole kidman #queen nicole kidman #bill pullman #alec baldwin #peter gallagher #bebe neuwirth #anne bancroft #twisty and turny and nicole was amazing #as she always is #god her hair is incredible

[softstraykidsimagines]

You’re Too Young!

Summary: you’re perfectly able to defend yourself, but one mysterious boy doesn’t seem to believe you. As you try to get to know him, he seems to insist on being your protector. But he’s too young! 

Requested: yes

Pairing: Jeongin x reader can I express how happy I am to be able to write about this bean  (feat.Stray Kids) 

Genre: fluff, violence, gang AU 

Warnings: violence, cursing (but what else is new for that last one lol) 

Word count: 4.829k wOW ok buckle up this my longest one yet!

A/N: I found this quite tricky to write ngl: I didn't really know what to do for a good storyline at first and I also found is super difficult to imagine Jeongin in a gang I mean can you bloody blame me he is a child! BUT I absolutely adored writing it, I’m quite proud of myself for writing over 4k words hehe.. I hope you enjoy it! 

Also, just an FYI, I intended to make the base the warehouse where the boys did their photoshoot for the I am NOT album, which connected to the ‘concrete building’ which is meant to be where they filmed Hellevator. Sorry if it’s confusing ^^’ 

MASTERLIST 

You walked through the dark street, wrapping your leather coat around you even tighter. Why did I have to miss the stupid bus, you thought bitterly. You’d finished school late, after deciding to study for longer. But you’d forgotten to check the time, and so you’d found yourself sprinting to the bus stop, only to see it disappear in the distance, forcing you to trudge home at night, through a part of your home with a dark reputation.

You knew this was a bad idea. You knew it could be dangerous at this hour. But you weren’t afraid.

You kept your keys trapped in your fist, gripping one of them between your middle finger and fourth finger.

As you walked steadily in the direction of your home, you heard movement behind you. Your shoulders tensed, and instinctual fear burst through you, dialing all of your senses up to maximum. You kept your steady pace, refusing to look behind you, letting any sound from the deserted street tell you anything of what surrounded you.

Suddenly you heard rushed steps coming towards you. You spun around, slightly crouched, braced for whatever was going to hit you.

You were shocked when a young boy collided with you, grabbing your jacket sleeve and tugging you with him. You tried to shove him off, but he shook you, his eyes wild.

“We need to hide”, he hissed desperately. “Now”.

You let him pull you along the street, and rush into a side-alley. You both stood there, unmoving, the boy seeming to wait for something. You stayed quiet and waited as well. You waited. And waited. Nothing happened. You pushed the boy away from you, suddenly becoming very defensive. 

“What do you think you’re doing?”, you snarled at him. He backed away from you, his hands held up.

“I’m not doing anything! I just need to hide. I’m helping you too, you know”. You cocked an eyebrow as he continued. “Some guys from a gang are chasing me, they would have hurt you if they saw you as well”.

You scoffed. “A gang? Really? And what, you knew they were a gang, because you’re in one too?”, you finished sarcastically. He looked at you, silent.

You started studying his features, wondering what on earth he was doing out so late at night. He had black, straight hair that stuck up at peculiar angles, as if he’d been thrown through a small hurricane. His pretty but fearful eyes still held a childish shine to them. He can’t be over eighteen years old. He had a small build, but looked lithe and agile, ready to spring away from you if you tried to hurt him. He didn’t look like he could ever be part of a gang.

Suddenly you heard voices from the main road. The two of you flattened yourselves against the wall, as four men sprinted past the alleyway. You held your breath until the voices had faded before carefully making your way out of the tiny passage.

The boy grabbed your shoulder and yanked you back. Before you could protest, he made a sign for you to stay quiet. “There were six men chasing me”, he breathed. “Wait here...”

He tiptoed to the corner of the alley, and slowly peaked out into the open. Before you could even gasp, he was snatched by the collar and thrown out onto the street with a yelp.

From your hiding place, you saw the four men from before join the other two, as they pushed the boy around, jeering and laughing cruelly. Before the kid could even regain any balance, one of the men punched him in the jaw, knocking him back towards another man who hit him just as hard in the temple.

You felt like you wanted to throw up. You couldn’t let them hurt this boy. There was no way you were running away from this.

With an angry cry, you flung yourself at one of the men, and threw a punch at him with all your might. You heard a satisfying smack as the man fell back, yelling. Another came towards you, but was quickly tackled by the young boy, who had used the minor distraction to his advantage. You jumped here and there, staying light in your feet, keeping out of reach of the other men. You’d lost the element of surprise, now there wasn’t a good chance of winning. You were decent at fighting, at best, but simple science showed that you’d never be able to knock these guys out.

You leaped away from one of the males as he tried to rush you, quickly flying forward again to punch him with all of your strength. Suddenly one of them came at you from your right. You saw their arm swing towards you and you felt your cheek light up with pain as his hand collided with you. You stumbled back, only to be kicked in the gut, making you slam onto the ground, winded.

You’re vision went out of focus only for a second, but when you could see again, you saw the boy being held tightly by his neck, and one of the men walking over to you, holding a knife.

Shit... you closed your eyes. At least I die protecting someone. That’s not the worst way to go...

Suddenly, there was a pained yelp and a loud thud in front of you. You opened one eye to see another tall boy standing in front of you. You stared. The man who had fallen had a hand over his face, which was covered in blood. The now bloody knife that he had been holding was now held delicately in the steady hand of your savior. He turned to you and grinned.

“Hey! It looks like you and Jeonginnie need some help, huh?” You kept staring at him, not believing that someone could actually smile over something like this.

Then seven other young boys, all yipping and catcalling, appeared out of nowhere, surrounding the six attackers.

One of them stepped forward, and placed his foot over the knee of the bleeding man. This last one whimpered. “Alright, listen up!”, he said, his voice full of authority. “This one here already looks a little beaten up. Now, we don’t want anything worse to happen, do we?” He put his weight on the foot rested on the man’s knee, making him cry out. It must be broken. “Bad enough you hurt our youngest brother”, the guy continued. “But you also had to go and hit an innocent bystander. Now was that nice?” He slammed his foot onto the knee of the man, who screamed in agony.

“Yeah, who beats up a helpless citizen?”, called a shorter boy, smirking. He may have been small, but he looked imposing and downright testifying next to the taller men.

“We didn’t go after the other kid first”, growled one guy. “We—“ he got cut off from a blow from a blond kid.

“Who asked you?”, the boy yelled, his voice way deeper than you could have expected. “Keep your mouth shut, or Jisung will have to sew it shut for you”. You felt your stomach writhe at the thought.

“What Felix said”, chuckled the leader. “So, are you gonna run on home, or are you gonna ask for broken limbs and holes through your abdomen?” The boys all growled and reached for weapons that you could not see.

The men all shifted until one stepped forward. “Well leave you. You runts aren’t worth the trouble anyway”.

The one called Felix strode forward. “Who are you calling a runt?”, he spat. He got held back by the shorter boy, and stayed put, glaring at the attackers.

Slowly, the men walked out of the circle of your protectors, and in the direction from which they came from. The one who had been holding Jeongin let him go, letting him breathe properly. The leader let the bleeding one go, and they all huddled together. The bleeding man stayed back, hesitating.

“What?”, asked the boy who had first saved you. “You want your knife back?” He twirled it in his hand. “Too bad for you. Finders keepers”.

The man leaped forward, but stopped short as the leader and four other of the older boys pulled a gun out of their back pockets and pointed them directly at the man’s head. Your chest tightened in fear. They can’t kill him! They wouldn't! But their hands were steady as they glared at the man, until he gave up and joined the rest of his group.

Once they had disappeared into the darkness, four boys, including the leader, rushed over to Jeongin.

“Dammit, idiot”, one exclaimed. “If you’re gonna leave the base at night, leave with someone else, and not on your own!” The younger boy pushed him away.

“I’m fine, Woojin Hyung! Get off!”

The leader checked him up and down. “Are you seriously hurt anywhere?”, he asked, his voice anxious, not at all resembling what you’d heard only seconds before. “Is there anything we should treat immediately?”

Again, Jeongin shoved him away. “I said I’m fine!!”, he whined. “Let me go! You wouldn’t do this to each other!”

“Thats because you’re the youngest”, replied a boy with wide eyes, and cute cheeks guess who it is I dare you

The boy who had saved you crouched in front of you. You searched for a gun, but he didn't seem to have one, because he only held the knife as he inspected you.

“Are you alright?”, he asked kindly. You didn’t trust him enough to answer. He smiled softly. “This definitely isn’t the way you thought your night was gonna go, right? If you want, we can take you back to base and treat that cut”. He pointed to your cheek. “I’m Seungmin, by the way”. He grinned cutely, making you wonder if you had just imagined the most ridiculous thing in your entire life. But no, it felt very real.

The leader walked over with Felix. You tried to shuffle away, not wanting to be anywhere near either of them. They both stopped and stared at you in confusion.

“We’re not gonna hurt you”, the leader said gently. “Trust me, we’re not what we just looked like. That’s all for show. Gotta keep up our image, ya know? Felix here is actually a real softie”. He continued in a whisper. “Especially for little Changbin”. He sniggered as Felix protested, pouting. “Oh, and my name’s Chan, by the way”.

He was interrupted by Jeongin who came running to you, looking at you with the same wide eyes, filled with concern. “Are you okay?”, he asked in a near frantic tone. “You shouldn’t have stayed, you should have run!” You noticed Chan giving Seungmin a look as you protested, speaking loudly for the first time since you were rescued.

“Like hell I was gonna run. And leave you to those assholes? Not a chance”.

He looked at you in surprise, his mouth hanging open slightly. Before he could say anything else, the boy with cute cheeks came over. “Is anyone hurt here?”, he asked with a bright tone.

“No, thanks Jisung”, replied Seungmin. “But you might want to take a look at that mark on... umm.....” he turned to you. “We don’t know your name....”

You swallowed. “I’m— I’m y/n”.

Seungmin grinned and turned back to Jisung. “You better look at the mark on y/n’s face. Don’t want an infection”.

Jisung walked up to you, making you shy away again. He gave you a cute smile, his cheeks lifting and making him slightly resemble a squirrel. He looked at your cheek, not trying to reach out, knowing it would spook you. He finally looked back at Chan. “Nothing major, but it's best if I clean it up back at base”.

You were too numb to protest, your head had started aching and fatigue washed over you like a wave. You let Jeongin pull you up and support you as you walked into the shadows.

++++++++++++

After what felt like years of walking, you arrived at an old warehouse that seemed to connect to a six-story high concrete building. There were holes in the roof, and the windows were broken. But the tallest boy ran forward a yanked the rusted doors open, to reveal a huge lit up area with tables, computers and couches spread in a random pattern.

You stared in wonder at the place. A few of the boys laughed at your reaction.

“Nice huh?”, asked the taller boy. “A bit run down, but it’s home. Welcome to District 9, owned by Stray Kids!” He gestured to the entire group proudly. Everyone started lining up, as the tall kid began introducing them.

“You already met Jeonginnie”, he said with a smirk, ruffling the kid’s hair. “Of course we have leader Hyung: Chan. Then your knight in shining armor is Seungmin”. Each of the boys gave you a wide smile, a few waving cutely when their name was mentioned. “Then more elders”. At that, the next three boys retaliated angrily. “Woojin Hyung, Changbin Hyung and Minho Hyung. Then we have our resident medic squirrel, Jisungie, our hot temper, Felix; and then there’s me: I’m Hyunjin. The brains and techie”. He gave you a huge smile, his eyes turning into little crescents.

You nodded silently, not knowing what to say. Then Jisung stepped forward. “I need to check that cut”, he said. “I’ll get it cleaned up, then we can get you something to eat. I bet you’re ready to bite someone’s arm off”. He laughed before disappearing into the shadows in the corner of the warehouse.

Jeongin started walking to you, but Seungmin stopped him. “You need to rest. I’ll take y/n to the infirmary”. The younger boy made a grimace but walked off without a word. You stared after him, confused at his attitude. Shouldn’t he be more shaken up? Then you realized that this must be an occupational hazard. Seungmin gestured for you to follow him.

++++++++++++

You walked silently trough hallways that should have lined the side of the warehouse, but it felt like you had left the real world and were walking through another dimension which stretched out forever. Fatigue made you eyelids heavy, and your feet dragged along the floor and hit the steps of staircases as you resisted the urge to ask Seungmin where you were going and how much longer your trip was going to take.

Finally, you came to a hollow doorway which opened into a room filled with old broken mattresses and tables with medical equipment strewn everywhere.

“Sorry, it doesn’t look very professional”, Seungmin said sheepishly. “We just scrounge for stuff in the trash, if no one wants it. But usually Jisung’s in charge of cleaning everything and organizing it. JISUNG HYUNG”, he yelled. His voice reverberated off the walls and carried all over the ‘base’. You stood still as stone, not knowing what to say to the boy. Seungmin turned back to you. “He should be here in a couple of minutes. In the mean time, try to find somewhere to sit. You can move stuff around if you want, just be careful not to cut yourself”. And with that he turned on his heel and left the way you had come.

You slowly walked farther into the large domed room, trying look up at the tall ceiling, but it was veiled in a dark shadow from only a few feet up from the ground. Everything was hard, cold, exposed concrete, and it closed you in completely, except for the entrance and a square hole on your right that should have been a window.

I guess the warehouse is meant to connect to this tower thing. Judging by how many staircases you climbed, you guessed that you were three to four floors up. No point in trying to climb out of the window. You were going to have to trust this group of kids.

You heard footsteps approaching, and you turned to the doorway. No one was there. You frowned, sure that you’d heard someone.

You yelped as a voice sounded above you.

“That’s not the only entrance, I’m afraid”. Ten feet up the wall opposite the entrance, hidden in darkness, was another hole in the wall. In it stood Jisung, sniggering at your reaction. He calmly walked down a short ramp and jumped down to where you were standing.

“There are passages leading anywhere and everywhere in this place”, he said with a hint of pride in his voice. “You and Seungmin took a rather long and tedious one. It took Chan, Changbin and me so long to carve and map out every tunnel. But it’s worth it. We can go wherever we want here, and quickly too”. He pulled out of his pocket some disinfectant and some tissues. “This might sting a little bit, but I doubt you’re much of a wimp, just please don’t try to punch me”. He applied the solution on your cheek delicately, intent on his job.

Curiosity nagged at you. You wanted to ask so many questions, but you knew you’d only get answers to certain ones. You decided to ask the more obvious questions.

“What is this place? And who are you guys?” You tried to keep a steady voice, but you still felt shaken up by the night’s events, and there still remained a tremor in your tone. Jisung smiled kindly.

“This is our base, our home. We’re a gang known as Stray Kids, hence our introduction earlier. He live in and compete for territories in parts of the city, against other gangs. We give off a pretty terrifying image, but in reality everyone in this group is a softy”. You thought back to how kindly Seungmin had talked to you, and when the older members swarmed around Jeongin to make sure he wasn’t hurt. Jisung seemed to read your mind. “Also, we're in no way gonna hurt you, if you’re concerned about that”, he continued. “We only like scaring other gangs for fun. Threatening innocents, that’s not our style”.

“How long have you guys been out here”, you asked before you could stop yourself.

“Depends. Chan Hyung has been here the longest. Then Changbin Hyung and I came along. We were the first three. We actually planned on calling ourselves 3RACHA until Woojin, Seungmin, Minho and Hyunjin came later. Then Felix, then Jeongin. Our little Maknae”. He seemed deep in thought. “I know he doesn’t look like the type to want to be part of a gang, but he insists on staying with us. We’re a family. He’s always trying to prove himself, but I don’t think he’ll stop trying until he gets his own gun”.

You winced at the thought of the boy getting such a dangerous weapon.

“Don’t worry, no one under eighteen in this gang is allowed a firearm”, Jisung reassured you. “Hyunjin was the last person to get one. I’m next; then Felix, even though it makes me nervous to think of that trigger happy idiot with a firearm; then Seungmin will get one; and then Jeongin next year”. You nodded slowly. Jisung gave you a cheeky grin.

“You know, I think Jeonginnie was trying to be very impressive tonight”, he stated. “I think he might have a crush on you”. You were going to retaliate, but he stopped you before you could get any words out. “I’m just making an observation! Now it’s up to you to decide if you like him”.

“Hyung!”, came the Maknae’s voice from the hallway. Soon Jeongin walked in, furrowing his eyebrows at how close Jisung was to you. “I’m here to give y/n a tour, before dinner”.

Jisung nodded and put away the disinfectant. “It was nice meeting you, y/n. I hope we can see each other again soon”. Then he leaped up, grabbing the ramp from where he’d come, he hoisted himself up, and disappeared into the dark passageway from where he’d come.

Jeongin shuffled his feet. "Umm... should we go?"

You felt heat rising in your cheeks, but you kept a blank face. "Sure. What parts of your base did you want to show me?"

+++++++++++

You both trudged through dark hallway after dark hallway, Jeongin showing you differently rooms which all held a special function, either for the entire team, or for certain individuals. You both stayed relatively quiet, only speaking when the boy gave you an explanation over a room, or when you had basic questions. After a while you started wondering about what would happen when this unreal night came to an end. You knew Jisung had reassured you, but could you really trust him?

Before you could stop yourself, the question slipped out in a frightened tone.

"What are you going to do with me at the end of this?" Jeongin glanced at you. "I mean... Am I going to have to stay here forever because I know about you? Do I have to take a vow of silence to keep your secret? Are you... Are you going to....?" You didn't even want to end the sentence. Are you going to kill me?

Jeongin seemed to realise what you were implying, and gasped, his eyes filled with horror. "You think we would hurt you?", he asked, bewildered. He shook his head. "Even if that's what the entire group voted, even if that was part of our rules, I wouldn't let them hurt you. Hell, I would fight every single one of my teammates to keep you safe, do you understand?"

You gave a small and quick nod, shocked at the boy's outburst. He also seemed to realise what he'd said, and he looked down at his feet before stuttering: "I-- I mean that I couldn't let my friend's hurt a-- an innocent", he said quietly. "That's against my morals... And.... I wouldn't want my teammates become murderers for such a useless reason..."

You swallowed hard, glad that you were in the shadow, so that he couldn't see you turning completely red. You thought of saying something, but your mind became black. Jeongin suddenly spoke, in a voice that felt a little too happy.

"I think I smell Chan's kimchi", he said, sniffing the air. "Come on, I'm sure you're dying to eat".

+++++++++++

You sat at the dented and bent table, quietly eating the hot kimchi, studying the wooden surface. There were thin lines cut into the wood, and you saw even deeper holes here and there. This table must have been stabbed repeatedly. You forced yourself not to think too much about why the table could be in such poor condition.

Jeongin sat at the end of the table on your left, also having his share of food. To your right, across from Jeongn, sat Chan and Minho, who was inspecting and polishing his gun until it shone brightly. You tried to avoid their eyes as you ate, not wanting to look at the dangerous firearm just a few feet away from you. Suddenly, Minho threw the gun down with a loud clang, making you flinch so hard, you nearly spilled your food as you leaped away from the table.

Minho have you a look. "Seriously? You still don't trust us?" He sounded irritated. "After we saved your ass, brought you to a safe place, healed you and gave you food? At least try to trust Jeongin, otherwise I think he'll never want to talk to us again for scaring you".

Jeongin slammed his hands onto the table and glared at the older boy. "Don't talk to y/n like that", he snarled. "Can you seriously blame them for being terrified? Not even two hours ago the two of us were nearly killed. That might be an everyday danger for me, but that's not a normal thing for a regular person!" He raised his voice, making Minho's eyes widen in surprise.

You winced away from his yell, holding back years. This was too much. You had nearly been killed, you were sitting in a huge abandoned building surrounded by nine dangerous boys who all carried at least a knife each, and some had guns ready to shoot at anyone who stepped out of line. All you wanted was to end this nightmare. Jeongin noticed you holding in a sob, and gently rested a hand on your shoulder.

"I'm sorry", he told you quietly. "I shouldn't have yelled. The last thing I want for you is to be scared". You nodded, trying to silently treasure him that you were okay. Chan groaned mockingly.

“Oh my Goooooood”, he laughed. “Would you two just date already? It's doing my head in watching this cat and mouse game. You’re both cute, you're both made for each other, we get it; now confess”. 

You stared at Chan, then looked at Jeongin. He had his head bent down, seeming to find new interest in the sand-covered stone ground. This isn't real. This can't be real. Your head was spinning. You didn't know what to do, so the only thing you felt made sense to do was jump up from your seat, excuse yourself, and dash or of the room. 

++++++++++

You didn't know where you were going, you didn't care. You just wanted to get as far away from those people as possible. 

You nearly tripped in the darkness of the corridors, but you kept speeding up, sure that you could hear a voice calling you, chasing you. 

Suddenly, the floor disappeared from under your feet. You screamed as you felt yourself plummet into the darkness. Suddenly a hand grabbed you firmly and halted your fall. You swung lightly in your jacket, like a cat being held by its scruff. You twisted around to look at who had caught you, letting out a strangled but relieved cry at the site of Jeongin. He grunted as he slowly pulled you up, grimacing as his arms scraped against rough stone. You managed to cling onto the end of the building, pulling yourself up with his help, and you both finally collapsed onto the floor, huffing from the effort. 

After you had both regained your breath, Jeongin glared at you. “Did you really think you wouldn't hurt yourself if you didn't know where you were going?” He shook his head. “I can't believe you nearly just fell out of a window...” 

You looked out at where you were sitting, and noticed that the hole in the wall actually led to outside. In the distance, past more recked buildings you could see a few flickering street lamps and hear an even more distant sound of car horns from people driving late at night. It all seemed like it was worlds away. 

You started laughing, quietly at first, then louder, a childish cackle. I must be going nuts. You felt hysteria clouding your mind, but you couldn't care less. You'd survived an attack from a gang, you'd nearly just fallen out of a window! This was quite a night. Jeongin was staring at you as if he’s never seen you before in his life.

“I'm sorry I ran away like that”, you hiccuped. “I know I'm not aware of all of the paths here... Maybe you could show me more of your home so that I could memorize them”. You had no idea where your sudden burst of confidence had come from; the dangerous night must have given you a temporary high, making you invincible to fear. 

Jeongin then chuckled. “If you keep getting yourself into trouble like this, I might have to, so that I know you have somewhere to hide to stay away from danger. Are you always this unlucky?” 

You giggled again. “Unlucky is my middle name, pal. You’re gonna have to protect me”. 

“Maybe I'll meet you every night to make sure you don't get yourself hurt”, Jeongin offered, amused. 

“And we could go somewhere to eat so that no one thinks it's suspicious”, you laughed even more. You were definitely losing it. Jeongin became silent. “So... Is it a date?” 

You stopped laughing and felt blood rise to your face again. “Ummm...” the boy looked away. “Yes. It's a date”. 

He looked at you with surprised and bright eyes. “Really? Like really really?” He sounded like a child who had just gotten a gift. 

“Really really”, you smiled. 

He beamed at you. “Then I can always protect you!” 

You lightly hit his shoulder. “No way! Your too young! What if you taught me to defend myself? Basic kickboxing? How to handle and throw a knife?” 

Jeongin yelped. “Do you really think I would let you anywhere near a knife?!” 

You both laughed again.

You talked until it started getting light out. When you left, the boys all had pouts on their faces, and immediately invited you back anytime you wanted. As you walked home in the growing daylight, you thought about what had happened tonight. 

This is no normal relationship, you thought. 

Then you shrugged, smiling to yourself. 

But who said abnormal was bad, anyway? 

[BONUS]

“Hey, y/n!”, Jisung called as you strolled through the warehouse casually. “Have you eaten today?” 

You were about to answer when a dark voice sounded from a few floors up: “That’s my line, Hyung”. You looked up to see Jeongin, smiling childishly at the creepy voice he’d made. He leapt from the platform, jumped down levels of old metal trash, and ran to you, hugging you quickly. “I’m glad you came, I’ve been feeling lonely”. He stuck out his bottom lip. Since when does he act cute? 

“He’s also been insufferable”, said Jisung, rolling his eyes as he walked off. Neither of you payed attention to him as you both made your way to one of the passageways. 

“Hi, y/n”, came the greeting of Woojin. “Do you have time for that kickboxing lesson you mentioned?” 

Jeongin steered you away, glaring at the older boy. “Y/n definitely has no time, I’m afraid”. 

Seungmin crossed paths with you in the hall. “Hey, y/n! You wanna learn how to throw some knives today, like you asked?” 

Jeongin huffed. “Why is everyone trying to stea my date?!” He made a face, making you laugh. 

“You’re way to protective”, you said. 

“No, I’m being responsible”, he replied, giggling as well. 

#stray kids #stray kids imagines #yang jeongin #jeongin imagines #jeongin #stray kids jeongin #scenario #stray kids scenarios #kpop scenarios #seo changbin #changbin #chan #bang chan #kim woojin #woojin #minho #stray kids minho #lee minho #lee know #hwang hyunjin #hyunjin #han jisung #jisung #kim seungmin #seungmin #stray kids seungmin #stray kids jisung #jyp #jyp entertainment #jyp stray kids

[marauders--mischief]

Glasses and Whiskey Part 2

Request:  loved “Glasses and Whiskey” sm !!! are you gonna make a part 2??? 👀☺️

Pairing: James x Ravenclaw Reader

Word Count: 7,202

Warnings: Language, implied smut kinda???? +my awful writing 

A/N: Okie dokie, ngl, I’m not super proud of this fic cause I tried writing in a different POV but I don’t think it worked out to well. Also... the beginning of this fic takes place BEFORE the events of part 1, just in James perspective. Hopefully it should be easy enough to follow along but, like I said, not super proud of this fic so I apologise if it isn’t. Other than that, hope you enjoy :)

Previous Parts: Part 1

****

*****JAMES' PERSPECTIVE*****

James Potter knew everyone. At least, he thought he did. For several years he roamed about the halls of Hogwarts, every single student smiling at him admirably. And for several years, he had somehow remained completely oblivious to the existence of a quiet and extremely pretty Ravenclaw. You.  

The first time he saw you, he was in the library. Remus had dragged him, Sirius and Peter to study, though the three of them were doing nothing of the sort. Then, he heard a soft giggle that somehow made him feel lighter and he caught himself smiling subconsciously at the sound.

"I'll be back in a second, lads," he said, clearly distracted by something, though the rest of them said nothing. He searched row after row in between bookcases, and though in the back of his mind, he knew it was a ridiculous thing to be doing, looking for someone because of their laugh, he was growing more and more curious and for the life of him, he couldn't bring himself to care.

As he turned the corner, he saw you, sat with none other than Lily Evans. Merlin, you were beautiful. How had he not seen you with Lily before now? He was almost mad at himself for concentrating on people as pathetic as Snivellus, when instead, he could've been talking to you.  

And it always seemed such a simple thing to do for James; talking. But when he went up to you, your eyes staring up at him, almost piercing through his very soul, he couldn't even bring himself to speak one word. He just awkwardly stuttered and rushed away, ignoring the glare Lily was giving him.

Walking back to his friends, James began to feel the effects of rejection. He felt it completely pointless to even try and hope you would talk to him now. But, the effects soon wore off, and he could think logically again.  

"Where've you been then?" Remus asks, his tone interested, though his attention never once left the book in front of him.

"Kissing some girl probably, hey James?" Sirius laughs.

James goes wide-eyed in shock, fumbling for an explanation. "Wha- I, no. I just... went to get a book for studying."

"Oh yeah?" Remus questions, a small smirk showing on his face.

"Yeah," James replies, confident with his reply now he had come up with a half-way decent excuse for why he had been gone so long.  

Remus looks up at him, still smirking, before returning back to his book. James thinks he's got away with it but a few seconds later Remus asks, "Where's the book then?"

"Oh shi-"

"HA!" Sirius exclaimed, "So, our boy Prongs has been snogging someone then! Who was it?" He ponders for a while, disregarding James' objections to the whole idea. "Wait, was it-?"

But Sirius didn't get the chance to finish his question, as a furious Madame Pince came stomping towards them, herding them out of the library.

"Hmph... brilliant guys. Really, just fantastic." Remus rolls his eyes, seemingly annoyed though he had almost done studying anyway. He'd finish the rest in the common room.  

"Oh shove off Moony, we all know you'll get full marks on every test anyway," Sirius jests. "It's Wormtail that should be worrying."

James chuckles as the smaller boy jogs to keep up with them. He waits for him and teasingly ruffles his hair. He had hoped that the mystery of where he had gone in the library had been forgotten, but for the rest of the journey to the Gryffindor Tower, Sirius, Remus and even Peter listed almost all the girls (and some boys) in Hogwarts, all of which James had responded with an exasperated "no."  

When they got back to the common room and his friends finally shut up about who he had supposedly kissed, they made their way over to the fireplace, sitting down on the couches around it. Though at first, he remained debating about their next big prank, he soon became disengaged from the conversation and instead his mind drifted to think of ideas on how to talk to you.  

Obviously, the best way to do that was to ask Lily, who was clearly one of your close friends. The only problem with that was that barely two hours passed by without her calling him an "arrogant toerag" or anything of that variation. No, his best bet would to be ask around the Ravenclaws and maybe some of the other houses to see what he could find out about you. Maybe then, he could ask you about your interests. So, that's what he planned to do. The four Marauders went up to the boy's dormitories shortly after, minds buzzing at the genius of the plan they had just come up with (James would have to ask Sirius to go over it again at breakfast) and soon, they fell asleep.

The next morning, James woke up earlier than everyone else and got ready to go down to breakfast in the Great Hall. Before he left, he placed an enchantment on the door to his dormitory so it only opened after a certain amount of time had passed. He couldn't have any of them interrogating about why he didn’t sit with them. Breakfast only lasted an hour anyway and he would be sure to save some food for Sirius, Remus and Peter for after.  

When he went down, there were only a few people. Most of them were Slytherins in the older years, so he didn't bother going over to them. Instead, he sat beside some Hufflepuffs in the same year. However, much to his annoyance, even after asking them multiple questions, they seemed to have no idea who you were. It didn't help that he didn't have much to go on either. After fifty minutes of asking around at all the house tables about you, he had gained absolutely no information about you at all. It was infuriating. Your name must have been said in your classes at least once, but it appeared that no one could place the face to a name. So, after an hour of questions, he resided himself once again to the idea that he would never know you as much as he wanted to. He had half-convinced himself to just talk to you, but he knew he wouldn't be able to do it without stuttering again. Defeated at least for now, he heads over to the kitchens. Ensuring no one is watching, he tickles the pear and opens the door. He asks one of the house elves to bring up breakfast to the Gryffindor common room, thanks them and heads back up to the tower, already formulating another plan.

Throughout the week, James could be seen in complete concentration, often zoning out or banging his head against the wall, probably in a vain attempt to have an idea. But, to his frustration, the only conclusion James could come up with is to talk to Lily. It would be difficult, especially since whenever he would teasingly call out to her, she would glare at him and walk away in the opposite direction. He'd just have to get her to listen to him somehow.  

Over the following days, that's what he did. It was only after the both of them got told by Professor Slughorn to stay behind after potions that he finally got his chance to talk to her.

They had been brewing the Draught of Living Death and it was the perfect opportunity for James to talk to Lily... if only Sirius wasn't sat in-between them.  Every time James would lean to talk to Lily, Sirius would lean in the same direction, blocking any possible form of quiet communication. Fed up, James shouted Lily's name, unaware of how loud he had actually been just as the room went completely silent. Professor Slughorn's attention turned towards the source of the noise, and when he saw where it came from, he said, "Mr Potter and Miss Evans?" He waited until the two of them nodded in acknowledgement. "See me after lesson, please."

The potions teacher shut the ingredients cupboard unintentionally harshly, before addressing the two students before him. "Now, I do hate doing this, especially as you're both two of my most promising students... but you must pay attention during lessons." Lily looked down at her shoes, almost looking as though she was apologetic for her behaviour, but James could tell she was half fighting with herself on whether or not to say something back to Slughorn. James felt a sudden urge of guilt washing over him; it was his fault she was in here when she hadn't even done anything wrong. Only half listening to the lecture, James waited until Slughorn dismissed them both. He was planning on having to run and catch up to Lily, though he was surprised when, as soon as they were out of sight from any onlookers, Lily grabbed him by the robes and forcefully dragged him to the edge of the wall.

"It's one thing, Potter, for you to try and make my life a living hell, but if you get me into trouble one more time, I'll-"

"I'm sorry, okay?" His voice remorseful.  

"Well-" Lily paused for a moment, processing what he had said. This wasn't James' normal behaviour, around her at least. "Well, erm... Good," she mumbled. She turned to leave, but James called her back.

"Wait!" Stopping in her tracks, the red-haired girl turned back towards him. "I need your help with something," he continued. Thinking for a moment, he hurriedly added, "please."

"What could you possibly need my help for?" She asked, incredulous.  

"Well," he scratched the back of his neck, "Merlin, don't take this the wrong way, Evans... I want to get to know your friend."

"I have quite a few of those, Potter," she says impatiently, rolling her eyes. "Which one?"

"I don't know her name, that's half the problem actually," he admits. "She's in Ravenclaw, I know that much, and she was with you in the library."

"Y/N?"

"I guess. I hadn’t even seen her before until a few days ago," he shrugs.

Lily looks at him, for a moment, shocked. Then, she remembers she's talking to James Potter and suddenly, anger spurs inside her. "Definitely not, Potter. She's not some... thing for you to win over."

"Lily I swear I don't mean it like that!" Lily seems to hesitate so James uses the advantage while he has it. He tells her in detail about the day in the library, at which she nods in recollection, and how he had tried to talk to her but always found himself tripping over his words.  

"...Then, at breakfast I asked everyone about her, but no one knows enough about her so, here I am." He finishes.

Lily stares at him, trying to stifle a laugh. "I can't believe you actually did that," she says. Ultimately, what he had just told her was what had convinced Lily that James was genuine. No one put that much effort into one girl, not just for a prank, as she first expected it to be. "I can understand why you couldn't find anything out about her though. She's very quiet and reserved around other people and I think she prefers not having everyone know everything about her."  

"So... this means you'll help me?" James asked.

"Yes James, this means I'll help you. But if you upset her in any way, I will hex you."

They started walking back together, but when they separated (Lily going to dinner and James back to the dormitory to find his friends), he couldn't help but repeat your name aloud. He liked the way it rolled off his tongue and he was now more anxious than ever to talk to you.  

Later that night, James was awoken from his nap by a sudden weight on the couch he was laying on. Drowsily opening his eyes, he saw a blur of red hair and immediately became more awake.  

Lily giggled. "Right, before I help you, you need to promise me something."

James waited a while before he realised Lily was waiting for him to say something. "Okay."

"If I help you, you can't hex Severus anymore."

"Aww, Lils," he pleads. "He deserves it, hanging round with those Slytherins. You know who they are right?"

She huffs and stands up. "Of course I do, I'm not stupid. I told him I don't like it before he- well... Before he called me a Mudblood." James can see Lily getting aggravated by the memory, but he doesn't point it out. "But, if you can't stop it, then the deal's off."

"Fine... I'll stop hexing him, unless he does something first."

"I'm not going to get any better than that, am I?" She asks, sitting back down. James shakes his head, grinning. "Then I suppose that'll have to do," she sighs. "Now, here's the plan..."

Apparently, you were in James' Transfiguration class and yet again, he found himself wondering why he had never seen you before. Lily even said that you usually sat at the Gryffindor house table in the mornings. He did give himself a pass on that, though, as until recently, Lily stayed as far away as possible from him. As he had Transfiguration next, he made a point of getting there early so he could ask McGonagall if he could move seats. He was sure she'd agree. After all, as good as he was at the subject, he wouldn't mess around as much if he wasn't sat next to Sirius. Knocking on the door, he waited until he heard her tell him to come in.  

"Hiya Professor!" He smiled. Minnie always was his favourite teacher, even if she was strict.

"Oh, it's you Potter. What’s the matter?"

"I was going to ask if I could move seats this lesson? Maybe towards the back of the room," he suggested.

McGonagall eyed him suspiciously, but went along with it anyway. "Will the seat next to Miss Y/L/N do?"

James couldn't believe it. He supposed this is how it would feel if he drank Felix Felicis. Then again, there weren't really many possiblities of where he could've sat at the back, but he chooses to ignore this piece of information and take it as a sign of good fortune. "Um- yes, actually," he nodded, hoping his voice wouldn't give away his excitement.

"Well, I suppose you won't be disrupting my lesson sat next to her. I am right in saying it’s only for today?"

"I think so, yes," replied James.

"Very well Mr Potter. I will inform Marlene when she arrives about the change."

As James leaves the room, he shouts back to McGonagall. "Thanks Minnie!"

When Marlene saw James sat in her seat, she was close to dragging him out of it. Fortunately, James had told Sirius about the situation, who quickly pulled Marlene to the front of the classroom. The moment you entered the classroom, you're obviously confused, but you don't say a word about it and go to sit down in your seat like normal.  

James waited until McGonagall finished demonstrating how to perform transfiguration on animals before he spoke to you. "You're Y/N, right?" You nod but he can tell you're shy, so he tries to make things easier for you. "I'm James," he grins, and to his delight, you laughed.  

"I know who you are. You're one of the most popular people in the entire school." 

James smiles, but waits to reply as McGonagall was handing out rabbits to each student. There were several 'Aww's' from the rest of the girls in the class who were fawning over the creatures. Even James could admit they were cute. When she had passed their table, he spoke again. "Only one of the most popular? Who's more popular than me?" He jokes, shooting you a wink. "I'll have to catch up with them." To James' dismay, went back to focusing on transfiguring your rabbit into a hare; avoiding any eye contact with him, though not before he caught a glimpse of your blush. But this time, he wasn't going to give up talking to you. This lesson was important for Lily's plan to get you to talk to him more.  

"So, who are you rooting for next week?" He asks after you both had spent thirty minutes in silence. He had decided it would be better to let you get on with your work for a while.

"I assume you're talking about Quidditch?" James nods in response to your question, watching as you look back at him. "Well, seeing as my house isn't playing, I guess I'm rooting for whoever wins," you say, playfully, knowing he would want most people to be supporting his house.  

"I'll lend you my Gryffindor banner, then," his cocky smirk making you laugh again.

"Lily always told me you were egotistical," you joke. "How can you know you'll win?"

"Hey! I'm not saying I'll win the match by myself! I'm saying my team will."

"Well I suppose we'll find out next week then, won't we?"  

Smiling, he stands up, the lesson now over. With the way seemed to be going, Lily's idea was going to work in no time. "I'm sure we will."  

As he predicted, Gryffindor won the match against Hufflepuff and as soon as the match had ended, James announced a party held in the Gryffindor common room. When they discussed it the week before, Lily told him she would be sure to get you to come.

On his way back from the pitch, he spotted you walking back with another Ravenclaw girl, almost at the castle's entrance. "Y/N!" He shouted, running to catch up you as you had stopped to wait for him. "To think you doubted me," he panted, slightly out of breath.

"Never doubted you, James," you say matter-of-factly, motioning towards the red and gold scarf around your neck.  

Even after you left, he couldn't wipe the grin off his face.

Most of the people were already at the party, but he wasn't sure if you were as he was with Sirius getting food from the kitchens. It would probably take you a while to walk from Ravenclaw Tower anyway. When his and Sirius' arms were filled with food, they returned back to the party.  

As soon as he steps through the portrait of the Fat Lady, he sees you and Lily, both drinking Firewhiskey. However, if he wasn't already looking for you, he would've missed you completely; you were practically hidden in one of the far corners of the room. Putting the food down on a nearby table, he makes his way over to the two of you. "Hey Lily." He nods at you, hoping to not make you feel uncomfortable. "Y/N."

Deciding to quickly talk to Lily first, he drags her slightly to one side, though not far from you. "Thanks for getting her to come here. It's brilliant."

"I can tell," she laughs, her words slightly slurred due to the alcohol. "You've been smiling like an idiot since you've seen her."

James laughs nervously, about to say bye to Lily and go to talk to you, when he notices you've gone. At first, he presumes you just went to get food or something, but after five minutes of looking around with no sight of you, he faced the truth that you had left. Trying to tell himself that it was probably just because you didn't usually like parties (according to Lily), he joins the party to distract himself.

The next morning, he, Sirius, Remus, Peter and Lily head down to breakfast earlier than usual, all extremely hungry after the previous night. To his surprise, Lily stays with them and sit next to James. Not only was it incredibly funny to see the bitter look on Snape's face as he saw (something he pointed out to Sirius who proceeded to break out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter), but he was also happy that the one person who truly seemed to hate him was now becoming his friend.  

"So, I wonder where Y/N went last night," James said, hinting for Lily to answer.  

Thankfully, she realised in the questioning and very slightly anxious tone in his voice that he needed her to confirm you didn't leave because of him. "James, she probably had some homework to do," she jokes. With Sirius, Remus and Peter close beside them, she lowers her voice so they don't overhear her next words, "don't worry too much."  

Despite Lily's attempt to be quiet, Remus still heard what she said, though he hadn't been paying attention to the first part of their conversation. "Worry about what?"

Quick thinker that he was, James began to laugh. "Padfoot, obviously," he scoffs. Sirius turns around at the mention of his name. "Did you not see him and Marlene last night?"  

Lily gives a genuine laugh when she sees the shocked expression on her friend's face. "You were both hilarious," she agrees. She goes to mock Sirius and Marlene by cuddling up to James, though she struggled to keep a straight face while doing so. However, at that moment, Peter coughed and looked towards the doors of the Great Hall. James and the rest of them turned around to see you, looking as though you were on the verge of tears. None of them were subtle about the way they watch you walking straight past them to the Ravenclaw table.  

"Doesn't she usually sit with Lily?" Peter asks.

"Yeah. She does," Lily says.

You were talking to the same Ravenclaw girl James saw you with after the Quidditch match and it was only when you glanced back at them all that they stopped staring at you. Soon, you rose from the table and left the hall with your friend, laughing and looking a lot more cheerful than you had done when you had entered it. James had to resist the urge to bury his face in his hands. It figured his luck would turn after he finally started to think he stood a chance with you. Even Lily was worried. He knew this because as soon as you had left, she had run after you, probably curious as to why you had acted so strangely. Soon, he began questioning himself. He was James Potter for Merlin's sake, and it was certainly no secret that most of the girls in his year would gladly go out with him. So why did he have to fall so hard for the girl that didn't love him back? Aggressively pushing his plate away from him, he too stands to leave the hall, ignoring the shouts of Remus and Sirius. He remained oblivious and otherwise uncaring of all the eyes that followed him, simply allowing his feet to carry him away.

Over the next week, James tried to talk to you at every opportunity he got. But the only way he could ever get close to you was when he was with Lily, and even then, you completely ignored his existence. After he settled on the decision and told Lily, she suggested inviting a few people and then talking to her there. Reluctantly, he agreed and prepared himself for an anxious wait during the next few days.

Sirius was helping James pull a prank on Filch after Defense Against the Dark Arts. They had told both Peter and Remus to meet them in the Great Hall for dinner and went to retrieve the dungbombs and several other items from their dormitory. Once they had retrieved them, they split up; James was to create a diversion whilst Sirius actually carried out the prank. However, he became distracted when he saw Remus, of all people, talking to you and laughing. A wave of anger and jealousy surged through him, clenching his fists until they turned white until he remembered. He hadn't told anyone but Lily on how he felt about you, so it was unfair of him to get mad at Remus. He shakes his head, clearing the thoughts from his mind for now, and continues on his search for Filch.  

Later that day, in Potions, he dragged Lily to the seat next to him, earning several puzzled looks from both his friends and the other students. "Y/N would tell you if she liked someone, right?"

"I'd hope so. She is my best friend," Lily answers.

"Well, has she said anything about Remus?"

Lily looked towards him and saw straight away that he was worried. "Why, what happened?"

"Nothing, really. I just see them spending a lot of time together, that's all." He tried to make it seem as though he wouldn't care if you did, but in reality, inside he felt the jealousy clawing back again, almost like a monster desperate to escape.

"No, she would've told me if she liked him," she said.

The jealousy in James calmed down at the confidence of her words and he nodded. Partially to Lily, and partly to himself. "Okay," he breathed. "Thanks, Lily."

It was the day of the 'small party', as Lily had put it and everyone except you had turned up. This had led to him drinking nearly three whole bottles of Firewhiskey and a small glass of Daisyroot Draught he had managed to get from the Hog's Head from his last visit to Hogsmeade. The whole time, he was nervously biting down on his bottom lip and he kept messing with his hair. It was fair to say that by the time you did arrive, James was very clearly drunk. Lily was the first to greet you when you came in, getting up and stumbling over to hug you. "Y/N! I thought you weren't going to come."

James laughs, "well, she would've been missing out on all the fun, right Evans?" When he catches you looking and smiling at him, he felt giddy and was about to ask you to sit next to him, when you went to sit next to Remus instead. From that point on, James was only vaguely aware of the conversations around him. Insisting to himself that he wasn't bothered by your choice to not sit next to him, he started messing and levitating certain objects around the room until Lily took his wand off him, claiming he was too drunk to be messing with magic. She was probably right.  

"Spin the bottle anyone?" For James, your voice was much clearer than the rest, and he soon found himself sobering up slightly.  

Lily had gone over to sit next to you, leaving James sat in-between Marlene and Peter. When he looked over, he saw you whispering to each other.  

"So, I take it you like James then." Y/N asked.

Even in her drunken state, Lily realised this was her chance to see if she could find out how you felt about him. "I don't know," she shrugged. "He is great though, isn't he?" She prompted. Lily waited for your answer, hoping you would confess you liked him. But you only replied with an exasperated, "I guess so."

James hadn't heard this conversation, but Lily planned on telling him in the morning when they could actually talk coherently.  

Peter grabbed the attention of everyone by giving a loud cough, and they began the game.

So far, James had only kissed Sirius due to the fact that he was last in the order they were going in and somehow, you had managed to have one of his turns. He had no idea how it had got muddled up, he could only say he wasn't very happy about it. You had kissed two out of three of his best friends, Moony and Padfoot, and he was almost certain they had been flirting with you all night. Finally, it was his turn again and he reached forward to spin the bottle. Time seemed to go on for an eternity as the glass rotated, at least for James. He was hoping it would land on you, so he would finally be able to kiss you. Instead, it landed on Lily, who was now going over to James. Honestly, he shouldn't have expected any different. The world had a way of giving him the exact opposite of whatever he wanted. Hoping they could quickly get the kiss over with, the two pressed their lips together, several cheers coming from the rest of them. He knew why. Almost everyone thought he had a crush on Lily. She was pretty and smart and just the type of girl James Potter would go for. How badly he wanted to correct them all. But he thought if he did, you would definitely hate him, and that was something he wasn't willing to risk. The kiss went on for longer than he intended, both his and Lily's minds clouded, unable to focus on the time or the people around them. Pulling apart after what had felt like hours, though in reality was only a minute, he found for the second time, that both you and Remus had gone. Cursing himself for his actions, he wondered if he would ever get used to your frequent disappearances.  

*****Y/N'S PERSPECTIVE*****

Part of you felt guilty for leaving Remus alone when he was the only one to come after you, but you didn't want to be bothered by James anymore. You would just have to face the truth and accept it. You could've tried to cut him out of your life entirely, but that would mean losing Lily too and she was your best friend. Instead, you chose the alternative option; just be friends with him. Stop avoiding him and just pretend like you didn't care. So, that's what you did. During the next two weeks, you made an effort to talk to him again, even occasionally sitting next to him in Transfiguration whenever Marlene wanted to sit with Sirius. Some days, doubts weaved their way into your thoughts, convincing you that you were making a mistake; that you were only going to end up hurt. Rumours were going around about you, because how could a quiet, once barely known Ravenclaw girl become friends with one of the most popular people in Hogwarts. They couldn't really say much worse than that however, and so you learned to pay them no mind.  

What you weren't expecting, was that James would begin to flirt with you. At first, you refused to let yourself believe it. You were just being a stupid girl with a crush and you were too childish to move on. But soon, it became apparent enough to even Remus. On the way down to Defense Against the Dark Arts was when he first mentioned it.  

"You and James seem to be getting on okay."

You hummed, relishing in the warmth coming from the open archways of the castle. He seemed content enough with your silent answer, and usually you would've left it that way but for some reason, you felt the need to talk to someone about it. "I don't know. I still think he likes Lily."

Remus frowned. James was his best friend, but so were you and he hated when you were upset. "Prongs doesn't understand the implications of his actions sometimes, Y/N/N. I know I'm going to seem like a complete git when I say this, but just don't take everything he does seriously."

You were about to respond, telling him you had been telling yourself that already, when someone stepped in the middle of you and Remus, wrapping one arm around your shoulder. "You called?" Sirius said, attempting to impersonate a posh voice.

"No, we didn't Padfoot," Remus said, pushing his friends arm from around his shoulder as you did the same.

"You did. I heard my name," he defended, causing both you and Remus to laugh.

"Some variation of it, maybe," you said.

Sirius sighed, going around to walk next to Remus. You reached the classroom, the Professor already inviting the students inside. Remus was about to say goodbye to you, when he saw James, already sat with Lily. "I'll erm, see you after class, yeah Pads?"

Sirius looked slightly confused as he and Remus were usually partners in this class, but he knew Remus wouldn't do something without a reason. "Yeah, see you later Moony."

You of course, had noticed James with your best friend the moment you had entered the room. Perhaps that's what made it worse. The fact that James still talked to Lily, and as each day passed by, he appeared to be getting increasingly happier. For this, you were very thankful to Remus for staying with you. However, you knew he would try and talk to you about it and that was something you weren't really in the mood for. You started a new topic, hoping he would get the hint.

"Are you still going out with Rachel?"

"Yes," he answered. "Actually, I think we're going to the last Hogsmeade weekend together."

"Well, I'll be sure to keep Sirius well away from you this time," you chuckled, remembering when Remus told you about the first date he went on with her. Sirius had followed them and ended up causing a huge, albeit hilarious, disaster. Luckily, Rachel had taken it rather well and the Marauders had decided she was a keeper.  

"Please do," he laughed.  

At that moment, the Professor called on you, and when you weren't able to answer the question correctly, the two of you mutually agreed to remain in silence and instead focus on the remainder of the lesson.  

*****JAMES' PERSPECTIVE*****

Remus was usually a peaceful person who avoided conflict wherever possible. At least, that's what James always thought about him, anyway. Point was, it took a lot to get him to confront someone. That's why when he entered the room, scowling and in a similar mood to that of which he had on the days prior to the full moon, James became instantly concerned for himself. It didn't help that it was late, either. Remus had obviously made himself stay up so he could have a conversation with him without anyone interrupting.

"Prongs, I need to talk to you," he said abrasively.

Inside, he felt more nervous than he had in a long time, though when he raised his head to look at his scarred friend, he ensured there was no trace of anxiousness in his words. "Sure, what is it?"

Remus squints, as though frustrated by the fact that James seemed to be so uncaring of what he was about to say. "It's about Lily and Y/N."  

Well. James freezes. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that. Remus must've found out about his feelings for you. And that one thought was able to unhinge James in seconds. What if Remus hated him for liking the girl he also liked? It wouldn't be unreasonable; Remus often thought that aside from his friends, there was nothing really that great about his life. And now, once Remus had finally found someone who would accept him for everything he was, James Potter was about to take it all away from him. For the first time in his life, James felt disgusted at himself. Who was he to destroy his best friend's happiness?  

There was another worry in the back of his mind as well. What if you and Remus were already going out, and this was Remus telling him to stay away from you. Something that in that moment, felt virtually impossible.

But, it was none of those things. In fact, James might've said it was worse.  

"You need to stop messing around with her," Remus said, his words harsh but also conveying a slight amount of remorse, though James was fairly confident that it wasn't for him. "Both of them, in fact."

James, however, was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean stop making her think she's got a chance, James!" Remus said, his voice raised. "Surely you must know she loves you? She is one of my best friends, and it's not nice seeing her being unnecessarily hurt." It's clear you like Lily, so quit flirting with Y/N and acting like you don't."

It took a while for James to process everything his friend was saying, but he eventually understood. "Moony, mate. I don't like Lily like that."

"I don't care, James-." Remus hesitated. "Wait, what?"

James laughed. "I mean, she's a great friend and all, especially helping me talk to Y/N, but I haven't liked her like that since third year."  

Remus paused for a moment, trying to remember the last time James had discussed his plan to get Lily to like him. But the problem was, he couldn't. Meanwhile, James was replaying the conversation over in his head, realisation dawning on him from something Remus had said. "Hang on.... Did you say Y/N loves me?"

"Obviously. Prongs you'd have to be blind to not see-. Oh fuck." Remus began to panic, quickly noticing his mistake. "Mate, please forget I said that," he pleaded.  

But James was feeling too excited, his heart racing and finally feeling as though things were going his way. He cut Remus of mid-sentence. "What's the problem? You don't like her, do you?"

"No. No, of course not. She's just my friend," Remus assured him.

"Well, in case you hadn't noticed from this conversation, I like her and apparently she likes me back."

"Well, yes but-"

"Then shouldn't I just go find her and tell her?"

Remus considered everything for a moment. He didn't like you in that way, so James was right; there was no problem with that. As for you, well, you definitely liked James. According to what James had said, Lily would be happy for the both of them, not hurt like Remus had thought she would be. So, what was left to stop him?

"Just don't tell her I told you, okay?"  

James simply nodded and ran out of the common room to find you.  

*****Y/N'S PERSPECTIVE*****

Not for the first time, you woke up in the library, surrounded by piles of books and the light from the moon shining inside through the window. This usually happened whenever you were studying or stressed about one thing or another, but you couldn't help but wish Madame Pince would at least check the library was empty before leaving. Now your arms and neck ached from laying in an uncomfortable position. Groggily, you got up and began putting everything away, tripping over several things whilst doing it. You were too tired even, to hear the fast-approaching footsteps, gradually becoming louder and louder. As you placed the last book on the bookshelf, you turned around and bumped into someone. It was dark and your eyes were still half closed, but you could tell from the reflection from the glasses and the fluffy, unkept hair that the 'someone' you had collided with was none other than James himself.

The attempt to just stay friends with him and nothing more wasn't exactly working out in your favour. If anything, you would've said it only lead to you liking him even more. But you couldn't bring yourself to care anymore. Especially now, when he was grinning down at you like the adorable dork he was.  

"Well, well. If it isn't my favourite eagle girl," he teased. "How unexpected it is to see you here."

"Some days I think you call me everything but my name because you've forgotten it," you mused.

"Have not!" He asserted.

You giggled, glad that it was dark enough so he wouldn't be able to see the blood rising to your cheeks.

"Who could forget a name as pretty as... wait, what's your name again?"

"You're a complete arsehole, James." You attempt to convey a serious tone but your attempt to hold back the smile threatening to break onto your face doesn't work for long.

"I know you love me really, Y/N," he smirks, stepping back so he could see your face more clearly.  

You stumbled over your words, not sure if he was joking or not. Despite the smirk, it didn't feel like a playful comment. "Wha- who? I mean, yes but-"

He placed a finger on your lips, causing your breath to hitch and subsequently you fell silent. "A little birdie told me," he whispered.  

Immediately, your face fell, and you wanted to curl up into yourself. You nodded, confirming his statement and preparing yourself for the rejection that was sure to come any second now.  

"I love you too," he confesses.

Your eyes snap up to his hazel eyes, and you started wishing it was daytime. The only comparison you could think of for James' eyes was looking up between the trees and seeing the flecks of gold, green and brown. You had always found it to be very freeing. But even in the limited light you had at that moment, you're able to see they're sparkling with mischief but at the same time he's staring at you like no one has ever looked at you before. As though you were the center of his attention completely. It was such an overwhelming and pleasant feeling, but you couldn't help the disbelief that followed his words.

"But, you love Lily. Everyone knows that James."  

He shakes his head, and proceeds to explain everything that had happened since he first saw you in the library with Lily. How the parties were just an excuse to talk to you, and that Lily was only telling him how to talk to you without making you feel uncomfortable. He apologised for the kiss with Lily, promising to never drink as much as he did that night ever again. All the way through his explanation, you listened intently, things slowly starting to make sense for you.  

"And now we're here," he shrugged, finishing his story. "Kind of fitting it's in the place we first properly met."

"And you're sure this isn't some joke?" You ask.

"Two hundred percent."

"That's not a- never mind." He smiles at you and you can't help but smile back. His happiness was contagious to everyone around him.

"So. You love me." It's more of a statement than a question, but you nod anyway. "And I love you," he continues.  

"Yeah?" You couldn’t help but ask. You doubted you would ever get bored of hearing James say those words to you.

"Yeah."

He leans in towards you, his hands wrapped around the small of your back and your foreheads resting against each other. You can feel the warmth of his breath and feel every blink, his eyelashes lightly brushing against yours. Somehow, you manage to form words, though they only come out in a whisper. "What're you doing?"

His lips brush against yours, and when he pulls away, you try to follow but James holds you back, chuckling. "Think of it as making up for lost time."

You smile. Finally, the boy you had liked was here with you, about to show you how much he liked you back.

Humming, you pull him back closer to you. "I think I can live with that."

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[jugggheadjoness]

from afar pt five // jughead jones au

from afar // the one with the brother

masterlist

summary: (Y/N) needs a wedding date. jughead is the only one available. small problem-they aren’t on good terms.

words: 1,328

(((author’s note: i’m v sorry for the late upload, i was v busy with a job interview and writing this essay up! I hope you enjoy this part, its quite rambly ngl)))

“So why does my sister call you Forsythe if you hate it so much?” Josh raised his eyebrow as he sat opposite Jughead, his eyes never leaving Jughead’s.

“You make exceptions for the people you love.”

“So you love her?”

“You could say that.”

“Archibald, I need you to drive us around Boston tonight.” (Y/N) smirked “Betty, Montana and I are about to hit the town.”

“God, we’re too old for that saying.”

“I’m not exactly in bar hopping clothes.” Archie frowned.

“Good thing we’re in Manhattan and we’re fully grown adults.”

“So how long have you been together?”

“Ten months. She didn’t want to introduce me to you all just yet but she realised if she turned up alone, your family would be trying to pair her off.”

“She’s right. She’s had to go through five weddings within three years. If I were her, I wouldn’t have coped past the second one.”

“I’m sorry if you weren’t expecting me, I told her she should’ve warned you.”

“It’s odd though. Ten months and she’s never mentioned it to me.”

“I mean she didn’t tell Kevin until two weeks ago.”

“How do I look, Mon?” Betty asked, stepping out of the dressing room in the dress chosen for her.

Archie grinned, biting his lip, earning a playful smack from the dark haired girl sitting next to him.

“If only I could show my excitement like Archie, I would.” Montana commented, causing the blonde in front of her to laugh.

“Can’t wait to see you try yours on, (Y/N). Yo’ man betta tie you down before my weirdo cousin, Jackson, tries to make a move.”

“So do you work?” Josh smiled at the dark haired man before him “I’m sorry, just brotherly things that should’ve happened earlier in the relationship.”

“I write a column for the Riverdale Journal. Nothing major, I’m hoping to publish a book soon.”

“Hope it works out for you, man.”

“Thanks.” There was a slight pause “You know, I just want the best for (Y/N), right?”

“I understand. I also want the best for her. She’s one of the few females in the family. You’re lucky that you haven’t had the chance to sit down with Niall yet, he’d question you into the ground.”

“(Y/N)’s favourite cousin, right?”

The sound of a camera shutter pulled the girls back to reality, their heads turning to Archie immediately.

He responded with a shrug “Thought Jug might’ve want to see how good you looked.”

“Mon, I can’t believe you’re getting married next week.”

“Girl, I can’t believe it too. Got me feeling older than Morgan Freeman.”

Jughead smiled to himself as glanced down at the picture Archie had sent him.

archie: ‘cant wait to see ur cute little butt in a cute little dress’

archie: u waited long enough ;)

“So it’s a girls night but I’m driving you around?”

“Pretty much, we’re going to get wasted and not worry about how to get home.” Montana clapped as she shuffled around in the back seat, trying to change into something less business looking.

“You’re a decent guy.” Josh sighed “I wasn’t too sure about you at first. She spent so many nights, ranting on the phone to me about her douche-y hot roommate. God, I think she even cried a few times.”

“I never realised how much of a dick I was being. I’m not really good at handling my emotions and I guess I turned my liking into this hatred.”

“There’s a thin line between love and hate and you crossed it. She was so convinced you were plotting her murder.”

“She hung out with Reggie too much.” He rolled his eyes.

“You’re lucky she never mentioned it to our cousin, Niall. He would’ve come down to RCU and broken your legs, you would still be limping to this day.”

“She never told him?”

“No, in all honesty, I think she was crushing on you at the time but I’m not 100% sure.”

“Your family seems protective of (Y/N).”

“Well, when theres twelve of us and only two are female, you tend to develop no tolerance for bullshit when it comes to them.”

She took another shot, feeling the liquor burn her throat as it went down. (Y/N) couldn’t really remember the last time she had drank, having promised Reggie she’d go through a month of no alcohol.

“You’re one hundred percent tipsy.” a voice commented from behind her, causing her to turn around.

She frowned at the sight of her ex standing at the bar, a smirk plastered on his face.

“Would say it’s been nice seeing you, James, but that’s a lie.”

“Here, how about I buy you a drink and make you change your opinion?”

“Sure thing.”

“I guess I always knew that I didn’t hate her. I met my best friend through her, whether I want to admit that to her or not, it was the truth. Archie was constantly checking up on her and we became friends because of that. He was like you, at first.”

“Slight weary of your relationship with (Y/N)?”

“No, slightly weary of even speaking to me.”

“It makes a lot of sense. Archie’s always looked out for (Y/N) and I doubt that will stop any time soon. I’m just glad both, you and Betty, understand their closeness and don’t try to prevent it.”

Archie’s brows furrowed as he made his way over to the bar, spotting James inching closer towards (Y/N) but before he had reached her, she took the drink from the bar and sent a smile James’s way before turning away and heading over to him.

“Arch!” she giggled “I love free drinks.”

“You know, you’re going to be the death of me right?”

She nodded, wrapping her arm around his waist. “How’s Montana?”

“In an even worse state than you.”

“Guess I better drink up then.”

“It’s getting late and I’m off to bed.” Josh yawned “I’m so sorry about all the questions.”

“I get it. Brother things.”

“Yeah.” He smiled “By the way, there’s no point on waiting up for them. Mon texted me earlier that they went out for drinks. Drunk (Y/N) is a handful, if you need help, don’t hesitate to wake me.”

“I’m so glad you barely drank anything.” Archie chuckled as he held a stumbling, drunk (Y/N) tightly to his side.

“I knew this would happen. (Y/N) hasn’t drank in months and I assumed you would need help when it came to her. What I didn’t expect was for Montana to be worse than her.” Betty spoke, as she led the dark haired girl towards the direction of the car.

The four made their way into the house, trying to make it to their rooms without waking anyone up.

“Shhh, Archie. You might wake Josh up.” Montana giggled

“Tana, we’re in the living room.”

She giggled as she poked his face, earning a soft mumble to escape his lips. He turned around in the bed and saw Betty pulling her away from the bed.

“Let him sleep, (Y/N). Let’s get you changed.”

“Hey, I’m starting to s-sober up.”

“I know, sweetheart, but it doesn’t mean you should wake him up.”

“I just want to tell him his dad is hot.”

Betty let out a laugh, her hand rushing up to her mouth as she noticed him, pushing himself up.

“Betttttt, admit it. You agree. FP Jones is a hot human.”

“I’m sure he’ll be flattered.” Jughead commented, switching the light on.

“Shhh, you’ll wake him.” (Y/N) hiccuped

“God, she’s past gone isn’t she?”

Betty nodded her head. “Sorry for waking you.”

“No, it’s alright. You go off to bed. I’ll take over.”

“Just wash her face and make sure she drinks water before she sleeps.”

“Come on, sweet cheeks, let’s get your makeup off you.”

“Why do you not like me? Did I do something?”

“No, sweet cheeks. You’re mistaken. I do like you. A lot more than you think.”

tags: @meratt2000

#jughead jones imagine #jughead jones #cole sprouse imagine #cole sprouse #riverdale imagine #riverdale #archie andrews #betty cooper #from afar #reader insert #au #cheesy #archie comics

[tooruhyung]

Okay so it’s 7.53 i slept a solid 3-4 hours and i am here to kick culture in the ass and finally tell you all about more interesting things than me getting drunk every night.

Kyoto is a city I really see myself living. It has enough of everything and it has this calm vibe even with the craziest of nights. Like you are getting your best party in downtown but the walk home will feel like the safest stroll in a village. For now I think i will come to this city doing my one year working holiday. Ryosuke actually said I should come and live in the hostel and work there like he does and ngl it does sound tempting and also so far i feel the best connection with him from all the people i’ve met. (Maybe it’s because usually i am with many people but yesterday it was just the two of us and a liter of sake) So as you can tell Kyoto did for sure steal my heart. But to be fair so far almost everything did.

I like walking 16 kms a day, i like laughing my ass off and making a spectacle out of myself and i like squeezing myself on the JR in the morning rush listening to music. I love the temples and shrines and the rich culture, i love the bars and i love the shopping streets, really, everything.

So what i did here was mostly walking from one temple to an other looking at the shrines and the beautiful gardens on the way. First afternoon was for Yasaka and Koodaiji then i went down to gion to see the tea houses and the geishas (i did catch one!) strolling around the river and smaller ally ways (enjoying the safety) then to the couchsurfing meetup. Next morning I went with my roommate to see the gion matsuri parade. We were clever enough to see it from the corner where they have to turn these massive carts and movable shrines and man that was something! The whole parade i felt like a 3 year old seeing the first snow of their life. I guess most of you are familiar with my child-like enthusiasm. There were 10 carts of varying size of big and gigantic and like 2000 people parading down. It was amazing!!! Then i just walked around on nishiki market seeing all locals goods before i met my ex-flatmate (now living in Malmo) and her friend. Together we took the 1.5 hour journey to the golden pavilion. This with the heat and the humidity and our level of tiredness left us one attractive bunch. The pavilion is nice but sort of not such a chatartic experience as I expected. We went downtown from there to catch some dinner. What else to get in japan then italian food. But to be fair Szilvi is vegan and that makes life difficult in Japan. Also their lack of flexibility and understanding when she tries to explain that she would rather not have cheese and all. We spent a good time there watching some good tv shows and the company outing besides us getting drunk after two cups of beer. Japanese really don’t handle alcohol well. (Except for Ryosuke who drinks sake like water) (Break: i am halfway up mount inari and i am thinking that maybe climbing a steep mountain in such heat a humidity with sporting a light hangover maybe wasn’t my brightest moment) Sooo after our dinner we walked around looking at bars that seemed half illegal at best and these kind of place and streets in downtown and so we ended up in the karaoke place I already told you about. Anyways as in the morning I promised my roommate to go to Nara the next day i had to wake up in decent time which I surprisingly managed. (I am not so old after all!)

Nara was spectacular especially for me who goes ‘gwaaaah’ over all animals. But it’s not just the deer who are the best chums really bowing to you and asking for food but toodaiji the world’s biggest wooden building and the big buddha and especially kasuga shrine is soo magical. It’s like walking in a completely different world, some true miyazaki shit. After Nara we went to one of the strangest shops i saw in my life: specializing in raincoats. But am i even surprised after seeing a shop that sold everything connected to cats owls and pigs? Not that much. Finding beanpaste in almost every icecream doesn’t throw me off either. Right now even with know that I could never fit in i feel pretty good and in the right place in here.

You know about my night i guess where me and Ryosuke shared a liter of sake and a few beers and talked so much about traveling and all, it was a great time. Now this morning i felt super good, going on my way alone but this mountain is a thought one and the japanese are savages and they have very few benches. But it good i will be up in no time and in the afternoon i go to the bamboo forest maybe rent a bike, Ryosuke was super nice yesterday he offered to lend me his bike if i go to the bamboo forest first but as I magically managed to emerge from bed and leave home around 8 i came here instead. I will spam with looooads of pics tonight prolly.

#japan travel #japan trip #japan #kyoto #travel blogging