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#this weekend i can FINALLY just. mostly chill and have a bit of fun without guilt
valerie · 6 months
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TWITL - week 40 - middle of fall break
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It's day 5 of my long weekend aka the last day of my long weekend. I've been off since Thursday because I wanted to be home on Thursday to watch the New Zealand play Uruguay in their last match of group stage in the Rugby World Cup. The All Blacks won 73-0. SWEET! Now it's on to the quarter finals, where they will face Ireland. Yikes! I think I'm pretty much cheering for the southern hemisphere teams at this point but most especially for the All Blacks. Of course. https://flic.kr/p/2p7DaAg cheering on the All Blacks LUNCH WITH THE FESTIVAL CREW https://flic.kr/p/2p8cA9a Festival Crew - October 7th (photos by HP) Saturday afternoon, we headed out to Livermore so that I could meet up with some of my friends from my movie theatre working days. Decades ago, we all worked together at a place called Festival Cinemas in Hayward. The theatre is long gone but we're all still around and whenever we get the chance, we meet up for a meal and conversation together. (Thank you, Sam!) It's always so lovely to see old friends and catch up. Social media only tells a little of our stories, eh? I look at our faces in these pictures and I still see how we looked back in our uniforms, behind the concessions stand or sweeping up in the auditoriums. I'm thankful that we all see each other now and again. We met up at Sauced. The food was good but it was pretty loud there. We all sort of had to yell a bit to talk but it was still fun! My food was delicious and everyone seemed to enjoy their choices for the most part. Later on, I realized that I was the only one without kids. They're all parents. Hmm... https://flic.kr/p/2p7QoKT I'm pretty sure no one knew I was taking this shot... TV & MOVIES Ahsoka - I liked this show well enough but if I hadn't watched all those recap videos on YouTube, I would have been a little confused. I think the show suffers from drawing much too much from previous shows (Rebels and Clone Wars), which is great for those folks who watched those shows but not so great for casual viewers. I think a show or a movie, no matter how connected it might be to a larger story, should be a good story in of itself. For me, Ahsoka missed on that mark. And the way it ended made it seem as though the season was just an in between moment, part of a larger whole. Do I care what happens next? I don't know if there was enough in the show for me to answer yes... Loki - I am so glad this show is back. I hope this show sticks to the character moments and twisty plot points like the first season. The first episode of the second season was good! It was exciting and funny and had me on the edge of my seat. I cannot wait to see what happens next! Strays - This movie was silly but hilarious. It's fun watching dogs talk and go on crazy adventures... https://flic.kr/p/2p7goMP the work desk companions in vacation mode... SOCIAL MEDIA Honestly, I will only slightly mourn the final demise of Twitter (@walelia). I am staying there until the bitter end but most of my posts are Wordle or telling people where else you can find me. :P I don't post much else there and I don't spend a lot of time there either. I don't see a lot of the weird crap that is apparently there because I have fine tuned my feed and no one cares enough to try and antagonize me. I do, however, see things from a few people I follow that just make me sad. So how am I faring on the three new networks I'm using? Read on... Threads (@kiari) - I do like how this one is tied to my IG account. Of the three that I'm using (mostly) daily, this one is the one that has more people I care about following. A lot of the YouTube tech folks I follow seem to use Threads more than the other two I'm checking out and it's fun to get replies or likes when commenting on their posts. Threads is honestly pretty chill though there are those folks who think they need to tell their followers about what's going in the world as though they're not smart enough to look elsewhere for that stuff. I do want Threads to succeed and even if it doesn't, I think I will keep using it. Spoutible (@valerie) - Honestly, this one is the most stable of the three I'm using. The people there have started to chill out a little and there's more balance. I follow a good group of people of differing backgrounds but similar viewpoints. They are the most "real" and it honestly feels like the early days of social media networks-- people finding connection in their differences and exploring new perspectives. The folks behind the scenes are working constantly on new features and rolling them out when stable. I think Spoutible is a sleeper in the new social media realm. Also, how can I not love a place where I get to use my actual name as my handle? Bluesky (@kiari.com) - This one feels the most Twitter-cloney. I don't say that as a bad thing and it could even be a good thing except they are suffering from a super slow rollout to users. I try and look for users to follow but when I try the "discover" or "popular with friends" feeds, they end up being mostly posts of people I already follow! I was so excited to get my invite that I just started using it but it's a little boring. I put in the effort because that's what I like to do-- I like to try new things. Things that make my eyes roll when reading at different socials about other socials: - "Is anyone using this?" - This is a familiar refrain on Threads. Why are you posting on Threads yet asking if anyone is using it? YOU ARE USING IT by posting! Lord. - "The other platforms aren't as good as this one..." - Or something of the like. This one seems to happen regularly on Spoutible. I roll my eyes and refrain from saying, "Just focus on this social network and don't worry about the others. They can all exist together." - "The place formerly known as Twitter is a cesspool and using it means you're supporting EVIL." This one happens everywhere. People post thought essays with this thesis and I just shake my head. If you don't want to post on Twitter, then don't. But just because people still post there doesn't mean they're supporting evil, etc. STFU on that. - "All these social networks needs to support real time news." No they don't, people on Threads who keep belaboring this point. Social networks are supposed to be about people. If WE want to share news, then let's post a link to a legitimate news site. But I don't need my social media to be constant news. There are other networks for that AND legitimate news sites. If those news sites want to have profiles on the different social networks, that's on them but I should have a choice on whether or not to follow them. https://flic.kr/p/2p8bRmw As mentioned at the top, today is my last day of a long weekend. I got up early, got ready, and was on the road to Kaiser to get my COVID and flu shots of the season. I was at the right place before 8:45 AM and waited along with mostly older folks. It was funny listening to a couple of those older folks: Older man: Is this where I get my COVID and flu shot? Staff member: No, you'll line up over there. Older man: Over where? Staff member: Over there. OM: So I get my shots over there? SM: Yes. OM: So what is this place? SM: This is adult injection. OM: So I get my COVID and flu shot here? SM: No, you get in line over there. OM: So what what is this place? I thought I had to check in here. SM: No, you don't have to check in here. You wait in line over there. This is where you get other shots. OM: I want my COVID and flu shot. SM: You'll wait in line over there. OM: The sign says COVID and flu shots here. SM: Yes, over there. Or something like that. It was excruciating to hear and amusing too. The staff member was SUPER PATIENT and I thought, "Damn, I don't know that I would have that much patience!" I ended up sixth in line for my shots. They took three people in at a time and OMG, I had to listen to the nurse tell the patient in her chair that they only have Pfizer, they don't have Moderna yet. The patient had only ever gotten Moderna before and must have asked the nurse if she should take the Pzifer. The nurse told her that she couldn't make the decision for her, that she could only tell her that they had no Moderna. The patient ended up getting the Pfizer. When it was my turn, I had my card in hand, answered her questions, then had to wait for her to get the vials. It was over soon after and I walked out to a line longer than when I got there. I was so glad to get it done! https://flic.kr/p/2p87nwC I drove back to Brentwood and ended up at Mabuhay to order the longsilog and pork adobe plate. I had to wait for the longsilog! But I didn't care since I didn't have anything else to do. I went down a few shops and bought some Starbread as well. I actually had my longsilog for breakfast as opposed to dinner, like I usually do. Breakfast for breakfast, what a concept! ;) I only have to work three days this week so I'm not too sad about my long weekend ending. Hopefully the work days pass peacefully enough. Maybe I'll watch a movie on Friday... https://flic.kr/p/2p8b1fL I'll end this here. Get your shots when you can! Let yourself feel those little moments of joy. :) Read the full article
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littlelioncub43 · 2 years
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Retreating In Covers
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Summary: You decide to build a blanket fort to fight off the seasonal sadness. Thankfully, your best friend Jake loves them just as much as you do! 
Pairing: Jake Jensen x female!Reader
Warnings: fluff, smut (18+Only, minors DNI), unprotected sex, creampie, clothed sex, dry humping, Jake is actually pretty smooth in this one, slight size kink (Jake is a BIG boi in this), romance, sexual tension, a blanket fort, and a partridge in a pear tree. 
Word Count: 3,664
A/N: Oh my goodness! This is my submission for Rhi's Writing Challenge 💖 I fell in love with this story so quickly while writing it! It feels like the most “me” that my writing has been in a long time! This is my crowning jewel for Jake Jensen content. I feel so stinkin’ good about it! So it would mean the world to me if you reblogged and told me what you think about it! Let me know, my loves! 
Kisses 💋
—K
~~~~~~
The wind and rain that poured down from the Heavens seemed to chill the already frigid January air. Bits of frost edging the glass panes of your windows in every room. Your seasonal depression  reared its gnarly head as the plummeting temperatures and gloomy days kept you bed-bound most weekends. Normally, you’d be more than happy to wallow in the somber moods that filled your evenings but today, you decided to have a little fun, a pick-me-up, if you will. And you knew what would cheer you right up— a blanket fort.  
Dressed in your pajamas, which consisted of one of Jake’s gaudy t shirts, a comfortable pair of black panties, and fuzzy black socks, you began your work. You decided to shuffle your playlists on the surround sound speakers. The rooms of your home be filled with a variety of music that had you singing along, dancing like a maniac, and twerking shamelessly while you cleaned the large space of your living room. Once the expanse of your living room was clear and the sheets, blankets, and pillows were all assembled, you began the very fun yet oddly complex task of building your fort.
After what felt like an eternity (it was closer to an hour), you had finally built what you would argue to be the best fort you’ve ever made in your life. It was tall enough for you to comfortably crouch in, the pitch in the center of the roof made it look a bit like a circus tent and you loved it. The floors were cushioned by large soft blankets with a few of your throw pillows lining the edges. You had made the genius decision to add your Christmas lights to parts of the fort as well as your favorite lamp and a fan that helped move the air in the tent. With the lights off, it seemed to glow and billow in the soft breeze. You absolutely loved it.
The knock at your door startled you, turning down your music, you called to the door, “Who is it?”
“It’s me!” You heard Jake’s muffled voice. Relief washed through you and you smiled softly.
“Use your key, Jensen, jeepers,” you called back with a chuckle. You’d given him a spare key months ago, but he still insisted on knocking every time. When you told him he didn’t have to knock, Jake said that he didn’t want to barge in on you like that. Always the sweetheart.
“Hi,” he started as he kicked off his shoes and hung up his coat, his kind eyes darting from you to the massive fort behind you, “oh, no way! You made a blanket fort without me?!”
“Sorry, it was a last minute thing,” you giggled as he took in your handy work with his hands on his hips. “I’ll text you about it next time.”
“Yeah, you better,” he sassed playfully.
“Wanna come in? We can watch movies or something,” you offered. You noticed the shy smile that crept across Jake’s face. He scratched the back of his neck.
“Uh, I don’t know if I’ll fit in there, sweets,” he was a large guy, 6’6” of mostly pure muscle and flesh.
“That’s what he said,” you dead panned and crawled in through the entrance before quickly continuing, “come on, Jensen. Get in here, there’s enough space for two, plus I share the blankets.” With another shy smile, Jake crouched at the entrance when your head popped out. “One rule, Jensen: no outside clothing.”
“What?” He laughed, his eyebrows pinched in confusion.
“No clothes that have been outside; I got my good pillows in here! I can’t have you tainting them with outside air,” you reasoned.
“Sweets, I don’t have anything to change into,” he pouted softly, he was dying to see the inside of the magnificent fort.
“Just lose the jeans, I have a few of your shirts.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” he sassed and tugged at the collar of the orange t shirt you were wearing. You chuckled and gave him a look that screamed ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’. He rolled his eyes with a smile and set off for your bedroom. You were nice enough to give him a drawer in your dresser for sleepovers, he had one at his place for you, too. A lot of best friends do that, right? Once his jeans were off and folded and his old Star Wars t shirt swapped out for his black tank top, he made his way back to the fort.
“I’m coming in,” He gingerly pushed back the soft sheet that served as the door. As soon as his head was in the fort, his eyes were drawn overhead; you’d used the constellation bedsheets he’d gotten you a few years ago for your birthday as the roof, the warm white Christmas lights illuminating the sheets enough to give them a twinkling effect. “Wow.” He whispered.
“Right?” You whispered with him, laying on your back, your head propped up on one of your pillows, legs covered by a light throw blanket. The fort was a lot bigger than Jake had thought, but it was still small compared to your Goliath of a best friend. You scooted over a bit, making room for his head to lay next to yours. He took his spot comfortably, you couldn’t help but appreciate the tightness of Jakes tank top and black boxers. The toned cords of muscle that lay beneath his unfairly soft skin flexed as he crawled through the fort. He sighed as he settled in, your heads next to each other as he laid on the other side of the pillow. You hand naturally lifted to play with the short strands of his blonde hair as you looked up at the ceiling.
“Sweets, this is gorgeous. You did such a good job,” he whispered, just like you always did when you laid down. You felt your body heat up at the wonderstruck yet husky tone of his whisper, the closeness made his hushed words seem more special, more sacred.
“Thank you,” you shyly respond, opting to focus on the way the strands of his hair feel on your fingers. You pass the next few minutes in silence, simply staring up at the ceiling.
Suddenly, there’s a shift, your heart hammering away in your chest, the air is heavy and crackling with a new type of electricity. Jake’s hand slowly reaches up, his warm palm sliding across your shoulder, silently asking for your other hand. You bring your hand to his, his large fingers slotting through yours just as they have a million times before, yet this was different. The moment your smooth hand touches his, Jake feels lightning bolts shoot through his body, his chest beginning to heave in his excitement. He swallows silently.
“Thought you said you shared blankets, Sweets,” he whispers, his voice so deep it nearly sounds like a purr. You have to resist the urge to moan at the sound, your thighs unintentionally pressing together, your core slowly but surely getting wetter and wetter the longer you both stay under this spell. “Come here.”
You roll over on to your belly, gathering the soft blanket with you as he sits up on his knees. The movements are slow, the thick air making your motions more sensual than normal. Jake licks his lips subtly as he takes in your form; your beautiful body shrouded in the fabric of his favorite graphic t shirt, it was long enough to reach your mid thighs, effectively hiding the honeypot between your legs. His thoughts wander to what you might be wearing underneath the shirt, if anything at all. Were you wearing those comfortable sleeping shorts? Those black panties that made your ass look too good to be true? Were you naked, and just waiting for him to tear the shirt over your head and—
“Jake,” you called to him softly as you slowly crawled toward him, closing the distance between you. You could see the way his eyes darkened as you neared him, his nostrils flaring when you kneeled in front of him, your beautiful eyes gazing up at him. He says nothing as he reaches for the blanket, his eyes remaining on yours. Draping the blanket around his shoulders, Jake starts to lean in, inching forward as you begin to lean back. The look in your eyes has him mesmerized.
You lower yourself to the floor, your head finally coming to rest on the pillow. Jake sucks in a deep breath when your thighs part for him to lay between, the hem of the large shirt falling back to reveal the black panties he’s dreamed about during long missions. He braces himself on his hands, one by your head, the other by your hip, gripping the blanket in a grip to hold on to his sanity. Your hands rise from their places at your side to rest on his waist, the warmth he radiates through his tank top warms you to your core, a wave of arousal crashing over you. Jake pauses for a moment, taking in the sight of you underneath him, wearing nothing but his shirt, and looking up at him like he was the man of your dreams. It has his head swimming with lust, love, and every good feeling he’s ever felt in his life.
“Fuck, you’re so beautiful,” he sighs under his breath mostly to himself. Jake always thought you were beautiful, you were funny, smart, patient, compassionate— the complete package. Normally, being this close to a woman—any woman— would send Jake into a nervous tizzy, but with you it was different. It was always different with you. He doesn’t miss the way your lips curl into a shy smile or the way your eyes shift away at the compliment. He wasn’t having any of that.
“No, look at me, Sweets,” he gently demanded, his large hand hooking under your chin to coax you into looking at him again. When you do look at him again, the look in his eye has you gasping softly. He doesn’t say anything for a moment, his face now a mere inch away from yours. This time when your eyes dart from his own down to his lips, he can’t find it in him to scold you. Your hand sliding up his neck and into his hair, cradling the back of his head while you play with the short stands again. A shiver rips through his body, his breath getting caught in his throat as he stutters out a gasp, his body easing itself down against yours. You sigh his name when you feel the taught, firmness of his godlike body resting on top of you, cocooning around you, your thighs spread to accommodate him, legs wrapping around him like it were second nature.
The moment his name flutters off the tip of your tongue, Jake’s resolve breaks completely. His lips finally meet yours in the longing kiss he’s wanted for years. Your eyes slide shut to savor the taste of each other, hands holding each other like you could shatter any minute. Gingerly, tenderly, gently. You move your mouths together, finding the perfect rhythm—you always worked so well together.
The feeling of your tongue sliding across the seam of his lips, petting and begging to be let in, has Jake actually purring with happiness. He lets you in, his own tongue eagerly greeting yours as it sweeps into his waiting mouth. Your chest heaves, never seeming to get enough oxygen as each kiss has your mind reeling. You can feel how his lungs fill and deflate with air as he pants with you, the throbbing of Jake’s heart in his chest, the twitching of his long, hard cock against your clothed core. His hips instinctively grind into you, the movement subtle and barely there, but there nonetheless. You whimper into his open mouth, the kiss finally breaking as you look up at him.
He looks down at you, his eyes hooded with desire but worry that he may have overstepped his boundaries has his forehead creasing. Sensing his worry, your pet his scalp and give him a reassuring smile. Jake swears on everything he holds dear that he’s never seen anything as perfect as you laid out underneath him, your lips slick and plump from kissing, and that gorgeous smile lighting up your face. When your hips rise to meet his, silently urging him to do it again, he moans your name in a hushed voice so deep you can’t believe it’s coming from him. His eyes find yours again looking for permission to rut into you.
“Yeah, please,” you whisper with a nod of your head, your gaze now pleading. It breaks his heart to see your sweet face pout while begging for him, but his dick twitches happily, precum leaking from his fat tip at the tone of your voice. With your permission, Jake rolls his hips into you, the friction of his bulge against your clothed sex draws out a pleased moan from you both. He watches as your eyes flutter shut while basking in the pleasure he provides.
Unable to take it any longer, Jake reattaches your lips, his tongue seeking out the sweet flavor of you. You pull him into you, your hands clutching the fabric of his tank top wishing for him to be closer. Jake seems to feel the same way since his hands paw at your flesh, his grip steady and wanting, the need for you is just as strong as your need for him. Your hips find a pace that sends sparkles of pleasure shooting through you both. The filthy grinding has Jake’s cheeks burning with slight embarrassment, you were humping like horny teenagers—and in a lot of ways, that’s exactly what you both felt like.
You feel his calloused hand slide underneath the hem of the shirt, his touch gentle and cautious just in case you wanted him to stop. Gripping his wrist, you guide his hand up higher underneath your top. A gentle nip at his bottom lip forced a surge of confidence through him, his hand suddenly groping your left breast, massaging the supple flesh with an intensity that you’ve never experienced before.
“Fuck, Jake,” you whine, the sound triggering the deep primal need to make you say his name over and over. He growls and ruts against you harder, the new pace is rougher, desperate, and intense. It was everything you could have wanted. You were unbearably wet now, your little hole clenching around nothing as you moved together. You needed more. “Jake, please, baby, please…”
“Shhhh, it’s ok,” he whispers as he tosses his glasses off to the side, his hands make quick work of pulling your panties down and off your hips before pushing the band of his boxers low enough to free his aching cock. You felt the heavy meat of his erection rest against the silky wet folds of your pussy, the feeling of his raw dick slotting through your petals had a fresh trickle of slick pouring from your hole. One hand leaves its place on your body to guide himself to your waiting entrance. A whine bubbles in your throat when he briefly teases your clit with the tip of his cock, he doesn’t want you to beg but he can’t help but tease you a little, the noises you made were so cute. “It’s ok, s’ok, I’m gonna give you what you want, Sweets, don’t worry…”
You give him a pleased little whimper at his words before he spears into you. The pleasure of being filled sears deep into your bones, your body naturally opening up to him just like it was always meant to. Jake doesn’t hide the wavering moan that vibrates in his chest when he feels your walls wrap around him for the first time, finally bottoming out. He feels everything. The sting of your nails biting into the meat of his shoulder, the quickened pace of your heartbeat, your chest rising and falling, the wet heat of your cunt swallowing him whole. This was major. Earth shattering. Life changing.
“Oh my God!” He groans as he waits, letting you adjust to his size and regaining his composure as best he can, his head tucked into the crook of your neck.
“Jake, baby, move,” you moan throatily in his ear, your body strumming with need. If he stayed still for another minute you were certain you would die.
His reaction is instant, his hips drawing back slowly to feel the friction of your wet heat against him, then driving into you quick and hard. The action forcing a moan out from the back of your throat. The sound only spurred him on, he repeated the action again and again and again. His own moans mixing with yours beautifully, the blanket fort filled with the songs of your pleasures and the thumping of your bodies meeting in a hurried rhythm.
“Oh my fucking god, Jake! Jake! Jake!” You cried out for him, your cries being answered by his own long roaring groan. The tension in the pit of your belly wound tighter and tighter with each glorious thrust of his hips, your own naturally moving with his, wanting to work him just as good as he was working you. The way you met his nearly punishing thrusts made Jake practically delirious with pleasure. He’s never felt anything like this, and he was positive that he would never feel this way with anyone but you.
The realization had Jake rocketing dangerously close to his end, the euphoria that coursed through his veins doubling when a particular thrust sent his tip crashing into your g spot, your pussy tightening around him, suffocating his length entirely. The sweet whine of his name and a desperate ‘right there, baby, right there’ had Jake’s hand rubbing quick circles on your clit and his pace faltering—he wasn’t going to last much longer.
“Cum for me, Sweets, need you t’cum! Give it to me, honey, please, need to feel it, can’t live without it, need it, need it—oh fuck yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!” He encourages as you finally cum, your entire body seizing up underneath him, trembling, and shaking because of him. His thrusts reduced to desperate jerks, his cock throbbing as his high begins to crescendo. Your sweet little body clings to him, and he you, as he jack-rabbits, all semblance of technique and form tossed out the window as his mind shuts down, all he can think about is filling you up. His instincts screaming at him to cum inside cum inside cum inside cum inside cum inside—
“Cum inside me, Jake, please, oh God, please cum inside of me!”
And he does. With a thundering roar of your name, Jake finally cums, his orgasm shaking him to his very core. Nothing has ever felt like this before, his hand never gave him a fraction of the pleasure that you have. He shakes on top of you, his spend flooding your cunt, his sweat damp muscles flexing as he presses himself into your body, his hands holding on to you as tight as he can. His hearing is fuzzy as his head spins, but he can hear your pleased whimpers and moans in his ear, your voice praising him, telling him how good of a job he did, how good he feels, how you’ve never cum that hard in your life—all of it adding to his pleasure.
After what feels like an eternity, he feels the buzzing under his skin begin to relax, his hold on you relaxing as he lets himself rest on top of you. Your hand rub up and down the length of his back, the other running through his hair. You hum happily as he lays on top of you, his hands now soothing the bruises he left along the curve of your hips and waist. A shiver runs through your body when you feel his lips pressing gentle kisses up the slope of your neck. You tilt your head back, bearing your throat to him, and Jake sighs at the action, his mouth now working along your salty skin. He felt a wave of need flood his senses once more, but he fights the urge to grind his soft member into you. Instead he brings his lips to yours, relaxing into the kiss and letting you guide him.
“Hmmm fuck, Jake,” you whispered against his lips, still kissing him, you couldn’t bear the thought of stopping right now, “didn’t know you could fuck like that…”
“Neither did I,” he says with a breathy laugh, your tongue sliding across his bottom lip had the laugh turning into a moan, “Jesus Christ—mmm, Sweets you better stop before—“
“Oh fuck, are you hard again?” You gasp when you feel his member swelling inside of you.
“M’sorry, I didn’t mean t— a-aaah!” He babbles until you clench your walls around him, the tightness nearly too much for his sensitive dick but he grinds into you regardless, the ache he feels at the base of his spine coming back with a vengeance.
“Shit, Jake, are you always like this?” You moan when his pubic bone rubs against your clit deliciously.
“N-No,” he stutters out, feeling a little embarrassed that he’s already needy again, “just with you…”
You smile against his lips and roll him over suddenly, his back against the floor and you in his lap. The angle change has you swallowing even more of his length, and Jake swears he never knew he could be so deep inside of you. It earns you a wavering, wanton moan, his eyes rolling back in his head.
“It was the fort, wasn’t it?” You playfully tease as you gasp. Jake smiles brightly.
“Yeah, definitely the fort.”
~~~~~~
Tags: @nocturne-pisces @strwbrrybucky @tumblin-theworldaway @slothspaghettiwrites 
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prettypinkpuddles · 3 years
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Kinktober number 2 for Toji from jjk 🛐
That I can do! Luckily it’s the weekend and I have all the time in the world these days… hopefully.
Shower Sex with Toji
Fem Reader for this one… sorry!
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♡︎𝙰/𝙽- 𝚂𝚘 𝚒 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚊𝚗 𝙰𝚄 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚃𝚘𝚓𝚒 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚑, 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚞𝚕𝚒𝚍𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚜𝚘 𝚊 𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚛, 𝚊 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚛, 𝚎𝚝𝚌.
♡︎𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜- 𝙱𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝙽𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝙽𝚎𝚠𝚜 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔, 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢, 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐
⚠︎︎𝚃𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐- 𝚈/𝙽 𝚒𝚜 𝚂𝙻𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃𝚈 𝚝𝚒𝚙𝚜𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚔𝚢. 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚡, 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚃𝚘𝚓𝚒 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚞𝚐 𝚊𝚜𝚜
♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎
Parties like this bored you. All you did was decorate your husband’s arm, drink fruitless cocktails, eat chilled meat on a spiced cracker and smile and giggle. But this wasn’t the party you were expecting, first one woman left her husband’s side, then two more, then you found yourself leaving, taking with women about anything you could think of. You were there all night, sometimes leaving to get a glass of champagne one of the waiters were carrying. You knew all the now wife-less men were watching you catwalk you way to the bubbly, so you’d put on a show for them each time, fixing your top, swaying you hips as you turned to walk back, or stop and look for something non-existent, making sure to show your chest, it’s was practically spilling out your v-line.
When you got home, you realized just how much you had drank, almost tripping over your own heel. You stopped on the entertainment floor, remembering you left your phone there.
“Hi, Gumi, Itadori…” You waved to the two boys, them playing on one of the many consoles in the room. Megumi turned and waved to you, and Itadori couldn’t even look at you, his ears red and burning. He squeaked out a simple greeting and kept as much focus on the game as possible. You giggled and walked back to the elevator, clicking for the bed floor. You found Toji there, and he seemed rather mad. He grabbed a drink from one of the mini fridges and sat in one of the chairs, flicking on the giant tv. You walked up to him, leaning over the chair, draping your arms over him.
“I’m sorry, but the girls were so interesting… I made so many friends! More than I do at the other parties…” You put on a sympathetic pout on but he wasn’t buying it. “I just wanted a change..”
You sulked off, slipping out of your heels and putting them by the balcony door. You walked out and rested on the edge, staining at the ant-like people on the oh so low street. You felt a pair of large warm around hug you in place, a gentle sigh coming out from Fushiguro’s chest.
“I know how bored you get… I’m sorry I got so mad. I just like showing you off to the douches there, thats all.” He mumbled, lighting a cigarette. He took a puff and blew out in the direction the wind was flowing so it would land on you. You playfully reached up for the thing and but he said no.
Toji doesn’t like when you smoke, he wants you as healthy as possible. You knew this but still tried to take the smoke he had, no matter if it was a cigar or weed.
You slipped from his grip, telling him to enjoy his cig, walking off to your maid’s room, seeing her fast asleep. She must’ve been in a huge panic to get everything cleaned, she was still in uniform, not under the covers. You giggled and let her sleep, walking to the elevator. You slipped off your dress, knowing Toji was watching you, but you ignored him as he stared bullets into your back, pushing the button for the bathroom floor. You slipped off your panties, putting them on the elevator floor and immediately dipping yourself in one of the hot springs. You let out a broken groan of relief, the stinging water kissing and flicking your skin, as you sat down you reached for a white cloth and close hair tie. You put your hair up as best you could without a mirror, slipping deeper in the water. You heard the elevator ding and saw Toji walk up behind you.
He swiftly joined you, settling next to you.
“This is sooo nice.” I love this damn tub.” You smiled, and he kissed your forehead, pulling you on his lap. You took hold of his hand, putting his hand on your ass. You put your head in the crook of his neck, dozing off as you listened to his heartbeat and his voice as he spoke of everything he saw at the party.
“Y/N, wake up, shower.”
You opened your eyes and giggled at him, get out the tub and getting in the glass shower. It was right in front of a mirror so you could see yourself, you ethereal you found yourself and you sighed; reaching up to one of the lavender plants growing at the top(the garden floor above you).
You grabbed the shower nozzle, spraying the suds off you, the water lingering over your lower half a bit too much. You bit your lip, keeping it there until a knock on the glass made you scream. You looked to see Toji, a smug smirk on his face and a towel wrapped around him. He hung the towel over the glass and stepped in with you, pulling you and himself under the running water.
“Water’s nice, huh?” You grinned and he pushed his lips to yours, putting down the shower nozzle. You began kissing down his neck, mumbling about how nice it feels to be in the shower after a pretentious day. You manage to get yourself on your knees, right at your destination. You planted yourself right under his dick; a perfect match to your liking, it just just the right size for you and always had a pretty clear bead of precum at its head when Toji got hard.
You licked the tip of it, wrapping your lips over it, swirling and twisting your tongue around it, slowing engulfing it until you hit the base. You let out a sultry moan, looking up at Fushiguro.
“You good down there? I can do it?” He asked, holding his hand on your head. You nodded, letting out a hum and he gripped your ponytail, shoving your head back and forth on his cock. You choked and gagged as little as you could, taking as many fluids down your throat as possible. He held you at the base at one point for a few good seconds, letting you get a good breathe before he continued his self pleasure with your mouth and throat.
He finally yanked you off, releasing himself down the drain as you caught your breathe. You quickly got back to him and waited for his loving cum, looking at him with a pouty, annoyed look when you realized what he’d done.
He chuckled and got on his knees, helping you stand and pulled you over his face. You bit your lip devilishly.
“Do that thing you did… that time we were in the kitchen, and you put that whipped cream on me, you tongue felt sooo- Ah~! Fuck….”
Toji began ravishing your cunt, stimulating every part he could at once. You tugged his hair, dipping yourself into his mouth until he began to suck on your clit, flicking it at rapid speed. You squealed like a pig, trying to push him off, but you couldn’t. His hands were firmly on your waist and lower back. He relented and let you go, standing back up and kissing you. You wrapped your arms around his neck, letting him pick you up and put you under the water again. He quickly slipped himself inside you, so the water wouldn’t wash all the slick away from your pussy.
“Ooh fucking… shit!” You couldn’t hold you moans back, sure the boys could hear you even in with Toji’s fingers around your throat. He pounded away at your sopping cunt, his grunt being drowned by the rushing water. He suddenly pushed you to one of the glass walls, still fucking your little hole and you began digging your nails into his back and shoulders.
“You wanna cum that badly huh?” He breathed and you shouted a yes as response. He chuckled, bucking his hips into you even more. You desperately wanted an orgasm, trying to match his thrust but it was futile; he put you down, turned you around and now you could see yourself. The mirror, you could see it.
You wiped the clouding fog away, able to see Fushiguro fuck the life out of you. The way your face contorted in pure pleasure, the movement of your fits, the slapping sound you could hear. Your eyes became hooded with lust, more languid, drawn out groans coming from your throat. Toji pulled you up to him, biting down on your neck hard, his fingers going at your nipples and clit. “Cumming! Fuck-!” You choked on your cries of pleasure, an orgasm flooding your veins with an overloading pleasure. You shook in Toji’s hands, falling limp as he turned to let you get rinsed one more time.
He peppered your face and neck with kisses and sucks, carrying you to the bed floor. He went into one of the room with colored lights, set you in the bed and changed the colors to a deep blue. He settled in and pulled you onto his chest, humming to make sure you weren’t knocked out already. You popped your head up with a hum of pure confusion, which made your husband smile.
“You were green the whole time, right?” He asked and you nodded.
Green was one of your safe words, you used them when you got into new stuff or some form of dangerous physical or mental play. There was Green to let Toji know you were fine and you were actually having fun, Yellow to tell him you were ok, just to make something a little less, like his roughness, grip or pace. Orange to tell him to stop or not do something anymore and Red to stop the play completely. You’ve rarely told him red, or yellow. You were mostly green because you loved everything you did with Fushiguro.
“Did you get my present in the elevator…?” You whispered.
“I did, of course you wore red…. It’s your go-to when it comes to those parties…”
“Well my dress was black, simple.” You grinned and put your head on his chest, slowly loosing focus in the conversation and drifting off to sleep.
Bonus
You woke to find a nice breakfast awaiting you, fluffy pancakes, melted butter with cinnamon, maple syrup, eggs with cheese, salt, and pepper, and of course bacon. You found a note folded up for you from Toji.
𝔾𝕠𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕓𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕚 𝕨𝕠𝕟𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘, 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕠𝕠𝕟, ℙ𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕤𝕤
You smiled and ate your food, got dressed and went out to the other beds, seeing the boys passed out. You smiled at how contempt they were, remembering how cute they were together playing their game. Then you thought back to last night, how the elevator rang twice before Fushiguro met you in the bath… the pause in the rings. You recall how long it can take for the elevator to reach a floor, the distance of the entertainment floor to the bed floor. The bathroom floor was the floor two floors above the entertainment floor… so the elevator hit the entertainment floor befor picking up Toji. You tested your hypothesis, checking the elevator rings. You were right. You gasped, realizing one of the boys must’ve seen your little ‘gift’ before Toji.
You giggled of embarrassment for you and them, and of how funny it was.
158 notes · View notes
y0itsbri · 3 years
Note
Hi Bri 🥰
C-16 if you'd like to 👀
Coffee dates and disasters
au with college!lip and barista!mandy where ian is a frequent visitor at the campus café and meets mickey under rather unfortunate circumstances. don't cry over spilled milk, buddy.
which also fits under a.u.gust for @gallavichthings
words: 2.4k
"never would have thought you the type to come to one of these places," ian mused, looking around the small café with only lamps and string lights illuminating the space. "can't believe college changed you, man," ian clutched at his heart dramatically.
"don't worry. 'm still the annoying bastard you love so dearly," lip squeezed ian's shoulder before he sauntered up to the counter.
the barista's bored expressed brightened when she saw them. her perky demeanor was matched by a high pitched voice, "hey lip," she smiled, dark lipstick striking. she appraised ian with a somewhat predatory eye, "hello, lip's friend."
"uh, brother," ian coughed.
lip rolled his eyes, "and he's gay so don't even try it, mandy."
she pouted and flicked her hair behind her shoulder, "not that it's any of your business, anyways."
ian chuckled besides him, drawing another smile out of mandy, this one kinder, sweeter.
"what can i get you boys?"
the pink highlights glistened in her dark hair as she whipped up lip's cold brew and ian's caramel macchiato, then proceeded to insist that this one is on the house. neither of them argued, but thanked her before they settled down in some stools by the window.
"fucking the barista privileges?" ian asked, raising his eyebrow at his slut of a brother.
"i think of it more like fellow south sider charity," he rubbed his bottom lip, "but yours works too," lip smirked around the edges of his coffee cup.
"you're an idiot."
"can a man who got us free drinks really be deemed an idiot?" lip philosophized.
ian paused, taking a moment of thorough consideration. he looked lip straight in the eyes as he answered, "if that man is you, then without a doubt."
lip tried to knock ian's cup out of his hand, but failed at his attempt. ian thanked his well-practiced jrotc skills and a lifetime experience of growing up in a house packed with annoying siblings for his victory.
they chatted about the robotics classes lip was taking, how he got full-time access to one of the labs, and his weird ass roommate who may or may not be gay if ian is at all interested. ian scrunched up his face. after hearing so many horror stories about the guy, ian didn't want anywhere near him. he wasn't that desperate yet.
the second that lip was out of his seat and heading to the bathroom, the beautiful mess that was mandy descended.
"hiiii lip's gay brother," she leaned against the table.
"it's ian," he spun his empty cup in his hands. he couldn't help himself from smiling at her charisma.
"well hi, ian, i just wanted to say sorry if i spooked you earlier. i just had no idea lip's brother would be so cute!"
"his ugly mug's not too hard to beat." ian laughed. "he got the short end of the gallagher stick, literally."
"cute and charming. you're funny, ian gallagher, i like you." she placed her hand on his shoulder for a moment, a movement so soft compared to her rather frantic appearance. "come back here anytime and it's on the house, yeah? i work most evenings after three."
"oh. uh- okay," ian scrambled for words, "thanks."
she squeezed his shoulder once before lip returned with a rather obnoxious entrance.
"ayo mands, stop harassing him!"
ian ducked his head in embarrassment.
"oh, shut up! i'm just clearing your cups," she winked at ian as she left.
mandy was something else. but she was kind and good company. ian could get used to the chill atmosphere over the chaos of the gallagher house anytime. he might just take up her offer.
--
"you'd think with all the time you spend here, you'd be offered a scholarship or something by now." mandy sipped on her chocolate frappuccino as she laid her feet across ian's lap. he always made sure to come visit during her breaks at least twice a week during the past couple months.
ian shrugged, "guess they only had room for one gallagher."
mandy hit his arm in a way that hurt. lip was fucked if he ever broke her heart.
"does fiona even know that this is where you sneak off to?"
"yeah." mandy's look said she didn't believe him. "well, kinda. she thinks i'm visiting lip, brotherly duties and all."
"yeah? how are those brotherly duties?"
"fuck if i know."
she laughed.
"i still think you should apply here for next fall," she encouraged, "could take some art classes."
"i suck at art."
"chemistry?"
"failed that."
"business?"
"yeah, no thanks."
mandy flipped him off, "fine. botany?
"ya know what? sure." he had always wanted to grow tomatoes.
"really?!"
"heart wants what it wants, mandy. we can't all be psychology brainiacs."
"brains and beauty, what can i say?" she teased. ian laughed, eyes glistening towards his friend. mandy made things better.
"hey," she continued, "there's this concert on the main campus lawn this weekend, you should totally come!"
"isn't that just for students?"
"they don't card, dummy."
"right, right, i knew that."
"sureeee. you in?"
ian mentally checked his work schedule.
"i'm in."
--
lip and ian strolled into the café a few days later. okay, maybe ian had felt a bit guilty for abandoning his brotherly duties lately, but at least this way he could hang out with both his best friends. well he could have if he remembered the fact that mandy had the day off for her behavioral neuroscience midterm. they had literally spent her previous shift reviewing the terms, he should have known.
ian's couldn't help his face from falling as another blonde barista took their orders, mostly eyeing lip the whole time.
"hi lip," she smiled a little too sincerely, "what can i get for you today?"
ian had ordered something new at the recommendation of the blonde and he was not a fan. and to make matters worse, he had to actually pay for the atrocity that he wouldn't even be able to finish.
"so how's your little coffee dates with mandy?" lip asked over his cup.
ian nearly choked on his god-awful americano. "how'd you know?"
"please. she's obsessed with you. every time i see her, it's 'ian this,' 'ian that,' 'ian might apply here in next year.'"
"oh."
"yeah, oh. when were you gonna tell me?!"
“it’s all mandy’s idea, i’m not even sure i want to,” ian muttered, refusing to make eye contact.
“dude, i’ve literally shared a room with you since the day you popped out of monica’s wretched womb, you think I can’t tell when you’re lying?”
okay maybe ian had been getting increasingly more excited about the idea of attending school and actually learning things that he wants to learn. something that might actually lead him somewhere real since rotc was looking more and more like a poor man's fantasy the more that he thought about it.
“I was gonna tell you, swear on it.” and he was. once he convinced himself that lip wasn't going to straight up laugh in his face. but the look in his eye seemed genuinely supportive.
“mhm, i gotta catch my english lit class," lip stood up, swinging his tattered tan backpack across one shoulder. he patted ian's shoulder in his big brother ways, "don’t be a stranger, yeah?”
“yeah, yeah for sure! have fun learning a language you already know!” lip flipped him off at his smartass remark.
soon after, ian stood up to return his drink to the counter, the anxiety from the conversation making him entirely lose whatever appetite he might have had. plus, it wasn’t the same here without lip or mandy. he just wanted to be wrapped up in a cocoon in his own bed. but that was so far away. maybe he could catch an early ride—
thump.
ian crashed into a guy’s sturdy body.
the remnants of his shitty drink spilled in an americano nightmare over both of them, ceramic pieces shattering on the floor in a truly horrific manner.
ian yipped and the other man let out a grunt of irritation.
they were fucking soaked. well, at least the coffee wasn't hot? ian tried justifying the situation, but, nah, this was bad.
"shit! i'm so sorry, lemme," ian reached out and the shorter man flinched away.
they were now far enough apart that ian got a good look at him. a leather jacket.. now covered in ian's drink -- shit. and shockingly piercing blue eyes that lingered too long on ian's before his cheeks turned a shade of pink that made ian's stomach flutter.
he might have seemed cold if he didn’t make ian feel so warm.
"it’s cool, man. i gotta go, uh," and he walked out of the café without looking back.
fuck.
ian smelled like coffee the entire train ride to the back of the yards. he laid in his bed regretting his entire life.
no mandy. no lip. no dignity.
--
the day of the concert that mandy had invited him to rolled around. ian wouldn’t admit it, but he was nervous to spend a coffee-less evening with mandy, their entire friendship built inside that one room. his little bubble of safety was bursting.
well, to be honest, the bubble had burst the moment that his disaster of a coffee was spilled onto one of the most ridiculously pretty guys that he's ever seen. every time he closed his eyes, he remembered the guy’s face shift from hostile to something else. he was torn between wanting to know the his name and also on never seeing him again in fear that he would simply pass away of embarrassment.
hopefully mandy hadn't heard about it. they may not have been friends for a long time, but he already knew that she would never let him live it down.
"hey ian!" her familiar voice called. that sounded promising.
his face fell with relief as he finally spotted her at the corner. she embraced him in a warm hug before pulling back and giving him a once over.
"huh, could have sworn you'd still have coffee behind your ear or something after the description karen gave me of your little disaster the other day." she smirked, quite literally double checking behind his ears as they turned hot under her gaze.
"ugh, fuck, how much did she tell you?" he itched his forehead and scrunched up his nose.
"oh, calm your tits, it's funny as fuck." she giggled, punching his arm in a way that still unintentionally hurt.
"whatever. are you excited for the concert tonight?"
their reunion conversation lulled eventually, and ian noticed that they weren't necessarily standing alone.
no. fucking. way.
just his luck, if he was being honest. he probably deserved this.
there he stood. the man that has plagued his dreams the past few days. in a light wash jean jacket that was a little tight on the biceps, leaning casually against the wall, kicking the pebbles on the ground with his boot.
"uh, what's he doing here?" ian gestured towards the victim of The Coffee Incident.
“what, you know him?” mandy asked, walking them towards him.
“vaguely.” if that wasn’t the understatement of the year.
"huh. i didn’t think my idiot brother had any friends."
brother? how did ian not realize she had a brother?
"what, did you think i was going to babysit you all night? i can't let everyone here thinking you're my boyfriend, no offense or whatever, but you're in good hands!" she kissed his cheek, clearly not helping her own not-looking-like-her-boyfriend rule.
ian eyed said brother's good hands only to see the faded letters of FUCK U-UP on them. oh.
mandy pushed ian over to her brother, "ian, mickey. mickey, ian," she introduced before pushing and shuffling her way through the crowd of college students to find herself someone’s cheap ass fruity alcohol to mooch off of.
mickey. ian's brain repeated over and over, a chime against the murmuring sea of voices they found themselves enveloped by.
"nice jacket," ian pointed out, an awkward attempt to converse before shoving his hands back in his pockets.
"it's my second favorite." the corners of his mouth lifted like there was more to the statement. ian took the bait, as if he could resist.
"what's your first?"
"first is still airing out the fuckin’ coffee smell," he smirked as ian groaned. "oh c’mon, man, don't go crying over spilled milk."
how could he not? on the bright side, he didn’t seemed to hate ian for it.
“if it was anyone else,” mickey drawled, “they’d have to get a beat down for it.”
“why do I get a free pass?” ian mused.
“well, you’re mandy’s friend, right?”
“yup,” ian tried to suppress his disappointment. he really did. but fiona always told him he wore his heart on his sleeve.
“yeah, that ain’t why, though,” his eyebrows waggled suggestively and ian nearly felt his heart drop out of his ass.
ian blessed whatever coffee god was out there for sending him both mandy and the beautiful man in front of him.
“you wanna go listen to the band?” ian nodded his head towards the stage with passionate players jumping around like they were playing lollapalooza or some shit.
“lead the way, stud, just try to keep your drinks off of me this time,” mickey knocked into ian’s own flannel covered shoulder.
yeah, ian couldn’t believe his luck. maybe karma was finally on his side.
mandy smirked at her brother and best friend not-so-subtly checking each other out over the course of the night, bopping their heads to the music and downing whatever free booze they could get their hands on.
she hoped that adding mickey to the equation would be enough incentive to convince ian to stick around. things were better when he was near.
the way that ian followed mickey around like a lost puppy with that dopey moon-eyed look, it seemed like her hopes would come true.
and when both ian and mickey strolled into the café to come visit her at work the next week, mickey in his worse-for-wear leather jacket and ian in borrowed denim, she thanks the coffee gods for her luck.
118 notes · View notes
hockeyboysimagines · 3 years
Note
Can you do fuck up the friendship with Tyler Seguin ? ♡
This was so fun! I’m so glad someone requested this song for him because he’s exactly who I wanted to write it for. Thanks so much and enjoy!-💕
Warnings: sex and implied sex.
Are you gonna kiss me?/‘Cause you're taking me homeIt's four in the morning/Are we doing this wrong?/This weekend I saw you/Through eyes that are new/You got me falling for you/And I kinda want to (want to)
Tell me what you mean/Is it all me? (Ah ah ah ah ah ah)/Start to overthink everything (Ah ah ah ah ah ah)/When you're close to me, I can't breathe (Ah ah ah ah ah ah)/We're already six-feet deep/Let's fuck up the friendship/Come get in my head/Baby, cut the tension/I'm hung by a thread
Maybe it's something/But let's not pretend/Or maybe it's nothing/And this is the end
“All I’m saying is you guys look good together.” Jamie said giving Tyler a mischievous smile. Tyler rolled his eyes and waved him off.
“Come on Dude. You mean to tell me you don’t think she’s hot?”
“Of course I do. She’s fucking gorgeous, but she’s my friend.”
“You guys flirt all the time.”
“I flirt with you all the time too Big Rig, maybe I should ask you on a date. ”
“I mean if you insist-“
“Enough you two Jesus!” Roope said shushing them both and shaking his head “If he doesn’t wanna ask her out then leave him alone.” Jamie wasn’t wrong. He did want to take her out but he wasn’t so sure she felt the same about him. Being flirty people it was hard sometimes to tell the difference between what was real and what wasn’t, so he pushed it out of his mind and admired her from a friend standpoint.
“Thank you.” Tyler said taking a drag from his beer bottle. She was standing about ten feet away absorbed in an intense game of beer pong that had been going for a while. She and Esa were partners and had been the reigning champs for over two hours. As if she felt him looking at her she turned to smile at him, and without looking tossed the ball and sank it into the final cup, winning the game. With a screech Esa came flying around the table lifting her up over his shoulder and took a victory lap around the living room. When he finally set her down, she came over and accepted a high five from Jamie.
“Nice game.” Tyler said holding up a beer. She had on this tight little white tank top and these dark jeans and he wanted nothing more than to rub the beer bottle all over her exposed skin.
Wait what? He shook his head, and felt heat creep up his neck.
“Nah. I actually have to get going it’s almost 4 in the morning.”
“I’ll take you.” He piped up before anyone else could offer. She smiled and went to say goodbye to her friends as Tyler trailed behind her. He tried really hard not to stare at her ass, but he couldn’t help himself. He had always looked at her different but the guys on his team had been pushing the idea extra hard lately. He was mostly silent as he drove her home, and as they walked to her front door. The streets were dead, as they should be at 3:50 in the morning, the only sounds coming from the highway and the occasional car that rolled down the street.
“Are you okay?” She asked when they reached the door. She leaned against it, keys hanging loosely in her hand.
“Fine why?” She shrugged “Your unusually quiet.”
He bit his lip. It was now or never “The guys are just kind of riding me that’s all.”
“About me?” Tyler froze, eyes moving slowly over to hers. How could she know? Fucking big mouth Jamie no doubt had said something to her. She started laughing.
“You guys are all extremely loud.” Tyler laughed nervously and looked at his feet “Yeah they just like to tease me is all. Sorry about them. We’re friends right? I don’t wanna mess that up.”
She shrugged and cocked her head to the side “I kinda do.”
She had this look, a look he had never seen before. Tension hung thick and heavy in the air. It sent a chill down his spine and into his other extremities and before he knew it he had crossed the porch, and pulled her into a heated kiss. It never occurred to him that this would completely fuck their friendship up, and if it hadn’t he wouldn’t have cared.
She was tugging at the button on his jeans when he reached around her to unlock the door and they disappeared inside, not even able to make it to her bedroom.
We could never be (oh, no)/We could never be friends/We could never be (oh, no)/We could never be friends
It got kind of scary/My bones always knew/Oh, I didn't mean to/Are you feeling this, too?/Tell me what you mean/Is it all me? (Ah ah ah ah ah ah)/Start to overthink everything (Ah ah ah ah ah ah)
When you're close to me, I can't breathe (Ah ah ah ah ah ah)/We're already six-feet deep
Let's fuck up the friendship/Come get in my head/Baby, cut the tension/I'm hung by a thread/Maybe it's something/But let's not pretend/Or maybe it's nothing/And this is the end
We could never be (oh, no)/We could never be friends/We could never be (oh, no)/We could never be friends
She was thoroughly over sexed and exhausted by the time Tyler made his way from her house the next morning but she felt good. The flirtatious behavior had always been there but it had finally come to a head. She would be lying if she had said she hadn’t enjoyed what had happened but now that she came down from her high she had realized that maybe that was all it was. Tyler was in her head now.
Was she just a hookup? Surely he cared about her more than that. Did she want to be more than that? She rubbed her forehead and sighed, feeling the effects of beer pong, and sex start to catch up with her. Flyers cologne still hung in the air, and she sighed. It was both enthralling and intoxicating to be in the presence of Tyler Seguin. He funny and good looking, and the charm was always laid on thick for just about anyone. But she didn’t miss the way he seemed to bend over backwards for her in particular. She had always assumed it was because she was a conquest he wouldn’t ever achieve, and here she was completely ruined by him for any other guy going forward.
She felt her phone buzz and pulled it up to see a text.
I really enjoyed last night….but what does this mean for us?
She drummed her fingers on the nightstand and typed out a reply.
Let’s find out later tonight.
From that point on a beautiful and complicated situation was born. While they loved to be around eachother, they kept things under wraps. But the days turned into nights filled with sex, quick meetups after practice and a lot of secrecy.
Now that they were having actual sex, the tension and the flirting was worse than ever. Roope raised his eyebrows at them as the flirty banter between them turned sexual one night, and shook his head.
“Jesus.” He mumbled elbowing Esa who was pretending not to listen “Get a room.” She smiled and leaned in to whisper,
“Maybe we should.” She disappeared through the crowd leaving Tyler to face his friends.
“Are you guys fucking?” Jamie asked squinting at him.
“What? No.” Tyler said. Someone called his name and he was thankful to be pulled from the conversation before he had to lie to them. He was even more anxious to leave this party to Y/N could call his name later that night.
On the edge of my seat/I'll wait for the outcome/If we ever have one (if we ever have one)/Let me take the lead/You follow me closely/But come on and show me (come on and show me)
Let's fuck up the friendship/Come get in my head/Baby, cut the tension/I'm hung by a thread/Maybe it's something/But let's not pretend/Or maybe it's nothing/And this is the end (woo)
We could never be (oh, no)/We could never be friends/We could never be (oh, no)/We could never be friends (friends)
Tyler felt himself falling hard and fast, something he swore he would never do. Things had changed from the night of the first hookup. The relationship between them began to feel more like dating than friends with benefits. Tyler wasn’t sure how to approach the subject and ask her how she felt, but it had to be said.
“Do you wanna go out on a date?” He blurted out one day, immediately slapping a hand over his mouth.
“What?”
“I said do you want to go out on a date?”
“A date? Like a couple? Tyler I thought this was like a friend-“
“We’ve never been just friends and you know it.” He looked so good, long tattooed arms braced behind him, T-shirt right across his chest. Her feelings for him had gone beyond sex, and way beyond friendship.
“Come on.” He said good naturedly, giving her a smile “Lemme take you out.”
She bit her lip and nodded “Okay Tyler Seguin. Take me on a date. Maybe we’ll never have to be friends again.”
“We could never be friends.”
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abbysfrenchbraid · 3 years
Text
Daring - Chapter 2
This is part two of my Abby Mordern!Au, you can read Chapter 1 here.
Masterlist
Abby and the reader have dinner at Abby's place. There is music playing and referenced, so I'd recommend you listen to this playlist with all the songs playing in order as soon as the date night begins. About 10k words.
CW for alcohol consumption, mention of death/murder, mention of dubious consent (and possibly terrible grammar. It's 10pm, I just finished this, I don't have a proofreader atm)
Thyme and Tree Bark
“Don’t mess this up, airhead. Take care!”
“Yeah, yeah. Bye, idiot!”
You closed the door behind Mark as he vanished down the stairs and headed straight for your bed. Though you were less wobbly on your feet after devouring half of a perfectly cheesy pizza with just the right amount of jalapenos, it had thrown you straight into a food coma. Your angel of a brother had come over at noon with two chilled cans of coke and a large pizza from your favorite Italian place and not even ripped open the curtains as he usually did. Instead, he had thrown himself on the bed right next to you, handed you a slice, and demanded you start talking.
Of course, he already knew about Abby and your embarrassing shyness when it came to the buff blonde, so he was extremely proud of the progress you had made with your excruciating crush. You both agreed that Abby had definitely invited you over for a date this week - alone, without Manny there - and that it had to mean she was interested, too. He had laughed about the little bar stint when Abby had shut down your flirt with the hot waitress in an instant and was now 100% sure this was going to go great. As long as you kept it together and didn’t ruin everything. As you often did. This needed some tactical planning.
Mouths full of cheesy delight and laughing at each other’s stupid ideas, you and your brother had come up with a fairly foolproof plan. You would text Abby in 1-2 days, keeping it cool and asking when you should come over. Then, you would suggest making cocktails at home, already granting a fun activity and something to loosen the mood. You would keep it casual and bring over some nice liquor and maybe a bag of chips, perfect for watching a movie. You’d try to keep the conversation casual and try to speak mostly about Abby, asking lots of questions so you didn’t get tangled up in speaking about yourself. If you steered the conversation toward movies, you could watch something exciting and maybe even scary together so you could cuddle up on the couch together. And well, if you got that far, things would probably fall into place naturally. Foolproof. Y/N-proof.
You groaned as you reached over to grab your phone from your nightstand. You had a message from your mom asking if you wanted to come over for dinner next weekend and an email from your professor who wanted to submit your last essay to some kind of grant application. You’d have to answer her later, your head still felt like it was filled with cotton. Instead, you sent Leah a message.
-Hey, you still alive? There’s leftover pizza and coke over here.
Five seconds later, there was a delighted squeal at the other side of the wall and you heard the click of your roommate’s door before yours opened and Leah tiptoe-danced inside, beaming at you. She was wearing nothing but an extremely tight-fitting cropped wifebeater and a khaki thong, accentuating her long legs as she leaped right onto your bed and almost made you fly as her weight hit the mattress. You tried not to stare at her perfectly toned abs as she opened the gigantic carton and held up a slice of pizza over her head, letting the tip dangle in her mouth before biting down with a moan that made you snort awkwardly.
“Good morning, you animal.”
Leah just moaned again, making a grabbing motion with her hand and pointing toward the second can of coke on your nightstand. You laughed silently as you handed her the cold can, condensed water running down the sides and wetting your fingers. You wiped them on the blanket. The tall brunette swallowed hard and took a sip of coke.
“Good morning, womanizer.” She grinned widely. “I’m so proud of you, man. This is the first time I’ve seen you in action and I can safely say Abby was just as surprised as I was.”
You buried your face in your hands.
“Oh god, was I that obvious? Did I do anything inappropriate? I thought it went well, but now I’m not so sure.” You spread your fingers to peak at your roommate who was currently chewing on a ginormous bite, tomato juice running down her chin. No manners, that girl. She just shook her head and made a noise somewhere between protest and encouragement.
“No, you were fine,” she said with a full mouth, “very tipsy, but cute. I hope you remember Abby inviting you to her place.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
You ran your fingers through your hair, immediately getting stuck in a tangle of knots. God, you needed a shower.
“Yeah, I already went over it with Mark. We made a plan so I won’t embarrass myself.”
“Good. I hope it goes well, you two would be cute together. Hot, even. I mean, no one can deny the allure of those biceps. And her ass?! Godly.” She easily evaded the kick you aimed at her ribs, laughing and slapping your shin away.
“Come on, let’s not act like you’re not ogling her every chance you get. I am, too - the woman looks like a greek goddess!”
“That’s enough,” you giggled, aiming another playful kick in her direction but only lightly hitting her in the thigh. “I know what she looks like.”
“Right. And soon, you’ll hopefully see a lot more of her.” This time, Leah jumped off the bed before your toes could sink right into her side. You tried to suppress a grin as you two stared at each other for a moment before Leah sat back down cross-legged and began eating the last slice of pizza.
“I mean,” she said casually, “you have seen more of a woman before, right?”
You grabbed your coke and turned it in your hands before answering.
“Yeah, I have. It wasn’t… It wasn’t all that, though. Just one time and we were both so nervous it was just awkward.”
Now Leah looked at you with a mixture of shock and pity.
“Come on, Y/N. Only once? You’ve never seen stars because of a woman’s tongue? Never screamed into a pillow because of some skilled sapphic strap game? Never lost your mi-”
“Leaahhhh!” You groaned, feeling blood shoot into your cheeks. “No, okay? I… I made the other girl cum, but for me, it was just… it was too unfamiliar and I didn’t know her well enough to really let myself enjoy it.”
Suddenly a thought crossed your mind and you felt your eyes open wide.
“Wait. Has Abby…? Is she..?”
Leah paused mid-bite and thought for a second.
“Well, she does have experience with men, obviously. As far as women go… I honestly don’t know. She’s dated a few, but it never went longer than a couple of weeks. I don’t know how fast things go with her and she’s never gone into detail with me. I have to ask Nora about that.”
“Don’t you dare! She’ll know this is about me and tell Abby!”
“Oh come on, I’m interested, too.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll tell you so you know what to prepare for, win-win!” She nudged your foot and gave you a mischievous half-smile.
“For god’s sake, do what you must.” You finished your coke and threw it perfectly into the bin beside your desk. Leah gave you an impressed nod. “And now I desperately need a shower. There is a literal nest on top of my head.”
“True,” Leah said and stood up, stretching her limbs as she walked to the door. “Thanks for the pizza. I’m gonna ask Jordan if he wants to come over, so don’t walk out naked if you don’t want a threesome.” She winked at you before closing the door, but a small part at the back of your brain knew that she wasn’t completely joking. You sighed and swung your legs off your bed. No point in lying around, it was past 3 pm anyway.
Grabbing your phone, a shirt, and some clean boxers, you headed for the bathroom. You took your time showering, detangling the mess on your head with lots of conditioner, humming along to Marika Hackman’s cover of I Follow Rivers as you stood under the hot stream of water and brushing your teeth for at least five minutes while waiting for a hair mask to do its magic. When you stepped out of the shower, the bathroom was filled with hot steam and you felt like a whole new person. You slipped into your fresh clothes and held the blow dryer to the mirror until your reflection was clear.
So. Here you were. Finally, you had spoken to the woman of your dreams and even flirted with her. She may have even been jealous of your short conversation with Ellie, the bartender. Tomorrow, you would text her, you would be brave and cool and not at all awkward. As you collected your clothes off the floor and took your phone, you suddenly realized something that would destroy your entire plan. You didn’t even have Abby’s phone number. Why hadn’t you asked her? Of course, you could ask Leah for it, but Abby would know because she knew she hadn’t given it to you. It would be a lot less cool and casual. Fuck.
You stepped into the hallway and ran straight into Jordan. Perfect. Good thing Leah had warned you.
“Oh, hi Y/N! You doing alright after all those tequila shots?” Jordan’s face was open and kind. You immediately relaxed. Just a guy, not a threat.
“Better than I thought I would, actually. What about you?”
“Well, I sent them back out the way they came as soon as I got home.” He grimaced and shrugged. “Just glad I’m still alive, to be honest.”
You had to laugh. “I’m glad, too. Leah would have been devastated.”
“I hope so.” He grinned back. The silence between you stretched a little bit too long.
“Anyways, I’m gonna see what she’s up to. See you later?”
“Yeah, sure!” You said, relieved that he didn’t make it awkward. You quickly slipped into your room and sank down on the bed, composing a text to Mark.
-Minor hiccup - I don’t have her number.
His reply came immediately.
-Shit. What now?
You let yourself fall back on the mattress and covered your face with your arm. Your phone vibrated again and you lifted it up, hoping for a brilliant idea.
-Hey, this is Abby. Are we still on for next week?
You almost dropped your phone on your face. For a minute, you just stared at the message. Then you rolled over onto your stomach and screamed into your pillow.
-Hi Abby. We absolutely are. Y/N.
You tried to suppress a fit of giggles as you texted your brother.
-Nvm, she just texted me.
-Omg what!! Play it cool, don’t answer yet. What did she say???
-Oops already answered. Still on for next week.
-Incredibly casual lol. Whatever, good for you!
-Shut up!
Another text by Abby came in and you actually started drumming your feet on the bed with excitement.
-Tuesday? I could cook for us
-Very impressive, I’ll bite. What time should I come over?
-Very clever. 6pm? Any allergies?
-Vegetarian, hope that’s okay. 6 is great, text me your address?
You watched the little text bubble pop up and vanish again for a good minute, getting more and more nervous for her answer.
- No problem. 2425 Constance.
There was nothing else to do but scream into your pillow again.
-
The next two days went excruciatingly slow. You spent the rest of your Sunday in bed, watching a terrible zombie movie and later ordering curry because you couldn’t be bothered with preparing any food. As it got late, you suddenly heard a knock on the wall. At first, you thought it was accidental, until the knocking started to continue in a steady rhythm. With a death glare that you hoped would reach through the concrete, you plugged your headphones into your laptop and continued watching your movie.
On Monday, you threw yourself into art history coursework and caught up on your studies, emailed your professor, and spent three hours on an essay about the depiction of blood in paintings of Judith beheading Holofernes. Lovely subject. Even though you got through a lot of your tasks for the day, you couldn’t stop yourself from looking at your phone every 10 minutes to see if you had missed a message. Of course, nothing came up. Around 4 pm, your phone buzzed and you leapt for it only to find out it was Leah asking you to buy toilet paper later. At 6pm, you shut off your laptop and grabbed your backpack to go grocery shopping.
Standing in the liquor store you realized you hadn’t asked Abby about cocktails.
“Looking for something in particular?” the elderly lady behind the counter asked. It seemed to be her own shop and to have been hers for a while, judging by the elegant wooden shelves and the warm, nice feeling of the room instead of neon lights and rows of white metal.
“Uh, yeah, actually. I have a date tomorrow and I thought we could make cocktails, but I forgot to ask what she likes. So now I don’t know what to bring.” You gave her an apologetic half smile. She stood up from her seat behind the register, growing not even 2 inches standing compared to sitting and made her way over to you. Her eyes twinkled behind thick glasses that made her look a little bit like an owl.
“Well, dear. I don’t know if I would go straight into the hard liquor on a first date. On my last first date, we had a delicious red wine, a Merlot. Couldn’t that be something? Are you going to eat anything?”
“Oh yes, she said she’d cook for us, but I don’t know what exactly.”
The shop owner gently put a hand on your arm and guided you to a shelf of dark bottles.
“Well, Merlot goes well with any food, so I think it would be perfect. Cocktails come later, when you dress up and go out together or after a night of theater.” You felt a surge of warmth spread through your chest. Theater? Well, why not? For a second, you began to trail off, imagining Abby in a perfectly tailored suit, you at her arm just as dressed up, every head turning as you entered the room and ordered Gin Tonics at the bar during the break. The voice next to you pulled you back to the present.
“If you’re cooking at home, wine is the thing to bring, trust me.”
“I trust you,” you said with a smile as you took the bottle she handed you. The label was a creamy white, with beautiful golden letters. Hopefully this wouldn’t bankrupt you. “Thank you for your help.”
The shopkeeper sat back down in her chair with a sigh and typed into the cash register. 15.99$. That wasn’t so bad. You paid and gently put the bottle inside your backpack.
“You know, you should come by soon and let me know how it went. I think that Merlot will bring you good luck. My wife and I still have it every Sunday.” Your head snapped up and your eyes met that charming, smart twinkle again, flashing at you out of dark brown irises. For a moment, all of the things you wanted to say were stuck in your throat, then you just broke into a smile.
“That’s wonderful, ma’am. I hope I can have that, in the future.”
“Of course you will, dear.” She really sounded like she meant it. A small lump suddenly appeared in your throat.
“Thank you so much. I wish you all the best.”
“Go get her!”
You laughed and waved at her again as you exited the shop, taking the warmth and comfort of it with you and tucking it right beneath the bottom of your heart and the top of your stomach where you knew it would fuel you for a few days. You had already decided that you would come back and make it your mission to befriend that old lady. What a wonderful woman.
Only 23 hours to go. That night, it was almost impossible to fall asleep.
-
You got through the next day by once again banning any thought of the evening from your mind and diving head first into your assignments. You were going to lead a discussion on different planes of language or communications in women’s art and literature and reading up on the historical differences between male and female narratives, beginning with the ancient poet Sappho. It was an exciting topic, something you were extremely thankful for. Otherwise you might have been looking at your phone every 3 minutes instead of every 20. Of course, no message from Abby.
The bottle of wine was standing on your nightstand, reminding you of your plans with an exciting tingle in your stomach. At 4pm, you gave up on doing anything productive. You spent forever in the shower, stealing some of Leah’s expensive pink body scrub, shaving everywhere and regretting it immediately because you felt stupid for assuming anything, entertaining the but what if thoughts while you thoroughly lathered your entire body in Leah’s shampoo and shower gel and spending a good 10 minutes just standing under the hot water because you weren’t ready to leave that fantasy yet. When you stepped out of the shower, the bathroom was an actual steam bath and you could hardly see the door through the thick waves of wonderfully scented fog. You took your time stealing some more of Leah’s skincare products, having come to the conclusion that if she noticed anything and scolded you for it, you might as well try out the whole arsenal.
When you finally opened your closet door, feeling luxurious and clean and fresh, it was 5.10pm. What the hell were you going to wear? You and Mark had agreed on casual, but what the hell did that even mean? You decided to ask him.
-Help!!! Freaking out over my outfit, need a definition for casual
-Jeans and T-Shirt, just your standard outfit. Imagine meeting me for sushi.
-I’m bringing red wine. It seems wrong to bring wine in jeans and a t-shirt..
-What happened to cocktails?? Trust me, keep it simple. You don’t wanna turn up in a dress and she opens the door in sweatpants.
-I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in sweatpants. Ughh fuck I don’t have time for this. Jeans and t-shirt it is. Lesbian grandma recommended wine, I’ll tell you about it tomorrow x
-Go get her x
You quickly slipped into some black jeans that were just the right amount of tightly fitting around your ass and a white shirt with a tiny pomegranate embroidered on the front. Then you put on your jacket and quickly threw your wallet, phone and keys into a tote before grabbing the wine and putting it in as well. With a last look into the hallway mirror and a yelled goodbye to Leah, you rushed out of your apartment.
The evening air was not as cool as you had expected and the sun was just about to set. On your way to the train station, you typed out an on my way! message to Abby and quickly deleted it again. No sense in sending it now when you hadn’t spoken since Sunday and were about to see her. The train ride was annoying, the wagon stuffed with commuters and some guy trying to convince you the apocalypse was upon you all. Zombies, not the last judgement - something different at least.
During the walk from the station to Abby’s house, you were sure it wouldn’t take much more for you to actually start levitating. Your heart was pounding in your chest and your throat was so cramped up it was hard to breathe. When you pulled out your phone, your fingers were actually shaking. Jesus Christ, get a grip. 5.58 pm.
And there it was, 2425 Constance. Just a normal suburban white house, like any other in the street. It actually seemed a bit weird, Manny and Abby living here in the midst of what seemed to be a family neighborhood with real adults . Then again, they both weren’t in college, so you supposed they actually were real adults. When you walked up to the front door, you could hear faint music from inside - jazz? You wouldn’t have guessed she was the jazz type, but then again you knew almost nothing about her. Right. Ask questions, keep the conversation about her. Be cool.
You knocked.
Abby opened the door, a wave of warm air hitting you from inside. It smelled delightful. Her face was slightly flushed, her lips parted as she took in a deep breath. She had tied her hair back in a low bun, but a few strands had fallen out and framed her face. One was standing up in a funny angle.
“Hi, Abby,” you said, trying to keep your voice level and not stare at her body. Fuck, she had dressed up. And she looked hot.
“Hi!” A smile slowly grew wide on her face. When she realized that she was blocking the door, she quickly shook her head and stepped aside. “Come in! Can I take your jacket?”
Oh God, this was hopeless. You already knew you were hers. Thanking her, you took off your jacket and she hung it in a closet next to the entrance. When she turned around, you got a chance to admire her fully. She wore wide dress pants that perfectly accentuated all of her muscles, topped with a loose white shirt with wide sleeves, reminding you a little bit of a pirate. Her jewelry rounded off the pirate look and you had to bite back a grin. She raised her eyebrows at you.
“What?” Her cheeks were still slightly red, but you attributed it to standing in a hot kitchen for probably the last hour, judging by the variety of smells overlapping and mixing together, already making your mouth water.
“Uh, I brought wine,” you said and held out the bottle. Eloquent as always. Abby took it and whistled through her teeth as she inspected the label.
“That looks classic. The sauce I made has some wine in it as well, this is perfect. Thank you, what a great idea!”
You were overwhelmed with her generous praise and didn’t know where to look, so you settled on her hands. You had always sneaked looks at her hands, at the way she held a glass or drummed on a table or clasped them when she was intently listening to someone. They looked strong and rough from work, but there was also a delicacy in their movement and you were sure her touch could be as gentle as the brush of a hummingbird flying past. Realizing you were staring, you tore your gaze away.
“It smells delicious in here, I can’t wait to see what you cooked.” You followed her into the kitchen, where she placed the bottle on the counter and took a corkscrew from a drawer. A big red pot was standing on the gas stove over a tiny flame, the lid still hiding its contents. Your stomach suddenly growled loudly into the silence.
“Someone’s hungry.” Abby gave you a side glance and an amused smirk as she screwed the silver device into the cork. “Everything’s already set, we can get started right away.”
You covered your eyes with your hand for a second before laughing.
“Yeah, I kind of forgot to have lunch earlier and then I figured I’d just wait so I could really savour this.”
“Smart thinking. I made patates au vin , a vegetarian version of coq au vin which is chicken in wine. It’s basically potatoes and vegetables in a thick brown sauce, served with some good rustic bread.” You couldn’t stop your eyes from rolling back at the thought of getting to eat home cooked french cuisine made by Abby in a few minutes.
“Oh my God, say that again.” You could barely stop yourself from moaning. Abby laughed and opened the wine with a loud pop.
“Here, take this over to the dinner table. I’m right behind you.” You took the bottle and followed her nod into the dining room. The wooden table was beautifully set with big and small plates, glasses for water and wine, candles, two blue glass bottles of water and a bowl of salad topped with what looked like apples, pomegranate seeds and feta cheese. You carefully placed the bottle of wine next to the water bottles and stepped aside for Abby, who came out of the kitchen carrying the heavy pot and placed it on a cork coaster in the middle of the table.
“Wait, let me just…” she trailed off as she grabbed her phone from the sideboard and changed the music. A saxophone led a jazz band into the song before a beautiful female voice set in, soft as butter and filling the room like the smell of roses. The voice was familiar to you, but you couldn’t quite place it. As Abby sat down, the music came to a crescendo before breaking off, the voice setting in again with a soft
is it a crime?
“Who sings this?” you asked as Abby opened the water bottle and filled your glasses.
“Oh, it’s Sade. She was my dad’s favorite.”
And I want you to want me too, the woman sang, and your eyes met over the table. You swallowed. Was? Not the right time.
“Sade? Oh, she sings Smooth Operator, right? I know that one, but I never checked out more of her music.”
Abby smiled at you and opened the lid of the pot.
“Yeah. This is the Promise album, my favorite. She is a force.”
A wave of steam erupted from the pot and you bent forward to look inside. Thick, roasted wedges of yellow potatoes lay in a bed of orange and purple carrots, mushrooms and tomatoes in a thick brown sauce, a stalk of thyme on top and a bay leaf poking out from the sauce. You weren’t sure if you were drooling, but you didn’t care.
“Abby, oh my God! This is fantastic.”
A spark had lit in her eyes when she heard you say her name. She elegantly stood up again, grabbed a serving spoon, and held out her hand for your plate. You watched her hands again as she plated an array of vegetables for you and used the spoon to draw a little sauce heart on the rim of the plate. Your ribs felt two sizes too small around your chest. This woman was actually going to be the death of you.
“Thanks,” you quietly said and waited as Abby helped herself to a plate. She sat down and gestured toward the small basket with thick slices of grey bread with a dark brown crust.
“Help yourself. Bon appétit.”
After a few moments of eating in comfortable silence before you showered the blonde in an array of compliments, this time not able to refrain from moaning when you bit into a tender, sweet purple carrot, the conversation began to flow. Abby complimented the wine, you talked about your studies, Abby told a few work stories in which both she and Nora were involved, you told her about your close relationship with your brother and she bittersweetly reminisced about her upbringing as an only child with a single dad. It had just been the two of them, moving frequently because of his changing jobs in different hospitals. He had been a neurosurgeon, and a brilliant one at that, but always humble and ready to help wherever he could. Abby sat up straighter when she talked about him, her chest actually swelling with pride when she told you about one time they had rescued an injured horse that had run away and been hit by a car in front of them.
“I think I was 16 back then. It’s one of my favorite memories of him. It actually wasn’t long before…” Her eyebrows moved into a frown and she bit her lip, pushing a small piece of onion around her plate. Fuck, maybe it would have been easier to talk about you, after all.
“We don’t have to talk about it. You can tell me when you’re ready.”
She looked up and you expected to see tears, but her eyes were full of love and her face smoothed out into a gentle smile.
“No, it’s okay. I’m still working on it, and part of my therapy is telling people who don’t know yet. You know, I don’t really have a lot of friends.” She suddenly laughed, easing the tension at the bottom of your lungs. “That sounds stupid, of course I do. I have Manny and Nora and Leah and Jordan and Owen, I guess. But the thing is, they all knew me before. I haven’t really made friends ever since my dad.. passed away. The idea of needing to open up to someone about all this so I can develop a real connection and friendship with them is just a lot to bear.”
“The mortifying ordeal of being known,” you mumbled, more to yourself, crumpling up your napkin in one hand.
“Sorry?”
“Oh, it’s this quote from a New York Times article that has been floating around the internet for a while. ‘If we want the rewards of being loved we have to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known’.” You looked up at her and inhaled deeply. “It’s something I’m also terrified of. Although it seems kind of stupid sometimes, because compared to you for example, I don��t really have a good reason.”
Abby looks at you like she’s just discovered something extremely interesting. She takes a sip of her wine before answering, her silver rings blinking at you in the candlelight.
“It’s not at all stupid. I’ve always been very careful with who I open up to, even before my dad died. It’s horrifying, laying yourself bare for a person, putting yourself on a silver plate and handing it to them and saying there, now do with it what you wish. Maybe they’ll look at it and say no, thanks. Maybe they’ll call everyone and say hey, look at this mad woman with her twisted insides, isn’t that funny? Maybe they’ll see it and think, I can do this, and then after a few years they suddenly realize they actually can’t and you’re way too much and so they leave for someone with a more simple, prettier silver plate. Maybe they’ll even take a few pieces with them as they go.”
She didn’t sound bitter as she said it, and she didn’t look terribly sad either, more as if she was making an observation about something she was mildly interested in. You didn’t know what to say except for show me your silver plate, please show me your all, and I will devour it, savor it, keep it with me forever. But you stayed silent, your tongue stuck to the roof of your mouth.
“I’m quite the handful, am I? Sorry, I shouldn’t have thrown all this” - she gestured toward herself - “at you during our first date.” Then her eyes widened as she realized what she had said. “Fuck, sorry, I just assumed… you probably don’t…”
Finally, movement came back into you. You jumped from your chair and were next to her in a few paces. She lifted a hand and you took it in yours.
“Of course this is a date,” you said gently and smiled at her. “Otherwise why would I have been this nervous for the past three days, thinking of nothing but you, constantly checking my phone to see if you texted me? And I brought red wine, come on.” That brought a smile to her face. She chuckled lightly.
“So I haven’t just ruined everything?” The hope in her eyes was mixed with real, honest fear.
“No, of course not. I’m glad you’re being open with me. You know, I planned not to reveal too much about myself tonight, fearing I would scare you away or say something stupid and make you suddenly lose interest.”
The current song ended and a soft, funky beat came on. There it was again, that twinkle in Abby’s eyes. Your hands were still clasped around hers and she made no move to pull back.
“Well, now I can’t wait to see what you have in store for me. Lay it on me. Over dessert, maybe?”
You raised your eyebrows.
“There’s dessert? You’re going to have to roll me out of here later.”
She laughed, warm and genuine, and the pride you had felt back in The Closet filled your chest again. You would do anything just to be the one to make her laugh every day for the rest of your life. She got up and you both started clearing the table together.
Never going to know
What fate is going to blow
Your way, just hope that it feels right
Could that Sade lady be any more on the nose? You risked a glance at Abby, who was smiling to herself. You followed her into the kitchen and she opened the fridge to produce a large glass dish, showing the several layers of biscuit and white cream, topped with dark cacao.
“Tiramisu? Seriously Abby, how much time did you spend in the kitchen today?”
She gave you a crooked grin before exiting the kitchen.
“Took the day off.”
You just sighed and went back into the dining room.
Such a fine time as this
“Here.” Abby handed you a small plate with a piece of her gourmet tiramisu. Your fingers brushed against each other and you both paused for just the blink of an eye.
What could equal the bliss
The thrill of the first kiss
You sat down and grabbed the small fork left next to your wine glass. On second thought, you took another sip of Merlot. It really was exquisite.
“Buon’ appetito,” you said and sliced off a perfect edge of tiramisu. The soft, coffee-drenched biscuit fell apart on your tongue, mixing with the heavy vanilla-flavored mascarpone. “Did you know where the name tiramisu comes from?”
Abby lifted her fork to her mouth and softly closed her lips around the piece of creamy dessert. You were entranced, watching her hand sink down to the table again, then her jaw moving and flexing as she chewed. She raised her eyebrows questioningly and you cleared your throat, taking another piece on your fork.
“ Tira mi su is Italian for ‘pull me down’. It’s the last thing you eat after dinner and the thing that makes you tired, pulls you right into the food coma. In restaurants, it rounds off the meal and guests will probably leave in the following hour because they feel they’re ready to go home.”
Never as good as the first time
Natural as the way we came to be
“Oh,” Abby said, her voice quiet. She looked up at you through dark lashes. “And are you going home after this?”
“No.” You said it without thinking, only knowing what was true in your heart. “I don’t want to.”
“I’m glad.” Taking a deep breath, Abby straightened up, then reached a hand across the table, her palm facing up. You stared at it for a fraction of a second before placing your hand in hers, feeling something fall into place inside you. The glances you exchanged said so much more than you could possibly dare to say out loud right now.
You used your free hand to stab the last piece of tiramisu. This time it was Abby who was watching you with hungry eyes as the fork vanished between your lips and emerged clean.
“This tiramisu could be the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my life,” you said after swallowing and Abby’s fingers twitched ever so slightly around your hand.
“Thank you. I’m really into French and Italian cuisine, as you may have noticed.”
You leaned back in your chair, careful not to pull back your hand.
“I couldn’t do it, honestly. Spending so much time in the kitchen. Especially not with a job like yours, on your feet all day. I’d probably survive off of pasta and takeout.”
Abby smiled and began slowly drawing circles on the back of your hand with her thumb. You were already hyper-aware of how your blood rushed through every vein of your body, a side-effect of the red wine, but now it came to a roar in your ears.
“I guess I need some kind of hobby besides lifting weights. It calms me down. And it’s not just about the end result, about getting to eat something, but also about picking the right ingredients, taking my time cutting them up, trying new recipes with new flavors, and learning more about food and culture, and honestly about myself. It’s like meditating.”
“That sounds…” you were at a loss for words, “unbelievable? I’ve never heard someone talk about cooking like that. And I’ve never felt that way about it, too. I guess I’d like to, though. It sounds nice.”
Abby brushed her thumb over your knuckles.
“Well, I could show you.” You tilted your head slightly. “I mean, we could cook together. Next time. If you want to?”
Sade’s voice, smooth as polished wood and dripping with honey cut into the moment.
How could I have doubted
Honey, it's with me that you belong
“Yeah, I’d love to. What do you have in mind?”
“Do you like lasagna? We could make a vegetable lasagna and substitute the meat for soy. I could show you how to make a béchamel.”
You laughed and squeezed her hand.
“I love lasagna, although I have no idea what a beshmel is.”
“You’ll just have to wait and see.” Abby’s face was glowing with happiness.
As the last two songs of the album played, you helped Abby clean up the table. You got into an argument about doing the dishes - Abby said she’d do it later but you insisted you would do them now or at least help because so far you had not lifted a finger.
“Come on, Abby, please let me help?” You tried your best doe eyes at her. She grinned and playfully slapped your upper arm.
“Okay. But I’ll put on different music.”
She vanished to the dining room while you began filling the sink with water. A high note filled the room before a man spoke.
You broke my heart / 'Cause I couldn't dance
You didn't even want me around
And now I'm back / To let you know
I can really shake 'em down
Abby stepped into your field of vision. The music set in, a delightful 60’s rock and roll melody, and Abby began dancing toward you with tiny steps and shaking shoulders. She was lip synching to the coarse voice of the singer and reaching out her hands for you. Snapping out of your frozen position, you shook your head, grabbed her hands, and were immediately twirled through the kitchen. A squeak escaped you as Abby pulled you back toward her and with another pirouette, you almost slammed into her chest. You both laughed out loud, continuing to dance through the kitchen with big, overexaggerated moves, flailing your arms and shuffling your feet across the tile.
I can do the twist
Now, tell me baby
Do you like it like this?
You quickly began singing along to the simple lyrics and both of you were giggling at each other’s dance moves. The next song was Stand By Me and you both settled down, beginning to clean the pots and dishes. You did the washing while Abby dried off the pieces you gave her and put them back into the right cupboards. Both of you were swaying and humming along to the music.
During the second chorus, both of you began belting along, filling the kitchen with the wonderfully familiar sound of slightly drunk women singing together. As the song ended, you both comically froze and waited for the next song to set in. When it was La Bamba by Ritchie Valens, you both continued singing along and showing off some probably terrible salsa moves. You were done in no time and Abby took your hand, pulling you into the dining room and sliding across the wooden floors with you. Your stomach hurt from laughing and you couldn’t stop smiling.
Next came the bittersweet Be My Baby by the Ronettes, a song you remembered from your childhood, vague memories of your parents slow dancing together after another terrible fight. You swallowed down the hint of bitterness creeping up from your stomach. Instead, you looked up at Abby, almost a full head taller than you, and dared yourself to step forward. You placed your right hand in Abby’s and your left on her tricep, coming unbearably and exhilaratingly close. Abby put her hand on your back, right below your shoulder blade, warming you through the fabric of your shirt. Your faces were incredibly close, her breath warm on your nose, and you could have counted every single freckle on her beautiful face. There was a slim ring of gold around her pupil, complimenting the green of her iris. She was breathtaking.
You couldn’t take this any longer. Should you kiss her? Everything inside you wanted to, but you couldn’t bring yourself to close the last inch of distance. It felt like wanting to do a handstand but pulling back at the last second every time because of a deep fear of failing and hurting yourself. It was terribly frustrating.
Instead, you leaned your head against the round muscle of Abby’s shoulder, turning your face toward her chest and pressing your temple to her collarbone. You could smell the herbs she had used to cook earlier in the fabric of her shirt, but her skin smelled like pine and something else, earthy and dark, like tree bark or wool. Abby rested her chin against your forehead and her low hum of contentment vibrated against your cheek.
A light waltz melody began, Unchained Melody, a song you knew from some commercial and had listened to for a few weeks straight after.
I need your love
God speed your love to me
You smiled to yourself and could sense Abby was doing the same. You kept slowly turning, dancing through the candle-lit room and swaying side to side. The band set in louder and you lifted your head again. Abby’s eyes were fixed to yours, but you couldn’t stop yours from wandering lower, finding those perfectly pink lips, hanging open ever so slightly. Your hand wandered upward, along her shoulder, and to the back of her neck. As the last verse of the song began, you stood on your tiptoes and brushed your lips against her. Abby inhaled sharply, her fingers spreading on your back and pressing against your skin. You gently pressed your lips to hers again and this time, she kissed you back. You dug your fingertips into the back of her neck, desperately wanting to come closer, to pull her down to you, hell, you would climb her like a tree if you had to.
Feeling courageous, you stuck your tongue out and ran the tip upward over her lips. Abby instantly reacted, opening her mouth for you and greeting your tongue with hers. She tasted like wine and cacao, and faintly like thyme. Releasing your hand, she wrapped her arms around your waist. You reached up and buried your hand in her hair. She gasped into your mouth. You tucked that sound away for later, swearing to yourself you would make her do it again as often as you could.
A few seconds of silence between songs were disrupted by your wonderfully frivolous wet kissing sounds and a small whine that escaped you when Abby’s hand wandered lower to cup your ass. The first guitar chords of Nights In White Satin vibrated through the air and Abby grabbed you tightly before lifting you off the ground and wrapping your legs around her hips. She carried you over to the dining table and set you down.
The dramatic crescendo in the song you loved so much began.
And I love you
Yes I love you
Oh, how I love you
The singer’s voice filled every corner of the room, his declaration hovering above you, the high voices of the background singers ringing in your ears and Abby’s hands everywhere, her body leaning over you, her hips pressed between your legs. You flexed your legs to pull her in closer, almost falling apart when Abby let out a low moan and rocked her hips forward against you. Then she suddenly slowed down and broke the kiss.
“Wait, let’s talk for a second.”
You kept your legs clamped around her, but relaxed back a little, brushing back a strand of hair from her forehead and giving her an encouraging nod to go ahead.
“I haven’t… I’m not that experienced with - with women. And generally. And I don’t want to rush things and do something wrong and lose you. I don’t really know how this works and I want to do it right.”
Her hands on your waist tightened slightly. You gave her a shy smile.
“Me neither. I’m scared, too.” You surprised yourself with your openness. “How about we take this slow, then? Talk about everything openly? And just go one step at a time?”
Abby nodded and pulled you closer again.
Holding Back The Years began playing.
“One kiss at a time.” She gave you a gentle peck on the lips.
“Oh, really? I would have never picked you as the sappy type,” you laughed against her lips.
“You wouldn’t?” She acted shocked. “Let me remind you of how I took the day off to cook a gourmet french dish for you.”
“True.” You shrugged and pulled her in for another kiss. “It’s probably the muscles. With those guns, you can do anything and still be taken seriously.”
Abby snorted and you realized that had been the wine talking. For a second, you were mortified, then she scooped you up again, holding your body with one arm as she ran her free hand through your hair.
“Oh, those? You know, they’re specifically for carrying you around all day. Anything for my - princess.” You had very well noticed the little pause there, but you decided not to say anything yet. Instead, you lifted your chin and eyebrows, imitating what you thought a royal would look like.
“Well, what does that make you? You’re obviously not a prince. My lady knight?”
Abby nodded solemnly.
“Sworn to protect and defend you. And to carry you wherever.”
“Well, do you have a sofa you could carry me to?” You tightened your hold on her shoulders and leaned in closer again.
“Of course, my lady.”
Abby carried you through a doorway at the back of the dining room into a cozy living room, equipped with a large sofa and a gigantic flatscreen tv, two vintage armchairs, a wooden bookshelf with at least 100 books, and a desk facing the window, medical books spread across the surface. The blonde sat down on the sofa and you knelt left and right of her hips, straddling her as you gave her another soft kiss.
“You know,” you began, “I’ve been crushing on you for months now. I thought you had absolutely no interest in me. I didn’t even know you liked women.”
Abby’s eyes widened at your confession.
“Shit, I had no idea. You weren’t exactly forward, you know. The first time we met, you already had this pull on me. But you were so shy and I didn’t want to jump you or annoy you, so I tried to keep my distance and wait if you would come around.”
“You have Leah to thank for that. Me coming around. I kind of forgot to come out to her until karaoke night and she told me you were dating women as well. She knows I’ve been a hopeless case when it comes to you, but she wanted me to figure this out on my own.”
Abby thought about this for a second.
“Yeah, Leah probably only told you because she knew I liked you, too. I haven’t been that open about dating women in the past, just because talking about dating in general was weird with Owen and Mel around and I also just don’t like everyone knowing my personal business.”
“I get that.” You nodded. “As I said, I hadn’t even been out to Leah. Mostly because I haven’t dated anyone in forever and the last time was a disaster not worth talking about.” You winced at the memory.
“You wanna tell me anyway?”
You thought about it for a second, then you climbed off Abby’s lap and laid down on the sofa, resting your head on her thigh. Her fingers immediately began brushing through your hair and massaging your scalp.
“Well, I met this girl during a freshman party at a sorority house the weekend before my first semester in college,” you began. You had felt weirdly out of place, but were determined to speak to at least one person. A few hours and an almost-lethal amount of tequila later, the girl you had talked to all night had dragged you into one of the bedrooms. You both had no previous experience, were extremely drunk and it was already 5am. You had fun making out and were both eager to try more, but it had been more out of curiosity than desire for each other and so the experience had not ended in the expected bliss of lesbian sex. Rather, she had come pretty quickly and afterward she'd begun crying and told you she had a boyfriend, and you had gotten dressed and fled the house. After that, dating in college was not really something you thought about much.
Abby listened to your story with interest and sympathy, laughing at a few parts and stroking your hair as you told her about the end of that fateful night. She felt deeply sorry for your experience of strangeness and betrayal, immediately promising to you that she would always tell you what was going on inside her head and what she wanted.
“Like you just did,” you smiled at her. “That was brave. It’s what I should have done that night.”
“I mean, I had a few weird moments, too, before I learned to speak my mind.” Abby’s gaze unfocused and she frowned as she clearly recalled some not very pleasant memories.
“Wanna tell me, too?” you asked, keeping your voice light. She nodded, looking down at you again.
“I mean, there's Owen, obviously. That didn’t work out well and now he is with Mel, leaving me wondering if he was interested in her while we were still together. After we broke up, Nora and I went on a little bender.” Your heart jumped into your throat. Did Abby and Nora...? A wave of jealousy rose from the bottom of your stomach, but you forced yourself to keep your calm, smiling at Abby as she continued.
“We spent every weekend at a different bar, and one of them was actually at The Closet. Nora was making out with a woman in actual overalls” - she snorted - “and I just hung out at the bar, drinking Long Islands and not brave enough to make eye contact with anyone. And then the bartender started talking to me.”
Suddenly realization dawned on you. You sat up and stared at Abby.
“Wait, Ellie? The short-haired one?”
Abby grimaced.
“Yeah. We talked for a while and I came back the next week with Leah and Jordan. They didn’t even notice I was spending a lot of time at the bar. Ellie and I met for coffee a few days later and I mentioned my dad and she got really quiet and strange. Turns out, she’s related to the guy that murdered my dad, so...”
You were pretty sure your heart stopped for a moment, all the air in your chest building up pressure as you tried to figure out how to breathe out. Abby noticed and gently guided you to lay back down, continuing to weave her fingers into your hair.
“It’s okay, Y/N. I’ll tell you the whole story another time. So yeah, Ellie and I. It was horrible, but we still stayed and talked for a while. She couldn’t tell me a lot about what happened, but she had no idea that I even existed and she was about to have a panic attack over it all. I helped her calm down and then she felt terrible for reacting so badly when it should be me panicking and I just told her that there’s nothing any of us can do now and we should probably leave it at that.” She sighed. “I hadn’t been to The Closet until a few days ago. I only came because I knew you’d be there.”
“Fuck, that’s terrible,” you mumbled. “I don’t think I could have gone back there. I’m still glad you did, though.”
“Me too,” Abby said, her voice gentle and honest. She leaned down to kiss you, deeply and passionately.
You stayed on the sofa for the next few hours, talking about school crushes and gay awakenings, about women constantly hitting on Abby and her being confused for a long time. She told you more about her relationship with Mel and you started to actually resent that woman. Who did she think she was? You told Abby about living with Leah and about your current research projects and she listened intently, asking a lot of questions about the art you were analyzing. You began diving into queer art and Sappho and your theory on the different languages of different social groups. Abby actually gave you some great new ideas and some good questions you couldn’t yet answer and you were actually beginning to look forward to writing tomorrow.
As the clock moved past midnight, it became clear you would have to leave at some point soon. Abby had to get up at 7 in the morning for a 10-hour shift, and you had stifled one too many yawns. You were cuddled up on the couch, kisses interchanging with long, deep conversations and more kisses.
“I can accompany you to the station,” Abby suggested as you looked up the departure times on your phone.
“You don’t have to. That’s sweet of you, but I’ll find the way.” You kissed her for her generosity, but she pulled back.
“Honestly. I don’t want you walking alone. I’ll go with you.” A sheepish smile appeared on her face and she did a tiny bow. “My lady.”
You rolled your eyes and got up, making your way to the entrance hall. Abby gently helped you into your coat and put on a black bomber jacket, a strange but hot combination with her fancy pants. She opened the door for you and you stepped out into the cold night together.
You held hands on the way to the station, stopping at every corner to make out, laughing together, and making plans for your lasagna night. You would come over on Thursday, promising to yourself you would finish all your coursework until then. Manny would come back on Friday, so you’d have the house to yourself again.
You arrived at the station way too soon, but your train was announced to arrive in two minutes. Heavy-hearted, you flung your arms around the tall blonde and she wrapped hers around your waist, lifting you up for another deep kiss.
“I can’t wait to see you again,” she whispered against your lips.
“I’ll even dress up next time,” you mumbled and she grinned at you.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in anything but jeans and a t-shirt. I’m excited.” Well, now you had to go shopping. Leah would be delighted to go with you.
You pressed a last kiss to Abby’s lips before unwrapping yourself from her arms as the train rolled into the station. As you stepped away, she caught your hand and pulled you back for another one, cheekily running her tongue over your bottom lip. You sighed and kissed her hand, wrapped firmly around yours, before stepping back and boarding the train. You waved at her through the window as you departed and watched her stand on the platform until she was out of sight.
Letting yourself fall into one of the seats, you pulled out your phone and texted your brother.
-We kissed!!!! Call me when you can
Then you texted Leah about shopping tomorrow, just able to send the text before your phone vibrated with a new message.
-You looked beautiful tonight. I’m the luckiest person in the world.
You tried to keep your squeal as quiet as possible. A woman a few seats ahead of you briefly looked up from her phone.
-Can’t believe I have a personal knight who will carry me wherever I want to go
The reply came in seconds.
-Anywhere and anything you want. Text me when you’re home!
-Can I text you before I’m home? I miss you already :(
You had to wait a few minutes before your phone vibrated again. This time, Abby was calling.
“Sorry, I was cleaning up and getting ready for bed.” She sounded a bit breathless.
“No worries,” you said. “What are you wearing for bed?”
Abby let out a surprised laugh.
“Really, now?”
“I’m serious. I want to imagine being with you.”
“Well, I’m wearing a gigantic black t-shirt with a ton of holes and boxers.”
You closed your eyes, envisioning Abby’s thighs straining against the hem of her shorts and the soft cotton of her shirt that you could bury your face in. She would smell like nature and like home somewhere far away.
“I wish I was there.” You noticed you were sounding desperate. Fucking hell, were you about to turn into a 13-year-old? You could hear the smile in Abby’s voice when she spoke.
“I wish you were here with me, too.” She paused for a moment. Then, “Do you want to sleep over on Thursday?”
“Uhm -” you had to think for a second, remembering you only had dinner plans for Friday with your mom. Before you could answer, Abby cut in again
“Fuck, am I rushing you? I didn’t mean - I just thought it would be nice, falling asleep together. But I totally get if that’s -”
“Abby! Of course I want to stay over!” You clenched your free hand into a fist, punching your thigh a few times in order to divert the explosion of energy inside your chest.
“Oh, thank god,” Abby’s shaky laugh was heart-wrenching. “I thought I messed up already.”
You stood up to exit at your station.
“No, not at all. I’d love to fall asleep with you.”
The way to your apartment was over faster than you wanted it to be.
“I’m home now. I think I should hang up, Leah is probably sleeping.”
“Yeah, don’t wake the monster.” Abby chuckled.
“Good night, Abby. Tonight was incredible.”
“Good night, Y/N. You’re incredible. Sleep tight.”
--
Author's note: Thank you so much for your comments and kudos! If you'd like to support me, you can buy me a coffee here
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kpopsnowball · 3 years
Text
NCT Reaction:
Their S/O getting shy while they are clicking their pictures...
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<Johnny>
Johnny would want to have a lot of selfie’s with you. Like his phone gallery would be mostly filled with both of your photos together. It was weekend and you both decided to go to a beach and have a relaxing day ahead. You both spent some time at the beach, swimming and relaxing under the warm yet cool weather. Destination as a beautiful beach would make your day feel incomplete without taking pictures right? After taking a couple of pictures together at the beach, out of nowhere he would ask you that he wants to click your pictures. You would be a bit taken aback in surprise but actually it would be his plan to surprise you on your birthday. You might refuse but he would be hyping you up and requesting you to give a pose. You would not be able to refuse his pouty face, will you now;) in between when you get suddenly shy because he would have taken like the 50th photo of yours.(you would feel shy not because he had taken your uncountable photographs instead it’s because photographer johnny was clicking your pictures all while lying on the sand at one moment and then making you stand near his handmade sand castle the other moment then shouting loudly just to say you look 🔥 and *now I definitely know you are blushing*) he would instantly notice that you are turning into a complete soft ball and immediately he would engulf you in a huge warm hug.
“Why are you shy my baby? You don’t need to be!! Aww I love those pink rosy cheeks! And you know what? I love it when the reason of this pink tint is me”
*wink wink*
<Taeyong>
You would never need a professional photographer if you have taeyong with you. He’s just soo good at it and he knows it;) Taeyong wanted to click some couple photographs with you out in the nature so that he could hang them in his room and match his room’s theme (remember his room is covered with beautiful plants) You both would be going out to a place which is away from the noises of the city. Coming to a beautiful nature’s heaven destination, your sun kissed couple photographs would be a masterpiece. Suddenly taeyong wanted to click your solo pictures because the way the sun lit up your skin and made your soft waves of hair look golden made him want to remember this beautiful view forever. After clicking almost a ton of your photographs, you would start to feel shy, not because it was your 30th solo photograph but instead the way taeyong was lying on the grass one moment then climbing on the tree the other moment made you feel shy at his sincerity in clicking pictures. Noticing this, immediately a warm smile would break on his face but a tease he is, he would continue this more and probably even hang around the tree upside down to click your picture, you would immediately break into fits of laughter and he would be captured by this scene, his eyes warm and filled with adoration for you. He would slowly walk towards you, his eyes never leaving yours, making you blush. He would lean towards you and his lips would be almost touching your ears and he would whisper those beautiful words to you,
“You look like an angel in those pictures, the one sent from heaven only for me. You are mine, all mine..”
<Yuta>
It would be your idea to click some couple photographs together while having a 🔥 theme. You both would be dressed in beautifully chic style clothing, complementary to each other. You both would have taken a lot of pictures together and then yuta suggested that you should change your display picture on social media with one of your new pictures he would click. While clicking some pictures, in one of your pose, your shirt got ridden up to show your waist and you immediately got shy. Yuta’s hand would freeze on the camera and would slowly gulp down to ease his heart. Seeing you getting all red, a small smile would break on his face along with a glint of mischief in his eyes. He would walk towards you and pull you closer to him by your waist, his warm fingers tickling on your bare skin. With his other hand, he would lift your chin up to meet his eyes and you know he’s doing all these just to tease you.
“I think I love this position more, even though I did not want to make you feel shy and simply continue with our task but I think I can’t control those blushy blushy cheeks, can I now? You know seeing you all red and damn those innocent lovely orbs are making me stop and control myself from doing those things which we both know are not appropriate right now, isn’t it my love?”
<Lucas>
It was Sunday and finally you both were free from your busy schedules. Even though you wanted to chill and relax together, you guys decided to do something interesting. Lucas set up your apartment’s drawing room into a beautiful light coloured theme with yellow and white balloons on the floor, some beautiful flowers placed on the couch and dim yellow lights hanging on the ceiling, making the whole room look aesthetically elegant and rich. He would ask you to pose so that he could click your professional photographs. After an hour of having a professional photo shoot, you would ask him to show you your pictures. When you would take a look at the camera roll, you would find the gallery to be empty, making you frown. The moment you look up at lucas, seeing his mischief filled eyes you would get your every answer. You would glare at him playfully, making him chuckle in response. You would feel shy a bit and look away. He would immediately hug you and lock his hands at your waist.
“My baby is shy? But I won’t apologise for that now. I had fun when you were posing and you know what the truth is, even though I did not click any pictures, the way you looked....it..it made me feel as if I am seeing my future, all in just one moment and I just felt the need to capture it with my eyes..”
Taglist: @starrdustville @cupidluvstarrz @ex0tic-vgh @thechoppersan @urowngoddess @namjoons-wife98 @illusion-ships @vampirateking @rr0zu @najatheangel @julyemeralds @astrorising @purplepsycho03 @himitsu-luna @emuava @tarotruself @mairah-shaikh @dundun-baby please send an ask or message if you would like to be removed or be added in the taglist💕
(The request I got was for writing for johnny, taeyong, Lucas and yuta, that’s why I have included only those members. Thank you for such a beautiful and unique request:))
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lastbluetardis · 3 years
Text
Sacred New Beginnings (1/?)
Summary: James Noble thought he traded away his chance at love and a happy-ever-after when he signed a contract with a record label that turned him into an international celebrity. But a chance meeting in a dive bar may prove him wrong.
Ten x Rose AU, @doctorroseprompts
This Chapter: Teen, ~5500 words
Note: Er... surprise? This idea has been in my head for months but my brain took it and ran with it this weekend. I plotted the whole thing and am gonna try to update every weekend. I don’t anticipate this being more than like... 7-10 chapter? I’d love to keep it under 5 chapters but that might be trimming things down too much for my liking. Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this little story!
AO3
Flashing lights and shrieks of his name greet James the moment the back door to his armored car is opened. His head of security ducks out first and James can only see a mass of feet and legs but it’s more than enough to let him know it’s a heavier than usual crowd. Not surprising, considering the news of his latest break-up just dropped while he’d been flying back from a visit to America.
He slides out of the car, helped by hands that pull him as much as guide him through the throng. He ignores the shouts of his name—telling him to look left or right or up or down or every combination therein—and the barrage of questions and jokes that aren’t funny.
Was it you or him that ended it?
Three weeks, is that a new personal record?
Another notch in the bedpost, eh James?
Got another beau lined up yet?
If you’re looking for candidates, what do we have to do to get our names in the running?
“Ignore them,” he mutters to himself, too quietly for anyone except his security team to hear.
In answer, one of them gives his shoulder a reassuring squeeze as they reach his front door. Someone has already unlocked it for him and the darkness within is a blessing he’s all too willing to be shoved into. The cacophony muffles once the door shuts, and finally he’s alone, a rarity for him. If it’s not his security, it’s personal assistants and writers and producers and photographers and the paparazzi.
Or his lover of the month, as the papers have taken to calling his partners.
But nope, his home is empty and quiet and bloody freezing. A shiver ripples up his spine as he treads to the thermostat controller. Summer finally released its hold on London, and the muggy heat has been replaced with a damp chill that burrows down into his bones.
Several button-presses later, James hears the familiar clank of the radiator and he can smell the heating kick on. It’ll take a while for his house to warm up, so James keeps his peacoat on for the time being as he putters around his home, checking the fridge and the cabinets. As always, they’re well-stocked. He hasn’t had to do anything as mundane as grocery shopping in the five years since his YouTube channel full of acoustic covers of popular songs went viral and landed him a lucrative deal with a prestigious record label. Only in his wildest dreams had he expected to find fame and fortune in the hobby he loved so much—for it to have actually happened still took him by surprise, as though any minute he’d be told “it was fun while it lasted, but it’s time for you to leave wonderland now.”
Shaking his head of those thoughts, he goes to the antique dining table that can easily seat ten people, which is great for holidays or in-home meetings, but just plain depressing every other day of the year. A stack of mail has piled up, and he spends the next five minutes attempting to sort it before giving up and telling himself he’ll look at it in the morning, once he’s not quite as groggy—transatlantic flights always take it out of him.
Instead, he rootles around his fridge until he comes up with the necessary items to make himself a ham and cheese sandwich. With the prospect of food in front of him, James realizes he is starving. He shoves a whole slice of ham in his mouth while he assembles his pitiful meal, heaping on lettuce and sliced tomatoes as though that’s enough to negate the pile processed protein and greasy chips he layers in for crunch.
It’s tastier than any sandwich as a right to be, and he nearly makes himself a second one before catches sight of his phone screen and the slew of incoming notifications. His work is never finished, is it?
There are several texts from his publicist, Donna, welcoming him home and congratulating him on not making an arse of himself just by trying to walk up the front drive of his home. (To be fair, he felt entitled to channel his inner crotchety old man and tell reporters to get off his damn lawn if they encroached on his personal property.)
“Though some photos are surfacing of your trip to New York… Anything you need me to get ahead of?”
He rubs his fingers into his eyes, knowing she’s probably referring to his last night out in the city, where he went bar hopping until the wee hours of the morning to try to forget the text his subsequently-ex-boyfriend had sent him.
Thanks for everything, but I need to focus on my career. Cheers mate.
The career that James had kickstarted for him by introducing his rising actor boyfriend to several of his friends in the film industry, because James had been so damn desperate for affection that he’d once again let the wool get pulled in front of his eyes.
And so James had reached out to mates who lived in New York and they’d all gone out and acted half their age and had a wonderful time once James forgot about why he’d gone out in the first place.
But none of that now. Nope. No sir.
“Not that I’m aware of,” he replies. “Let me know if you catch wind of anything.”
Despite the fact that he only just got home and he’s jetlagged and still feeling the effects of his night out in New York, James can’t stay in his house right now. It’s so quiet that his brain is creating its own white noise. He can’t stand being in his head on a good day, and today is not a good day.
He grabs his keys and wallet and makes for the back of the house. His property is landlocked with the back gardens of other houses; the paps have learned the hard way that James is dead serious about protecting his neighbors’ privacy and will not hesitate to phone the police to arrest and sue anyone caught trespassing on private property to snag a photo of him. James hosts dinner for his neighbors several times a year and buys them gifts any chance he can to show his appreciation for their patience and tolerance.
In the dead of night, he slips out into his back garden, the crisp October air burning his lungs in the best way as he ducks his way through the neighborhood, his feet taking him far away from the crowd of reporters that are still stationed in front of his own home. Hopefully they’ll all have dispersed by the time he gets back. Perhaps he should have turned on music or a movie or something, made them think he was settled in for a lazy night in.
He wanders aimlessly for a while, enjoying this taste of freedom and trying to remember the days when he could leave out the front door of his flat without any fanfare.
It’s dark, and thick clouds obscure whichever moon phase they’re in, but the street lamps glow yellow on the damp pavement, lighting his way forward. A crisp autumn breeze ruffles his hair and the leaves, sending them tumbling around him and skittering across the residential street that’s so much quieter than the bustle of New York. It’s good to be home, though.
He arrives at a bus stop and catches one headed into the city proper. It’s no secret that James lives in London, and therefore the general population has gotten used to glimpsing him on the tube or walking on the street or frequenting pubs. He knows people snap quick photos of him, and he’s always happy to stop and pose for a selfie with respectful fans, but mostly he’s left alone when he’s out by himself like this.
Nevertheless, he hears the excited undertones of people trying to inconspicuously point him out to their oblivious friends. He keeps his head down, mindlessly opening and closing apps on his phone for something to do as he pretends he doesn’t notice them. He won’t be on the bus much longer anyway.
Several people get off the bus with him, including a group of teenage girls who are whispering heatedly among themselves. It’s almost funny, watching them debate amongst themselves before one of them approaches him.
She’s red-faced but determined as she blurts, “Can we get a photo?”
“Sure thing,” he says good-naturedly, inclining his head for them to come closer. “Need me to take it?” He holds out a lanky arm and flops it around a bit. “Got a longer reach than any of you.”
He’s certain one of the girls is about to start crying with joy as they all nestle into his side and hand him a new-model iPhone. Damn, it’s fancier than his own. When he was their age, he had an old flip phone that lost reception if he breathed on it wrong. It was a tank though—he’d dropped that thing hundreds of times, and nary a scratch.
“Do me a favor,” he says, handing the phone back to its owner, “and don’t ping our location if you post to social media, yeah? I appreciate it.”
“You’re my favorite person ever,” one of the girls squeaks.
His face splits into a grin and he tucks his hands into his pockets. “Is that so?”
The girls spend the next five minutes chatting with him about music and how they’ve been following him ever since his YouTube days. He listens and chimes in every now and then when they ask him a direct question, but he prefers being passive in exchanges like this, content to hear peoples’ stories. It makes him feel normal, if only for a little while.
Finally, they take their leave, and James turns in the opposite direction even though the destination he had in mind is down the street the girls had just taken. But he’s been burned far too many times by encounters with seemingly innocent fans, only for them to begin following him around and showing up outside his house to talk to him again. He makes a point of not drawing out public encounters with his fans.
He wanders down a street he’s vaguely familiar with, figuring he can backtrack in a couple blocks. The night is too beautiful for him to be upset about needing to take a detour.
Everything looks different in the dark, the glow of neon signs bathing everything in hues of greens and blues and pinks and yellows. Shops and restaurants are mostly shut up for the night, their windows dark or blinds drawn. Dingey motels with pay-by-the-hour rates are in full swing, as are the pubs that have a revolving door of people in varying states of intoxication.
Deep bass that he can feel all the way in his chest catches his attention, and he gets turned around a few times, but he eventually finds the establishment: Bad Wolf Brews. At first, he doesn’t think it’s open, and that he must be mistaken about where the music is coming from, but the heavy front oak door opens, and he realizes the glass on the door is tempered so that the interior lights don’t shine through. The music is clear and heavy and vibrating in his bones. He doesn’t think twice before catching the door before it closes and slipping inside.
The air is humid and smells of sweat and stale beer. Bodies are writhing and gyrating to the rhythm blasting through invisible speakers. The acoustics are phenomenal; none of the layers are lost and the sound quality is nearly as good as if he were listening to the record at home on his own stereo system.
The lights are low, and he’s sure he trips into a few people in the minute it takes for his eyes to adjust to the dimness, but finally, he’s at the bar. There are three open stools, and he claims one between a blonde woman and a red-haired man as he wonders what the hell this dive bar serves. He can see beer taps, but he’s more of a cocktail guy. He must look as lost as he feels, because the bartender hands him a menu that looks like it was hand-written and then photo-copied. It jives with the overall vibe of the pub.
The bartender checks in with him a minute later. James opens a tab and orders a sidecar sans sugar, and is pleasantly surprised by the quality. Not to make assumptions, but he’d figured an establishment such as this would have cheap liquor. If the alcohol in his drink is cheap, it’s well masked.
When he’s drained the last drop and about to signal for another, a hand rests on his shoulder. “Can I buy your next round?”
James looks up into the face of a stranger. It’s a woman with striking green eyes and a disheveled pixie cut. Judging by her crimson cheeks and glazed eyes, she’s three sheets to the wind. There’s buzzed, then there’s drunk, and then there’s plastered. He prefers not to let himself get to that last category, and by extension, he doesn’t really like to associate much with people who won’t remember the night come morning.
“Thanks, but I’m good,” he says with his most charming grin. “G’night.”
He has no idea if the woman knows who he is, but the way she shrugs and saunters to the gentleman sitting beside James, he doubts it.
He gets clumsily propositioned a few more times and always politely declines with a smile. So far, nobody here seems to recognize him and he is going to ride out this anonymity for as long as it’ll last. It has been too long since he’s been able to sit in a pub and drink quietly. Well, quietly, insofar as crazed fans or paparazzi aren’t harassing him—the music is loud enough that he’s sure to have ringing in his ears for a few hours once he gets home.
But he’s not really in any rush to get home, and so he orders his fourth cocktail before making his way to the loo. Alcohol goes right through him, and it’s nearly gotten him in trouble on tour a time or two.
There’s no line, but the loo is crowded, and he tries to ignore the double-takes as he stands in front of a urinal to take care of business. If he wakes up tomorrow morning to find that someone snapped a photo of him having a piss, he’s going to lose his goddamn mind.
Bladder tended to, James keeps his head ducked and shoulders his way back into the bar. His stool is unoccupied, and when he steps forward, he realizes why. A purse sits on it, seemingly reserving the seat but he can’t figure out for whom. He’s about to take the cocktail the bartender hands him and stand against the shadowed wall when someone picks up the purse.
It’s his blonde-haired stool mate. She flashes him a broad grin that lights up her entire face and squeezes something deep in his stomach.
“Saved your seat for ya,” she says with the ease and confidence of someone who’s known him his whole life.
“Thanks,” he manages through a suddenly dry mouth.
Feeling like an idiot for standing and gaping, he slips into his seat and downs half his new sidecar in one go. It’s as though the ice has been broken now, and she turns to him, her elbow on the counter and her cheek propped on her fist.
“Pretty sure you could outdrink a fish, mate,” she drawls, smiling again in that easy way that does too many strange things to his insides. “You’ve been knockin’ ‘em back for over an hour now.”
Has it really been that long? James checks his watch, and yup, it’s half past ten. The paps should be gone from his house by now, but he feels no draw to leave this place. The alcohol has left him pleasantly tipsy and warm, but he’s more drunk on the fantasy that he’s just a normal bloke having a nice night out in a newly-discovered dive bar.
“Fish don’t really drink though, do they? They absorb water through their gills via osmosis,” he replies, and he wants to bite his tongue off because what the fuck was that??
This woman, whatever her name is, doesn’t seem to mind his answer though, because her face scrunches in a giggle. His body is hot and throbbing with more than drink now, and he wants to hear that sound again but his brain has stopped working.
“Is that so different from you absorbin’ alcohol through your bloodstream?” she muses, finishing off whatever is in her short tumbler.
“Can I buy your next round?” he blurts rather than responding to her question, which he’s almost certain was rhetorical.
Her smile melts into something softer, something private and a little shy. “If you’d like.”
“I do.” He flags down the bartender and glances at his new companion expectantly.
“Gin and tonic,” she says. She thanks the bartender, then James when she takes her first sip. “I’m Rose, by the way.”
“James,” he says, feeling stupid because his face is plastered all over London, which likes to boast that it’s the home of international celeb James Noble. But wouldn’t he seem more of an arse if he just assumed this gorgeous woman knew who he was?
Nevertheless, his stomach sinks a bit when she snorts into her drink and says, “I thought it was you.”
“Yup, it’s me,” he forces, his voice flat. He hides his frown with his glass, knocking back the rest of his sidecar like it’s a shot. The room sways slightly with the violent motion of his head, and maybe he’s slightly drunker than he’d thought.
If Rose catches on to his sudden sour mood, she doesn’t mention it. “What brings you here to Bad Wolf?”
He shrugs and blows out a noisy breath. “I dunno. Went for a walk, ended up here.”
“Those are the best sort of adventures.” She hums wistfully. “Sometimes you find what you didn’t know you needed when you let yourself get lost.”
That observation is far too astute for his current state of mind, so instead he says, “Would you like to dance with me?”
Her eyes flicker across his face for a brief moment before she says, “Okay.”
He hops down from his stool, but Rose hesitates, clutching her purse and coat awkwardly. The bartender helpfully tells her to keep them on her stool, and he’ll keep an eye on it. Rose flashes him a grin that James would rather she flash at him, but he realizes that is utterly absurd, so he simply rests his coat on top of her things to better hide them from view. He then holds out his hand for her. Her palm is soft and warm against his as he leads her to the crowded dance floor.
They find space towards the back of the pub, hidden in the shadows of a hallway that states it’s closed off to patrons. And of course, of fucking course, right when he rests his hands on her hips to find the rhythm of the song, a new one comes on, and his own voice belts from the speakers.
“Fucking hell,” he mutters. He loves his music—he made it, after all—but he can’t help but feel pretentious and more than a little silly to dance to it like this.
Rose, however, grins and says, “Oh, come on, this is one of my favorites.”
She catches his hands where he’d loosened them at her waist and forces him to grab hold of her. She’s wearing high-waisted trousers and a top that leaves a sliver of her belly exposed. His thumb grazes the skin of her bare side, and it’s enough to send tingles through his body. Rose, meanwhile, slings her arms around his shoulders and begins to rock her hips from side to side in sync with the bass, embellishing the motions until she looks absolutely ridiculous but so, so beautiful.
He can’t help but grin and laugh, and he mirrors her movements until they’re both dancing like idiots to his music.
“This is how my baby brother dances,” she explains, bouncing up and down while twisting her hips. “We have regular dance parties together.”
“How old’s your brother?” he asks.
“Just turned four.”
He blinks, and blood rushes from his face. “And… and how old are you?”
“A perfectly legal twenty-four,” she drawls, reaching up to flick his nose. “You can start breathing again.”
Thank fuck.
“That’s quite the age gap.”
“My mum got remarried when I was nineteen,” Rose says with a shrug. “She and my stepdad didn’t waste much time.”
“Clearly,” he mutters under his breath.
“It does feel a bit like they’ve started over,” Rose confesses with a too-stiff shrug. “New family, new life, and I’m the interloper.
There is no way this vivacious woman in front of him could ever be considered an interloper, but before he can tell her that, she continues, “Mum does her best to assure me otherwise, but still. It’s hard to watch all the things Mum and Dad are able to do for Tony—that’s my brother, Tony—when Mum struggled so much as a single mum with me.”
“Your dad’s not in the picture?”
A sad smile pinches her face, and he regrets asking.
“No, I never knew him. He died when I was a baby.”
“I… I’m so sorry.” Well, he’s totally buggered this all up, hasn’t he? He wracks his brain on how to salvage the easy banter they’d had at the bar, but draws a blank.
Rose seems to realize they’ve lost the mood, but she breaks out into a lazy grin and says, “Since you seemed so opposed to dancing to your own music, it’ll please you to know a new song’s on. C’mon, show me your moves.”
He’s not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, and so he follows her lead, watching her dance her heart out until her cheeks are pink and her hair is damp with sweat. He’s sure he doesn’t look much better, since he can feel the perspiration beading down his back and beneath his arms, but he can’t bring himself to care. Tonight has been the most fun he’s had in a very long time. Clubbing in New York had been a lark, but he’s been swarmed by his American fans half the night, and had been busy drowning his latest heartbreak to fully enjoy it. But here, now, with Rose, it’s like he’s any other bloke in a pub, chatting up a pretty girl he wants to get to know.
Their bodies are wrapped around each other with the ease and grace of partners who have known each other for years, and he forgets that he has known Rose for all of a few hours. He never wants this night to end. He wants to cling to this fairytale and pretend that the clock isn’t about to strike the proverbial midnight.
But time marches on as always. The clock really does strike midnight, and the bartender begins to clear people out of his establishment. James is as exhausted as he is exhilarated, no longer drunk on booze but rather the company of Rose and the magic they made together by simply dancing the night away.
They head back to the bar to retrieve their coats and her purse, and to close out their tabs. James slides his credit card to the bartender and asks him to charge everyone’s tab to his card. If the bartender is surprised, he hides it well. A few minutes later, James is signing off on the receipt of purchase of several thousand pounds-worth of alcohol. His personal assistant is sure to be confused as hell when she wakes up to see the charge. He fires off a quick warning text to her so she doesn’t open up a fraudulent charge claim.
James salutes the bartender, knowing he’ll come back to this pub as often as he can until he’s found out and this place once again becomes somewhere that’s overrun with his fans.
The night is refreshingly cold when he and Rose emerge into it, a nice change after the stifling, sweaty heat of the bar. However, she hunches her shoulders against the chill, prompting him to wrap his arm around her waist and tug her into his side, all too eager to lend her some of his body heat.
“Can I walk you somewhere?” he asks, glancing around the street that is now full of the drunken patrons who’d been in the pub with them. They all disperse in different directions, stumbling home or to a different bar that is still open. “Or wait with you ‘til you catch a cab?”
“Yeah, sure,” she says, pulling up her phone to order a ride. She taps on the screen for a few quiet moments then says, “Done. Should be here in a few minutes.”
They descend into a slightly awkward silence that James wants to break, but he can’t think of anything clever to say. So he says nothing, and finally headlights wash over them, momentarily blinding them before a taxi pulls up.
“D’you wanna share?” she asks, opening the door to the back seat.
Is she as reluctant to leave him as he is to leave her? Or is she being polite and eco-friendly by ride sharing? Nevertheless, he nods and slides into the back seat beside her.
There is something incredibly intimate about sitting with Rose in the dark interior of the taxi, and he feels like he’s fifteen and wondering how to hold his date’s hand after a cheap night out at the cinemas. He fists his hands together, knotting his fingers until his knuckles pop.
The driver goes to the address Rose provides first, and all too soon they’ve arrived.
“I’ll cover the fare,” he says when she makes to hand over some bank notes to the diver. “It’d be my pleasure.”
She hesitates, but nods, then opens the door to climb out of the car. His pulse quickens as he watches her walk away with nothing but a, “Goodnight.”
“Can you wait just a minute?” he asks the driver.
“Meter’s still runnin’,” he grunts.
“That’s fine.”
James scrambles out of the taxi. “Hey, Rose?”
She turns back to face him, frowning.
“I… er… I had a great time tonight,” he says lamely, but her frown relaxes into a smile. “It was fun. With you. I had fun.”
“Yeah, me too,” she answers.
He licks his lips; his mouth is bone dry and his pulse pounds in his ears, making his vision throb with each frenzied beat.
“Do you… do you maybe wanna do it again some time? Hang out together? I… I’d really like to see you again,” he says, cursing his clumsy, fumbling words.
She scrutinizes him for a long moment, her expression indecipherable. His stomach sinks. Maybe this was a one-off, a story for her to tell her mates.
You’ll never guess who I met at the pub last night. James Noble! He paid for all my drinks and we danced like idiots.
He stews in his misery of doubt, and just when he’s about to tell her to forget about it, she slowly nods.
“Yeah, okay. I’d like that.”
“Really?” he asks, a hopeful edge creeping into his voice.
She laughs. “Really.”
“Brilliant!” James fumbles in his pocket for his phone, and he thrusts it at her. “Give me your number? I’ll text you. Or call.”
He rocks back and forth on his toes and heels, waiting for her to finish up with his phone. He has a sudden, potent bolt of panic that she’s snooping through his private messages or photographs for something to use against him to make a quick profit, but before that panic can take root, she hands his mobile back to him. It’s open to a new texting conversation.
From: 🌹 Bad Wolf Girl 🌹
Now I’ve got your number too 😉
He beams at the name she’s given to herself in his contacts, then he pockets his phone.
“I’ll see you later,” he says.
“You better,” she replies with that knee-weakening smile he’s grown to love over the course of the night. “See ya.”
“Bye.”
He stands there like a moron until she’s safely inside, then he turns back to the taxi and climbs in. The deserted streets streak by as the driver takes him to his neighborhood. He never gives his address though; he always chooses a destination a few streets away, just in case.
James generously tips the driver and bids him goodnight before slipping into the night to his home. He was right: the paparazzi are gone. There is no fanfare as he slips his key into the lock and lets himself into his house. It’s warm and cozy, but still too quiet for his liking.
Between the plane ride and his night out, he feels greasy and disgusting, and indulges in a hot shower before bed. He washes Rose’s scent off of his body, an intoxicating blend of jasmine and vanilla that’s as sweet as it is musky.
He’s groggy by the time he crawls into his giant, king-sized bed and burrows deep into his mounds of pillows and duvets. One of his ex-girlfriends once teased that he turns into the marshmallow man when he sleeps.
His sleep is deep and dreamless, and when he awakes with the sun the following morning, he feels more refreshed and invigorated than he ever remembers being. He’s got a full day of meetings with his songwriting team to brainstorm his next album, and he is ready.
But first, he checks his phone. There’s nothing from Rose, which makes him a little sad, but also nothing from his publicist, which is always a good sign. If ever she messages or calls him first thing in the morning, it always means there’s some sort of dumpster fire to put out. Usually a dumpster fire full of compromising photos of him.
He makes a point of not Googling himself, but he does occasionally check his social media pages for new posts about him, wanting to know when, where, and how his fans came across him in the wild. He easily finds the photo that he took with the group of teenage girls, and makes a point to like the original post and type a quick, “Nice to meet you all. Thanks for chatting with me last night - J” in the comments section. He snorts to himself as his comment blows up within seconds.
But other than some grainy photos of him riding the bus, he can’t find any other photos of himself. Nothing of him wandering the streets or drinking in the pub or even having a wee in the mens’ room. And best of all, there’s nothing of him and Rose. No photos of them dancing together or sharing a cab. If Rose has a social media account, it didn’t post any sneaky photos or bragging stories about dancing all night with James Noble.
He can’t quite believe it; he managed to have a fun night out drinking without it all being thrown back in his face the next morning. Within seconds, he’s grinning to himself and pulling up Rose’s contact information. It’s still in his phone, further proof that his night with her wasn’t some sort of jetlagged fever dream. She was real.
“Good morning. I hope you slept well. Thanks for last night.”
She responds almost instantly. Good morning to you too. I should be thanking you for paying my drink tab and taxi fare 😉 And for being an excellent dance partner.
“The pleasure was all mine, on all counts.” He sends that message, then types out a new one, “I’m gonna be in meetings all day (yes, I know it’s Sunday), so please don’t be discouraged if I don’t reply. But I’d really like to see you again. Want to do dinner or drinks or coffee or something?”
He doesn’t wait for an answer, needing to make himself presentable for when his driver picks him up in an hour. Yet he can’t help but check his phone every three seconds, until finally there’s a message from Rose.
Yeah, I’d like that. I work ‘til five most nights, but I’m free after that. Or we can wait ‘til the weekend.
With spirits lighter than they’ve been in months, James steps out of his house with a broad, stupid grin that the ever-present crowd of paparazzi are all too happy to photograph.
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peaches-writes · 4 years
Text
off season
description: student athletes need to look out for each other—well, at least seungmin needs to look out for your clumsy ass most of the time member: seungmin genre: fluff, sports au, best friends to lovers au, slice of life au, summer au, a side of college au (but like the ugly ass summer classes aspect of college life), implied fem reader  word count: 11.3k warning: explicit language, blood, injuries, extreme sports, a very poor attempt at writing sports, seungmin worries the entire time for good reason  note: a bunch of stuff put together it’s not rlly good sldkfsk like it was getting too lengthy i had to like haphazardly end it somehow + the one time you see me write a sports-themed fic & it’s not abt the actual sports i play lmao + also hi @t-toodumbtocare​ u told me to tag u so here we are
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one - saturday
Amidst preparations for your incoming senior thesis, choosing your course specialization, clubs, and training, Kim Seungmin rushed getting his driver’s license before the end of your 3rd year’s 2nd semester for the sole purpose of driving you around the city this summer and you’re quite sure that that’s love. Though he disapproves of your specific choice of escapade that has you running around Seoul in circles in the first place, your best friend still made sure to pass his driving classes a whole month before the previous semester ended and with flying colors so he can “look after you” as he would put it. It definitely is love—simultaneously a heartwarming and annoying one at that. 
“I can take care of myself, I’m an adult,” You feign a frown at him stubbornly for the third time this month, sliding in the front seat of his navy Subaru anyway and placing your gym bag in front of your feet. You then busy yourself with taking your roller skates out, switching them out with your old Converse. “and it’s not like I don’t know how to commute.”
But, just as you’ve had this conversation every time he picks you up from your dorm on Saturday evenings, Seungmin only dismisses your argument and replies, “Yeah, and you know transport is not the main reason why I chaperone.” From the corner of your eye, you then see him expertly shifting the gears and turning the steering wheel, driving the car to the campus’ South gate, his serious expression unwavering and making you stifle a giggle. “You could get seriously hurt playing. Your mom will kill me and your coach will kill you for that.” 
“But I haven’t yet.” You counter with a slight teasing in your tone, pretending to ignore his last comment. You don’t even repeat this argument every week in the hopes of changing Seungmin’s mind at this point; after almost two months of the same starting conversation between the two of you, you just press his buttons now for fun. Undeniably, it’s funny seeing him get visibly riled up. “I’ve been playing derby for two months and the most I’ve gotten is a severely bloody nose. It’s nothing I can’t handle—“
“Yet.” He scoffs now in frustration before turning right to the main highway, well-aware of what you’re doing but letting himself get stressed anyway. “Even athletes get seriously hurt in the field, Y/N, we both know that.” 
You only nod with a hum, twisting your body to Seungmin’s direction and poking his side. “I know, Minnie.” You assure, softer now as you finally let out the chuckle you’ve been holding. “Now relax, loosen up a bit! You know I’m just messing with you!” 
“I know and it’s getting a bit concerning.” He rolls his eyes, finally relaxing his shoulders a bit and sighing in disbelief before swiftly swatting your hand away from his waist. “You talk like you’re not training for next year’s Championships.”
“Ah, but it’s because training isn’t as strict yet, at least with mine.” You shrug, sitting up properly in your seat as you take this opportunity to change the topic. “How’s your training, by the way? I barely saw you this week. Is Jeno giving you a hard time as co-capt.?” 
You sink in your seat and look up at Seungmin expectantly after, smiling unconsciously when he doesn’t respond immediately to focus on driving, giving you a brief moment to admire his focused expression. “Training’s okay.” He eventually replies, quirking an eyebrow when he briefly glances at you over his shoulder and catches you staring. “Surprisingly, Jeno’s chill with being co-capt. We’re getting along.”
“’Chill,’ you mean lazy like you.” You scoff playfully. “Why have you been too busy to hang out this week, then?” 
“Practicing my driving so I don’t accidentally kill you first before roller skating could.” He answers dryly, making you roll your eyes. “That and Mr. Im’s giving too much papers for an intersession class.”
“Right, summer classes. So responsible.” You scrunch up your nose. “Aren’t you tired? Training, summer classes, driving me on Saturdays, not to mention we’re going to be seniors after the break...”
When you don’t speak after trailing off, you see him shaking his head. “A bit, but driving you around is relaxing.” He corrects casually, missing the way he catches you off-guard. “It helps me think and, like I’ve said before, I get to look after you so, seriously, don’t try sneaking around me and commuting on your own or I’ll start panicking.” 
Now, that is new to your Saturday conversation starter. 
“Really now?” You raise your own eyebrow, trying your best to not sound too surprised. “So you don’t hate this as much as you make it seem like?”
“I didn’t say that.” Though visibly caught off-guard too, he shakes his head as seriously as he can look, not even sparing you a glance this time as he makes another turn. “But making sure you’re alive is kind of part of the best friend job.” He explains after, making you laugh. “And driving—driving’s always fun.”
“Sure, sure.” You smile as you try playing it off coolly, looking down on your hands as heat rises up your neck. “Whatever you say, Minnie.”
-
You first got into roller derby through Yuna, a freshman in your university and a fellow figure skater who began training alongside you during the 1st semester of your 3rd year. Sometime almost two months ago, one of her derby team members, Yeji, had to cancel a few days prior to an important game to attend to her personal matters and so she immediately turned to you as a possible substitute, noting your figure skating skills and how you’re already familiar with the sport from occasionally watching her. Naturally, with your adventurous streak, curiosity got the best of you when presented with the offer and, especially after winning the game, you’ve been hooked ever since; meeting up with her and the rest of the all-girls team almost every Friday and Saturday at the warehouse on the way to Incheon where the games are usually held. 
So naturally, she always makes sure to meet you at the entrance of the venue, especially now that she’s not training with you for the summer to focus on her own summer classes and a part-time job. 
“Finally, you’re here! I missed you!” She hurriedly waves at Seungmin before throwing an arm around your shoulder in a side hug. “How have you two been, lovebirds?”
“Ya, Minnie and I aren’t like that.” You roll your eyes as you briefly hug her back by her waist, careful of her arm injury from two Saturdays ago while expertly hiding the heat flaming your cheeks. With this gesture, you almost miss the way Seungmin’s lips frown every so slightly in front of you, if it’s because of the nickname or your reaction to it, you dare not to ask for fear of further embarrassment. “And I’ve been well, Coach Park isn’t going beast mode on me yet. Seungmin here’s been busy, though.”
“Oh, right! I heard from Jeno that your first game’s in 2 weeks already.” Yena then turns to your best friend expectantly. “How’s training? The game’s on a Saturday, right?”
“It’s...fine,” Seungmin answers slowly with a hum, almost as if he’s hesitant on what word to use. You then see him narrow his eyes at you when he sees the mischievous glint in your eyes at the familiar question. “...chill, actually.”
“Chill as in lazy.” And as expected, you chime in the same words you commented on the car ride to the venue, making Yuna throw her head back in laughter. “You know how our friends are.” 
“As expected of Seungmin and Jeno together, I guess.” She nods in confirmation between laughs, making Seungmin groan in defeat even more. “How do boys in team sports even do it? Train, I mean?” 
You shrug in response, giggling at Seungmin’s annoyed expression directed mostly to you. “Guess we’ll have to see in two weeks, right? Are you free on that weekend?”
“Yeah, intersession’s been hectic, but I’ll try and clear my schedule!”  
“Oh coo—!” But before you could even comment more on a possible hangout with Yuna, Seungmin is already directing the three of you inside the warehouse impatiently. “Ya!” 
“Yeah, yeah, finish your game tonight first then I’ll think about letting you in mine. Aish, you two are so mean to me and Jeno all the time.” He huffs with a roll of eyes, stopping right in front of the path behind the audience bleachers leading to the locker rooms.
Turning to you again, he then bids you goodbye with an affectionate pat to your head and a long sigh. “Be careful tonight, okay? Make sure to wear your gear properly.”
“Always am.” You assure with a wink, holding your gear up in front of him before he can take another step back. “Relax, would you? Just enjoy the show tonight!” 
Seungmin nods at you with pursed lips one last time before waving goodbye as he starts retreating back into the crowd, most likely to join your other friends at the bleachers. “I’ll see you on the rink!”
“I’ll be the one with the star on my helmet!” You jokingly remind with a chuckle, smiling when he acknowledges you with a final wave before finally turning around to walk away properly. 
“Ah, lovebirds.” Yuna comments on the side once Seungmin fully disappears into the crowd, making you glare at her at already knowing where this conversation is going to lead to. “Every single time you’re here without fail. So romantic!”
“Yuna!” You scold much like you’ve been doing the past two months, throwing your arm around her shoulder this time as the two of you now turn left to the lockers. “It’s really not like that!” 
“I’m friends with Kai and Jeno but you don’t see those two caring if I die on the rink every game. I’m pretty sure they want me dead more than anything, even.” She points out in defense. “I’m telling you, Seungmin’s a whole keeper! And you already told me you like him too so what’s stopping yo—“
“We’re not dating ever.” You insist stubbornly, entering the locker rooms now where your teammates greet you (and Yeji scolds you again for arriving late). “He’s just looking out for me because he thinks I can’t commit to anything without threatening death. Besides, he’s busy, I’m busy—” 
“—You like him, he likes you, you’re both dense.” Yuna interjects in the same enumerating tone you used, settling on a nearby bench as you move to your locker to change and prepare your gear. “The same speech every week, and they’re not even good excuses. Seriously, just date already!”
You open your mouth to respond while taking your outer clothes off, revealing your derby uniform inside, but Lia, as expected, suddenly pops out of nowhere, asking, “Who’s dating?”
“No one—”
“Will date, you mean.” Yuna corrects, turning your frown into a scowl now as you pop your head out of your shirt, carefully discarding the material inside your locker with your gym bag in exchange for your helmet and arm gear. “You already know who.” 
At this, you see Lia smile knowingly and lean back on the bench as you hurriedly put on your gear and helmet. “Right, the lovebirds.” She nods at Yuna before turning to you. “Did anything happen this week?” 
You quickly shake your head, adjusting your helmet as you do so. “No, Yuna’s just teasing me—again.” You then sit in between the two girls, re-tying your roller skate’s laces. “Don’t listen to her, she’s delusional.”
“Um, delusional for a reason!” The girl in question protests much to Lia’s amusement, bumping her shoulders with yours in the process. “Who even drives people to places even when they don’t want to? And he always insists on looking at your injuries after every game too? I think someone’s whipped and his name begins with a Seung and ends with a Min.” 
“He’s just nice and—” You try to insist again but to no avail when you see her raising her eyebrows and smiling suggestively, your hands going up to your face sheepishly as your stubborn front easily breaks down at it. “Ugh, stop with those looks!” 
On your sides, you hear Lia and Yuna laugh, patting your back and shoulders comfortingly.  
“Hey, you know Yuna’s just messing with you.” Lia reminds you softly after a moment, prying your hands off of your face and helping you up. “You won’t let that get in your head now of all weeks, would you? It’s the re-match game against our seniors tonight!”
“It’s just you always put me up to it. Seriously, stop it!” You groan instead in protest, belatedly swatting the two away as you join your team back outside and to the rink. “I swear, if I end up getting thrown by Jeongyeon across the rink again tonight, I’m blaming it on you because you keep teasing me.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop,” Yuna rolls her eyes playfully just as you reach the rink, meeting the crowd’s cheers that momentarily prompts you to wave and smile at them. “maybe until later after the game.”
“Don’t even try pointing at Seungmin to me again mid-game.” You elbow her harshly, ending the conversation as the announcer, Jaemin, calls your team name and starts listing your numbers one by one in introduction. 
“...number 5 Lee Chaeryeong, number 9 Shin Yuna, and number 17 Y/N Y/L/N!” 
“I don’t have to,” Yuna retorts playfully as she prepares to slide in the rink before you, referring to your last comment. “You always find him yourself, anyway.”  
And, as if her words easily got to you, you unconsciously find Seungmin waving at you from the crowd, seated with Jeno, Kai, and Jeongin who are holding yet another cheesy poster for your team. You wave back at him out of courtesy, glancing at Yuna after to roll your eyes in her direction.
“See?” She mouths at you before moving to the very front of the group with Lia and Yeji, starting the game. “Whipped!”
Meanwhile, you skate over to the back with the opposing team’s jammer, Jeongyeon, accepting her high-five before getting in position. 
“Y/N, long time no see! Are you with your boyfriend again?” She teases just as Jaemin, blows the first whistle for the pack to start skating. “Seungmin, right? The kid from Legal Management?” 
You glance at her briefly, skating on the second whistle first before exclaiming, “Jeongyeon, not you too!” 
“I’m just asking!” She holds her hands up in defense, quickening her pace almost at the same time as you do. “Just so I know if you get distracted again!” 
“I won’t this time, promise.” You assure, using the conversation to fuel your momentum and easily overtaking her. “I’ll be focused tonight!” 
“We’ll see about that!” You hear her yell behind you as she catches up, dodging your teammates while you dodge hers to score a point. 
Swiftly, you duck and jump around the pack, making sure to avoid Seungmin’s eyes when you pass his bleachers to prove to Yuna, Lia, and even Jeongyeon otherwise as you come in contact with them. 
Eventually, with a little difficulty and a lot of harsh shoulder and hip bumps from Chaeyoung and Dahyun, you then score the first point with a huge gap between you and Jeongyeon. 
“See, I’m focused!” You brag to your senior who runs behind you before turning your gaze ahead again. 
“And the first 5 points of the night goes to number 17, Y/N!” Meanwhile, Jaemin announces into his mic from the center of the rink, catching a high-five from you as you pass. “Must be all that formal training, huh?” 
“What are you talking about? This is how I usually walk!” You reply playfully, eliciting more cheers from the crowd as you naturally change into your athletic persona. 
“And the figure skater brags again.” Jaemin muses out loud, receiving the banter well as the host. “Careful there, Y/N, Jeongyeon, number 1, is catching up quickly!” 
But despite the warning, you take the time away from the pack to momentarily slow down, waving and receiving more high-fives from the crowd before finally looking over at Seungmin who is now on his feet and clapping wildly while cheering for your team, a stark contrast of his usual worried disposition at the start of the night. When you reach his bleacher as you quicken your pace to try and score another point, you lean over the barrier and send him a confident wink which he receives with a playful scoff. 
“What are you doing? Focus on your game!” He scolds, the other boys snickering next to him.
“I’m just checking in with my biggest fan before he goes back to worried mode.” You grin at him, pinching his cheek affectionately. “How was my first five points?”
“Great, great.” He answers quickly, gently pushing you by your shoulder as if gesturing you to go back to your game. “Now, go, you have a pack to catch up to and a game to win.” 
Cute, you think to yourself, a grin forming on your features as you bid him goodbye again to go back to chasing the pack around the rink. “Okay, Minnie, whatever you say!” 
“You two are so adorable!” Sana points out as you reach her on the side of the pack after, not even bothering to block you or hit you by the hips now with how much she’s gushing over you and Seungmin. “So cute!” 
“I know, right? Unnie, can you believe they’re still not dating?” Yuna agrees, letting her guard down momentarily from blocking Sana until she sees Jeongyeon catching up to you from over your shoulder. 
“Yuna, stop it!” 
“No! It’s fu—oh, look out!” 
Behind you, Jeongyeon easily knocks Lia and Chaeryeong off their skates, her hand reaching your shoulder to propel herself forward in the tightly-knit pack. 
“Come on, guys, less talking more hitting!” Your opponent jammer sticks her tongue out, purposely waiting for you to catch up before picking up the pace again. “Y/N, you said you’re not getting distracted!” 
“Sana and Yuna were ganging up on me!” You retort in protest, bumping her by her shoulders and hips and overtaking her again. “More hitting it is then!” 
“Oh, it seems like this second game between Team Neon and Team Magenta is going to be bloody!” Jaemin, quickly picking up on the commotion, comments. “Who will be our winner tonight? It looks like it’s going to be a very close call!” 
“Ah, not on my watch.” You mumble under your breath, expertly knocking out Jeongyeon on the way to another five points. 
The game ends almost two hours later, the score being 115-110 with your team emerging victorious and at least four overall cuts and bruises around your body. As soon as all the photographs have been taken for Instagram and the weekly plastic trophy has been passed around your team at least twice, Seungmin immediately takes you away from the crowd and your team right after taking your things from the locker room, his adrenaline for watching sports directing its attention to tending to you again and his cheerful expression switching back to worry. 
“Minnieee,” You call for him for the second time as you near the bathroom at the end of the hall, tiredly stumbling over nothing when Seungmin doesn’t slow down a bit with his brisk walking. “Minnie, slow down a bit, my legs are tired!” 
But he only slows down when you reach the bathroom, gently hoisting you up to sit on the cold marble of the sinks before taking out his first-aid kit and the ice packs he got from Jaemin from the outer pockets of his backpack. His serious and worried expression doesn’t falter once, looking even worse than the one he always wears on your car rides to the game. “Don’t move too much until I—until we’ve checked everything.” He instructs you, lifting your gym bag and his backpack that he’s been carrying with him to the side.
“You’re so serious again.” You feign another frown at him once you’re settled on top of the sink, gaze softening as he quietly and hurriedly shuffles around to wrap the ice packs in towels as if ignoring your comment. “Don’t I get another ‘congrats’ or a ‘good job’? I scored 85 of those 115 points. I’m fine.” 
“I already congratulated you with the others out there,” He reminds with a frustrated sigh, carefully inspecting your arms and legs for more bruises he didn’t initially notice. “and you already know you did really well against Jeongyeon this time around but that fall before the 85th point...”
At the mention of your one violent fall tonight, you shift uncomfortably in your seat. “This one?” You ask for confirmation, lifting your shift up and pulling your waistband down slightly against your heated cheeks and Seungmin’s suddenly wide eyes. Clearing your throat, you hide it again from him as quickly as you showed it and assure, “It’s fine, seriously, I—“
But, just as stubborn as you are, Seungmin’s hands move shakily to the hem of your shirt, hesitantly lifting it up after looking up at you in permission to see the harsh mark. “I-It’s turning blue. You didn’t even ice it up properly when you switched positions with Chaeyeon.” He argues back as firmly as he can and thus cutting you off from showing him your other bruises, his other hand holding up the ice pack in between the two of you. “This one really needs the ice pack more than the rest.”
Your eyes widen back at him because of the gesture, freezing for a moment in place until you quickly regain composure and manage to stutter out, “O-okay, fine...” And with that, you take his hand off your shirt, holding it up yourself while your other hand takes the ice pack from him. “Th—shit—t-thanks.”
Seungmin only nods and hums in acknowledgement awkwardly, picking up two other ice packs wrapped in a towels and leaving one to rest on your right thigh while he hovers the other over your your collarbones. “The other two don’t look too bad, though.” He comments, changing the topic and muttering a quick apology when you hiss at the simultaneous cold contact on your skin. “You’re not hurt anywhere else, right?”
“I think I have a cut on my feet, I’m not sure, it stings a bit when I put too much pressure.” You shrug your free shoulder carefully, meeting Seungmin’s eyes when you turn to him again and find him hovering dangerously close to your face. With the way he looks at you expectantly for answers, you immediately figure out that it’s not time to tease or play games with him anymore. “I-I’ll just—walk back out with slippers, it’s probably just the blisters from last week.”
“We’ll have to check that too. You also have a cut on your lip, you know.” He points out after when he leans closer, his free hand picking up a small box of face tissues from the first-aid kit. “When did this even happen?”
Instinctively, you reach out to touch your bare lips first before taking the tissues from him, only then noticing the dry skin bumps that have now formed around what you assume would be a dried cut. “Huh, I didn’t even notice.” You muse out loud, closing your mouth and taking the tissues from Seungmin immediately when you feel the wound open slightly again. “It must be from when Chaeyoung hit me—shit.”
“Nothing you can’t handle, huh?” Seungmin mumbles under his breath, looking down on your thigh to check the bruise under the ice pack he left freely on top of it. “You’re so clumsy.”
You frown at him and the reference to earlier this evening, making him crack a small amused smile when he meets your gaze again. “Fine, maybe I am a bit—clumsy.” You admit hesitantly with a sigh and a roll of your eyes when he raises an eyebrow at you again. “But at least I got you to patch me up every time, right?”
“And that’s why I chaperone you.” He reiterates firmly, briefly taking off the ice pack he’s holding against your collarbones to inspect the bruise after and furrowing his eyebrows. 
“Tch, it’s not like this happens every week. It just happened that tonight was extra violent, you know.” You reply slowly before licking your lips and disposing the tissue into a nearby chute. 
“Yeah but point you still got hurt like you always do every single week.” He retorts before picking up the ointment and cotton balls next to you, taking a step back and crouching down to the level of your skates. Untying your shoelaces then taking your skates and socks off, you lean forward to see Seungmin wince at the amount of red blotches and commenting, “Look, you even managed to open your blisters tonight.” 
“Is it that ba—sh-shit! Ya, Minnie, you’re pressing too hard on i—ya, it hurts!” You wince when Seungmin presses a cotton ball coated in ointment on one of your blisters, making you instinctively grip on the edge of the sink and lean back. 
“Ya, you really didn’t notice this? At all?” He scolds, cleaning your wounds again but this time simultaneously evading your unconscious attempts at kicking his face. 
“Well, I was too happy knowing that we’re advancing to fina—ow, ow, ow, it stings!” 
“Ah, seriously. Ya, stop moving too much, I still need to bandage these.” He hisses, slapping your leg gently before going back to cleaning your wounds. “I’ll make it up to you later, promise.” 
“Piggyback and ice cream?” You pout. “You’re being really harsh on my blisters.” 
“Wheelchair if you don’t behave and kick me in the face.” He threatens, holding your feet in place by your ankles before going back to cleaning the rest of your wounds. “Now, just hold it in a bit.” 
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two - sunday
Seungmin also dotes on you by randomly checking in during your training hours. Though he’s always done this even before you started training competitively, ever since you’ve picked up your side hobby of roller derby this summer he’s started picking up a more consistent schedule of coming over on Sunday mornings (when he knows you’d still push yourself to attend training) to make sure that you’re not overworking and further damaging your already bruised and wounded body. It’s a bit too much for his character, you’d know very well as his best friend with years of observing how he treats his other student athlete friends, but he always brings you coffee and a cheat meal bento for when Coach Park isn’t looking so you can’t really complain.
“Minnie!” You greet him with a wave as he finally arrives, 8 PM on the dot just as you finish your best attempt at warming up your already sore body. Skating over to his side of the audience area, you then lean over the barriers with your arms folded on top of it with an anticipating smile, watching him get comfortable in his unofficial seat in the middle of the front row. “What do you have for me today?”
“It’s Korean special for today.” He answers with a smile, taking out a pair of familiar white bento boxes typically sold at the cafeteria of the nearby College of Architecture and shaking it in front of you before placing it on the seat next to him. Looking around the empty rink, he then asks, “Coach Park isn’t with you today?”
“Faculty meeting, won’t be back until lunch,” You shrug before another thought crosses your mind. “Hey, do you want to skate?”
Seungmin hesitantly shakes his head in front of your wide eyes, sinking in his seat. “No, I’m good, thanks.” He shrugs as casually as he can, though you’re quicker to take note of his gaze lingering on the smooth ice.  
So, stubborn as you are, you insist anyway, “I see that look!” 
“You’re supposed to be training—actually, you shouldn’t even be with all the hits you took last night.” He points out. “Anyway, don’t you need the whole rink?”
“I’ll be here the whole day. I can just practice seriously when Coach Park is actually here.” You grin widely, smoothly gliding to the gates now to fetch him. When he doesn’t move in his seat, you continue further up the stairs until your blades hit the rubber mats of the audience area. “And like you said, I shouldn’t be training with all the hits I took last night.”
“We can just skate around leisurely!” You conclude, Seungmin’s eyes narrowing up at you when you reach him and his body automatically cringing at the sound of your blades hitting rubber. 
“Yeah, but—”
In response, you take hold of his free hand with your own while the other puts his backpack to the side, tugging him to the direction of the locker rooms. “I’m injured so I need help getting around.” You answer after halfheartedly. 
“You were already skating before I could even get here.” He tries reasoning out but before he can even continue, you’ve already managed to pull him up to a stand, almost tripping the two of you even until he quickly balanced himself right in front of you. 
“Kids will start training here by next week so this is literally the last time we’ll have the ice on our own for a while.” You counter back, already pulling him to the locker rooms with the loud thud of your blades. Glancing over at him from behind your shoulder, you chuckle as you catch Seungmin’s expression change into that of resignation as he finally lets you pull him along. “Ha, knew it.” 
“I’m just looking out for you,” He states, more to convince himself than you. At that, you reach the locker room, proceeding straight to the unclaimed locker next to yours by the door for Seungmin’s skates—an old pair you stole from his house some two Christmases ago when he started visiting you like this. 
“Right, right.” You giggle at him, passing him his skates and taking out another article of clothing from the lockers, this time a familiar hoodie from your locker that immediately catches Seungmin’s eye. “Just put these on.”
“Didn’t you say you lost this hoodie?” 
“It actually got lost in my laundry for two months bu—ya, don’t look at me like that! At least I’m giving it back now! I don’t want you getting in there cold!” 
-
Seungmin is exceptionally knowledgeable on many things like Legal Management (his course), baseball, music (especially singing with the amount of times he hangs out with Jeongin, his other best friend), and skating—but the last is quite debatable since his knowledge is limited to growing up watching you upgrade from the lake behind your houses when you were five to the rinks you train at today. He still doesn’t get how scoring works (”But you looked so great out there!” “Not to the judges, I guess.” “Huh?!”) and he still can’t differentiate the common jumps in competitive figure skating that well but you trust him as one who has a good eye for artistry and technique. He is a fellow athlete, after all. 
“Can you extend your arms a little more?” He asks after you’ve shown him a particular step in a work-in-progress choreography for next year’s Championships. After a mini argument with him over whether you’ll practice your stunts while he’s still with you or just skate around until you feel tired, he somehow convinced you to show your choreography first before skating with you by offering to treat you to another bento box and a cup of iced coffee later. 
Damn his negotiating skills. 
Skating back to him from the other side of the rink, you sigh. “I mean I can if I’m not injured at the moment.” You answer, gesturing to the bruise on your collarbone hidden behind your own long sleeves. “Maybe on the day itself, you know, 7 months from now.” 
“Then you should make sure to extend your arms out in that move when your bruise heals so you look pretty,” He concludes, taking your phone out of his pocket and pressing pause on your chosen music that now fades to a segment without choreography yet. “and don’t play any derby on that month.” 
The last comment makes you smile as you now leisurely skate in circles around him. “So you’re allowing me to play derby until next year?” You ask with your most hopeful look, halting to a stop next to him and linking your arms with his after.
“I’m just saying in case you still want to play derby until next year.” He shrugs, following you around the rink when you tug him forward. “The choice is still up to you.” 
You then take this as a sign that you can now skate freely around after a whole hour of “practice,” mindlessly leading the two of you around the ice. Seungmin would still trip a little bit no matter how many times you’ve tried teaching him how to glide smoothly on the ice but you pretend to not take notice of this, gently helping him balance himself wordlessly instead. 
“Wait, do you still want to?” He asks after a moment. “Play after the summer, I mean?” 
You shrug back, alternating your attention between thinking of a more elaborate answer and looking down on Seungmin’s skates to make sure he’s not threatening another fall. “Derby’s fun and all, especially right now on my off-season but I don’t know. It does take a toll sometimes.” You end up saying in the end, guiding Seungmin around the curve of the rink in increasingly larger glides. “Coach Park’s kind of getting mad at me already too when she sees some of my blisters since it’s not helping me break in my new skates.”
“So...yes, no, maybe?” 
“Maybe.” You answer, looking up at him and admiring the way he concentrates on balancing himself. “Besides, I still have to ask you about it too.” 
At that, you catch Seungmin’s gaze and raised eyebrow. “Me?” He repeats, almost falling over in front of him and prompting you to slow down. 
“Yeah,” You naturally follow up, skating ahead of him and moving your hands back into his as you try skating backwards this time. “as my no. 1 fan—and by that I mean my best friend who always scolds me before and after the games but cheers on me wildly during—what do you think?”  
You observe Seungmin without too much anticipation in your expression in case he correctly guesses that you’re expecting a certain answer from him. 
“I’ve already told you before...” He eventually trails off after a moment before glancing at you again and sighing. “...it’s just, you look like you’re having fun but—”
“But it’s dangerous.“
“But you should play less.” He corrects seriously, skating the arms distance between the two of you and placing his hands on your upper arms, holding you in place. With this gesture, you look up at him with a confused expression, trying to decipher all the thoughts that seem to run over a mile a second in the way he glances back at you. “I’m always behind you and whatever you do, even if it’s dangerous and stupid, that’s what best friends do—but even that has limits sometimes.” 
You pause. For some reason, you don’t think of an immediate and witty comeback to lighten what has unconsciously become a sincere atmosphere, your thoughts lingering instead to the conversation you had with Yuna just last night. 
“Who even drives people to places even when they don’t want to?” You hear your friend loud and clear in your mind, almost nagging even. 
Definitely not Seungmin, you think to yourself, especially if it’s another person like Hyunjin or Jeongin...
“Y/N?” Seungmin suddenly calls for you, his voice just barely above a whisper as he hesitantly lets go of your arms and snaps you out of your daze. 
Blinking twice up at him, you catch him just in time before he can even skate back away from you, holding him by his fingertips. “So...” You trail off, furrowing your eyebrows in thought. “so yes, no, maybe—?”
“Maybe.” He finishes the thought for you, rubbing the nape of his neck awkwardly before huffing slightly in the cold, a puff of white air escaping his pink lips. “That’s a maybe too, I guess.” 
You nod slowly in acknowledgement, tugging him forwards. “So, in conclusion,” You reply slowly, changing your direction again as you now move yourself and Seungmin to the very center of the rink before breaking out into a chuckle to diffuse the unnecessarily tense atmosphere. “let’s get back to it after the summer?” 
“That and don’t play derby when the time comes that you’re actually in Championships.” Seungmin points out, catching up with you now so you’re skating next to each other again. “Multi-tasking isn’t really your strongest suit.”
“Ya!” You protest, elbowing him gently and making him laugh. 
“I was just kidding!” When you try skating away from him, Seungmin latches onto your elbow and desperately pulls you back to his side, barely missing another threat of a fall. “Don’t let go, I’ll trip!” 
“Says the one who called me clumsy that I can’t multitask.” You roll your eyes with an amused chuckle
“We just had a really heartfelt talk and that’s all you picked up?” Seungmin feigns a frown at you, tightening his arms linked to yours. “You’re unbelievable sometimes.” 
“It’s not like we don’t always talk about it.” You scoff, pulling Seungmin close by linking your arms again. “Though, I am a bit surprised with today’s answer. You just always know how to re-word the same thing a bunch of times, huh?” 
“You brought it up and I answered sincerely.” He gestures to you with a tilt of his head, looking down on his skates after. “I didn’t even know my opinion was that important to you. I mean, you have been ignoring it for 2 months straight.” 
“Like I said, no. 1 fan.” You grin before nudging him by his shoulder. “And I don’t ignore your opinion, I’ve been retiring from the game itself earlier like you asked me to before!” 
“As if that makes a difference.” He rolls his eyes, pursing his lips before he could comment further. “You still play 3/4 of the game, anyway.” 
“We’re going to argue about this for the whole morning if ever, Kim Seungmin.” You chuckle, holding his hand again and leading him to another spin around the rink. “Let’s just skate freely for now, hm?” 
Coach Park arrives an hour earlier than she intended later on while you and Seungmin ate your bento boxes, prompting your best friend to not return to the ice after and to simply watch you from the stands instead. When your training ends almost five hours later, you’re quick to change back into your shoes in the locker rooms to return back to Seungmin’s side, making even your coach laugh in amusement. 
“I’ll see you next week Thursday, correct?” Coach Park asks you as she readies to shut the power off the venue, still chuckling every time she glances at you standing next to Seungmin by the entrance. “Those wounds should improve by then so we can start landing at least half of your jumps.” 
You nod, adjusting your gym bag on your one shoulder. “I’ll rest until then, promise!” 
Coach Park then turns to Seungmin with a feigned strict look, pointing at you as she then instructs, “Look after them, Kim, alright? I trust you’ll keep Y/N in check until then.” 
“I will, coach.” Seungmin assures with a nod and a smile himself, slinging an arm over your waist to help you balance yourself before turning you towards the direction of the entrance doors and concluding, “We’ll be off now!” 
“Alright, see you!” You hear coach Park bid you goodbye before you pass through the double doors of the entrance, getting pulled to the direction of the parking lot by Seungmin after. 
“I thought you’re buying me an extra bento box? And iced coffee?” You ask when you don’t make the turn leading to the College of Architecture, following Seungmin straight ahead to his car parked right across the building entrance anyway. “Ya, Minnie—”
“I texted Changbin to buy, it should be at your dorm’s kitchen by now.” Seungmin answers casually, taking out his keys from his hoodie pocket and pointing it to his car. Once you near the vehicle, he then opens the door for you on the front passenger seat, wordlessly taking your gym bag and placing it in the back along with his backpack. “If not, then I’ll just drive back here, I don’t have anywhere to be today.” 
You smile at the thought, happily putting on your seatbelt. “I love you, have I said that this week?” You chuckle, wrapping an arm behind his waist in a side hug before he can close the door. “You’re the best, capt.!” 
“It’s weird when you call me capt.” He feigns a scowl, patting your head and briefly hugging you back anyway. “And you only love me because I practically babysit you.” 
"I never even asked to be babysit in the first place.” You pout, following him with your eyes even when he closes the door and moves to the other side of the vehicle to the driver’s seat. Turning your body to his direction as he turns on the ignition and starts driving away, you then add, “You’re supposed to say you love me too, capt.” 
Seungmin rolls his eyes in an attempt to move your eyes away from the wild blush on his cheeks. “Put your seatbelt on.” He steers the conversation instead, placing a hand behind your headrest as he backs the car away from the parking. 
“‘I love you too’?” 
“What do you want to do when we get to your dorm?” 
“Okay, I’ll take that. How about you choose the movie for today?” 
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three - wednesday
Though he never demands you for it from knowing full-well your own busy training schedule and classes, you’ve always made sure to attend each and every baseball game Seungmin participates in ever since you were children to cheer him on and he’s always thought that that’s your own version of showing your affection to him in return for his support for you. Though you can get a bit embarrassing cheering on him the loudest and always wearing his extra old jerseys to the games, he never complains about it anyway and only argues with you after the game about other things, mostly you skipping your own training to see him or attending his games instead of resting at home like today. It definitely is love—simultaneously a heartwarming and worrying one at that.
So today, at his baseball team’s scrimmage, he’s not even that surprised anymore when you show up with Jeongin by your side, insisting that your cuts and bruises are already manageable enough to let you walk without needing much help. He is, however, still worried over your well-being as usual. 
“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asks you for the fourth time since you met up right outside the field, an arm draped over your shoulder as you walk. Ahead of you, Jeongin and Yuna have already reserved seats along with the rest of your friend group, chatting away with some members of the team. “And you’re not skipping any training today?”
“I already told you, Minnie,” You giggle, limping a little from your blisters and leaning most of your weight to him with your hand on his waist. “My next training’s next week, you were even there when Coach Park reminded me! And it’s not like I’m playing, I’m just going to watch you today!” 
“I’m mainly worried about your blisters since you were training last Sunday. You could’ve just rested at the dorms today.” He points out, sitting you down next to Jeongin on the aisle before kneeling right in front of you. “It’s just a scrimmage, anyway.” 
“But I don’t want to miss a game,” You insist stubbornly, smiling reassuringly at him and his furrowed eyebrows. “and even if it’s just a scrimmage, it’s still you playing. I want to see you play.” 
With this, Seungmin eventually sighs in defeat. “Whatever, not like I can walk you home now and get back to the game in time.”
“I’m already here and you can’t do anything about it.” You affirm with a chuckle, patting his arm. “Now, go, shoo, you have a scrimmage to win.” 
Seungmin then turns to Jeongin, gesturing to you as he stands up, “Look after Y/N, please?” 
“If you mean look after them as in not letting them topple over the seats then sure.” Jeongin nods with a laugh. 
“Hey, I don’t—!”
But, as if ignoring your protests, Seungmin nods gratefully and bids you two goodbye. “Thanks!” He then turns to his teammates before you could even finish another sentence, ushering everyone to jog back to the field. “Okay, guys, chat time’s over. Let’s head to the field!”
“Ay, Seung, don’t get too flustered over Y/N now!” Jisung reminds him with a hand over the younger boy’s shoulders and a snicker, tapping on the mound with his glove as the two reach their designated positions. “Jeno’s pitching, too, you might get hit in the face if you’ll just keep looking at your Y/N.” 
“Shut up, Ji.” Seungmin rolls his eyes, tapping on the mound as well with his bat just as Jeno signals from across the diamond, preparing to pitch. With one last glance at you, he then mutters to himself, “Aish, why did they even come today? They’re injured.” 
Jisung opens his mouth to speak behind his helmet to ask what Seungmin could mean with his last comment but he’s inadvertently cut off by Jeno signaling for everyone to get ready, expertly throwing the first ball which Seungmin instinctively hits hard with his bat, prompting him to start running to first base before Daehwi and Eunwoo could even retrieve it by the chain link fences of the field, thus leaving Jisung to his thoughts. 
“Yay, let’s go Kim Seungmin!” You cheer and yell from the bleachers, almost standing up with a struggle until Jeongin pulls you down by your arms, most likely to remind you of your injuries, which Seungmin is more than grateful for. “Go Minnie! Number 22! Number 22!” 
As he runs, Seungmin makes sure to wave at you in responds when he passes by your bleachers, sending a bashful smile your way that only fuels more teasing from Jeongin without him noticing. You wave both hands back in response before he could turn his eyes back ahead, sinking in your seat as he now tries to aim for second base seeing everyone moving a bit slower than usual. 
Eventually, he makes it to second base just in time, sliding into the plate and narrowly missing Daehwi’s attempt at getting him out. 
“Yay, let’s go Seungmin!” He hears you yell and clap loudly again, making his ears heat up and everyone in the diamond to stifle their giggles. 
“Hey, isn’t Y/N injured from last Saturday?” Daehwi asks at belatedly noticing your presence.
Seungmin then stands up and dusts the dirt off his uniform, adjusting his cap and turning his focus to Jeno and Hyunjin (who bats next) ahead. “I insisted that they skip today’s game since it’s just a scrimmage but you know how they are.” 
“Really? That’s so sweet!” Daehwi squeals in delight, waving at you and the others from others bleachers. “and here everyone thought that Y/N skipping training was already cute enough! They just outdo themselves every time!” 
“Way to romanticize injuries, Dae.” Seungmin scoffs, hiding a smile from Daehwi. Simultaneously, Jeno signals again that the game is about to start, preparing to pitch. “Seriously, it’s not cute. I’m more worried than flattered.” 
“Right, because waving at them while running was definitely being worried,” Daehwi chuckles, getting in position again. “Just say you’re whipped and go.”
“You wish,” Seungmin scrunches up his nose, successfully dodging Daehwi again and leaving him on the second base. “but I do have to get going now!” 
“Ya!” 
“Woo! Go Seungmin!” You yell loudly and repeatedly again, until he successfully reaches home base which prompts you to finally stand up and jump around in cheer despite the pain your lower half. “Way to go Seungmin!” 
Seungmin can only roll his eyes at you as he walks off the field, scoffing in disbelief when you don’t stop cheering even as he approaches you from the other side of the chain link fences since he’s already done for this particular inning. 
“Why are you up? You’re injured.” He frowns, his hands going up the chain links. “Sit down, Y/N.”
“I’m fine!” You dismiss, sitting down anyway when Jeongin and Yuna start tugging on your shirt for you to sit down. “But, more importantly, you did well!” 
“It’s just the first inning—and a scrimmage.”
“Scrimmage, formal game, it’s all the same, you don’t have to say it twice.” You retort, rolling your eyes and chuckling. “You looked really cool out there!” 
The last comment definitely catches Seungmin off-guard but he hides it better this time, waving his hand in front of him. “It was nothing.” 
“So modest,” You scoff with a proud smile, leaning forward and linking your hands between the chain links. “What do you want after the game? Ice cream? Tteokbeokki?” 
“Don’t stand up too much during the game and I’ll think about it,” He answers instead. “and we’re not going anywhere after this with your injuries. I’m taking you straight home.”
“Fine.” You huff in defeat, gesturing to his teammates after. “Okay, now go back, Jeno’s looking at us weird.” 
“Don’t stand up again!”
“I won’t!”
Seungmin meets up with you again after the game. When the scrimmage ends later that afternoon with Jeno’s team winning at 14-18 and everyone heading straight to the showers, he sees you with Jeongin right outside of the locker rooms, sitting on a nearby bench while the younger boy pesters you with questions on your summer training and last Saturday’s game.
“Hey, Y/N!” Jisung, accompanying Seungmin on the way out, greets you with an innocent slap to your back before your best friend could, making you wince in pain. “Oh, shit, sorry!” 
“Ya,” Seungmin reprimands him firmly, slapping Jisung’s hand away from you before helping you up from the bench. “Careful, Y/N’s injured.” 
“Why?” Jisung asks curiously, making everyone turn to him.
“Derby last Saturday.” You answer sheepishly, leaning your weight to Seungmin again appreciatively as he helps you balance yourself. “Got knocked out before scoring a point.”
“You would’ve seen if you didn’t have a date that day.” Hyunjin adds, playfully catching Jisung in a chokehold as your group now walks out of the lockers rooms and outside the field. “It was so bloody as fuck, they were against the league veterans!”
“You make it sound like I died and got resurrected.” You scoff, reaching out for Hyunjin with a struggle and slapping his arm.
“Don’t entertain him too much, he’s just dramatic.” Seungmin assures you, eliciting protests from Hyunjin.
“Really?” Meanwhile, Jisung frowns in jealously, prying Hyunjin off of him and kicking him from behind his knees as a comeback. “Ay, I really would’ve gone if only Haneul liked watching derby.”
“They don’t seem to like watching sports in general,” Jeongin points out bluntly, you nodding along to his right. “why are you still going out with this person, even? Clearly, they’re not interested in your major passion.”
“Because I like them,” the boy in question shrugs without hesitation, making you tilt your head in confusion. “I mean, Haneul’s cool but we—I guess we never really talked about the whole sports thing.”
“Why not? Bro, you’re aiming for the national team.” Hyunjin prods this time. By now, your group has reached and stopped on the sidewalk of the main campus road where you’re supposed to part ways since Jeno’s hosting a get-together but Seungmin’s insisted on taking you home. “In a few years, it’s gonna be weird being in games and having one less person to cheer you on, especially if that person’s your girlfriend.”
“Well, not everyone’s lucky enough to being in love with people who have similar hobbies as they do.” Jisung rolls his eyes dryly, his gaze instinctively landing to you and Seungmin after which only prompts you to raise an eyebrow while Seungmin glares at Jisung.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” You ask, making Jisung chuckle.
“Nothing, nothing.” He waves his hand dismissively at you before turning to Hyunjin and Jeongin. “Anyway, Haneul and I will talk about it again more later on. Personally, I’m not that bothered right now—I’m just happy we get to hang out.”
“But that’s because you started dating before any major games.” Seungmin speaks up after a while. 
Jeongin nods in agreement. “We’ll really just have to see next Friday if you still think that way.”
“Seung, Y/N always attends our games so I don’t think you’re qualified to speak over my love life.” Jisung deadpans, prompting Seungmin to hit him again. “Ow! But it’s true!”
“What?” You scoff, finally getting what he means but pretending to not know anyway in embarrassment.
“Whatever.” Seungmin huffs dismissively at Jisung, directing you away from the group now. “Anyway, we’ll get going now. It’s getting late.”
“We’re seriously going home?” You frown up at Seungmin who’s now standing behind you, both his hands on your shoulders as he moves you to the opposite direction of where the rest of the boys are going. “I was hoping you’d change your mind last minute.”
“I didn’t bring my car here today and Jeno’s dorm’s on the other side of campus.” Seungmin answers your question, waving goodbye to the others. “Come on, let’s go home. We can order again or something.”
“Fine.” You sigh in defeat, letting him walk you backwards as you reluctantly wave goodbye at everyone. “Bye, guys. I guess I’ll see you next Friday.”
“Bye!” Hyunjin, Jisung, and Jeongin wave back at you as they laugh over your frown, the eldest boy making sure to add, “Have fun on your date!”
“It’s not a date!” You yell back at him in exasperation, making the three laugh.
“We’ll make sure to eat well for you!” Jisung teases, winking at you before Seungmin could pull you to the left turn leading back to your dorms. Before you completely part ways, you hear him yell, “Alright, now let’s eat samgyeopsal!”
Heading back to your dorm now, Seungmin stands next to you again, draping his arm over your shoulder again and matching your pace. You walk in comfortable silence for a while, that is until you think about Jisung’s words once again, prompting you to ask, “What was that about by the way?”
“What?”
“The thing with Haneul.” You clarify, tearing your gaze away from him to look down on the ground. “Jisung said something about other people being lucky that they like people who have similar hobbies then looked at you.”
“Looked at me? I thought he was looking at you?” Seungmin tries to joke awkwardly before stopping when you don’t laugh along. “It’s nothing, he’s just being weird.”
You furrow your eyebrows, looking up at him only to meet his side profile. Taking a quick inhale, you then try asking, “Seungmin...do you perhaps—do you like anyone lately?”
At that, Seungmin almost trips over nothing uncharacteristically, his grip on your shoulder accidentally tightening when he holds onto you for support. “Sorry, um—w-what?”
“It’s just,” You shrug awkwardly, feeling smaller under his arm now that your impulsive question suddenly made the air awkward. You walk slower now, despite your dorm being only a block away now. “what Jisung said and—and, you know, you’ve been busy lately.”
“Yeah, because of you and classes.” He points out, still with furrowed eyebrows. “I don’t—I don’t have time to date.”
“But do you want to?”
“Hm?”
“I-If you weren’t busy with classes, training...looking after my clumsy ass and all—would you...would you want to date anyone? Do you like...someone?” You clarify as clearly and as eloquently as you can against the pain on your feet from walking and the sudden loud hammering of your heart against your chest. Why did I even ask? You can only scold yourself internally, keeping a front anyway now that you’re in too deep to change the topic now.
Next to you, Seungmin thinks about your question carefully. He’s not actually thinking about the question per se, more like thinking about why you would ask such question. Are you expecting some kind of answer? “I...” He trails off in thought, catching your gaze momentarily from the corner of his eye. “N-No, not really.”
“Oh.” You muse out loud, trying your best to hide your disappointment. “I guess that’s understandable. You’re aiming for the national team, after all.”
Seungmin then stops walking altogether, making you stop. In front of you, you see your dorm building coming into view, confusing you even more when he moves in front of you.
“No, it’s....“ He shrugs, looking down on his hands before flitting his eyes up again to you. “all my time’s for you, classes, and training right now and it’s fine. Sure, the end goal’s the national team but at the same time, I have all I need right now—dating just so happens to not really a top priority right now.”
You nod slowly with a low hum, smiling at his sincerity after a while. “So I’m top priority?”
At your comment, his sincere facade immediately fades into a scoff, rubbing his temples up in frustration. “I answer your question sincerely and all you pick up is you being a priority?” He asks in disbelief, making you laugh. “And here I was, about to offer you piggyback again.”
“I was just kidding!” You bluff in between laughs, extending your arms out for him to carry you. “Piggyback, please! I live on the third floor!”
“Maybe if you didn’t respond weirdly to my emotional rant—“
“Ya, Seungmin!” You protest, hopping on your better foot and jumping on his back before he could even move away from you. “Ha! Got you!” 
Reluctantly, Seungmin then adjusts the strap of his gym bag on his shoulder and hooks his arms under your legs. “If you’re not so injured right now, I’d drop you on the ground.” He hoists you up on his back with a groan, continuing to walk forward anyway. “Ah, this brat.” 
You chuckle, pinching his cheeks before resting your arms on his shoulders. “But seriously...” You trail off with an awkward cough. “Just date, dude, you can multitask, better than me at least.” 
You then hear Seungmin mumble under his breath, “Maybe if...” but you fail to catch the last words as he then shakes his head and adds, “Ah, whatever. How did we even get to this kind of talk?” 
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five - saturday 
As if the universe is conspiring against you, you end up getting severely injured halfway through your next derby game the following Saturday. When the score is 45-70 in favor of the opposing team, you end up taking a nasty fall after successfully scoring a point, causing a broken nose. 
So much for all the talks you had with Seungmin in the past days, you think to yourself as you catch his surprised gaze from across the rink. 
Maybe it’s also because of how you’ve been talking to him a lot lately about his concerns for you and this sport that he immediately rushes to your side as Yuna and Yeji help you walk from the rink to the locker room as Jaemin suddenly announces a short break. Quickly and gently taking your arm from Yeji’s shoulder from the sides of the rink, the next three minutes are a bit of a blur to you as Seungmin multitasks between examining your bruises, assuring your teammates that he can take care of you, and walking you to the nearest bathroom—all the while scolding you under his breath. 
You can only pout at him the whole way, letting him drag you along with him until he’s hoisting you up again on top of the sink counter much like every other Saturday. 
Except it feels a bit different this time, especially since Seungmin has never looked this worried since you started this sport 2 months ago.    
“Okay, let’s see that bloody nose again.” He asks you after a while, tilting your face downwards with his one hand (the other holding an ice pack from Jaemin) and scrunching up his nose with furrowed eyebrows. “Yikes.” 
“I’m sort of choking here a bit.” You point out, shifting uncomfortably in your place at the feeling of blood on your tongue and the realization that you also have small cuts on your lips. “Um...” 
You see his eyebrows furrow deeper in thought as he then turns to his side and places his backpack next to you, temporarily placing the ice pack in the space between your leg and his backpack and taking out a first aid kit. “That bad? Fuck.” He hisses under his breath, more to himself than to you, as he proceeds to prepare a whole bag of cotton balls, wipes, and ointment. “I can clean and ice this up but we’ll have to go immediately after this and get you checked out at the clinic across the street.” 
“Really?” You wince at seeing Seungmin hold up a wet wipe to your face. “So I can’t finish the game?” 
“You’re face is broken and you’re thinking about the game? Y/N, please...” He sighs disapprovingly at you, cupping your chin again and lightly dabbing on the trail of blood on your face with the wet wipe. “Try to hold in the pain for a bit while I clean your face and maybe try not to think about the game.” 
"Sorry...” You trail off, pouting up at Seungmin and earning you another sigh from him. 
“This is the worst I’ve seen you.” He muses out loud, his furrowed eyebrows slowly softening as he purses his lips. “What even happened back there? It was all too quick for me, to be honest.” 
“The other team’s jammer bumped me a bit too harsh.” You reply slowly, careful of the blood on your lips and the sting you feel from inhaling. In front of you, Seungmin unconsciously winces through carefully cleaning your face. “We were skating on the slope going up so I ended up hitting my face on the barriers.” 
“They’re visitors, right?” He asks you next and you nod quietly in response. “I’ll have to remind Jaemin to talk to them. If not, I’ll talk to them myself...” 
“Seungmin—”
“You fell really bad, they should be accountable.” He insists anyway. “Even if derby’s a violent sport, there are still limits to it and this is just too much.”     
You unconsciously mirror Seungmin’s frown the longer he stares down at the bloodied lower half of your face, your shoulders slouching deeply when he finally reaches the end of the drying red trail on your chin with his third wet wipe. The physical pain of a broken nose and a bruised lip can’t even compete with the guilt pooling in your stomach now as you observe your best friend’s disappointed expression, making you wince less and sigh more in front of him at knowing full well that it’s all because of how you played tonight. “Just say it already.”
“Say what?” He mumbles back, now with a raised eyebrow at you as he disposes off the used wet wipes next to you on top of the sink counter. He then passes you the ice pack, guiding your hands to slowly move it up to your nose. “Where’s this coming from all of a sudden?” 
You see the genuine anticipation in his eyes of what you meant by your words, making you look down on your free hand rested right on top of the faint bruise marks on your lap. “That I’m being stupid for pursuing this sport, that I should stop playing.” You answer quietly as you shift in your seat. “It’s just that we were talking about this exact thing for the whole week and then it happens and now you look so upset so I thought...” 
In front of you, you hear Seungmin sigh before gently tilting your chin up again, meeting your eyes with a soft gaze before moving his hands up to carefully massage your cheeks. “Ya, you’re not stupid,” He shakes his head. “you’re just clumsy sometimes but that’s because you keep forgetting that you’re supposed to be on wheels here and not blades.”
“Ya—”
“And this incident wasn’t your fault.” He adds after a while, when you don’t immediately speak. “I’m not mad at you, just frustrated. I’m mad at the other team, though.”
"Seungmin—” You huff in his touch, cracking a small and brief smile on his face.
“Anyway, I still think you should lessen playing, especially since the semester’s about to start again.” He interjects quickly before you can even say another word, briefly turning to your side to pass you another bundle of face tissues when he hears you sniffling. “but I’ll never ask you to stop playing completely because I know you really enjoy this. The same applies to the other one, of course.”
“Besides, what sport doesn’t involve getting hurt?” He adds as an after thought, taking out two plies of tissue for your incoming cold and the stray tear on your cheek.
“Um, board games?” You muse out loud as you take the tissues in his hands and place them in between your face and your ice pack, fully cracking his serious façade this time as he breaks into a scoff.
“You know what I mean.” You see Seungmin roll his eyes at you, making you purse your lips as a smile tries making its way on your cuts. When he sees your reaction, his thumb instinctively moves over to your bottom lip, stopping you from smiling. “Don’t smile, dummy, we just fixed that lip cut.”
The gesture makes your heart flip and your gaze unconsciously softens at him as you watch him dispose of all your trash with a small ‘alright, done.’ under his breath. “Have I told you I love you this week?” You speak in a low voice with no intention of sounding teasing at all this time, giving him a tight-lipped smile when he looks up at you again in confusion. “You’re the best, capt.” 
It takes him a moment to process your words, especially with the unusual tone in your voice. Eventually, you see him return your smile. “You already did. I’m just looking out for you as usual.” He shrugs bashfully, offering you a hand which you gladly accept when you stand. “I love you too...” 
“I know.” You nod, tugging on him by your intertwined hands and pressing a light kiss on his cheek when he tilts his head to your side. “I’m sorry again.” 
“You’re being soft all of a sudden.” He points out, biting down a small smile. “It’s probably the fall.” 
You roll your eyes at him, pressing the ice pack closer to your face. “How many minutes do I have to hold this ice again?” 
“If you’re thinking of throwing that on my face, I’ll have you know I can deny you entry on my game next Friday.” He warns, placing his hand on the ice pack again to check your wound. “Fifteen more minutes. I’ll text Jaemin and Yeji for now, the clinic should still be open at this time.” 
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mmvalentine · 3 years
Text
Home is Where You Are pt 5 | Feysand
Girl next door AU. CW: Tamlin DV times under the cut. It gets better though, there's HEAPS of fluff that follows I promise!! Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 6
Rhys and Feyre stayed up talking for a little bit, Rhys poured her a glass of brandy and tried not to say too much as she recounted the night's events.
They had gotten into a fight. Tamlin had gotten angry. He was always angry, these days. Tamlin threw a desk, and knocked Feyre to the ground. An accident, just an accident.
"And... him controlling your food intake?" "Not an accident," Feyre admitted. "It started out as meal plans, when he was my personal trainer. And then we were dieting together, because he had done all this research. Then it was just me. I don't know where I lost control of it, I just stopped having opinions one day." She laughed, bitterly. "Not like me at all." "It's hard to form coherent thoughts when you're starving all the time," Rhys said.
Bottom line, Feyre had done it. Gave him back the ring and everything. There was a part of Rhys that was relieved but he also felt awful for having let it get this far. For not stepping in earlier.
"I should have said something," he told her. "You did," Feyre said. "I didn't listen." She pulled her feet up under her.
"It's just, I never had anyone look after me, you know? Not since I was thirteen. So, when Tamlin came along, and he dictated my exercise schedule and cooked my meals, it was nice. For once I wasn't the one running after everyone else. I guess I became afraid to leave.
"Until he threw a table and I remembered telling you that Tamlin wasn't your father. I was sort of right. Tamlin didn't even have to be drunk to start throwing furniture. I shouldn't have stayed so long."
Rhys slid a little closer to her and made sure she was looking into his eyes. "It is not your fault that this happened," he said. "This is no one's fault but Tamlin's."
In the weeks that followed, Feyre bounced back at a rate that had Rhys marveling at the strength of her. She was quiet the first couple of days, and mostly stayed in her room. But Rhys would come invite her to taste what he was cooking, or watch what was on Netflix, or give an opinion on the magazine piece he was working on. The bruise on her cheek faded, she gained weight back little by little, and then one day Rhys came home to find her humming in the kitchen while she made spaghetti and he wanted to pick her up in his arms and spin her around the room.
Instead, he settled for sitting on a bar stool and letting her bring a spoonful of sauce to his lips, while wearing the biggest, goofiest grin he had ever had. "Good?" Feyre asked. "Amazing," Rhys said, and when she beamed at him it knocked the breath out of him. "Excellent. Give me like, ten minutes and then come eat." Rhys raised his eyebrows. "You're cooking me dinner?" he asked. "I am. Now go take a shower and put on your comfy pants, because I made so much garlic bread."
Rhys didn't move. Feyre put the ladle back in the pot, wiped her hands on a tea towel, then realised he was staring at her. "What?" she asked. Her blue-gray eyes went wide, and a wisp of hair fell into her face. She had her curls piled on top her her head, beautiful and shiny again now that she was eating, and she was wearing a knitted, over-sized sweated that was rolled up at the sleeves and somehow looked incredible on her.
"Feyre Archeron you are a wonder," Rhys said. Feyre grinned. "Why thank you, Rhysie darling." She flicked the tea towel at him. "Now get, my garlic bread is burning." Ten minutes later, Rhys sat at a small, round table in sweat pants and a black sweater. It was the table from his balcony, but since it was raining out, Feyre had dragged it inside and draped a table cloth over it. She fussed around him, setting everything on the table and slapping his hands when he tried to help. Finally, she sat down opposite him, and the table was so small their knees knocked together.
"And just what is the occasion here?" Rhys asked. Feyre's cheeks were rosy from standing over the stove, and then rushing around the table. She smiled at him, and then took a deep breath.
"I just wanted to say, thank you. For giving me a place no one could find me. For seeing me. For reminding me that carbs exist!" She grinned. "For-" "Don't," Rhys cut her off. "Don't thank me for doing the bare minimum for you. After everything you've been though, you amaze me every day with how strong you are." "Well," Feyre said, "if you can survive after your dad..." Her face changed then. Her mouth got sad, but her eyes were bright. "I can survive after Tamlin." She raised her wine glass.
"Fuck those abusive shit heads," she said. Rhys picked up his glass. "Fuck yeah."
Then Feyre smiled again, and Rhys had no idea how he was going to get through dinner if she kept doing that.
"Okay eat up!" she said, and he laughed into his wine as he watched her twirl and then devour an enormous mouthful of spaghetti. A fucking wonder indeed.
Over the next six months they settled into an easy routine. Feyre was at the studio three days a week, and also started a kick boxing class with another woman she had met in her therapy group. Rhys started to wish his days away so he could get home and watch Feyre bounce around the apartment. He had never particularly enjoyed being there, but these days he couldn't wait to get home.
They cooked together on the weekends, and watched TV on the couch on week nights. At first, Rhys had been very careful about being in her personal space, since he remembered hating to be touched for years after his father had died. But Feyre seemed so comfortable around him. She would grab his arm when she thought of something funny to tell him, or smack him when he teased her, or lean against him when she started to doze in front of the television. After she started her class, she would practice her kick-boxing moves on him, and once accidentally hurt him more than she had meant to. It had been utterly, completely worth it.
They never outright discussed how long she would stay. Early on, Feyre had mentioned apartment hunting. But Rhys had just shrugged. "It's rent controlled here," he said. "And I'm paying for that room whether you're in it or not. Stay as long as you like."
So little pieces of Feyre started to appear all around the house. Her toiletries in the kitchen cabinet, stray hair ties on the bench top, her favourite biscuits in the cupboard. Once, he had come home and she had a row of underwear hanging up over the balcony. He had almost had a conniption at the thought of her in lace.
It was a thought he buried, hard. The last thing he wanted was to have told Feyre that she could come and be safe here, and then make a move less than a year after her broken engagement. If she wanted a quiet life here with him, that would absolutely be enough.
Although, some days were harder than others. The thoughts could be shoved aside, but he had no control over the way his body reacted to her. To her barefoot in the morning and rubbing sleep from her eyes. To her stretching in the living room before a run. God, one time the washing machine broke and she had nothing to wear, so she borrowed one of his shirts to wear to bed. It was almost cruel.
One day, Rhys had worked late and by the time he was home, Feyre had fallen asleep in front of the TV. He turned the screen off, then squatted down and gazed at her resting face. Her perfect, rose petal lips were slightly parted, she had a frown, and was muttering under her breath.
"Feyre," he whispered. "Feyre we've got to get you to bed." "Rhys," she murmured. He thought she was waking up. "Yes honey, it's just me." Then she moaned his name. "Rhys, don't stop." What? "Mm, right there, don't stop."
Rhys stood up so fast he nearly tripped over the coffee table. The sound of his heel kicking the wood had Feyre startling awake.
"Rhys?" she asked. He had to double check her eyes were actually open this time. When he was sure, he sat down carefully on the table.
"Hello," he said. "I'm sorry to wake you." "It's okay," Feyre frowned. "We were just... I was dreaming." Rhys chuckled. "I know. You fell asleep on the couch. Do you want to go to bed?" Feyre's eyes popped open wide. "What?!" Then she relaxed. "Oh. Right. Yes, I should, ah..." she looked at him then, and blushed. Very deeply. "I should go to bed."
And with that, she wandered off, leaving Rhys completely dazed and not just a little turned on.
Two days later, Rhys woke up on a Saturday and had trudged out to make some coffee. Feyre was already up, sitting at the counter reading a book. He turned on the machine, yawned, and stretched while waiting for it to do its thing. He hadn't worn a shirt to bed, and the morning chill sent shivers along his bare skin.
Then he glanced over, and found Feyre staring at him. Glassy eyed, parted lips, naked staring. And not at his face, either. A feline grin stretched itself over Rhys' lips.
"Good book, Feyre darling?" She jumped sightly. "Ah, yes," she said. "Very... very good." She slid off her stool. "I'd better get ready, kick boxing, you know." "Sure," Rhys said, still grinning. She slipped away, without making eye contact. Rhys poured his coffee.
Five minutes later, Feyre emerged wearing the tiniest pair of exercise shorts he had ever seen. He almost spat his drink.
"Well," she said brightly. "I'm headed off. Might go by the shops later, do you need anything?"
Now it was Rhys' turn to struggle. He shook his head. "Have fun," he managed. Feyre flashed him a dazzling smile. "Thanks!" she said, and bounced out the door.
Oh. Oh he was in trouble.
****
That's right folks, you have made it through the angst and I am now burying you in fluff. Nothing brings me greater joy except smut.
I apologise for the length and for squishing 6 months into this one chapter. It was originally two separate chapters, but I felt like I was undercutting you in the fluff department and I didn't want to break my promise. I kept the original pacing on my ao3.
As always please let me know what you think!!
TAGLIST: @ghostlyrose2 @highladysith @stardelia @feysand-babies @tillyrubes10 @ratabrasileira @live-the-fangirl-life @maybekindasortaace @annejulianneh111 @asteria-of-mars@booksmusicandgoodvibes @burritowithfeels
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heauxplesslydevoted · 4 years
Text
Miami Nights (Ethan x MC)
Warning: 18+, NSFW.
Summary: While in Miami to celebrate their upcoming wedding, Ethan and Naomi sneak away from the festivities to have their own celebration.
A/N: Like all of my NSFW fics, this was 100% self indulgent and written with only me in mind. 
Tags: @fanmantrashcan @ao719 @x-kyne-x @colourmeshy @writinghereandthere @paulfwesley @ramseyandrys @perriewinklenerdie @aworldoffandoms @thatcatlady0716 @drakewalker04 @canknot @hatescapsicum @lapisreviewsstuff @senseofduties @badchoicesposts @ethandaddyramsey @the-soot-sprite @chasingrobbie @zodiacsign1 @choices-lurker @miyakokurono @trappedinfandoms @my-heart-beats-for-ya @adrian-motherfucking-raines @riverrune @edith-eggs1 @thatysn @bellcat2010 @theeccentricbibliophile @cecilecontrera @junehiratas @choices-love-affair @openheart12 @kaavyaethanramsey @caseyvalentineramsey @desmaranj @mal-volaris @whatchique @nazario-sayeed @aestheticartsx @ruinedbypixels @mvalentine @nooruleman @rookie-ramsey
As always, let me know if you want to be tagged or untagged. And if your tags do not work, I’m sorry, and blame Tumblr. ~v~ In a perfect world, Ethan Ramsey would be at home, on his couch, a good book in one hand and a tumbler of scotch in the other. The last place he necessarily wants to be is in the crowded bar of a Miami hotel, sandwiched between a 21 year old girl and her friends, and some guy crying into his pint of beer.
The things Ethan does for love.
Coming to Miami was Naomi’s idea. She wanted a fun weekend away for their bachelor and bachelorette parties, and Miami was the only place she even considered going. What better way to celebrate their upcoming nuptials than to go to the city, specifically the hotel that started it all?
He hasn’t seen her all day, her friends kidnapping her as soon as their plane touched down. He misses her. They’ve been attached at the hip ever since they began dating, even more so after she moved into his condo, and being without her feels strange, even if it’s only for a night. And while he’s grown fond of Naomi’s merry band of misfits, spending the entire night with Bryce, Elijah, and Rafael requires more patience than he has.
He’s spent the entire day with them, and his capacity to be around other people has reached its limit. So while the guys were making plans of going to a strip club, Ethan left altogether, quietly slipping out of their room.
Ethan feels a tap on his shoulder. “Excuse me, is this seat taken?”
He’d recognize that voice anywhere, the slight drawl of Naomi’s accent when she has to pronounce certain words. Once he’s turned around, all thoughts of what he could possibly say are gone.
After two years together, Naomi’s beauty shouldn’t stun him anymore, but she still manages to render him speechless.
“Wow,” is the word his brain finally settles on.
Forever the drama queen, Naomi twirls around so her fiancé can get a full look at the sparkly dress she’s wearing. “I take it you like the dress?”
“You look beautiful.” 
“Thank you.” Her eyes sweep over Ethan, taking him in. He’s not doing anything in particular, but his presence is still commanding and magnetic. “You look pretty handsome yourself. Now, do you care to tell me why you’re missing your bachelor party?”
“I didn’t want to go to a strip club,” Ethan says simply. “And Lahela kept referring to us in third person, calling us ‘The Boys’ all night. It was becoming tiresome, so I left.”
“You can’t leave your own bachelor party.”
“Says the woman who ditched her bachelorette party,” Ethan shoots back.
Naomi rolls her eyes. “I only left my bachelorette party because you texted me to meet you down here.”
“I was simply over the night,” he says with a shrug. “We did a bit of gambling, we went to a cigar lounge, we got dinner. That’s more than enough entertainment for me. The other guys will be fine for the rest of the night if I’m not there.”
“Well if you’re checking out for the night, so am I.”
“No, you can still enjoy the festivities with your friends.”
Naomi shrugs. “Kyra and Sienna went too hard on the tequila shots at the club, and they’re currently passed out. Aurora, Jackie, and I were just in their room talking.”
“About anything in particular?”
“Mostly hospital gossip, nothing major.” Naomi takes a step forward and wraps her arms around Ethan’s neck. “Take me to our room, we can order room service and have our own celebration.”
One of Ethan’s eyebrows raises at the command. His hand travels to his fiancée’s hip, squeezing roughly. “Oh yeah? What kind of celebration?”
“I don’t know,” Naomi says, playing coy. “But I’m sure you can come up with something, doctor.”
~v~
They manage to get to their floor in record time, after Ethan requests that a bottle of wine get sent up to their room, which is a miracle because they spend entirely too much time stumbling through the halls, stealing kisses and touching each other.
Because they got separated early in the day, Naomi didn’t get a chance to see the room she and Ethan would be staying in for the weekend. As soon as he slides the key card through the door and pushes it open, Naomi just knows.
It’s the same suite she and Ethan shared the first time they visited The Celestial. “Ethan, this is...wow.”
“I take it you’re surprised?”
“I’m more than surprised.”
Naomi wanders around the room, her fingers lightly touching all of the fixtures. The bedding is still the same, white and lavender, the room open and light. It even smells the same, and suddenly she’s transported back in time, 3 years ago.
Leaving Ethan where he’s standing, Naomi heads to the balcony, throwing open the sliding glass door. Everything is so still, weird for a city like Miami that’s constantly buzzing with energy. She doesn’t notice Ethan step out a minute later, a chilled bottle of merlot and two glasses in his hand.
He pops open the bottle and pours them both a glass, handing one to her. “Would you like to toast?”
“Sure.” Naomi raises her glass. “Here’s to us, our upcoming nuptials, and the best marriage the world has ever seen.”
“That’s a bold toast.” Ethan gently clinks his glass against hers. “I’ll drink to that.”
Naomi takes a hearty sip, ignoring all of the tips a sommelier usually gives on how to drink, the fruitiness of the wine taking over. She watches as Ethan heads to the railing, his own glass less than full.
“I still can’t believe you managed to get this room,” she says, sighing wistfully, overlooking the ocean from her vantage point. “How did you pull it off?”
“Everyone has a price. I said money was no object, and when I told them it was a surprise for my fiancée, they were a bit more inclined to help.”
“Really?” Ethan hums and nods in response. 
“I told them the room has sentimental value to me,” he explains further. “It’s the room where I realized I was utterly helpless against your charms.”
“Ethan Ramsey, you’re truly a romantic at heart.”
He’ll never get used to hearing her praise him so openly. Ethan ducks his head down so Naomi can’t see the flush creeping up his neck at the compliment. “You bring out this romantic side of me.”
She goes to join him at the railing. He doesn’t say anything, but he slips his arm around her waist, pulling her close.
Butterflies bloom in her stomach at his words. It’s nice to know that their first trip to Miami means so much to him, because it was an absolute game changer for her.
“I remember everything about that night so vividly,” Naomi says, her voice almost a whisper.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Losing to Declan in that poker match, coming out here, sharing a bottle of pinot noir, and talking about Naveen and my dreams for the type of doctor I want to be. I remember it all.”
“And then we kissed,” Ethan adds.
“Oh yeah, we did kiss, huh? I can’t believe I almost forgot that.”
“Ha ha, Rookie.”
“You know I’m just kidding. Of course I remember that kiss. It was the start of quite the journey for us.” A pained look flashed across Ethan’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“I kissed you and then I immediately reneged. I started us on that ridiculous journey and wasted so much precious time because I didn’t want to admit that I was falling for you.”
“Hey.” Naomi grabs Ethan’s hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. “I love you, and look at where we are right now. We’re getting married next week, we’re starting the rest of our lives together. Yes, the journey took a bit longer than I had hoped, but I don’t think I’d change anything in our past. It’s led us to this moment right here.”
“How are you so much more...wise and articulate than me?”
Naomi shrugs. “It’s a gift. Not everyone is privileged to possess it.”
“You remember all of the broad strokes of that night in Miami, but I’m more fond of the tiny details.”
“Like what?”
“I remember your blue dress and how it matched my eyes,” he starts. “I remember the sweet smell of your perfume, jasmine. I remember your coconut shampoo. I remember the way your pupils dilated when you saw me step out of the shower.” Ethan pulls Naomi closer to him and one of his hands gently cups her face. “It’s the same look you gave me when you realized that I threw that poker game for Naveen’s benefit, one of pure awe.”
“Your skin was incredibly soft,” Ethan continues, his finger tracing a nonsensical pattern on her collarbone. “Like silk. And it still is. But you want to know my favorite memory of that night?”
“Wh-what?”
A hand underneath her chin, Ethan tilts Naomi’s head up, their lips dangerously close. If she moves just a hair closer, they’ll be kissing. She’s tempted to just take the plunge, but she’s frozen, trapped under a spell of his.
With that, Ethan’s mouth descends on hers, pulling Naomi into a kiss with a ferocity she wasn’t expecting. She melts into it immediately, moaning, her hand flying to the back of his neck, getting tangled in the hair at the nape. She can taste the wine of him, the sweet taste of cherries as tongue slips into her mouth, deepening the kiss.
Ethan pulls away only to nip at the corner of her mouth. “That fucking moan of yours. The tiny little noise you make at the back of your throat whenever you’re aroused. It’s been playing in my head on a loop ever since.”
His beard scratches a path down Naomi’s neck and shoulder as he kisses her.
“You want to make that sound for me again?” Naomi nods frantically, desperate for whatever is about to come her way. “Good girl.”
Taking her hand, Ethan pulls her away from the railing. Instead of heading back into their suite, he presses her into the tall pillar next to them, barely giving her enough time to put down her wine glass. The exposed skin of her back collides into the pillar with a soft thud.
“Out here?” She asks with a squeak as Ethan tugs at her dress.
Ethan shrugs. “Why not?”
His lips are on her neck again in an instant, clouding her judgment and making it harder to respond. “Someone can–” she dissolved into a fit of moans at Ethan’s ministrations. “Someone can see us.”
“We’re thirty floors up,” Ethan deadpans. “And it’s pitch black out here, no one will see us.” He grabs her hips, pulling her flush against him, and Naomi gasps at how hard he is. “Now hearing you, that’s another story. You’re loud and I have every intention to make you scream.”
If he wasn’t holding onto her, Naomi is sure she would’ve fallen over at his words. Ethan’s cockiness is on full display, and arrogant Ethan was definitely one of her favorite versions of him.
Ethan pulls away, giving Naomi a bit of breathing room so she can properly think again. “Does that sound like a plan, Valentine? Me having my way with you right here on this balcony?”
“God, yes.” She ignores the way he smirks at her unbridled eagerness. Ethan has a healthy enough ego without her stroking it.
“Correct answer, Rookie.”
Ethan’s hand wraps around the silky material at the top of Naomi’s dress and yanks it down. Naomi hears the ripping of the material and her eyes fly open in shock at the cool Miami air hitting her exposed chest.
“We’re going to have to talk about the serious lack of respect you have for my clothing.”
“You told me you got this dress because someone you called a “Pictagram influencer” advertised it and had a coupon code making it 70% cheaper,” Ethan counters.
“Yes, the dress was cheap, but you have to stop ripping all of my clothes.”
“I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
“With a new dress?”
Ethan rolls his eyes at his fiancée’s quip, but he ignores it. “Something better.” He kisses down her neck and chest, stopping to wrap his lips around her nipple, biting down gently.
It takes a second for Naomi to register that the source of the unladylike growl filling the air is her. She grips Ethan’s shoulder to steady herself, her nails digging through his shirt, and her head falls forward at the sensation.
“You’re always so responsive to me,” Ethan murmurs softly. His mouth descends on her other nipple, his tongue flattening over the pebbled bit of flesh. “And I don’t even have to do anything to you.”
“Well, can you do something to me?”
“You young people have no patience,” Ethan clicks his tongue teasingly. Slowly, he sinks down to his knees in front of Naomi, tugging her dress down with him. He’s already ripped it, there’s no use in exercising any more care. The sparkly dress pools at Naomi’s feet and she kicks it away.
“You old people move too slow–”
The words die on her throat as Ethan hooks a finger into the band of underwear and tugs them down at a frenzied pace. His calloused fingers dig into her hips, hard enough to bruise. She always calls him old, teasing him into accepting whatever challenge she’s thrown his way. “I’ll show you old, Rookie.”
Leaving her hip, one of Ethan’s hands travels to her knee, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake. He hooks her leg over his shoulder, giving him more leverage.
She can feel his breath, warm and tickling on the inside of her thigh, so close, yet so far away from where she actually needs him to be. Her hips fly forward, a silent plea for him to continue this little game they’re playing. Thankfully Ethan doesn’t tease her any further as his tongue flies out, licking at her folds.
Naomi inhales sharply and she nearly hikes up the wall at the sensation. “Oh, God.”
“You’re so wet for me, Naomi,” Ethan whispers against the overly sensitive flesh.
He dives back in, moaning against her and Naomi throws her head back at the vibration. “Always for you.”
She can tell by the way his blue eyes sparkle as they lock eyes that he’s smirking. But Naomi doesn’t have time to care about that because his lips wrap around her clit and he sucks hard. Naomi cards her fingers through his hair, tugging at him roughly, like she will die if he doesn’t keep his attention right where it is. 
It doesn’t last long though, and with ridiculous strength and skill, Ethan manages to grab her wrists in one hand, and keeps her hips planted against the pole with the other. Naomi receives the message loud and clear: he’s in control here, unequivocally.
Secure in the fact that she won’t be doing too much moving, Ethan doubles down, his tongue lapping at her. The familiar scratch of his beard against the sensitive skin of her inner thigh only makes her more delirious with lust.
Molten core levels of heat prick at every bit of her skin, from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes. Her stomach tightens and there’s a tingle at the base of her spine. She’s close and it’s not fair that he can make her come this quick, and she’s not sure if she hates it or loves it. “I’m gonna–”
“I know.”
Ethan pulls away slightly, but Naomi doesn’t get the chance to whine about it. In an instant, he’s slipped a finger inside of her, earning a groan. He is just so...relentless in his goal, and Naomi barely has a chance to breathe before she’s keening (something so dramatic and unlike her. Ethan will never let her live it down). Her orgasm is swift, crashing into her like a tidal wave, knocking her off kilter almost instantly. Ethan doesn’t back away, his mouth still on her, working her through the release.
Her entire body is buzzing, still wracked with aftershocks when Ethan finally stands up. His eyes are dark, no longer the ocean blue they usually are, now taking on something closer to the midnight sky, fully dilated and hooded. His mouth is wet, slick with...well her, and Naomi has never wanted to kiss him more.
“That was a promising start,” Ethan says. “But it’s just that: a start. I’m nowhere near done with you.”
A start? If Naomi had the energy to do so, she would laugh at him, but one look in Ethan’s eyes lets her know that he’s being serious. She gulps audibly. She’s a shaky puddle of goo right now, and that was only the beginning?
“Turn around, hands against the pillar,” Ethan commands.
“Wh-what?”
“You heard me loud and clear, Naomi. Hands out, ass up.”
He’s using his commanding doctor voice on her, and she loves it. Naomi does what she’s told, palms flat against the pillar holding up the balcony.
She hears rustling from behind, and she’s sure he’s undressing. Now she’s extremely aware of their power imbalance: she’s stark naked, save for a pair of high heels, while he’s still fully dressed. It’s not fair. Shifting slightly, Naomi lifts a foot and shakes it, hoping to get the shoe off in one fell swoop.
She’s stopped short of her plan as a sharp smack is delivered to her ass. She’s unable to contain the expletive in her throat, a loud, “Fuck!” drifting into the Miami air.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Ethan asks.
“Taking off these heels.”
He tsks at her, as if the answer isn’t good enough. “I don’t remember giving you permission to do so.”
The authoritative tone zips straight through her, and Naomi turns to face him, putting on her best doe eyes. “I’m sorry, sir.”
“Christ.” Naomi didn’t know it was possible, but Ethan’s eyes darken even further at the word. He doesn’t bother stripping out the rest of his clothes, just quickly undoing his belt and pushing his pants down until they pool at his ankles. Without warning, Ethan wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him. Naomi’s back collides with his chest with a hard thud. “Kiss me.”
That’s not a command that needs repeating. Naomi tilts her head back in an attempt to kiss him, but their vast height difference and Ethan’s death grip on her make it a challenge. She just barely manages to capture the corner of his mouth before Ethan growls impatiently, and grabs her neck, forcing her head back to deepen the kiss.
It’s overwhelming and heady, and she’s so caught up in it, she doesn’t even realize his cock, hard and pulsing, is poised at the entrance until he plunges into her in one smooth thrust.
If he wanted her loud, he got what he asked for, because Naomi breaks their kiss in order to scream at the welcome intrusion. The air rushes from her lungs, and she can’t even begin to breathe again before Ethan pulls out and enters her again with just as much intensity as before.
She feels delirious, and she can’t pinpoint why. Maybe it’s the fact that they’re 400 feet above solid ground, and one look down makes her head spin. Maybe it’s the fact that someone, somewhere in this hotel knows exactly what they’re doing. Maybe it’s the fact that every inch of her skin burns deliciously as Ethan has her stretched at full fucking capacity, and she has nowhere to run or hide. There’s no sheets she can pull, no pillows to muffle her moans, nothing she can grab onto to anchor herself to reality. She’s suspended in this moment, and she can’t do anything but simply take it as Ethan fucks into her like a madman.
The noises she’s making along with the sound of their skin slapping together is wildly obscene, and it only spurs Ethan on. Abandoning her throat, his hand travels down to her chest, his forefinger and thumb pinching her nipple, bringing the tiny nub to an almost painfully hard peak. He makes sure to give the same level of attention to the other nipple, torturing his fiancée until she’s whining unintelligibly.
His lips find her earlobe and he bites down. “Are you close again?”
“Yes,” Naomi answers.
Instead of speeding up, Ethan slows down, his thrusts slowing down to an agonizingly deep pace, fully pulling out of her and thrusting in again at a leisurely pace, the sole intent of driving her insane.
“Ethan,” she whines. She’s a shaking mess, unable to do much else besides cry out and occasionally moan his name. Her spine curves, back arching and her head falls against his shoulder. “Fuck! Ethan, please.”
“Please, what?”
Despite his teasing, Naomi can tell he’s just as desperate as she is. His breath is coming out in ragged and uneven pants, there’s a thin layer of sweat, slick and coating his chest, and she can feel his heartbeat, wild and erratic against her back. He’s just as tortured as she is.
In a Hail Mary attempt to get what she wants, her inner muscles clench down on him, stopping him mid-thrust. Ethan’s knees buckle, the move unexpected and throwing him off-kilter.
“Shit, Naomi,” he manages to rasp out. “You don’t play fair.”
Being fair has no place in this, she plays to win, but she has no time to throw it back in his face as he presses into her clit with the pad of his thumb, applying just enough pressure to make her yelp.
If her last climax felt like getting slammed with a tidal wave, this one feels like floating down a river: languid and unrelenting, refusing to stop. It consumes her entire body, engulfing her in pleasure so white hot and intense, she’s sure stars are popping behind her eyelids as every bit of pleasure is wrung out of her body until there’s nothing left to give.
Ethan’s thrusts speed up again, messy and spasmodic, all rhythm gone. His hips snap against hers before she feels him coming, his entire body going rigid.
Thankfully, Ethan has enough energy left to pull them into a chair because Naomi was more than willing to simply collapse onto the concrete and stay there. She curls into his side, her face finding a spot in the crook of his neck.
They don’t speak for what feels like forever, both just trying to regulate their breathing and return back to normal.
Ethan breaks the comfortable silence, but Naomi barely realizes he’s talking before it’s too late to fully listen. She tilts her head back so they can lock eyes. “What?”
“I asked if you’re okay,” Ethan says.
“I can’t feel my legs,” is all Naomi manages to say. Ethan chuckles and reaches forward, slipping Naomi’s heels off, the relief pretty much instant.
“Better?”
“Much.” She sighs sleepily, her eyelids growing heavy. She burrows deeper into his side, Ethan’s body heat lulling her to sleep. “This was much better than staying in the girls’ room.”
“And it was much better than going to a strip club with your friends,” Ethan adds.
“You like them. They’re your friends too, don’t deny it.” Ethan doesn’t outright confirm or deny anything, which is all the confirmation Naomi needs. “Told you so.”
“How about a shower, Miss Know-It-All?” 
“Sounds great,” Naomi huffs, but she makes no effort to move.
“This is doing more for my ego than you’ll ever know.” Ethan is careful, extracting himself from Naomi’s grip in order to get up. He then hooks his arms underneath her, lifting her up bridal style to carry her back into their suite.
Naomi might as well be unconscious because she’s dead weight in his arms as he maneuvers his way to the en-suite. Thankfully the shower isn’t complicated and all Ethan has to do is turn a few knobs for it to turn on. He waits a few seconds to make sure the water is the perfect temperature, before pulling Naomi in with him.
They don’t spend too much time in the marble and glass box, as Ethan can see Naomi is probably seconds from passing out. The shower is over almost as quickly as it began. Both wrapped in large hotel robes, Ethan nudges Naomi back to the bedroom where she collapses face down onto their bed.
Once Ethan is in bed with her, Naomi rolls over, her face firmly planted on his chest. Upon making contact, Naomi sighs.
Ethan kisses the top of her head. “I can practically hear your thoughts. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong,” Naomi assures him. “Just thinking.”
“About what?”
“It just feels...surreal, being back in Miami, being back in this room,” Naomi explains. “We’re getting married next weekend.”
Ethan lifts Naomi’s left hand, her engagement ring sparkling in the moonlight. “It does feel surreal.”
“I think we should make it a tradition, coming out here.” Ethan looks down at her, a curious eyebrow raised. Naomi feels the need to explain herself, the words rushing out of her mouth. “It doesn’t have to be annual or anything, but I want this to be our special place.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” Ethan says. The next they come to Miami, she’s going to be his wife, and the thought spends a thrill down his spine.
“And we have to have sex on the balcony. It’s tradition now.”
“I’m starting to think you only want me for my body.”
“Of course not,” Naomi argues. “I’m in it for your money, too.” Ethan pinches her leg for the teasing, and she squirms away from him, laughing.
“When I die, I’m bequeathing all of my money to Jenner.”
“He’s a good boy, he’d share with me.” 
Ethan rolls his eyes and pulls Naomi in for another kiss. They don’t make it very far though, as the sound of a cell phone pierces through the air, making them spring apart.
“Yours or mine?” Ethan asks, eyes scanning the room for the source of the noise.
Naomi bends over and sees her cell phone on the floor by their bed, and not on the nightstand. 
Weird. She picks it up, and her eyes widen at the amount of texts she’s received in the past minute, the vibration so strong, it knocked the phone off of the table. “It’s mine.”
Bryce L: DUDE!!!
Bryce L: Where the duck r u?
Bryce L: ????????????????????????????????
Bryce L: Srsly not funny, did u run away from ur own bachelor party?
Bryce L: Pick up fone. Nay will murder us for losing u. 
Bryce L: But I will murder fist, 4 running away
Bryce L: Oh shut. Naomi, ignore this!!! 
Bryce L: JK, false alarm
Bryce L: Ethan is fine, picky promise!
Between the misspelled words and strings of emojis, Naomi can tell that her surgeon friend is completely drunk, but she manages to figure out what he’s saying. “So Bryce is having a meltdown because he lost you.” Taking the phone from Naomi’s hand, Ethan holds it up to his face, squinting as he reads. “And he thinks he was texting you, when he really just texted me.”
Ethan chuckles slightly, and mere seconds later, his own cell phone rings ‘Dr. Bryce Lahela’ flashing across the screen. “He’s figured it out, and he’s calling me now. Should I answer?”
“No. Let them have their Hangover moment.”
“Their what?”
“From The Hangover. The movie with Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zack Galifiniakis where they get totally shitfaced and lose their best friend a day before his wedding,” Naomi explains. Ethan just stares at her blankly. “Oh my gosh, you’ve never seen it?”
“How does this come as a shock to you, Rookie?”
“Well, we can't get married until you’ve seen the entire trilogy.”
That makes Ethan’s brows fly up. “There’s 3 of those movies that you want me to sit through?”
“God Grandpa, you’re so lame,” Naomi groans and her hand reaches out onto the nightstand, grabbing the remote control. She points to the large flatscreen tv in front of them. “Hopefully we can order movies on this. If not, I brought my laptop so–” Ethan plucks the remote from her hand, and tosses it to the edge of the king sized bed. It lands softly. “Hey!”
“I don’t care about some stupid movie.”
“It’s not stu–” He tugs at the knot holding her robe together until it falls open. “Ethan…”
“You have options, soon to be Missus Ramsey,” Ethan starts. He rolls over until he’s on top of Naomi, his arms bracing either side of her cage, caging her underneath him. “We can watch that movie, or we can pick up where we left off on the balcony. Which choice do you prefer?”
“The movie,” Naomi quips back with a smirk.
She laughs at her own joke and Ethan’s eyes darken mischievously, taking on the challenge. “Just for that, I’m going to guarantee that you won’t be able to walk tomorrow.”
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chibinekochan · 3 years
Text
Morning Sunrise ft. Beel and Belphie
A fic about the brothers and you get a free day in a spa hotel. On paper, it sounds great but not everything is going as planned.
Will the twins still get to enjoy their birthday even when it seems that everything is ruined?
Read on to find out.
  I hear a knock on my door. I open it to find Levi. "Hey Levi, can I help you with anything?" 
"Well, I have a huge problem." He looks very distraught. 
Then he starts to rummage through his pocket and pulls some tickets out. "I won these tickets in a raffle. Sadly they are completely useless to me. They are for a day and night in a spa, for three people. Well, you can probably see the issue. First of all, I don't even have that many friends and it's in a region without wifi. Then there is a concert that weekend that I simply can't miss." Levi dumps all this information on me. 
"I would have gone with you. You have Solomon and Henry. I mean any of your brothers would come too." I feel bad for Levi. 
"That is so kind of you." His eyes sparkle. "You are a true friend!" Levi smiles gleefully at me. 
"Sadly that concert is still more important to me. So I want to give these to you." Levi is holding the tickets for me. 
"That is very nice of you. I will pay you back with some anime merchandise from the human world." I graciously take the tickets from Levi. 
"That is super fair. There is a ton of stuff that I need." Levi agrees and leaves me alone. 
  I check the date it's on the night before the twins’ birthday. This is the perfect opportunity for a little early birthday celebration. 
   I already have gifts for them so this is only a bonus. Well, if they are up for it. 
  I head to their room right away. 
  I knock and hear someone say. "Come in."
I'm sure it's Beel. 
  I open the door. Belphie looks at me with a sleepy expression while Beel smiles at me. 
"Hey you two, I have a question about your birthday." I get straight to the point. 
"Sure, ask whatever you want." Beel sounds very enthusiastic. 
"Yeah, as long as it's not too tiresome." Belphie is still half asleep. 
"Levi gave me tickets for a day and night in a spa for three people. It's on the day before your birthday and I thought it would be great if we could go." With a big smile, I show them the tickets. 
"That kind of sounds like a pain. I mean we have to travel to get to the place." Belphie sounds not really in the mood for it. 
"They got this great spa massage that is said to give you the best sleep ever and they also got an enormous buffet." Luckily enough I know just the right thing to motivate him, and I also throw something out there that will make Beel happy too. 
"Oh, that sounds great! I mean I wanted to go anyway since you can see the stars very well up there at night." Beel seems to drool for a moment. 
"Haha that's so you Beel, but it sounds pretty nice now that I think about it. We can celebrate our birthday morning in peace. It will be great." Belphie changes his tune rather quickly. 
"Great, I will get Lucifer's permission for us. I'm so excited!" I beam with happiness. A spa day to relax just sounds perfect. 
"Yeah, it will be fun. I'll make sure to thank Levi later." Beel is in a great mood. 
Even Belphie seems affected by it. "We just get him something anime-themed. That will make him happy."
  With that, everything is settled. 
Getting permission wasn't super easy but we did it in the end. 
  I only pack the bare minimum. It's a trip that will take a few hours after all. While the hotel is free the trip itself isn't so we travel cheaply. With a train and a bus. 
The journey is pretty pleasant, even when I nod off on the train. We had to start very early to get to the hotel in time. 
I lean on Beel's shoulder and Belphie takes two seats all by himself across from us. It's pretty comfortable. 
At breakfast time we have to stop Beel from buying the entire food cart but other than that it's a fun time. 
We eat at the train station before riding our bus into the mountains. 
I sit next to Belphie on the bus ride. He is sleeping on my shoulder this time. 
Beel and I talk about different topics. I have some plans at the spa for sure. 
The bus is a bit late but there's no issue. 
Once we arrive at our final stop I stretch my body. I'm all tense after the long ride.
  Belphie studies the map on the side of the road and groans loudly. "This looks like a real hike."
I look at the map, the hotel is on the top of the mountain and we have to walk. Probably gonna take us an hour or two. Luckily I'm prepared. "We knew this Belphie. Just think of the nice spa treatment as your victory price." I try my best to motivate him. 
"Yeah, and the nice food!" Beel doesn't lack motivation at least. 
Belphie sighs and shrugs. "I will do my best. In the worst case, one of you has to carry me."
"Good luck with that, Belphie." I laugh at that. 
"I'm sure you can do it." Beel gives him a friendly slap on the shoulder. 
"I guess I have no choice." He shakes his head and groans. Then he starts walking. 
Beel shrugs at me and we both laugh a little. 
"Are you coming? You snails!" Belphie turns around and teases us playfully. 
"I'll show you a snail!" I reply equally playful and speed up until I catch up with him. 
In the end, we all walk together along the path. 
It's more exhausting than I expected but the idea of a spa day is more than enough motivation for me. 
Belphie, on the other hand, looks like he suffers. 
"Are you alright?" Beel has a worried tone. 
"I'm fine." Belphie doesn't sound convincing. 
"I can carry you." Beel is worried. 
"I can still walk." Belphie wants to push on just a little bit longer. 
"Don't push yourself. Oh, look, that sign there means we are about halfway there." I point ahead to a fork in the road. 
Beel looks at the sign. "Yeah, maybe we can take a short break then." 
We've made good progress and are pretty much on time. "Sounds good to me. Let me check the map, I think there is a nice spot just a little bit ahead."I get the map from my side pocket. 
"You don't need to do that just for me." Belphie doesn't want to be a bother to us. 
"I'm getting hungry so I need a break." Beel is mostly concerned about what is best for everyone. 
"In the guide, it said from the rest spot just a little bit ahead we have a great view of the hotel. I would like to see that." I chime in support of Beel and to give us all a well-deserved rest. 
"I guess I have no choice. Let's take a break." Belphie shrugs with a smile. He knows very well that he needs a break but is too proud to admit that.
  We find the spot just a little bit ahead of the path. 
It's a very nice spot with a great view not just of the hotel but also the surrounding nature. 
I look in awe of the beautiful landscape. 
Beel enjoys the snacks we have packed and Belphie has decided to take a quick nap. 
It's a very peaceful scene. It makes me smile to see them both so relaxed. 
Then I feel a slight chill in the air. I notice some dark clouds on the horizon.
  "That looks pretty bad." Almost as to confirm my bad feeling, Beel speaks up. 
"Yes, we need to move asap. Have you eaten enough?" I worry about his huge appetite. 
"I can eat while we walk. What about you, Belphie?" Beel tries to wake Belphie up. 
He groans. "What is going on?" 
"It looks like there is a storm coming," I say in an alert tone. 
"Huh, I see, just give me a moment." Belphie gets slowly up. He seems pretty sluggish. 
Another gust of wind hits me, something wet touching my skin. “We need to hurry, it's already starting to rain.”
"You are right." Beel looks with a worried expression towards the ever darker sky. 
Belphie gets hit by some droplets of water and groans. "We should hurry." He seems to be fully awake now.
  I can only agree and so we hurry back to the path upwards of the mountain. 
The rain now really starting to hit us all and soon it's down pouring. 
It hits so hard the road is hard to see. 
I have never been so wet my entire life. 
We hurry our steps more, especially when thunder roars through the sky. 
It's coming down now. 
We had been prepared but certainly not enough. 
Then I see that Beel has come to a halt, just a little bit in front of me. 
Our path is blocked by a fallen tree.
  Belphie groans. "What are we supposed to do now? The path down is very far."
"Climbing it would be too dangerous too." The tree is huge and looks very slippery. 
"It looks like there are rocks and mud on the other side too so removing it would only cause us harm." Beel has already scouted the situation. 
"We have to take shelter from the rain. I saw a hut on the map, there should be a path right by marker 113." I have to speak loudly due to the rain and the wind picking up now too. 
"Let's see if we are at 114 so it should be behind us," Beel confirms the marker. 
"At least that's some good news. Let's get moving." Belphie seems very annoyed. I can't blame him.
  Beel and I can only agree. 
By now I'm entirely soaked. 
Still, there is no resting now. We silently walk back to the waymarker. 
Then suddenly something pushes me out of the way and something big crushes right next to me. 
Then I realize that a tree just fell inches away from me. I look surprised at the tree and then at Beel. Who has shoved me away.
  "Are you okay?" His face twists in pain and yet Beel is only worried about me. 
"Y-yeah but what about you?" I can see that he got hit. His cheek is bleeding and his shirt is torn right at the shoulder. The tree must've hit him there. 
"I'm good. Let's be careful." Beel acts like he is fine. I'm still worried. As soon as we hit shelter I will treat his wounds. 
We carefully move as fast as we can. The ground is slippery. 
"Beel stop pretending to be fine, you are limping." Belphie looks angrily at Beel. I look at him and notice that Belphie is right. 
The guilt is ripping my heart out. "Beel come lean on me. It will only get worse if you don't." I can't stand seeing him like this. 
"No, I'm too heavy for you." He bluntly refuses. 
"I'm too wet and tired for this Beel just lean on us both." Belphie doesn't take no for an answer. 
Beel sighs but doesn't refuse our help. "Fine."
"We should be there soon. Just hold on for a little bit longer." With that, I carefully take Beels injured side and Belphie takes his other side.
  Belphie takes the brunt of Beel's weight. 
I know he is much stronger than me but he still struggles. 
This slows us down even more but nobody complains at all. We all might get wet but we just focus on getting to safety. 
"There I can see the shelter." I can see a small hut in between the trees.
"Thank the demon lord." Belphie seems to be very relieved. 
"Just a little more and we can all rest," I say this mostly to Beel. 
Once we finally hit the small, but cozy and sturdy hut we are all very happy. 
Beel sinks to the ground, checking his leg. "It's not broken at least so with some bandages and rest I'll be as good as new by tomorrow morning. 
"That's good to hear. We got some wood so I'll make a fire." Belphie lights up the fireplace. 
"I will treat your injuries. Take your shirt off. It needs to dry anyway." I don't care much about being wet right now and get my first aid kit from my bag. 
"You should change into something dry first. If you stay like this we will have far bigger issues than my injuries." Beel looks at me with a stern voice. 
"He is right." Belphie is already half-naked. I turn around blushing. "Belphie, gee warn me when you do this." 
"There is no need to be shy. You should take a closer look while you can." At least Belphie hasn't lost his humor yet. 
I throw a towel at him. "No thank you, and you both better not peek while I change." I huff, slightly embarrassed. 
"It's not like you have anything we haven't seen yet." Belphie uses this chance to tease me. 
"Just be polite, Belphie. I'll make sure he doesn't look, don't worry." Beel encourages me greatly with his words. 
"Whatever. I will go and call the hotel for help and I won't look." Belphie shrugs.
  I turn around and undress my wet clothes. Luckily, we planned to stay the night.
I'm glad to be out of my wet clothes and quickly dress something dry. I dry my hair and then turn back to Beel, to finally treat his wounds.
He didn't even bother to wear a shirt yet, which makes it just a little bit harder for me. 
A bit embarrassed I treat his foot first. "It's a bit swollen. I will put some cream on it and a bandage. You should just take it easy for today unless it swells more we are fine." I give Beel a quick summary of my thoughts. 
"Yeah, that is what I'm thinking too. I'll be fine by morning." He wholeheartedly agrees. 
I hope he is right and carefully start to apply the cream. Beel slightly winces from the pain. I feel very bad for him. "Just a little more." I wrap the bandage around his foot, ankle, and a bit up his leg. "There we go."
Beel moves his food a bit. "Much better, thank you so much." He smiles gratefully at me. 
"No problem, now I will clean your other wounds." I get the disinfectant and bandaids out. 
Beel looks with great discomfort to the disinfectant. He doesn't like how it stings. 
"I know you hate it but you know it has to be done. If you keep still I will treat you with your favorite chocolate bar." I'm being a bit playful, trying to cheer him up more than anything else. 
"I will be good then!" Beel is instantly motivated by the prospect of chocolate. It's so cute that it makes me chuckle. 
"Have you my favorite too?" At that moment Belphie comes back.
"Sure, I love those too after all. I actually got a value pack with all our favorites." I had planned to surprise them both on the trip back, but due to our current circumstances now is a better time. 
"Oh, nice. Can I get them out of the bag? All this running made me kinda hungry." Belphie seems pretty chipper again. 
"Sure, but what did the hotel say?" I'm pretty curious about that. I start to carefully disinfect Beel’s arm while I wait for Belphies answer.
"They can't get to us with this storm raging but they are sure it will be gone by tomorrow. They were very sorry about the whole situation. It sounds like they will greatly extend our stay." This explains Belphie's great mood. 
"Won't the others be disappointed if we aren't back by tomorrow evening?" Beel seems conflicted. 
"They will survive, plus we might just do it another time anyway. The hotel will likely give us some vouchers or something." Belphie doesn't sound concerned at all. 
"Lucifer won't let us miss a couple of days of school anyways." I put a few bandaids on Beels shoulder and then start to disinfect his cheek. 
None of the injuries are deep, this gives me great relief. 
Belphie sighs. "Too bad really. How are your injuries?" 
"I'm fine." Just then Beel winces from the disinfectant. 
"Hold still." I can't work well with him moving around. 
"Sorry." Beel mumbles. 
Belphie has pulled out the bag of sweets. "Talk about a big stash of goods. You put Beel to shame." Belphie gives me a light chuckle. 
"Not really, about 90 percent of my backpack was stuffed with food." Beel is eyeing the sweets. 
"At least we won't starve." Belphie shakes his head.
"At least he didn't bring an extra pillow." I put a bandaid on Beels cheek. "There all done."
"Hey, I need that extra pillow and tonight you will be grateful that I also packed a blanket." Belphie buffs slightly. 
"Ahh, thank the demon lord. Now I can eat!" Beel is just glad he doesn't have to sit still anymore. 
He gives me and Belphie a fair share of treats before starting to shove chocolate into his mouth.
  Belphie eats his portion with much enjoyment. 
I suddenly start to shiver. "Now that I think about it. How are we going to sleep here tonight?" I haven't packed a blanket. 
"I suppose we all share my pillow and blanket. It will be tight but we will be warm that way." Belphie shrugs like it's no big deal at all. 
"Kinda like a sleepover in one bed." Beel doesn't look fazed at all either.
They both are probably used to this, meanwhile, I'm not. 
"Are you saying that we should all cuddle up under one blanket?" It's pretty embarrassing to me, I blush. 
"Yeah, unless you want to catch a cold." Belphie smirks at me. 
"There is no way I will let that happen." Beel seems to agree with Belphie. 
"Will we even all fit under that blanket?" I can't imagine that. 
"Let me show you." Belphie pulls his backpack towards him and produces his pillow and a huge blanket. 
My eyes widen and I gasp from the surprise. "How did you fit that in there?!"
"Magic, of course." Belphie is very amused. 
Of course, it was magic. Pretty stupid question of me.
  Belphie spreads the blanket out and I can see that it will fit all of us without issues. 
Beel wraps the blanket around himself, with a bit of help from Belphie. 
There is definitely plenty of space for me and Belphie left.
  "As much as I'd love for you to be in the middle, we have to use Beel as our heater." Belphie seems slightly frustrated by this.
"It's kinda mean to refer to Beel as a heater but I'm fine with this." There aren't many other choices anyway. "More importantly, are you fine laying in the middle with your shoulder being injured?" I'm still very worried about him. 
"It's fine he isn't wrong and it doesn't hurt that much anyway. I'm more worried that me and Belphie somehow squish you when we sleep." Beel is as usual mostly concerned about anyone but himself. 
"Yeah, that would be terrible, as unlikely as that might be." Belphie seems troubled by the thought too. 
"Alright, but if you have pain you have to promise to tell us." I look with a stern face at Beel. 
Beel nods. "I will."
"Alright then, I'm tired so I will get comfortable now." Belphie yawns very loudly, it's a surprise he even lasted this long. He then proceeds to sit right next to Beel and without a second thought he snuggles up to him. 
Beel doesn't even bat an eye. I'm used to Belphie doing the same thing to me so it's not that odd. 
I again start to shiver. 
"Come here, you need to warm up." Beel is very worried about my health. It would be very bad if I catch a cold. "You are right." I carefully move next to Beel, making sure I don't hit his shoulder. 
He wraps the blanket around me. It's very warm, helped by Beels natural heat. 
"You can move closer." Beel encourages me with a soft voice. 
There is very little space between us even now. I still take his offer and scoot closer. My side is now touching him. I'm very aware of our closeness. 
Beel puts his arm around me, erasing any distance between us. 
I feel embarrassed but it's very comfortable so I settle down pretty quickly. 
"Does it hurt?" I want to make sure that Beel is also comfortable. 
"Hm? No, not at all." Beel seems almost surprised by my question. Has he forgotten about his injury already?
"Hey, can you hand me some of the snacks?" Belphie sounds like he is already half asleep. 
"Hold on." A bit reluctant to leave my comfortable spot and reach out to grab the package of sweets.
"Thanks." Belphie eats one of his favorites with a gleeful smile. Then he grabs another one. "Here Beel for you." He can tell that Beel is still hungry.
"Very nice of you." Beel eats it with glee. 
I take a turn and feed Beel next, while also grabbing one for myself. 
Belphie and I repeat this a couple of times.
  Then Belphie yawns again, very loudly. 
I admit that I'm feeling pretty sleepy myself. The warmth of the blanket and the stress of the day finally seem to catch up with me. I yawn almost in unison with Belphie. 
"We should all rest for a while." Beel makes a very good point. 
"I agree." Belphie seems to be already half asleep. 
"Sleep well." I get more comfortable at Beels side.
  Soon I hear Belphie softly snoring. I, on the other hand, just can't find any rest. I try to focus on the sound of the Storm. My thoughts keep on coming back to feeling guilty. I know it's not really my fault but I'm still sad about possibly ruining their birthday. 
I sigh quietly. 
"Is something wrong?" Beel speaks in a hushed tone. 
"I just can't relax." I feel bad for bothering Beel. 
"Sorry, it's not very comfortable." He seems to think this is somehow his fault. 
"No, that's not it. I just feel bad about today." I admit while whispering. 
"But this is still pretty nice. I mean we are all safe and together." Beel speaks softly. 
"Isn't this a bad way to start your birthday?" I just wanted them to have a nice day but now we are all stuck in a small hut. 
"I can only speak for myself, but I'm with the people that I love the most and I can't think of a better way to celebrate my birthday."I can hear Beels smile in his voice. This comforts me greatly. 
"He is right." Belphie chimes in, sounding more asleep than awake. 
"Thank you both." I smile and relax a bit.
  As long as they are happy I'm happy. 
I can feel Beel squeeze me just a bit closer towards him. 
After a while, the sound of both boys soft breathing and the sound of the rain on the roof lull me to sleep. 
At some point, I wake up and realize it's the next morning. 
I'm still curled up in the blanket. Now on the floor and sharing Belphies pillow. I feel a bit drowsy when I get up. Belphie is still asleep. 
I can't see Beel anywhere. I sit up and look around.
  My movements wake Belphie up. "Hm? Is it morning already?" He still seems to be more asleep than awake. 
"Happy birthday Belphie." I smile at his sleepy face. 
"Thanks, do I get a birthday kiss?" He smiles at me in a teasing manner. 
"Maybe later." I can only shake my head at this comment. "I will go look for Beel." Slowly I get up. 
I hear Belphie moving around. "Hold on, I'm coming."
Belphie gets up, sluggishly. 
I grab my now dry coat and wait for Belphie at the door. 
We head outside and I see Beel checking on the surrounding area. 
"Good morning Beel." I get his attention. 
"Good morning." He smiles. 
"Happy birthday." I congratulate him with a big smile. 
"Thank you." He smiles back at me and then notices Belphie behind me, "Happy birthday Belphie." 
"Happy birthday Beel. How is the road looking?" Belphie stretches. 
"It looks pretty fine. We should get help soon enough. Let's have some breakfast while we wait." Beel seems to be hungry again. 
"Sure." Suddenly I notice the sun bursting through the clouds, flooding everything in the beautiful morning light. I look at it in awe. "Wow, this is so beautiful."
"It's hard to believe that it was so miserable here yesterday." Belphie looks at the sky with a smile. 
"It's very pretty. I'm glad we came here." Beel has a very gentle expression. 
"Let's eat out here and enjoy the sun." I think this is the best idea. 
"Sounds perfect." Belphie agrees right away. 
"Good that I haven't eaten all I brought yet." Beel smiles and heads back into the hut. 
"Can you bring the picnic blanket from my bag?" Belphie seems to have blankets for all occasions in his bag.
Beel nods and soon comes back with a blanket and food. There's plenty for everyone. 
We all get comfortable and start our breakfast. 
"I think this might be the best birthday we've had in quite a while." Belphie smiles at me. 
"I agree," Beel says in the middle of chewing his food. 
I smile at both of them. "Next year we will make it even better."
With that, we all smile and look over the surprisingly great view.
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everybodyscupoftea · 4 years
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if you don’t want to get hit, stay off the tracks
frat jj x reader
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i have several requests and i promise i’m working on them. so, for all you anons who left them, i’m not ignoring them! but i’ve been watching the playoffs and i couldn’t stop thinking about this.
this is dedicated to every girl out there who’s been on the receiving end of misogyny and gatekeeping as a sports fan :)
(warnings: swearing, misogyny, not proofread even a little)
You were a huge sports fan in general. Football, college baseball, basketball, and especially hockey. Growing up in North Carolina meant you were a Carolina Hurricanes fan. You remembered watching them win the cup in ‘06 and then all of the struggles since.
When they finally found success again, you were ecstatic. Hockey was way more fun to watch when you could scream in happiness as opposed to frustration. JJ was a Stars fan, and you didn’t understand it, but you didn’t hate the Stars and they rarely played your team so you didn’t really care.
Regular season was pretty chill, and you didn’t quite catch every game, but you watched as many as possible. Some of JJ’s frat brothers had a fantasy league, and after about two weeks of bothering the GM, they let you join. It was mostly as a joke for them, but you knew your shit and wiped the floor with some of them. It was fun scamming them, and JJ found great joy in taking the piss out of the sore losers.
Playoffs, though, were a whole different beast. Most of the season you didn’t really chirp their favorite teams. Except for the one guy who liked the Red Wings, but he took it well. Otherwise, you settled for destroying them in fantasy.
Some of the guys made brackets and taped them to one of the walls, and they let you join, this time definitely not underestimating you. The TV they had in the house was so much bigger than yours, and you spent a lot of time there to use it for games.
One of the boys complained once and you looked him right in the eye and said, “Don’t think I didn’t notice you take a picture of my bracket and copy it exactly for yours.” He kept his mouth shut after that. 
Essentially, you were one of the boys. You chipped in on the beer and snacks fund, screamed at the TV with them, and argued strategy with some of them who mistakenly thought they knew more than you. It was therapeutic, especially finally having some Canes fans to celebrate with. One of the boys in the house, Drew, was also a diehard Canes fan, and you frequently messaged him on Instagram to talk shit about whoever they were playing.
The second round started around the same time of finals, but you let the excitement from a first round sweep carry you through all-nighters and long study group sessions. The weekend after your last final, you finally made the trip to the house to watch game three with the rest of the guys.
You were a little grumpy from lack of sleep, but pumped because of the two-game series lead the Canes had. Drew gave you a fist bump when you got to the house, already wearing his Martinook jersey and you held up your Williams one with a huge grin.
JJ took you upstairs to his room to “catch up” for the first time in over a week, but you made sure to keep it on time, you didn’t want to miss puck drop. He complained a little bit, but went to grab the two of you some beers while you cleaned up.
One of the guys there for the game was a fan of the opposing team, and he gave you a look when you and JJ walked down from his room, you wearing your jersey, already a beer and a half in. You took one look at his jersey and said, “Oh, hope you’re ready for an ass-whooping.”
“Fuck yeah,” Drew crowed from the couch, and the other boy rolled his eyes and made a comment under his breath that you couldn’t hear, but you didn’t care. You pulled JJ to sit near Drew and he laughed, when you sat on the floor between his legs, leaning back against the couch.
“You don’t want to sit on the couch?” he asked.
“Nah, I sat on the floor most of the first round, so I don’t want to change things up and jinx it.”
JJ shrugged as you got hold of the remote and turned the volume up for the announcement of the starting lineup. The game started and you were immediately chirping the other boy. Drew kept popping open beers for you and the more you drank, the more targeted they became.
“Damn, y’all got a goalie out there or did you just sign swiss cheese.”
Or, “God, I could do a better job than these forwards, can’t score to save their lives.”
For the most part everyone was laughing along. You were reveling in the laughs, not really paying much attention to the guy you were talking to, until he snapped. After your comment about the GM being the worst in the league, he turned to say, “Pipe down, bitch, you barely know what you’re talking about anyway.”
The room went silent, and you blinked a few times in shock. JJ’s legs tensed, and you put your hand on one of them to keep him from saying anything. You looked at him for a few seconds before snapping, “Didn’t I kick your ass both weeks in fantasy. The only thing worse than your fantasy team is the one whose jersey you’re wearing.”
His cheeks went red at the oooh’s coming from the other boys in the room. JJ relaxed under your hand and put one of his hands in your hair, scratching your scalp lightly to calm you down a little. You thought that was it, but the boy just had to have the last word, “Bet you got someone to draft for you, no way a girl knows that much about hockey.”
You stood, albeit, a little shakily, and glared at him. JJ’s hand fisted the back of your jersey, whether to make sure you didn’t fall or to make sure you didn’t attack him, you weren’t sure. You glared at the guy and reached behind you without looking, “Babe, give me a few of your rings so when I beat the fuck outta this guy, he’ll have a reminder to show me some damn respect.”
Someone in the room coughed, probably trying to hold in a laugh, and Drew snorted, “I say she does it.”
“Take a lap,” JJ warned the guy in a low voice and you crossed your arms.
“Pussy whipped,” the guy mumbled under his breath and that time JJ stood.
“Take a fucking lap, I won’t say it again.”
The boy stood and left the room, slamming the front door behind him, as the buzzer signaling the end of the second period went off. You watched the Canes skate off the ice, heart pounding pretty hard.
“Fuck,” you muttered, seeing the score, “I missed a goal. Can someone rewind?”
All the tension drained out of the room as everyone laughed. Drew handed you a beer and you clinked it with his before sitting back down. JJ placed a hand on your shoulder and you looked up at him. He smiled softly, “You good?”
“Yeah, I think so. Not the first time I’ve heard that shit.”
“I know, but this should be a safe space for you.”
You smiled, “You are pussy whipped.”
JJ laughed, “Yeah, yeah, I just love you, okay?”
“I love you too,” you told him, pressing a kiss to the inside of his knee.
Drew cleared his throat, “Thought I should let you know, you missed the goal.”
“Oh, fuck, can you rewind it again?”
***
tagging: @girlsru1eboysdroo1​ @socialwriter​ @diverdcwn​ @peypip​ @stfukie​
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eloarei · 3 years
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Hiatus’d WIPs:  “Touch” (bnha)
I recently had a conversation with a friend/reader about how many unfinished fics I have lying around, and it made me decide to finally make a post for each one; under the assumption that I never write any of them again, I can at least link these posts at the end of the AO3 WIPs for people who are curious how the rest of the story goes.  So here we have:  WIP and notes for Dekumight fic series “Touch” (including unfinished next chapter) My thoughts: This was really one of my favorites for a while. There was something really fun about writing the sort of non-verbal communication they had going on, and the deep love and also awkwardness. However, the actual story of the fic doesn’t differ much from the canon plot, which makes it a little less interesting to write, and also difficult to pick up, because frankly I don’t remember shit anymore about canon.  Under the cut: (8,300 words total) 3,000 words of what would be the next chapter (ending about halfway through), then a rough draft of the second half of the chapter. After that, there’s a super-rough draft/ outline of the next several chapters, followed by a bunch of notes from when I was initially planning.  NOTE: Tumblr completely destroyed all formatting, so this should be full of italics, which implies thinking, but instead you’ll just have to puzzle it out.  Similarly, my notes have a bunch of bolding and some strikethrough, which probably doesn’t work either. Sorry. 
Takes place directly after “Retouch” (chapter 2) : 
Chapter 3 
It was just a few minutes later that Toshinori was hit with a spike of pleasure that he really shouldn't have been surprised by. He was finishing up some paperwork for UA though and wouldn't be getting ready for bed for a while, so instead of following through with the echo of Izuku's intense sensation, he just took a deep calming breath and willed himself to leave it alone. However, he did take a moment to send Izuku a well-timed text saying simply, | Sleep tight |. He still wasn't sure if the boy was aware of what he was doing to him, but he figured he'd just tip him off a little bit instead of asking outright. Not yet.
Izuku responded with a cute, embarrassed | ^^; you too |, and Toshinori laughed. So he hadn't expected to be called out on it, huh? Well, they could talk about it later; maybe over the weekend, if Suzuki's papers didn't scare him off. (And even then they'd probably still want to talk about at least a few things. Even if Izuku suddenly wanted nothing to do with him, even if they never saw each other again (a chilling thought), they'd still be affecting each other like this for the rest of their lives. It warranted at least a short conversation.)
Most likely, though... Most likely it would be a long conversation they'd be having, if Toshinori's impression of Inko was anything to go by. If it were just him and Izuku, who knew if they'd ever do much serious talking. It was far too tempting to just sit side by side with their hands tangled together and feel. So, it was probably good that Izuku's mother had such a strong hand in the situation-- and it was definitely good for both of them that she was such a reasonable woman. He knew she would probably bring up all the right topics (the things he still hadn't really researched; Suzuki wasn't going to be pleased with his ignorance), and ask all the right questions, and be super tactful about the whole thing, so he didn't fret about it, focusing instead on just getting through the week.
Easier said than done, he'd have told you, if you asked him at any point during those next few days, but eventually it was done, and he was standing outside the Midoriyas' apartment door with a briefcase in one hand and the other poised to knock. But before he could make a sound, the door opened, and Izuku was standing there, looking up at him with the brightest eyes.
“Hi,” he said, the simple word both enthusiastic and shy. His smile was impossibly wide, sending his freckles up into his eyes. “I, um, I could tell you were there,” he answered, before Toshinori could even ask how he'd known to open the door. Without further ado, Izuku reached out and took his hand, leading him into the apartment. They both breathed deep, relieved sighs as soon as they touched. Three days had just been too much.
Inside, Inko was doing dishes. “Oh, Toshinori, hi,” she said, looking over her shoulder. “I'll be done here in just a minute. Izuku said you have some papers for us to look at?”
“At my manager's insistence,” he explained. Guided by Izuku, he took a seat next to him at the kitchen table, their hands still joined, and set the briefcase up where his other hand could find what he needed. He pulled the stack of papers out and set them in the middle of the table.
“How's your week been?” Izuku asked quietly, as they waited for Inko to join them.
“It's been fine,” Toshinori answered, though the emotion rolling around in his chest said 'I missed you', and he was fairly sure Izuku could feel it.
The boy squeezed his hand at the feeling and replied, “Me too,” in response to the unspoken sentiment.
Drying her hands off on a dishtowel, Inko sat down across from them and gave the pair of them an appraising (but ultimately approving) look, before she slid the stack of papers over to her. “What have we got here?” she asked, apparently rhetorically, as she didn't wait for Toshinori to attempt to explain. She read through each page carefully and then passed it over to Izuku, who seemed mildly surprised but also read each one before sliding it over to Toshinori. (He skimmed them again for familiarity's sake, but he'd already read through them in detail with Suzuki a day or two before.)
Other than a 'hmm' here and there, Inko didn't make any comments until they were through the entire stack, which took about an hour. (Although she did stop to tell Toshinori to make himself at home, when she realized he might be thirsty or something.) It was a very quiet hour, and it would have been unnerving for Toshinori if he hadn't still had Izuku latched onto him, feeding him wisps of emotion as he read.
Once they'd gone through the whole stack, Inko started over from the beginning, and began to point out little details here and there and ask questions.
“I think most of it is reasonable enough,” she said. “We're not entitled to any of your income or royalties; that's fine. And we can't talk to the media about you. I'm alright with that. Izuku?”
Izuku nodded. “That's okay. I wasn't going to.”
“But this part here--” She pointed at it. “--says we're not allowed to tell anyone about the situation at all unless we have express written permission. That seems sort of... broad.”
Toshinori looked at the passage that Inko had indicated. “Uh, right. I told Suzuki I didn't think it was necessary, but he claims it's a safety precaution.”
“For you,” Inko said, and she did sound accusatory, but not overly much. “What happens if we break the contract? Suing us won't get you very much.”
“I wouldn't do that,” Toshinori tried to say, but Inko continued on.
“What if we need to tell someone and you're not around to give us permission? Like, Izuku's doctors? It just seems unreasonable. Dangerous, even. I get that you want to protect your status, but--”
Toshinori could feel Izuku begin to speak before he could hear the sound. “It's fine, mom,” he said. “It's not just for him. It's to protect us too. Remember that story a couple years ago? There was that lady who was kidnapped by villains because they thought they could use her to get to her husband?”
Inko pursed her lips, a slightly sour face. She clearly remembered the story, and how the woman had been tortured just to hurt her husband. Toshinori remembered it too; it had made him sick. It would have made anyone sick, especially anyone who was close to their soulmate.
“That's probably what Mr. Suzuki was thinking of,” Izuku added softly, and Toshinori could tell that he didn't quite believe in Suzuki's altruism (hard for him to, when he could feel Toshinori's own skepticism about the man), but that he did still believe the reasoning was fair.
A bit subdued, Inko nodded. “Well of course we won't go around telling everyone. I... just think it's a little silly to have to get it in writing like this.”
“You're right,” Toshinori said, shaking his head. “Leave that one, then. I'll get Suzuki to take it out.”
It went like that for another hour or so, Inko pointing out things she wasn't sure about and Toshinori mostly telling her to just cross them out, because honestly, Suzuki was going to be pissed, but who cared? There was no one in the world who mattered more right now than Izuku, and that necessarily made his mother pretty important too. Toshinori would do whatever it took to make them comfortable, and his manager could just deal with it.
By the time they were done, they'd tossed out about half of the papers and scratched through parts of most of the rest of them, and were left with a reasonable list of promises that read roughly like this:
The Midoriyas could not talk to the media about All Might, and they couldn't knowingly do anything that would jeopardize his career, and Izuku couldn't act in any way that would hinder All Might's ability to do his job as a hero. That was pretty much it, though the basic meaning was hidden in so many superfluous details that it had their heads spinning.
As for Toshinori, he would not infringe upon the Midoriyas' anonymity, or use his status to coerce or extort them in any way, and he would be responsible for any financial issues that resulted from their connection (including, but not limited to, doctor's bills and lawyer's fees).
Honestly though, they all knew that these were pretty moot points. If Izuku or his family broke any of these rules, there was really nothing that All Might's lawyers could do about it. And if All Might failed to uphold his end of the bargain, the Midoriyas could take him to court for it, but it would be inviting far more trouble than it was worth.
More than anything, though, they trusted each other enough for this whole paper-signing situation to be mostly just laughable. Getting the papers to Suzuki was not a high priority (well, he might have thought so, but he was a failure of a manager if he actually expected such a quick turnaround, after all these years), so Toshinori didn’t hurry off, instead offering to take the two out for lunch. “Oh, thank you, Toshinori,” Inko said sweetly, “but I’ve got some work to finish up. Why don’t you two go out and take advantage of the nice day?” At his elbow, Toshinori could feel Izuku’s slight surprise echoing against his own. Although Inko had only been supportive so far, they still couldn’t help expecting that she was going to try to keep them apart-- though maybe they were just projecting their reasonable fears about society onto the only other person who knew just yet. But whether or not she might be more strict about them seeing each other in the future, she seemed fine with it just now, and they were grateful. “Thanks,” Izuku told her with a sunny grin, while Toshinori nodded in agreement. “Want us to bring you anything?” Inko shook her head. “Just be back before it’s late! And stay safe!” They promised they’d be careful (in every possible way), and left the apartment together, walking close by but with their hands in their respective pockets-- the safest place for them, when they would have wandered if left to their own devices, gravitated naturally toward each other and the fulfilling feeling they provided. “So what did you think of the papers?” Toshinori asked, a relevant icebreaker to start conversation once they were on their way. “I hope they didn’t seem too strict.” Izuku grinned, and drifted close enough to bump their arms together. “They seemed fine,” he said, apparently unbothered by them. “Honestly, I’d sign whatever I had to. It’s already crazy that I even got to meet you. So, whatever I have to do now… I’ll do it.” That smile was an absolute slice of sunshine, and if Toshinori wasn’t warm just by their proximity, it would have done the job. 
They wandered for some time, down towards the city center where they might find something for lunch (maybe something other than ramen, so they could expand the list of foods they knew they both liked), chatting a little. The topics were never anything consequential; Toshinori thought Izuku was still a little nervous around him and wasn’t sure what to say. He understood the feeling, even without a physical link, rather feeling that way himself. But Izuku also had the natural anxiousness of the young and quirkless (he remembered feeling that way), so Toshinori tried to guide the conversation in comfortable directions. Heroes were always a safe topic, and one with no end of iterations. They’d walked a few casual miles, keeping their attention slightly on their surroundings in case a good restaurant caught their eye, and were in the middle of discussing Kamui Woods when something else caught their attention. In the distance a block or so, there was a crowd gathered, their exclamations and worried murmurs rising to a concerning pitch just as an explosion shook the area. Many of the citizens shrieked and ran for cover, but plenty of them were still huddled around in a nervous fashion, like people observing either a train wreck or a predator from which prey could have no hope of escaping. Toshinori became aware of Izuku latching on to his arm more than he strictly felt it, the young man’s concern bleeding over into him and mixing with his own. He could feel Izuku’s natural empathy coming strong through the connection, something he’d only glimpsed the times before. There was something happening nearby, something that frightened and worried everyone; should he help? What could he even do? Should he stay out of the way? After all, they’d only just found each other, and to lose Toshinori now would be devastating; to be found out might be even worse! Izuku would hate himself if he ruined All Might’s career by causing a scandal, but he couldn’t just sit back if someone was in danger and, ahh, if only he had powers, if only he could do more than cling and be a burden to his soulmate and-- Oh, Toshinori thought. These were not his fears; they were Izuku’s. It was Izuku’s desire to help whoever might be in trouble, his desire and his desire and that was right, he wanted to help too. Of course he did. He was a hero, wasn’t he? There was only so worried he could be for his own safety and his reputation and Izuku shouldn’t worry either because it would be okay and I am here and it was amazing-- he really was the right one for him. The perfect soulmate, and maybe something more, but that was something he could think of later. The screams were louder now, and the worried murmurs too, and as an explosion shook the windows of a building half a block down they agreed they couldn’t turn away, not when there was a chance they could do something, anything. Even if there was no power left, it was still his duty, and he didn’t have to do this but yes he did. “You’re at your limit?” Izuku asked, glancing up at him through his fluffy bangs, concern bleeding out of him through more than just their physical connection. It couldn’t have been much more than a guess, but from his expression Toshinori could see that Izuku somehow knew it, like an intuition. 
He nodded. “Essentially,” he replied. He wasn’t sure how to explain it in detail, but hoped a more nuanced understanding of it would flow through their bond. “I always have a reserve amount, but it’s… not much.” Izuku seemed to get it. “Maybe we can just… go see, if there’s something we can do.” That seemed fair; that seemed like the least they could do. Maybe there was something, some way to help. Inspired by each other, they jogged over to the scene and the crowd surrounding whatever trainwreck was keeping their attention so strongly. Toshinori froze down to his veins when they saw what was the cause of the commotion. It was a mutant; the same mutant he was sure he’d captured just the other day. Yes, he’d been distracted by Izuku’s presence, but he distinctly remembered turning the water bottle full of sludge over to the police before absconding with his new soulmate up to the rooftop. Izuku’s arm brushed Toshinori’s as he stepped closer in a subconscious bid at safety. How had the mutant escaped? Was it perhaps a different man after all? A twin, or someone with the same quirk? Had Izuku done something wrong? Distracted All Might from his task and caused the villain to escape? Was it the police’s fault? He glanced down at Izuku, who glanced up at him, and Toshinori shook his head. It’s not your fault, he said wordlessly, or Don’t worry about all that. And Izuku nodded, back on track after a momentary lapse of focus. How and why the mutant was here was of little concern. They both turned back to the scene at hand. “Okay, stand back and I’ll try to handle this,” Toshinori said, looking down at Izuku in a way he hoped was reassuring, and knowing anyway that he didn’t have to; Izuku could feel his determination, and every little ounce of worry that things might not go as planned. It was a nuance that Toshinori had learned to deal with in his life, and it was something Izuku was going to have to deal with as well. (Though given the boy’s penchant for overthinking, perhaps it wouldn’t be that much of a trial after all.) “Do you have enough energy?” Izuku asked nervously, obviously not wanting… well, all the things that could go wrong if Toshinori ran out at the wrong time. Toshinori laughed in soft self-depreciation. “Probably not,” he admitted. “But I’ll do what I can. That’s what it means to be a hero, right?” With Izuku’s arm still brushing his, he could feel the boy’s admiration, and it doubled in him and gave rise to a heroic rush he didn’t think he’d felt for years. Still, he waited for the right moment. That was another thing about being a hero; you couldn’t rush in blindly (not with his level of experience, anyway). He watched as the mutant swung his head around, like a cornered animal watching viciously for its enemies, and he could just about guess when it was going to let its guard down. Almost… he thought, his muscles tensing in anticipation. But just as he was about to spring forward, he felt a twinge of panic from Izuku’s side of the connection. It was a spike of recognition. Kacchan! 
The roughest of drafts: 
Izuku freaks out and runs to try to rescue him and they're all surprised when he actually manages to do some slight damage to the mutant; it's not enough to defeat him, but enough to stun him into dropping Bakugo, at which point Toshi transforms and rushes to finish him off. Tl;dr, turns out that a very tiny amount of Toshi’s power has become available to Izuku. (Make some note of the pain aspect, Toshi feeling Izuku’s pain from using OfA.) 
Afterward, when Toshi is talking to reporters (and Izuku has managed to avoid at least a little of the reprimanding from canon, due to appearing to have some power) Izuku can feel the discomfort, Toshi’s power draining. Perhaps he plays the fan, comes to shake his hand as thanks for saving him and they're both a little surprised that it eases the discomfort, seems to give Toshi back a little strength. Izuku had just done it as an instinct, but in light of what had just happened with the power sharing, they're both very curious how this whole soulmate thing is going to work. 
Toshi excuses himself from the crowd before too long and goes to find Izuku. He finds him being confronted by Bakugo, who knows that something is strange but doesn't know what (and is upset like in canon about Izuku trying to help him). Toshi tries to stay out of sight until Bakugo runs off, feeling that Izuku is confident enough in his ability to handle this. When they rejoin, Izuku explains who Bakugo is. 
“[But enough about that.] Are you okay?” 
They join hands. Toshi can feel that Izuku is fine but still he says, “It's you I'm concerned about. Do you know what you did back there?”
“That was your quirk,” he said, and Toshi nodded.
“Some of it, at least. Is your arm okay?” 
Izuku stretched his arm out, wiggling his fingers. “It aches a little, but I'm okay. I'm just… I've never done anything like that before. It felt… kind of amazing.” 
Toshi could tell that it was a little more than an ache, but that Izuku wasn't lying. It really wasn't hurting him much, and he was really feeling exhilarated. He remembered feeling like that when he first took the quirk himself. 
Izuku’s side of the connection was curious and Toshi realized he could feel him thinking about his past. He debated with himself for a minute. Was this the right time to tell Izuku about his past? He would have to tell him some time, and there was no reason to wait. “I felt the same way the first time I used it,” he said. “When my mentor gave it to me. I was about your age.” 
The feeling of surprise that Izuku emanated was not as much of a shock as he expected, more of a warm melting feeling, a soft realization. “You were ...quirkless? Someone gave you your quirk? But how?” 
Toshi tells the story as they head back to the apartment, but they take a detour to sit somewhere and finish talking. (Way before this, Izuku texts his mom to tell her what happened and that they're fine and they'll be home in a while.) It's gotten dark by the time Toshi has finished telling of Nana and AfO and needing to pass OfA on, and they're sitting on a bench in a corner of a park or something. 
“It was just an idea before,” Toshi says, “but now I'm pretty sure it's the right one. Would you be willing to take it? One for All?” 
The surprise this time really is a shock, and it nearly knocks the breath out of him. “...Really?” 
“You can tell I'm serious,” Toshi says with a smirk, and then he nods. “Yes. Really. It's the only thing that makes sense.” 
He thinks of the reasons: he needs to pass it on, and Izuku wants a quirk, needs one to get into UA. And he's defenseless without one, a real danger with them together now. And he's already shown that he can handle it, at least a little. 
“Should I think about it?” Izuku asks, looking unsure. He's probably thinking about all the things they talked about with his mother earlier, trying to be careful. But Toshi can tell he really wants it, and that's enough for him. 
“If you want,” he says. “Take your time.” He knows that Izuku will say yes. (He's less sure if Inko will agree, but he knows that between the two of them, they can convince her.) 
He can feel Izuku trembling, and it's with excitement he thinks. “Thank you,” Izuku says, almost breathlessly, and he leans forward and kisses Toshi, softly and quickly, and then looks him in the eyes for a short moment, twists his body in his direction more and leans in for another kiss. This one is a little deeper, lingering, not obscene but less than entirely chaste and Toshi can feel so so much through it, especially as he allows himself to kiss back. They don't take it far; Toshi can feel that Izuku knows there are boundaries, though Toshi is nervous about himself, unsure if he would be able to keep himself from crossing them, to stop when it was time. He's a bit anxious, but he's glad Izuku is reasonable, and he's excited and he's happy and they're melting into each other even though they've stopped kissing and it is finally Izuku who speaks up to interrupt them getting stuck in their twofold thoughts. 
“I should get home. I have to tell my mom about all this. Am I… Can I tell her? About OfA?” 
Toshi nods. “It's a big part of all of this. I guess she should know. And that'll give you a chance to talk it over with her. Decide if you want it.” 
‘I do want it,’ he could tell Izuku was thinking, although maybe not in so many words. Izuku was trying to be patient and make smart decisions. He was doing his best to be worthy of being Toshi’s soulmate, and Toshi was overcome with affection for him. He hugged him close, and even more than the kissing, that was the most they'd ever felt, the most contact they'd ever made. It was less electric than kissing, but like an overblown, overexposed photo. They stayed there like that for a little while before they silently agreed to get up and go back. 
The end of chapter 3, more or less. 
Chapter four. 
Izuku took a week to act like he was thinking about it, but in truth he'd decided almost immediately, and convinced his mom that it was a good idea (or that she should let him do it at least) on that first night, after Toshi had walked him home and said goodbye. 
“Izuku! I saw on the news about that mutant attack! You're really alright? And Toshinori, and Katsuki?” 
“We're fine mom! Toshinori saved us. But…” A pause. “With dad, have you ever… accidentally used his quirk before?” 
She raised an eyebrow at him, looking a little worried. “I can feel when he's using it, but i've never breathed fire myself.” 
Yeah, it wasn't anything he'd ever heard of before. Maybe it was because most people's quirks weren't that strong. Maybe it was because he was quirkless. Maybe… well there were a lot of reasons it could be. It didn't matter that much why; it had happened, and they'd both felt it. 
“I used it. All Might’s power.  Just a little bit of it.”
“Are you okay?” 
He said he was fine, he thought, but Inko was skeptical. She remembered some times when he was younger, when he thought an injury was less serious than it was. She convinced him to go to the doctor tomorrow and he agreed, dismissively as he was so invested in telling her about Toshinori’s offer. She's a bit nervous about the idea but it doesn't take long for her to give in. 
At the doctor's tomorrow (maybe only mentioned, not a scene) it turns out that Izuku did in fact fracture a bone in his arm. (Is a cast needed for that? Probably not.) 
Later that afternoon, Toshinori texted him and asked if he was okay; his arm felt a little off. Izuku responds casually that it was just a fracture and he's fine, and Toshi fusses over him a little, apologizes for putting him in that situation. Izuku really is not bothered by it. Toshi doesn't ask if Izuku has decided and Izuku wonders if he's changed his mind. A week later, he says that he's decided to take OfA, if he's still offering it, and Toshi says that he'd be happy to give it to him, if he's really sure. But! There's no way Izuku is going to be able to handle it in his current state. They begin to train (though not until Izuku’s fracture heals). In the meantime, Izuku continues school, and Toshi continues work, and they see each roughly every weekend. Sometimes they'll meet out for lunch or sometimes Inko invites Toshi over for dinner. 
(Cover some catch up. Mention Suzuki being annoyed about the edits to the paperwork etc)
It's a few weeks before they start to train, but of course it's much less covert than in canon. Inko knows exactly where they're going; Toshi has discussed it with them over dinners and such. He doesn't tell them that his plan is for Izuku to clean up the trash on the beach until they get there though. 
The next several months are a more efficient training than canon. After Toshi is pretty sure Izuku has grown strong enough, they try the power-share again, and Izuku is able to start using the very tiny percentage of OfA, sometimes. It works if he's recently been in physical contact with Toshi, and fades after a minute or two. It's not enough to do anything very heroic, but it is a significant boost to Izuku’s natural strength, allowing him to move items several times his normal weight limit. 
(They also find that Izuku can actually use a version of OfA that is more than twice as powerful as his tiny version, only if Toshi is currently in contact with him. However, Izuku hurt himself the first time they did that, so they avoid it until much later.) 
They still don't have a perfect grasp on Izuku’s ability to handle it by the time they transfer it to him, but it's better than canon, and they do it earlier so he has more chance to practice. He has at least some ability to use it at half-power before the entrance exam (chapter 5). The only reason he hurts himself so badly there is because he freaked out and wasn't careful. 
Training is pretty fun for them. It's more like play than in canon, with Izuku showing off, carrying Toshi around, silly stuff like that. He's moderately less concerned about being a hero, mostly because Toshi is so constantly encouraging so he doesn't worry about it. And he knows that even if he doesn't make it somehow, he's still got Toshi and nothing can take that away. 
Aside from training, they still spend a good amount of time together. Events and holidays and such. Izuku meets Suzuki. Toshi invites Izuku (and probably Inko) to his place once or twice, though they still spend most of their time out or at the Midoriyas’ apartment. Inko politely requests that they not stay at Toshi’s place. (She isn't /too concerned, but she just wants them to know that she has some kind of expectations about how they'll handle their relationship. She half expects Izuku to go behind her back in some of those regards.) 
Izuku has his 15th birthday not long after they start training (might have to look this one up) or thereabouts. He has mixed emotions about this, and about inviting Toshi to his ‘party’ (probably just a fancy-ish dinner with his mother (maybe dad too?) Since he doesn't have any friends). He wants Toshi there, of course, but he's somewhat embarrassed about still being only 15, and doesn't want to draw attention to it. On the other hand, he's also excited to be getting older, closer and closer to the age that it would be appropriate for he and Toshi to act however they liked. (This birthday scene goes in early middle of chapter.) 
More holidays: Christmas, new years, Valentine's day. Maybe just slight mentions of those. 
Chapter ends when Toshi wishes Izuku luck at the entrance exam. He kisses him and Izuku is a little shocked because Toshi is rarely if ever the one to initiate that sort of thing. He heads to the exam, excited and confident. 
Chapter 5. 
Toshi heads to UA (potentially along with Izuku), and goes to watch the exam with his fellow teachers. He's met them several times and they know about his injury and resting form, but only Nedzu knows that Izuku is his soul mate. Most of the others are familiar enough with him to know that he doesn't have one, and many assume that he's one of the few who will never have one. 
When the exam starts though, they might be able to tell that he is on edge, excited but nervous. However, they are all focused as well. It's not until Izuku smashes the robot (and everyone is shocked) and Toshi reacts to the pain that they notice the connection between them. He's not incapacitated (like Izuku is) but he is distressed and in pain and having to deal with the commotion from the other teachers. (Choose one teacher to perhaps help him out.) 
As soon as he's able, he goes to Izuku. (At some point he calls Inko to let her know what's happened, and she's worried and upset and he has to talk her down until she realizes that he's upset too.) In the infirmary, Izuku is knocked out, which Toshi already knew, could tell because the pain subsided very quickly. Chiyo looks up when he comes in, obviously connecting the dots. 
“He made quite a mess of himself,” she tells him, pulling up a chair next to Izuku’s bed for him. She tells him the details of what Izuku broke.  “But he'll recover.” 
“Thank you,” Toshi says, reaching out to carefully run his hands over Izuku’s arm, laying his hand on the side of his face, thinking about if this was a good idea, etc. 
Eventually, Izuku wakes up and they talk. A few people might come by in the meantime. Izuku is eventually clear to go home. Toshi takes him. Izuku asks if he passed, knowing that Toshi was there, and all Toshi can say is that he thought he did a good job, but he doesn't know for sure. (He later finds out that Izuku scored quite well, but refrains from telling him, letting Izuku get the letter from the school.) 
He gets a phone call from Izuku after the letters have gone out, and he can feel a sense of excitement even before he picks up. Izuku is crying on the other end. “Why didn't you tell me I made it?!” But he is obviously extremely happy.
Out on patrol or something, Toshi can't stop grinning for the rest of the day. When someone asks him, he just says that he's excited for new opportunities. 
Chapter 6
Izuku and Toshi both begin at UA. Izuku has already made friends with a few people from the exam, and of course he knows Bakugo. Bakugo is extra suspicious of him, confused about how he's got a quirk suddenly, and knowing that he's been acting strange the whole past year. He might even suspect that they're both related to izuku’s soul mate, considering the timing. 
School is, of course, plenty for them to focus on, but izuku and Toshi are still very focused on each other as well. Toshi treats izuku much the same as in canon, inviting him for lunch and etc, “playing favorites”. But since the other teachers know they're soulmates (at least, some do?) they don't criticize him quite as much for it. 
Toshi and izuku continue to progress in their relationship, lightly, balancing their personal and professional relationships. They act very casual around each other and have to be careful not to be too casual in front of the class. 
Izuku makes friends, which is sort of new for him. He loves them and wants to be open with them about his situation, but he can't. He's thought about telling, but he knows he can't break the rules they set. It's harder when perhaps the rumor (true rumor? What do you call that?) goes around about how he was affected by the soul link pain when he was little. He can easily tell his friends that it's not bad anymore, but it's hard having to pretend he doesn't know who it is. (Also may have to decide about sub-pairings? Otherwise it will be very hard for any of the other students to talk about their experiences. If they had mates in the class (like most ships) they would likely find out very quickly.) 
Most people won't immediately assume it's All Might, even if they spend a lot of time together. 
Key point: they hone their energy sharing, as Toshi becomes a bit exhausted some days. Simply being in contact for a while (lunch or something) acts as a recharge for him. When the other staff figure this out, they're much more accepting of izuku hanging out in the staff lounge. 
(Need to rewatch to see what the first few weeks are like.) 
Maybe include some scenes with Inko.
Chapter 7
This is the USJ incident. Toshi gets caught up in work and is late to help at USJ, but less late than in canon because he feels/hears Izuku crying out for him. Don't have to describe most of the USJ events because it's from Toshi POV, but have to decide when he gets there and if it all goes more smoothly. 
The way that Toshi and izuku act towards each other (calling by their first names, extreme familiarity and working together) is what starts to tip off some of the students, though it's not relevant at the time. 
The encounter is a little easier this time, with the power-share (this is probably the first time they try it out seriously) and the desperation to save each other (and the others) echoing between them. 
Any character who takes notice of their bond and quirk in canon is likely to notice the soul link instead. 
After the incident, emotions are running high. This was the first time they were honestly scared of losing each other. They want to hold each other for a very long time. Perhaps they are seen by some of the students (who maybe chalk it up to generic relief over the situation, but would definitely file it away for later). Later, they still don't want to let each other go, and perhaps spend their first night together (not necessarily sexual or anything), Inko having not allowed them to do so before. 
Emotional wrap-up; they're scared but calmed by each other's presence. They know they can handle the future together. 
END? (of this particular story, probably)  Brainstorming, notes, and ideas for further fics in the series 
And the notes below:  (my shorthand for the characters is IM = Izuku Midoriya, AM= All Might, IMmom = Inko (not shorthand in that case I know lol, I think I didn’t want people reading over my shoulder)) >>>"Touch" sequel
A lot of people actually expressed an interest in this, so let me jot down my ideas-- as well as their ideas. 
AM and IM have met, and now keep in touch. How has this changed their lives? Well now whenever they feel a strange pain, they'll call or text each other to make sure they're okay. They're both aware of what their relationship would be, if IM was older, and so is his mom, and so is pretty much everyone else that knows. In fact, most people assume that they're 'together' anyway, and it causes some tension. They try to keep it mostly under wraps, but it's nearly impossible. IM's friends and classmates are sure to notice, and AM's manager thinks maybe they should just come out with it. For their part, IM and AM just want to enjoy each others' presence and keep their moral concerns personal. IM is of course more brave (between the two of them), while AM knows he's 'supposed' to refrain. In public, they're both very good about it. 
Some time in the future, after they've really adjusted to each other, and the drama (at least from their friends and family) has died down, they take to being heroes together, as they at some point realize how much more receptive they are when they're together/touching. 
Questions! : 
--Does IM still get OfA? (I'm leaning towards yes? Most of the rest of the story wouldn’t make sense if he didn’t.) 
--How do friends/family react? Some people are jealous? BK particularly? IMmom is as supportive as possible, but she still worries for IM. As time goes on, if IM get OfA, she worries for AM too. (What about AM's cop friend?? I dunno, haven't thought about him much.) 
--How do media/people react? Manager wants to tell, because he knows people will find out and it's better to come out with it before they do. But AMIM want to stay private. Perhaps at the tournament, it is no longer possible to avoid media attention. Someone notices AM's discomfort when IM fights TS, notices IM look to the stands for AM before doing something reckless. When they find out, it's all anyone wants to talk about. AM's thin form becomes very useful for avoiding the media. 
--Perhaps around then, IM is kidnapped to be used against AM? 
--When things are calm, AMIM often text each other just to talk-- sometimes in the night. "I miss you" IM texts. "Is that what you were thinking of?" AM asks, aware that IM is awake and wound up, and winding him up too. This is before they've really worked out how things are supposed to go between them. IM is bold; AM is holding himself back.
-- IM goes to UA, begins to use quirk. -- AMIM work harder at managing IM’s abilities than in canon, because its effects are more obvious on them. -- AM starts at UA as a teacher; AMIM have to hide their link. IM has not told anyone. AM had to tell the staff. -- When the villains attack, AM gets there sooner, as he’s tipped off by their link. Things happen about the same. -- (Should I bother to include that part if nothing is significantly different? Leaning towards no. Maybe just touch on it.) -- At the tournament, that’s when people take notice of AMIM’s link. (IM’s friends have already begun to notice.) -- After that, it’s all anybody wants to talk about. AMIM are in the spotlight, though UA tries to protect them. -- The media begins to gossip about them, some piecing the puzzle together about their quirks. Some guess that IM is AM’s son (and has inherited his quirk). (It’s not unheard of for family to be platonic soulmates.) -- Manager makes them come out with an official statement finally, despite their reluctance. -- IM receives many invitations to intern with heroes. For safety’s sake, they turn them all down, except Torino. -- IM goes to train with Torino, covertly, while AM stays behind to deal with the PR mess. -- Things happen about as usual. Maybe only touch on this part as well? Not super relevant to the AU. -- IM thinks about AM during the fight with HK, and AM wants to get to him, knowing something is wrong, but knows he won’t make it in time. (Remember, “Touch” was 3rd person limited-omniscient. POV can be from IM, AM, and other relevant characters.) -- Would AM be allowed to test IM during the midterms? Maybe gloss over that part. Especially towards the end of Season 2, go more vaguely into the ending, to avoid making it obvious that you have no idea what happens after that. XD; Isolate the emotional core of the story (the emotional drama or problem) to solve in the final scenes, even if it avoids canon entirely. That’s preferable, in fact. Points to write, unrelated to canon occurrences: : -- AMIM want to spend a lot of time together, but they must balance their responsibilities. IMmom is pretty understanding and allows them a lot of freedom. -- Manager (needs name) is less understanding, hounds them to release a press statement. -- Most of their time together is spent in private or secluded places. Obvs, they frequent the beach for training. -- They often text and talk to each other on the phone, nightly if they haven’t seen each other. -- AM is still struggling a little bit with the fact that IM is so young, but he’s impressed by IM’s emotional maturity. -- IM is over the moon about AM, not enduring nearly the moral struggle AM is. He’s not an idiot, and he’s not oblivious, but he doesn’t think that there’s anything particularly wrong with them messing around a little. He’s considerate enough not to wind AM up when he’s busy or they’re in public, although sometimes he can’t help how he feels. (Being ‘turned on’ isn’t really strong enough of a feeling to cross the link; only acting on it is.) -- For his part, AM (at first, at least) tries not to touch himself, or at least only when he thinks IM is sleeping. Eventually they come to the conclusion that that’s not working out well-- and the most logical way to handle it, so as not to inconvenience either of them, is to go at the same time/ at set times. -- That is the most AM allows them to do (hugging/cuddling is totally fine, limited kissing is okay), and even that seems like too much to him, but he compromises with himself because he knows it would be worse if he didn’t. (It’s not as if he’s going to convince a 16-year-old to stop touching himself for 2+ years, and though his own urges are less frequent, it’s been uncomfortable trying to hold back entirely.) He doesn’t allow them to touch each other, and IM is actually pretty okay with this. Well, he respects it, at least. He’s just happy to have AM in whatever capacity he can. Some notes regarding the universe: -- laws regarding consent ages are a bit more lax, given the soulmate thing. AMIM would be more-or-less within their right to do whatever they want with each other, as long as IMmom is okay with it. And even if she weren’t, they could apply to be married, even at IM’s young age, by passing a test that proves they’re soulmates.(I don't think they'll do this. Manager would have a heart attack. ...then again, maybe he'd like the idea…) -- however, there is still certainly a stigma about age-difference relationships, particularly where one party is underage. 
Story 1 plot points to mention our resolve:
-- telling IM that his mom already knew
-- AM coming to terms with IM being a fan
-- AM telling IM his real name
-- AM telling manager about IM immediately. (Might be a good point to start with.) 
To time skip or not to time skip? I'm leaning towards not. New outline, after I've written a bit. 
1. AM talks to manager, Suzuki, and tells him about the whole situation, almost entirely honest. They decide to keep it a secret until AM has a successor. (AM POV) 
2. AMIM go on a date, where they talk about both applying to UA. IM wonders what AM is not telling him. They hold hands. AM brings up the paperwork Suzuki wants them to sign, and IM agrees. (IM POV) 
3. AM sees something that convinces him to offer OFA to IM. (AM POV) 
4. IM begins to train for OfA. (IM POV) 
5. IM goes to UA entrance exam. (AM POV) 
6. They begin at UA, and try to figure out how to act around each other, after they've had so much private time over the past months. (IM POV) 
7. The villains attack UA, AMIM touch-team to beat them, and people start to really put their relationship together. (AM POV)
END S1. Ugh how did this get so long that I have to separate it by season?! 
Touch2 titles:
Some related words: Touch, feel, sense, sensation, emotion, Touch, touched, touching, touches, touchstone, touch-tone, aftertouch, finishing touch, retouch, out of touch, in touch, untouched, Touched can mean: physically touched (he touched my arm), lightly mentioned (he touched upon the issue), emotionally moved (he was touched by the story), brought together metaphorically (their lives touched), affected (his life was touched by his decisions) Touch, taste, smell, see, hear
Leaning towards using other ‘touch’ words for different parts of overall story. 
Touch - original story
Retouch(ed) - this story 
Touch-up - maybe the next part
Finishing touch - the last story (though there might be another in between) 
Untouchable - first nsfw side story, before izuku is of age, on the phone with each other, feeling the echoes of their actions. 
Untouched - second nsfw side story, when izuku comes of age and they finally get together physically. 
Aftertouch - epilogue (years in future, maybe, working together) 
In touch - side stories taking place in the timeline of the story
Out of touch - side stories taking place before or after story, or from different character's point of view or about different characters. 
Chapter quotes:  Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity. 
-Edwin Hubbell Chapin (Chapter 1, Retouch) The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart. 
-Helen Keller The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: a human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him, a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create - so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating. 
-Pearl Buck Aim for your star, no matter how far, you must reach high above and touch your life with love, you must never look back, but charge on! Attack! See your goal your star of desire, see it red hot, feel it burning, you must be obsessed with it to make it your true yearning, be ready my friends for when you truly believe it, you will certainly achieve it and by all of God’s universal laws you will always receive it! 
-Bob Smith We do not do well except when we know where the best is and when we are assured that we have touched it and hold its power within us. (lol god this one is awfully literal) 
-Joseph Joubert If you can learn from hard knocks, you can also learn from soft touches. 
-Carolyn Kenmore, Mannequin: My Life as a Model When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares. 
-Henri Nouwen And that’s everything I’ve got about Touch/Retouch! I might clean up that third chapter and post it some day, but *shrug*. 
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editorialsonlife · 3 years
Text
Well
Welp, feeling like doing an update because there's been a lot going on to be honest. its one of those weird dichotomies where every day feels like an eternity and there's so much going on and then you look back and you're like oh, ok its just my brain making it difficult and making things take forever but anyway.
LOCKDOOOOOOOWWWWWWNNNNNNN
Lockdown life was good, apart from being thrust into it so suddenly dave left a banana on his desk. Wasn't great to come back to after 5 weeks out of the office - mummified mouldy banana!! Classic. We luckily got our first jab before lockdown started so that was good, and we were reasonably well stocked up on food and were generally a lot healthier this lockdown that last. honestly, there's a level of chill and serenity in lockdown that i just love. the ability to set my own schedule and only work the hours I actually work to get the job done? Amazing. getting 8.5 hours of sleep each night without having to wake to an alarm blaring? AMAZING. getting to go for walks every afternoon? SO FLIPPING GOOD. I love it so much, I really really do. I need this to be my life permanently.
WORK
Work is just ongoing and draining and honestly, coming back to the office was so fucking stressful and it was only one day. Being at home is just the fucking bomb. Pending home decisions, I wanna go contracting I think, but also ideally two part time contracts to have more flexibility? I dunno. You'd think a big 4 would provide variety but it really doesn't and honestly, with Richie leaving, wellington is just a sinking ship. Sean's off on parental leave, Kirstyn is down to four days a week, ben will be gone if he doesn't get promoted (and I don't think he will be tbh). Jack is just muddling along, Nigel wants to swap to consulting as well, Matt's going to be a shit leader in terms of bringing in work so it's just not going to work. and in our wider group it's going to get even more messy with heaps of the analysts leaving and a couple of senior hires too. so I think it's probably time to jump ship in general, pending the home stuff below. Also, coming back after a break again, I'm like, I don't actually like a lot of you? All the people I enjoy here are in other teams and groups, and I'll be sad to leave you all, but like, not enough to stay anyway lol.
Pending the home below, two options are to just going and get a job with a $30k payrise to make up for the maternity leave benefits I'm gunna leave behind when I leave this role - 18 weeks full pay, $100 a week for the first year back and a full year of maternity leave. It's basically 30k post tax which is a bit nuts to walk away from to be honest.
Otherwise the other option is to go contracting. Less security overall but holy shit so much money. If I went in as a project coordinator at the lowest rate to build up a bit of a portfolio I'd need to work 40 weeks of 40 hr weeks and Id basically match my current salary plus the lost family leave benefits and still qualify for govt maternity leave payments. Realistically I could go in as a project manager for $140 an hour ($60 more an hour than the above math) and absolutely smash it at that level as well so ya know, there's a bunch of other info. I like the idea of the flexibility of it and only having 6 months even if its a shitshow and beign able to walk away at the end of it. I really don't want to get a govt job and this is a v govt town which is fine but also, if I can avoid it that would be great. I just know I'm not gunna thrive in that environment.
Need to talk to Dave to get him across the line on the security issue part of that though. I've mostly come a long way in terms of my financial management (thanks YNAB) so I think he'd be ok with it mostly.
So there's a lot to toss up there because......
HOME
We got the reno plans done during lockdown, finally. which was super good. but holy fkn jesus $$$$$$ ++++++++++. The guy is coming around for the final quote on Thursday. We indicatively said $100k total because we're doing kitchen laundry bathroom and toilet. so only the most expensive rooms and when I was talking to him last week he said 'that might cover it' and they're seeing cost escalations of 7-10% a week which is just insane. we're not doing anything structural apart from putting in a cavity slider in the bathroom, and the quote they'll give us won't include flooring since they won't do it.
Meanwhile, the prefab homes I were looking at for our site were $425k fully done. Like, I'm not going to spend $130K on doing up my 1940s ex state house ya know? That's not good cost benefit ratio.
So depending on what that comes out at on thursday we'll be able to make some plans.
We also want to start trying for kids next year and need these renos done first - I am not having kids and no dishwasher lol.
Also we need bank financing so good to be in a permanent stable job for that application. the good thing is we have so much equity we know we can borrow whatever we need, I just don't want to spend that much money on it because it's fkn ridiculous. and if I'm going on maternity leave we need to be able to cover it all on dave's salary and whatever benefits I have as well so there;s a lot of financial planning and spreadsheeting going on at the moment lol. it's fab.
either way. we've got plenty of options up our sleeve. we've got friends who's brother owns a building company so we can talk to them, we've got the garage so we can get things prefabricated even if they're not installed til next year, Dave can get shit at cost through his work for whiteware, there;s plenty of things to like cost control we can do, we just need to know where we're starting from basically. thats the challenging part. but we'll figure it out, its just taking longer than I want it to basically.
We also planted up the vege garden for the spring/summer which was lovely, super jazzed about that. we've finally got the garden to a reasonably low maintenance level where everything is mostly under control and it's such a relief, honestly.
PERSONAL
Man what a shift to lockdown last year honestly. I think the last 8 weeks in particular has just been like, a massive reality check of how absolutely shit the last year was and how fucking glad I am to be rid of it. I spent a week absolutely spiralling 2 weeks ago now and honestly, I don't know how I lived in the state for more than a year. I actually don't know how I did it. and I could not be more glad that I'm finally on the other side of it, for the most part. There's still a bunch of other stuff to work through (hahahahahaha when is there not like damn) but fucking hell its nice to just not be anxious and nauseous and wound up constantly. life is actually accessible. miracle.
My workmate had his bebe - I went round and got newborn cuddles and was like, oh, is this what it is to be clucky? this is odd. so there's that as well. I think we'll probably start trying next year pending renos and jobs etc. If the renos can be done in jan I'll prob just stick it at the job to get the benefits but I dunno. it's a tough call to make really. we shall see. This all assumes we get knocked up without any issues which is questionable these days. I really want to feel healthier before getting pregnant as well, and part of that is losing weight. however, given discussing that is what triggered the spiral we're working on that one slowly.
Also, lets have a moment for counselling, because fkn bless anne and all her hard work honestly. I actually ended up emailing her being like, I;m losing my shit on the monday and then talked to her on thursday. And its so funny because it's such a counselling thing but I didn't realise until afterwards what she'd done but she was like you're clearly not doing well and then the night before dave got a fkn miserable migraine and he was up for like, 2 hrs powerchucking except he didn't make it to the bathroom in time so guess who was cleaning up vomit at 130am trying not to chuck herself but I digress. anyway, not doing well, couldn't even explain why, didn't even have words and super tired and she's like, what lynaire up to this week how's she going with izzy and chat about that and then be like how are you feeling about your body and then 5 more mins of chat about the cat and the chickens and then like bam hard question and then hows it going with x and y and z and its like, it wasn't til I was on my walk afterwards when I FINALLY started feeling marginally better I was like damn woman work your magic for figuring it out for me and helping me reregulate. all over the phone as well since we were still in lockdown. GREAT WORK FRIEND.
and then last week was like totally fucked theoretical discussion about religion and the role it's played in my life and fate vs free will and all this nutty shit but genuinely just a great discussion. She's the best and I love her. thank good for good counsellors. thank god I can afford to pay for it honestly.
Dave and I are just chugging along, god bless that man. I love him. its amazing. I miss having friends close by but understand why they had to move (boooooo f u house prices). Family is pretty chill, still not really talking to dave's parents which is nightmarish but we'll deal with that when we need to. gunna have to go and visit them at some point coz dave misses them and I feel for him, I really do. It's the whole boundaries renegotiation I went through with my family last year post wedding blow up and its just not a fun place to be. oh well. can't fix it for him but also I'm not putting up with that level of BS from either of our families once we have children. not gunna happen.
Either way, life is busy and full and fun and I'm enjoying it. Daylight savings starts this weekend too, its october next week WTF and I'm just waiting for 4pm to find out what's gunna happen to our girls trip. Clearly we cancelled our sept trip to christchurch and akaroa and hanmer springs so my covid travel curse continues. fkn ridic. Still dunno what we're gunna do with $2500 of flight credits coz if we get knocked up theres def no international trips happening any time soon.
thus concludes the almost 2000 word write up of life. hope you've enjoyed it. I'll throw up some pics in a separate post if people care about reno plans. such a good time!
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