love to hate you | jjk [vii]
“when obnoxiously rich and spoiled frat boy jeon jungkook comes up to you one day and asks you to fake date him for money, you definitely should have said no. because before you knew it, you were going on insta dates with him and having lunch with his equally obnoxiously rich and spoiled friends.”
— genre: sexual themes, angst, fluff, fratboy! AU, fake dating! AU, college! AU, rich kid! AU, enemies to lovers! AU
— pairing: jungkook x female reader
— word count: 17.966
— warnings: swearing/cursing, alcohol consumption, jealousy, no communication skills whatsoever
— playlist: to be added
— a/n: after almost two years of no update its done. it would be a lie to say that i was always one hundred percent sure this was gonna see the light of day but its finally here, and im so so so happy to just put it out there and give it to you guys. @koocycle has listened to me bitch abt this one so much so thanks to her, also for kinda inspiring me to get back into tumblr.com and writing !! enjoy!! and once again, this is inspired by To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han!
“You’re really showing your wealth, you know?” you said as Jungkook slid into the driver’s seat, shutting out the cold air. He raised a brow, handing you the bag for you to hold onto, shivering slightly from the cold, his neck exposed to the harsh wind.
“How so?”
The engine sputtered to life as he slotted in the keys, his phone mounted to the dashboard, showing him the way. You pulled out the one-hundred-dollar expensive wine bottle from the bag, scrutinising it. Some of the glitter from the red ribbon the salesman had wrapped around it in an effort to be more festive and fitting today’s occasion peeled off.
“This is too much.”
“Yeah, I know, the bow’s tacky but I couldn’t stop Kangjoon from-”
“No, I mean the hundred bucks you dropped on it. It shows your wealth,” you repeated, scrunching your nose. “Also, didn’t know you were on a first name basis with the salesman.”
You let the bottle slip back into its bag, scared Jungkook was going to make a sharp stop and cause you to drop and waste the bottle. God knows you didn’t have one hundred bucks casually lying around like him—even though you were sure Jungkook wouldn’t make you replace it and would definitely just buy it again himself.
“What? Don’t tell me you didn’t like Kangjoon? He’s a great man, very competent.” And just as you were about to tell him that Kangjoon scammed him, Jungkook continued, “Also isn’t that the whole reason why you’re dating me? My wealth?”
He said it with a grin, turning to you as he let a family of four pass, receiving a thankful hand raise from both of the parents as they ushered their young children across the street. And even though he meant it purely as a joke, his smile and tone indicating as much, his words made you scrunch your face like you’d been stung by a bee.
“It’s so unnecessary. We wouldn’t know the difference between this and supermarket wine, and Chae literally said not to bring anything. She’s gonna scold you, you know?”
If it had gone your way, you’d have gotten the second cheapest bottle of semi-fancy alcohol they had and called it a day but Jungkook swiped his card before you could intervene, ever so easily charmed. Well, actually if it had gone your way at all, you wouldn’t have brought anything to begin with. Chaeyoung hated it if her guests brought anything anyway.
“Gotta impress your friends, don’t I? Can’t have them not like me,” he argued, and you rolled your eyes.
“First of all, no, you don’t-”
“You don’t want your friends to like your boyfriend?” Jungkook gasped, staring at you with his mouth agape and eyes wide as you came to a stop in front of a red light. You shook your head.
“No, can I speak?” you sighed, frowning as Jungkook laughed, clearly getting his kick out of annoying you. “My friends already like you, and you know that. We’re driving to Ji’s and Chae’s place now for a Christmas party. One that you were explicitly invited to. So I don’t believe you for a second when you say that you got this wine to impress them. Also, Chae said not to bring anything. You just like spending money.”
Jungkook pursed his lips, trying and failing to hide a grin. “Do I now?”
“Am I not exhibit A?”
He gave you a look as if to say touché.
“Okay, maybe you’re right,” he admitted. “But just so you know, I gladly spent my money on that wine if it means I’ll impress your friends and make them like me more. And I’m even more than happy to spend it on you, cabbage.”
He looked at you by the end of his words, flashing you a grin. A grin that made him look so pretty and adorable, that would have made your knees buckle if you hadn’t been sitting, that wrapped your heart into his grip even tighter. A grin that made you wonder if a parachute would be enough to stop your fall for him, or if you were simply doomed for this fate, for the bone crushing landing.
You turned your head to the window, glad to see you had made it to Jisoo’s and Chaeyoung’s place.
“I think you’re just happy to have an excuse to spend your money,” you mumble, pretending to busy yourself with the straps of the bag.
“Sure—” There was a shrug, and you should have prepared yourself for the worst, should know better by now that Jungkook couldn’t just agree with you and leave you in peace. “—or you’re just the love of my life, cabbage, and what’s mine is yours.”
The words remained casual on Jungkook’s tongue, easy as ever. And they remained difficult and frown-inducing for you.
“You’re-!”
A laugh bubbled up from Jungkook’s upon your silence, and though you were trying your deepest and most desperate to resist, your heart skipped a beat. It was fatal, cardiologists would say. How deeply you’d fallen, it was fatal. Your heart couldn’t be saved.
And as if he hadn’t said the most impossible thing ever, Jungkook pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine, a grin plastered on his lips.
“Alright, let’s-”
You yanked the door open, stepping (of course) in a puddle. With a groan and wince, you slammed the door shut. Your breath came out white and cloudy, December coming into its full swing. The weather had been harsher than ever—wind dragging on your skin until it was painful and tense, air cold enough to dry out your throat and mouth, every window coloured a milky white, and clouds hanging far and wide in the sky for every hour of the day. The urge to crawl back into the oh so warm car was strong. The urge to run away from Jungkook however was just that much stronger.
The bottle bumped your hip bone as you rushed towards Jisoo’s and Chaeyoung’s apartment building. You didn’t turn around as Jungkook called after you to wait with a laugh, fumbling to unhook his phone from the dashboard.
You reached the glass front door rather quickly, a handprint smudged across it that hadn’t been there last time. You cringed, but couldn’t think about it too much, worrying a lot more about the diminishing distance between Jungkook and you as you waited for one of your friends to open the stupid door for you. You knew for a fact they were already there, spotting Hoseok’s car parked on the side of the street. If he was there, Jimin was too, always catching a ride with him.
“Do you really think you can outrun me?” Jungkook called out, just a dozen steps behind you.
You pulled on the front door as if it made a difference, pressing the bell repeatedly. He slowed his walk, burying his hands into his pockets. All so very smug. Your features twisted into a frown.
“You’re so slow. You always run from me as if I won’t catch up with you in two-”
For once fate seemed to be on your side, the buzzer cutting through the air. The door almost hit you in the face when you yanked it open. You slammed it back shut again, just right in front of Jungkook’s nose. He pulled on the handle. The lock had clicked in. You watched his features twist as he realised he was too slow. His lips pressed together, curling inwards as he watched the biggest and proudest grin spread on yours.
“What were you saying? About me being too slow?” you said. A smile tucked on the corners of his mouth as he shook his head at you.
“Open up.”
He knocked on the glass, right in front of your nose.
“What? I can’t hear you.”
You put your hand to your ear, tilting your head.
“Just open up.”
“You gotta speak louder. I really can’t hear you with this door between-”
“Cabbage, you better open the door for me now, or I’m gonna make you regret it,” Jungkook said, narrowing his eyes, tongue poking in his cheek. And even though you were certain it was an empty threat—how was he going to make you regret it?—, you contemplated for just a second if maybe you should listen and open the door.
“I’m gonna count to three.”
You scoffed. Were you a kid? And even more so, what was Jungkook going to do to you? Were you going to cave because of an empty threat?
“Please do,” you smiled, eliciting one from Jungkook himself.
“Three.”
He raised a brow.
“Two.”
You folded your arms in front of your chest.
“One.”
A moment passed.
Nothing happened.
“Alright, fine,” Jungkook said before dramatically ringing the bell. And even though you rolled your eyes, you did inch back. He was going to chase you, that one was for sure.
The moment the buzzer rang, you took off. Jungkook let out a laugh.
“Now, you run?” he taunted, pulling the door open, his steps echoing through the hallway. You took two stairs at a time, yelping when you realised that Jungkook was hot on your tail. Maybe you should have run earlier. Or maybe you should have opened the door for him. But who were you, letting a guy threaten you? No less Jungkook of all people, that idiot.
You made it up the flight of stairs faster than you ever had, your lungs lit on fire. The front door already stood ajar for you. You could distantly hear Chaeyoung call out for Jisoo- A hand wrapped around your waist and pulled you back. Jungkook stood right in front of you, chest bumping into you, the biggest grin on his lips.
Shit.
“Gotcha.”
Your face soured.
“Oh, h-how are you?” you coughed with a smile, and he chuckled, never taking his eyes off of you even as he grabbed the bag from your hands and placed it down. You had completely forgotten about it. “Don’t look at me like this. T-that’s not fun.”
“Neither was having the door slammed in my face.”
You backed into the wall. Turns out being tough was a lot more difficult when there wasn’t a door to shield you and Jungkook was actually in front of you, just centimetres from your face and staring at you like you were his favourite thing in this entire world. His hand sneaked around your waist, slipping underneath your sweater, fingers grazing the small of your back. His touch was light and delicate, teasing in all the right ways. It was cold too, making you arch and almost wince. And it was all too much—a tingle spreading across your back, rushing straight to your heart.
“Any last words before I make you regret it?” Jungkook hummed, and you should snort and laugh because he should sound ridiculous. But somehow, his words made you tense, the mere thought making your head spin in rounds and rounds. You bit on your tongue, silencing any sound that might just want to crawl up your throat.
You shouldn’t let Jungkook be this close to you. You needed distance for your sanity. But you couldn’t bring it over your heart to push him away. You didn’t have it in you. Not when there was very much a part of you that wanted to find out what Jungkook exactly meant.
He drank you up with his eyes, gaze dark and full of something hazy. Full of something you couldn’t pinpoint. But you loved it, you did. Maybe a little too much even. You loved the way it made your heart thump and rumble in your chest, made you forget that this was too much and far and dangerous, that Jungkook and you should keep your distance because in just a few weeks all of this would be over and you’d go your merry ways. But right now, with your back against the wall and Jungkook caging you in, thrill and excitement rushing through every single one of your cells, you couldn’t stop. You didn’t think you ever could.
“Got nothing to say now, cabbage?”
And when you still wouldn’t respond, he smiled. His face inched closer to yours, his nose brushing yours. Your fingers itched to hold onto something, onto him, curling and uncurling in the air. Because you shouldn’t, you really shouldn’t. But you did, hands gripping his sweater as if you were lost in the sea and he was all you had to cling to.
You closed your eyes, anticipating and waiting for Jungkook to kiss you, your breath stuck in your chest. Any time now. It was going to happen-
“Oh my God, please don’t do this in my hallway.”
You whipped your head around, your heart dropping to the floor. Jisoo stood in the doorway, face twisted in utter disgust.
“Please, anywhere but my fucking hallway. That's all I’m gonna be able to think about. Seeing the two of you eating each other’s faces.”
There was even clearer disgust in her voice.
Oh God.
“Hello, Ji,” Jungkook smiled, and you expected him to back away from you, but he gave you no distance. He wasn’t even the slightest embarrassed, if anything you sensed the slightest annoyance swinging with his words.
“Please step away from her, Kook,” Jisoo asked, gesturing for him to move backwards. But he wasn’t all too eager to follow, staying cemented right in front of you, hands still around your waist. He paused to think.
“I’ve got a really expensive bottle of wine.” He pointed to the bag. “I’ll give it to you in exchange for five more minutes.”
“Oh, you brought something? Chae’s gonna kill you,” Jisoo laughed before changing her tune, tilting her head to the side. “But how expensive are we talking?”
“Like one hundred bucks.”
You stared holes into Jungkook, mouth agape. You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. Were you not right here too? Did you become air? It was like you were cattle being sold off.
“Oh,” Jisoo gasped before shrugging. “Okay, deal-”
“Yeah, no way,” you laughed before doing what you should have done earlier—you pushed Jungkook away, making him tumble backwards a little. You stepped around him.
“But, Y/N, it’s one hundred-”
“Ji!” you gasped, making her laugh and reach out for you. She wrapped her arms around your neck, giggling as she did.
“I’m kidding. I’m kidding. I would never,” she told you, and you raised a brow at her. “Right, Kook?”
“Yeah, we were just kidding.”
“I don’t- hey! I can see you two exchanging looks!” you gasped, neither of the two even trying to be subtle. “Do you think I’m blind?”
“Ha, funny, I think-” Jisoo cleared her throat. “—I think Chae is calling for me? Oh my God, do you hear that? Yes, I’m on my way, Chae!”
And as if she hadn’t just stabbed you in the back, she slipped inside. But not without grabbing the bag and thanking Jungkook for it. You rolled your eyes, turning to head inside when he cleared his throat.
Jungkook was staring at you with his brows raised, clearly expecting… something.
“What?” you barked. He gave you a smile before stretching out his hand. You groaned. “Seriously? We have to get inside-”
But he waved his hand around, not budging. Rolling your eyes and with a long exhale, you took his hand into yours.
“You’re a child-”
Jungkook pulled you towards him, shutting you up with a kiss. One hand cupped your cheek and the other rested on the small of your back, pushing you into him. The kiss was tender and soft, gentle and light. And still, it was enough to have your heart thumping louder and harder in your chest than ever before. You asked yourself if Jungkook could feel it at all. That heart of yours that was oh so tight in his grip. That heart of yours that was bleeding in your chest. That heart of yours already ached at the thought of this all ending in just a few weeks.
It was a lovely kiss, a devastatingly lovely kiss.
And when Jungkook pulled away, his eyes so full and beautiful, you felt gutted and empty. Because this meant nothing to him. This meant nothing at all. You looked away. Jungkook laughed, pulling you flush to his side, all too unaware.
“Let’s go?”
You nodded slightly.
Jimin was first to greet you, leaping up from the couch and pulling you into a hug. “You made it!”
“Took you long enough,” Taehyung mumbled, sipping on his beer, earning himself a look from Namjoon that he simply ignored. “We could hear you two yelling around in the hallway.”
“Merry Christmas to you too, Tae,” Jungkook laughed, and the older one frowned at him.
“It’s December 10th.”
“In other words, it’s almost-”
“No, it’s not-”
Hoseok greeted you with a hug, ignoring Taehyung’s and Jungkook’s bickering because otherwise he would never get to say hello to you. “Looking good.”
“Thanks.” You stared at his sweater. “That’s one really ugly Christmas sweater.”
He laughed, thanking you. Seokjin and Namjoon were next to give you a quick hug, followed by Jennie and Yoongi, exchanging a few words with each of them. Taehyung and you stared at each other for a few seconds, neither of you saying anything. And though he tried to hide it, a smile formed on his lips. A smile you could only return. You blamed it on the holidays. They made you especially sappy and sentimental.
You were first to reach out. Taehyung reciprocated the hug. It was a little awkward and short and one-armed. It was more than anyone could ask of you. Jungkook nodded in both amazement and approval when you caught his eyes for a split second, and you just scrunched your nose at him.
“So how-”
You tuned out Seokjin, taking a minute to admire the decoration around you instead. Chaeyoung (because Jisoo wasn’t particularly all too fond of Christmas, but did put up with all of it because Chaeyoung very much was) always outdid herself every holiday season: red little fuzzy stockings hanging off shelves and cupboard knobs, cinnamon-scented candles lit up all throughout the place, miniature Santa and reindeer figurines sitting on every surface alongside bowls of chocolates and peppermints with fake snow underneath. There was even a small fake Christmas tree crammed into the corner of their living room with colourful baubles (some of which Jimin had gifted and had pictures of you all printed on them) and equally colourful fairy lights hanging on it. And of course, Michael Bublé was on heavy rotation, his voice carried throughout the home.
“Where’s Chae?” you asked Jisoo when she came up next to you, both of you standing in front of the Christmas tree.
“Oh, you know-”
“Ah, great, you guys finally made it as well,” Chaeyoung exhaled, coming out from the kitchen, and seeing Jungkook and you among the other guests. There was a slight edge accompanying her words, and you doubted for no second that her nerves were running high from having to host tonight and needing all of this to turn out perfect. (Even if she chose this fate upon herself.) Her updo was falling apart, strands sticking out in the wrong places. Still, she looked pretty. Especially with her reindeer apron tied around her waist. She had had it since middle school, and seeing it brought back all kinds of memories. You couldn’t help but grin, Jisoo and you exchanging looks. And when your gaze met Chaeoyung’s, she knew. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head.
“Yeah, I know,” she mumbled, speaking to you too only and confusing the others in the process. Jisoo and you snickered.
“Anyway—” Chaeyoyung waved her hand around, “—I’ve got some unfortunate news. Dinner isn’t ready. I’ll need at least another thirty minutes. Hope you guys didn’t come too hungry.”
“Do you need help with anything?” Jungkook asked, already getting up from the couch. Yoongi raised his hand, silently extending the offer as well. Jennie nodded, clearly willing to get her hands dirty too.
“Yeah, anything we can do to help you?” Taehyung asked, making an effort to get up too, but Chaeyoung was quick to shake her head.
“No, I don’t need help,” she mumbled, clearing her throat. “I just wanted to inform you guys. You all would help if you guys just busied yourself and didn’t come into the kitchen.”
And before anyone could insist on their help, Chaeyoung disappeared back inside the kitchen.
“Shouldn’t we-?”
“If you wanna stay on her good side, don’t take a single step into the kitchen. Don’t even breathe in that direction, or think about helping her,” Jisoo explained, and Jungkook looked at you as if to ask if this was exaggerated at all.
“Yeah, Chae’s… very peculiar with that kind of stuff.”
“But there are so many of us. Is she really gonna do all of it on her own?” Jennie asked, but Hoseok waved her off.
“Trust me, she is and she will. Chae gets super stressed, but she also loves to host. If you don’t let her, she’ll be in a bad mood for ages. It’s better to just let her do her own thing.”
“And if it actually gets too much, she’ll come out and ask for help at one point. Trust me,” Jimin added.
“You think? I’m not so sure about that one,” Jisoo snorted and moved over to grab a handful of chocolates. Almost instinctively, she placed a hand on Jennie’s shoulder, and for a moment, you wondered if Jungkook and you ever looked this natural and comfortable with each other. If you looked as much as a couple as Jisoo and Jennie did. “When has she ever asked for help?”
“There’s no way she can do all of this on her own,” Taehyung said, frowning.
“You don’t know Chae.”
“Maybe. But it seems humanly impossible to pull off this entire thing without asking for at least some help.”
Jisoo raised her brow at Taehyung, pausing a moment. “Oh, do you wanna bet?” Her mouth pulled into a grin at the mere prospect of making some easy money. “Ten bucks?”
Hoseok and you exchanged glances over their heads. This was very much typical of Jisoo.
“Don’t bet with her, Tae. She’s a scammer,” Jimin said, pushing Jisoo’s hand away as she waited for him to shake it.
“I won’t,” Taehyung laughed, taking a sip from his beer. “You know I don’t do-”
The ear-shattering sound of a pan clashing with the kitchen tiles emerged from the kitchen, followed up with a few loud curses and an “It’s fine!”. You cringed when something else you couldn’t identify fell to the floor a second later, eliciting even more curses. Almost instinctively, you turned to Jisoo, nudging her. Because as much as she was right that it was a bad idea to go help Chaeyoung, it would actually be worse not to go in right now when everything seemed to go off the rails.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. My cue to jump in,” she grumbled, begrudgingly making her way to the kitchen, knowing already she would have to endure Chaeyoung’s snappy attitude. She squeezed Jennie’s hand in goodbye.
“See, she’s getting help,” Taehyung said to no one in particular and righteously took a sip from his beer. Jungkook applauded him sarcastically, and you were about to say something when-
“Oh, this is cute!” Seokjin gasped, coming up to you. You followed his gaze to the bauble he was admiring. It had an old picture of you and your friends on it, faces curving around the porcelain. “How old are you guys there?”
You pursed your lips. “That’s probably senior year? So like seventeen maybe? Eighteen?”
“What are you guys doing- oh my God, you guys look so young.” Namjoon hooked an arm around Seokijn’s shoulder, marvelling at your younger selves. “Look at that one!”
He pointed out one with just Jisoo, Chaeyoung and you on it. It was one of the first pictures you three had taken together. All three of you still stuck in middle school. You couldn’t decide whether to be embarrassed or nostalgic.
“Is that Ji? Her hair, oh my God!” Seokjin laughed, pointing out the blunt bob Jisoo used to rock.
“Don’t be mean!” And yet, Namjoon laughed too.
“You’re lucky Ji can’t hear you right now because she’d kill you,” you said. “But actually, you should see some of Seok’s old pictures. He looks so different-”
A hand snaked around your waist. You tensed. But you relaxed a second later when you realised who it was. You peeked over your shoulder just to check and smiled when you turned out to be right. He placed his chin on your shoulder.
“Hello,” Jungkook whispered, and you squirmed, his breath tickling your ear. He was so close to you, too close. You could practically feel his heart beating behind yours.
“Hey,” you returned, a bit breathless and pitchy. You cleared your throat.
“What are you guys doing?”
“Oh, uh, nothing really,” you mumbled, waving your hand around.
Jungkook frowned, but didn’t ask any further. “Okay, well, I wanted to get you something to drink. You think I can go into the kitchen without getting murdered?”
“Yeah, you’re fine. Ji’s there too,” you said, glancing over your shoulder to meet his gaze. He was already looking at you, eyes big and so full and a smile on his lips.
“Okay, then do you want anything in particular?”
You shook your head. “Uh, no, whatever is fine.”
“Whatever it is.”
But rather than just leave to get you said drink, Jungkook lingered, not moving away from you just yet. You raised a brow at him, making him smile. As if he could read your mind, he loosened his grip around your waist, but not before pressing a kiss to your neck.
“Getting you that drink,” he smiled, backing away.
You touched a hand to where he had kissed you, gripping, feeling hot all of a sudden. It was stupid, you were stupid.
“Jesus.”
And albeit, it was quiet and muttered under his breath, you heard it very clearly. You looked at Seokjin, eyes big as he stared back at you with a grin on his lips. There was a fondness in his eyes, a look you always saw on Jimin’s face. Namjoon wore it too.
“What?” you asked when the expression wouldn’t disappear.
“It’s just-”
He sighed and shook his head.
“What?” you repeated, but Seokjin wouldn’t continue.
“You guys are just cute,” Namjoon supplied.
“Oh, please,” you scoffed, shaking your head.
“You guys are exactly like Jin and Mina used to be,” Yoongi said, coming up next to you, having witnessed the entire exchange from his spot on the couch.
“What?” you laughed, shaking your head over and over again. “I have no idea what-”
“Don’t deny it, Y/N,” Namjoon laughed and looked at you.
“It’s gross really,” Yoongi scoffed, taking a sip from his beer. “How smitten he is for you. How happy and—” He shuddered for the drama of it all but wore a smile on his lips. “—stupidly in love you two are.”
Wait, what?
“It’s cute,” Seokjin corrected, and you stared at him with stunned silence.
“Is it though?”
“Don’t be like that, Yoongs. When have you ever seen Kook this happy before?”
The question, though not directed at you at all, made you freeze. And when you looked at Yoongi and he made no effort to disagree, you froze.
“You make him really happy,” Namjoon said with a smile and tilted his head when you didn’t speak or react at all, giving your shoulder a light squeeze. “You know that, right?”
His words hit you like a ton of bricks, crashing down on you and compressing your lungs. Because, no, you didn’t. You didn’t think about it ever, and why would you? It never seemed possible to you because it simply wasn’t possible you made Jungkook happy. You didn’t have that power over him.
Was this really how you looked like to others—two people who were in love and happy? It sounded ridiculous to you, impossible. So much so, you just had to shake your head and wave your hand around as if the words loomed in front of you and had to be physically dismissed. Your heart banged in your ribcage, loud and far too heavy.
“You guys are exaggerating!” you chuckled, voice wavering the slightest bit. “This has nothing to do with me- Finals are over and it’s Christmas, so obviously-”
A single look from them was all it took to silence you. They didn’t have to say a word for you to know what they were collectively thinking.
“Y/N, don’t be ridiculous,” Seokjin said.
“For god’s sake, just look at that boy,” Yoongi laughed, pointing behind you, and your gaze followed his hand. Right then Jungkook came back with two drinks, one for you and one for him.
He seemed surprised, stilling as he saw that you were all looking at him. But he recovered, mouth pulling into a big smile. Your eyes met his. You would have missed it if you hadn’t looked so close and paid attention to every little thing he did. But you saw it, the tiny smile he offered you, and only you. It was like a little secret. Just for you and him to know and share and see.
Did you really make him happy?
“Why are you guys staring at me like that?” Jungkook laughed, coming to a stop in front of you and handing you your drink. You took it passively, and purely from the warmth, you knew it was your favourite, green tea. “Are you guys talking shit about me?”
“Oh, yeah, you know just the usual shit talking we do about you,” Namjoon snorted.
“Mhm, the usual stuff. How you always-”
Seokjin’s voice faded away when Jungkook moved closer to you, his arm already lifting to sneak around your middle. But you couldn’t do this. Not now.
“Sorry, I gotta pee,” you mumbled, wringing out of Jungkook’s grasp, his fingers just barely brushing your skin. You didn’t know who you interrupted, but you offered them all an apologetic look but you never quite looked at Jungkook. Your exit seemed natural enough though, you thought. No one made an effort to stop you.
Some of your drink spilt over when you put it down on the coffee table too quickly, and you even almost bumped into Hoseok, but rather than apologise properly and clean up your mess, you hurried into the bathroom.
The moment the lock clicked shut behind you, you let yourself crumble, knees giving in. If only just a little.
Oh God.
It wasn’t very environmentally friendly, not very Save the Turtles! kind of behaviour of you at all as you just let the water run and run into the sink and down the drain. You didn’t even wash your hands or face, just needing something to fill the silence as you sat on the edge of the bathtub and let yourself calm down.
You felt ridiculous. You truly did. Insane and crazy even. The behaviour you were exhibiting was probably therapist worthy. The panic. For what? And why? It was behaviour you never imagined yourself exhibiting. No less because of Jeon Jungkook. But here you were, playing his pretend girlfriend for money so he could win a bet. And you got all of your friends involved even! You should have really thought this through-
“Cabbage?”
And somehow, both dread and warmth crept up with his voice. You closed your eyes, thinking for a second to shut off the tap. It seemed just a little too exhausting to do that.
“Yeah?”
“Are you good?”
“Yeah.”
It was quiet for a few seconds.
“Can I come in?”
“I’m peeing, Jeon.”
A lie. He knew. You knew.
“Fine, come in.”
When you wouldn’t move, Jungkook gave the door handle a try, surprised to see you hadn’t locked it. You had forgotten, and so he did it for you instead. The moment he saw you sitting on the edge of the bathtub with the tap carelessly running, he stopped, features folding into something nice, pleasant, empathetic.
“Stop,” you groaned, rolling your eyes and turning away from him, shutting off the tap as if that minimised how sad you had to look right now.
Jungkook chuckled, burying his hands into his pants, carefully walking towards you. He sat down next to you, knee pressed against yours. Neither of you pulled away. There was a part of you that should tell him to give you space, but you couldn’t. If anything, you turned a little to him.
“How are you always running off into the bathroom when you feel bad? It’s so obvious,” he mumbled, pinching your nose.
“Ow, stop!” you hissed, swatting his hand aside.
He gave you a look, shaking his head, and you pouted like a child would. It made him chuckle, and you tensed when Jungkook put his head on yours, too tall to lean against your shoulder comfortably, his eyes falling shut.
“What did they say?” Jungkook asked, breaking the silence after a while.
“What?”
“Joon and the others. What did they say to make you run off like that?”
You pressed your lips together, disliking that you were so easy to read.
“Who sent you?” you snorted, wanting to figure out which of your friends just earned themselves a plus point.
“No one.”
“What?” you blinked, and looked at him, but he kept his eyes closed. “So you-”
“No one sent me. I just… wanted to make sure you were fine myself.”
And hearing that was somehow utterly awful. Because it meant Jungkook cared. At least to some degree, at least enough to want to check on you. It meant that he was able to read you so easily, that he really knew you.
“Now, what did they say? You can tell me. I’ll talk to them for you. Or I won’t if you don’t want me-”
You shook your head, sighing. “Nothing. They said nothing.”
It was true. Because none of what Namjoon, Seokjin, and Yoongi said was worth running off. It wasn’t insulting, or hurtful.
“Are you sure? Seriously, you can just tell me. I’d talk to-”
“I’m serious,” you interrupted, not even wanting to hear how far Jungkook would go for you. “They said nothing. I just had to pee.” You shrugged. “And I just needed a moment to breathe. It’s nothing. I promise.”
Jungkook sat up, glancing at you with his mouth pursed and eyes narrowed. “So just a moment to breathe?”
Your hand almost came up to cup his cheek, the urge to brush over the little scar on his cheekbone tempting you. It was difficult to resist when he was looking at you like that. There was this need, to plant your lips against his. Kiss him and assure him. But you didn’t let yourself. You turned your head to the other side, curling your hand around the cool porcelain of the bathtub until the skin stretched thin over your knuckles and almost hurt. Just anything but Jungkook and his stupidly pretty face.
“Just a moment to breathe,” you mumbled.
Jungkook hummed, straightening up. He let his head hang for a few seconds before lifting it up again and turning to you.
“Is it fine if I stay with you then?”
It was a delicate question, an honest question, a devastating heartbreaking question. Because of course, he could. Of course! He could do anything, as long as he remained by your side. And that realisation, albeit not entirely new to you (you were aware of it to some degree all along), was mortifying.
You closed your eyes, a knot forming in your throat. There was nothing for you to say, a silence stretching between you. A silence Jungkook took as a “yes”, and when his hand gripped yours, it was sealed for you. You didn’t pull away, put your head on his shoulder. What would be the use of resisting? What good would it do? What would it change? Nothing.
So you enjoyed it instead, the moment between him and you. For as long as you could. For now.
“We should probably get back out,” you mumbled when you heard the laughter get louder in the living room.
“Probably.”
And yet, neither of you moved. A few more moments passed. It was the next bound of laughter that ripped you out.
“We should-”
“I think it’s time-”
You both stopped, nodding, knowing. Jungkook was first to get up, groaning like an old man before turning to you and offering you his hand. With one loud sigh, you took it, allowing him to pull you up. You shared a look and a smile.
It felt like you were walking into another world when you stepped outside, still holding hands. Before it was just Jungkook and you. Now it was everyone else too. And almost as if you had said that exact thought out loud, everyone looked at you as you walked back in. You stopped, the same way Jungkook had when he had returned and found you all staring at him. You frowned, the grin spreading on Jimin’s and Jisoo’s (When had she made it back?) faces worrying you. Jungkook seemed as clueless as you.
“What?”
No one said anything for a second.
“Can I?” Jisoo asked, pleading with everyone else, and you narrowed your eyes. She was giddy, and her being giddy was never a good sign, especially for you. Most times it meant you’d be miserable.
“Do the honours,” Jimin said, gesturing for her to ahead.
Jisoo leaned back, grinning from ear to ear. She seemed to stretch the moment thin, take her sweet time to reveal to you what exactly entertained her so much. Jennie shook her head next to her, but she wore a smile on her lips, amused.
You kept close to Jungkook, almost instinctively. As if he could protect you. His hand brushed the small of your back, soothing. Taehyung’s irritating snicker grabbed your attention for a second, but before you could frown at him for it, Jisoo spoke,
“Look up.”
Fuck. You should have figured.
“Ah,” Jungkook laughed upon seeing the mistletoe above your heads.
“You guys are funny,” you scoffed, shaking your head. “And very cute for thinking that we are gonna do-”
“You have to!” Jimin interjected, leaning forward and pointing at the two of you. “It’s the law. The rules of the game.”
You frowned, and the lines deepened even more when you saw everyone from Namjoon, Seokjin and Jennie to Taehyung, Hoseok, Yoongi and Jisoo nodding along. Of course, they found pleasure in your misery.
“It’s bad luck if you don’t,” Hoseok reminded you of the stupid rules, and you could have thrown something at him. How was no one on your side?
“That’s… made up.”
“Well, if you wanna risk the bad luck, be my guest,” Hoseok chuckled, shrugging, and you rolled your eyes.
“Oh, please, no one believes that!”
But you were met with no ounce of support from anyone. You turned to Jungkook, expecting that he was equally as ticked off as you. But he seemed perfectly fine, his features not even slightly twisted into anything resembling irritation. If anything, he was smiling a little when you met his eyes.
“I don’t know, I’m never one to tempt fate,” he said, and you couldn’t quite decide how to react. Jungkook reached for your hand again, playing with your fingers. “Why risk the bad luck? Also, it’s not like we have never kissed in front of them.” He grinned. “Remember how you jumped me and-”
“Oh my God, I didn’t jump you!” Your voice leapt up a few pitches too high and remained there when your friends began to laugh.
“Now that’s a lie. You practically threw yourself at-”
“Jeon!”
Jungkook cackled, and you could have strangled him right then and there. Your friends laughed too, and you would have snapped at them if your cheeks didn’t warm to an uncomfortable degree. To the point the blood boiled in your ears, so much so you didn’t even hear Namjoon’s holler about how it was just a kiss!
It wasn’t completely lost on you that it was stupid to be embarrassed, considering how boldly you had claimed Jungkook as yours in front of a room of strangers just a few weeks ago. Especially considering that all of your friends had a slight alcohol level going on anyway already and were most definitely moving on the second the kiss happened. But it was different. At the Halloween party, you were positively buzzed, your vision blurry and fuzzy. But more importantly, you were jealous to the point of turning green. It seemed so much more intimate to kiss Jungkook in front of everyone now. And so very vulnerable because you wanted to so much. Kiss him. You always did these days, yearned to. That desire scared you, was mortifying in more ways than you could describe, particularly in this moment because what if they could all sense it? What if Jungkook realised it all of a sudden? That you really wanted this? That your entire heart ached for him?
And as if you had the fear written all over your face, Jungkook reached for you, tugging on your elbow and turning you back to him. He gave you a smile, his head tilted to the side. A few strands slipped out of his perfectly messy hair, and a soft shadow covered half his face. Right then, he seemed all so delicate to you, so good, so precious. It was instant, your heartbeat dwindled into something calmer and wilder at the same time. Somehow, it seemed almost easy and much more difficult to kiss him and pretend it didn’t dig daggers into your heart. None of it made sense, the effect he had on you, but you supposed a lot of things hadn’t made sense in your life since Jungkook’s first appearance.
“It’s just a kiss, cabbage,” he mumbled, shrugging.
It was. It was just a kiss, to your friends, to him. It was nothing, a small price you had to pay to entertain your friends. It was fun and simple. It was just unfortunate that it was so much more to you.
You held your breath when Jungkook placed a hand on your cheek, thumb brushing over your cheekbone, gentle and soothing. He was doing everything right, and yet, you could have thrown up right then and there. Jimin gasped and squeaked as Jungkook inched closer to you, Jisoo grasping onto his arm because oh my God, they were going to kiss! All while you were desperately, almost frantically, fisting Jungkook’s shirt, as if you would float away otherwise and it was the only thing keeping you on the ground.
And Jungkook kissed you all too delicately.
To the point, you could have believed him. That you meant something to him, that he might just be in love with you. It was horrible, to be kissed like that. You weren’t sure if this was how it felt like, to be in love and to be loved. You hoped it wasn’t.
You pulled him closer to you, deepened the kiss, allowed him in. For just a while, you told yourself. Just until you found the strength in you to resist him, until you deemed your own well-being more important than these fleeting highs with Jungkook.
“Alright, dinner’s- oh.”
Chaeyoung stopped right before she could bump into you, and you quickly pulled away. But Jungkook kept holding you, not letting go of you. Chaeyoung placed her hands on her hips and shot Jimin and Jisoo a long look.
“Ah, who of you idiots did this?”
“Why do you assume it was-”
“So it was you,” Chaeyoung said, interrupting Jimin and shaking her head. “Take it off. Dinner’s ready.”
Jisoo slapped his shoulder, laughing, clearly enjoying seeing him getting reprimanded by Chaeyoung. Jimin rolled his eyes, mumbling something about how Chaeyoung was no fun but he followed her orders, getting up and reaching for the bundle above your heads. You backed away-actually you jumped. It made Jimin pause and narrow his eyes, his mouth lifting into a smile when he saw the opportunity.
“Oh, what if I hold it over you-”
“No, don’t even!” you hissed, pushing Jimin away from you and seeking refuge behind Chaeyoung.
“Oh, it’s just one more kiss, Y/N!” Jimin taunted, following you. You shrieked, moving further from him, irritated by the constant laughter spilling from his throat. He was enjoying this too much. Too much!
“Fuck off!”
“Don’t be like-”
“I’m serious, stop!”
“It’s fun-”
“Okay, no, enough,” Jungkook said, stepping in and swiftly taking the mistletoe from Jimin. He slapped him with it lightly, eliciting a gasp from Jimin. “No more chasing my girlfriend with mistletoe, okay? Or you can do your physics assignments on your own.”
Rubbing his cheek, almost convinced he was allergic to mistletoe now, Jimin gasped as if Jungkook had just declared an end to their friendship. “Kook! How could you say that?”
“Stop chasing my girlfriend then.”
“Oh my God, fine, I won’t,” Jimin groaned, pouting. “You’re so lame.”
When he reached for the mistletoe, Jungkook hesitated, looking over to you and even though you preferred him not to hold it in his hands again, you knew Jimin would get even more offended if Jungkook withheld the bundle from him. So you gave him a nod.
“Okay, alright, dinner’s getting cold,” Chaeyoung said, clapping her hands together when Jimin was back in possession of his mistletoe. “So how about we take this party into the kitchen, yeah?”
Like you had said he would, Jungkook got an earful from Chaeyoung when she noticed the expensive bottle of wine suddenly appear on the dinner table because how dare you bring something when I clearly said not to? And on top of that such an expensive bottle too. Do you shit money? Somebody needs to teach you how to manage your finances. Rather than come to his help, you left Jungkook to fend for himself which earned you puppy eyes from him, but hadn’t you told him better? Surprisingly however he managed to convince her to open the bottle anyway. You were sure she’d get him to return it, or at least take it home again. Jungkook could be very compelling. But you knew that already.
“If the teaching thing doesn’t work out—” Namjoon had his mouth stuffed as he spoke, and you caught Yoongi cringing next to him. “—I think you should become a cook, Chae.”
She smiled sheepishly, waving him off. “Oh, please. My mom’s cooking is so much better.”
“I don’t know if I believe you,” he laughed. “This is seriously so good.”
Hoseok shoved a big bite into his mouth, a drop of sauce splashing onto the table. Chaeyoung smiled and wiped it off for him. He thanked her.
“It’s the best food on Earth. I’d die for it,” Jimin sighed, a little too loud and dramatic, his mouth full with food, giving you all a glimpse into what his stomach must look like. His cheeks were tinted a slight pink, the red wine slowly flushing him through. “Like that one Gordon Ramsey meme? Where you know—” He sat up, changing his voice in a failed attempt to mimic the British celebrity chef. “—he’s like ‘Finally some good fucking food.’ or whatever. That’s how I always feel when I eat Chae.”
For a second, there was silence. Jungkook and you looked at each other with big eyes, a hint of a smile on your lips because it was obvious that Jimin hadn’t realised what he had said, blabbering on and on without a second thought.
“Maybe you should calm it on the alcohol,” Seokjin mumbled, pushing Jimin’s glass away from him. But it had the opposite effect, making him reach for it instead and down the entire contents of his glass in one quick go.
“Never!”
“You mean… her food. When you eat her food, you could cry, right?” Taehyung clarified, and Jimin looked at him with big eyes.
“Oh, yes of course! What else would I mean?” he laughed, loud and boisterous. “Chae’s all yours, Seok. Don’t worry. I’m not your competition.”
Chaeyoung almost choked on the wine, and Hoseok turned a few shades redder.
“Someone get this idiot some water,” Yoongi snorted, and Namjoon already got up.
You turned your gaze to Jisoo when she leaned into you, taking the chaos as a chance to just talk to you, her hand grabbing yours.
“How’s the scarf going by the way? Are your loops now clean?” she whispered, careful to keep her voice low. You glanced towards Jungkook, but he was busy trying to convince Jimin to drink a few sips from the water at least. And though he hadn’t heard a word, you glared at Jisoo, shaking your head.
“Not with him around,” you hissed, and she rolled her eyes.
“Oh, look at him. He’s not paying us attention. I wanna know. I’m invested now, especially because you always called me a grandma for knitting. How’s it going?” she asked, and you knew it was best to just quickly answer her because she wasn’t dropping this.
“Yeah, yeah, I got it now. It’s almost done-”
“What are you guys whispering about?” Jennie asked, leaning in, eyes wandering between Jisoo and you.
“Y/N’s knitting a scarf for her boyfriend for Christmas.”
“Ji!”
Your features couldn’t decide whether or not to contort in embarrassment or fear Jungkook had overheard this time. It’d ruin your surprise. You were in luck though because he wasn’t paying your conversation any mind.
“Oh, that’s cute!” Jennie squealed. “I only thought Ji knits. I didn’t know you knit too, Y/N.”
“I-”
“She doesn’t. She just sews a little,” Jisoo said, beating you to it. She leaned towards Jennie as if she was telling her a secret and didn’t want you to hear, but she deliberately kept eye contact with you and didn’t even lower her voice, her lips curling up. “She learned how to knit for her stupid little boyfriend. She asked me so many questions and bought so much yarn too. It was so annoying-”
You kicked Jisoo in the shin, shutting her up. She sharply sucked in her breath, hands flying to her leg, mouth agape in a silent screech.
“You’re talking too much,” you hissed, not remorseful at all even as she rubbed her shin. Jennie laughed.
“That’s really cute of you though, Y/N,” she said, smiling at you. “I like the idea. He’s gonna love it.”
“It’s just a scarf,” Jisoo mumbled, rolling her eyes, words dipping into an astonishing amount of immaturity. “It’s not that cute. I could knit you a better scarf-”
“Stop bragging. It’s different. You’ve always knit. Y/N made an effort to learn how to for Kook.”
“I’d learn how to do something new for you.”
“So do.”
“What? Like I won’t?”
You took that as your cue to exit the conversation, glancing over to Jungkook instead. He hadn’t noticed your conversation at all. In fact, he was stuffing his mouth full. Some extra sauce decorated the corner of his mouth in his haste. Without missing a beat, you wiped it off with your thumb before cleaning it on his napkin. He turned to you, eyes as big as a reindeer caught in headlights. It hit you only then as he stared at you and you stared at him, what you had done. How intimate the nature of the gesture had been. You might as well have ripped out your heart and told him to keep it. It would have been the same.
“Did… you just-”
“Oh, the wine is actually so good!” Jisoo sighed, putting down her glass, and right now you were very glad she sat next to you. “I think that’s the best wine I’ve ever had.”
Jungkook’s eyes darted between her and you. He was thinking, contemplating if he’d engage with Jisoo in a conversation, or tease you until you were just about ready to be swallowed by a hole. Maybe it was the way you wouldn’t even look in his direction and kept your gaze trained on Jisoo, or maybe because he was planning on bringing it up another time, but in the end, he decided to spare you.
“I’m happy to hear you like it,” he grinned before jabbing you in the side. You flinched, grabbing his hand before he could do it again. “See, and you said they wouldn’t taste the difference.”
“She doesn’t,” you grumbled, brows creased together.
“She’s just saying that because she knows how expensive it is,” Taehyung said, and for once you agreed. Jisoo rolled her eyes at him, mumbling something about not wanting to argue with an idiot and picking a piece of lint off of Jennie’s shoulder instead.
Jungkook shrugged. “Whatever. She likes it, so worth every penny.”
You were about to let go of his hand, feeling any kind of contact was a step too much, a step into a very wrong and dangerous direction. But Junkook interlaced his fingers with yours, holding it firm, thumb brushing over the back of your hand. For a second, you contemplated pulling away because this was too much, too close. You didn’t, not finding the strength in you to do it.
“Actually, I haven’t learned half of my mom’s cooking. She always makes this amazing pork belly stew for every Christmas. If you love this, you’ll love that,” Chaeyoung said, pulling you into their conversation that seemed to have circled back to her cooking.
“Are you gonna go back home for Christmas? Because I’ll go with you if so. That stew sounds amazing,” Yoongi said.
“Oh my God, if you are, please take me with you too because this is so good,” Jennie sighed dreamily, making Chaeyoung laugh.
“Excuse me, what about our Christmas plans?” Jisoo gasped with faux upset, and immediately Hoseok, Chaeyoung, Jimin and you exchanged glances.
Moving fast, Hoseok mouthed and you nodded. You had no idea. At the same time, it seemed to work for them.
“Oh, can’t we just drop by for dinner really quickly for some food?” Jennie tried, pursing her lips into a pout, but Jisoo just clicked her tongue and shook her head.
“Good food is all it takes, huh?”
Jennie laughed.
“Is everyone going home for Christmas?” Namjoon asked, wiping his mouth before grabbing his glass of wine, holding it up to his lips, speaking into it. “I know Kook is for sure.”
Jungkook nodded. “Got me there.”
And even without looking at him, you knew he was smiling and more than excited to go back home. He squeezed your hand, and you could tell he did so unconsciously. You squeezed back, happy for him that he was happy.
“Oh, right, I’ve been meaning to ask!” Jimin gasped, turning rather dramatically towards you. You blinked, unsure of what was about to spill from his lips.
“Is it true that you’re going back home with Kook, Y/N?”
What?
Everyone turned to you, Chaeyoung raising her brow at you because were you? You stared back at her, mouth opened and closing because no, right? You weren’t, or were you? Your eyes lifted to Jungkook, and he had that same look on his face. Neither of you knew what to say or do. This wasn’t something you had discussed. And why would you have? It’d be ridiculous to assume that you’d be going back home with Jungkook to meet his parents for Christmas.
“Uh-?”
“I’m just asking because Kook’s parents have been asking me if I knew if he’s actually gonna bring you,” Jimin continued, shrugging. And maybe you would have focused on how much you wanted to strangle him right now and needed him to shut up if your mind wasn’t reeling from the fact that Jungkook seemed to have not only told his parents about your existence but also that you would be spending Christmas with them.
What?
“Okay, yeah, no, wait,” Jungkook interjected, a clear panic in his voice, turning fully to you. “I can explain.”
You blankly stared at him, unable to even make a single sound. He dug a hand through his hair, looking even more panicked the longer you said nothing.
“So, uh, my brother saw my posts and stories online and might have told my parents… that I’m dating you. And so they’ve been really curious and asking about you a lot, and it was a little annoying, so I just told them that I might bring you around for Christmas to shut them up. But—” He held out his hand as if to get ahead of you saying anything. “—I didn’t promise them anything. I just said it to get them off my back, you know?”
You continued staring at him, unsure of how to react or what to say because well, you hadn’t thought that either of your parents were ever going to get involved in any shape or form. You hadn’t even played with the idea of telling your parents. And why would you? All of this was fake! A ruse, so Jungkook could win his stupid bet!
“It wasn’t planned, or anything, okay? I wasn’t going to tell them about you-”
“You weren’t?” Jimin blurted out, brows pinching together. He seemed to have lost all ability to read the room, just a glass or two of wine enough to dull his brain. “Ow-!”
He glared at Taehyung, rubbing his arm. It still wasn’t enough to shut him up however.
“What was that for? I’m just saying I’m a little surprised that Jungkook, the definition of a mama’s and papa’s boy, was planning on keeping his girlfriend a secret when he hasn’t shut up about Y/N for months-”
“No, wait it’s not like that,” Jungkook quickly scrambled, gesturing wildly. “It’s just that my parents, you know, can get a little much. And, I don’t know-”
His sentence didn’t find an end, and Jimin seemed to just take that as a sign to go on,
“Didn’t Narae meet-”
“Okay, how about you finish your food, huh?” Taehyung interrupted, taking Jimin’s fork and picking up a big piece of meat before shoving it into his mouth. Namjoon and Seokjin exchanged glances, cringing. Yoongi lowered his head, and Jennie slid down on her seat. Chaeyoung looked at you with big empathetic eyes and Jisoo even gave your hand a squeeze.
If there was anything genuine between you, this would have been devastating. Luckily, there wasn’t. So it couldn’t hurt. And yet, your heart felt like it was bleeding in your chest, a dagger shoved in, a dagger with Jungkook’s name. He was staring holes into you, but you couldn’t look at him, settling on the edge of the table instead. You weren’t hurt. You weren’t hurt that Narae with her perfect smile and manicured nails and beautiful hair and glossy lips got to meet his parents and you didn’t. It didn’t bother you at all! That was what you told yourself at least. Because you couldn’t possibly be hurt. Not when your relationship was transactional and just an act. And yet, to your misery, you were hurt, deeply. You hated it, how you weren’t all that unbothered as you wanted and more importantly, should be.
You were pulled out of your thoughts though when you saw the glare Hoseok was looking at Jungkook with. It dawned on you how awful all of it had to sound to your friends then. Narae, who never even was Jungkook’s official girlfriend, got to meet his parents, but you, who was officially (at least to them) his girlfriend, he not only didn’t want to introduce to them but also planned on keeping a secret?
“Oh my God, you guys!” you laughed, loud and light, like it was all so very dumb and stupid. With a big swoop, you grabbed Jungkook’s hand on the table, hoping no one saw the shake in your fingers. Everyone looked at you.
“You’re misunderstanding. We had agreed from the beginning that we should take it a little slower, and not tell everyone immediately. I knew he wasn’t going to tell his parents. I told him not to.” You put on your most convincing smile, swallowing the knot in your throat, hoping desperately it was enough. Everyone was looking at you, and you looked right back at them, at everyone except for Jungkook. Your vision almost blurred, hazy at the edges, feeling your composure threaten to slip.
“It’s nothing.”
There was a slight shake in your voice, the tiniest of a waver. You couldn’t tell if your friends noticed, their faces unreadable to you. A moment of silence stretched across the room, the food long forgotten about. In the end, it was slightly tipsy Jimin, the one who started it all, to break the awkwardness.
“Okay, well, do I text them… yes or-?”
You wondered if Jimin was this stupid, or trying to put you through hell on purpose. His question made Taehyung next to him sigh and shake his head, lips pressed together as he stared daggers into the older one.
“What?” Jimin whispered, offended. Maybe you should have taken the wine from him sooner.
You looked at Jungkook finally. He didn’t seem to have an answer at all, his eyes big and wide like a child’s. There was something in them that you couldn’t quite pinpoint. It almost seemed like he wanted you to agree, say yes, of course, you’d meet his parents. You had to be imagining it. As quickly as it had come, you squashed the thought.
It was up to you. The decision was in your hands. Everyone was waiting for your answer. Jungkook would have to go with whatever you were saying, whether or not he liked it.
A lot of it was probably spite, spite that Narae met them already and you hadn’t. And how would it look if you weren’t there when Jungkook inevitably made a post about being back home with his family and you weren’t there in the pictures? What would Narae think? You could already see a backhanded Instagram story in front of your eyes, how there was trouble in paradise. It was something you wouldn’t put past her at all, seeing as she had done so before, posting just an hour after Jungkook celebrated your one month anniversary about how cringe some couples could be. Anyone doubting your relationship might just lead to Taehyung doubting your relationship and then to Jungkook losing his bet and all of this would have been for nothing. That couldn’t happen, right? You had to do something against it!
“They probably won’t stop bothering you until you tell them yes, right?”
You tried your hardest to sound casual, nonchalant, chill as some might say. This was no big deal, you told yourself.
It wasn’t what Jungkook had expected. He thought you’d give some roundabout answer that in the end summarised that you needed to keep things slow and easy. But you agreed. You were going to meet his parents. He searched for something in your features, anything to tell him how you genuinely felt about it. He was trying to read you, but it was like he had the wrong dictionary.
“If that’s alright with you-” Maybe it was to hit the nail on the head, finish it off, you couldn’t say. But the urge was strong right then, just once to say it. “—babe?”
You turned to him and looked at him almost confidently. It was both your face and the pet name, but Jungkook couldn’t help but laugh. Of course, now you were going to call him babe. A grin spread across his lips.
“Okay, yeah.” He held your hand firmer and tighter. “I’d be more than happy for you to meet my parents. They’d be thrilled.”
He was a great liar. It sounded oh so very genuine.
You squeezed his hand and turned to Jimin. “I guess you can text them I’m going.”
“I think that was it,” Jungkook said, handing you the last few dirty plates.
“Alright,” you hummed, moving around some of the dishes to make some more space in the dishwasher.
“Oh,” Chaeyoung exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Jungkook standing there with you, “you can head out first. I’ll help Y/N.”
She wore a smile on her lips, but you knew better.
“It’s fine. I’ll just help-”
“No, really, get out,” Chaeyoung interrupted, slipping just the slightest bit and you gave Jungkook a look, almost reaching out for his hand and giving it a squeeze. She was curt, too curt. It surprised him, clearly. “I’m the host. I’ll clean up. Join the others in the living room.”
You offered him a nod, and with that Jungkook slipped out, receiving a more genuine smile and a quiet thank you from Chaeyoung on the way out because she knew he was more than confused by her just now. Before he even had the chance to turn to ask whether or not he should close the door, she did herself. You knew to prepare yourself, putting the stack of dishes aside. She folded her arms in front of her stomach.
This was an interrogation.
In another world (read: in a detective TV show), there’d be a metal table between you and you’d be handcuffed to it. A clock would decorate the blank walls, ticking away in the background, and the air would be chilly and humid, stifling almost. Chaeyoung would dramatically slide pictures across to you, and they would be incriminating ones, blurry but clearly depicting you in the middle of whatever crime you were accused of. She would point at them and tell you how you had one chance to tell her the truth.
“How are you?”
Just the question almost made you laugh. It was heartwarming. You knew exactly what she was trying to get out of you—if it hurt you at all that Narae had met Jungkook’s parents and he had seemingly wanted to keep you a secret. You dried your hands on the kitchen towel.
“I’m fine, thanks. How are you-”
“Are you lying?”
She took this very seriously, her face not even holding a hint of a smile. Again, in another world she’d stare you down, gaze cold and unwavering, and ask if you wanted to try again.
“Do I look like I am lying?”
You were lying about all of it, about most things concerning Jungkook and you these days. But you couldn’t say that. You couldn’t admit that the entire conversation during dinner hurt you to the degree it did, to a degree you would rather not admit, that it hurt at all to begin with. Because being hurt implied you had some sort of right to be, implied Jungkook owed you… something. And that was just not true.
Chaeyoung paused, sizing you up. It was hard to figure out what conclusion she came to, her eyes narrowed and sharp. She opened her mouth, but right then, someone announced themselves with a knock on the door. Without waiting, they poked their head in, and it could realistically only be one person.
“What did she say?” Jisoo asked.
Were you air today?
“Says she’s fine,” Chaeyoung said, wrinkling her nose.
“You don’t believe her?” Jisoo slipped inside and slowly closed the door, making sure beforehand though that no one was in earshot. Chaeyoung scrutinised you for another moment before coming to her conclusion with a long sigh.
“No, I do.” She paused before looking at you. “You know I’d- we’d rip him into pieces for you, right?”
You had no doubt for a second they would. Actually, all of your friends would, but Chaeyoung and Jisoo would be the first ones to throw a punch.
“I do, and I love you guys for it,” you say, smiling genuinely because God, you did love your friends so much. “But you don’t have to because I’m fine. And like I said, we had talked about it. You know how I am. Parents aren’t my thing.”
“Well, for that you just agreed to go meet them,” Jisoo mumbled, scrunching her nose, and you swallowed. Maybe it was hearing it from someone else, or maybe it was because you were no longer sitting around the dinner table with everyone expectedly staring at you and awaiting for an explanation, but it finally hit you. What exactly you had agreed to. Once your mind wasn’t clouded with the thought of Narae, you realised that oh my God, you were meeting Jungkook’s parents.
It was funny how quickly things could change. How just a few minutes ago, you didn’t worry about it at all, only thinking of Narae and her stupid perfect grin and the fact she had met them, and now you were worried because what would they say about you? Would they like you? What if they were like Jaehwa’s parents and-
“Now, don’t make that face,” Chaeyoung interrupted, putting a hand on your shoulder, noticing your spiral. “They’re gonna like you.”
“Yeah, you don’t have anything to worry about at all, Y/N,” Jisoo reassured. “If anything, they should be on their best behaviour. Because if not…”
And like the amazing friend she was, Jisoo started punching the air, showing you her swift moves that she would put on Jungkook’s parents.
“Can’t you see? They say one wrong thing, and it’d be over for them. Ji would do these weird punches and knock them right out,” Chaeyoung said. “It’s gonna be fine. Has to.”
“Also, with the way Jungkook acts with you, let’s be honest he’s head over heels for you,” Jisoo argued, putting an arm around you. “I can see him standing up for you.”
“Yeah, I hate to give a man any credit, but he would.”
“And again, if he doesn’t…” Jisoo didn’t finish her sentence, instead showing you her oh so brilliant and not wobbly but actually super fatal kick.
They both turned to you, and you slowly nodded. Maybe they were right. You didn’t necessarily think Jungkook would stand up for you, not because you didn’t believe he would but because you didn’t even let yourself go there. If you did, if you assumed he would do something like that for you, you’d be having expectations for him and you had no right to. But you knew that Chaeyoung and Jisoo would be there for you, and it was a comforting thought. That was enough. Your friends were enough. And maybe, you just liked to believe them too—that it would all somehow turn out just fine.
“Yeah, I guess,” you mumbled.
“It’s gonna be fine!” Chaeyoung repeated, squeezing your shoulder.
Before you could dwell on it any further, a knock on the kitchen door interrupted you.
“Yeah?” Jisoo said, and a moment later, Hoseok stuck his head in, offering an apologetic smile because he obviously knew what was going on in here.
“Sorry to interrupt, but Jimin asked for you, Chae,” he said, sounding unsure. He clearly hadn’t gotten a reason as to why he was supposed to call for Chaeyoung. She frowned and seemed less than willing to go, but you saw this as a great opportunity to put an end to this conversation and move on. Ignoring the fact you were going to meet Jungkook’s parents wasn’t going to solve the issue, but right now your brain felt mushy and drained. Too much of today’s focus had been on you, you couldn’t do it any longer.
“Let’s just all go,” you said. “We’ve been here for too long anyway.”
Jisoo agreed, mumbling something about how she couldn’t leave Jennie alone with all of the guys outside any longer, not in good conscience at least. She helped you put the last few plates into the dishwasher, and hooked her arm with yours as you made your way back into the living room, her head resting on your shoulder.
“Did he say what he wanted?” Chaeyoung asked Hoseok, the two walking behind you.
“Probably something stupid.”
And indeed it was.
Because the moment Jisoo and you had made it past the doorstep, Jimin jumped up and pointed at Chaeyoung and Hoseok. The two froze, all eyes on them, and when you turned to look, you found them in the same fate as Jungkook and you had been in earlier.
“Oh, Jimin,” you chuckled, shaking your head. He beamed with pride, chest out and a grin bigger than his entire face.
“We aren’t-” Chaeyoung couldn’t even finish her sentence, sputtering for words. “No! This is… stupid!”
“You have to. Otherwise, it’s bad luck,” Jungkook grinned. “That’s what you said, right, Seok?”
Hoseok looked positively ready to strangle him, but you couldn’t have been prouder of him right now. Even though Jimin was the one to orchestrate this, it felt like sweet revenge to get back at Hoseok. And really, you were helping him and Chaeyoung. Maybe today was the day finally something would happen.
“Seok and I aren’t- we aren’t-”
“It’s just a kiss!” Seokjin said, and you nodded. Because as much as you felt for them, having been in their position, you knew Chaeyoung wouldn’t have come to your rescue. She might have disapproved, but she would have definitely enjoyed the show and let it go on until you kissed.
“Just do a quick peck,” Taehyung suggested, pressing a kiss to Yoongi’s cheek to demonstrate. The older one wiped his cheek and shook his head, but there was clear amusement tugging on the corners of his mouth too. You laughed at the absurdity of it all, especially when you caught the embarrassed looks on Chaeyoung’s and Hoseok’s faces.
“Also if you hadn’t walked in together like I had predicted you obviously would, you wouldn’t be in this situation,” Jimin said, and Hoseok let out a noise that could only be described as a weak and mangled attempt at faux upset. “You guys are so clearly in love with each other anyway, just kiss!”
“Oh my God,” Chaeyoung let out a scoff, but it sounded pitchy and panicked, “seriously? H-how many times do we have to tell you guys that we are just really good friends? Just like Jimin and Y/N!”
“Don’t be ridiculous here, Chae,” you laughed. “Jimin and I are just friends, but you two? Oh, please.”
“There was an attempt, huh?”
Chaeyoung glared at Jisoo, her cheeks gaining a deeper shade of red with every passing second. In a last ditch attempt, she turned to Hoseok, hoping for some backup from him.
“Tell them-”
This time when her sentence got lodged in her throat, it was for a very different reason. Because Hoseok was looking at her like he was ready to risk it all in front of everybody. Like he was ready to just say it, do something. And Chaeyoung knew, freezing to a statue.
Jisoo and you looked at each other, gasping. Her nails dug into your arm and you held onto her just as strongly. Your breath hitched in your throat as Hoseok placed a hand on Chaeyoung’s cheek, pausing and hesitating for a moment, as if he waited for her to reject him before ultimately kissing her. And instantly, she pulled him closer.
It was like a scene out of every 2000s romantic comedy, the finale of the third act, what you had all been waiting up to. It was a scene to swoon and die for.
A sense of joy you had rarely felt overtook you, a rush. You began shaking Jisoo, mouth split into a grin. As much as you had wanted and actually still wanted to strangle Jimin tonight for bringing that stupid mistletoe, you were just about ready to kiss him (platonically and only figuratively of course).
“See!” Jimin laughed, pointing at Hoseok and Chaeyoung, both of them flushed red to the tips of their ears. But they were smiling too. This had been good.
“I can’t believe that this is how you guys get together,” Jisoo laughed, Chaeyoung and Hoseok looking at each other, his arm wrapped around her middle. They laughed, shrugging.
Jimin proudly pointed at himself, beaming brighter than a Christmas tree. “All my doing.”
“Shut up,” Yoongi laughed, trying and failing to kick him in the knee. And though his attempt wasn’t successful, it earned him a thank you! from Chaeyoung. Jimin looked over to Namjoon for some kind of help, but he simply shrugged. He scoffed when he saw Seokjin squeeze Yoongi’s shoulder, mumbling something about how he was just jealous.
“I mean… neither did I,” Hoseok chuckled, seeming still completely out of it, unbelieving.
“Thought about it a lot, huh?” Taehyung asked, grinning, and for a moment, you could see Hoseok struggling to answer, decide whether or not he wanted to admit the blatant truth, confess that he’d been imagining this more times than he should have. In the end, he cared less about saving face and looking cool, and much more about who he had his arm wrapped around, finally.
“Yeah, always.”
And just like that, Chaeyoung pulled him down for another kiss. The sight warmed Jisoo’s heart because she turned to Jennie, reaching out for her. With a slight tug, she was at Jennie’s side. You laughed, shaking your head, just to catch Jungkook looking at you. For a moment, you didn’t quite know what to do even though you weren’t the one caught staring. The same couldn’t be said about Jungkook. He didn’t seem to care at all, eyes not holding an ounce of uncertainty. It was obvious that he was much more confident and comfortable with being seen by you. Something you still weren’t at this point, not entirely at least, not right in this very moment, or… actually ever.
Jungkook didn’t say anything as he stretched his hand out. You hesitated, if just for a second. Because maybe you shouldn’t. Not when your heart was beating the way it was. And yet, you did take it, did let him pull you close and hold you and press his lips to the top of your head.
“You don’t have to meet them if you don’t want to.”
He whispered it, spoke in a soft and warm voice. His words floated to your ears, and you knew. You didn’t have to do anything ever actually. Not for him at least. He expected nothing from you. You closed your eyes, and listened to his heartbeat in his chest. Strong and firm. It was the opposite of yours. Yours was a mess, thumping and skipping beats.
“I will.”
Jungkook smiled as bright as the sun, pressing another kiss to your head. You could feel the excitement rushing through his fingertips, his arm tightening around you. You didn’t know the reason for it, his excitement. It didn’t make sense why he would be, you weren’t his girlfriend after all. You refused to think about it, preferring the bliss of ignorance.
God, you loved him so much. You did. You loved Jungkook to an indescribable amount. And God, was it time to stop all of this.
The video had been playing for less than twenty seconds when the call came in, your phone lighting up beside you. You paused your laptop, his name taking up your entire phone screen. And though Jungkook and you had begun calling each other more frequently now, spending at least once a week on the phone together, you were confused when you glanced at the time. But you accepted the call, sliding your thumb over the glass. Some ruffling met your ears before finally, he came through.
“Hi.”
For some reason, there was a smile on your lips.
“What do you want?” you laughed, glancing at the time in the upper left corner of your phone. 01:24. “It’s late. Why aren’t you sleeping?”
“Could say the same about you,” Jungkook argued, and you rolled your eyes, scoffing slightly, already sensing where this was going. You leaned back into your couch, looking at the ceiling with renewed interest.
“I’m not tired.”
“Neither am I.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Then neither do I.”
“Well, you had a full day of classes today, so you must be at least a little tired,” you shot back, and a beat of silence passed. For a moment, it seemed like you came out victorious.
“You know my schedule?”
The question hung in front of you, and you were glad that this was just a call. Because you could see it, his stupid face. The proud smile on his lips, the grin that adorned it. He would inch closer to you, push you to answer, and you would cave and crumble terribly.
“... no.”
And Jungkook began laughing almost immediately, his voice booming through your phone. You cringed, biting your tongue.
“I’m going to hang up.”
“No, no, no, don’t,” he said, still laughing however. “I’m sorry.”
His apology didn’t sound an ounce sincere, but you were never going to actually hang up. A comfortable silence passed, and you could have stayed on the phone forever.
“Oh, have you watched the newest video I sent you yet?”
“You mean the two hour long video essay about the phenomenal music scoring of Avatar?” you hummed, glancing over to your laptop to see the screen dark already. “Yeah, I was about to watch it when you called.”
Somehow, you could hear his smile forming on his lips. “You should watch it.”
“Yeah, I will,” you said, sighing and rolling your eyes.
There was silence for another few seconds.
“What are you doing?” Jungkook asked, and you could tell he was genuinely curious. You blinked, having completely forgotten what you had been up to until he called. You looked at the ball of yarn sitting in your lap, your attempt at a scarf hanging between the two knitting needles. But you couldn’t tell him, it would ruin the surprise.
And so, you returned the question instead. “What are you doing?”
“I asked you first.”
“I asked you second.”
Jungkook sighed. “You’re very fun to talk to sometimes, you know?”
You laughed, not missing the irony in his voice. “Thanks. You are too.”
“Just tell me,” he said, and you frowned at his poor attempt to get you to talk.
“Why don’t you tell me first?”
He let out a small scoff, and you could picture his face perfectly. The way his tongue would be digging into his cheek and his eyes rolling back because God, you were frustrating sometimes! But there would be an undeniable smile on his lips. There always was.
“Alright,” Jungkook said, and you raised your brows. “I’m outside.”
You frowned. “Where are you going? At this hour?”
“Why don’t you guess?”
“Just tell me.”
He paused, hesitated. Somehow, you could hear his grin turn bigger.
“How about you look outside and see for yourself instead?”
Your heart sank in your chest, something strange taking hold of you. You moved without a thought, almost knocking over one of your pothos sitting on your window sill when you pulled the curtain aside. The glass was cool to touch, but you pressed your entire hand against it, just to feel something steady. Because right now, you felt the opposite of it, heart jumping to your throat and beating there like it was bound to fall out. Because there was no way that he was here right now! This wasn’t a cheesy romcom! But you also knew that he wouldn’t lie to you.
And he didn’t.
There he was, standing on the sidewalk, in front of your building, phone pressed to his ear, head in his neck, mouth in a grin and waving up to you.
You opened and closed your mouth several times, scoffing in the end and shaking your head.
“You’re so… stupid, Jeon.”
Jungkook laughed, “Well, that’s been established before.”
“You’re such a ridiculous stupid little man, Jeon!” you went on, pressing a hand to your forehead and squeezing your eyes closed for a moment. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, is it a crime now to drop by your girlfriend’s home when you miss her?”
The words rolled off his tongue with a certain confidence and ease. Two things you rarely ever had, even less around Jungkook. It always seemed so very fragile and dangerous, to be so open and vulnerable. You couldn’t snap back, tell him how ridiculous he was because you had just seen each other two days ago at the Christmas party. Hell, you had been spending almost every day with each other—either on the phone or in person driving to Seo’s bakery to pick up your needed batch of cookies or watching Avatar until you both could recite every line. And yet here he was, telling you that he missed you, so much so that he needed to see you in the middle of the night, at 1:42.
Right then, it became blatantly obvious to you—that Jungkook and you had crudely blown the lines you had established beforehand, agreed to contractually, into absolute smithereens, that you two had made new ones, dangerous ones, ones that resembled an actual relationship, and that, even worse, you had not only never talked about it but gotten used to the new rules, comfortable.
And even with that realisation lingering in your mind with big glaring bright red flags hissed high above and every possible alarm blaring in the air, you couldn’t bring yourself to tell Jungkook that this was wrong, that he should go home. You should, it would spare your sanity. But your heart had only grown bigger and fonder of him. And it was horrible because you knew even more time with him, alone, in your own four walls, was the worst thing you could do. There would be nowhere for you to go, run off to. But you couldn’t send him home. Because really, you didn’t want to. Because it did excite you. That he was here. That he had gotten up, changed, and made his way to you. That the cold hadn’t even been enough to stop him.
“Now, open up. It’s freezing. My hands and feet are already blue,” he told you, adding a dramatic shiver to his words.
You paused, frowned, searched and didn’t see it anywhere. It clicked with you. You hadn’t heard the engine or turn signal during the entirety of your call.
“Did you- did you walk here? Why didn’t you take your car?”
“Felt like it.”
“You’re so stupid, oh my God,” you groaned, rolling your eyes as you repeatedly pressed the buzzer to open the front door for him. “Never ever do that again. It’s freezing outside!”
Jungkook responded with a laugh. It echoed on the walls of your empty lobby, reverberating through the phone. “Alright, I won’t. I promise.”
“Also, shouldn’t you be writing that stupid paper about Newton or Einstein or whatever?”
“It’s not about either of them, but I still have a bit of time until the deadline,” he explained, and you heard him walk up the stairs. “Thanks for remembering though.”
You pressed your lips together. “What if I was sleeping?”
“But you aren’t.” He sounded so incredibly smug and proud. You could have punched him. “Also, I know you, cabbage. You’d rather die than go to bed at a reasonable time.”
And somehow, that admission embarrassed you. It did. Terribly. Because he did, he did know you oh so well.
You left the front door ajar for him, waiting there with your hands folded in front of you, fingers picking on each other, as you listened to his steps grow closer and louder. His hand was the first thing you saw, reaching and touching the doorknob, and then it was suddenly just all of him. In front of you. He smiled at your sight, and you knew you looked more embarrassed and unsure than ever before. You were relieved you still hadn’t changed the lightbulb that had burned through all those months ago, allowing the dark to obscure you from him, a soft shadow across your face.
Jungkook shrugged off his coat, hanging it on the hook behind the front door and revealing his maroon knit sweater and black pants to you. When he looked at you again, his gaze softened.
“Hi, cabbage.” His cheeks and nose were brutally red from the wind, but he seemed as happy as ever. “I made you something.”
You noticed the metal lunchbox in his hands only when he pushed it towards you, and when you took it, it was still warm. Like whatever he had prepared, he had packed up the minute it was done and came straight to you.
“What did you make?” you asked, and you knew he wouldn’t tell you, waiting for you to open the lunchbox instead and discover for yourself. You peeled open the lid just a little, revealing a small corner when the smell hit you. Your eyes shot to Jungkook, and he looked both sheepish and proud.
“You didn’t.”
A gasp, your features melting. He wrinkled his nose, turned his head to the side.
“I was gonna go get some from Seo’s Bakery, but they- did you know they’re on Christmas break?”
You nodded, eyes unable to take off of him, blabbering, “Yeah, of course. They always are. Every Christmas. Have always been.”
Jungkook made a gesture towards you, shrugging. “Well, so I thought- I don’t know. I’d make you some instead. You gotta fuel your addiction somehow, right?”
There was no denying how many sweet gestures Jungkook had made ever since you’d been doing this (whatever one might classify this as). The amount of flowers and cookies he’d showered you with. The amount of smiles and laughs he’d pulled from you. The amount of love he’d shown you, even if it wasn’t real.
You put the lunchbox aside, needing to return the gesture at least once. Leaning over your couch, you grabbed the half-finished scarf you’d made for him. You wanted to show him, reciprocate some of the affection and love. But in your haste, you forgot the ball of yarn the scarf was connected to.
“Oh, fuck.”
Like a roll of paper, it unfurled, and though it would be annoying to roll it all up again, you shoved the scarf into Jungkook’s face, uncaring.
“It’s not finished- or particularly well done. But- I made that… for you,” you hesitated, a lump lodged in your throat. “I also just chose a random colour- if you don’t like red, I could definitely change it, you know. It’s not even done-”
He took it from your hands, silencing you. Your brows knit together as you watched him admire the intricate and detailed rows of red yarn. And then, he wrapped it around his neck even though the scarf was still attached to the ball of yarn and the knitting needles were poking into his neck.
“Wait, no,” you laughed, already reaching to take it off. “You don’t have to wear it or anything- Like I said, it’s not even done. I still have to-”
Jungkook took hold of your hands. Your eyes met his. He smiled at you.
“You’re so cute, cabbage,” he told you, his gaze so full and soft. And you melted right then and there, your face lit up like a fire. Melted even more so when Jungkook kissed you and pressed his forehead against yours. “I love it, cabbage. Thank you so much.”
“Really?” you said it softly, delicately, anxiously.
As if it was a proper way of responding, Jungkook took your hand and placed it on his chest. You could feel it then, under your palm and fingertips, through the fabric of his sweater, his heart.
“Really.”
And you let yourself believe him a little.
You don’t know how. It was blurry to you, all of it, but somehow, his head ended up in your lap with your fingers threading through his hair and your back pressed to the side of your bed. You both shared the batch of cookies while you finished a few more rows for the scarf before ultimately calling it, putting it to the side, promising him you’d finish it as soon as possible. Instead, a bottle of supermarket wine found its way into your hands, the glasses always filled with the red liquid. Neither of you said much. And really, there simply wasn’t a need to, the minutes ticking by as the night went on and on. An intimacy lay between you, an intimacy most would never know, an intimacy that could only come from the strange nature of your relationship.
“What?” you said, almost laughing, sure you had to have misheard him.
“I’m serious. I really like it here,” Jungkook repeated. “I like your home, a lot.”
Your mouth opened and closed before you shook your head and laughed. “But why?”
To you, there wasn’t much to like about your home here. If anything there was more to dislike than like. It was too cramped, too small. The furniture was old and shabby and the lights didn’t even work properly. On bad days, it would get either unbearably freezing or hot in here. And on particularly bad days where your luck had run out, the water would run cold and the electricity cut out. There wasn’t much to love here, except for your big bed and pothos you had on your window sill.
“I feel like I get to see another side of you,” Jungkook told you, shrugging and wrinkling his nose. “You seem much more relaxed at home.”
You frowned. “Where else should I be relaxed if not at home?”
He rolled his eyes at your comment, shaking his head. “No, I just mean… you don’t seem on guard at home.”
“I’m on guard?”
There was a pause. He looked at you for a long time, eyes wandering across your entire face.
“Yeah, sometimes.” He wrinkled his forehead a little. “I think you used to be more on guard, or at least you were around me.” There was another pause, another beat, another moment of suspense. “Wouldn’t you say you’ve opened up to me more since you let me in here for the first time?”
The question stumped you. Because did everything really change then? You couldn’t say. To a certain degree, Jungkook was right. Things had drastically shifted between him and you. Before you would have never been in this position—on the floor together, in your home, his head in your lap and your hands combing through his hair as you shared cookies and wine. But before you would have talked about it, established rules and laws and all kinds of conditions, and gone through every possibility. Now though, the two of you had gotten awfully comfortable with just simply not.
“Why? Because I slept with you?” you quipped, knowing already even in your slightly tipsy state that it wasn’t that.
“You know that’s not what I mean,” he said, sighing. You wrinkled your nose and looked to the ceiling for a few moments, leaning your head back.
“Should I be on guard?”
“Around me?” Jungkook said, shaking his head. “No, never. I’m an honest boy.”
You laughed, even more so when you looked at him and he was grinning proudly into your face, standing by his cheesy words. “You make me want to kick you out.”
“Please don’t,” he said, offering you puppy eyes and snuggling even closer to you. “I wouldn’t know what to do if you did.”
He winced when you tugged on his hair, slightly away from you. “You’re annoying.”
Jungkook laughed, and you went back to silence for a while.
“Are you ever going to tell me what Joon and the others said to you that made you run into the bathroom the other day?”
It was probably the alcohol, all the time you had spent together, sitting there on the cold floor. Your mind wasn’t the clearest anymore, and neither was his.
“They just told me how whipped you are for me. How deeply and madly you’re in love with me,” you snorted, teasingly inching closer to his face with each word before pulling away.
He smiled a little, clearly expecting worse. “Really? They said that?”
“I know.” You took two big sips, downing more than half of what was in the glass, not wanting to lose that fuzzy feeling in your veins. “It’s funny, right?”
You snorted, knowing exactly what he was thinking—That was ridiculous!
“But true.”
Jungkook didn’t hesitate. But he said it softly. So softly in fact you looked at him to check that you hadn’t made it up. When his mouth widened into a grin, you scoffed.
“Oh, shut up.”
“It’s true. I do. I am.”
It sounded so very ironic to your ears. You shook your head and scoffed. “Is that what you told Narae too?”
Her mention from your lips surprised Jungkook, his eyes growing a little wider. You were equally as taken aback. But it was true. Because you did think about it sometimes if he did and said the same things to Narae. If everything you experienced with him had been experienced before, just with someone else, someone with a perfect smile and perfect parents.
“You don’t know me at all, Y/N,” Jungkook mumbled, and it sounded accusatory.
Your heart dropped in your chest. It felt like you were shot, the hurt instant. You looked away, teeth sinking into your tongue. But he wasn’t off. You didn’t know Jungkook very well. Why should you though? Not like he and you were anything meaningful, like you shared anything truthful. And it was so very embarrassing, so very embarrassing that you felt hurt at all.
Jungkook seemed to surprise himself with his words, seemed not to mean it like that because he was scrambling the very next second, lifting up from your lap and pleading for you to look his way.
“No, no, no, I-I don’t mean it like that,” he said, voice a little higher than usual, reaching for your hand, squeezing. There’s a desperation in his voice, a panic swinging with it that he might have just ruined a perfectly fine conversation.
“You just seem to,” he hesitated, “have this very weird and funny idea of me in your head. I-I never told Narae anything like that. You’re the first one.”
You looked at him. There was a deep crease between his brows, and he went on when you wouldn’t say anything.
“You’re the only one who’s ever made me do these weird things, you know?” He added a chuckle, but there wasn’t much humour to it at all. You tried to smile for him, feeling this conversation was taking a rather serious turn. It was in dire need of some lightness.
“I make you do weird things?” you mumbled, slightly shaking your head, looking away. “I don’t think I’m capable of that.”
“Do you really think I’d try to bake cookies for anyone else in the middle of the night? Or walk to their home at night, not knowing if they’re even actually home because I wanted to surprise them? Or send every Avatar video essay I come across? Do you really think I’d want to dress up with anyone else in a couple’s costume than you?”
You couldn’t find the right response then, your lips pressing together. It was difficult for you to say whether or not you believed him. Because you didn’t think you did, not genuinely at least, not deep down. You never really did with Jungkook, believe him. Because you never let yourself go there, not fully. In the back of your mind, you knew that this was ending, only started because of a stupid little meaningless bet, that your relationship whichever form it had morphed to had no real genuine basis.
“Do you really think I’d tell anyone else I-”
You shoved a cookie into his mouth, silencing him. Your gaze turned sideways, it was easier to speak for you then. If you looked at Jungkook, you wouldn’t be able to say anything.
“Alright, I got it, Jeon. Now, eat your cookie and shut up,” you chuckled, and your words were accompanied with a lightness, a lightness you forced out of yourself and hoped was enough to quiet Jungkook. He stared at you, eyes big, before ultimately letting out a chuckle himself when he saw you smile at him. He held onto your hand, squeezing it.
“If I wasn’t too lazy to reach for my phone, I’d take a picture of you right now,” he told you with his mouth stuffed, matching your tone, keeping it light and fun. It was amazing, how both of you simply moved on. He broke off a piece and held it to your mouth. You took it from his fingertips, letting him feed you. The sugar melted on your tongue. “Really thought you had learned your lesson, you know? That you were less judgemental now.”
“Shut up,” you mumbled, still chewing. He laughed when you rolled your eyes.
For a few minutes, neither of you said anything. It seemed like the moment had resolved as easily as it had come up. You took a few sips from your glass, filling it back up when you emptied it, and Jungkook shared the last bite of the cookie with you, holding the piece in front of your lips and allowing you to pull it from his fingertips. And when he kept his fingers in front of your mouth, you pressed a quick kiss to them. He smiled and took your hand into his again, fingers interlacing.
“You’re so weird,” you said, the corners of your eyes creasing when you smiled.
Jungkook returned it, opened his mouth to retort something clever and funny, but it was like the fire died in him, as if he simply couldn’t let the moment from before slide as easily as you both had hoped and tried for it to. He reached for it again, pulling it back on shore. His face changed, morphed into something else. You couldn’t pinpoint his exact expression, but your stomach churned. For a second, you felt this brief need to cry.
“You—” He hesitated, afraid to ask because he knew you didn’t want him to and he shouldn’t but he needed to ask. “—believe me, right?”
And somehow that question carried the entire weight of the earth because you suffocated underneath it in an instant. There seemed to be so much. It didn’t make sense, there shouldn’t be any deeper meaning behind his question. After all, he and you weren’t anything! And yet, he looked at you as if you were. When you wouldn’t respond, looked away instead, Jungkook let out a chuckle. But it sounded empty and dry, and you knew you had hurt him.
“I’m sorry.”
There was a sadness to your words, and he noticed. It was the same kind of sadness he heard colouring your words when you had told him about Jaehwa and the heartbreak that had come with him. And he knew then not to take it to heart, your inability to believe him.
“I’m sorry. I want to- It’s just-”
There was desperation, hurt, frustration. You buried your face into your hands, eyes closing. It’s just hard sometimes! I don’t really believe anyone really, you wanted to say. But you didn’t. The admission felt too much, too hard to bring over your lips, too honest. You couldn’t do it.
Jungkook didn’t say anything, and you waited for him to take all of his things and go. The front door would click shut and with that, you would have ruined it, all of it, the past few months. But it didn’t happen. You didn’t hear his steps moving away from you, or the front door opening. Instead, Jungkook cupped your face with both of his hands, a smile on his lips when you finally looked at him.
“It’s fine.”
And you wished it felt like that to you. Fine. But you hadn’t felt quite fine for a while now. Not since your heart began filling up every time you looked at him.
“Is it?”
His gaze softened, melted like the first layer of snow in the early morning hours. His thumb brushed over your cheekbones, and his touch was so very warm and comforting. You closed your eyes, and he pressed his lips to yours. It did feel fine right then when he kissed you. He held you firmly and strongly, he wasn’t going to let go. Even if you might not believe him and had your doubts. Your hands curled around his shirt, and you were the one to pull it off of him. Because you needed that right now, something simple.
“Are you sure-”
You silenced him, removing your shirt. He looked at you for another second before kissing you again. You moved up from the floor to your bed. His lips pressed to every inch of your skin, slow and delicately. Your breathing flattened, soft whimpers emerging from your throat when his hands wandered, brushed the inside of your thighs. Jungkook was everywhere, holding and gripping and squeezing and kissing. It made your chest swell, and for a second, you thought you needed a second heart. Another one to hold it all in. All the feelings brewing inside you, all of your feelings for him. It was too much to bear for your one singular heart.
He held you, stayed close. He never allowed any space between him and you, never allowed you to think he’d get up and leave. And you never let him slip away from you, not tonight, caging him in. One day he would, you were certain of it, convinced. The contract was running up with each day, but right now, he was here, closer than ever.
And in the high of it all, your breaths mixed with his, the air smelling of sweat and lust, your faces flushed and bodies sticky, there were words lying between him and you. In fact, there was so much, it felt heavy. You hoped, in vain, he would let it slide, quietly.
“Y/N, I-”
Jungkook stopped when you shook your head, pleading. You knew the ending of his sentence, he had told you it many times before. And right now, the thought of hearing it, hurt you more than it ever had before.
“I-”
But he stopped again when you closed your eyes and pressed your lips to his in response, hands cupping his face. He hesitated at first before kissing you back, hoping you’d understand either way. That he wanted this. That he wanted you. You didn’t say it, but Jungkook knew not to cross that line, not right now. As if him not saying it would prevent the inevitable heartbreak you’d be going through in just a few weeks, would change anything. As if you didn’t already love him more than you could comprehend. As if loving him didn’t hurt you.
→ thanks for reading !! if you have any thoughts, id love to hear it!
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never make him love me
tldr: you’re determined to confess to teen!gojo, but your chances of success are literally 0.
cw: angst/no comfort... sorry? reader is a bit very delusional n kinda weird, gojo may be a bit ooc, no curse au, gender neutral (i think) but reader is wearing a skirt, and im p sure this is not very accurate to the actual japanese school system. not beta read btw
a/n: this has been in my drafts for too long... whoops! trying a different divider but i don’t rlly like it. also does reader count as a girl/boyfailure here or not? they kinda strange tbh :/ idk lol, hope yall enjoy getting rejected by gojo n can yall guess who hes already in love w
you’re in love with gojo satoru.
which, to be fair, a lot of people are. he’s a pretty face: soft, snow-white hair with bright cerulean eyes that draws anyone and everyone in. a big, gorgeous smile, and long, muscular limbs that you just know would feel so good wrapped around you.
plenty of people have confessed to him, and all of them have been rejected. that should be enough to put you off, to make you face the reality that gojo may not be madly in love with you, but it just makes you more determined. he’s just rejecting everyone else because he’s waiting for you!
that has to be it, right?
definitely, you think as you skip to gojo’s classroom. you can feel the weird stares from students (and even a teacher or two), but they don’t matter. you’re going to confess to gojo satoru, damn it, and nothing’s getting in the way.
it’s lunch period, thankfully, which means he’ll be with geto and ieiri. that’s good — his best friends will be there to watch him declare his reciprocated love for you.
you slide the door open, love letter and two packs of kasugai gummies in one hand. a few students in the room glance up at you, including gojo!
the two of you lock eyes — well, you think you do. it’s a bit difficult to tell, but his head is facing your direction, so he’s totally looking at you. he’s noticing you!!!
you bite your lip to stifle the giggle bubbling up in your chest and walk up to the perfect trio (hopefully, soon to be quadruple). “hi, gojo,” you say, a nervous yet giddy smile on your face.
“... hey?” he exchanges looks with geto before focusing back on you. “do i know you?”
okay, ouch. you literally sat behind him in chemistry, but, whatever. don’t focus on the little things!
“um, probably not, but!” you hold out the envelope with a heart sticker as the seal. “i have something to tell you.”
“uh... okay.” gojo scratches the back of his neck, then takes the letter. he slides his finger under the seal, tearing it open, and pulls the letter out. he unfolds it, and both geto and ieiri lean in to also read it.
a frown tugs at the corners of your lips. the words were meant for just gojo, not those two. although... does it really matter? you’re just proving that you’re a good fit for their best friend.
after a drawn out moment of silence, gojo chuckles, albeit awkwardly. “wow, uh... this is a lot.”
you nod. “yeah!” you also hand him the packs of gummies, which he takes a bit more eagerly than the letter and sets them on his desk. “so, um...”
your heart has been hammering in your chest this entire time, but now it feels like it’s trying to escape. sweat accumulates on your palms, and you resist the urge to wipe them on your skirt.
this is the big moment.
you hope and pray and plead to whatever being that’s out there for gojo to accept and reciprocate your feelings. with all the manifesting and ‘love spells’ you’ve done, it should work. gojo satoru is most definitely in love with–
“this is nice, but, uh, i’m not interested.”
...
what?
you blink down at him, and now you’re the one chuckling nervously. “i’m sorry?”
maybe you misheard. that had to be it, right? there’s no way he isn’t in love with you. you bought him gummies, you wrote him a letter, you spent countless hours researching and trying different manifestation methods, you prayed at the shrine, you learned his schedule so that you could pass by him on the way to class, you did everything for him.
he scratches the back of his neck again before refolding the letter and putting it back into the envelope. “i’m not really interested in a relationship right now. you’re probably really cool and stuff, so don’t take it personally.”
no, no, no, no. this isn't how this was supposed to go! he was supposed to say yes! what happened? what did you do wrong?
now you’ve embarrassed yourself in front of his friends. his best friends. how are you supposed to come back from this? thank god no one else in the room is paying attention right now.
heat creeps up the back of your neck and spreads to your face. sweat is drenching your palms, blood is roaring in your ears, and you really want to melt into the ground never to be seen again. you’re pretty sure your heart just shattered into a trillion pieces and a shard pierced your lungs, because you cannot breathe.
you then feel a hand on your forearm, and you jolt. it’s ieiri. “hey, are you–”
“i’m fine!” you blurt, and a few heads turn in your direction. you take the envelope back from gojo, spin on your heel, and rush out of the classroom.
damn it.
you’re pushing past people to get to the restroom, and you slam the stall door shut before locking it.
you’re so stupid. how could the gojo satoru be in love with you?
the tears finally spill from your eyes, running down your cheeks, and you let your face fall into your hands as you sob.
idiot, idiot, idiot.
you should’ve known you wouldn’t be any different. he wasn’t waiting for you. he’ll never be waiting for you. you never had a chance, and in your defense, no one did.
gojo’s heart has already been claimed by someone else, and if you were a little smarter, you’d know exactly who it is.
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Do you have a story/reason behind the scars on Cody's lips for the evil doppelganger au?
(also I absolutely adore it, from the writing to the art. It all fits together so well)
I definitely have backstory to every hurt and freckle, Nonny.
CW: body horror, panic attack
———
“Careful.”
“Of course,” Ecmo answers drily, causing Obi-Wan to take a step back with a short, apologetic bow. “Should you be up, General?” Ecmo asks with a side-glance before putting the tweezers to use again.
Obi-Wan flushes. Very lightly because of blood loss but it’s a pretty sight nonetheless.
Instead of going to the assigned med-bed, Cody watches in bemusement as Obi-Wan fishes a stool from under the corner-desk with his foot and sits down, gingerly placing his bandaged hands—
Obi-Wan’s screams trembled in the back of Cody’s throat, clanging and pounding behind Cody’s squeezed shut eyes, not wanting to see the hammer coming down again—
Ecmo drops another bit of sutures onto the tray. “Almost done. Anesthetics still holding up?”
Cody nods. He only has the most vague sensation in his lips, the immediate area around his mouth. Still, he— he needs—
He can’t feel his mouth.
A short flick of his fingers has Obi-Wab sitting up straighter and Ecmo backing up with held up hands.
He can’t feel his mouth. It’s there but not his, it’s theirs and dry and he needs water and
“It’s okay,” Ecmo reassures immediately, voice coming through water and vacuum and black holes. “Take your time.”
He’s so thirsty, his tongue is glued to the roof of his mouth.
“Cody, I’m here. We’re both here. We’re not there anymore.”
Shut up. Shut up shut up shut up before they hear you and the last time Obi-Wan had tried to speak, they had held Cody down and made an example of him with needle and thread.
“We’re safe. Cody, we’re safe.”
He knows that. He knows that because he had screamed for help, ripping the stitches through his mouth, when he’d seen life-saving gold. Had cried when he’d pulled an unconscious Obi-Wan on his back and away— away—
“You’re in the medbay on the Negotiator.”
Away.
His reflection stares back at him silently from a polished transparisteel wall. He’s going to have scars.
“You’re going to be okay.”
The panic in his chest stops its maelstrom and hardens like it’s glassed.
Yes. He will be.
He’ll tell himself that often, in the upcoming years. He’ll survive because he doesn’t know what else to do.
He’s been designed to fight so he does. The CIS, the Senate, Sith, and droids and a chip in his head that Obi-Wan will shorten out, fighting off Cody with broken hands and a broken lightsaber glancing off Cody’s face and eye. Obi-Wan will crawl away from him with a smashed knee Cody had stomped on to keep him from moving.
He’ll survive that, too.
But for now he pushes his forehead against Obi-Wan’s stomach, wishing to hide beneath his ribs.
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i wrote something for this vampire!pac/vampire hunter!fit au \o/ in my mind this is placed kind of around the middle of the plot? perhaps closer to the start? this is just a wip! for my peace of mind i have no intentions of picking up another multi-chapter fic, i just wanted to write something for the au since it was on the mind
hope you guys enjoy \o/ reblogs are appreciated!
Mike has a tight grip on his arm, and is dragging him through the castle. Fit had—unfortunately—been forced to leave all his weapons at the door, but he was allowed to keep his rosary for self-defence.
“He’s eating.” Mike says, and Fit still doesn’t know what the fuck he’s actually doing here. He just wanted to attempt another duel, and then Mike was telling him Pac wanted to talk to him. “Just wait, okay? He will be done soon.”
Mike opens a door to a room and shoves him inside. The vampiric strength means he actually stumbles, but he manages to reel back in time to keep the door from closing while he surveys the room.
And he’s glad he did because Pac is—Well, Pac is—He’s certainly occupied. To say the least.
He’s lying on top of someone—and, sure, he could just be feeding, in which case Fit should probably do something about that—but, well… they’re on a bed. And the other person’s hand is curled into Pac’s hair, carding through it.
He backs himself out of the room quickly, closing the door as he goes. He turns to Mike. Who is staring at him unimpressed with his arms crossed.
“I think—I think he’s, uh… busy.” Fit says.
And his face is annoyingly warm.
“I told you, bro.” Mike tries to open the door again. “He’s just eating.”
Unfortunately, Fit’s hand had already slipped off of the door handle. Mike bullies his way past him easily enough, and opens the door again. Shoves Fit inside again. Stupid vampiric strength. Fit could technically fight against it, but he is not in the position to start a fight right now.
“I’m just outside.” Mike warns him. “So don’t try anything.”
“What can I try?” Fit hisses back. On the bed, Pac is pushing himself to sit up. “You took all my weapons.”
Mike shrugs, and closes the door. Great.
“Hi, Fit!” Pac calls out, now sitting next to the person on the bed—who hasn’t gotten up.
Fit should really go check on them. But all he has is a stupid fucking rosary, so he doesn’t want to provoke Pac.
“Uh… hey, Pac.” Fit nods over at the body. “Are they dead?”
“What? No!” Pac laughs, teeth gleaming white—a stark contrast to the red splattered on his lips and around his mouth. It’s… eerie. Definitely eerie and nothing else. “This is Felps.”
Felps reaches a hand up, and Pac helps him sit up. He drapes himself against Pac’s side, letting his chin rest on Pac’s shoulder.
“Hi.” Felps offers him a small wave. “It’s nice to meet you finally.”
“Uh… hi.” Fit takes a stuttering step closer. What the fuck is he supposed to do here? “Can I talk to you? Alone?”
“Me?” Felps points at himself, his eyebrows raised.
“Yeah.”
This isn’t really what he had planned. But then again, his plan went out the window the second Mike answered the door and told him Pac wanted to talk.
Felps pouts, and wraps his arms around Pac’s waist. Pac laughs, and twists his head to press a kiss to Felps’ cheek. It leaves behind a bloody smear.
“It’s okay.” Pac says, patting Felps’ arms. Felps reluctantly lets go of him. “I need to go clean up, right?“
Pac crawls off the bed, and goes through a different door—into a bathroom, Fit assumes. The door clicks closed, and Fit hurries over to the bed.
“Okay, so, are you, like… alright?”
“Huh? I’m fine?” Felps tilts his head, confused. But before Fit can clarify, Felps’ eyes light up in understanding and he clicks his fingers. “Oh! Because of the—“ he waves a hand around his neck. “I’m fine, but… I don’t know, tired? It’s like getting blood taken.”
Fit doesn’t really know what that means. He hasn’t ever had blood taken. It felt too weird with his line of work.
“Okay, but… are they keeping you here?” Fit continues. “Do you—Do you need help?”
Now Felps just looks amused. Which… fair. Fit feels like he’s misjudging this situation immensely, but he has to make sure.
“I live here.” Felps holds his hands up like he’s marking off a list. “Pac’s my boyfriend. I let him do this because I know he won’t hurt me.”
“Okay.” Fit scans over Felps’ face. It seems true. “I just had to make sure, you know?”
“I get it.” Felps nods solemnly. Then he lights up, and points at Fit’s rosary. “Can I see that?”
“What? No.” Fit clutches a hand around it protectively. “I need it.”
“It’s okay, I’m a saint.” Felps holds his hands out, insistent. “I can make it work.”
“You’re—What? No, no, I—“ Fit takes a step back. “It already works. I can’t really afford you fucking stealing it, you know?”
“Okay.” Felps says, dragging the word out like he believes Fit’s making a bad decision.
“And, hey, what do you mean, make it work? Isn’t Pac your boyfriend? Why do you wanna help me kill him?” Then something clicks, and his face goes warm. “Wait, wait, hold on a second. Pac’s your boyfriend? Do you—Do you know the, uh… the kinds of things he says to m—to people?”
“Oh, yeah.” Felps forms his pointer fingers and thumbs into a triangle. “Me, Pac, and Mike are all dating.” Felps separates a pointer finger out, and wiggles it. “Mike has his wife.” And then he does the same with the other. “And Pac likes to flirt, right?” Felps shrugs and drops his hands back into his lap. “I can, too. But I don’t know… I don’t really care about that right now?“
“Uh… okay.”
Right, that’s—Good for them. The happiness Fit is feeling is just because he’s glad he’s not caught up in a cheating scandal. Because that would be awkward.
“But it’s okay.” Felps smiles. “You and Pac.”
“Me and—? Excuse me! There—There is no me and Pac, okay?” If his face was warm before, it’s on fire now. It definitely does not help that Felps just raises an eyebrow. “You have—You both have, uh… have the wrong idea, okay? I’m just trying to do my fucking job, it’s Pac that—that keeps flirting.”
“Uh huh.” Felps nods along, and it feels patronising.
But Fit is pretty sure if he keeps talking he’s just going to dig himself a bigger hole. So, he sighs. Wipes a hand over his face in a vain attempt at getting rid of his blush.
“Listen,” he sighs again, “if you’re happy to be here then—Well, that’s all I wanted to know, okay?”
“You don’t care about the rosary?” Felps asks.
“The—?” He sighs. Again. “Pac!”
Pac immediately opens the door, and pops into view. He’s cleaned up nicely. If it wasn’t for some drops of red on his collar, you wouldn’t be able to tell he was just sucking someone’s blood.
“Yes?”
“Can you come here?”
Pac grins, and bounces over. He’s got a wet cloth in his hand—probably for Felps, because there is still blood on his neck. He throws himself onto the bed next to Felps, and leans into him.
“What’s happening?”
Fit fiddles with the rosary for a moment. Then holds it out.
“Can you touch this?”
Pac’s eyes go wide as he stares at it.
“Excuse me?”
“Well, Felps doesn’t think it works.” Fit huffs out. “I wanted to test it.”
Pac’s eyes flicker to Felps’, and Felps grabs his hand and squeezes it.
“Trust me?” Felps murmurs.
“I—I dunno, that’s…” Pac sucks in a breath. Then detangles his hand from Felps’, and reaches it out shakily towards the rosary. He gets about a centimetre away before he pauses, eyebrows furrowing. “Oh—Wait, what—?”
Pac makes contact with it.
And nothing happens.
Fit’s blood turns to ice in his veins.
Pac stares up at him with wide eyes. Fit quickly twists to hold the rosary out to Felps.
“Hey, so, can you—“
Before he can even finish, Felps grabs it and mutters something under his breath. For a brief moment, it goes hot under Fit’s touch, and Pac honest to god hisses—recoiling back.
“Uh… thanks.”
What the fuck?
“Wh-Why did you do that?” Pac wails. “Felps!”
“He was nice to me.” Felps says with a shrug.
Fit just stares at him.
“I’m… I’m trying to kill your boyfriends.” Fit reminds him.
“You can’t kill them with a rosary.” Felps says with a laugh.
“Yeah, but it’ll still hurt.”
Wait, why the fuck is he defending Pac? This whole situation is just—it’s way too confusing. Forget what Pac wants to talk to him about, he needs to leave now.
“I can just fix it.” Felps is saying as Fit starts backing away towards the door.
“Wait, Fit!”
Pac gets off the bed, trailing after him. Fit’s back hits the door, and he scrambles for the door handle, and—Shit. Locked. Fucking Mike.
Pac is now in front of him—leaning into him. He’s not quite touching. He’s just standing there. On the tips of toes to even out their height difference, sure, but Fit isn’t being pinned to the door, or trapped with Pac’s arms on either side of him, or anything.
And yet Fit is frozen in place.
This close, Fit can see every little detail on Pac’s face. He finds his brain categorising that, instead of trying to figure out a way out of this weird not-pin.
It’s not even like this is the first time they’ve been this close. But all those other times they were fighting. Now, Pac’s just smiling up at him—his bottom lip creasing a little where the fangs press into it.
“What?” Fit chokes out. They’ve been staring at each other for way too long. “What do you want?”
Dangerous question. Dangerous fucking question. Pac’s eyes dip down to his lips—further even: down to his neck.
“I want…” Pac’s eyes flick back up to meet his. “To talk.”
Before he can respond, Pac takes a step back. Fit lets himself breathe.
“Agh, see!” Pac hurries back over to Felps. “This is why I had to feed b-before.”
“Yeah.” Felps says as he tilts his head to expose his neck, and Pac starts wiping it down with the cloth. “Wow.”
Fit feels distinctly lightheaded. He stays leant up against the door and tries to regain his composure.
At least Pac seems pretty focused on his task. When he’s finished mopping up the—mostly dried by now—blood, he presses a kiss to what Fit assumes is the bite marks. Then he cleans the smear on Felps’ cheek.
“Obrigado.” Felps says with a soft smile, before leaning in to kiss Pac.
It’s not exactly chaste, but they’re not really making out in front of Fit, either. When Felps pulls away, Pac chases his lips to press another quick kiss to them.
Then he climbs off the bed, and directs his attention towards Fit again. Luckily, Fit can once again stand up without the door’s support.
“Okay, Fit—I made, uh… food. Human food.” Pac reaches past him to knock on the door. “You like food, right?”
“I… yeah?”
“Okay, good!” Pac turns back to Felps. “Bye, Felps! You’ll be okay?”
“Sim.” Felps shuffles backwards so he can get under the covers. “Diga ao Mike para trazer o Cellbit aqui.”
“Tá.” Pac opens the door, and gestures for him to walk through first. “Okay, Fit, let’s go!”
Mike immediately recoils from him.
“What happened?” Mike asks, pointing at the rosary. “That’s strong.”
The door closes behind them.
“Felps did it.” Fit says. Then he turns to Pac. “You’re not mad at him for that, are you?”
“Oh, no.” Pac shrugs. “It’s good that he did that. I don’t want you getting hurt by some other vampire, you know?”
“Right.”
Sweet sentiment, but…
Pac grins, and it’s all teeth.
“That’s for me to do, you know?”
There it is.
Of course. Fit sighs.
Well, he supposes it’s fair. He’s trying to kill Pac, too.
“Okay.”
Pac leans towards Mike, and whispers something to him. Fit doesn’t bother trying to overhear it—they’re probably speaking in Portuguese, anyway.
Mike nods. Casts one long, last look at Fit, before disappearing into the maze of hallways. Pac grabs his wrist—a lot lighter than Mike’s grip on his arm from before—and drags him off into a different direction.
---
and then they go talk. honestly, i'm not really sure what about and i don't want to make something up in case i want to pick this up later when i have a better idea of the details (that being said please keep in mind what i said above…). apologies for any bad portuguese
final note: cellbit is only mentioned once and that's because they're trying to keep his existence hidden from fit. felps just figured he wouldn't be able to tell "cellbit" was a name if he spoke in portuguese (and he was correct)
hope you guys enjoyed \o/ comments in the tags are very appreciated too!
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Hi there! I love your AU!
Does Splinter know about April and Casey? What does he thinks about them and the fact boys friends with them?
HI HI HIII thank you!!! SO I’ve got the general timeline down, alright? So lets get into it >:) First, Leo (around 8 years old I think) befriends April and introduces her to his brothers. He’s very proud of himself for having accomplished such a feat.
(since I’m doing a timeline I might as well mention that Donnie met Big Mama & discovered the hidden city at around 9 years old, which he then shared with Mikey under a pledge of secrecy. They don’t tell the others until wayyy later)
Next, Raph met Casey (at 13 years old) and kept him a secret from his brothers for a while. After a few months of bugging him about it, Casey gets Raph to introduce him to Mikey and Donnie. Leo followed them because he noticed them all leaving and didn’t wanna be left out.
Soo basically, Splinter doesn’t know about April and Casey for a longgg time. He probably could have figured it out if he gave enough of a shit, but if that was the case then this wouldn’t be the neglected AU now would it?
I mentioned before that Splinter has a whole bitch fit when he finds out that the boys have been sneaking out to the surface for years (more out of fury that his rules hadn’t been followed than anything else) and during this outburst, Leo tries to pacify him by telling him about Casey and April too. Kind of a ripping off the bandaid moment like “hey it’s ok we know two humans and they haven’t done anything!” Splinter is even more pissed and rants about how stupid they all must be, but in the end as long as Leo’s fine, he doesn’t actually care.
Obviously Splinter then takes Leo aside and has a little Talk with him about how disappointed he is, and how he expected so much better, and how he’s sooo scared for Leo’s safety, and all that manipulative traumatizing shit.
Anyway, Splinter rarely interacts with Casey and April after finding out about them, and when they do cross paths he’s pretty cold/neutral with them. He definitely likes April more than he likes Casey, though, and he approves of her more when he finds out that Leo befriended her first.
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ok.. bagginshield: bodyguard au, bilbo is a paramedic, and has amnesia. PLease i'm BEGGING
Sandy. My dude. I told you I had an idea for this but it became SUCH A BIG THING!! 😮💨😍 So I hope you can forgive the late due date with almost 3K of Bagginshield...where I couldn't use Thorin's name! 🤣 So without further ado...
Pairing: Bagginshield
Warning: Blood/Gore-ish
Words: 2638
“Back again, Mr. Baggins?”
Bilbo whirled around to see the nurse at the desk smiling sympathetically at him. It honestly only made Bilbo feel more pathetic as he played with the stems of the flowers he carried. Three days ago, he had done everything he could to help keep a John Doe alive in the back of his ambulance, and still he couldn’t get the comatose patient out of his mind. His cousin, Siggy, was right. He needed help. Or at the very least a vacation.
“You caught me.” He laughed nervously. “No one’s claimed him yet, have they?”
She shook her head sadly. “No, but he did wake up last night briefly! Dr. Greyham is very optimistic about his recovery.”
That was great news. Bilbo certainly hadn’t held much hope when they found him. Bloodied and beaten in an alleyway, responding to a good samaritan call hours after what they presumed to be a mugging. His pulse had been too low, and with the severity of the head wound, Bilbo had been afraid they wouldn’t find much brain activity. If he was in fact waking up though, it did make Bilbo’s visits a bit more awkward.
“Go on in.” The nurse encouraged. “He may appreciate having someone to talk things out with.”
Bilbo nodded and thanked her as he worked up the courage to enter. His relief was palpable when he saw that the man was still asleep. Just as he had been, Bilbo set his flowers in the vase next to his bed before taking a seat in the visitor’s chair. The man had gorgeous dark hair that was starting to get oily at this point. Bilbo knew he had been subjected to sponge baths for sterilization, but Bilbo mourned the lack of bathing for him. Luckily, they hadn’t had to cut much of his locks when they were stitching his head back together, but there would be a noticeable balding on the right side underneath all of the bandages. Bilbo hoped the man wasn’t too vain about his appearances to pitch a fit at that. Certainly Bilbo has treated plenty who were. The ‘saving their lives’ part falling secondary almost immediately.
Bilbo finally heaved a sigh and pulled his bag of knitting equipment off his shoulder as he settled in for his usual monologue. The first time he had done this, he had felt quite silly and was afraid that the man would wake up at any time to tell him off. However, he has come to find it almost therapeutic, talking to someone who can only listen.
“Well, Mr. Oakenshield. Not much to add on today. I finally got the last of those stubborn weeds out of my vegetable planter. Only I fear they will just return in a few days. With the rain we’ve been having lately, I wouldn’t expect anything less. You might be pleased to know that Detective Inspector Bard is looking into your case, but has yet to come up with any definite answers to who hurt you. Well, maybe he has. It’s not like I’m privy to police investigations after all. And well, let’s just look at your chart here…oh this is promising!
Dr. Greyham says that you are showing massive improvement. If you can ever finally pull away from this nasty coma, you shouldn’t expect any lasting damage. That’s quite lucky. Just last week my partner and I responded to a man who had gotten himself crushed under an air conditioning unit and…well I’ll spare you the gory details. Let’s just say that he won’t quite have the motor functions he used to.
I can imagine this is very good news to you. I’m mean, I’d hate to assume, but I’d imagine you enjoy spending time at the gym. After all, nobody your age looks like…that is to say you’re very…oh what the hell, you’re probably about the fittest person I know Mr. Oakenshield. Of course, even though Theo and Hamfast and Siggy all think that’s why I keep coming to visit you, it’s not. You see I’d quite hate for anyone to wake up alone after an ordeal like yours. I’d do it for…any John Doe you see, but I must admit there is something about you that I’m quite…AHH!”
Bilbo jumped out of his chair, dropping his knitting on the bed, as he backed up with a hand over his heart. The man blinked his drowsy, but confused bright blue eyes at Bilbo as if trying to make sense of him.
“I’m so…so terribly sorry.” Bilbo explained breathlessly. “This must all be rather confusing. Let me introduce myself. I’m Bilbo Baggins, I’m the paramedic who worked on you after we found you in that alley.”
“Alley?” The man repeated roughly as if the word were foreign to him.
“Um, yes. Let me just call your doctor real quick.”
Bilbo moved to press the ‘assistance’ button above the man’s head, when his hand snaked out to grab Bilbo’s arm. He felt himself gasp, both at the speed of the reflex and the tightness of his grip. No loss of motor skills, that was for certain. The man mumbled something to him, but it was in a completely different language. Bilbo felt his heart sink. He hadn’t accounted for this. The man was a tourist? That might explain why no one had come for him yet. The only problem was Bilbo was quite sure he didn’t speak whatever language the man was muttering in as it wasn’t Westron and certainly not Sindrian.
“I don’t…understand.” He breathed slowly. “Can you…understand me?”
The man furrowed his brows together before he slowly nodded his head. That was good! He was bilingual at least. Bilbo thought it was best to start with the basics.
“Can you tell me your name?”
The man opened his mouth only to close it and open it once more. After that, a look of horror crossed his face, and Bilbo’s attention was grabbed by the spiking heart monitor.
“No, no! It’s okay.” Bilbo rushed. “This is totally common for an injury like yours.”
Instincts took over, and Bilbo grabbed his hand in comfort as he slowly tilted his chin towards him looking for signs of a concussion. His pupils were certainly dilated and when Bilbo asked him to follow his finger around, it definitely seemed conclusive. Concussions and short term amnesia would be common with this type of injury.
“We’re going to start slow. You don’t remember your name right now, and that’s okay. What do you remember?”
The man took a deep breath as his eyes turned towards the ceiling. Before he could say a word though, there was a knock at the door. It didn’t seem unusual until Bilbo’s gaze fell upon the dry erase board next to the door. The John Doe wasn’t due for check-up for another hour, and Bilbo’s finger never made it to the assist button. Bilbo got up cautiously when his arm was grabbed again, but this time the man’s eyes were wide with panic.
“I remember someone was trying to kill me.”
Cold seeped into Bilbo’s chest as his heart thumped along to the adrenaline surging through him. Bilbo barely had a chance to say anything when the door was forced open. After that, it was like a scene from an action movie. Bilbo was thrown over to the other side of the bed as gunshots rang through the room. Cutting through the mattress that had previously been occupied. Bilbo instinctively covered his head, screaming over the noise, managing to wrench his eyes open just enough to check on the other man. What he saw, stunned him to silence.
The man was calculated, calm, and seemed to be running off pure muscle memory as his eyes remained wild and afraid. When the gunfire stopped for a moment, the man leapt into action. Taking one of Bilbo’s knitting needles, he shoved it through the throat of the assailant reloading his pistol, using him as a human shield against the second one as he barreled into him. Using his own gun to shoot him in the head. In seconds, Bilbo had gone from thinking he was certainly going to die, to staring at two gruesomely murdered bodies. The man certainly wasn’t done there. He poked his head out into the hallway only to curse and close and lock the door. He looked through the pockets of the dead men on the floor for another clip that he loaded into the gun in his hand with an ease that made Bilbo realize he was dealing with some sort of professional.
“Clothes.” He barked.
Bilbo raised his hands above his head slowly. “C-Clothes?” He repeated.
The man growled before pulling at his hospital gown with impatience.
“My clothes?”
Bilbo pointed at the cabinet behind him. As soon as the man spun around, Bilbo made a mad dash for the door. Before he could reach it, he was pushed up against the wall and held there by the deranged man.
“There are three more out in the hallway ready to kill the first thing that comes through that door. Do you want that to be you?”
Bilbo shook his head rapidly.
“Then help me get out of here.”
“Who are you?” Bilbo gasped after he was released.
The man had his back turned to him as he stripped down to nothing pulling on his bloodied and torn clothing from days ago.
“I don’t remember.” He grumbled.
“So how do I know I can trust you?”
“Considering the ease I just killed those guys, if I wanted you dead, I would have already done it.”
That was a rather grim, but valid point.
“Let me ask you something. Earlier, when you thought I was still asleep, you called me ‘Oakenshield’. Why?”
Bilbo could feel his mouth go dry at the question before pointing to the pin on the man’s chest. It seemed to be a coat of arms; only one of the symbols on the shield was an acorn. The man looked down at it as well, his face betraying some amusement. However, he didn’t deign commenting on it as he moved towards the pocket door that was shared between rooms.
“Don’t you think they’ll be waiting for you?” Bilbo asked.
“Only one way to find out.” The man explained before opening the door, pushing the heart monitor through it, and immediately closing it.
There was a shout, the sound of feet running towards the room, and more gunshots. The man quickly closed the door again before he or Bilbo could get hit before moving towards the outer door.
“Go! I’ll cover you.”
Bilbo didn’t have to be told twice as he raced for the stairwell hoping to find safety from this nightmare. He felt the bullets whizzing by before he heard them, and was definitely aware of the man returning fire as he followed after him.
“Only three!?” Bilbo complained throwing himself down the stairs.
“So maybe four!”
They went down a floor, but rather than keep going, the man shoved them into the door for the ER. It was utter chaos as doctors and nurses were trying to secure and placate patients and guests alike.
“This way.” The man urged, pushing Bilbo through the throng of people trying to get out.
They found a break room and shoved their way inside.
“Are we just going to wait here until the police get here?” Bilbo asked hopefully.
He could tell from the stern look he received that was not going to be the case. So what Bilbo was learning was this man had assassin level skills and didn’t trust the police. The situation he found himself in was looking bleaker by the second.
“Paramedic? Right?” The man questioned holding out a jacket with the hospital’s logo on it.
Bilbo had a sneaking suspicion the plan the man had was going to get him in a heap of trouble. Sure enough, seconds later found him pushing a gurney through ER to the doors on the other side.
“Sir! Just where do you think you’re going?” Bilbo was stopped by a frantic nurse.
Bilbo flashed his ID.
“Ma’am, this is a comatose patient of Dr. Greyham that can’t be off life support for more than twenty minutes. I’m supposed to get him in a bus and to Tuckborough Medical ASAP. Doctor’s orders.”
She hesitated before nodding, going as far as to call in the ambulance for him. Bilbo was going to have to remember how much he owed the staff at Hobbiton General another time. As soon as Bilbo had the man loaded up, he pulled away the sheet and climbed into the passenger seat next to Bilbo.
“Okay, you gun wielding, knitting needle stabbing manic! I have done everything you asked. I’m most likely going to lose my job for this if they don’t see fit to throw me behind bars. So you better have something you can give me or I’m pulling over at the next police precinct.”
The man grimaced. “I told you. I. Don’t. Remember. I just know they are the bad guys. And they want me dead.”
Bilbo gave a little sarcastic laugh and head tilt. “Oh, great.”
“There is one more thing.”
Bilbo slowly looked over at the man as much as he could without crashing the ambulance.
“It only started to kick in when you called me ‘Oakenshield’, but I was…protecting something…or someone.”
“That’s…vague.” Bilbo complained.
“But this…” The man sighed with impatience before pointing towards the pin on his chest. “Is the clue. It’s the coat of arms for the royal family of Erebor.”
“Erebor?! Like halfway across the world Erebor?”
“Really? Halfway across the world? Where exactly am I?”
Bilbo drew in a shaky breath starting to finally hit the point of ‘too much’. It’s funny. One would think that moment was…oh, about fifteen minutes ago with all the shooting. The other man seemed to realize it as well.
“Look, I’m sorry. You’ve been very kind to me and if you want me to…walk away, I wouldn’t blame you. I just feel like if I’m able to retrace my steps, I’ll find out what was so important it was literally worth dying over.”
“This isn’t a spy movie. You could just be patient and let the healing naturally take over.” Bilbo suggested with a huff.
“Judging by our friends back there, I don’t think I have that kind of time.”
Bilbo looked over at the man one more time. That lost look that has been in his eyes since the moment he woke up was still there. And despite everything he’s seen, everything he’s experienced that should have him running for the hills, Bilbo really wanted to believe him. And help him if he could.
“Alright.” He sighed. “I’ll show you the alley where I picked you up. But after that, I’m done. And if I get picked up and questioned by the cops, I’m telling them the truth!”
“Fair enough.” The man shrugged. “But could you do me one more favor?”
Bilbo raised an eyebrow.
“Could you stitch this bullet wound in my side?”
Bilbo cursed at the red staining the man’s dark shirt as he pulled over to the side of the road.
“I expect to be billed for all the times I have to play ‘personal physician’ because I can’t imagine this being the last time.” He complained.
The man let out a roaring laugh that had Bilbo’s cheeks warming all the way to the tips of his ears. This was very not good. It was bad enough when he had a crush on his comatose patient. He had no idea how to handle falling for this bodyguard/assassin/psychopath. Jury was certainly still out on which one he may turn out to be.
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🤠🏉🥇🥊🐓Sports Fic Recs🐓🥊🥇🏉🤠
Check the Top Gun Masterlist post for the latest updated version. 💕
Ao3 Authors: Abliafina, Barnes_Brain, Discosleaze, Ginnydear, Greenstuff, Hangmanbradshaw, Hypnagogicpunisher, Infinitejaust, KatofKanals, Marchrain, Midnight___phoenix, Ok_thanks, Vahosi, Teacupivy, Trinipedia.
Different Strokes by infinitejaust {E}
{Olympic swimming}
Jake looks over at Bradshaw, who’s got his arms crossed, biceps flexed.
Outside the box, huh?
Jake smiles. He has a wonderful awful idea.
and they were rivals (oh my god they were rivals) by ginnydear
{NFL}
unsportsmanlike conduct {M}
He didn’t expect there to be highlight reels of him and Jake Seresin arguing and jawing at each other after their first game against each other. His Uncle Mav’s recorded it, saying it’s the beginning of his long, successful career - to have a rival.
Bradley thinks it’s a pain in the ass.
or - the hangster nfl au
jersey swap {M}
“I think you’re right, and I’d dare to say that’s Bradley Bradshaw next to her. He and Robert Floyd have been friends since college, if you remember that from their draft.”
The camera stays on the group for a second longer and then it switches to where Floyd is standing on the sideline, a large blue coat covering his body. He’s talking to Jake Seresin and the camera catches the moment they both look up towards the stands, Floyd waving excitedly. The screen splits in time to see Natasha waving back, as well as everyone around her.
or - a hangster nfl au slice of life
skills test {E}
“I don’t have all day, Bradshaw,” Jake yells, dribbling the ball a few times. Bradley pauses and bends his knees, bouncing the ball between his hands.
“Such impatience,” Bradley says, starting to move the other direction. Jake takes the ball in one hand and cocks his arm back, watching with glee as Bradley’s eyes widen a bit. “Take the shot then!”
or - jake and bradley are selected to the pro bowl.
play-action fake {T}
“Come home with me.” Jake breathed against Bradley’s lips. His shallow breaths break up his words, but he gets them out all the same. Bradley chuckled and brushed his thumb across Jake’s bottom lip.
“I’m always gonna come home with you.” He muttered, pulling his thumb down and leaving Jake's mouth agape.
or: Jake asks Bradley to come home to Texas with him
top gun hockey au by ok_thanks
{Hockey}
invisible string {M}
Jake being traded to San Diego should definitely not cause Bradley to feel so unhinged. Not at all. He can be teammates, they've done that before, except that Jake is just as annoying and attractive to Bradley as he was when they were younger.
such great heights {E}
“Not sure if it’s clear by now, but I sort of had a huge thing for you.”
No words come to mind — no, scratch that. Too many words flood Jake’s brain and sit at the tip of his tongue, but none of them seem fit for expressing the gooey feeling overtaking his heart.
Sliding Series by Barnes_Brain
{Baseball}
Parts 1-6 are the original Sliding Into Home
Part 7 is an Alternate Universe Where Bradley is a reliever and Jake is his catcher
Sliding into Home {E}
{Baseball player!Bradley & Social Media/In-game host!Jake}
Bradley is the star shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals. The announcers adore him, his teammates love him, and the fans, mostly female, relish that at 29 he’s still single. Right before the start of the season he meets Jake Seresin, the new in-game host and social media admin. Jake has a smile that lights up the sun, an ass that Bradley could stare at for hours, and abs that go for days. Most important? He does not seem to give a shit about the fact that Bradley’s one of the best shortstops in the game.
Jake Seresin did not expect to end up in fucking Missouri of all places, but after 4 years in the Navy to pay for a Public Relations and Communications degree? He’s gonna fucking use it. So Imagine his surprise when a moustached hunk runs into him in the tunnels of Busch Stadium. Literally. Jake won’t lie he’d climb the man in front of him like a tree, and might actually if he lets him. The only problem? He doesn’t even know what a shortstop does?
When Bradley finds out Jake doesn’t know the difference between a foul post and a goal post he makes it his mission to make Jake fall in love with the sport that changed his life. He never imagined he’d get Jake falling for him instead. He wasn’t going to complain.
Caught Looking {E}
{Pitcher!Bradley & Catcher!Jake}
After spending three seasons in the Japanese Major leagues, also known as the NPB, pitcher Bradley Bradshaw has finally made it back to The Show.
Signed to the Seattle Mariners, not only does he have to get reacquainted with the league, he also needs to get adjusted to their new catcher, Jake Seresin. The only problem? No one knows that they fucked through the minors together.
What if the accident never happened in Sliding into Home? What if Jake actually showed up to one of Javy’s games? This is how things would change.
You gave me time to find out what my heart was lookin' for by trinipedia {E}
{Boxer-Personal Trainer!Bradley}
Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw is a personal trainer, among other things. He specializes in preparing young actors for their next action role, but when he's given the task of turning dancer/actor Jake "Hangman" Seresin into a believable boxer, he has his work cut out for him.
An Inside The Park Home Run by Midnight___phoenix {T}
{Baseball}
Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw was a First round draft pick for the New York Yankees. He was highlighted while in the minors as the next best Third baseman of our generation. He likes to think the hype was true. He bats over .300 every year (well despite his rookie year where he batted .282 and ended up winning Rookie Of The Year, but he likes to think of that year as a fluke when it comes to his batting average.) and has won the Gold Glove award three times in 10 seasons in the big show. He is without a doubt one of the best current ball players. He just wishes he wouldn’t get compared to Jake “Hangman” Seresin so much.
Formula 1: Deceive to Achieve by greenstuff {E}
{F1}
When new teammates, Jake and Bradley, agree to pretend they’re in a committed relationship to land a sponsorship deal, they probably should have factored in the possibility they might fall for their own lies.
Two-Way(s) Forward by Barnes_Brain {M}
{Hockey player!Jake & Rink owner!Bradley}
Jake Seresin was the LA King’s best two-way forward, leading not only his line, but his team with the coveted C on his chest. But when an injury sends him to Bob Floyd, PT extraordinaire, in hopes of getting back on the ice, he finds a little more than a path back to his career.
Desire is the only motivation by trinipedia {M}
{Rugby}
After a life-altering accident, Bradley Bradshaw moves to Texas to change his perspective. Bradley has decided not to think about American football ever again, but the chance meeting with an arrogant Texan, Jake Seresin, might change it all, not only for him but for the aforementioned Texan, as well.
IWTBY Verse by hangmanbradshaw
{NFL QB!Jake}
I want to brainwash you into loving me forever {E}
“So…this is fucking weird and I have no clue what to say here.”
Bradley smiled warmly and leaned his forearms against the table. “Don’t worry, Mav already filled me in, and I’ll do it.”
Jake blinked. “You’ll do it?”
“Yeah.” Bradley sat back with a nod. “You want to come out, right? If us appearing to be in a stable relationship will help, then I’m in.”
Or, Jake Seresin has it all- fame, money, a NFL MVP trophy, a Super Bowl appearance, a lonely house, and a problem. He wants to come out on his own terms. Enter Bradley Bradshaw, the solution to said problem, or maybe, the beginning of a new problem. After all, you don't fall in love with your fake boyfriend.
Wanna Be Your Left Hand Man {E}
Europe calls. Jake & Bradley answer.
I find myself running home to your sweet nothings {E}
Nine months into their official relationship, Jake and Bradley navigate a new season of the NFL, life, and their relationship.
Or Ice and Mav get married, the gang all celebrates, and Bradley and Jake find home in each other once again, in more ways than one.
love thorns all over this rose {_}
Bradley's friends watch him lose himself, find himself, and then find something even better.
Or
Bradley doesn’t really do dating, until he does. Aka Bradley pre-IWTBY, and a little during, according to Reuben, Callie, and Jonathan.
Watson Wildhearts by KatofKanals {E}
{HS Football}
16 year old Bradley Bradhsaw is new to Watson, Texas in the summer of 2000 and he is downright miserable—he hates the whole town and all the people in it. That includes Jake Seresin, the star quarterback and rich boy at the top of the social pyramid. Eventually, though, Bradley starts to wonder if maybe there’s more to Watson and Jake Seresin than he saw at first glance. Maybe there’s something special there after all.
get your head in the game by abliafina {T}
{Volleyball in Corporate setting}
Hangman thought he'd thrown in the towel when it came to his volleyball days, but when Rooster, the handsome team leader from another company, invites him to join the summer tournament he knows he's done for. There were worse fates than spending the day on the beach.
Love (Suite Love) by hangmanbradshaw {T}
{NFL QB!Jake}
Jake never thought he'd leave a pop concert with a public crush.
Bradley was on vocal rest. Really, he was.
sparks fly (sereshaw's version) by marchrain {T}
{College Baseball & Football}
Bradley Bradshaw, the freshman starting pitcher for Pacific Harbor University, meets Jake Seresin, the new hot-shot quarterback.
He hates Jake, there's not a single thing likeable about him. He hates the way his hair is held up by gel, the look in those stupid emerald eyes of his, the fact that he's a football player of all sports—Jake's insufferable.
But then, why does he enjoy their banter? Why does he like the dumb toothpick that sits between Jake's teeth? Why does his stomach flip when Jake laughs? Why do his eyes keep flicking down to Jake's lips?
- or, sereshaw sports uni slice of life au
when bradley falls in love (goose & carole's version) by discosleaze {T}
{NFL QB!Jake}
Snippets of i want to brainwash you into loving me-verse, from Goose & Carole's perspectives, aka watching their son fall in love.
I talk a big game that I'm scared of losin' by hangmanbradshaw {E}
{Boxer!Bradley}
Jake's a professor ready to jump back into the dating pool, Bradley's a little rough around the edges, and Nat swears they're perfect for each other. She might be right.
Or Jake dumps his loser ex and moves to California to be near Nat and Javy. Nat knows a guy, and sometimes opposites attract.
cuz you know I love the players and you love the game by hangmanbradshaw {E}
{College Baseball & Football & Cheerleading}
Jake's the star quarterback, Bradley's the star baseball captain. They both like playing games, turns out they want the same prize.
Or Bradley dresses as a cheerleader for the team and Jake hates him (except that he totally doesn't)
suburban legends ✈ by vahosi
{NFL QB!Bradley}
we were born to be suburban legends {G}
unmarked numbers in my peripheral vision (july) — chapters 1-12
flush with the currency of cool (august) — chapters 13-24
where the spirit meets the bones (september) — chapters 25-36
we were born to be the pawn in every lover's game {_}
you kiss me in a way that's going to screw me up forever (october) — chapters 1-12
dare to sit and watch what we'll become (november) — chapters 13-24
my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand (december) — chapters 25-36
and they were batterymates by teacupivy {E}
{Baseball}
They’ve been teammates for just a few months now, but plenty long enough to have the whole dick-measuring-in-the-locker-room, fist-fight-on-the-field, make-up-behind-the-scenes, suddenly-best-duo-in-the-MLB speedrun.
red river rivalry by hypnagogicpunisher {M}
{College Football}
He’s heard the buzz about the new 4-star on the Texas team.
It piques his interest. Oklahoma had been dominating the last few years of the rivalry, but betting odds were hot against the Sooners going into the game week, partially because of this Seresin kid. A true freshman, with his kind of stats, was a rarity.
Bradley wonders just a bit what his passing stats would look like with him, who seemingly has fucking magnets for hands and the ability to stretch for a pass like he’s made of rubber.
--
He can feel the frustration snaking through his body, settling with a numbness in his fingertips.
At 2nd and 10, his pass is tipped and ruled incomplete.
He can hear a jeer from the sideline, and he fucking knows it’s Seresin.
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hello lovelies! thank you for running this wonderful blog!
would you happen to have more "aziraphale is mean to/rejects crowley" fics? i've gone through all the ones in your masterpost. :)
(also, there is a disproportionate amount of "crowley is mean to/rejects aziraphale" fics and i have ocd)
thank you very much!! <3
Hi! You might be interest in some of the fics on our #arguing tag, so check those out. Here are more fics where Aziraphale rejects Crowley...
Bad Demon by CloudySonder (NR)
(set after the Apocalet’snot)
Crowley, in a fit of drunkenness, confesses his feelings for Aziraphale. It doesn’t go down very well. In fact, it goes about as badly as it could’ve gone, and before Aziraphale could even try to process his (already given) response, Crowley is gone; vanished into thin air.
So, in a very Aziraphale-like manner, Aziraphale does nothing for a while, taking it all in.
And then he panics.
Ever Thought of Having Sex? by ANTHONYCOWWLEY (E)
Crowley hadn't exactly planned on going there, but he was so sloshed that it just sort of happened. He'd been curious, for centuries -- and the alcohol made the question seem like less of a thing than usual.....
Via Crucis by Nadzieja (E)
Crowley has been rejected by Aziraphale, the only person he's ever loved. Again. But he can't really blame his angel for not breaking his clerical vows. He knows how difficult it is to leave the Catholic church and priesthood behind. He's done it himself. Now he's just trying to survive.
[A Priest AU, with a lot of angst and a happy ending.]
Definitions of Love by organizechaos (T)
Aziraphale thinks that all the abuse and trauma he endured in heaven is ‘love’. After being freed after the apocalypse, the angel is beyond happy. He wants nothing more than to spend eternity with Crowley but the demon is ready to put a name to their feelings. They both know that they care for each other deeply and when Crowley finally has the courage to put it in words (‘I love you’), it sends Aziraphale spiraling into believing Crowley will start treating him like heaven did.
"We- we don't have to pretend anymore.” Crowley stuttered out, golden eyes looking frantically about the angel. His sunglasses were clutched tightly in the palm of his hand, “The apocalypse is over, it has been for years. Can't we- can't we say it now?" his voice wavered only slightly.
"I don't love you, Crowley." Aziraphale emphasized each word to better help the demon understand. He had never truly loved something in all his years of existence, he didn’t think he was capable. To love another being — especially Crowley...
"I could never love you."
Crowley and His Army of Grandmothers by burnt_oranges (NR)
Crowley had impulsively stopped by Artisan Du Chocolate, the next place on Aziraphale’s meticulously ordered list of chocolatiers to sample, and now Crowley wonders--is it too much? He had bought a hundred fucking pounds’ worth of chocolate, of course it’s too much, but would Aziraphale notice that it was too much?
That is the question.
Warmth by indigo (E)
Friends with benefits really had to be the very best solution there was for any self-respecting immortal being on Earth. Handy. Convenient. The perfect way to de-stress with none of the hassle of trying to find a human willing to overlook the more demonic parts of appearance. It was reliable. Comforting even. Dependable, emotionless relief.
Perfect, Crowley thought.
Right up until the point when, well, it wasn’t.
- Mod D
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For fun i am going to give some infos on the ✨️ domestic mermen aus ✨️ i want to draw for mermay
Because why not
Also this is a "the celestial boys x y/n" kind of au
Moon is an halfmoon blue betta fish
Sun is an orange and yellow fancy goldfish
And Eclipse (he is a thing) is a common pleco
The story goes that because of an error of a new employee in a fish shop, Moon and Sun ended up in the same tank
Moon instantly tried to fight sun necause who the crap are you and why are you in my home
Sun, being a fancy goldfish, is just a dorky, goofy guy and didn't really got that Moon was trying to throw hands, and tried to befriend him
It kind of worked, surprisingly even to Moon, who realized this new fish was akin to a golden retriever and most definitely not there to fight
Adoption time.png because how have you survived in your own (Moon fully ignored Sun has ever only been around to similarly dorky and goofy fancy goldfishes before who had no fighting instinct whatsoever)
By the time anybody noticed a fancy goldfish was missing from their tank, Moon refused to have anybody take Sun from him
Like, he bit the employees and tried to hide Sun in the rocks (he got l Sun stuck a couple of times as well), and to avoid either of them being hurt, they were labelled as "Sold as a Pair"
Later Sun also tried to whoo Moon, which also worked
This is where Y/N comes into play
They walked in searching for a new betta and found the two clowns right there
Took them both home because why not, their home tank can fit both of them, even if some minor accomodations have to be done
Despite how diffident Moon was at first, with some time he warms up to the dry giant that occasionally brings them food and pets them
No warm up needed for Sun who instantly decided the pets were the best thing ever
Y/N really fucking loves their fishes because despite Moon biting them at every feeding time, they are still extremely cute and funny
At first Y/N thought Moon was bullying Sun or something and were worried, but Sun enjoys being spun around the tank so there is that
Moon also hides in the algae forest and Sun tried to do the same, promptly getting bapped in the face by Moon each time in a whack the mole kind of show
Later Y/N got then two separate tanks connected by a tube so each of them got their own spaces and habitats
Moon fits in the tube, Sun is too chonky and can't get in there, this is on purpose so he doesn't end up stuck in the many decorations Moon's tank has
This is where Y/N also got Ecplise
He lives in both tanks and being a Pleco, cleans around the glass
Neither Sun or Moon are that friends with him because he is a weirdo and licks the rocks
He ain't evil or anything, he is just weird
and being way bigger than either of them, Moon never tried to throw hands only once and failed because Eclipse was just that big
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TotK is so frustrating because there are genuinely several things I would love to incorporate into fics (mostly items, but also some NPCs and a handful of concepts and little areas), but Unfortunately the Plot. if it was just mediocre, that'd be one thing, but it's so disconnected from BOTW and so disjointed from itself that I'm at a loss for how I'd even begin to salvage it without doing something else that barely resembles it. at that point I might as well come up with my own plot, you know?
what I'm gonna end up doing is just... taking all those little scraps and working them into various AUs. like the Adventure Time one, for instance. that one's the most ripe, I think, for a lot of this.
hmm. gonna make a list, I think, under a cut.
first of all, let's not lie to ourselves: 'secret passageway under the castle that contains long-concealed/sealed Horrors' is a banger of a concept. unfortunately. unfortunately this was not executed as well as it could've been. I would love to do something neat with this sometime. I think it would fit especially well in the AT AU as stated. perhaps even with a take on those nuclear warnings.
Penn was a genuinely entertaining new NPC and I enjoyed the Lucky Clover Gazette chain of sidequests for the most part. like, could've done without the stuff setting up Zelda as being omni-talented and so super special (it really flattens her character, you know? such amateurish writing), but the concept of investigating rumors for a newspaper was fun. also the All-Clucking Cucco one was hilarious.
the Stable Trotters were so charming! I really liked this sidequest chain too.
the Stormwind Ark was actually kinda cool too, gave me Skies of Arcadia vibes. I wonder if I could do anything with it...
I want to stress, before I go any further, that if you've read or are planning to read my fic Song of a Champion... Yunobo using the Boulder Breaker and Riju using scimitars are things I had planned before the trailer revealing this was a thing in TotK. it is yet another entertaining instance of me predicting/guessing things correctly. xD
if I ever do anything with a version of the Depths, they're gonna have more, well, depth. they should've had settlements, or at least the ruins of them, or... something, you know? love the concept, meh on the execution. :/
same with the sky islands. and the explanation for the Great Sky Island in that one sidequest there was... really not satisfying, sadly. deffo something I could toy with and improve on.
Hyrulean pizza. 'nuff said. I applaud wholeheartedly the decision to give us cheese and tomatoes and let us make one of the greatest culinary creations known to mankind.
I'm iffy on the mushroom fashion/additions to Hateno, but I like the idea of Cece opening a shop in Hateno and selling some of those new outfits I like. I especially liked the sets based on the three dragons, this would be a neat way to get them on Link in that SoaC follow-up I wanna do. especially because Mipha NEEDS to see him in the slutty ones
if I ever do a version of the episode Wizards Only, Fools for the AT AU, the Depths outfit would make a neat disguise to get Link in.
obviously I plan to have AT Link lose his arm. obviously.
the wells and caves were pretty fun. though I do wish there'd been something genuinely creepy at the bottom of at least one well...
the Desert Rift is something that I would love to put into the desert area in the AT AU, it has tons of potential. I definitely have Ideas.
I really want to have Mipha and Link go to the salt spa in Lurelin as a couples' thing. it's a small thing, but I think it'd be cute.
I do actually enjoy weapon fusion and I think those magic rods/staves in particular would be a neat addition to some AUs.
almost every enemy was a great addition to the roster (I say almost because THOSE ARE NOT PROPER GIBDOS I AM STILL MAD ABOUT THIS). hopefully the next game will have even more things to fight (I especially want ReDeads and ACTUAL Poes back).
speaking of Poes, I just. sigh. so many interesting things that could've been done there, that just... weren't. at bare minimum, if they were adamant about making them a form of currency, it would've been more fun to bring back the Poe Collector than have those statues. I want to work him into the AT AU (and I have ideas that kinda meld how Poes worked in past games with this one, I just need to sit and nail them down).
back on foodstuffs, I liked all the new ingredients. I already worked golden apples into Under a Strange Moon, and I'd love to find uses for the elemental fruits somewhere too. stambulbs and sundelions are neat too, as are the new pumpkin, the oil, and the mushroom and fish that make you glow.
on the less edible side, puffshrooms and especially muddle buds were a LOT of fun to play with.
on the "dubiously edible" side (because you can turn these into elixirs but not straight up FOOD), I really like the design of the deep fireflies. the sticky frogs and lizards were also really handy!
brightbloom seeds/flowers could be neat to use too...
that's all I can think of for now, but I'm sure I'm forgetting something
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Let’s Get Physical (Part 1)
Viktor/F!Reader || 1.8k || Modern!AU + Gym!AU || SFW (for now!)
A beefy gal looking for a better place to workout, your friend Jayce invites you over to his home gym. He offers you everything you could ever want: great equipment, great company, and a ridiculously hot roommate that might just hate you.
A/N: Was this (loosely) a request? Yes. Is this about to be wildly self indulgent? Also yes. Last thing: tytyty @sweatandwoe for providing the header that’s absolutely not jayce. nope. not at all.
It starts simply, as most things do, with a text.
Your phone pings from somewhere in the mess of your bed, and you fish it out to find an unexpected name lighting up the screen.
[Jayce (Talis?), 5:03pm]: Hey! This is kind of random, but Caitlyn told me that you’re not happy with your current gym situation. I get it! Those big gyms are always full of creeps haha! I have a pretty great set up at home and I promise I’m not a creep, so if you’re ever interested in working out together, it’d be cool to have you over. Let me know sometime!
He’s a friend of a friend—just an acquaintance to you—but Jayce has always seemed like a good guy. Truthfully, you’ve always wanted to get to know him better. Met him multiple times through your friend group, and your mutual interest in fitness clearly aligned, but somehow the opportunity to grow your friendship kept slipping through your fingers. Never the right time.
Until now.
You’d give anything to have a more private space to work out in without the prying eyes of men who, at best, stare through your squat set or, at worst, ‘just want to help’ by approaching unsolicited about your lifting form or your workout plan. Assholes, the lot of them. You know what you’re doing and you’re sick of being treated otherwise. Sick of paying to be uncomfortable and skipping workouts out of dread.
It’s a bonus that you’d get to spend more time with Jayce. He has a stellar reputation, known for being a supportive, giving person and pretty hilarious to drink with. Nobody’s ever called him a creep, even drunk, and it makes you feel even better knowing that he has a girlfriend too.
You don’t hesitate to respond.
[5:05pm] Hi!! Not random at all, thank you for offering :) If it’s not too much trouble, I’d love to take you up on that. I’ve always wanted a workout buddy and a home setup sounds way better than where I’m at now.
Hitting send is the easiest thing you’ve done all day.
The hardest is waiting for him to respond.
It’s not immediate, letting your excitement slowly sour into anxiety. Maybe he thought you’d say no? Maybe you shouldn’t have sounded so eager? Did he think you were desperate?
You might be.
Just a little bit.
You’re not particularly interested in joining the women’s boxing gym with Cait and Vi, which up until now has been your only decent alternative. Nothing against them! But it’s expensive, and a good lifting to cardio ratio has always been your preference.
About twenty five minutes later, the text tone sounds in your lap and his name finally lights up the lock screen again. You scramble to unlock it.
[Jayce (Talis?), 5:24pm]: Short notice, but would you want to come tonight? I’m thinking around 7.
Before you could move your fingers to respond, another text came through.
[Jayce (Talis?), 5:24pm]: Vi might come too. Not 100% sure yet.
Playing it cool, you force yourself to wait a few minutes. All of which is spent staring at the message, formulating the perfect casual response. You settle on:
[5:30pm] Sounds great! Tell me where to go and I’ll be there :)
An hour and a half later, you find yourself dressed to sweat, pulling up to the address he’d sent.
It’s a well-kept house in a pretty nice neighborhood. Not far from you either—about twenty minutes when the traffic’s light. Bigger than you expected, definitely, with two cars in the driveway.
Neither of which belong to Vi.
You pick one to park behind and, as you kill the engine, consider that it would’ve been more polite to park on the street instead.
“Oh well,” you sigh, rife with nervous energy. Too late.
He’s seen you.
It’s not as if you could sneak up on him. The garage door is wide open, giving you a distant glimpse of the ‘great set-up’ he promised. Of him, with a huge, welcoming grin and an enthusiastic wave after he sets down two colossal dumbbells on the floor, thickly padded out over the concrete slab. He’s wearing the shortest neon shorts you’ve ever seen on a man, but hey, to each their own. Certainly makes his thighs look like tree trunks, if that’s what he’s going for.
His breezy, upbeat demeanor is contagious. You feel the part of you that is thrilled for the opportunity take control, practically bounding up the driveway, gym bag slung over your shoulder, to greet him. Your smile brightens; you feel it keenly in your cheeks as you wave back.
“Hey, welcome!” he says, meeting you at the wide open threshold. Hardly a bead of sweat on his brow—yet.
“Good to see you, Jayce! I really appreciate the invite.”
He goes in for a casual hug, like you’ve known each other for years—plural. Not just one and some change as two ships passing. “No problem,” he grins, giving you a good-natured squeeze. “Happy to share.”
You return it easily, pleased to be treated like a familiar friend, before you’re rocking back on cushioned heels and peering around his broad frame. Curious to see, and there was a lot to take in.
From first glance alone, this man owns two mid-line treadmills, a water rower, and a decidedly ridiculous range of benches and weights. Kettlebells, dumbbells, weight plates—you name it, he has it. Not to mention the fully mirrored wall and a sound system you can faintly hear, turned down in the background. Remixed pop music, very dynamic and bass-heavy. The iron-grated industrial fan was a pleasant touch too, grateful for it already in the lingering summer heat.
“You really weren’t lying… This is pretty extensive.”
Not to mention, expensive.
“You think so? It’s been a work in progress for a while.”
“I mean, is there anything you don’t have?” you gawk, stepping clear around him to stand side by side.
The smell hits you, then, of rubber and metal and some lemony-scented cleaner. Refreshing, if only because it’s nothing like the humid scent of stale sweat you’ve grown accustomed to. It’s still cluttered from the sheer variety of equipment, but everything has its place—like a well kept sanctuary, you can tell.
Jayce sounds almost sheepish, all in that nervous little laugh that skitters out of him as he says, “Well, uh, I still haven’t installed the TRX straps yet. Need to find a strong enough anchor point in the wall, y’know? And I’ve been meaning to recalibrate—”
But you’ll hear nothing of it.
“Stop that, I was kidding!” You give his barrelling arm a well-meaning nudge of your shoulder, offering a smile meant to reassure. “This is seriously incredible, you’ve curated a lot of great equipment. What’s the membership fee? I’m pretty interested in joining.”
His shoulders relax, though you hadn’t noticed until then how tense he is.
It’s surprising that he isn’t more confident in the space he’s offering. Makes you wonder who or what he could possibly be comparing it to.
Probably some rich, frivolous influencer with a home gym and handful of sponsorships.
Which checks out, knowing Jayce stays active on his socials. He’s always posting videos of his workouts and very stereotypical mirror flexes, though you try not to judge him for it. It’s not from a place of douchebaggery—he’s just having fun with it.
Maybe you’ll be brave enough to post one some day, too.
Jayce nudges you back, taking a step inside that invites you to follow. “It’s free if you’re nice and always put your weights back when you’re done with them. Helping me clean is negotiable, but I’d appreciate it.”
Easy enough and very generous. You could probably stand to grab him coffee or take out from time to time, as a thank you.
“My only hard and fast rule is no heavy barbells without a spotter, but otherwise I’m not worried. Cait gave me the impression that you know what you’re doing.”
“Wait… Then who spots you?” you wonder aloud, looking at the conical rack of weight plates—as small as two and a half, all the way up to fifty pounds. “If you lift as heavy as I think you do, I definitely won’t be able to save you from getting crushed, sorry.”
“It’s cool,” he shrugs, “Vi has that covered when she comes by.”
When you look back toward the driveway, as if she might pull up at any moment, that uneasy edge creeps back into his voice. “Oh, yeah, by the way… She’s actually not coming tonight. Something about dinner plans, I think. Did you, uh, still want to stay though?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?” you ask, finally noticing a characteristic of his body language that is, well, interesting.
It’s the way his shoulders aren’t tense, but hunched to the effect that he seems smaller, if that’s even possible. Non-threatening, you realize, and it clicks just how much Caitlyn must’ve said about your bad experiences with men at the gym.
He really is a sweetheart. His girlfriend is very lucky.
“I dunno… I just thought you’d be more comfortable if she was here.”
“That’s really considerate, Jayce, but I’m fine. More than fine. I’m really excited for this and feeling pretty good about it.” You drop your bag on the floor for emphasis that, ‘yes, I am staying, no getting rid of me now,’ in a spot that’s hopefully out of the way. “Can I have the new member tour now?”
“Awesome, let’s do it,” he says, clapping his hands together in that oh-so-familiar, now endearing, gym bro sort of manner. “Oh uh, yeah! We can start with where to actually put your stuff.”
That’s how you find out in quick order that you’ll want for nothing here. You can cancel your old membership without an ounce of regret. Everything you need is in that garage—great equipment, great company, and twenty-four hour access, though you aren’t one to pump iron at three in the morning.
All that, and more still.
You hadn’t known before, but Jayce has a personal training certification that he got some years back. He mentions it in passing, as if it’s no big deal. Offers to help you plan workouts to meet your goals if you want, but no pressure.
You’re going to take him up on it, of course. Time permitting.
Throughout the workout with Jayce, inclines on the treadmill and an intense leg day—or rather, evening—with weights interspersed, you start to wonder what part of this is too good to be true.
You come up short by the time it’s dark and you, drenched in sweat and sore to the bone, are leaving with the promise to come back soon and his garage code stored in your phone.
But you see something then, as you stand at your open car door. Right out of the corner of your eye as you wave a final goodbye to Jayce, the garage door slowly rolling closed over his bright, sweaty, smiling face. Something you aren’t sure what to think about, but you know what you saw. It’s not your imagination.
The blinds on a dimly lit far window snaps shut as you move to get into your car. Not fast enough to escape your notice, though you see no more movement after that. Just a steady glow from the windows, washing the white stucco siding in shades of warm yellow light.
It reminds you of the reason you came here in the first place.
You hate feeling watched.
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That poll is so hard to vote for cause on one hand, it feels like Tiff would fit the best because of her incredibly unreliable narration matching Ted's while it would still be a subversion of the original because of the reason why she's unreliable(rose tinted glasses and extreme devotion to BE as opposed to the stuff Ted's got going on) and her pov on and relationship with BE would just be so fun to see explored and the horror of the situation being a subtle thing thats swept under the rug could be so cool.
But on the other, Evan would also kinda match with the original due to his open emotional distance and disconnect from the girls, AND it would bring a lot of fun, fresh stuff! Seems like Evan is the one who pays most attention to AM, and seeing what's happening there from his pov would be so interesting! He, just like Ellen if she would've narrated could bring up how things like being the only one of the opposite sex and gender in the group and (from what we know from the short story at least) only dark skinned person would like.. idk change perspectives on things?? I'd also love to find out more about him!
Oh, not to mention Naomi!! Having narration that is pretty damn reliable would make worldbuilding and exploration much easier and she's also got that disconnect due to her age and crystal clear memory, being able to see things as they are and were could be really refreshing in a ihnmaims universe and i really want to know what her whole deal is! Being born toward the end of the war must've made quite a difference to how a person would process everything, Ted's whole "I'm youngest so my experience is different because i barely had time to live as an adult before the nukes" wouldn't have shit on someone who wasn't even like... done w puberty.
Ooooh they'd all make for such fun narrators 😭 It's really too bad that writing takes so much time and effort or it would've been amazing to see all three's povs! I still don't know what to vote for or how the results are looking so far but im really looking forward to seeing what the results will lead to!
Maybe you have a character you have the most ideas for or would like to write most? Cause if so, that'd def help me choose what to vote.
Sorry for the wall of text(would you believe me if i said i wanted to write more? This is me trying to show restraint, didn't even write about the potential AM could have as a narrator), and i hope you have a good day!
Okay so first off, I love-love-love this response. You have such fun perspectives on these silly little au characters of mine and it makes me a little sad that you didn’t write anymore cause I definitely would have read it, especially what you were thinking about what an interesting narrator AM could be.
As to which character I have the most ideas for, is such a difficult thing to answer cause well I have so-so many. But I do want to put them out there for you so here they are:
Tiffany: narration wise, I imagine the stuff she says can and does come across as nonsensical and border line trigger happy, however sometimes she occasionally lets something slip that clues into her true feelings and that a part of her may indeed be aware of the gravity of the groups situation, however she shuts it down as she has severe attachment issues and cannot fathom how she could possibly survive without BE. Another thing I pictured is that she very often quotes the bible and other religious texts, as BE doesn’t present herself as machine and genuinely as a divine entity. I also have been toying with a scene similar to the one in the radio drama, where AM is talking to Ted about bumblebees and getting high r something. Where it is set up as the reverse. BE showing Tiff the horrors of what the radiation and world has come to (in a way that is seriously deceptive) and claiming that all she has to do is snap her fingers for it to return. It would definitely read as a story where there is total tonal whiplash from one scene to the next, so that is something to consider.
Evan: I have come up with so many pasts for all these survivors before they were “rescued” by BE, however one thing to note is that I don’t really think of these characters as just “genderbent versions of the originals”. Evan is one of the key examples of this, as in this au he is technically the original Ellen’s older brother, however he left home when she was around 12-13ish, as he didn’t like the life, college and job his family set out and tried to push him into. Unlike Ellen who was a successful engineer, who may have been a hopeless romantic based on the original text. Evan was and very much still is kind of a massive party animal. I picture him very punk but like the old kind of punk. Like he was the kind of guy to go motorcycling around the country (even into war-devastated bits, cause it was a thrill), he went to underground clubs and concerts, and sure as heck slept around and had no shame in it (both women and men if you are curious). He doesn’t want to get sentimental, he wants to live his life on the edge and BE doesn’t allow that. He constantly tries to upset her, get some kind of intense reaction from her. He tries to escape, he kicks and tries to tear open parts of her internal network. This man has tried to kill Gloria (Gloria kind of deserves it thou) and the only reactions he gets from BE is her finding him cute, amusing, or as if he just needs to be put in a corner to calm down for a bit. Truthfully he is someone who just wants to go back and experience life again, recognising that BE’s utopia isn’t living and refusing to buy into it.
Naomi: I won’t lie, Nimdok is so boring in the og story, and they definitely tried to do “something” with him in the game. I don’t like it, again different ramble. So like Evan, she is a different person. Like you said she has barely started puberty and because of BE neither her body or even her mind has really aged in anyway and she is horribly aware of this. Due to the war she has had her childhood taken from her, but now because of BE she shall never experience adulthood or growing up. Her memory hardly anything particularly helpful. She remembers exactly what BE did to the others when they first got brought to the compound, she has seen what goes down in the labs, she knows what pills are and aren’t sleeping pills, developing a habit where she will pretend to take one and spit it out if she is able to. As stated in the survivors master post, she knows BE’s blind spots and will often go there on her own. Not really to do anything, just kind of sit around. Further more, she and Evan have a way of communicating, number of blinks, which fingers moved when you spoke to them, that kind of stuff. Still she doesn’t want to escape, she knows she’ll die if she does, generally she acts more like a mediator in the group. As a narrator, I did have this idea for a few odd habits she has learned over the years. Example is that she constantly counting, time and routine is import to her, as she notices when something is wrong and that freaks her out. She also has this habit of just staring at the others for very long periods of time, especially Gloria. She clearly remembers seeing her on tv during her old life, and also remembers how she attacked her when Naomi attempted to mention it to Gloria.
Writing does take so much effort, especially for me, cause truthfully I’m always jumping back and forth on what I’m working on. On top of this au and the fic, I’m also in the process of finishing the final script and sketches for a different web comic I’ve been planning for a while, as well as a completely unrelated world building project that I’ve been at for two years now. Anyhow!! Tell me more please
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The Sea Witch P2
Media The Maze Runner Au X Mermaids
Character Newt (Merman)
Couple Newt X Reader
Rating SMUT AF
Concept Merman
Smut non-consentual / tenticles/ forced orgasm/ anal/ mouth fucking/ fingering/ full sex/ raw sex/ sensory deprivation/ kidnapped/ nipple play/ jizz/ slave/
Notes: As a point of anatomy as we are dealing with mermaids/ mermen, I did a lot of reasurch RIP my search history, but for the anatomy sake the mermen are designed in this world to be more like fish in the lower half with pelvis fins and both the penis and anus being on the front of their body.
I hope that helps <3
I don’t know exactly how long it had been since she left but time wasn’t exactly what I was keeping track of, these damn things had been slowly tightening on me causing my skin to go sore where I’d been fighting, all of them throbbed and pulsed around me which only made it feel worse, and the one in my mouth kept trying to go lower which at this point physically hurt enough to force tears, at this point I was tried, exhausted from futile attempts to escape. When I heard her voice “Hello Little prince” she chuckled “Cosy?” she asked as she came close and luckily the one in my mouth retracted and I gasped for breath
“Let me go!”
“Why would I do that? Got half you’re kingdom out looking for you. And it’s ever so much fun to have you down here to play with” she smirked stroking her sharp nails down my chest
“P-Play with?”
“I’m one with the marshes Newt, this controlled by me, felt by me, part of me” she cooed stroking the tendril that had been in my mouth “Now I have finished up my business for the day I thought we could have a little fun” she smirked gently running her finger across my pelvis fins enough to cause them to flutter
“Fun! I think the two of us have a different definition of fun”
“Well we’ll find out” she smirked “But you’re my prisoner, little prince, I know you and your guards would have whatever fun you saw fit with me if I was your prisoner” she smirked snapping her fingers causing the tendrils to tighten around me most notably around my neck
“What are you going to do to me?”
“We’re going to have fun” she smirked blowing a little kiss towards me the bubbles from her lips formed a heart but it even hit my stomach, for a moment I was confused before I noticed what her bewitching magic had done as it had forced me to get as hard as possible I tried to stop it but it was impossible my erection now stood as tall as it had ever been I tried to resist, I tried to make it go down but that only made it worse it honestly felt like it had swollen but felt so insanely desperate
“You evil witch!” I yelled trying to resist and escape
“My my, not too little, little prince” she cooed stroking her fingers up and down my shaft I did my best not to react to her but every touch, every rub, every mild sensation felt like waves of pleasure from her spell her meer touch leaving me a gasping mess my eyes fluttered shut biting my lip desperate to not revealed the pleasure it gave me "awww it's alright the dark sea dungeon is a place no one can hear you scream little prince" she Cooed her stroking turned to more intense rubbing leaving me to squirm desperately for escape "Not a soul across the ocean has to know how much you enjoy it" she whispered
"Give me the crystal and let me go"
"Ohh darling, we've established that's not going to happen" she smirked "perhaps I should leave you alone until you get a little more co operative" she smirked moving away from me perching herself on another bit of equipment in the dungeon I caught my breath a moment even if I was still hard and still ridiculously over sensitive but these tendrils only tightened as she plaid with her long nails
"Y/n?" I asked a little worried what she was planning as her sly smirk had not disappeared and then I felt it. I glanced down and saw another tendril had formed from the writhing black mass and it was hovering closely to my erection "AHH! No! No! You stay the hell away from there!" I argued
"You didn't argue so much about my hand" she cooed
"Your hand is one thing-" I began constantly moving my hips trying desperately to keep it away but each grip tightened
"It's still me Newt" she Cooes "this way I just have a few more hands"
"AHH! Y/n please!" I begged her
"Humm this is going to be fun" she smirked as the tendril slowly coiled it's way around my erection just the feeling of it slithering around me was torture but overwhelemingly pleasurable from her evil smutty spell just the feeling of it throbbing around me was enough to force my screams
"Ahhhhhh! Uuuuuuuhhh uuhhhhhh ahhhhhhh! Please!" I begged her "Y/n please I'll do whatever you want just make it stop!"
"Awww but your ever so cute to watch" she giggled as the tendril began to move up and down coiling tight around my base and then uncoiling to the tip rubbed against my head which caused even more overwhelming lustful screams which only seemed to amuse her more Chuckling in that evil way "aren't you adorable, little prince. These are some very lovely sounds indeed but I think we need a little something more" she Cooed and the tendril sped up leaving me to scream and plead
"Ahhhhhhhh uuhh uhhhh ahhhhhhh please! Please! please Y/n please! Let me go! Please before i- ahhhhhhh"
"Before you what little prince?" She smirked already knowing the answer but clearly waiting it out of me I didn't answer so it sped up more "awwww will our sweet guest make a mess of my dungeon?" She giggled coming over toying with my pelvis fins before the tendril pulled back and her hand took me instead "get used to pleading little prince you're going to be here a long time. Until your kingdom grants me what I want you are my little hostage, which we both know will take an awfully long time, so get yourself comfortable and enjoy yourself" she smirked squeezing my erection and moving her hand fast which was enough to send me over the edge screaming so loud my voice shredded my throat my whole body flooded with pleasure my seed sputtering into the water. I relaxed a little and tried to catch my breath but I found my erection was still hard and still as desperate as before. The tendril returned and took in all of my seed which only made her smirk grow "the dark marsh is hungry"
"There, you got your fun. You got what you wanted now let me go!"
"Awww were not even half way finished little prince" she smirked and as she said those words each of the tendrils around me coiled tighter now all the way up my arms half way up my tail wrapping twice Around my waist and my neck giving me no ability to move at all only being able to flap the end of my tail and it's fins, the tendril returned to replace her hand coiling around my stiff erection already rubbing again
"Ahhh no please! Let me go!"
"Don't lie, we both know your enjoying it" she smirked kissing my cheek "aren't you Newt?"
"Y/n please… just let me go. We can have any fun you want just let me go!"
"Aww that's a very sweet offer but this is the fun I want" she smirked
"Please! Let me go!" I whined
"What's that?"
"Please let me go Y/n!"
"Hummm I heard let's continue"
"Nooo! Y/n please!"
"Now should we make him quiet or should we listen for the next part" She cooed
"What are you gonna do?"
She smiled wickedly fully stroking one of my pelvis fins all the way down she ran her hand across the base of my stiff erection but that's not what she was going for she instead moved lower and stroked around my -
"AHHHH! No! You get away from there!"
"Why? Is it too sensitive?"
"Well yes but I -" I began unable to speak from the pleasure I was getting
"Awwww our little prince hadn't had anyone touch him there before?" She cooed and I nodded "don't worry I'll be nice and gentle" she reassured as she slipped two fingers inside me which caused my screams to intensify as even just the feeling of he fingers was so insanely pleasurable I was so fearful as I'd never had any type of anal play but fuck it felt so good and my reaction only assumed her more
"Y/n please - I'll be good, I'll do whatever you want, I'll give you your independence please just -"
"If you want me to stop simply say the word"
"Please - please -" I began but that word was caught behind my teeth no matter what I couldn't say it "what have you done to me!"
"Simply removed that word from your vocabulary little prince, we both know you don't really want to use it" she smirked moving her fingers fast and hard
"Uuughhhh! Please please -"
"Your so cute" she smiled pulling her fingers away and giving my lips a gentle kiss admittedly I melted into her kiss and we made out for a good few seconds until I felt it. Another tendril came and began to stroke around the entrance just as her fingers had
"No please! I can't - I've never -"
"It's alright I'll be gentle"
"Y/n please! Noo noo stay out of there!" I demanded but she ignored me and the tendril slipped inside my ass it hurt of course as it forced its way inside I screamed and tried to resist but it was utterly impossible and as much as I didn't want to give her the satisfaction it was overwhelmingly pleasurable even if it forced tears from my eyes which she meerly kissed away as the tendril moved as deep as it could throbbing for a few seconds before moving almost completely out over and over driving me more into pleasure each time getting slightly deeper as my body gradually allowed it to go deeper inside me once it found the deepest possible speed then began to increase but in time with the one wrapped around my cock "uuuuuuuhhh uuughhhh uuuuuuuhhh! Y/n please! I can't take anymore!" I whined my eyes welling with overstimulated tears
"Aww but we've only just started" she Cooes "I think you need a little time. Let's see how long it takes for this princely inhibition to disappear and my cute little prince becomes meerly a slave to his pleasure?" She chuckled,
Two more tendrils they came and one wrapped tightly around my head blocking my eyes from any light leaving me blind to what was happening around me
"Y/n please - I'll -" I began but the second jumped down my throat as it had before leaving me unable to move, see or speak completely and utterly at her mercy. And it was then everything sped up, and tightened around me which caused me to scream around the tendril as I hit my second wave of pleasure this far more intense then the first given everything else what was happening but they didn't stop for a second everything continued as of nothing happened leaving me to scream and beg for her mercy but it never came …
I lost all track of time utterly blank at how long I had been down here as her tormented prisoner my mind had lost most thoughts other than the overloading pleasure I felt, I was hers utterly and completely. Her plaything. I don't know how long is been here but the pleasure had never ever stopped for even a moment of respite, by now I was utterly addicted to it having gone through a whole arch of pain and resistance, to annoyance and acceptance, to excitement and joy to now being utterly at mer mercy, her slave addicted to her touch. She had utterly made me her slave. The only time there was a break in all this was when she would come down to the dungeon to visit me she'd give me little kisses all over my body, she'd play with my nipples and my pelvis fins to wind me up even more even times she had let a tendril moved away and used her hand to wrap around my cock which admittedly I lived for! Often moaning her name even with the tendril still deep in my mouth. I had already cum twice since I woke up this morning when I heard her sweet voice
"Good morning little prince" she cooed and the tendril moved back as it often did so I could speak to her even if I still couldn't see her
"Morning Y/n" I gasped
"Have you had a nice day so far?"
"I've already cum twice"
"Aww good boy" she cooed stroking my shaft pulling the tendril away to meerly stroke me with her soft hand
"Ummmmm! Uuhhhhhh Y/n!"
"It's lovely to see how you've warmed up to this Newt" she smirked rubbing on my head with her thumb
"Uhhh uhhh please Y/n! Please Y/n I'm gonna cum!"
" already? I must have left you too long" she smirked giving my cheek a kiss immediately I pucker my lips desperate for a kiss fighting with the tendrils to let me move closer to her "aww would my little prince like a kissy?" She asks and I nodded "words" she demanded squeezing me erection
"Uuhhhhhh! Yes! Yes please Y/n! Please kiss me"
"That's better" she smirked happily letting me kiss her, we kissed so passionately and lustfully as it was one of the few outs I had for my pleasure till she pulled back "tell me what you want little prince"
"Uuhhhh… I want you to make me cum Y/n, please I need you"
"Well you have been a very good boy"
I bit my lip expecting her hand to pleasure me or even her mouth if I was very very lucky as she had only done that once or twice but I felt an even better sensation of my cock slipping inside her dripping pussy
"Uuuughhhhh! Uuuuuuuhhh uuuughhhhh yes! Y/n! Y/n! Yeeesss! Uuuughhhhh!" Immediately I hit the orgasm I had been so desperate for filling her up as deep as I could
"Aww you really were desperate" she cooed "but we can have our fun still" she smirked as she began to move back and forth allowing me to fuck her I was already on another plane of pleasure and this just drove me insane I was an utter mess my mouth hung open moaning her name often spilling my seed inside her and she never even slowed all while her tendril still fucked my ass I hit another now my fourth orgasm inside her tears flooded down my face my voice almost broken
"Uuuuuuuhhh uuughhhh uuhhhhhh! Y/n!" I moaned gasping in my exhaustion but I heard her scream and felt her tighten around me
"Ahhhhhhhh Newt!" She squealed hitting her own and the moment she did the tendrils let me go leaving me completely to drop to the floor beyond exhausted and for the first time since I had been her my erection actually went down and softened back to normal for a good while I just laid on the floor with my mouth open trying to think straight and she came and laid with me nuzzling up with me "hi"
"Hi."
"Happy?"
"Ummm yes my lady" I smiled kissing her sweet lips
"Good, now you can come upstairs and get some rest and we can discuss our deal"
"Our deal?"
"Well you want the crystal or not?"
"Crystal - oh yeah!" I nodded honestly I'd kind forgotten about all that
"Then we have much to discuss, come on you can sleep in my bed"
"I can?"
'of course, that way we can have little breaks in the political discussion" she smirked stroking her fingers down my chest
"Break time before we start Y/n?" I hired shifting my hips and pushing her hand down towards my pelvis fins
"Aww you still excited?" She Cooes stroking the fins and biting her lip as she watched me start to get hard for her
"Very much my lady" I whined kissing her neck
"Alright, first one up to the tower has to go down on the other for an hour" she Cooes before she quickly swam off for a moment I sat shocked at those words but immediately got harder and swam off after her as quickly as I could.
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it is almost midnight and i am trying my very hardest not to fall asleep while doing my homework so naturally i am imagining a reddie college au where richie and eddie are roommates, definitely have crushes on each other, but they’re both too scared to actually make a move that’s more than some conversational flirting every now and then
one night eddie is up late at his and richie’s shared desk (their shitty college dorm room only fit one desk, so often times one of them used the desk while the other sat on their bed or used the library, but sometimes they both sat at the desk, squeezed beside each other and desperately trying to ignore the heat they feel when their arms brush against each other’s) and he’s doing this homework assignment, and he’s super stressed about it because it’s due in the morning but eddie has no idea how to do it. he’s reread the notes so many times, he’s tried working out the problems over and over and over again but he just can’t seem to get the right answer. eventually, he wears his brain out so much that he accidentally falls asleep at his desk, his assignment still unfinished.
not too long later, richie comes back to the dorm himself. it’s not a rare sight for him to come home and see eddie having fallen asleep while studying, and richie’s about to tap him awake to go to bed, when he notices the paper on the desk. it’s a math worksheet, and richie can see the lines on the paper from where eddie has written an answer and erased it, over and over and over again. richie remembered eddie panicking earlier that day about a math assignment that he had forgotten about and needed to finish, and richie supposed that he hadn’t been able to get it done.
now, richie knew eddie well enough at this point- and he knew that if eddie woke up the next morning and saw that blank assignment, it would give him a heart attack. a quick look over the paper and richie realized that he actually knew the concepts, he remembered them from when he took the same course a few semesters ago. so, as quietly and as softly as he could, he took the pencil from eddie’s hand and got to work on the assignment, trying his best to match eddie’s handwriting.
when eddie wakes up the next morning, he’s lying in bed. he wakes up slowly at first... then sits up all of a sudden, a wave of panic washing over him as he remembers his unfinished assignment. he checks the time, then rushes over to his desk, hoping that in the ten minutes he has before he has to go to class that he can at least pull together some sort of answer.... when he picks up the worksheet, and notices that it’s completely filled in.
it’s not in his writing, though. it’s similar, but with a few inconsistencies with his own print... but that look an awfully lot like a certain someone else’s handwriting. eddie looks over to richie, who is still fast asleep in his bed, and his heart blooms with warmth as he realizes what richie had done for him.
eddie can’t stop smiling for the rest of the morning.
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SCARIAN BALLET AU - CHAPTER 2
A/N: GOD ME AND @desertduofan HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR SO LONG HERE @imhereforthecomics WE'RE DONE ARE YOU PROUD OF US PLEASE BE PROUD OF US IM GENUINELY SO HAPPY WITH HOW THIS CAME OUT, AO3 VERSION WILL BE COMING OUT ON FIRE DESERTDUOFAN'S ACCOUNT IT MIGHT HAVE A FEW CHANGES LETS GO!!!!!
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Grian's POV:
Grian got chills down his neck, as if someone was watching him. He had folded his wings against his back and spun around to face this person. There stood a tall man, a good 6'4 if you asked Grian. His face was sharp and his nose was cut by a scar. He'd mistake this man for an intruder if Aurora hadn't cleared her throat and introduced him.
"Grian, this is my brother, Scar." Aurora stated before turning to her brother and speaking, "Scar, this is my instructor Grian.”
As if regaining his composure, The ‘Scar’ man grinned widely -Were his cheeks kinda pink? Probably just Grian’s imagination- and stuck out his hand
“Nice to meet you, Grian!”
“Nice to meet you too, Scar.”
Aurora smirked. She ran over to Ariana and whispered something in her ear, causing her to glance over and then both of them collapsing into a fit of giggles. Huh? What’s that about? Eh, he’ll figure it out later.
Scar seemed to stare at Grian, kinda in a trance. If Grian was any smarter he'd know that he seemed out of it. Maybe the man just had a big head and thought a lot. Grian hadn't cared right now either way. He had to get the rest of the kids to their parents or guardians.
“Well, uh, Scar- I have to get back to my job. Cub has my phone number if you have any questions.” Grian stated, not knowing that Scar would take that a different way.
TIME SKIP 3 HOURS LATER
If Grian had to explain his day, he'd explain it as a fish dying in the sand. Why? He had no idea. It just wasn't normal. He went to work, the first thing he hears is that Ariana got in trouble– which was normal. The part that wasn't normal was this scarred man, coincidentally named Scar. He was the typical “oh save me” prince type almost. His words fit right in his mouth, like a poet. God did he hate those types of people.
Although…Scar is somehow different? Grian didn't feel hatred towards Scar.. Maybe because his sister was such a good student. Bias and all. Which is what Grian was trying to convince himself.
Grian was currently sitting on his couch, drinking his favorite tea. Herbal tea was most definitely the best tea. Tastes like a sweet morning with a bit of dew. It was nice and warm compared to the harsh snowy world outside. London was an amazing place, it was close to home and similar. Everyone was nice, although he didn't like people too much.
Oh, nevermind that, he's run out of tea. He'd get up and put his phone on the table before getting up and heading to the kitchen. It was cozy and livable, not too big-the apartment and the kitchen. Grian headed to the sink to clean his mug before his phone started to ring.
There were only three things this could be.. his mom, his siblings or a parent calling and informing him that their kid wouldn't be in class. And if he really wanted to be wrong, maybe even X. Actually, there was only one real way to figure it out, since all those phone numbers weren't in his contacts.
“Hello?”
“Oh! Uh- this is awkward.. Is this Grian?” the person on the other side asked.
“Maybe.. who is this?” Grian asked through the phone.
“This is Scar! You know.. Aurora’s bigger brother?” Scar said.
Grian realized that he was talking to Scar.. the guy with a scar slashed through his nose. The guy the Grian really can't stop thinking about because he's.. unique.. uniquely weird.
“Hello..?” Scar said from the other side.
Oh.. he must've blanked out.
“Hey! Sorry- Yeah this is Grian. Why ‘d you call?” Grian said as he put the phone on speaker and headed to the kitchen. There was complete silence after Grian questioned Scar. Did this man not have a reason to call?
“Can't a man call his sister's teacher to make sure he's doing okay? I mean, teacher's work hard and you could be stressed out-” Scar rambled before Grian started to cut him off with..
“Scar, we barely know each other for you to be checking up on me and worrying.” Grian simply stated.
“We've known each other for a few hours-”
“We introduced ourselves for a couple of seconds before I had to get back to work.” Grian was thinking logically instead of optimistically, compared to Scar.
“I'm also picking up my sister from now on.” Scar said, joy underlined in every word he used in that sentence.
Grian didn't feel opposed to seeing Scar everyday or so. I mean he hated the other parents with all their stupid gossip and politics, with everything all about them. He sat and listened to the other parents, while with Scar he didn't know what to expect. To Grian, Scar seemed like the type of guy that WILL sit you down and talk with you for hours about Disney and Star Wars, and Grian’s fine with that. Might enjoy it, even.
Grian chuckled. “Sure, big guy. Good for you. Well, to answer your questions, I’m doing well, not really feelin’ the stress too much right now. And you, I speak from experience when I say big brothers work hard too. Are you doing well? Any stress on your end?”
Scar's POV:
As soon as Grian asked how he was doing, Scar felt a hot flush creep across his cheeks.
“M-me?”
“Yeah, you. Are you okay?” Grian’s smooth, beautiful voice rang out from the other end.
Looking up from cutting the vegetables, Cub smirked and mouthed ‘Lovesick’ to Aurora, and Aurora, who was helping him, also smirked and vocalized “Oooooo!”
Scar moved the phone a little away from himself and hissed at both of the others to shut up. They were making nothing better as he got embarrassed by both of them. He took a deep breath before putting that mask of confidence back up and swindling a few words. Although it had barely calmed his heart.
“I-I'm doing fine, thank you.”
“Hmm, you sure? You don’t sound too good…”
“O-oh, you don’t have to worry about silly old me! I’m great!”
“Well, whatever you say. Anyway, it’s now time for me to go on my own big brother duties to prevent my siblings from exploding…”
Scar found himself bursting into laughter. To his delight, he heard Grian join him from the other side.
“O-oh man. Are they chaotic?”
“Extremely. Pearl and Jimmy might have set the world on fire with Ariana by now if I wasn’t there. But, to be honest, I would have joined them if our older cousins Martyn and Lizzie weren’t there to reel me in too!”
And they both cracked up again. God, Scar loved hearing Grian laugh. It was beautiful, and a nice change from the stoic man he’d met earlier.
“Isn’t Pearl also a teacher at the academy?”
“Yeah, she’s quite the teacher in fact, however still chaotic, she doesn’t teach ballet like the rest of us, instead teaching weapons dancing.”
“Weapons dancing? That’s so cool! But isn’t that also a bit dangerous?”
“Oh, it is. You should have seen how much she used to get hurt when she started out. But she’s a professional now, and an amazing one, at that.”
“That’s amazing.”
“Well, I really do have to go now. Lovely talking to you, Scar.”
“You too! Goodbye!”
Scar put the phone down, positively glowing. Aurora and Cub walked over, dinner must be ready!
“So,” Aurora began, “How did you manage to make a boyfriend out of my instructor so quickly?”
All thoughts of dinner flew out the window, as Scar became extremely flustered.
“AURORA! H-he’s not my boyfriend!”
“But you want him to be, don’t you?”
“N-no! We’re just friends, and that’s what it’s gonna be! Yep, juuust friends!”
“Oh, stop being in denial Scar, you totally have a crush on Grian” Cub joined in, with a knowing grin plastered on his face.
“I DO NOT! BOTH OF YOU, SHUT UP!!!”
And both Cub and Aurora pointedly stared at him.
“O-okay, maybe a little…”
“FINALLY!”
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A/N: ITS KINDA SHORT BUT YOU TALK LIKE I CARE ONCE AGAIN EPIC CO-WRITER IS @desertduofan AO3 VERSION WILL COME OUT ON THEIR ACCOUNT AND EPIC AU CREATOR IT @imhereforthecomics OK BYEEE
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College AU: Behind Closed Doors (And One That Wasn’t)
A/N: I just decided to post my fanfics also here on Tumblr. But, all of these are cross-posted to my AO3 account too along with the other SenHaku Week 2021 fanfics of mine!
Fanfic Links: AO3 | FF.net
Other Links: Dr. Stone Masterlist
College AU where Kohaku and Senku deal with being roommates.
SenHaku Week 2021 Day 3: Roommates
Stone University was the most prestigious school in the country.
The school with their top-notch classes gave birth to genius professionals. That’s why a lot of famous people from various fields came here. Not only did they have tough entrance exams, but the freshmen year was also hellish. But after the gruesome first year, the students could customize a schedule fit for them. Some would say the school had a complicated system.
However, the dorm was more unpredictable.
The students were required to live in the residence hall after the gruesome first year. The rooms were spacious enough to do anything they want. There was a kitchen, a bathroom, beds, closets, and a vacant space. It seemed perfect, but the administration has a way of matching roommates randomly.
It was random enough that two people were having a hard time figuring out the current arrangement.
"Lioness, do you know why they paired us up?" Senku asked as he set down the last of his boxes.
"I'm not a lioness!" Kohaku huffed. "I don't know. I was supposed to be with Ruri."
"I never heard siblings in different years being roommates."
"There was one before!"
"They were twins." The scientist stuck a finger in his ear and observed the red-faced blonde.
In the end, she turned back to unpacking the rest of her luggage.
They were definitely off to a good start.
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The two roommates were already familiar with each other before they lived in the same room.
They came across each other frequently despite being in different programs and clubs. Ruri and Rei were to thank for that. It was the same for their friends. Still, they weren't able to really interact a lot back then. It was only until they became roommates that they got to know each other. Not just their quirks, but also their different studying habits.
Senku glanced from his tablet when he heard a loud thump. Kohaku was troubled again. He knew from the six months of being together that she'd lightly hit her head on the table when she was frustrated with her studies. Tonight was one of those times. He couldn't blame her. Cramming for the finals have always been ten billion percent a pain.
However, he was wondering why did the girl choose Radiologic Technology as her course out of everything. With how active she was in sports clubs, he almost thought she was in Sports Science. She was very involved in the school. A small smile found its way to his lips. He really admired her ability to juggle her academics and extracurriculars.
"Senku," Kohaku called out. She turned her head to face him. "What's wrong?"
A perceptive lioness, as usual. The boy adjusted from his seat before asking. "Why did you take your course?"
The girl sat up straight and Senku couldn't help but notice how her blue eyes were full of emotions. "We had to rush Ruri to the hospital before. The radiologist there discovered my sister had pneumonia. If we found out late, she would have died."
"Ruri has been doing well already."
"And, I'm happy about that." Kohaku smiled. "I wanted to be like that radiologist. I wanted to save people like her."
The two settled into silence once she was done speaking. There were no more words to be said. It wasn't awkward. It was... comfortable.
The night continued with a peaceful silence around them.
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By the time they hit their junior year, their schedules were different from each other.
Senku's timetable was filled with classes in the morning. By the time it was afternoon, he was either in his club or in their room. Her roommate was mostly spending his time crafting a spacecraft. Whether it was his own choice or because his program demanded it, he was occupied.
Kohaku was busier. She alternated her schedule between classes and clubs. The girl claimed that staying still and listening to all the lectures were going to drive her crazy. It's why she opted to squeeze her clubs in the middle to get some fresh air. She even had to practice for competitions from time to time.
The two developed a routine throughout the time they spent. They always had dinner together despite their busy schedules. If they couldn't, they'd grab a snack at least.
After coming from a long tiring kendo practice, the lioness desperately needed a shower. She opened the door to their room and was greeted by the cold air. Her grip on the box full of mille-feuille tightened as she shivered. She couldn't let the box drop to the floor. It was their snack before Senku leaves for dinner with Byakuya, Lillian, and Rei.
"Senku, it's too co-" Kohaku stopped upon seeing the Aerospace Engineering student asleep on his desk. The afternoon sun was the only thing illuminating their room, and it created a paradisical image of their space. She would have continued to be in trance at the scene in front of her if it wasn't for the soft rustling sound of the papers on the floor.
Placing the box of sweets on the kitchen counter, she tiptoed to his bed and took the neatly folded blanket. The girl unfolded it with a flourish sending some papers flying. She'd pick that up later. For now, she should make sure her roommate won't be freezing by the time she finishes her bath.
She was fast to clean up the room. She had to. There are two more hours until his family arrives.
As she was about to get into the bath, courage struck her. The blonde glanced back to the sleeping figure by the window. The silly thought in her head pushed her forward to do something uncharacteristic. With steps as light as a fairy, Kohaku hurried to his side and planted a gentle kiss. She practically ran to the bathroom after that.
And if Senku felt her lips on his exposed forehead, he didn't dare to open his eyes and speak of it.
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When their senior year started, the roommates already gained an almost perfect understanding of each other.
That included the awful luck one student has.
Days before his thesis defense, Senku just had to be down with a fever. It wasn't the kind that will immediately go away with a good night's sleep. He struck gold with the one that made him incapacitated to move. On the bright side, he didn't have to prepare for the defence.
"I'm sorry, lioness." The engineering student weakly apologized.
From the small kitchen, Kohaku resisted the urge to snap at the nickname. It wouldn't do them good if she did. He needed rest more after 'accidentally' overworking himself. He should conserve his energy more.
The blonde decided to focus on cooking the ramen. No matter how sick he was, he always had the appetite for it. It's one of the reasons why she decided to learn to cook it from him. The taste wasn't like the one they bought in the ramen house an hour away from the university, but it was close enough.
Taking care of Senku was definitely a piece of cake for her. She already did this many times not only to him but also to her sister. When the food was cooked, she made sure he was propped up and the ramen wasn't steaming hot for him to eat. They ate in silence with the lioness having to spoonfeed him.
Once they were done, Kohaku got busy cleaning up. The earlier she could get the boy to rest, the better. She still had to smooth things out for her practicals. He might be almost done with his requirements, but she still had two to fix.
"Kohaku?" Senku called her name as she tucked him in.
The lioness swore her heart skipped a beat. "Yes?"
"Thank you." And with that, the boy placed a tiny kiss on her forehead and he sleepily chuckled. "I remember that too."
No more than a minute did he fall asleep, leaving her shocked from his actions. She held her face as a blush slowly crept to her face. Memories of the stunt she did a year ago rushed to the surface, and she felt more embarrassed than ever.
And if Senku felt her kiss from before, he did dare to speak of it while in a state of a delirious fever.
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Stone University always had a graduation party for graduates.
It was an event where alumnae and outsiders were welcomed to wander around the school's residence halls. Some freshmen would take this opportunity to have a sneak peek of their stay. For the seniors, it was their last opportunity to have a feel of their second home.
Kohaku and Senku stood in the middle of their room, taking one last look at everything before they start packing tomorrow. They weren't the type to feel melancholic. It wasn't like they couldn't help it. There were so many memories of their stay here.
Honestly, they still didn't know why the school administration decided to put them in the same room.
"Senku!"
"Kohaku."
The graduates turned their attention to the source of the voice. They found Rei and Ruri smiling at them from the doorway.
"Ruri? Rei?" Kohaku tilted her head to the side.
"We knew you'd be here!" Rei answered as she bounded to Senku with a bouquet of hydrangeas. "After all, we picked out this room for the two of you!"
"We hope you had a lot of good memories here. Congratulations on graduating." Ruri casually said.
For a while, the two roommates weren't sure if they heard Rei correctly. They turned their heads toward each other and looked back at their older sisters. If Ruri and Rei picked out this room for them, then...
"Rei, did you just say..." Senku trailed off.
"We picked out this room for the two of you!" His older sister repeated, but this time with a more cheerful voice.
"But, how?" The younger blonde exclaimed.
"As part of the student council, we had privileges." Ruri glanced at Rei. "Since Rei and I were friends, we thought the two of you might get along well too."
Silence.
The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. It was a needed silence though. Whatever theory Senku and Kohaku had before, it was proven wrong in an instant by their sisters.
"All this time, we believed ten billion percent that the administration was behind it." Senku chuckled. "I didn't consider the student council. That explains why the school got crazier when Ryusui became president."
"Ruri, why didn't you tell me?" Kohaku asked her sister.
Ruri made an apologetic face. "Sorry. It was supposed to be a surprise."
"Anyway, you're missing such a great party downstairs!" Rei pulled on Senku's hands. "Let's go."
"Rei, can you give us a minute?" Ruri and Rei glanced at each other until the older blonde smiled knowingly.
Kohaku smiled when their older sisters left. It would probably be a long time before she and Senku would be able to meet again. They already have promising futures ahead of them. They would be busy with their lives.
Before any of them could say a word, the two closed the distance and tightly hugged each other. Three years. It took them three years to have this kind of hug.
It wasn't the end, but they might as well start with one hug.
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