#to be clear sophie does this to all of her close friends because thats how she generally shows love | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

astrid-potato · 3 years

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愛してる

pairing:sunghoon x fem!reader

genre:fluff, slight angst?

warning:some slight cussing

a/n: this is kinda based on “to all the boys i loved before” but i’ve actually never watched the movies😅 so i hope this is okay<3

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“what’s wrong?” your friend sophie asks while poking your cheek. “my ex won’t leave me alone and it’s been like two weeks since we broke up.” i groan, placing my head down on my desk. “through text or-“ “mainly just at school. it’s like he’s trying to piss me off anymore than i’m already am.”

looking out the window, i can only pay attention to my own thoughts. “y/n, y/n..Y/N!” i jumped at the sudden outburst of my name. “the bell rang like two minutes ago.” “oh”. grabbing my stuff, i peacefully walk to my next class. not realizing what class period was next, i walk in to see my ex laughing with his friends.

not even seconds after i sat down, i see someone standing in front of my desk. looking up i see my ex smirking down at me. “what do you want?” “well aren’t you in a bitchy mood today.” “i wouldn’t be in mood if your ass would just leave me alone.” “if would just respond to my texts, i wouldn’t be standing here.”

as soon as i was going to speak, i see the classroom door open revealing a group of boys walking in. having an idea, i get out of my seat and walk over to one of the boy before he could sit down. “hey babe” while hugging the boy. the boy looked at me startled and confused, “just go with it.” i whispered while nudging my head towards my ex. “ohh”.

the boy finally catching on, hugs me back while staring directly at my ex. “you’re dating sunghoon!?!” my ex exclaims while everyone else in the room goes silent. “she is and who are you?” sunghoon asks. “her ex”. i look at my ex and couldn’t tell if he was pissed or upset. “well it looks like you didn’t end on good terms” “that’s none of your business” “it’s also none of your business of who y/n is dating now so if you can just leave us alone that would be great.”

“fine..it probably won’t even last that long anyways” my ex states while going back to his desk. “thank you” i whisper. “no problem”. going back to my seat, all i could think about is how sunghoon was holding my hand the entire time.

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“Y/N” sophie screams while running towards me. “what?” “you’re dating sunghoon!?!” i looked at her confused then realized what she was talking about. “how the hell did you find out and no i’m not dating him.” “wait what” “my ex was bothering me during class and decided just to find someone and act like he was my boyfriend, that’s all.” i shrugged. “THATS ALL??, y/n, sunghoon is like one of the most popular guys in our school. do you know how much this could possibly hurt you? i mean everyone in school already knows about you too and some of the girls are not so happy about it.” realizing the severity of the situation, i pull out my phone and go onto to see everyone talking about us. “oh shit” “yeah oh shit is right”

“y/n you might want to turn around.” “huh” looking up from my phone, i see sunghoon walking towards the two of us. “hey we need to talk” “uhh okay” i wave bye to sophie and walk with sunghoon to wherever he was taking me. “where are we going?” “to my car” “ohh”. getting in his car, i felt a little uncomfortable with the close proximity of us being in the car together. “so what do you want to talk about?” “about this whole ‘relationship’ “ “look i’m sorry i didn’t mean for this to happen. i was just trying to get my ex to stop bothering me and” “hey it’s fine, i totally understand. we just need to go over some rules” “rules?” raising an eyebrow at him. “yes. now first we can just fake date for the time being but there needs to be rules.” “okay” “1: your allowed to hug me whenever. 2: only kisses that are allowed are on the cheek. 3: i have practice at 3-7 on the week days and i’m only really free on the weekends. even if we are fake dating we still have to act like a couple or people will realize that we’re not actually dating and that really wouldn’t look good on your end.” “what does your practice have to with this though?” “ohh you have to come to those sometimes” “what why?!” “because that’s want good girlfriends do, they watch their boyfriends practice for their competition and games~” sunghoon says poking my cheek in the process. blushing slightly at the use of the word ‘girlfriend’ i turn my head so he wouldn’t see. “is that all?” “yeah i think so for the most part” all i do is nod. the car fills up with silence after that. “would you like to come to my practice today?” i look at the clock to see it was almost 3, looking at sunghoon “sure i have nothing better to do” “okay then off to the rink!”

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“it’s been about 3 weeks since the whole fake dating thing has happened and for the most part it’s been going okay. there’s only been like two girls that tried starting shit with me but other than that nothing else has happened. even my ex has been leaving me alone. thank god.” “how long will this go on for?” sophie asks. “i really don’t know to be honest. sunghoon never really said anything about how we can keep this going.” “i mean shit who knows, maybe you’ll actually fall in love with each other.” sophie says while grinning. “uhh yeah no.”

walking out to the common area outside, i see sunghoon talking with his friends. walking over to them, i place my bag down at sit next to jay which is currently talking about what he did during the weekend. “hey guys” fake dating sunghoon meant becoming friends with his friends which actually wasn’t that bad. everyone is so nice and really enjoyable to hang out with, and the guys never mind when i’m around which is nice. “oh hi y/n. how are you?” jake asks. “i’m good, just a bit tired that’s all.”

upon hearing that, sunghoon pulls me over to and pushes my head to rest on his shoulder. getting comfortable, i listen to the boys talk about sports and how jake has an upcoming soccer game on wednesday. “y/n are you going to the game on wednesday?” “uh i think so, sophie said she wanted to go but she doesn’t want to go alone so i guess i’ll be there.” “okay cool! well anyways i have to get going, i have to finish my homework and then go to practice. bye guys” jake says while getting up and walking out of school grounds. “yeah we have to leave too.” sunghoon states while gathering his things. getting up, i grab my bag and wait for sunghoon. “bye y’all” waving at the rest of the boys.

getting in the passenger seat of sunghoons car, i wait for him to finish putting all his stuff in the back of the car. “what is all that?” “just stuff for a project i had to do.” “ohh okay.” “i don’t have practice today so do you want to go to a cafe orr” “umm yeah that would be fine i guess” “okay cool” starting the car, we had into town and find a parking spot(a/n: you know like the parking spots on the side of the road and you can just park there and then walk around the city and stuff). sunghoon gets out of the car and puts money into the meter. walking to one of the cafes near the center of town, we walk in and sit down. looking at the menu while waiting for the waiter to come, i could feel eyes on me. looking up i see that sunghoon is staring at me. “what? do i have something on my face?” snapping back to reality before sunghoon could speak, the waiter comes over to our table. “hi how are you today and what could i get for y’all?” “ could i get a piece of strawberry cheesecake and water please” “okay and for you?” “just a piece of chocolate mousse cake. thank you” “okay i will get that out in just a few minutes”

“one piece of strawberry cheesecake and one piece of chocolate mousse cake. and here is your water ma’am.” “thank you!” grabbing my fork, i get a small piece before eating it. “omg this is so good!” “i’m glad” sunghoon says while smiling a little. “here try” holding a piece in front of his mouth. sunghoon looks at the piece of cake then looks at me questionably before open his mouth and eating the cake. “wow it is good” “see i told you!” while eating i could see sunghoon starting at my plate. “what’s wrong?” sunghoon doesn’t say anything except grabs something from under the plate. “what is it?” all sunghoon does is crumbles the piece of paper and goes back to eating the rest of food. looking at him i could tell he was a little upset. paying no mind to it, i finish the rest of my cake and just wait while looking out the window. “okay let’s go” looking at sunghoon, i get up and go to grab my wallet before feeling a hand stopping me. “i’m paying” “uhh no, last time you paid so i’m going to pay this time.” “no you’re not” not interested in arguing about who’s paying, i let him and wait for him outside the cafe.

“what did the paper say?” “it was nothing” “sunghoon don’t lie to me, i can tell that you are lying.” “ i am not lying thank you very much.” “yes you are. so are you going to tell me what it says or am i going to have to pry it out of you?” i question. “and just how are you going to do that?” sunghoon looks over at me while stopping at the red light. getting closer to his face, his eyes widened “okay okay, it was the waiters number” he says the last part in a whisper” “sorry i couldn’t hear you, could you repeat that for me?” “it was the waiters number” “the guy from the cafe?” my eyes look back over to sunghoon and i could see i light tint of pink dusting his cheeks. “sunghoon, are you jealous?” “what no, what are you talking about?” “i mean you could’ve just told me it was the guys number in the cafe but you didn’t. why?” “because i know you wouldn’t care and besides that how could he not tell we are ‘dating’. i mean to me it was clear as day” “you are jealous!” “am not” “is to”. looking out the window, i see that we’re outside of my house. not wanting to farther upset him, i grab my bag and get out the car. “i’ll see you tomorrow” “yeah..” “goodnight sungie”

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“come on y/n or we’re going to be latee” “okay okay hold on i have to make sure i have everything” grabbing my bag me and sophie walk out of her house and make our way to the school. “i wonder if jay is going to be there?” “of course he’s going to be there, jake is like his best friend.”

arriving to the school, everyone was just hanging out before the game. seeing sunghoon towards the back of the field bleachers, i walk over to him. “hey” sitting down next to him. “you look good” sunghoon was wearing a pair a black jeans with holes in the knees, an oversized red hoodie and a black beanie. “thanks, you don’t look to bad yourself.” “well thank you” “eww” sophie says while acting like she was going to throw up. “i’m going to go get some snacks” sophie says while getting up. once she was gone, i look over to sunghoon “i’m sorry about yesterday, i didn’t mean to pry into it nor say you were jealous.” “no it’s my fault, i should’ve told you. and no you were right i was kinda jealous.” “why though? we’re only fake dating so why be jealous.” “i don’t know really” “i’m back!” sophie exclaims while plopping a bag in my lap. “they had some of your favorite snacks so i got some for you” “ohh you didn’t have to, thank you though”

while watching the game, sunghoon gets up and walks off. not thinking much of it, i just pay attention to the game. getting a ding from my phone, i see that sunghoon texted me.

hoonie💕: meet me by my car

you: okay:)

getting up i tell sophie that i’ll be right back and make my way towards the parking lot. i see sunghoon leaning on the front of his car. “hey what’s up?” “i need to talk to you.” “okay what do you need to talk abou-“ because i could finish my sentence, sunghoon grabs me and pulls me closer to him, kissing me in the process. my eyes widened and before anything else, sunghoon pulls back. “i umm what was the for?” “y/n just listen to me for a minute. i know this was only supposed to be a short term thing, i really do. it’s just after spending so much time with you, i realize that i actually liked you more than i thought i would. the day we went to the cafe and the waiter slipped his number to you, it made me upset. i didn’t like the fact that somebody else could possibly like you. it made me realize how much you truly meant to me. i really like you y/n and it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way. i just really needed to get that off my chest.” shocked from sunghoons words, all i could do it stand there and process everything that just happened. “sunghoon look at me” sunghoon looks up at me and i could tell that he nervous. “sunghoon the day i hugged you i never thought it would come to this. i love spending time with you or going to your practices. i realize that i might of had a small crush on you from the beginning but at the same time i was scared because of the way things ended with my ex. i was scared to get into a relationship and even if it was just fake dating, it still scared me. but after spending so much time with you, i realized that i truly did liked you. you are always so kind and caring to me. it’s just i really like you too sunghoon and to be honest i’ve liked you for a while now i guess.” “well i mean do you want to be my actual girlfriend?” sunghoon asks while grabbing both of my hands. “yes” i say before pulling him closer to kiss him.

“i love you y/n” “i love you to hoonie”

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a/n: omg this took so long to write but it’s finally done!! i really hope this is okay and there might be a few spelling error here and there or grammar errors as well. i literally wrote this weeks ago but never actually typed it out. i’ve been really busy with school and i’ve been dealing with some persons things as well. y’all can send request in if you would like or you can just talk/ask me questions if you would like:)

have a good day y’all<3

#enhypen x reader #enhypen imagines #enhypen fluff #sunghoon #sunghoon x reader #sunghoon imagines #sunghoon scenarios #enhypen scenarios #park sunghoon

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sw124 · 3 years

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Monster Boyfriend!Reader insert!

Female Reader! Shadow boyfriend.

[The reader is nicknames are Angel by the boyfriend and Bo by everyone else]

Another day, another chewing out by your asshole of a boss who as usual promoted the skinny collage girl over you; despite the fact you worked at this office for over five years and kept it running! In your opinion your boss was a misogynistic piece of garbage who believed all woman had the minds of toddlers, that and their only purpose was to be servants/playthings/baby factories to all men. The only reason he promoted this new girl was because he was looking for new eye candy.

It was just your boss who shared this view however, the other members of the office didn’t share their views. All of them were married and had kids, you could feel the unease when the boss made filthy jokes about someone’s daughter…especially when that daughter was only thirteen years old.

The father of this girl was your friend and neighbor Roy, he was tempted to punch his boss senseless but at the moment he couldn’t afford to. He just found out he and his wife were expecting baby number two, his wife worked from home but he always believed in having a safety net.

[Lunch break]

You sat down by Roy and Trevor, he was from accounting and pretended to be a bachelor when he actually dating a very nice young person, they preferred not to be labeled with a gender.

“Hey Bo, heard the boss yelling at ya; what was it about this time?” Asked Trevor opening his lunchbox.

“The account he assigned to the new girl was lost and he’s blaming me despite I had no part in its loss. He just wants to get on the girls good side so he can try an sleep with her…” you mumbled as you pulled out your own lunch.

You weren’t skinny, you were round with curves and a belly. This lead to many comments from your boss but you brushed them off, especially when you got home cooked lunches from your boyfriend. Today’s lunch was as beautiful as before, he got into making those character bento lunchboxes he saw on tiktok. Today’s lunch was fried chicken meatballs with rolled up omelet and little rice balls. The meatballs were decorated to look like hedgehogs, the little rice balls made to look like penguins and the omelets were speckled with green and filled with cheese.

“Lee went all out on that didn’t he?” Retorted Roy with a chuckle, his lunch was a grilled panini he ordered from the shop next door.

“He loves to cook and I love eating his cooking.” You smiled as you chowed down into his creation.

There was a small avocado salad on the side with diced raw onions and a small squirt of hotshots on it. It was a interesting combination but it actually worked out well.

You were about to dig into this salad when your boss walked in, so begins his usual walk around the tables giving comments on everyone’s choice of lunches. Mocking men who didn’t have properly made lunches by their wives or joked about being bachelors. You finished the penguin rice balls when he came your table.

“An what has this group prepared hm?” He leaned over Roy and his sandwich. “Wife not making you lunch anymore, what you two get into a fight again?”

Ugh; you hated how he smirked every time he put someone down, he looked over at Trevor. His lunch was simple homemade steak and cheese wrap his partner made.

“Huh, thats surprising; most single guys don’t know how to cook, where’d you buy that?” Trevor was about to answer but the ass turned to you and eyed your lunch. “Well what does the pig have today? Something that looks decent, bet it tastes like shit though?”

He reached for your food, Roy was the one who pulled it away from him. “Sir, need I remind you that the last time you took someone’s food the CEO of the company came down here to scold you?”

Your boss glared at him but backed off, yes he literally took someone’s food from them and was reported. He managed to play it off as a misunderstanding but it didn’t stop the CEO from chewing him out.

“Fine, let the pig eat her slop.” With that your boss left.

“Thanks Roy…” you sighed, this was going to be a long day…

[A few hours later]

Finally it was time to leave, three’o clock, you got all your things and bolted for the elevator. You made it in time too, you knew your boss came looking for stragglers to do extra work. The doors closed just as he walked into look for anyone; preferably you. But you escaped, you learned when and how to avoid him near the end of the day.

Now piled into your car you, Trevor and Roy all heading back to the same apartment building you shared. Trevor lived on the fourth floor of the apartments while you and Roy were on the second floor, he lived in the apartment across the hallway from you and your boyfriend. You said goodbye to them and walked into your apartment, the money you made was good despite your boss.

You composed yourself before hand and as you were closing the door…you saw your shadow growing, it grew larger, bulkier and once it reached a hight of 9ft…three bio-green eyes appeared; feral and happy.

“Welcome home Angel.”

His large clawed hands picked you up and cradled you in those burly arms, the term ‘broad chest’ didn’t do your darling justice. He had hair but it was so molded to his body it almost looked like a helmet minus the part that hung off. He had what you called an inverted pixie bob, he nuzzled you and peppered your cheek with little kisses. He didn’t have a visible mouth, nose or ears but that only added to his charm.

“Hi Caine, I’m so happy to be home. Lunch was soooo good, I loved those little penguins you made.”

You watched those eyes of his turn into stars as he hugged tightly, you hugged him back….oh you needed this. You needed ‘him’ right now more then anything, just him and his big arms hugging you.

“I’m making pizza tonight, I figured it’d be cheaper then buying it.” He whistled.

“Ooh that sounds good.” You whined happily.

You only had your eyes closed for a moment before you found yourself in your bedroom. He sat you on the bed and proceeded to remove your shoes, what on earth did you do to get a guy this awesome?

“Oh, so you know; Brandy called me and told me about your company throwing a family picnic!”

Right…the picnic, another excuse for that ass of a boss to mock everyone’s lifestyle and show up his wealth. You smiled at him, he loved picnics and meeting all the people you worked with. No way were you gonna say no, but that didn’t mean you weren’t gonna try and stay as far away from your boss as possible.

“Its gonna be a potluck kind of picnic so lets make something yummy together hm?” You smiled as you stood back up and changed into your comfy clothes.

He squealed with glee and whisked you back up into his arms, dinner was delicious and so was dessert. Just simple store bot gelato but still good, the two of you sitting on the couch bing watching documentaries and internet cat videos.

[two weeks later]

The weather was perfect, there was a nice light breeze and there were clouds, lots of them. White, fluffy clouds that casted shadows to shield you from the sun from time to time. Not that it was terribly hot, warm but not hot. You and Cain parked the car under a tree and got out, the company picnic was being held at the local park near the river. It was a very nice place, already you saw many of your co-workers here.

Cain had already delved into your shadow, not out of fear but it was easier to move around crowds. You already saw a few other co-workers who brought their spouses. Mark from HR was one of the few you knew who was dating someone who wasn’t human, his girlfriend was the same height as Cain but unlike Cain she was more mammalian. She was what many called a ‘wendigo’ but she had more of a wolf appearance mostly due to her skull face; her name you recalled is Sophie.

You and Mark had that in common, the two of you love large, adorable creatures that could crush you in their embraces. You watched Mark talk as Sophie filled a plate with ribs and handed them to some other co-workers. You walked over, greeted her and sat down two large bowls. One had your famous fruit salad while the other had Cain’s spicy garlic Parmesan chicken wings.

Cain was about to come out to say hello when everyone was silenced by the tapping on a microphone.

“Everyone, thank you all for coming! I’m so thrilled to see everyone’s bright faces here!”

You gritted your teeth…it was your boss, here it comes. He did this whenever possible, bringing people up and passively insulting them for whatever reason an pass it off as a joke. Well today he was bringing couples up and joking, he already had Roy up there and joked about his family. It was clear Roy wanted to punch the guy’s lights out an you didn’t blame him.

“Thanks Roy for being a great sport, up next…why our own Ms. Bo!”

Well crud..it was your turn, you felt Cain gripping your shoulder but you had no choice. You patted the invisible hand and walked up onto the stage, you saw how he leered at you.

“Well everyone, here she is Miss Bo. Where’s your boyfriend, oh I’m sorry dear I guess the rumors are true men don’t like chubby little bitches like you.”

Uh oh…now he didn’t, you watched your shadow shift and move, steadily growing behind your boss as he continued.

“Any single men out here wanna plow this porker? No? Well thats to be expected, lots of smart men know to stay away-“ the mic was yanked out of his hand, he spun around…only to be face to face with three murder colored eyes.

You reached an took the mic. “Sir, I’d like to introduce you to Cain, my beloved boyfriend of four very happy years. We met in middle school, started dating in collage. Thats all you need to know….Cain put him down please.”

You didn’t need to look, Cain had your boss by the scruff of his shirt, dangling him over the edge of the stage….he relented and sat him down; he turned and took the mic from you.

“An for the record; you call my girl anything other then her name…well..” he exposed his rarely seen mouth, inside were rows of razors ready to tear him apart.

“The last thing you’ll be seeing are these.”

You refrained from saying anything..especially about your bosses soiled trousers.

[later, after the picnic]

Back in your apartment, cuddled on the couch; sitting in his lap with a box of macarons and other sweet treats. You look up at Cain who still seemed a little mad from what he heard.

“Honey its ok, the boss got fired for what he said and we’re getting a new one, its all thanks to you.” You give him a kiss, that seemed to melt the grump off.

“Yeah, though I’m still upset that you went through all those nasty things…”

Oh no the puppy eyes…the sad ‘mama I need love’ puppy eyes. He always got his way when something happened. Last time he did this was when you had you wisdom teeth taken out and you were in pain.

“I know but you know what?”

Cain looks down at you.

“What?”

“You made it worth it, every day I’d come home to the best thing nature ever created.”

You saw stars dance in his sweet eyes as he hugged you tightly, for the rest of the night was filled again with cat videos and documentaries until the two of you slowly drifted off to sleep, you safely tucked into his loving embrace.

End.

[so you know all of this was inspired by the drawings of @semisolidmind and her monster boyfriend series oooh their sooo cute! Semi I hope you like this you inspired this!]

#fanfic #monster boyfriend

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dvp95 · 4 years

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quiet on widow’s peak (4)

pairing: dan howell/phil lester, pj liguori/sophie newton/chris kendall rating: teen & up tags: paranormal investigator, mystery, online friendship, slow burn, strangers to lovers, nonbinary character, trans character, background poly, phil does some buzzfeed unsolved shit and dan is a fan word count: 3.9k (this chapter), 13.5k (total) summary: Phil’s got a list of paranormal experiences a mile long that he likes to share with the world. Abandoned buildings, cemeteries, and ghost stories have always called his name, and a particular fan of his has a really, really good ghost story.

read this chapter on ao3 or here!

Phil did not invite Chris and Sophie to come to Rossendale with him. Not because he doesn't like spending time with them, but because he wouldn't know how to explain a situation to his parents that he doesn't even understand himself. To his knowledge, PJ also did not invite them.

"Change it," Chris whines from the backseat. He'd lost the scuffle against Phil to claim the front, and he's been complaining about Phil's music choices for half the trip so far in retaliation.

"You like McFly," Phil huffs, continuing his search for an album that won't elicit a loud sigh from behind him.

"That's fucking slander, is what that is. You hear that, PJ?"

"Oh, I hear you both," PJ says, flat. "Loud and clear."

They've only been driving for probably forty minutes and PJ already looks like he wants to kick them all out of his car. Phil doesn't exactly blame him, although he resents being lumped in with Chris in the 'annoying background noise' category.

He has no idea how they've managed to invite themselves along, but Phil was too polite and PJ was too smitten to tell them off when they came out to the car with their bags.

So, this is a group activity now. Phil's parents had been thrilled to hear it when he texted them the updated situation - they're taking it as a sign that Phil has a motley crew of good friends again, like he'd had as a kid and again in uni. He supposes that they're not wrong, exactly, but he's definitely anxious about introducing them to Chris.

"I like this song," Sophie says, mild, and Chris closes his mouth.

"Fine, this one is alright," he says begrudgingly. Phil glances at them in the rearview - Sophie is patting Chris' knee and giving him the sort of smile that always makes Phil feel like he shouldn't be present. He looks back down at his phone so he doesn't have to sit with that feeling too long.

PJ turns up the volume, probably to curb any more bickering before he has to toss them all out of his car, and Phil tries to just lose himself in the music for a little bit.

His friends sing along at varying levels of obnoxiousness and Phil tries not to keep opening the Tumblr app to see if someone has messaged him. Well, someone specific. I'm going north today!, is the last message sent between them, and Phil is still waiting for Winnie to offer to meet up or something.

After their non-starter interview, Phil and Winnie kept missing each other's free time to finish it over Skype. Phil kind of wants to hear more from them before he checks it out himself, but that's not looking likely at this point, especially if he's lugging his housemates along with him all weekend.

Phil opens a puzzle game on his phone and lets the mostly-mindless swiping distract him. It's a long drive up to Rossendale, and the last thing Phil wants is to be left alone with his thoughts.

Phil's parents love having guests round almost as much as they love to have him home, so Phil isn't at all surprised to walk in and smell a roast cooking. He expects that treats will be made as soon as the oven is free, because that's what his mum is like.

"Hello," Phil calls into the house, kicking off his shoes. His friends follow his lead - PJ puts his boots carefully on the mat that Phil didn't bother aiming for, and Sophie struggles with a particularly stubborn knot in her laces - as he hangs up his jacket. "Mum? Dad?"

"Child," his mum greets him happily, appearing in the entry to the kitchen and making grabby hands at him until he envelops her in a hug.

"Missed you," Phil tells her, quiet enough that his friends won't hear to make fun of him.

"Oh, I missed you," she says, giving him a kiss on the side of his face. She turns her beaming smile onto his housemates, who all pause in what they're doing like a frozen tableau. It's a little funny. "More children! Hello! I'm Kathryn, it's so nice to meet you. And so nice to see you again, PJ," she adds in that somewhat pointed voice that Phil hates so very much.

"Hello, Kath," PJ says, grinning wide. He gives her a hug, too. Chris holds out his hand for her to shake when she's done squeezing the life out of PJ, but Kath will have none of it.

"Don't be silly," she says, wrapping her arms tight around Chris' waist with a laugh. "We hug in this family."

"Really?" Chris asks, and the look he gives Phil is almost more embarrassing than if he'd asked 'so why isn't your son a hugger?' out loud. "Something smells absolutely delicious, Kathryn. Is that you, or is supper cooking?"

Phil stops himself from groaning out loud, but barely. He probably shouldn't be surprised at all that Chris' cheeky, flirtatious charm extends to mothers as well. Kath laughs and smacks lightly at Chris' chest before she turns to Sophie.

Skilled at making people feel comfortable in four seconds flat, Kath chatters away about supper and how lovely Sophie's curls are and how long it's been since she's seen Phil, did they know how long it's been? She herds them all into the kitchen like they're cattle and insists that Phil take their things upstairs while she puts the kettle on.

"Er, alright," Phil says, looking at the small collection of bags that they'd brought with them. Their clothes and toiletries are all there, of course, but so is all the filming and hunting equipment. He'll have to make at least two trips.

"Your father got the guest room and Martyn's room all set up before he went out," she tells him, either not noticing or ignoring his internal struggle.

Oh, wonderful. Phil had somehow forgotten about the part where they had three beds for four of them. He's positive that his housemates won't mind sharing with each other, but now he's been tasked with the anxiety-inducing puzzle of whose bags to put where.

"Okay," Phil says again, even though they've moved on to talking about their favourite kinds of cakes so that Kath can wow them all with her skills. He tries to catch PJ's eye, but PJ is too wrapped up in a conversation about strawberries to notice.

Alright, well. Phil grabs as many bags as he can carry and brings them upstairs, feeling some tension deep inside him get a little tighter as he notices that most of their personal effects are packed away, either in storage or already on the island, and his childhood home looks more like a show home than he's comfortable with. The stairs only creak a little under his weight, nothing like the old house in Brighton, but Phil still feels unsettled.

In the end, he throws PJ and Sophie in the guest room. It's a selfish move more than anything, because he's brought PJ for enough visits to be familiar with the way his parents look at each other every time PJ teases him.

They don't ask. They're not the type of people to pry, and Phil isn't the type of people to offer information unprompted. They've all been in this limbo for years where Phil doesn't tell them that he likes boys and they don't outright question if PJ is just a friend and, frankly, Phil is tired of it. So, Chris can sleep alone.

He takes his own bags up last, because he knows that stepping into his bedroom and seeing all the personality stripped from it is going to make him feel things he isn’t prepared to feel. Phil takes a deep breath before he goes inside, and releases it shakily as he drops his things on the floor.

The beige carpet is almost mocking him, telling him that it's time to grow up, and Phil leaves the room as fast as he can.

God it is so hard to get anything done here. Sorry to complain at you randomly but like... I forgot how hard it is to work when my parents are hovering and asking a million questions lmao

Winnie still hasn't responded to Phil's early morning message, but the frustration of his parents distracting him and his friends from their work is starting to get to him. Chris has completely charmed them, somehow, and both Sophie and PJ are too polite to put headphones on and ignore them the way Phil has decided to.

Surprisingly, he gets a reply right away: omg how have i never considered the fact that you had to tell your parents you wanted to hunt ghosts for a living thats so fucking funny also that sucks i live in a house full of students and i always have to go to the coffee shop to work on essays and shit

There's nothing good like that where my parents live. Your coffee place is in the city, right?

“No! He didn’t!” Chris is laughing, somewhere in the living room, and Phil has to turn up the white noise on his headphones. The idea of his parents and housemates trading embarrassing stories about him while he's holed up at the table with audio files he hates makes him itch.

yeah, Winnie says. Phil is so thrown off by the short message that his fingers pause on the keyboard.

Is he annoying them? He doesn't mean to. Phil thinks over the messages they've exchanged since talking on Skype, the wheel of worst case scenarios spinning quickly.

Before Phil can apologise or even really get his anxious mind to settle down, his laptop bloops again, once, twice, three times. Relief from the worry that Winnie doesn't like talking to him curls around Phil's shoulders, relaxing them.

It's a screenshot of Google Maps with an address pulled up, a different building circled in a bright blue. yeah i hella recommend and it's really close to wilkins as well, is the message accompanying the screenshot. Then, right afterwards, 10/10 hot chocolate if i do say so myself.

Phil isn't very big on hot chocolate on its own, but he is very big on quiet coffee shops.

It takes a lot of cajoling and promises that he won't be out too late for Phil to convince his parents that they'll be fine to drive to the city by themselves. His dad gets the same look on his face that he always does when Phil talks about work, but his mum merely pats his cheek and says, "Oh, love, be careful. I'll be cross if I have to get you from the police again."

"That was one time," Phil says, feeling his face flush as Chris looks at him with glee.

"One time too many," Nigel says, a bit too sternly to be a joke. Phil wonders if his friends pick up on it or if they just think he's banting like he's been all through supper, that same dry humour that Phil can see in Martyn making him funnier than his housemates had expected.

PJ and Sophie both laugh a bit, so... probably just Phil's knowledge of his dad making it more pointed than it really needs to be.

The coffee shop is open late, so Phil and his housemates decide to do some recon at the Wilkins place. The sun hasn't quite set yet, and the street isn't completely deserted or anything, so they have to wait for a good moment to leave the car.

They're careful. They've done this before.

The Wilkins place is an older townhouse in Rusholme with windows that have been boarded up since the early noughties because they kept getting broken. Technically, someone still owns the property, but the Wilkins family either didn't care about it or had forgotten it existed, because it's been abandoned as long as Phil can remember.

It also isn't very scary in his memory. It's draughty and has rats scurrying about, but the electricity and heating still worked, somehow, and the social situations he'd gotten thrown into at Martyn's shoulder were definitely more nerve-wracking than the house itself.

All of these things are still more or less true, according to everything Phil has been told, but when Phil climbs in through the loose boards of the kitchen window, the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up. He hesitates for so long on the sill that Chris pushes a bit at him, reminding him to move before some annoyed neighbour calls the police.

It's dim inside but not so dark that Phil's eyes strain; the streetlights and setting sun filter in through the boards and showcase the dust covering every surface.

Phil helps Sophie and then Chris through the window, PJ giving them boosts from the outside. They take the various bags from PJ and Sophie immediately pulls out the camera, ignoring the thuds that PJ's feet make as he launches himself up and clambers in like a monkey.

"Sexy," Chris drawls as PJ nearly tumbles onto his face. He's grabbing out equipment of his own, and so Phil is tasked with getting PJ through the window safely.

"At least I've got a modicum of upper body strength," PJ says. Neither of them are bothering to whisper, and that's making Phil anxious.

He can't put his finger on it, but... it doesn't feel like they're alone in here. There's probably someone hiding out from the chill of late October in one of the various empty rooms, and Phil's worst case scenario wheel is spinning so fast it's making him dizzy.

"Do you hear that?" Sophie asks, hushed. That stops PJ and Chris from continuing their bickering, and all three men freeze as they strain for whatever it is that Sophie's hearing. After a moment of complete silence, Sophie shakes her head. "It stopped. Hopefully the mic caught it over you lot."

PJ looks appropriately abashed, but Chris just shrugs. He's got a flashlight and an EMF meter, and he slings one of the bags over his shoulder before disappearing.

This is technically for Phil's channel - they're checking the place out, and Sophie is filming just in case something happens - but Phil still feels weird when PJ ducks off in another direction and Sophie stays at his side instead of following one of her boys, camera steady in her hands and the tip of her nose pink from the cool air.

"What did you hear?" Phil murmurs, beckoning her further into the house. The sound of creaking wood is so loud, like it's right above their heads, and Phil can only hope that it's one of his friends going upstairs.

"It could have been the wind," Sophie says mildly. "Or rats."

"Is that what it sounded like?"

Sophie blinks up at him and her mouth twists in an emotion that Phil can't place. "No. No, it sounded like a person talking."

Yeah, that's what Phil was afraid of. "Someone might be living here," he whispers, focusing on the dark hallway and trusting that Sophie is following.

The creaking again, this time from beside them, and Phil peeks his head around the corner to confirm that the staircase is what he's hearing. Chris is halfway up it, flashlight off between his teeth as he grips the railing like he's afraid the stairs are going to give out under him.

Phil hates this part. He'd rather do this completely alone than have to herd his friends like sheep. He leaves Chris to his own devices and moves into the lounge. This is where the majority of the litter is, empty bottles and cans and crisp bags everywhere. Phil takes a couple photos of it all and sends them to Martyn.

Remember your friend who used to bring a garbage bag to every party? Looks like he was the only one lol

He pauses. All too aware of Sophie's eyes and possibly the camera lens on him, Phil sends the photo to Winnie as well with a different caption: Does it always look like this?

Neither of them respond by the time Phil has picked his way through the first floor, which is at least good for his focus, but it doesn't explain why the house feels so much different than it had seven or eight years ago. Phil feels unsettled here in a way that he doesn't usually get anymore, goosebumps down his arms that aren't from the cold and the constant, unnerving feeling that someone is looking at him from the shadows.

Phil's phone buzzes as he and Sophie debate in whispers if they should go upstairs. Phil hates leaving anything to someone else, even if it's just a few rooms that surely PJ and Chris are capable of exploring on their own. He's in the middle of trying to explain that to Sophie when his voice catches in his throat.

"Peej says we should go," Phil says, interrupting himself. "He found something weird in the attic."

"What's he doing in the attic?" Sophie hisses.

"Dunno. I didn't even know there was an attic."

"We should go, then," says Sophie, like that decides it. Although it does rankle a bit to be lower on the totem pole of his own project, Phil has to admit that Sophie is right. If PJ is saying that it's time to go, then it's time to go.

Phil climbs out of the window first, taking the equipment with him, and then helps hoist Sophie safely down. She's so small that it's not even a strain, really, even with how little exercise Phil gets. They wait, huddled together, and Phil feels some of the knot in his chest start to loosen when he hears Chris and PJ arguing in whispers before the window boards get slid out of the way again.

"What did you find?" Phil asks immediately, and PJ hushes him on his way down.

"Let's go, I'll tell you at the café," he whispers, leading the way down the pavement with strides so purposeful that Phil wonders if he's been in this area before. It's all the rest of them can do to keep up with him, and Phil spares a moment to feel sorry for Sophie and her short legs.

He hangs back with her and lets Chris keep pace with PJ. Chris is still talking at a silent PJ in a hushed, passionate tone, like he's fighting with a brick wall, and Phil doesn't need to be involved in that.

The coffee shop is only a couple of streets away, but the tension that the Wilkins place and PJ's subsequent discovery has brought to the group makes it feel much further. PJ stops in front of a purple door, and Phil has a begrudging respect for his ability to remember where something is after simply being told the address. The shop is small and a little dingy, but the lighting inside is soft through the narrow windows and there's a fireplace that Phil longs to curl up in front of like a cat.

Chris scowls at PJ and holds the door open for him in the same breath. Phil doesn't understand their relationship and at this point he's too afraid to ask, but he ducks into the inviting warmth anyway to try to get the goosebumps off his skin.

The two employees behind the counter look at the door like they've been caught with their hands in a cookie jar. A girl with brightly-coloured hair is holding a bunch of marshmallows, a hand poised mid-throw, and an unreasonably tall guy with an unreasonably large mouth is gawping as one of the marshmallows hits him in the chin.

"You missed," Phil informs them, grinning a bit as he unwinds his scarf.

"Oops," the girl laughs, setting the marshmallows down and pulling up a customer service smile. "What can I get for you guys?"

While PJ and Sophie pore over the menu and Chris starts asking if she'll throw marshmallows into his mouth if he asks very nicely, Phil's eyes drift to the other worker.

His mouth is still open, a bit, and his face flushes when their eyes meet. "Er," he says, glancing behind him as if Phil is looking at someone else, and that's so endearing that Phil is sufficiently distracted from the mystery down the street.

Phil isn't extremely self-conscious or anything, but he also knows he's not going to be the hottest guy in a room, so he's a bit flattered and a lot confused about this guy's reaction to him.

The thing is, the guy is very attractive. A couple of perfect curls poke out from under his cap, and there's some type of shimmer on his face that Phil could not put a name to if you paid him. He knows literally nothing about makeup, but he knows that it makes this giant of a man look softer and his blush even more obvious when it deepens.

"Hi," Phil says, giving him a little wave. He can still hear Chris chattering on and Sophie debating the merits of a hot chocolate versus a cappuccino, so he's pretty sure nobody is paying them any attention. The guy twitches like he wants to look over his shoulder again, but he stops himself.

"Uh, hi? Sorry to be, like, weird, I just - I didn't expect -"

The voice is familiar, the rambling is familiar, and then it clicks. "Oh, hi," Phil says again, warmer this time. He steps closer to the counter and grins up at them - an unusual thing in itself, since Phil doesn't meet many people taller than him. "You didn't mention that you work here."

Winnie's shoulders slump forward in a kind of relief, and they scratch the back of their neck, looking awkward and out of place even in an outfit that coordinates with the colour scheme of the whole shop. Phil looks the uniform over and immediately regrets it, because he didn't mean to see Winnie's name tag and now he feels weird about knowing something he wasn't actually told. He doesn't feel too weird about being here, though, because - well. Winnie had technically invited him.

"Honestly, I didn't know you'd be 'investigating' so soon," says Winnie. They're still blushing and the finger quotes are somehow cute, even though they're being used to poke at Phil's career. Their nails are dark and sparkly, and Phil desperately needs to stop noticing things about their hands. "I would have told you, probably, or I'd just - I dunno, try to make a better first impression."

"You're making a fine first impression," Phil assures them.

Winnie snorts. "Oh, bullshit."

"Phil," PJ says, nudging him. Phil suddenly remembers that there are, in fact, other people around him, and he can't just keep looking at Winnie's long, dark eyelashes. "What are you having?"

Honestly, Phil hasn't even looked at the menu. He's so easily distracted by pretty boys with big hands and - oh, right, he's got to be careful about that, even in his own head. Especially in his own head. Winnie isn't a pretty boy, he really shouldn't be thinking about them like that at all.

"Uh," Phil says eloquently. He's very particular with his hot drinks, usually, but he's got a lot going on in his mind right now and it's easier just to shrug at Winnie than to look away and think. "Dunno, actually. Surprise me?"

Winnie smiles, and Phil's stomach twists. "I can do that."

#quiet on widow's peak #phanfic #phanfiction #dnp fic #words words words

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