#where you are LITERALLY hanging onto every single word that the actors are saying | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hoenursey · 3 years

Text

here it is, y’all, the nurseydex theatre kid au i never finished (and probably won’t ever). if any of y’all remember, this was going to be the othello au lol !! whoops.

_X_

God hated him, obviously. That much was apparent. God hated him or did not exist, because no loving god would do this to him. No loving god would have him, fingers wrapped delicately and squeezing ever so slightly at one (1) William J. Poindexter’s slim neck, and no loving god would force him to have his blocking so that he needed a knee wedged between Will’s thighs and his other hand pinning his wrist to the bed, and there was absolutely, positively no loving god that would have Will gazing up at him, pupils blown wide as a half erection tented the silk nightgown he was in, in the middle of Samwell College’s black box theatre.

There was just no way in hell, Derek reasoned, as Will swallowed and he felt the bob of his throat run down, down, down the center of his palm. A loving god would open up the floor and fucking eat him, just let him die right then and there.

“Will, you should be thrashing!” Monetta yelled, and Derek flinched, then forced himself to relax and slowly pulled back.

It happened like this.

“We have no backup for Desdemona,” Monetta spat. “Who fucking– who changes their major now? Who drops a class in the middle of the fucking semester? Can you even do that?” She whirled around, eyes wild, and Derek backed up slightly. Monet could be kind of… wild, sometimes, when she got going.

“Uh–”

“It’s rhetorical!”

Everyone in the theatre flinched.

“I need a backup. I need one now. I don’t care if it’s a fucking dog. If the dog can act, I don’t give a shit. I just need a fucking actor. Find someone who’s got chemistry with Derek and I will fucking kiss you.”

“I’d prefer it not be a dog,” he said hesitantly, and Monetta turned her head in his direction. Only her head, and a single, mad-looking eye focused on him.

“But you know what? I, uh. Can work with that. A dog, I mean. Anything. The show must go on.”

Monetta’s head turned back, and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

“Hey, what about Will?”

Nevermind, he thought to himself bitterly. He turned a flat look on Chris, who was smiling cheerfully, as usual, a wrench in his hand.

“Who?” Monetta asked. Her brow was creased, the script she’d been waving still dangling from her long fingers.

“He–” Derek tried to say, but then Monetta threw the script at him as Chris said, “He’s the one who’s been helping Larissa with sets! Me, Will, and Derek had our freshman humanities course together!”

“What does he look like?”

“Red hair, freckle-y,” Mandy called from the rafters.

“Mega freckle-y,” Jenny confirmed. “And he’s, like, p good at acting. He’s got a great voice, loud and, like, strong and stuff? Super pale, kind of angry just like as a person. He’s a little awkward but like once you get him comfortable it’s fine. We had 1302 together; actually, it was Othello, so he already knows the lines! He’s super rad!”

Monetta turned to him, and he gave her an uncomfortable look. “Please tell me you can work with him. Derek. Please. We really, really, really don’t have time to do another open casting call, and frankly all the non-actors in here suck. Please. We have three. months. Tell me you don’t have any problems with him.”

“He’s an asshole,” Derek grumbled. “A rude asshole who thinks i'm irresponsible and laughs at me when I fall–”

“But can you work with him on stage?”

Derek sighed softly as Monetta turned the closest thing she had to puppy dog eyes on him.

“You’re helping with my calc work,” he said tiredly, and she beamed at him. “Call him up, Chris. See if we can get him here by tomorrow.”

It happened like this: Monetta took one look at William Poindexter and fell in love with him. He monologued for her and she looked ready to propose. They found a costume (after damn near an hour of sizing and shaping and pinning and honestly, his ass was just unfair) and she had their children’s names picked out.

“Thank you so much for this. I’m so sorry we had to call you in so late, and this is so–”

“It’s, um, not a problem?” he said, almost a question, smile curving his pink lips, because of course he had an uncomfortably endearing smile.

“Monetta, one problem,” Caitlin Farmer said muffledly. They looked down at her where she was hemming the bottoms of Will’s pants, a few pins tucked between her lips.

“Yes, Caitlin?” Monetta asked, voice tense. Caitlin pulled the pins from her mouth and handed them to Derek, saying lightly, “Hold these, please?”

“Uh, we don’t have any period clothes for this. The sleep scene, where Othello kills Desdemona? We only have women’s robes and gowns, and I know costuming gets cumulative grades on like accuracy. It won’t be so bad if the rest of the costuming is good, but we’re hella underprepared and I know they don’t want to make an entire new outfit this late in the show.”

“What do you have?” Will asked. Monetta, Caitlin, and Derek all looked at him, surprised– he hadn’t really said much outside of a few words confirming or agreeing with whatever they said.

“Just… silk nightgowns. That’s it. The little strappy shift ones? You probably don’t want to wear those, i’m sorry–”

“It’s-- uh, don't worry about it,” he interrupted gently. “A few weeks in a shift dress isn’t going to kill me. Besides, i’m already gay and, uh, sort of out, so like, what's the worst they can say to me?” Derek’s brain went blank. Will was gay? Will was gay? Was he single? Why did he care?

“Derek!”

“Sorry, what?” he asked, blinking at Monetta.

“I said, go get ready for practice. We’ve gotta get your blocking down.”

“O-okay,” he managed.

“And I want you and Will to practice outside of this period! Go hang out, get dinner in the dining hall together! You’re supposed to be married, okay?”

Shit. Fucking shit fuck shit– “Okay, Monetta. Dinner, dining hall, practice. I’ve got it. I can hear perfectly clearly.”

“But does your brain work? I doubt you sometimes.”

It happened like this: they started having dinner together, and then lunch together, and then breakfast, and then Derek was sitting with the engineering majors and Will was sitting with the poetry kids and they were both sitting with the theatre kids. It happened like this: they bickered, and Derek flirted, and Will snarked, and they practiced until they were dead on their feet.

It happened like this: they hadn’t practiced kissing by themselves, just line work, because they didn’t really have the space to do blocking anyways. Or that was what he told himself, anyways, because he kept thinking about how much he wanted to, and he poured over the kissing scenes in private: how he’d kiss him, how delicately or firmly it would be done, and how most of all there wouldn’t be much more effort to pretend that he was madly in love with him, because of course he had to fall in love with anyone who smiled at him.

It happened like this: Monetta needed them to practice the kissing scenes in rehearsal.

“You’re both single, right?” she asked idly as she checked over the set backgrounds, Derek scanning over his blocking notecards from on top of one of their desks.

“Huh?”

“You and Will. Single?”

“Well... I am,” Derek said slowly. “But I wouldn't know about Poindexter. He's never mentioned a partner though, and it doesn't seem like his style to not, like, say anything. Want me to ask?”

“Sorry, I had to drop off some supplies to the culinary lab,” Will called, the door slamming behind him, and they turned to look at him.

“Will,” Monetta hedged, “You’re single, right?”

He paused, looking at her curiously, then nodded a little jerkily, shrugging off his bag and jacket. Nursey tried not to stare at the way his shoulders filled out the tight red “Samwell Computing” shirt (gay, gay, gay, his brain was chanting, gay, gay, stop thinking about how broad his shoulders are, gay). “Far as I know.”

“Great,” Monetta said, relieved. “Sorry, just… last time, we accidentally caused a few breakups? And chairs got thrown. I really don't wanna see that happen again.”

Will chuckled softly, flexing his wrists a little and then pushing up onto the stage with his hands, rolling into a standing position neatly. Derek was dying. “Well, no angry, uh, boyfriends here. Or girlfriends.”

“Fantastic,” she murmured. “I’d hate for you to have a chair thrown at your head, we really don’t have the time to find another Desdemona.”

“You know you’re supposed to care about other people’s well-being, right?” Jenny called down from above the stage, where she was fixing up some of the lighting that had fallen earlier. Mandy nodded in agreement.

Monetta took a moment to consider it, face thoughtful, and then shrugged, pivoting on her foot and walking away from Will and Derek.

“No time for that either! Everyone get dressed, we’ve got a lot of work to do today and some people still aren’t off book.”

“It’s literally just act two,” Connor said irritably from the fourth row, though he still stood to move backstage. “That’s it. Excuse me for not memorizing every single one of Iago’s stupid little asides--”

March smacked him on the back of the head and he yelped, indignant. “What was that for?”

“You don’t have to get insulted four times a week for a month, Wisnewski,” she grumbled, “So can it.”

#nurseydex #choking mention #my fic #fanfic: mine #my writing #nursey #derek nurse #dex #william poindexter #theatre au

75 notes · View notes

here4theheartbreak · 4 years

Text

AO3 Link Here

Relationships: Lee Taemin x Park Jimin, Choi Minho x Kim Taehyung, Choi Minho x Kim Taehyung x Lee Taemin x Park Jimin (V3Min) Rating: Explicit

Genres: angst, smut Tags: smut, angst, fake dating, jealousy, pining, friends with benefits, getting together, bottom Taemin, switch Jimin, top Taehyung, top Minho

Summary: Minho has been in love with his best friend since forever. But Taemin was determined to be unattached... Until suddenly he wasn't. Taehyung spent his entire life pining after happiness with his best friend, only to have it ripped away when Jimin finds someone else. The rational response? Hatch a plan to make their respective crushes jealous. The part where they fell in love with each other, however, wasn't part of the plan.

Chapter Word Count: ~5.1k

“My father is literally trying to murder me.”

Minho didn’t bother to bite back his grin as soon as he entered the salon. He crossed the room as the handsome hairstylist whined and stomped one foot.

“You know, they say that a haircut is similar to going to a bar,” Minho commented as he took a seat.

“What?”

He lifted his chin to allow the cape to nestle against his throat. “The patrons dump their worries onto the stylist the same as they would a bartender. It’s cheap therapy. The bartender – and stylist – aren’t supposed to do things the other way around.”

Minho met Taemin’s gaze in the mirror, smirking at his pout.

“I’m having a crisis, hyung,” Taemin whined. Minho sighed patiently.

“Fine. Your father is metaphorically trying to murder you – I strongly doubt he’s intending to physically kill his youngest. Why do you think he’s out to get you?”

Taemin’s pout increased, making him look years younger than he actually was.

“He wants to arrange a marriage. Who even does that anymore?”

“Well, I mean quite a few families? It’s not like you have to marry the person he introduces you to.”

Taemin snorted, picking up his comb and spraying Minho’s hair lightly. “He all but threatened to cut me off and kick me out if I didn’t. Which is why I say, he’s out to get me.”

“Who’s the person, do you know?”

“Her name is Park Jisoo.”

“Oh, I know of that family. They’re pretty wealthy.”

“So my father said. I don’t care though. I don’t want to marry anyone, I’m happy how I am and I don’t wanna be tied down. If he’s so keen on me getting hitched, I might as well marry you.”

Minho snorted. “That’s never gonna happen.”

Taemin pouted again. “Why are you laughing?”

“Look, you and I might have fun in bed, but you said it yourself. You don’t want to be tied down. If you married me I’d drive you nuts. And either way, your dad is trying to set you up with a girl because he hates that you’re interested in men at all. Marrying me would set both of our fathers off.”

“It’d be fun to watch their heads explode though, wouldn’t it? Remember the first time your dad caught us kissing in the pool?”

“I thought mine was going to drown us both. I’ve never seen his face get so red. But to be fair… We were kids.”

“We were teenagers. All of our straight friends were already making out with their girlfriends in the broom closets.”

Minho chuckled. “Point made. Maybe she won’t be so bad. Everyone knows you’re a natural charmer, you’ll win her over in no time. You just have to make it clear you have boundaries and the marriage is a professional thing only.”

“That’s not fair to her.”

Minho smiled patiently. He watched Taemin through the mirror as he shaped the cut he knew Minho preferred, his brows furrowed in concentration. He’d known the man since Taemin was born, nearly – they’d grown up side by side in their apartment complex otherwise filled with teens and adults. Though there was an age gap, Minho adored Taemin, more than his same age friends most of the time. When Taemin realized at puberty that he might not be entirely into girls, it was natural for him to come to Minho… And to subsequently experiment with him.

Minho knew he was Taemin’s safety and friend… But not more.

Taemin had a reputation around their city as a bit of a player. People always came and went from his bed, and they had since he was barely legal. Minho was a constant, but the idea of being something more… It was a fantasy. Minho knew that, and resigned himself to what he was given. He loved Taemin in every way possible, and his happiness was what mattered. Minho honestly didn’t believe Taemin would ever find someone to settle down with – he was just too… Lee Taemin. Bouncing from person to person, content with a few nights of fun before moving on. It worked for them. Taemin never tired of Minho.

“So, when do you start shooting for your new role?” Taemin asked, breaking Minho’s inner dialogue.

“Hm? Oh, next week.”

“Do you need to leave Seoul for it?”

Minho grunted an affirmative. “Yeah, a month in Andong.”

“Ooh, it’s pretty there,” Taemin commented. He leaned down, resting his chin on Minho’s shoulder. “Pack me in your suitcase and take me with you.”

Minho beamed, pushing Taemin’s head playfully. “I wish. I don’t know any of the actors. There’s some rookie too, heard he thinks he’s hot shit.”

Taemin wrinkled his nose. “Gross.”

“I mean, he might be. I got that reputation too when I was new because I was good. I’ll give him a shot, but…” He shrugged the shoulder Taemin wasn’t perched on. “I’ll miss you.”

“Wanna hang out tonight?” Taemin smirked, tucking his bottom lip between his teeth. “Have a little fun?”

Minho chuckled. “Where’s Sehyoon?”

“Ah,” Taemin straightened up, angling his comb back to Minho’s hair. “You know how it is, easy come, easy go.”

“Dumped him, didn’t you?”

“Mutual separation. He wanted more, you know me.”

“He was cute.”

“He’s single.”

Minho snorted. “Not a chance. I’m not even dating you and I’ve got my hands full.”

Taemin smacked the back of Minho’s head with the comb. “I have scissors.”

Minho winced, rubbing the spot. “Such a brat.”

Taemin beamed at that, his entire face lighting up as he did. Minho couldn’t help but smile, his heart doing an all too familiar two step beat against his ribs. He knew he’d never end up with Taemin… But it didn’t stop him from secretly wanting to.

***

Minho bowed politely to Taemin’s father when he opened the door, not bothering to hide his smirk. “Good evening, Sir. Is Taemin in?”

“Not for the likes of you.”

Though Taemin’s father tolerated Minho to some degree, he was no fool about what went on between the two.

“I heard you intend to arrange a meeting for Taemin with the Park girl. She is quite beautiful.”

Taemin’s father straightened a little, scowling. “Her family is powerful. And she has the firm hand the boy needs.”

“Well, he does like a firm hand,” Minho bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at the subtle widening of Taemin’s father’s eyes. “I mean… He certainly needs it to keep in line, correct?”

“Hm.”

“He discussed it with me today. He’s quite nervous. Wondered if I could come over before my trip and relax him, get him energized to meet his potential bride to be. That’s why I’m here.’ Minho planted his most sweet smile, letting his head tilt just a bit. “Nothing scandalous.”

Taemin’s father’s eyes narrowed. “Hm… He’s in his room, playing that damned music too loud.” He stepped aside, allowing Minho in. “For a boy his age, he certainly acts like a child. You’re older than him, shouldn’t you be a better influence?”

Minho smiled and bowed as he stepped out of his sneakers. “Ah, you know your son better than anyone, Mr. Lee. He’s as stubborn as a mule. It’s an admirable trait, even if it drives us all a bit insane. It’ll come in handy in business.”

“I suppose you’re right. Go. Go, leave the door open a crack. I know how your kind is.”

Minho nodded and jogged up the stairs, rapping on Taemin’s door before opening it and slipping through. He shut it firmly, kicking Taemin’s makeshift doorstop under it to effectively lock it.

Taemin was stretched out on his bed in a pair of shredded jeans, showing more skin than they were covering. He was flipping through a magazine, and glanced up when Minho entered.

“You came.”

“Not yet, but I intend to.”

Taemin smirked, sitting up and tossing the magazine aside. “Well come on then.” He leaned back on his hands, shifting to show off the curve of his body. Minho sighed deeply, letting his gaze roam over Taemin. He stripped off his hoodie and t-shirt, crawling up Taemin’s legs.

“You’re a tease,” he scolded without venom when their noses brushed. Taemin smirked.

“It’s only teasing if I don’t come through with it.” He slid his palm down Minho’s chest, cupping his crotch and giving a playful squeeze that had Minho’s eyelids fluttering. “And you know I always come through.”

“Oh, I do.” Minho brushed his lips over Taemin’s neck. “How are you feeling it today?”

Taemin laid back, looking up at Minho. “Hm. Not too rough… But don’t go easy on me either.”

“Deal… Do you still have my bag?”

Taemin nodded, then jutted his chin toward his closet. “Floor, left side… What do you need from it?” His lips curved up into a smirk.

“Guess you’ll have to find out.” Minho winked and wiggled off the bed, heading over to the closet. He dug around a bit before rising, turning back to the bed.

Taemin’s grin was irrationally bright given the handful of items Minho had. He held a heavy black rope and a bottle of lube, as well as a thin strip of flat wood like an unmarked ruler, and a sturdy rubber ring. He crawled back onto the bed, placing all the items but the rope onto the stand.

“Arms up.”

Taemin obeyed, his eyes wide and pupils dilated. He wet his lips, glancing up as Minho tied his arms together with the rope, then wound it through the rungs of the bedframe.

“I love when you’re like this,” Taemin whispered, nudging Minho’s arm with his cheek.

“Like what?”

“Bossy. Firm.”

“You need it,” Minho said, tugging the rope firmly. He grabbed Taemin’s jaw in a firm grip, squeezing just enough to pinch. “You’re a little shit. Always talking back and mouthing off to your elders. You’re lucky I do this instead of beating your ass.”

Taemin smirked. “I suck your cock too good for you to really be mad at any of that.”

Minho leaned forward, brushing his mouth against Taemin’s. “Says you.” He shoved his head back hard enough that Taemin bumped it against the wood frame, grimacing. He grinned broadly when Minho scooted down, tugging his belt off. He twisted his hips, helping Minho as much as he could to pull of his jeans. Minho swore.

“You know, if these weren’t so skintight…”

“Everyone would be disappointed,” Taemin snarked.

“I’d probably already be playing with your dick,” Minho said, finally yanking the denim down his slender legs. He tossed it off the bed and grabbed the base of Taemin’s foot firmly, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.

“Don’t—” Taemin warned, his own eyes widening. Minho scraped his nail along the arch of Taemin’s foot, chuckling when he squeaked and began to writhe.

“Don’t,” he whined.

“You gonna be good? Or keep being a little brat?” Minho tickled him again.

“I’ll be good!” Taemin promised. Minho freed his foot, grabbed his boxers instead and yanking them off.

He pushed his legs open, sliding his hands over the smooth skin of his thighs. “You’re so ridiculously beautiful.”

“You don’t need to flirt,” Taemin said with a bright laugh, “I’ve been giving you my ass since we were teenagers.”

Minho smiled, but the words cut more deeply than Taemin would ever realize. It may have been true; they’d taken one another’s virginities, but Minho wished beyond all else that one day his praises and compliments and teasing suggestions would be seen as more… As a viable option for Taemin. But it just wasn’t in the cards. So he hid the hurt behind grins and playful flirtations, opting instead to be everything Taemin wanted.

He pushed his legs open a little further, the glint of something metallic catching his eye.

“Oh—”

“Found my surprise.” Taemin twisted his hips, spreading his legs wide to reveal a sturdy silver anal plug nestled in his ass. “I got myself ready for you. I know how worked up we get… Thought this could make it… Kinda fun.”

“You… You are perfect,” Minho whispered. He moved up, grabbing the thin wooden paddle. He smacked it on his own hand, ignoring the tickling sting in favor of watching the way Taemin’s eyes dilated, his lips parting. Almost tickle soft, he brushed the edge of the paddle along the curve of Taemin’s muscle, watching it tense and relax. The first time he’d discovered Taemin had this kink it had been an accident. They’d been making out and Taemin, per his usual teasing attitude, had risen to walk off, earning a sharp swat on his bare ass. Their relationship escalated naturally afterward, each learning the other’s secret kinks and preferences. Despite the number of people Taemin slept with, Minho was the only one he relaxed like this with.

The first crack of the wood on his thigh landed on a quiet beat of the music. Taemin’s moan broke into a giggle. “Shh… My Dad’s gonna hear.”

“He can’t get in,” Minho said simply, smacking the other side just as hard. Taemin gasped, moaning softly. Minho alternated his smacks between the inner thighs and outer thighs, pausing every few strikes to massage the welted skin. He let a blow land lightly on Taemin’s stomach, just a few centimeter’s away from his cock, just enough to startle.

Taemin whined, his hips twitching up.

“Ohh… You liked that,” Minho said simply, a teasing lit in his tone. Taemin nodded, his eyes fluttering open.

“Again.”

“You don’t to be the boss,” Minho warned. He swatted Taemin’s exposed forearm with some force, watching the smooth skin redden and welt. “Try that again. Politely.”

Taemin bared his teeth, eyes narrowing. “Hit me again.”

Minho swatted his other forearm, giving it a matching welt.

“Somewhere else,” Taemin growled. Minho dropped the paddle and slapped Taemin across the cheek. He gasped, blinking tears from his eyes. Minho smirked, grabbing his chin again and yanking him forward as much as his bound arms would allow. He crawled up, going almost nose to nose with him.

“Don’t. Be. A. Brat.”

“Why not?” Taemin breathed. “You fucking love it. I can see how hard your cock is already.” He jerked his hips up, emphasizing his point. Minho squeezed harder.

“I’ll only fuck you if you be a good boy for me, Taemin. Can you do that?”

“That’s no fun. Plus… You wanna come too.”

“There are other ways to come.” He slid his thumb over Taemin’s plush bottom lip, pushing it into his mouth and pressing down on his tongue. “I do have the gag.”

Taemin’s eyes fluttered for a moment, and Minho knew he was affecting him.

“Would you like me to get that, baby?” He threatened, his tone measured and even. “Fuck your pretty mouth and not let you come for me?”

Taemin shook his head as well as he could with Minho’s firm grip. “I’ll try to be good.”

“Good boy.” Minho let go of his face and kissed him hard.

He pulled back and grabbed the rubber ring, reaching down to stroke Taemin’s cock a few times. “Remember… You don’t come until I say you can, brat.”

Taemin hissed as Minho slid the ring on, settling it against the base of his cock. He reached lower and grabbed the plug, tugging it. It caught for a moment then slid out, a dribble of lube following.

Minho swore under his breath, sliding two fingers into Taemin. He wiggled.

“Don’t, please, hyung.” He blinked down at him, smiling as politely as he could likely manage. “I’m stretched. I want you just to put it in.”

“You sure? You still seem so tight…”

Taemin snorted. “You know I can take it. Just fuck my ass. Fill me up. I know you want to.” He purred, spreading his legs further. He lifted them with a practiced ease, the muscles in his thighs twitching as he pressed his knees against his chest, his breathing coming in strained pants. The motion gave Minho a perfect view of his ass, wet with lube, the smallest gape when he flexed.

Minho slid his hands up the backs of Taemin’s thighs, feeling the musculature under his palms. Despite his relatively stagnant job as stylist, Taemin had the body of a dancer. He was slender and flexible, head to toe lean muscle and stamina to boot.

“Get my dick wet first,” Minho finally said. He pushed Taemin’s legs back down and rose, stripping out of his jeans and boxers. He stroked his own cock lazily, gaze roaming over Taemin’s bound form.

Taemin peeked through his shaggy bangs, lips parted and wet. He squeezed his thighs together repeatedly, obviously seeking any stimulation he could manage.

“Beg,” Minho growled.

“Please,” Taemin whispered, clearly more eager to please and get his reward than play stubborn. “Come fuck my ass, hyung. You have to go without it for a whole month. Come take what you need, fill me up and make me ache when I sit down. Please, I need it… No one screws me like you do,” he whined, spreading his legs open.

Minho crawled back onto the bed, straddling his chest and fisting his hair.

“Look at me.”

Taemin rolled his eyes up, wetting his lips. “Gonna make me choke on it, sir?”

There was the attitude. Minho smirked. “You know it.” He slid his tip over Taemin’s bottom lip.

“Get it nice and wet for your ass.” He pushed his cock in and slid his hips forward until the tip bumped against the back of Taemin’s throat. His shoulders jerked and Minho groaned, tightening his grip on his hair. Starting off slow but persistent, Minho pumped his hips, driving his cock as deep as it would go. He pulled Taemin forward, grunting softly when his throat began to relax, giving into the intrusion. Taemin gagged around him, coughing up spit and precome as Minho worked his cock into his throat.

“There you go, Tae… Swallow it down, baby. Work on that gag reflex,” Minho praised, holding Taemin’s chin with his free hand. Taemin looked up, tears filling his dark eyes. One slid down his cheek, accompanied with a hard gag, that had Minho’s eyes rolling back as his throat squeezed around his tip.

“Fuck… The way I wanna fill your mouth,” he panted. Taemin began to struggle, his hands in fists. Minho pulled back immediately and loosened his grip, searching his face for distress. Taemin coughed, dragging in much needed air.

“Please, not today,” he rasped. “My ass.”

Minho smirked, wiping spit from his chin. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll come up your ass. That mouth is just a damn big temptation.”

Taemin grinned broadly. “When you come back from filming you can come down my throat, okay?”

“Deal.” He kissed him gently, brushing his hair down from where he’d mussed it pulling. He settled between Taemin’s thighs, pushing his knees up to his chest again. “Relax.”

Taemin nodded, letting his eyes slip shut. Minho added lube to his spit slicked cock and lined up, taking only a moment before pushing past Taemin’s tight rim. They both moaned. Taemin’s head fell back onto the pillow, a small, contented smile crossing his face.

Minho braced himself on either side of Taemin’s chest and began to thrust, slow and steady to begin. Taemin was unbearably tight, his hole clenching and releasing in a pulse-like rhythm as his body adjusted to the intrusion.

Minho grabbed the paddle again, sliding the edge over Taemin’s cock.

Taemin whined, biting his bottom lip. Minho swatted his tip as gently as he could. Taemin bucked upward, nearly forcing Minho’s cock out. He let his legs fall over Minho’s shoulders, a high whimper slipping from his lips. Minho swatted his cock lightly again, this time driving as deeply as he could.

Taemin cried out, his body tensing. “Stop teasing me,” he snarled, his teeth bared.

“What was that?” Minho asked. He pulled his cock free, ignoring Taemin’s strained plea. Instead, he smacked the thin paddle lightly over Taemin’s gaped hole three times before driving two fingers in, thrusting them aggressively.

“I asked you a question, brat.”

Taemin moaned brokenly, his cock twitching against his heaving stomach. “Fuck me, please— Put it back in!”

“Not until you behave. I warned you.” Minho brought the paddle down on the exposed meat of his ass, grunting when Taemin’s ass clamped down on his fingers. “You don’t control this situation, Taemin. Do you?”

Taemin bit his lap, a smirk curving the corners of his mouth up. “Since you’re using my ass... Don’t I?” He asked. Minho cocked a brow.

“If you wanna be that way.” Minho pushed Taemin’s legs off his shoulders, kneeling between them to keep them spread open. He swatted Taemin’s hole and ass four times in quick succession before placing the paddle aside. He poured lube into his hand and made a fist around his cock before beginning to thrust his hips forward, squeezing and relaxing his fist rhythmically as he did. The wet squelch of the lube and Minho’s grunts punctuated the soft points of the music.

“You sure I need your body?” Minho grunted out. Taemin was squirming on the bed, his hole flexing as he tended and relaxed, clearly needing more. He wet his lips, eyes not leaving Minho’s cock.

“Or do you maybe need my cock up your tight ass to come, hm?”

Taemin chewed his bottom lip. His cock twitched at Minho’s words. “It won’t be as good... Your hand is nothing compared to my hole and you know it.”

“Maybe,” Minho grunted, shivering as he squeezed his tip. “But I’ll still be able to come and be satisfied. Will you?”

Taemin squirmed again. He remained silent, watching Minho masturbate in front of him for a few moments.

“I need it,” Taemin finally whispered.

“Oh? What was that?”

Taemin swallowed thickly. “I need your cock to feel good... Please, Hyung.”

“Ah, I thought so.” Minho stopped jerking off, grabbing the paddle and swatting Taemin’s thigh. “I’m waiting for those special words though.”

“Please!” Taemin hissed.

“No, the other ones.”

Taemin rolled his eyes. Minho swatted his thigh hard with his bare hand, smirking when he whimpered. “Aw, and here I thought you wanted my cock.” He leaned back, fisting his cock again.

“I’m sorry!” Taemin cried. “I— I’m sorry, sir. Please— Use my ass.”

Minho nodded. “There we go.” He knew Taemin was far from sorry; this was just the game they played. He had nothing to be sorry for, but it was damn sexy to watch him plead.

Minho rammed his cock back in, moaning when Taemin clenched around him and bucked off the bed. He grabbed a handful of his ass and squeezed before smacking hard three times. Taemin’s ass clenched almost painfully tight, ripping a cry from Minho’s mouth.

He began to fuck into him hard and fast, smacking his ass every few thrusts for that perfect squeeze around his cock.

Taemin writhed under him, his hips twisting to help with the thrusts, head thrown back as soft cries of pleasure-pain fell from his bite swollen lips. He was the most beautiful person Minho had ever seen. He leaned down, pressing a kiss to Taemin’s parted lips.

“Tell me how it feels, baby,” he panted.

“Thick—“ Taemin whined, the muscles in his arms bulging as he struggled against the ropes. “So big, it almost hurts... Fuck me harder, please—“ he broke off in a moan when Minho shifted angles, driving just a bit deeper.

Minho leaned back, slowly pushing Taemin’s hips up as he fucked into him.

Taemin smirked, open mouthed. “Wanna see?” He panted. Minho nodded. He reached forward and fisted Taemin’s hair, dragging his head forward. As he did, he folded Taemin’s flexible body more inward, still thrusting into his ass. He grabbed Taemin’s cock and pulled the ring off, angling it outward and pushing his body until Taemin was able to place the tip of his own cock into his mouth.

His eyes rolled back as he sucked, moan muffled.

Minho swore, his cock throbbing hard at the sight. He continued to fuck Taemin’s ass, each thrust shifting the cock between his lips.

“You wanna come like this?” Minho panted.

Taemin nodded as well as he could.

“Don’t swallow.”

He began to thrust as hard as he could manage, chasing his own orgasm. Taemin’s eyes rolled back, his moans muffled by the twitching cock between his lips. He clenched around Minho, toes curling as his balls began to throb, cock twitching.

Minho groaned, sliding his thumb over the underside of Taemin’s cock as he spilled into his own mouth. When the throbs slowed and stopped, Minho shifted, letting Taemin’s head go. His cock slipped free and he opened his mouth, showing Minho the thick, milky fluid within. Minho groaned. He let Taemin’s legs fall and leaned forward, kissing him hard.

Taemin wrapped his legs around Minho’s hips, moaning as their tongues slid together, sharing his come.

Minho’s stomach clenched, his balls drawing up almost painfully tight. He grunted into Taemin’s mouth, hips losing rhythm as his nerves heightened in sensitivity. Taemin pulled back, his lips glossy with come and spit.

“Fill my ass, hyung... Please,” he whispered, looking up at Minho from half closed eyes.

Minho grunted his name, grabbing Taemin’s hip almost painfully tight as the pressure in his body peaked, a wall of tension that built in his cock and sent shudders through his form. He came, cock throbbing against Taemin’s tight inner walls, his body clenching and releasing each spurt of fluid. He could hear himself grunting and whining, and Taemin speaking softly, though making out the words was an impossible feat.

One final throb and the tension of his body released all at once, the flood of feel good hormones turning every muscle into pudding. He collapsed over Taemin, grinning dumbly.

Taemin shifted, tugging at the ropes binding him. Minho reached up and pulled the release he’d tied into the rope, freeing Taemin before relaxing once more, nuzzling against his soft shoulder.

“Talk to me,” Minho mumbled, pressing kisses to his skin.

“I’m good.”

Minho pulled back, meeting Taemin’s sleepy gaze. “Yeah?”

Taemin nodded. “I promise. No floating.”

Minho nodded. He sat up and stretched, rubbing the back of his neck. This was always the time he hated. For the time they were having sex, the ‘no strings attached’ part of their relationship didn’t matter. He could kiss and cuddle and hold Taemin to his heart’s content. When they went far enough, and Taemin hit that floaty, feel good feeling as he described it, it gave Minho an out. Free reign to take care of Taemin like he wanted to all the time, bring him back to earth slowly. When he didn’t reach that point… Minho was just another quick fuck. The only difference was that Taemin didn’t kick him out of his house when he was done. Minho wasn’t sure that would be worse.

He pulled on his jeans, passing Taemin his jeans and boxers before rising to put away their toys.

“Why is this door shut?!” The door shook in its frame as Taemin’s father rapped on it.

Minho pulled a face, showing his teeth before chuckling. He slid the closet shut and ran fingers through his hair before nudging the stopper out of the way and opening it, smiling sheepishly and bowing.

“Sorry, Sir.”

“I told you to keep that door open,” He snapped. “Why is your shirt off? I swear—"

“It’s just so hot,” Minho whined as well as he could, fanning his hand in front of his face. “We shut the door to try and keep the cool air from the window in the room.” He shifted to show Taemin on the bed, his jeans perfectly in place, shirt missing still. “Could we have permission to turn the AC up a little?”

Taemin’s father’s eyes narrowed. Minho knew he could likely smell the sex from the room. He kept the innocent smile planted on his face nonetheless even as Taemin’s father’s eyes searched the room for any physical sign of their coitus.

“I will turn up the air conditioning. Keep the door open, it allows for better airflow… And put on a damn shirt.”

Minho bowed his head politely, stepping further into the room and grabbing his shirt from the floor. Taemin’s father scanned the room once more, his lips disappearing into an annoyed line before he stalked off.

Minho sat on the bed, pulling his shirt on. “You have got to get a place of your own, Tae.”

“I like living rent free,” Taemin whined. “I can save my money for stuff I want.”

“I know, and I get it – I hated moving out of my parents… But your dad is so pushy.”

Taemin shrugged. He sat up and moved to where Minho was sitting, putting his head on his shoulder.

“I won’t have to worry about it in a few weeks. I’ll be getting hitched.” The sarcasm was obvious in his tone.

“You don’t have to say yes, Tae. You should follow your heart.”

Taemin snorted. “It’s easier. I’ll just do what you said, let her know I’m not gonna be some good husband. I’ll go through the motions, be married, but she has to accept that she won’t be my only person. I don’t do love.”

Minho sighed. “Maybe you will. What if she ends up being perfect for you?”

“I doubt it. You know I’m up for anything but I’ve always leaned toward guys. If I end up with anyone long term I think it’ll be someone male identifying.”

“Never know.” Minho nudged him playfully. “Just go to the date with an open mind, okay?”

“Okay.” Taemin sighed, flopping back onto the bed. “He’s sending me to her next Friday.”

“End of the same week I leave. You’ll have to text me with how it went. Or Facetime me in the evening.”

“I will. I’m sure I’ll need your support,” Taemin said through a laugh. “Wanna play a game? We can order something for food.”

Minho nodded. “Always. You order, I’ll set it up.”

The two fell into a comfortable silence as they played rounds of the game, spending the next few hours with one another. It was always this way, as long as Minho could remember. He loved it, and wouldn’t dare ruin it by asking for more. Even if, sometimes, in his dreams, he wished.

32 notes · View notes

vincent-frankenstein · 4 years

Text

ADHD sides hcs :3c

self projection time? self projection time

feel free to add ur own hcs onto this im jus usin my own experiences here

startin w PATTON

emotional regulation? who’s she? patton only knows feeling emotions with Every Single Atom in his body so powerfully he might one day Explode

if he’s happy hes HAPPY!!!!! it’s like his body fills with light and he’s walking 2 feet off the ground and nothing could go wrong — and then whoops, something goes wrong, and wh o o ps, hes crying, whoops —

has a million stuffed animals sitting aLL around the house so he always has something to Squeeze

Squeezing is a good stim dont @ me

he throws his whole body into stimming

flapping, bouncing, jumping, spinning — his body must be moving at all times or he will die

starting things is. Very very hard for him. executive dysfunction hits DEEP and he’s just,,, paralyzed. he wants to do the thing!!! he really does!!! his brain just Wont Let Him

logan used to get very frustrated with him but then patton like, explained how it felt and a little lightbulb went off in logan’s head

“patton, I think you have adhd.”

“... i’m guessin that doesn’t mean im a-delightful-hip-dad?”

then they did some Research together and put together a plan to help patton work around executive dysfunction and, it works, sometimes

when it doesnt, logan makes hot cocoa and sits with him

AUDITORY. PROCESSING. PROBLEMS.

“Hey, Pat, what’s for dinner?” “huh?” “I said, what’s for —” “meATloaf”

hearing is an uphill struggle so sometimes he just Signs instead but a lot of the time he gets so excited about what he’s trying to say he just dissolves into flapping halfway through the sentence

lots of hyperfixations !!!! so many !!! he cycles through em one after another suuuuper quickly

he never forgets a hyperfixation, and the mention of ANY old hyperfixations will have him cry-flapping

roman: hey did u know they’re making another phineas and ferb movie -

patton, vibrating intensely and sobbing, .5 seconds away from launching into orbit: theYR E MAKING A WHAT

ROMAN

singing is his absolute FAVORITE STIM

that moment where u reach a point in a song where ur chest just, Swells and u can feel ur voice Vibrating ? yeah

sometimes Does Not warm up beforehand bc ??? he has No Choice but to sing along to certain songs and he cant always control when they come on so his voice sometimes gets Very Raspy from belting without warmups

aside from that twirling and doing Ballet Poses are also very good stims. he stick his leggy out Real Far mmhm

roman: *starts a new project and doesnt finish it* *starts a new project and doesnt finish it* *starts a new project and doesnt finish it* *starts a new project and doesnt finish it *starts a new project and doesnt finish it* *starts a new project and doesnt finish it* *starts a new project and doesnt fin

his room is a MESS and NO he will NOT clean it LOGAN he has a SYSTEM

he doesnt have a system and the mess stresses him out to no end but he has one (1) braincell and it’s dedicated to Starting Projects And Not Finishing Them so

needs validation to survive

like legit if he doesnt get validation he will DIE

on the flip side, if he gets any sort of rejection, he will also Die

logan: so I read through your latest script, and the idea is solid. We can definitely work with this. I did notice one oddly structured sentence so I fixed that for you —

roman: so you basically hate it and i should die

rejection sensitive dysphoria is the one villain he has yet to figure out how to slay

contrary to what u might think, he keeps his hyperfixations Very close to his heart. he doesnt think he would survive it if one of the others were to criticize them

the one exception to this rule: disney.

you cant look at this boy and tell me hes not hyperfixated on disney i mean did you s E E him in that one ep cmon

he will ramble about disney to anyone who will listen for hours. days, even, if you give him the opportunity. infodumping about disney is like injecting pure sunlight right into his bloodstream; by the end of it he’s glowing

once, after accepting anxiety, virgil and roman ended up in another debate about the Meanings of disney movies, but this time it was friendly, and by the end of it roman had gotten to ramble about each and every one of his favorite movies and he had never been happier

it was the first time virgil ever saw him Flap

they still get together to talk disney sometimes

VIRGIIIIL

virgil: *stims while listening to mcr* *stims while listening to mcr* *stims while listening to mcr* *stims while listening to mcr* *stims while listening to mcr* *stims while listening to mcr* *stims while liste

like roman, Music is virgil’s main stim, but he prefers to just. Move. bouncin his leg and drumming his hands in the air and shaking his head etc etc

it takes. literally foreVER for him to trust the others enough to stim around them. music is his main comfort but, for a Long Time, he wouldnt let himself listen to it when the others were around, just bc he knew he’d want to stim and he couLDNT bc what if he got juDGED

but then one day roman starts singing and patton jumps up and starts spinning and virgils like “???” and logans like “that’s how they stim” and virgils like “!!!!”

he Tappy Leg Real Fast

he also has a string of beads he carries everywhere to twist around his fingers bc bead,,, Good Texture

he struggles with rsd just as badly as roman, but he shows it in a Different Way

roman hurts, but hes an actor. he’s not about to invite more rejection by letting them know how much their words hurt! no no no, he keeps up the bravado until hes back in his room and then he breaks

but virgil. the rsd hits and its like, a physical blow to his chest and he crumples, wilting in on himself, and the world around him just sorta, ebbs away. for virgil, rsd is static

after AA the others start to learn his Signs for when hes feeling Bad™ so whenever he shrinks away they’ll stop the conversation and talk him through his insecurities until he feels better

SPOOKY HYPERFIXATIONS ALL THE WAY

went to Halloween Horror Nights one (1) time and now listens to the music on repeat and just. stims for hours

also hes in love with austin gumbam from academy of villains me? self projecting? never

knows Every Obscure Fact from Every Horror Movie Ever and the urge to infodump is Consntantly at the forefront of his mind but he Never Does

unless someone gives him permission

virgil: oh? chucky? thats a. cool movie. did you know that — uh. nvm

logan: no no, go on

virgil, vibrating at a speed that could shatter glass: iF YOU INSIST-

LOGAN,,,,

this bitch is just as bad at Emotional Regulation as patton

hes just better at hiding it

that little stunt w the paper in lntao? he is Constantly .5 seconds away from going apeshitt. that was just A Glimpse into the chaos

he’s just,,,, very very bad at Identifying what he’s feeling. patton hid his feelings from the others, but he still knew what he was feeling, and he knows how to identify emotions

logan, on the other hand?

logan: passion and anger are both Hot. they must be The Same Thing

patton: i. i mean. not really

logan: goddamnit

patton: logan? are you crying?

logan, touching his cheek and finding Tears: hm. tragic. and here i thought i was “happy”

he’d much rather just,,, Not feel but thats not an option bc he still feels things intensely, he just doesnt know What he’s feeling most of the time

quiet stims. he runs his hands along the fabric of his tie, feeling the grooves of the stitches, and readjusts his glasses constantly. if he’s feelin extra wild, he’ll even pull out his rubix cube and solve and re-solve it without even looking

LOTS of obscure hyperfixations

he has so many books on so many different subjects,,,, his room is more of a library than a bedroom and thats just the way he likes it

throwback to that one time he hyperfixated on reptiles and thomas’ little “slimy boy” outburst had him chasing deceit around the mindscape trying to feel his scales “FOR SCIENCE”

memory. problems.

he HATES hates hates hates the fact that things slip his mind so easily. hence, the notebook, and the daily planner, and the deluge of postits hanging around his bedroom

it frustrates him to no end especiaLLY when he forgets important information in front of thomas

patton watches out for the signs of Frustration and brings logan a cup of tea later than day and helps him sort through the Mess of notes on his desk to catalogue the Important Info

just let logan and patton be adhd buds @god bls i beggeth

but when he does remember The Information and thomas praises him? effervescent

logan, after thomas called him cool, kicking down pattons door: I FINALLY KNOW WHAT HAPPINESS TRULY FEELS LIKE

patton: hey! cool your jets there, kiddo!

logan:

patton: :3c

logan, turning around: neveRMIND

patton: nO WAI T-

the day thomas called him cool was the first time he ever Flapped

#patton sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #sanders sides #adhd #sanders sides hcs #celeste's portfolio #woop w o o p #very Basic™ but im jus like. throwing some of My Experiences at the sides and seein what sticks so #out of this im like. mostly patton n roman #espe c I A LLY roman's singing stim my voice is SHOT rn bc ive been singing nonstop without warming up #adhd sides #legit pls add onto this !!!! i wanna see what experiences Others have

191 notes · View notes

heyyyharry · 5 years

Text

My Girl Series: Chapter 14 - Home Truth

…in which Y/N discovers a family secret, and Harry is in despair.

Series description: Y/N falls in love with the older boy next door who doesn’t feel the same, years later they meet again at a funeral.

AU: actor!harry, older!harry, younger!y/n; (4-year age gap)

Chapter 13: Ghosts - Y/N returns to Holmes Chapel, and Harry is a little too late.

A/N: The next chapter will be the last one of this book.

Warning: this is 8k word long, so it’s inevitable that I’ve made plenty of mistakes. If you spot some, just ignore them alright? 😂

OC version

"Y/N, can you take this to the attic?"

Y/N paused halfway down the stairs to lift an eyebrow at Marcy, who was holding a pile of old books and fashion magazines. The bride-to-be was probably influenced by their family tradition — in this house, they never threw away old things, instead, they either tried to fix them or hid them somewhere in case they might need them again. Most of those things ended up in the attic.

"Why don't you do it yourself? I'm busy," Y/N lied in order to get away with the little favor, only to realize how dumb she sounded. If she was in London, it would make total sense since the big city life was always in a rush. But now that she was in Holmes Chapel, how could she possibly be busy? All the people she wanted to be with were now far away. The only thing she could do was drive around town or bring a book to a coffee shop in her neighborhood to read the day away.

Marcy only gave Y/N a smile, ignoring the lame excuse as she insisted, "I would, but I'm allergic to dust. It'll only take a minute."

"Lucky you," Y/N muttered as she rolled her eyes and marched down the stairs to take the books and magazines from her future stepmother.

Marcy thanked her for it before rushing back to the kitchen, probably to check on those cookies in the oven for her own wedding tomorrow morning. It was only a small celebration so the family did everything by themselves without hiring any wedding planner. Now that the decoration was all finished, Y/N wasn't much useful around the house since she couldn't cook. Therefore she told herself it was only fair if she did the small favor for Marcy.

To be honest, Y/N couldn't remember the last time she'd gone to the attic. That place used to be her nightmare when she was a little girl. The thought of evil creatures lurking in the dark among dusty old furniture and shelves was the reason she'd slept with the light on for an entire month after climbing up there once out of curiosity. Now that she was an adult, it was barely more than a crawl space with low ceiling and mold. She had to hang her head to walk in, trying to locate obstacles in the dark for the only source of light was from the long narrow windows near the ceiling.

The unsoftened echo of her footsteps on the floor made of timber brought on a claustrophobic feeling, and so she put the books and magazines in the corner to hurry back to the ladder as fast as she could.

Right before she reached the entrance, Y/N tripped over a small table and almost lost her balance. But she didn't fall, instead, she knocked over a dusty carton box which fell onto the floor and created a loud thump that echoed within the confined space. Dust flying all over the place got the girl coughing uncontrollably, still, she decided to bend down and clean up the mess she'd made.

The first thing that got her attention was a portrait of her younger self, sketched by her mother. Everything in that box belonged to her mother. Most of them were drawings and souvenirs she'd bought on their family trips. Y/N had no idea how long they'd been in this attic, but judging from the yellow hue of the paper, she would guess that they had been there since her mother was still alive.

As a result, Y/N ended up staying in the attic for longer than she'd intended to. She sat on the floor, going through the rest of the stuff in the box, feeling whole inside for the fact that most of her mother's sketches were of her face, some others were corners of their house and random objects like a tea set, a bowl of fruits, a flower vase,...

There wasn't anything unusual, until...there was.

At the bottom of the box lied a little tin box. The girl almost didn't see it for it was hidden too well. For some reason, just looking at it gave her a feeling that there was something inside she had to see.

With her heart thumping like a drum, she brought it to her lap and carefully opened it. It would've been a huge disappointment if the box had been empty like she'd feared, but her instinct rarely made a mistake. The box contained many letters written to her mother from a man named Dave Hardfield, alongside which was a photo of them together. His lips were on Tam's cheek and Y/N had never seen her mother smile that bright before. At first, Y/N assumed the man used to be one of her mother's boyfriends before meeting her dad. However, when she looked at the date on each letter, she discovered the truth that'd been hidden for all those years. Those letters, love letters to be exact, had all been written and sent when her parents were married already.

Y/N found out, to her dismay, there were worse fears than invisible monsters in the attic, it was the ones living within every person including the ones you thought you knew all too well.

She picked up one of the letters to read through the first few lines just to make sure she didn't draw any conclusion way too soon. But what she learned wasn't what her heart wished it'd be. Her mother had been in love, madly in love, but with another man, not her father.

She felt a lump in her throat when she read the part about them planning on leaving this town once the divorce had been settled. That letter came just a week before the accident.

The grip of her hands tightened, nearly tearing the page in two. She was so in shock that her brain stuttered for a moment and breathing became difficult. It took her a while to come back to her sense and gather everything besides the letter to put it back in the tin box before leaving.

She didn't even think as she hurried down the ladder, marching straight to the front door while clutching the letter in her hand. This man, whoever he was, might have the answers to most of the questions she'd been asking herself since her mother's death, beginning with what had happened the night of the accident. Y/N walked fast, wasting no time, yet her father appeared without warning to stop her right before she could reach for the doorknob.

"Where are you going?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at his daughter, who was quick to hide the letter behind her back.

"To a coffee shop," she said, trying too hard not to let her anxiety show. And maybe she was putting on such a good act that her dad didn't seem to suspect a thing.

"I was hoping you would stay to help us out."

"I will when I get back. Promise."

"Not so fast, young lady." Bradford cleared his throat loudly as he clutched her by the arm when she barely managed to escape. "You're acting strange. Are you alright?"

"Of course I am."

That reply was followed by the fakest laugh she'd ever pulled. Even she knew that, how could her father not?

"Is it—" The man paused to decide if he should make a guess. It wasn't really a guess since he already knew the truth. It was because of Harry. She'd been crying for that boy and hurting for that boy, like she had most of her life. It was obvious. But then again, Bradford pretended like he had no clue. His daughter had never been a sentimental person, not openly at least. Maybe it was one thing they both had in common.

"Never mind..." He sighed, twitching his lips. "Be back soon, alright?"

Smiling in return, Y/N gave her father a firm nod. "Hey dad, can I borrow your car?"

"Sure. But don't crash it."

It was meant to be a harmless joke. But as both of them came to realization, they just quietly stared at each other for two seconds long. Bradford handed her his car key, stuttering as he wanted to say something to lighten up the mood. Unfortunately, Y/N didn't hesitate to walk out of the door.

The truth was, she had no plan at all. She just knew she was going to see the man named Dave Hardfield, whose address was on the letters sent to her mum. She didn't even have the script of the things she should say, or the list of questions about everything she was dying to know. She just wanted to go see the man to learn the truth, whatever it was, even when she wasn't ready to hear it from a complete stranger.

Funny how one surprise came right after another without a single break. The last person Y/N would expect to show up in Holmes Chapel right now, was waiting right outside her house by his car.

"Isaac?" She gasped, walking fast towards the man whose smile was as bright as the sun when he saw her face. "What are you doing here?"

"I was worried about you. Wanted to make sure you were alright."

"So you...drove all the way here from London...to see me?"

He took a deep breath, letting it all out. "You're gonna tell me I'm stupid for doing this, aren't you?"

To his surprise, she shook her head fast and pulled him into a hug so tight that it almost took his breath away, literally. Y/N didn't seem to care as she kept repeating the words "thank you" into his shoulder, leaving him no choice but to also wrap his arms around her.

It finally occurred to her how desperate she was for a hug. It didn't matter whose. She just needed to feel a little bit of comfort after the series of traumatic events that'd been after her lately. At least with Isaac, she knew there was only peace.

"I'm going to Heartward," she said, pulling away but her hands were still resting on his hips. "Wanna come with me?"

"Where is that?"

"It's a town nearby, only an hour drive from here."

"Sure. Let's go."

Shocked by the answer, she grabbed him by the wrist when he turned back to unlock his car doors.

"You're not gonna ask me why I'm going there?" She raised both eyebrows, mouth agape. He, on the other hand, looked as cool as ever.

"We've got an hour in the car, right?" Isaac said with a beam as he opened the door on the passenger side for Y/N.

Now she felt the need to hug him again for she didn't think she could ever repay his kindness. In order to save time, however, she'd probably save that later. If they didn't get going right away, they wouldn't be back soon enough for her dad to not suspect a thing.

"Let's go!" She exclaimed with a bright smile, watching Isaac shake his head as he laughed before getting into the vehicle as well.

For most of her life, Y/N had lived in Holmes Chapel and hadn't realized until now that she'd never gone any further than her neighborhood. This was her first journey to a different town in Cheshire. As turned out, it was a lot different from her own. The streets here were narrower and the houses were smaller. While Holmes Chapel had always been simple, Heartward was a maze with the labyrinth of roads, as complex as the human heart.

"Are you nervous?" Isaac's voice pulled Y/N's attention away from the window, back on him.

"Of course I am." She snorted, inhaling deeply to let the silence sink back in for a couple seconds before speaking up again. "What type of person do you think he is?"

"Probably kind. I mean, your mother was kind."

The answer made the girl chuckle as she lifted an eyebrow. "You didn't even know my mother."

"I know you," he said, his blue eyes sparkled with joy.

In that instant, Y/N felt warm within and she was glad he'd shown up at her door. She would still be freaking out right now if she'd gone alone. It was rather funny how she'd been his damsel in distress countless times ever since they first met. Sometimes she did think about it and wondered how he still felt about her after everything. Was he nice to the others too or her only? If the latter was the case, then there was another reason for her to believe she didn't deserve someone like him.

The smile grew on Y/N's face as she watched Isaac's face screw up while he was concentrating on the road ahead. That same smile, sadly, died out the second he brought up the name she'd tried to erase from memory.

"Have you talked to Harry?"

Y/N gave Isaac a shrug, turning back to the window on her side. "I will...at some point."

He didn't ask any further, thank god for that. The last thing she wanted was for him to figure out what had really happened between her and Harry. Though she no longer felt the pressure to reveal her sexual relationship with him to Isaac or anyone else for that matter, she was still afraid what Isaac might think of her if somehow he found out. Honestly, she felt cheap. Even though her feelings for Harry had always been true, to him she was just a replacement, nothing but a body to get him through the night while his heart stayed missing somebody else. But that was exactly what she'd signed up for, so she shouldn't be bitter now that it didn't end the way she wanted.

"Speaking of the devil," the girl muttered under her breath when a couple texts from H popped up on her screen.

"Read it," Isaac said, his eyebrows furrowed. "He must worry about you a lot."

Little did he knew, Y/N did want to. She really wanted to.

Harry had called her a hundred times since this morning and she'd fought herself from answering those calls. Maybe it wouldn't hurt if she only read his texts and not reply to them. Nodding in response to Isaac's words, she eventually opened those messages.

⌲ H: If you get this, please text me back.

⌲ H: Let me know you're safe.

⌲ H: Please call me back, text me, anything.

⌲ H: I need to talk to you please.

"So? How's he?"

Y/N turned off her phone and put it away as she also turned a deaf ear to Isaac's question.

"You haven't told him where I am, right?" She asked in concern, only to sigh in relief when he shook his head.

"If I had, he would be here instead of me." With a slight chuckle, he added, "you're really good at ghosting on people, Smiley."

"Only the ones who deserve it."

When Y/N received no reply, she turned to see the goofy grin on the man's face.

Pinching his lip slightly, Isaac kept his eyes on the road rather on her as he joked, "if I hadn't texted you when I was in Italy, we would never have spoken again, right?"

She knew he wasn't serious when he said that, but his expression alone could still pain her heart. A sense of guilt flooded into her hollow chest to replace the comfort she'd been feeling this entire time in the car with him. Isaac was too nice to admit that she had hurt him too for coldly turning him down once before. She'd been too busy paying attention to how she was feeling and forgotten about him. Why was he still here after everything? Why was he still treating her like the only person in the world who mattered? Why hadn't he asked for anything in return?

"Isaac—"

"Oh! We're here!" The man happily announced as he slowed down and pulled his car over on the side of the road. She wasn't sure if he cut her off on purpose or he genuinely didn't hear her. But maybe this wasn't the time to talk about them.

"Are you sure this is the place?" She asked in disbelief when they both got out of the car at the same time.

"It is. I've checked the address twice," he assured, yet looking just as appalled as she was.

The house they were looking for was square and grey, with narrow windows that looked far from picturesque. Y/N had to check the address for the third time to make sure it matched the one on the letter. This place looked like it'd been abandoned for years. Maybe the owner didn't really care to pay enough attention to making his front yard and porch look even the slightest presentable.

Exchanging worrying looks with Isaac, she finally found enough courage to press the doorbell. She wasn't sure if anybody was home because through the windows all that she saw was a part of the pitch dark living room as far as natural light could reach.

Fortunately, just when the two of them thought they might have to leave empty-handed, the door slowly creaked open.

Y/N had never met this man in her life, but his expression when he saw her made her think he had known her his entire life. His face was stern, yet peaceful. And even though his hair was turning grey and the wrinkles were slightly visible on his broad forehead, he still appeared quite handsome for a man his age.

"Excuse me, sir," Y/N spoke after two awkward seconds passing by unnoticed. "Are you...Dave Hardfield?"

"Yes, I am." The middle-aged man nodded, his eyes were still round as he stared at her in confusion. "You are..."

"I'm Y/N, Tam's daughter," she said, handing him the envelope she'd been holding the entire time. "I found your letter in my attic, and—"

That sentence was left unfinished when Dave opened his arms and dragged her into a hug without warning. Isaac flinched, nearly pulling Y/N back for he feared the man might do something to her, but the moment he spotted the hopeful look on Dave's face, he decided to stay back and remain silent.

"You look just like her."

Those words from the stranger made Y/N's eyes well up when he loosened his embrace to cup her face. He examined her features, eyes glistened with tears as a smile spread across his chapped lips.

"She has the same beautiful eyes."

"Wow...that's very...nice of you. Thank you..."

Isaac couldn't help but chuckle at Y/N's reply, receiving a playful glare when she turned back to him.

"Come in, you two! come in!" Dave said fast, giving Y/N and Isaac no time to hesitate before urging them into his living room. When the door was shut, and the lights were on, Y/N saw the living proof of the saying 'never judge a book by its cover'. The interior was the opposite of the mess she'd seen when she first arrived — tidy and very well-taken care of.

Dave's living room gave away more than it was supposed to. Every decoration was soft and homely, showing the fact that he probably lived alone. In order to fill the void, he had created a cozy place that made him feel safe and warm so he wouldn't have to come home to remember how lonely he was. Y/N would know that better than anyone.

Above the fireplace were pictures of him with his children, she assumed, for they were arranged from the left when his twins were babies to the latest one on the right being the three of them together at the girls' graduation. There was no photo of the wife.

Dave sat down on his chair and pointed to the sofa in front of him, telling his two guests to make themselves at home. There was already a tea set on the table, so he made two cups for Y/N and Isaac, saying that he'd already had his before they arrived.

"So Y/N, is this your boyfriend?"

"No." Y/N blushed hard when she caught Isaac's stare and turned away quickly.

"My name's Isaac, I'm her friend from London," said the young man as he reached out to shake Dave's hand, showing his signature Prince Charming smirk. How could anyone not go soft for that?

"Oh, how do you like Holmes Chapel so far, son?"

"To be honest, I've been in Heartward for longer than Holmes Chapel." He chuckled, glancing at Y/N who furrowed her eyebrows at him. "This one literally dragged me here when I first arrived at her house."

She pushed his shoulder playfully, laughing along. "In my defense, I did ask if he wanted to come."

"The things we do for these ladies, right?"

Dave's comment made Isaac chuckle, but Y/N had already turned away to hide the fact that she was all flustered.

As the young people enjoyed their tea, the older man took his own letter out of the envelope, smiling nonchalantly at the memories while rereading what he'd written two years ago.

Y/N gave him a moment to get lost in his happy thoughts before breaking the silence among the three of them. "So it's true...you and my mother..."

The man's beam slowly turned into a frown as he sighed heavily, putting the letter back into its envelope.

"Yes," he confessed, eyes locked with the girl who still seemed in denial even though she'd known the truth ever since she first read his letter. Her mother, a cheater? The woman she'd looked up to her entire life turned out to be that kind of person? It didn't make any sense.

"We were in love," Dave went on despite the look on her face. "It wasn't something I was proud of, to fall head over heels for a married woman. But...I guess we never get to choose whom we fall in love with."

Isaac's eyes were on Y/N, yet hers were fixed on the man who was speaking. She didn't know how to feel anymore. Should she hate this man for ruining her parents' marriage just like how she had hated Marcy for thinking it was her? The problem was, she couldn't grow to hate him, not even the tiniest bit.

"How old are you?" Dave asked, eyes squinting at Y/N.

"Twenty."

"Wow." He sucked in a breath and rubbed his palms together nervously. "You were fifteen when I met her. Can't believe it's been five years."

"Were you married at the time?"

"No. My ex-wife left me when my girls were only six. They barely remember her."

The look on his face was heartbreaking still.

"I'm sorry," said Y/N as she wetted her dry lips. "Uhm...where are your children now?"

"They're both living in California with their husbands. I'm very proud of them," he said with a huge grin. That was enough to tell how much his children meant to him. "They're just four years older than you."

"Oh, they're the same age as you!" Y/N told Isaac, who responded with a slight laugh for how excited she seemed to discover the coincidence.

"When the girls left home, I was devastated," Dave continued with a sad smile, looking at them both. "Tam was the best thing to happen to me at the time. I believe I was also hers. She was unhappy in her marriage, yet she couldn't leave because...she didn't want to force you to choose between her and your father."

Y/N stayed silent, nodding her head slowly.

"The day of the accident, he found out about us and they got into a fight." His voice grew smaller and weaker as he recalled the tragic event that took away the woman he loved. "When I received the news, my whole world fell apart. Even now...I still blame myself for what happened to her. If I'd just given up and let her go, maybe she would still be here."

So that was how it'd happened. Her mother's affair was the reason there'd been a fight. That was why she'd given her father back the ring and drove away from the damage she'd caused. That was the truth — a hard pill to swallow.

"But you made her happier than my father did..." She spoke after a moment sinking deep in her own thoughts.

"You...don't hate me?" Dave seemed surprised by her reaction. It was certainly not what he'd expected.

"No." The girl shook her head. "At least now I know she was truly loved. So...thank you."

Dave didn't say anything else. Y/N didn't ask either. They exchanged heartwarming smiles, and Isaac reached out to hold the hand on her lap, giving her a look that said he was there for her if she wanted emotional support. Maybe that was she needed to feel at peace again.

The drive home was strangely comforting for all the secrets had been revealed, and what was left was just bare relief. Staring out of the car window, Y/N recorded the last images of Heartward into her mind like a goodbye to the little town. Then she began to wonder how many times her mother had driven down that same road, or if she had remembered the map of Heartward like the back of her hand. Maybe Heartward was her mother's London, the place that wasn't really home, but there lived the man whom her heart would always belong to.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course I am." The girl chuckled slightly as she watched Isaac stand with his back against the car, one hand still holding hers. Now that she was home safe and he knew that she was safe. She wondered what would happen next. Would they say their goodbyes and he go back to London, maybe back to Italy even?

The problem was, now she didn't want him to go.

"You sure you're okay?" He raised both eyebrows, making her toss her head back and crack up.

"Jesus, how many times do I have to tell you that I am?"

"Alright, alright, just wanted to be sure," he said, grinning from ear to ear and checking his watch.

Y/N studied his expression closely, wishing she could ask him to stay, a part of her was still reluctant that she might've troubled him too much already. Nevertheless, it wasn't her to decide what happened next.

"Y/N!"

The loud voice caused both Isaac and Y/N to let go of each other's hands as they turned to her front door. Her father rushed towards them, followed by Marcy. Both seemed so distressed that Y/N thought it was quite hilarious.

"You're safe!"

"Dad, I've only been gone for a couple hours."

Isaac chuckled as he watched the girl trying to break away from her father's arms.

"The car was here and you were gone, so I thought—"

"That I got kidnapped by the ice-cream man?" She laughed, holding him by the arms. It was then that Marcy finally noticed the handsome young man standing right behind her future stepdaughter.

"Oh!" She squealed happily. "Who's your friend, Y/N?"

"Hi, I'm Isaac, Y/N's friend from London. You must be the bride."

"I am!" The woman shook his hand enthusiastically, giving him a massive smile. "Hey, why don't you stay for our wedding? A friend of Y/N's is a friend of ours!"

"Thank you, ma'am. But I'm only here for today. I'm leaving now actually."

"Would you like to stay though?"

All eyes were on Y/N when she asked that question. She couldn't really blame them for even she didn't believe in her own words. Her cheeks instantly turned red as she was sure Isaac noticed how shy she was. His smile grew a bit wider.

"Stay for the wedding?" He questioned, probably just wanting her to say it again.

"Yeah..." She nodded fast, eyes to the side instead of looking at him. "Uhm...I do need a wedding date."

"Wait, but I thought Har—"

"That's a great idea!" Bradford cut his bride off just in time as he stepped forward to pat the young man on the back. "It's not safe to drive back to London through the night. Come in, we'll have the guest room ready for you."

"But I'm not formally dressed for the wedding—"

"Don't worry about that. It's just gonna be a family party," Bradford said, rolling his eyes. "Besides, you cannot miss an opportunity to see Y/N in a pink dress for the first time since she decided that adolescent angst suited her personality better."

"Dad!" Y/N cried out, causing the other three to dissolve into laughter. Hiding her face with one hand, she sneaked a look at Isaac, who couldn't stop beaming at this point. There was something about the radiant joy on his face that made her feel calm. Holding back a laugh, she watched Marcy pull him into their house.

Marcy was still baking for the wedding tomorrow, and since she had to do it all on her own, she was thrilled to bits when Isaac offered his help.

"I used to help my mum in the kitchen all the time," said the young man. That was enough to convince her that he was qualified to be the Executive Sous Chef in her kitchen. Bradford intended to join them as well, but Y/N stopped him right before he could volunteer to lend a hand.

"Dad, can we talk in private?" She asked, holding onto his arm.

In this household, they rarely discussed their conflicts and problems, just like old furniture, they put those in a dark corner and pretended they didn't exist until someone suddenly remembered they were still there. But look at what all these secrets they'd kept from each other had turned them into? A broken family. They had never been truly happy under the same roof. From now on, something had to change.

Bradford followed his daughter upstairs to her room where their conversation couldn't be heard. When she asked him to sit down in her chair and shut the door, he knew it was something serious. So serious that someone who had avoided every single heart-to-heart talk in her life like Y/N must initiate this conversation.

Without further ado, she sat down on the edge of her bed and handed him the letter from Dave Hardfield. Judging by the look on his face, she knew he had never expected her to find out like this, if at all.

"I came to see him today," she spoke at last, tearing down the silence which was only tormenting them both. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I found out about this the day before your graduation, darling. And the accident came right after. This news would've broken you even more."

"What about after the funeral? What about when I moved to London? You'd had so many chances to tell me," she stated. The tears in her eyes were inevitable yet it still hurt him to see her cry. He didn't need to know she'd been holding them back since the moment she found those letters in the attic. He didn't need to know what the other man had said to her. All he knew was his little girl had been through so much only to find out the truth about her mother from a stranger.

"I didn't want you to hate her for this."

His answer left a lump in her throat as she swallowed her tears and narrowed her eyes at him.

"So you just let me hate you instead?"

When he nodded, her heart nearly cracked open.

"She was a better parent than I am," he said with his head hung low. "You used to tell her everything. I can't-I don't remember the last time we sat down and talked like this. Everything I know about you, your mother told me. The bond you two had was so strong, and you looked up to her so much, I couldn't take that idea of her away from you. I wanted you to always think about her as a role model so you would always have a reason to never give up."

Y/N was speechless. She pressed her lips tight and could only nod fast to replace the words she couldn't come up with right now. Bradford scooted his chair closer so he could take her hand and hold it tight, meanwhile wiping away the tears rolling down her flushed cheeks, what he should've done years ago.

"Did you...did you ever love her?" Her voice trembled as if it was going to break anytime soon.

"I did. I still do," he admitted, his eyes now glistened with tears. "My biggest regret was not appreciating her presence in my life. I didn't treat her right because I thought she would always be around, until she wasn't anymore."

"So...did you hate her?"

"No." The father shook his head. "And I hope you won't either."

She looked at him through the tears, subconsciously reaching up to touch the locket lying close to her heart which was now racing faster than ever. Letting out a shaky breath, she said, "what she did cannot change the fact that she loved me, and she was the nicest person I knew. How can I ever stop loving her?"

"Good."

That one-word reply was so simple yet just enough. It was heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time how they both cried and wiped away each other's tears only to smile again. This was the closest Y/N had ever been to feeling fulfilled.

When she was little, every time her parents fought, she used to wish for a better family with perfect parents who never argued. But maybe this was the best she could get. At least now she knew her imperfect family could finally be a happy one.

"Brad!" Marcy's voice from downstairs made Bradford and Y/N turn to the door. "Don't think you can get away with not helping me!"

"We'd better go." Y/N chuckled as she rose from the bed. But before she could reach the door, Bradford stopped her by the words he hadn't said in too long.

"I love you."

Y/N couldn't keep track of how many nights she'd lost sleep over those three words. She had faced the fear that she might not get to hear them back. She had faced the reality that she didn't get to hear them back. To hear them now from the man she thought she should hate most in her life had filled the empty space inside her chest, even if temporarily.

"I love you, too," she said almost as a whisper but loud enough for her father to hear. Without waiting for a reaction from him, she rushed into his arms, hugging him for the first time since she was just a little girl.

Now that she was older, she must accept the fact that her parents weren't heroes and she might not really know the people she'd always thought she knew. However, true love was constant. The love for her mother, for Harry, would always be there, no matter what kind of people they turned out to be or what secrets they'd kept from her. Just like herself, she knew they had their own pain so she couldn't blame them for their mistakes.

She might not replicate what she had lost. She wasn't sure anyone could ever fill the shoes of her mother or him. But some love could only be beautiful if kept in memory. Thus from now on, she was willing to let them both go.

"So, this photo was taken on her first day of kindergarten."

"Brad! Look at her cute pigtails! I can't believe you never showed me this before!"

Y/N sat on the armchair facing the other three on the sofa opposite from her. They had their noses stuck the family photo album. It was like a game to see who could spot the most embarrassing photo of her as a child. Apparently, her dad was winning.

"Are you guys all done?" She asked, arms crossed in front of her chest as her face contorted, but nobody flinched.

"Aww, the Donald Duck Halloween costume." Isaac chuckled. He tried to ignore her, yet couldn't help but glance up to catch a glimpse of the look on her face as she scoffed in response to his comment.

When Y/N picked out a daisy in front of her and tossed it at him, Marcy wasted no time to grab the vase, holding it firmly against her chest.

"The whatever you want, just don't hurt my flowers!" She said.

"Okay, the fun's over!" Y/N rose from her seat to grab the photo album and put it aside. With both hands on her hips, she lifted an eyebrow at the men. "Chop-chop. Get back to work."

"Yes, ma'am," Isaac and Bradford said at the same time as they hurried back to the tasks they'd been assigned before getting distracted by those photos.

Bradford stood up so Y/N could take his place next to Isaac and continue arranging those wedding flowers for Marcy. Meanwhile, the father kept on looking for that cookbook he hadn't seen in years, only because Marcy's parents expected him to cook for them tomorrow night. He was just about to head upstairs and search in his room, when his phone began to ring.

It was Harry.

The man had hesitated for a long moment before picking up that call. He didn't want to see Y/N's reaction if she caught him speaking to Harry. Even so, he still wanted to know what had happened between them, knowing she would refuse to confide in him, or anyone for that matter.

"Hello?" He finally answered, keeping his voice down so his family couldn't hear.

"Is Bambi, I mean, Y/N...Is Y/N there, sir? If she is, can you get her on the phone?"

Bradford had known Harry since he was little, and he knew Harry was a good person by nature. However, after seeing the pain his daughter had endured, he now must pick a side.

Sitting in his living room was the man who made his daughter laugh, on the phone was the one who made her cry. The choice should be fast and simple, yet there was utter guilt within his heart when he decided to keep Harry from the truth.

"She went out a while ago," he lied, his heart fell to silence as a long pause followed right after.

"She doesn't wanna talk to me, right?" The sadness was clear in Harry's voice when he finally spoke.

Even though Bradford had no idea Isaac was Harry's best friend, he was aware that Harry's heart would be crushed if he found out Y/N was laughing with another man on the sofa, and the same man would accompany her to the wedding tomorrow. The father had no other choice but to be frank, "I think you should wait until after the wedding, when she returns to London. You know, give her time."

Harry was quiet for a while, as if to ponder on his own.

"Sir...do you think she still hates me?"

For this question, the older man took a deep breath. "I don't know Y/N that well, but she can never hate you."

"I know I would if I were her."

"Y/N always says things she doesn't mean. I thought you would know that better than anyone else." Bradford chuckled slightly. "She said she hated you when you left the first time, yet she still sent you those letters."

"Letters?" Harry sounded like he almost choked on the word. "What letters?"

"You never received any? That's odd...She used to check our mailbox every day, and her mother once told me that she'd been writing to you."

Bradford waited, yet the reply what came after was nothing but silence.

"Harry?" He mumbled, assuming something was wrong with the phone and the young man couldn't hear him well, until Harry cleared his throat and said that he was still listening, he must hang up now regardless.

"Can you please ask her to call me back?"

Harry's plea for help sounded so desperate. Now Bradford could only feel sorry for the boy. He looked over his shoulder, into the living room. Y/N and Isaac had long forgotten that they were supposed to be arranging the wedding flowers. They were too busy fooling around by putting daisies in each other's hair while guffawing like children. Seeing the beam on his daughter's face, Bradford was able to empathize with Harry. It definitely wasn't easy to remember how much you loved someone only when came someone else who wiped away their tears and made them smile again.

"Take my advice," the father spoke with a soft reminiscent sigh, turning his back to Y/N and Isaac. "Some things are not meant to be said on the phone."

The two-second pause on Harry's part made Bradford believe his guess was right all along. What Harry wanted to say were the three words that had started this whole mess, and Y/N deserved to hear them in person.

"I know," the young man spoke at last. "Thank you so much." And just like that, he muttered his goodbye.

The call ended with a sense of sorrowful regret, leaving Bradford standing still with messy thoughts flowing through his mind. It was Y/N's voice that pulled him back to reality.

"Dad, who was it?"

Turning his head fast, the man locked eyes with his daughter's. For a second, it was Tam that he saw staring back at him, and in that instant, he realized how much Y/N resembled her late mother.

"Was it him?" Her eyebrows furrowed when he nodded his head as an answer. What was the use of lying when she already knew the truth?

"You should call him back," he suggested. "He wanted to talk to you."

"But I don't wanna talk to him." Y/N's answer turned the man speechless. He parted his lips, yet she was quick to cut him off before he even figured out what else to say. "If he calls again, tell him he doesn't have to feel sorry...It was also my fault for expecting too much."

"Darling, it's not your f—"

"Tell him I won't call him back." Y/N interrupted her father once again. "There's really no point in torturing each other anymore."

From the look in her expressive eyes, the man understood that his daughter was badly hurt by those words of her own, yet she must say them otherwise she could never truly move on.

In silence, he watched her go back to the living room where Marcy was now instructing Isaac how to arrange those daisies. Even though he respected Y/N's decision, Bradford knew, just like him, a small part of her still wished it was Harry instead.

It was quite a wrench to Harry when that call came to an end and he hadn't got to hear her voice. The director got really mad at him for being distracted during filming and checking his phone way too often. Harry made up an excuse that he was just tired, yet none of the people he worked with was convinced. It'd been the worst day in his life ever since she left.

On the drive home, he couldn't stop replaying the conversation with one of his co-stars, who said, "I feel like this isn't what you love anymore."

He'd thought about that sentence a lot before coming to the conclusion that the man who'd said it was completely wrong. This had nothing to do with him being lazy or losing motivation since acting was what he was born to do. He loved his job, and was indeed grateful for all that he had now. But there were also the other things that he loved, one of which was her.

Now she was 185 miles away from him. And he couldn't even get her on the phone just to explain why he'd hesitated to admit that he loved her, to apologize and beg for another chance. He knew he couldn't make it back to the wedding because he'd got a commercial to shoot tomorrow morning, and he couldn't wait until after because it'd be too long. But maybe her father was right, words would sound much more sincere if they were said in person.

There was, however, something else that was bothering him. Bradford had mentioned those letters she'd written to him when she was younger. At first, he'd assumed they all had got lost in the mail, yet it seemed too much of a coincidence to be true, unless the universe really didn't want him to read them.

What if she'd never sent those letters? If so, where were they now?

Harry was too lost in the questions for himself that he almost didn't recognize his assistant who was waiting for him outside his house. The girl had to call out his name to get his attention as he walked right past her.

"Jo? What are you doing here so late?"

"Jeff said you had a rough day on set so he asked me to buy you dinner," said the short brunette as she fixed her glasses and handed the food to her boss. "And Miss Ruby Ellis called me a couple times today asking to talk to you, but I told her you were busy. Do you want me to set up a date—"

"No. It's fine," he cut her off fast, pressing his lips into a small smile. "Next time just ignore her calls."

"Oh...Okay...One more thing!" The girl stopped her boss when he unlocked his door. "I brought your laundry into your room and accidentally knocked over the books on your nightstand. I already put them back."

"Jo, you don't have to report everything to me," Harry replied as he chuckled, assuming the girl was new to her job so she was just overly careful.

Jo shook her head quickly. "I was afraid that you would see the books in a different place and think I got intrusive and read your journal or something."

"My journal?"

"Yeah, the pink notebook with your name at the back."

Harry's eyes went wide as realization hit him like a fast-moving train. He thanked his assistant, saying a fast goodbye before rushing into his house. The first thing he did was run to his bedroom and get Y/N's notebook.

She'd had it since she was nine. He always knew she wrote a lot in there, including her random thoughts, her favorite quotes, her story ideas, almost everything she could come up with; some she'd read to him, some she'd kept to herself. But he never actually got to read for himself.

If she was writing letters that she never planned on sending, would there be a better place to keep them?

Harry felt awful as he brought the pink notebook to his lap and sat down on the bed, inhaling deeply. He wouldn't want anyone to read his deepest and most personal thoughts, surely she wouldn't be happy to find out that he wanted to read hers. He was going to anyway. Desperation had got the best of him.

With trembling hand, he flipped to the back of the notebook, and immediately spotted his name written in small capital letters at the bottom corner of the hardcover. Harry didn't know why he was smiling as he gently ran his thumb over the word. He missed her too much that such a small detail could make his heart flutter.

After contemplating it for a whole minute, he took another deep breath and opened it for the first time.

Here goes nothing, said his inner voice.

The first page, which he'd seen once before, was filled with silly doodles made by a nine-year-old, hence they weren't pretty. He still remembered the day she showed him these and got mad when he made fun of her for her awful drawing skill. The memory made Harry chuckle as he turned to the second page where lied the very first entry. The ink was slightly faded due to all the years it'd lived by. Her handwriting used to be so easy to read.

On the first line right below the date, she wrote:

My definition of true happiness is the boy next door. His name is Harry Styles.

#my girl series #harry styles #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfics #harry styles fanfictions #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles angst #harry styles smut #harry styles writing #harry styles fluff #harry styles series #older!harry #bestfriend!Harry #actor!harry

561 notes · View notes

viggwigg · 5 years

Text

Pretty Faces | Chapter 1

Pairings: Tom Holland x Reader

Summary: You are a rising makeup artist whose talent is quickly taking off. When one of your closest friends happens to be a big-shot director, you get the gig of a lifetime working next to him and his crew. No one could ask for a better workspace when surrounded by people you already love. Just what happens when the biggest crush of your life walks onto the set, ready for his close up?

Disclaimer: Cursing

A/N: OOPSIES totally my bad. Got kinda busy and put this off until now. But here it is! 🤩

--------

SFX, beauty, costume, you name it. You had done it all. No makeup challenge had ever held you back from a 110% attempt on your part.

Even if you didn’t do so hot on your first try, you continued to perfect your technique with every opportunity you got. You had the kind of drive that inspired other artists to pull out their own strengths in their work. To take pride in their profession.

Not to mention your humble personality about your talent. In your eyes, your abilities were earned through blood, sweat, and tears.

With how much fun you had playing around with it, it just made sense to enter into entertainment. You didn’t mind using crappy written tv shows to jumpstart your career. Nothing really slowed you down in your mind.

From weddings to the Halloween photoshoots, your name circulated around L.A. in a slow burn. And then an all at once fire.

Your credibility doubled as multiple directors could vouch for your performance. It took a load off their shoulders seeing their actor’s bloody lip look completely real.

You were called on last-minute set emergencies with how reliable your skills were.

And when your buddy Jesse came to you with a job offer, you knew that you were at least somewhat qualified for what he would throw at you.

It’s not to say you weren’t shitting bricks, no, of course you were. However, you would have to admit to yourself that you were doing significantly better than when you started out.

Due to how highly acclaimed Jesse’s movies were, he never offered you a spot on his team in the past. It’s not to say that he wasn’t impressed in your work; he definitely believed you would become great. But he didn’t want to hand you a job without you having earned it first.

And with the last production you were a part of wrapped up, Jesse thought the timing couldn’t have been better.

He invited you to be an artist in his upcoming movie. Casting for the roles had just been finished and filming would commence within the month.

He had a devilish laugh when you curiously asked about the casting list, yet he wouldn’t budge and insisted that you had to wait like everyone else to find out.

Being the director’s best friend seemed to have little benefit at this point.

You rolled your eyes as you thought back to your conversation with him. If he was gonna be stingy with his information, you were going to be stingy with your kindness.

Currently, you were walking with a multitude of bagels and coffee in your arms, on your way to the meeting point. The makeup artists usually weren’t invited to the production meetings but today they were assigning departments and groups to certain divisions.

This was the first day that all crews and actors would see each other.

The treats you were bringing were for your fellow artists who you have met a couple times before today. You guys went over your individual techniques so that you could have a consistent result when the time came around.

Had Jesse not been selfish with his list, an everything bagel (bro I love these bagels so much) would have been delivered to him as well.

But alas, he would have to suffer.

Your arms were starting to cramp up at the odd angles you were holding everything at. The short walk from the cafe to the set proved a harder trek with the extra baggage.

Although, thankfully, the doors to the right place were insight. Today’s meeting would be held at a regular building and later in the week you would move to the actual set.

Your heart was beating a little faster than usual. Your fellow beauty gurus were nice for sure, but who could tell how these next few months would go.

Still, working with your best friend was gonna be awesome.

You walked in and flashed your ID badge to the receptionist, quickly greeting her. It was surprisingly quiet in the building considering the whole place was rented out.

However, as you neared hall doors, you could hear the muffled voices of everyone behind them.

You took a quick breath and turned the door handle.

The room was fairly large with little decoration. An elongated table sat in the middle of the room with many people around it. Some were sitting in the various chairs scattered about, but most just stood in a group of their respective departments.

First impressions were positive. Many smiling faces, a few dead stares, and a single person completely asleep on the table.

You could make out some well-known faces in the quick scan through you made.

Jesse looked away from the production manager he was talking to and caught eyes with you.

“Y/n!!” His eyes lit up.

The production manager was cut off mid-sentence. Jesse hit him on the chest playfully and excitedly in happiness.

“Dude, this is who I was telling you about,” he said as he dragged you towards them.”She’s the leech that always hangs around me and my sister.”

“Ouch-and here I thought we had something special,” you said dramatically.

The two of you paused and stared at each other before bursting into a fit of giggles. The excitement of working together seemed to hit both of you simultaneously.

The production manager just stared at you both before moving to introduce himself.

“Hi, I’m Justin. It’s nice to meet you…”

You shushed Jesse and offered your hand, “Y/n. It’s nice to meet you too-”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ll get through intros later,” Jesse interrupted. “Right now there are much more important matters to attend to.”

He guided you both to some seats and began.

“Okay, so we’re just waiting on a few people before we begin. We should start- wait what’s with all the stuff?” Jesse gestured at the coffee and bags in your arms. His mouth began to water.

You made eye contact with the group in the back of the room and smiled, “Oh these are for the other artists actually.”

“Aw, how sweet of you! Where’s mine?”

You moved your arms away just in time to miss his grabbing hands at the bags.

“Hands off, Jess! I didn’t get any for you.”

“Yo, what hell, y/n,” he whined. The sense of betrayal he went through could not be described in any other words than unforgivable. You knew this place had his favorite danish.

You had to be the devil.

“I invite you to be on my crew, MINE, and this is the thanks I get? That’s it, we’re through. I mean it.”

He huffed and turned away from you.

Justin looked at you with entertained admiration and chuckled to himself.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry,” you picked up the coffee and pastries.”Just let me hand these out and then I’ll figure out how to make it up to you.”

“Whatever”

However, just as you began to stand from the chair, the doors to the room swung open yet again.

A man tall man with glasses walked into the room. He nodded at the various people in the room and moved along.

A shorter man with chocolate brown eyes trailed behind. He wore some comfy joggers and had a cap covering much of his hair.

All eyes shot to the second newcomer, everyone unanimously recognizing the familiar face.

Jesse recovered from his depressive state and replaced it with a shit-eating grin.

Justin rose to greet the man and give him the rundown.

You paused mid-air from your seat with wide eyes.

Tom Holland stood before all of you with a friendly smile and wave, “Hey, guys, I'm happy to finally meet you all. Sorry I’m a bit late.”

...What the actual fuck.

--------

A/N: My god this is so unrealistic. I literally don’t know anything about where they do all their meeting and how they film so that’s why its so vague. I am so uneducated on this 🤦‍♀️ Lol thanks for the love on the prologue though! 💌🥰

-------

Tag list: @greenarrowhead @diamonddia-mond @jackiehollanderr

86 notes · View notes

newtsshelbys · 5 years

Text

A New Home | Neighbour AU | Chapter 1

Prompt: “Hey, I locked myself out, can stay at your place until my roommate comes home?”

Pairing: Harrison Osterfield x Fem!Reader, Tom Holland x Fem!Reader

Summary: Y/N’s life couldn’t have been more ordinary. She lived together in an apartment with her sister, while being a student at the nearby college. The small flat next to hers stood empty for a while now, until one day two young men moved in. What at the beginning seemed like a simple new encounter, tured out to turn her world upside down.

Warnings: swearing, drinking

Word count: 3.6k

A/N: I know it’s been a while since the Prologue. I’ve been busy and I’ve been not busy. I forgot a little bit about this story, since I’m currently writing an original story myself. Anyway, here is part two. Not really proof read or anything, but I hope it’s still enjoyable! As always, I don’t know how far I’m going to continue this story and how ofter I’ll be albe to update it. And at this point a quick thank you for the reposts and everything on the Prologue!

Prologue Chapter 1

You leaned against the door. You did it. Your heart was beating faster than usual, but you did it. A small smile started to form on your face. It didn’t last long, though. As soon as you spotted your textbooks lying open on the kitchen counter, you groaned. You took slow and heavy steps towards them. Now you had no reason to avoid your studying anymore. You sat down, put your headphones back on and got back to work, the nervousness fading page by page.

It was around four in the afternoon as you heard something over the music coming through your headphones. You took them off and listened again. There were loud laughers to be heard. They must have come from the apartment next to yours. You wanted to ignore it, until you heard it for a second time. You knew who these belonged to. You closed your textbooks, put your headphones on the kitchen counter and went out into the hallway, taking slow steps into the direction of the apartment door of your new neighbours, which ended up being wide open. As you dared to take a glimpse inside the flat, you were greeted by the sight of your sister laughing along with the two. They were sitting on a sofa which was still fully wrapped in cushion foil. Your jaw dropped slightly.

As she spotted you, you were greeted with a wave and a simple “Oh, Hey!”

“I’ve met our new neighbours” she announced, pointing at the two guys sitting next to her, one to her left and one to her right.

“I can see that.” you retorted with a dull undertone, “What are you doing here?”

Why were you even surprised? If someone had asked you if this is a situation you would find your sister in, you would have agreed with them in an instant. The two boys were looking back and forth between you and your sister.

“I saw them carrying boxes up the stairs as I came home and thought why not help them.” she smiled. She seemed like she was having the time of her life.

“Your cake was really good by the way” Harrison commented out of the blue, pointing at the already empty plate which was placed on the kitchen counter right next to you.

You send a small smile Harrison’s way to let him know that you appreciated the compliment. The compliment you only partly deserve.

“Wanna join us?” your sister asked, making space for you on the couch, between her and Harrison.

You thought about it for a moment. You really didn’t want to go back to studying, on the other hand there were still some episodes left from your series to which you could go back to right then and there. At the end you decided that you were simply not in the mood for company. Especially not for company you barely knew. You just wanted to have a cosy evening on your couch, eating dinner with your sister.

“No, I’m good, thanks. Let me know when you wanna eat dinner.” You told your sister before you waved goodbye to the boys and left their apartment.

Your sister didn’t show up for another two hours. You were starting to wonder why you didn’t want to hang with them earlier. The boys seemed to be actually kind of cool and the thought of getting to know them better or even become friends with them didn’t even sound so bad. And you knew to get to know them you actually had to talk to them, even though you wished you could just skip the first few phases and just become friends like this. But you knew it didn’t quite work like that.

Also, you were the kind of person to rather say no to something than yes, even if you knew you would probably enjoy whatever you were saying no to. That always happened when you talked before you thought or when this voice in the back of your head was louder and told you to just say no, things would stay simpler this way. It was almost like a reflex.

Your overthinking got interrupted as your sister decided to came home for the first time in like four days. As she came through the door, she kicked her shoes of, threw her bag to the side and ran up to you and excitedly jumped onto the sofa, only almost missing you.

“Let me guess, you love them?” you predicted teasingly, already knowing the answer.

“One of them is an actor and model and the other is a really good photographer, like insanely good. He showed me some of his shots.” your sister started to gush over the two, who were literally right next door.

“Sounds impressive” you admitted, “But do you think maybe a little bit of your excitement comes from the fact that both of them are like kinda attractive?”

You knew your sister. She had a lot of male friends, and she didn’t judge or exclude a person because of their looks. But you also knew that she was an easy catch for cute guys. She liked to keep herself a few dudes warm. I think she uses it as a mechanism to protect herself. She also was always the type to flirt with guys, doesn’t matter if she had a boyfriend at the time or not. She was aware about the affect she had on most men. You were almost sure she wasn’t doing it intentionally, though. Especially since she had Matt. You once even asked him about it and if it’s not bothering him:

“Actually, it’s something I really like about her. She likes people, you know. She is not scared to try new stuff or get to know new people. I know she does it because she has been hurt one too many times, and she holds on to it. I know the day will come where she realizes that she doesn’t have to do this with me. And until that day comes, I’ll let her do her. I mean as long as she is not actually starting something with these guys, it’s all right with me.” was his response.

And you believed him. You were there when your sister’s heart got broken, every single time. And you also understood why she acted the way she did. It’s clear why you liked Matt.

“Shush!” she playfully hissed at you, slightly slapping your shoulder.

“I knew you think they are attractive, though. Which one do you like better?” she dead ass asked you, being full on serious.

“Are you kidding me? I’ve barely talked to any of them. I’m not answering this” you refused to answer. You shock your head slightly. Sometimes you asked yourself how it’s possible that she is the older one.

“Could have guessed it was Harrison anyway” she dared to answer her own question.

“I dead ass can’t believe you” you were officially done with this conversation.

“So, I’m right!” she exclaimed clapping her hands together in victory.

“I’m not gonna comment anything on that” you put your focus back on the TV, “I was actually gonna ask you how work went and how your weekend was in general, but I just changed my mind.”

“Fine.” Your sister was finally giving in, accepting the fact that she would not get anything out of you, “You’re boring.”

You raised your eyebrows at her, signalising her that it was time to stop. She got the hint and stopped talking about it for the rest of the evening.

The rest of the evening went by peacefully for you. You and your sister ordered Thai and continued watching Netflix together. At the end, she still ended up telling you about her weekend. Saturday, she and her team made the last final choices on the project and all they have to do now it prepare for the presentation. In the evening, she and Matt went to see the new Spider-Man movie. Mostly because Matt really wanted to see it, she told you. And on Sunday they went to the zoo together. Even though you were mad at your sister for watching Spider-Man without you, you were happy to hear that she had a good time. She also asked how studying went. You told her that it went good for the first day, which was true. Even though you couldn’t find one spark of motivation in yourself to study all day long, you still managed to focus on your work for at least four hours throughout the whole day.

The next few days were pretty much what you expected them to be. Since you had a lot of time, next to studying, you decided to do some things you normally wouldn’t do to see if maybe you would discover a new passion of yours. With other words new distractions from your studying. As much fun watching series all day long was, you could literally feel yourself rot on your couch after day four. So, you decided to go on a run. To your surprise, you didn’t hate it completely. It was actually quite relaxing to get out of the apartment once in a while, especially when you were in a phase where you had to focus all the time. It was a different way to get your head free other than scrolling through your phone or watching Netflix.

Other than that, the last few days weren’t really eventful. There were also no new encounters with your neighbours except for greeting each other in the hallway. You weren’t mad about it; in fact, you didn’t mind. You were just glad that you didn’t have any problems with them yet and that they turned out to be decent neighbours, at least for now.

It wasn’t until Friday that you actually talked to one of them. You were coming home from yet another run. You could have never imagined that you liked running so much. Well, you didn’t really like the running itself, you liked the feeling it gave you. A feeling of freedom and that you got your head free once in a while. Anyway, you were walking up the staircases as you heard someone swear in the hallway. As you turned the corner you saw Harrison standing there fumbling with the doorknob. You walked past him, mumbling a quick “Hey”.

He didn’t answer right away. You went to unlock your door as he suddenly spoke up.

“Hey, I hate to ask this but I locked myself out. Can I maybe stay at your place until my room-mate comes home?” he asked scratching the back of his head, the situation obviously uncomfortable for him.

“Sure” yet again your mouth spoke before your head could think. But there was really no reason to not let him stay at yours.

He thanked you and walked into your apartment right after you. You offered him to sit on your couch and asked if he wanted something to drink.

“No, I’m fine really. I’m just going to sit here and not make a noise. You won’t even notice I’m here”, he assured you, sitting down on the couch.

“Are you sure? I was about to open a bottle of wine. I don’t mind sharing.”

Strangely, you didn’t mind him staying at yours at all. Your head was still cleared out from the run earlier and like that, it felt kind of easy to talk to him.

“Only if you really don’t mind.”

“I wouldn’t offer it, if I would mind, would I?” you told him walking towards him with two glasses in one hand and a bottle in the other hand. Only as you sat down, you realized that you weren’t wearing anything but yoga pants and a sports bra. Your face heated up a little bit, but he didn’t seem to notice. There was it, the insecurity you were used to and hated with every fibre of your body.

“I’m gonna take a shower real quick. You make yourself at home. You can turn the TV on or watch some Netflix if you want to” you brabbled as you got up to walk to your room first and then to the bathroom.

What were you supposed to wear? Normally, you would now put your Pjs on. A combination of Iron Man shorts and a The 1975 shirt didn’t seem to fit the situation. So, you grabbed a pair of leggings, another sports bra and a plain white shirt and took it with you to the bathroom. It took you 15 minutes to shower and get ready to face your guest again. As you stepped out of the bathroom, your hair still wrapped up in a towel on the top of your head, the wine bottle was still closed and the TV turned off. Harrison was just sitting there and looking around. You raised your eyebrows at him.

“What have you been doing the last 15 Minutes?” you asked him as you sat down on the couch and grabbed for the wine bottle.

“I was just sitting here. You guys have a dog?” he curiously asked. You could see his eyes spark up for a split second. He must have noticed the dog bed which was placed in the living room next to the TV.

“Yeah, a corgi. Her name is Frankie., you smiled at the thought of her. Harrison smiled too. It was insane how much you missed her already. It’s only been a few days.

“Awesome. Is she around?”

“Not at the moment, no. Me and my sister gave her to our parents for a few weeks. We both have some busy weeks ahead of us, and we figured out our parents could take better care of her for the time.” your smile faded and was replaced with a rather sad expression. It surprised you how easy it suddenly was to talk to Harrison. Usually you wouldn’t know what to talk about, but since he entered the apartment, there was not one second of awkward silence between the two of you.

“I see. Are you studying for your finals or something?” the boy wondered and nodded in the direction of your books lying on the kitchen counter.

“You observed our flat quite well in the time I was gone. I see.” you smirked, and he went quiet pretty fast.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t-” you interrupted him.

“No, it’s fine. I am in fact studying for my finals. I have currently two weeks of.” it was irritating to you, that he was the one who was flustered by now and not you.

You finally opened the wine bottle and filled up the two glasses, which were standing on the table in front of you, still untouched. You handed Harrison his and suddenly he went all shy. He didn’t seem like a shy guy to you at all when you first met. You wondered it something was wrong. Did you make him uncomfortable?

“What about you? Are you studying or what is your deal?” the whole situation was absurd to you. Now you were trying to make him more comfortable. That’s a role you were not quite used to.

“I’m still kinda trying to figure out what my deal is, to be honest. I went to BRIT school a few years ago and tried myself in acting a few times. Otherwise, I’ve been getting some brand deals here and there, including photoshoots and stuff. At the moment, I’m trying myself at music, but I’m not too sure if that one is gonna work out.” he giggled to hide his insecurity.

Most people you knew who told you about their acting/modelling careers were not as subtle about it as Harrison was. It didn’t seem like he wanted to impress you by telling you his story. He just genuinely wanted you to know who he was. At least that’s what it felt like. You almost didn’t know how to respond to that.

You could not look into his eyes for too long. It wasn’t because it would get awkward with time like it was with every body else. It was more like, you found yourself almost losing yourself in his eyes. And if he would catch you starring, it’d at the end still be awkward. Why were you always so afraid of things being or getting awkward? This fear of yours held you back so many times before. You did not do stuff like, talking to that cute co-worker of yours or speaking up when somebody offended you, just because you were afraid things would get awkward after. Why couldn’t you just put that fear down? It held you back from being yourself.

Most important at that moment was though, why Harrison’s presence had the ability to keep you so calm. Usually you hated small-talk and meeting new people. With Harrison, it seemed so easy, though. Which was weird because you thought he was attractive, very attractive actually. And around guys you found attractive you never seemed to be that calm. Most of the time you were just a nervous mess, not able to speak one clear sentence.

“That sounds exciting.” by the time you said that, you already emptied your first glass of wine. You looked over at Harrison’s glass in his hand which was also almost empty. You offered a refill and he thankfully accepted.

“Does it, though?” he suddenly retorted, “I guess it does. It’s actually quite hard to explain. I love acting and usually I’d say I love the things I do but till the present day, I have not found something that fulfils me. I know that sounds ungrateful. I’m probably just not in a good head space right now.”

You were completely baffled. You were not expecting such honesty. The two of you knew each other for what? A few days? And here he is, sitting on your couch and telling you such intimate things. When you didn’t reply, he spoke up again.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this.” he put his glass on the table and held his head down, “I just had a really bad day and me locking myself out of my apartment must have given me the rest.”

He seemed unsettled and vulnerable and you were overwhelmed. You had no idea what to say. After a few seconds you had an idea, though. If you couldn’t cheer him up with words, you wanted to try something that always cheered you up when you were feeling down. So, you got up from the couch and went to the kitchen. Harrison was looking after you in confusion.

He didn’t know why he was suddenly so open. The alcohol must have gotten the best of him. He had so many things on his mind he just wanted to get rid of. He had no clue why he suddenly had the need to pour his heart out to you, an almost stranger. Maybe that was the catch. The fact that he barely knew you. You were a neutral person in all of this and were not aware of all his struggles and most certainly were not a part of them.

As you came back you had a bottle of Martini and a pack of flips in your hands. You put them on the couch-table. Harrison was still looking at you in confusion. You took your PS4 controller and pressed the start button.

“I have an idea. I don’t know if you’ll like my idea. But every time I feel down and don’t know what to do with myself, I get myself some strong alcohol and a good snack. Most of the time it is flips, because, I love flips. And then...” she got up from the couch and went to the cupboard her TV was standing on and opened it, revealing several PS4 games and a quite impressive movie collection. She took out two microphones and attached them to the console.

“…sing my fucking heart out.” she held up Sing-Star 4 and just smirked. Harrison couldn’t help but to smirk himself. Out of all things, he sure as hell wasn’t expecting this. But soon after he found himself singing along to Charlie Puth’s “Attention”, while sipping on his Martini from time to time. He had to admit Y/N was quite the singer, and he liked watching her. The most fun was when they sang together, though. They were barely able to stand straight because they had to laugh so hard. After the sixth or seventh song, they both crashed back on the sofa, laughing and giggling, both exhausted and breathing fast. Harrison couldn’t recall a time in the last few weeks where he laughed this hard and it was all thanks to Y/N. His worries from earlier were vanished from his mind. Right now, he was just happy and thankful.

“Thank you.” he said honestly.

They both had a little too much to drink. Their cheeks were flushed, and they couldn’t stop giggling.

“You are very welcome.” she breathed, still trying to catch her breath.

Harrison thought she looked stunning. From the first second he saw her, he though she was cute, but right now she looked beautiful. Her flushed cheeks and her innocent smile did something to him, he couldn’t quite explain. Suddenly it got really quiet and everything around them seemed to disappear. They were both lying on the couch, just staring into each other’s eyes. He only thought ‘what am I doing here’ as he started to lean in and captured her rosy and slightly swollen lips in a kiss

That was it with the first chapter! I hope you liked it. You know, feedback is always appreciated.

Tags:

obsidianspidey, ixchel-9275

#harrison osterfield #tom holland #Harrison Ostefield x Reader #Harrison x Reader #Harrison Ostefield x Fem Reader #Tom Holland x Reader #Tom x Reader #neighbour au #reader insert #fem!reader #AU #Reader

51 notes · View notes

kachinnate · 5 years

Text

DEH on tour! 9/17/19

HI so i said i was gonna make a post describing my experience watching DEH last night so B^) if that’s a thing u sorta care abt i dropped it under the cut

would like to start off that i had no idea that they were introducing a new touring evan and?? he’s fucking FANTASTIC ???? aH ,, but at first glance at the cast list, the only names i recognized were maggie and marrick’s.. and even then i only knew their names, i had no idea what they sounded like or even looked like tbh. if ur curious;

evan: stephen christopher anthony jared: jared goldsmith larry: john hemphill alana: phoebe koyabe zoe: maggie mckenna cynthia: christiane noll heidi: jane pfitsch connor: marrick smith

honestly........ i wasn’t displeased w/ a single one of these actors, holy FUCK they were so good?? i love obc w/ my entire heart, and i never thought i’d ever say this, but this cast is a CLOSE fuckin second dude. aahH. and not even because they sounded like the obc, like they all sounded completely different and brought a pretty different take to their characters and it was so..... good???

one specific thing that i noticed that happened in this performance compared to all the ones i’d seen before (broadway, two or three boots, two audios for arena stage) throughout was that there was a lot more.... crying? and like, just hearing that you’re probably like,, ‘oh, that’s annoying they probably made it a lot more extra :///’ but!! really i just think there was a different sort of depth that these actors took on in certain moments that made them like.... justifiable for crying when you’ve seen these scenes before and the mood was different and there weren’t tears...

like, example: the beginning of the computer lab scene, when evan is writing his letter to himself, every evan that i’ve seen before this one read the letter out as he typed it in an almost defeated manner. like, he’s sad, obviously, how can u not be sad writing ‘maybe no one would notice if i disappeared’, but it sounds like he had long resigned to the fact that this was how things were. although it wasn’t super over the top or anything, stephen’s evan .. cried a little, like fully had some tears running down his face and was choked up as he got to the end of the letter, and i was like “!?!?!” cause it immediately gave off the sense that.. fuck, shit, evan really, really wanted his mom to be right, he genuinely had hope that today was going to be good, but.. it really wasn’t, and that kinda fuckin hurts?? like i think especially w/ us fans who know the show so well, we forget how legitimately dismal this letter is that he’s writing dsjkaefg like the murphy’s thought it was a suicide note bc it sounded like that and this might’ve been the first time i like.. didn’t question the confusion they had over it for a second, like of course you thought it was a suicide note , w/ the way evan wrote it it might as well have been

another specifically notable moment was that alana cried throughout that scene following good for you?? like holy shit was i not prepared for that?? but she played it in a way that made so much sense, like she was so hurt that evan hadn’t cared about the project and maybe the stress of it’s weighed on her a lot because she’s just trying to do this good thing but like always everyone’s just left her to it and maybe she thought it’d be different w/ evan..... like there was a lot of pent up frustration and hurt in every word she said when i’m so used to hearing that scene delivered in a monotone, deadset, cold hurt sort of way. “i’ve moved on. obviously you don’t care.”, not “you know what?! i DON’T have time for this, I have to raise SEVENTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!” while choking up on tears like holy fuck alana did u really have to come for all of us like that

(honestly in general phoebe played the best alana i’ve ever seen, hands down, period point blank, i fucking loved what she did w/ her character.... i’m not sure if she’s been alana for a while or if she’s new too, but oh my god????)

other notable cry things:

- connor was VERY audibly on the verge of tears on his “what are you laughing at?” line - when heidi and alana were singing at evan in good for you, jared was standing off to the side and was glaring daggers @ evan but was also.. crying a little and that fucking hurt - ev was still croaky and teary from so big/so small into the scene before the finale, and zoe’s voice started catching a little halfway into their conversation and she had to stop a couple times to compose herself - and then of course tears in the spots that usually have tears like words fail and so big so small and w/e but like. it hurt more i can’t describe it these actors personally Hurt My Feelings

all in all a lot more tears from both the characters and myself

and just from all of THAT it goes without saying that there was a different, like... sort of depth that these characters brought to the table. stephen’s evan screamed desperate for a friend. i empathized with him immensely because literally every time he talked about fake!connor he sang so longingly and it was obvious that he needed needed needed this lie for himself too, like he wasn’t just telling it to the murphy’s to comfort them, he wanted so badly for this to be the truth for himself. the pull of the murphy’s caring about him and zoe was obviously there, but i truly didn’t think that was even a factor of this whole thing until into act 2. and even then... while it’s obvious that he’s in the wrong and his intentions get a bit more clouded, to me it feels like the general feel was “this has all gotten to out of hand, i can’t back out now, so i might as well just go along with all of this” instead of “oh hey this started as me trying to help the murphy’s but now my life is better? cool”

his Evan Hansen Nervous Tick (tm) was wiping compulsively at his eyes (which, given how often they all cried is very valid but also kinda funny dsjgn) and his presence in general was very........... good. like, if you mix ben platt and taylor trensch’s energies, i think you’d get stephen’s evan’s stage presence, and really that’s the only way i can describe it djslgnsdg.. like he wasn’t Stoic and Awkward like ben was but he wasn’t as bouncy and quirky as taylor was, he was placed almost in the middle of those two and it... worked, i liked it a lot. it looked like he sort of hated being in his skin and sort of wanted to run away but he Won’t because he knows he needs to Try if he wants to be seen and that’s *chef’s kiss* a good energy that i can appreciate

jared goldsmith played his jared similarly to the way that will roland played his jared, but instead of being Blant about his love for evan he gave off a little bit more of a “haah yeh bro >B^)” energy... but still obviously gay because he’s jared, i don’t think u are legally allowed to play ur jared as a straight boy (source: will roland himself, and also the author of the deh book). something i REALLY loved specifically about his singing was that whenever they sing in a harmony, jared gets the top note, and ..... omg there was something about his voice that made the chord sound so fucking PRETTY like there’s no reason for me to be star eyed @ that ending note in sincerely, me, but here i am!!! also, jared was. tiny. SO small. how can so much chaos fit into such a small lad.

also i can’t remember when but there was a point where he said a line that was funny and he laughed at himself, and then the audience laughed, and then he continued to giggle and waited a few extra seconds to say his next line and it was the cutest thing i’ve ever seen

extremely bitter at “look at you, helping the murphy’s”, he cried during good for you, and at the finale he is BEAMING at evan, like he is smiling SO BIG AT HIM, LIKE JARED GOLDSMITH PERSONALLY DECIDED “you know what, in my heart evan and jared did reconcile before the events of this moment and i’m going to make sure the audience knows because i’m going to look at him with an immeasurable amount of love in my eyes” and that was so fucking brave of him

maggie mckenna... maggie mckenna!! she was a wonderful zoe, i think she’s like my favorite zoe high key because oh my GOD? requiem fucking destroyed me... and like, i’m the odd one out because although that song is gorgeous, minus the first time i ever listened to it i never really was deeply deeply moved by it, like i understand the meaning of it and i know why it’s an extremely important song and i appreciate the amount of emotion that is portrayed within it, but to me it’s not really the Highlight of the show....... maggie’s voice was so beautiful, like soft and pretty during the beginning and powerful as FUCK on the bridge and!!!!! i wept for the first time during that song ever and i’m still shook abt it

in general, maggie’s zoe was really balanced and well played and, like... real?? like, she was adorably hanging onto every word evan said as he stammered through their first interaction, albeit a little confused, when he’s over for dinner to talk about connor she’s indifferent and sort of aloof but it’s obvious that it’s from a place of like.. misplaced Hurt, even without knowing the plot already like it’s sort of obvious.... like maggie made it clear to the audience that zoe wasn’t supposed to be coldhearted or bitchy, she was a kid who’s been hurt by her brother and has every reason to not forgive him for it just because he’s gone and is now rightfully confused because now she has to try and cope with the fact that he might’ve been a good person even though every thing he’s ever done prior went against it, and.... ughsGDJ she was just!!! so good!!!!!! also, her chemistry that she had with evan was really real too and like.. i could believe that she actually fell for him, i could believe that she genuinely did like him for more reasons than a plot device, which is really refreshing bc i can’t rlly say that i saw that same level of like.. genuine chemistry between the evan and zoe i saw when we saw deh on broadway (it was still good, don’t get me wrong, but there was just something missing that i really only noticed by watching this performance). she’s kind of quirky and weird at some points too, which again is another thing that made her feel more real to me??? when evan was like “thank you” and touched her arms after she told him that she wasn’t breaking up with him, she fully reached out to touch his arms and fully bent her entire body in half, like her face was facing the ground and i audibly choked,, also she super gently like smacked his face at one point during only us and i heard it in his mic and he inhaled a lil sharply bc he was trying not to giggle and i. cri

ngl, i’ve really only seen alana being played in one way up until now.... like, obviously every actor is going to play their character differently, and even from performance to performance there might be some change, but at least for the MOST part every alana i’ve seen has been straightforward: i’m chatty, i’m bright, i’m kind of lonely but i mean well and i REALLY care about this thing that we’re doing. there isn’t a lot of room for her to emote until, like... the whole good for you fiasco happens, the scene before it and after it, when she’s upset with evan for not helping, but even then there’s usually a trend with how she’s played. phoebe played her with SO much emotion and made her SO much more than what i expected to see??? like she cared... so much, but it was obvious that she was maybe not going about it in the right way. she seemed more like an awkward kid just like the rest of them, it was a bit more obvious that she didn’t think of herself as perfect, and it seemed a lot more clear that her intentions for helping out with the connor project were never about herself or making herself look good - it was because it genuinely meant something to her. yes, she was still a lot at times, but when evan accuses her of only being in it to help herself, it’s so like... evidently not true. like u don’t even have to see alana’s expression at all or hear how she responds, ur just immediately like “oh, so evan’s gonna be a dick now” because it’s just so obvious that it’s not like that at all, y’know?? alana had... big feelings, and she was more than the smart girl that drove the plot forward at points and gets screwed over by evan. also, her voice was extremely pretty as well *heart eyes emoji*

both of the moms brought something similar to this show: it was obvious that while they started their characterization with what obc brought, they made it their own. they brought new mannerisms and choices up and they were both so??? fucking cute????? like they had extreme mom energy, at points it felt so real, like something about the whole scene with them talking together in the murphy house b4 good for you felt..... so so so real and it was disorienting. they both made me cry so like they definitely did their job

ALSO the fucking way that heidi was looking at evan in the finale like. was one of the things that made me weep the hardest, like holy shit. she loves her son so much!!!!!! and i am CRYING !!!!!!!!! but anyway

*CLAPPING HANDS EMOJI* LARRY. FUCKING. MURPHY. oh my GOD he was an amazing larry !!!!!! like i know the fandom likes to demonize larry murphy but watching this man, i couldn’t think for a single second that this man was a bad father. he was trying so hard and just went about it in the wrong ways, and ... ghh... to break in a glove isn’t supposed to make you tear up but guess what (also this might be a personal problem but seeing him interact w/ evan gave me surges of feelings that reminded me that i have daddy issues ajdnGS like he was so. sweet. all the time, i want to throw a baseball around with this man and have him explain football to me even though i know i won’t understand it). his singing was rlly good too... like hearing it, i was like “ah. i can hear it in ur voice that when u were younger u were a bright tenor lad, but a bright tenor lad in the way that was good and not terribly nasally”

marrick was really good, but i’m like 85% sure that he was sick :’( his voice caught and he had to clear his throat a few times during sincerely, me, and he had a break on a certain note and couldn’t go higher than that, which.... is rough because although connor isn’t super tenor-y all the time he definitely ... doesn’t sing just low (but when he did sing low? *chefs kiss*) but other than that? v good acting, like evan this connor just... rlly wanted a friend. he almost cried when evan started laughing at him, and he sounded extremely devastated when he read the note... as evan’s OC, he played it very Defeated(tm) instead of confrontational, which obvs Hurt bc evan was fully like “no!!!! i fell!!” while connor was just “ did u. or did u let go.” u don’t gotta be confrontational when u are the inner demons of a boy and aren’t actually a person yaknow >B’’’’^) nevertheless i am crying xoxo!!!!!!!

all in all?? fucking incredible, i can’t believe i had the opportunity to see this cast and i’m going to hold them in a v special place in my heart :’)

#dear evan hansen #deh #deh tour #dear evan hansen tour #garbage.txt #if you have any specific questions feel free to ask bc this is going to be the only thing i think about for the next three months #long post #longpost

29 notes · View notes

benhardyorbust · 5 years

Text

Just a Little Fun pt 1

A/N: This started off as a one shot inspired by break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored by Ariana Grande, HOWEVER, it turned into something a little more, so I am going to do a part two!

1.5k words

“CUT! THAT’S A WRAP FOR TODAY!”

The cast of Bohemian Rhapsody quickly fled the set to hair and makeup. You stayed behind to talk to another one of the PAs.

“Mia, what do you think of the actor playing Rogah Taylah?” you say, in your best British accent.

“Honestly? Total babe, and he’s actually super nice. Usually when actors are that good looking they are huge jerks.”

“I totally agree,” you say, stealing a glance at him talking to a tall blonde woman, “there is just something about him! Too bad he’s taken.”

“Yeah, she’s been on set since we starting filming like two weeks ago. And they are so cute together.”

The two of you sigh, stealing one last glance at the couple and get back to work.

You are grabbing some last minute props needed for tomorrow’s scenes when you run into someone.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry I didn’t..”

You look up to see that you have just run into the man you and Mia were just talking about.

“Sorry love! Didn’t see you there! I don’t think we’ve met yet, I’m Ben,” he says holding out his hand.

“Hi! I just started yesterday so you probably just haven’t seen me yet, I’m y/n,” you say shaking his hand.

The second you two touch there is, a feeling. You can’t quite figure out what is is, but it’s there. You can tell he feels it too, he definitely flinched.

“Well I guess I will be seeing you around! Now, if I don’t get this wig off soon I am going to freak out. Bye y/n!”

“Bye...” you say watching him walk away. He looks back at you, and you quickly try to make it look like you’re busy.

You sigh, it’s going to be a long shoot.

The next day you arrive on set before the cast does, or you thought. When you walk up to the coffee machine you found yourself face to face again with Ben.

“You’re here early!” he says while pouring himself a cup of coffee. “Want some?”

“A PAs work is never done.” you say back laughing as you hold out your cup. “Why are you here so early? Isn’t your call time at like noon or something?”

“Yeah... between you and me my girlfriend and I got into a pretty big fight last night and I just had to get out. Figured I would come to set early and hang out with everyone.”

“Oh man, that sucks I’m sorry! If you don’t mind my asking, what were you fighting about?”

“Not to sound uh... full of myself or anything... but since I have gotten these more popular roles, I’ve started to get more fans. Being on a soap opera in the UK is one thing... being in a biopic about the greatest rock band of all time, and playing the playboy drummer, is a totally different thing. You know? She is just having a hard time dealing with the fame I guess.”

“Oh man, I’m sorry! I’m sure it is hard to adjust but she will come around.”

“Yeah...” he says trailing off and taking a sip of his coffee. “What about you? What does your boyfriend think of your debut role as a PA on the set of Bohemian Rhapsody?”

“I actually don’t have a boyfriend,” you say with a soft laugh. “But my mom thinks it’s really cool.”

He quickly looks you up and down and bites his lip a little. You pretend not to notice.

“Really? A girl as talented and beautiful as you is still single? Interesting,” he says as he starts to walk away. “I’ll see you around Y/N.”

Oh my GOD, you think. What the hell just happened? You walk to the PA break room to find Mia to tell her about what just happened.

“Mia! You will never believe what just happened,” you whisper-yell.

“What?”

“I was at the coffee machine and ran into Ben. He told me about how he had a fight with his girlfriend last night. And then, he asked me if I had a boyfriend and I said no he totally checked me out and bit his lip and said and I quote ‘Really? A girl as talented and beautiful as you is still single? Interesting.’‘

Mia gasps.

“Shut up! You’re kidding. Do you think him and his girlfriend will break up?”

“Uh.. I don’t really think so. It sounded like they just had a little fight. I don’t think anything would really happen between us even if they did.”

“You never know until you try, right?” Mia says, looking at you with a devilish grin.

“Mia! I can’t just break up Ben and his girlfriend. They are a happy couple and I have no business getting in their business.”

“I mean, you don’t have to actively try to break them up. Just like... you know. Show him what is out there, waiting for him. Flirt with him -- but subtly. Maybe dress a little sexier from time to time. Maybe even try to see if you can be one of those extras that gets to be all over him, you know? Then you have an excuse to touch him and there is nothing anyone can even do.”

“I actually don’t hate that idea. It’s kind of brilliant. A little harmless flirting never hurt anyone, right?”

“Of course not! There’s no reason to have a little fun on this shoot.”

“You’re right! I’m gunna do it. I’m not doing it to break them up, but just to have a little fun.”

“Yeah! You go girl!”

The next day you show up to set around the same time you did yesterday. You actually managed to put on some makeup, run a brush though your hair and put on a cute outfit.

You walk up to the coffee machine and lo and behold, Ben is there yet again. You muster up all the confidence you can and walk up next to him.

“Fancy seeing you here,” you say as you hold out your cup to Ben, who is pouring his own cup.

“Wow, two days in a row. How did I get so lucky?”

“Man, I don’t know. There are people in this set that would kill to be in your position right now.”

“Well, I rather like the position I’m in right now,” he says putting the coffee pot down and facing you, only a few inches of space between you.

“So... now that I am emotionally invested, did you patch things up with the girlfriend yesterday?”

“Well, we got in another little fight last night. Actually it was bigger than a little fight but, I don’t know my career just seems to be a really big strain on our relationship and I feel really bad, but I’m also like living my dream, so it’s hard to not feel terrible about the whole situation.”

“Wow, Ben I’m sorry. I know it’s not my place to really offer you any advice but, people grow and change. This is the direction you are growing in, and she might be growing in another direction. Just some food for thought.”

“That was great advice, thank you y/n.”

“Anytime,” you say walking away.

Over the next three weeks, you and Ben meet each other at the coffee machine every morning before shooting starts for the day. Every day he comes back with a new fight that his girlfriend and him had the night before. He also comes with flirty one liners and questions for you about your life, and you return the favor.

You can feel yourself really falling for him, and actually hoping that maybe they will break up. You don’t do anything, deliberately, to break them up. You just keep meeting him for coffee every morning. You flirt a little but it really means nothing, you’re just having a little fun. You two also flirt a little around set, but nothing major. It’s all just in good fun. If they break up they break up, if they don’t at least you got to practice your flirting a little, with a hot British boy no less.

Around the one month mark of filming, something weird happens.

You go to the coffee machine and Ben isn’t there. You brush it off and figure he probably just has a later scene than usual.

A little later in the day, people start to wonder where Ben is because he is an hour late for his scene.

“Y/N, do you know where Ben is?” Garret, a PA asks you.

“No, I haven’t see him yet today, I’m not sure where he could be.”

Within a few seconds, Ben is running onto the set.

“I’m sorry I’m late, I know I know. I have literally never been late to set before,” he says running over to hair and makeup.

You notice that his eyes are puffy, he looks like he’s been crying.

“Y/N, you should go ask him what’s wrong,” Mia says.

“Why me?”

“You’re the one who has become best friends with him over the last month.”

“Ugh, you’re right. I’ll go see what I can find out.”

You walk over to Ben and sit on chair next to him.

“Hey are you okay? You’re usually three hours early, not an hour late.”

“Um, yeah I’m fine. Well, not really. Kat left last night, we uh, broke up.”

“Oh no, really? I’m so sorry Ben,” you say as you reach out and touch his shoulder.

He takes your hand and holds it in his. The feeling you had when you first met is back.

“It’s okay, you were right, we were growing in different directions. This is where I’m meant to be and she couldn’t handle it.”

“Oh my gosh, I hope I’m not the reason you broke up.”

“Well, I can’t say your advice didn’t influence me, but it was time. We both knew it, neither of us wanted to act on it though.”

“Oh well, I mean. I’m sorry that I had anything to do with it,” you say, even though you’re not really that sorry. As much as you hate to see him hurting, you are glad that maybe you two will have a chance.

“It really isn’t your fault at all. It was time.”

Just in time, you walkie goes off.

“Y/N we need you on set!”

“Coming!” you say into it. You turn to Ben, wave and run off.

Part 2

#ben hardy #ben hardy x you #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy cute #ben hardy x reader #ariana grande #break up with you girlfriend im bored #bohemian rapsody movie

308 notes · View notes

pierrotdameron · 4 years

Link

On the set of His Dark Materials, Dafne Keen is about to see a bear.

With battle raging around her, snowflakes flying and alarms ringing, the young actor – who plays lead character Lyra in the BBC’s new adaptation of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed novel – sprints down a corridor, dodging enemies and fighting for freedom. And just when all seems lost, she looks up, seeing her saviour. A broad smile breaks out as she sees who’s standing above and ready to save her… a man wearing a white, faux-bearskin rug on his head.

OK, on set Pullman’s trademark armoured bears (or panserbjørn) aren’t much to look at – but over a year later, when they finally arrive on-screen, they’re an incredibly impressive achievement, realistic and filled with character, a triumph of puppetry and visual effects. If anything, they’re even more impressive than the animal dæmons that have appeared in every other episode so far. But how were they brought to life? What did the actors film with on set, and what were the biggest challenges?

Happily, after we’d suitably calmed down from all the excitement, the behind-the-scenes team were happy to fill us in…

Pre-production

While the 2007 movie adaptation of His Dark Materials (titled The Golden Compass) wasn’t exactly beloved by fans, it did win plaudits for its VFX, with the work of independent company Framestore winning the film its only Oscar. Now, over a decade later, the new adaptation would have to surpass even that achievement – which is why Framestore were brought on board again to work on the TV series, marking them out as the only common element between both adaptations.

“Framestore did the original bears in the original film, which we won the Oscar for, and we’re doing the bears again, now,” VFX supervisor Russell Wilson told us. “And what’s really interesting about that is certain things we computationally couldn’t do then, we can do now – but obviously it’s harder work.”

And the digital work on the bears didn’t begin after the shoot had already concluded, as many might expect. In fact, before a single scene of the panserbjørn storyline had been committed to film, Framestore and Bad Wolf’s in-house VFX gurus were working hard on previsualizations for the bears – in other words, plotting out scripted scenes in basic computer animation in specially-rendered environments, so they could work out how the bears would look before the directors started work.

“That was a combination of Framestore’s bear animation and our [interactive set] environment,” VFX artist and pre-vis supervisor Dan May told RadioTimes.com. “We blocked out the sequence with Russell and the stunt guys downstairs. “They animated the bears to quite a high level in pre-vis, that that pre-vis was then brought to our [digital] set with all its textures.”

In other words, basic digital bears were added onto a specially-mapped digital set, blocking out the scene before anyone had even turned on a camera and creating a “virtual shoot.” And when it came to actually filming the sequence IRL, this preparation meant that the bears could (sort of) be on set as well, with specially-prepared screens and virtual “cameras” allowing the production team to check where the animated, moving bears were at all times.

“When they shot the sequence, they were able to bring that animation and the virtual camera angles, and see them live on set,” May explained. “They were able to line up a digital bear with a real set. And that is not a first, because they’re doing that sort of thing on Jungle Book and Avatar. But we’re doing it on a more affordable, sustainable way.”

Though of course, it wasn’t just digital bears lurking on set…

Puppeteers

As with the dæmons, the bears on set were built and puppeteered by Brian Fisher and his eight-person team, with various different rigs and outfits utilised by the team for different purposes.

“There’s about seven to 10 different bear rigs,” VFX supervisor Wilson told us. “There’s one for smashing into stuntmen, there’s one for representing his face, there’s one where there’s literally a guy with a glove on putting it on his face.

For example, sometimes the bear was just represented by actor Joe Tandberg (who also provides Iorek’s voice onscreen) wearing (functionally) a bearskin costume, while other times he wore a special rig (pictured exclusively above) that allowed Iorek’s bear head to hang in front of his own.

Other times, he just wore a plain boiler suit with a light rig over his face, or stepped away in favour of a static model (pictured) to help the crew include Iorek’s scale, or was replaced by a large grey cushion for scenes where Iorek was less mobile or in a confined space. “You’re basically in a green room, with a weird grey thing which is supposed to be a bear, and with Lin singing? It’s just all very weird,” Dafne Keen, who plays Lyra in the series, told us.

And of course, a lot of the time the full-time puppeteers took over. For example, while on set RadioTimes.com was shown a large puppet version of Iorek operated by two people to impressive effect. Within the rig, one puppeteer wears an ordinary large hiking backpack, leans forward to face the ground and hoists two long poles forward, with a mesh bear head that he can control and turn at the end of the poles.

Another man behind holds two strings to control the front legs. Together they can rear the bear to his full height, stalk him around an area and generally bring him to life. In His Dark Materials episode four, another bear head – one with Iorek’s snarling teeth – was used for a scene where he attacks a foe, and generally speaking the team tried hard to keep things simple instead of using complicated mechanical rigs or creations.

“When the bear attacks – that was much more stuntman, him, us throwing him around on a mat until we worked out something that we liked,” Wilson says. “We take a very human, organic, what I call a man-tronic approach to things that you might take or do in a technical perspective. “When he’s getting dragged around by the bear it is just a guy in a boiler suit and [the victim’s] on a wire, and that’s it.”

Riding Iorek

But the fighting wasn’t the only filming challenge. In fact, a key action shot that everyone was even more keen to get right comes later in the series, when Lyra rides on Iorek’s back as the pair travel into a dangerous new area. On set, the human portion of the shot was achieved by creating a special rig for Dafne Keen to ride (pictured above) – but unlike similar ridable CGI animals like the dragons of Game of Thrones, it wasn’t mechanical, instead requiring the puppeteers to move it themselves.

“When Lyra’s riding a bear, it’s all operated by a human in a backpack,” Wilson said. “You know, we don’t bring in rigs and mechanically programme them because it’s quite slow to do, and it means you get less takes at it.” “To get the specifics, the biomechanics behind how a polar bear’s gait runs, we had to go through and, with the animators, actually break it down into segments, figure out how we can translate that into something that has movement and life but is not purely mechanical,” puppeteer Brian Fisher told us.

“The second you go into a mechanical movement, you can speed it up, you can slow it down, but it is always rhythmic, whereas we don’t work in binary movements.” As you can see in the above video, RadioTimes.com actually got the chance to try out the bear rig while on set, and can confirm it’s definitely man-powered – and surprisingly bouncy. “I loved the bear rig,” Keen herself us. “Though I was too light for it. “It was very funny. They made this rig, and they didn’t calculate my weight. So they had to then harness me, because I bounced too much off the bear. So that was really fun.” “Although I felt kind of bad because I had two human beings bouncing up and down underneath me…”

The final touches

Obviously, the lion’s share of the work done by the VFX team comes after the filming as they gradually work on creating and animating CGI shots right up until broadcast. And for Wilson and his team, no detail was too small when it came to the armoured bears. “In our version of Iorek now he has the muscles underneath [his fur] that flex as he moves, and that also drives the fat on him to jiggle as he runs,” Wilson told us. “But then the skin actually slides over the bones and the ribs, which makes the fur that’s attached to the skin slide over that as well. All of that together gives you something that feels really realistic. “So again,” he concluded “the appetite and the ability is higher – therefore the workload is higher.” Oh well – hopefully, the time and trouble wasn’t too unbear-able.

#His Dark Materials #Iorek Byrnison #Joe Tandberg #Brian Fisher

3 notes · View notes

allhallowsreid · 4 years

Text

just lots and lots of very long-winded, random thoughts about last night’s finale and the show itself...

so obvs no one has to agree with me on any of this, i just feel like there likely ARE ppl who feel like this and it’s easy to get shut down on tumblr for having different opinions, and i mostly just need to gather my feelings and thoughts in one place.

-ive seen a handful of ppl upset that the last ep centered around reid, but if you were to take 10 fans of this show, it’s a pretty good chance that 8 or 9 of them would say reid is their fave character. that isn’t me trying to insult any of the other characters, that’s just the way it is. whether it’s bc of his looks (and my lord was he gorgeous in this finale ep), or that he’s your typical cute white boi, or more organic reasons like he’s been there since day 1 and we were able to watch him change and grow, and he’s the opposite of the typical male characters we often see, especially on cop shows.. whatever the reason, he is a VERY popular tv character. and if it weren’t for that character, for better or worse, this show would have ended a long time ago.

-the ending itself.. i just feel like i don’t know what ppl were expecting?? this is not a show like supernatural or dexter or a show that has had a fluent overarching story to tell from start to finish. the story continues without us watching it. it’s another day at the office for them. was it a great ending? no, but it was fine. we see where all of them are headed. endings are so difficult, i’m just glad they didn’t kill anyone off or some garbage like that.

-so damn happy they hooked up luke and garcia. i have had such issues with garcia’s character since morgan left, i feel like she became a caricature, where she just overacts and i recently read an article with kirsten where she actually admitted that when shemar left she really didn’t know what to do with her character anymore. honestly? it showed. the obnoxiousness to luke was cute at first bc she obviously had a crush on him, but then it just became mean and out of character. this season i was happy to see her get a little bit more back to herself. all this being said, they were very clearly headed towards getting luke and garcia together this season with the overt flirting and one on one convo’s, i’m so glad they went through with it instead of leaving it open ended. and i will admit that of all the characters, i didn’t think garcia would be the one to leave, but it made sense. garcia is tough as hell, much tougher than she gives herself credit for, but like luke said, she can do this other job without the gore that she cringes over in literally every single episode of the show. also loved jj saying garcia was the glue of the team. so true, so well said. and side note, kirsten does a hell of a job writing these characters that she knows all too well, the other writers should’ve just let her take over in later seasons.

-prentiss... i love my emily so dang much, but man they give her the absolute worst dialogue. she gets stuck with all these long sentences that just.. they just don’t flow?? and it takes me out of the show so often. this has been since s12 when she became unit chief. there has been a handful of times since she became the boss that we have had flashes of old school smartass goth girl emily, and i cherished each moment, but it wasn’t enough. somewhere along the way they forgot how to write into the show that their characters had PERSONALITY. just as an example of the stupid dialogue she gets.. the end of the ep where it’s intended to look like rossi’s retirement party. then, idk who it was, emilys boyfriend maybe(?) says some dumb comment about oh gee i thought this was dave’s retirement! and then emily starts some awkwardly long line that could’ve been summed up in “dave decided not to retire afterall” and it was just soooo... weird?!!? if we are agreeing that A MONTH has gone by.. you are to tell me that it never once came up that dave said he was gonna retire and then changed his mind!??! that night, one month later, is the first that this discussion occurred!!?!?! and all of these dumb lines come out sounding so robotic, and i can’t blame paget, bc the lines are boring as hell. also unless i missed something i can’t rule emily out of being the next director, especially since their profile ended up being correct, lynch and the mom didn’t kill themselves, so i’m sure when that all came out, the next hurdle emily would have to clear is how they just blew up their very expensive jet right after having a budget meeting 2 episodes ago!!

- i’m gonna lump the newer characters together.. and just say that it was all too little, too late. they tried to give matt and luke more this season, and the ep’s centered on them were great, but it all felt forced to me. all this character development should’ve started as soon as they came onto the show. the relationships between the new and original characters also feels forced a lot of times, barring relationships like rossi and his boys, luke and garcia, tara and emily.. i mean that’s kind of all, right? we never saw much off-the-job, personal interactions between them and the rest of the characters, did we? and the way tara was treated on this show is inexcusable. aisha’s talents were so underused on this show it was criminal (pun intended). and actually, the above stuff i said about emily getting nonsense dialogue, you can throw matt in there too. his dialogue was friggin god awful at times on this show. in the words of early seasons reid, maybe try to be more conversational, writers!!

-man oh man was jj a badass and a half in this finale. tbh i always enjoyed liaison jj more than ssa jj, but when badass jj comes out i get all excited. i do feel like she would be the best fit to take over if emily left, she’d stepped into that role before and excelled. but she is another character that at times i think the writers just forgot how to write her personality somewhere along the way. i understand that the reality is that people change over time, but there were times that she was written like a typical high school mean girl, and that was just an insult to the character they created. the whole jeid thing was severely overblown and unnecessary. i don’t hate the idea of them being together, but why wait til s14-15 to deal with this? in the end i thought it was handled okay, i personally didn’t feel like it ruined their friendship or stayed awkward, which i appreciated, it was just a storyline that wasn’t needed and wasted time. also, ppl griping about “oh but she clearly loves will, if she loves spencer then she can’t love will!” i mean, actually, ppl are capable of loving more than one person at a time, hate to burst that bubble for ya.

-this seems like a good moment though to pause and just get this out about will lamon-fuckin-tagne jr... this guy is too good for jj lol, i am sorry but he is such a great guy. and can we review some things about will and his wife’s bestest friend, godfather to his children, spencer reid?? when will and spencer first met, it was during an unbelievably personal case to will, i mean his father died sending him a message about this case that the fbi was called in on. and his first intro with reid?? let’s see, reid spent that ep strung out on drugs, and full on abandoning the case to go hang out with his friend at a club/bar/lounge/whatever. ok, so that’s will’s first impression of jj’s bestie, and will STILL okay’d him being the godfather of his kids. not to mention, can you imagine your wife has been gone in the damn middle east for who even knows how long, then when she finally gets back and you think you’re gonna have her to yourself, but oh no, here comes jj’s friggin bestie again to come cry on the couch every night for several weeks!!!! and he gives zero indication of not liking spencer, in fact he seems rather fond of him. will is the most patient man ever, i swear.

-ok that was an unexpected side track. moving onto rossi. not sure why they were all like oh pfft this guy will never retire. the dude literally retired before the show started lol. if he retired once, when he was fairly young, why is the idea of it happening again so impossible? again, dumb dialogue. i loved the stuff with him and young gideon (i may be biased tho bc i’m just so damn proud of ben savage), i loved that rossi knew more about the jet than the others, however that was an inconsistency bc when rossi came back from retirement, he couldn’t believe the bau had its own jet. unless i just misunderstood what emily meant when she said it all started with rossi and gideon. i felt like lynch was a very underwhelming villain. super forgettable. there was no charisma like foyet or cat adams, there was no creep factor like mr scratch, there was no mystery like the replicator or the fisher king. his whole story just fell flat, and if there were anything interesting about him whatsoever, it’s bc of what rossi brought to the table, not the “chameleon”.

-my boy reid. he has several lifetimes of baggage to unpack, and i think of all the characters on this show, no one hates unpacking their trauma more than reid. i feel like it was so relatable that he could barely speak in this ep without sounding on the verge of tears, like every sentence was painful to even get out bc of how much hurt is stored up inside him. his trauma has defined him for years now, and if they had ended the show without addressing even some of it, the show would’ve been incomplete. i understand that actors schedules just don’t work out sometimes, but idk what the point was of having strauss and foyet be his devil and angel. and foyet’s long explanation of how bc he changed hotch, he changed the team was so convoluted that he may as well have just said “they couldn’t get james van der beek or the dude who played mr scratch, so im here instead”. i liked what they did with reid and maeve, and i actually don’t mind that there was no mention of max. they’re still very early in their relationship, and i feel like him coming out with some “wait i think i love max!” revelation would just be too fast and ooc. we already know that the relationship between them is growing, it doesn’t need to be said. and can i get an amen that maeve and reid didn’t kiss bc god that would’ve been weird as hell.

- i hate that we couldn’t have hotch or morgan or blake or elle or any of the main characters that helped make this show what it was, but i’m still grateful for the crumbs they gave us if the actors just couldn’t be booked for whatever reason. i’ve seen many shows at their end just try to pretend their previous characters never existed, so that we got some flashbacks with them was appreciated.

- RIP bau jet. i wiiiill reMEMber youuuuuuu.

-the song choice of david bowie’s Heroes was perfection. strangely, when i was driving home from work yesterday that song came on my playlist and i blasted it on repeat and performed a car concert for my fellow drivers on the road, and thought to myself that this song would be great for cm to end on. never thought they would actually do it since they had previously used the song in penelope’s ep. but what a great scene of all them dancing and singing and laughing like the bunch of nerdy idiots they are.

-i came late into the game with this show. ppl have been telling me for years to watch it and i only picked up watching in s13, after i read a spn/cm crossover fic and became super curious about who all these awesome characters were. with that said, i’m aware that since i haven’t invested years of my life in this show, that my feelings and thoughts about the ending will be different than those who have been hooked on this show for over a decade. i’m still just so thankful for the family portrayed by this show, and these characters i fell in love with, and episodes i’ll never forget.

#text posts #series finale #thx for reading if u took the time to do so :-)#criminal minds

1 note · View note

smolbeandrabbles · 5 years

Text

Get Even - Martin x Reader Drabble (Untogether)

Read by itself. Or read as a Sequel to Like You Say You Do I’m not saying this will turn into a full fic. I am telling you I’ve thought about it...

Picture & GIF Credit @menbendelson ... Because, ofc

Author’s Note: You know. A sure-fire way to get me to write about a Mendo character is to talk to me about said Mendo character, right? So, y’know, now you get more Martin. Thank @3134045126 - I’ll wait. 😉

Premise: Everything about being with Martin was easy... But you should have known trying to hide this from his Ex (and your friend!) was never going to work... Disclaimer: I once again took some lyrical liberties with ‘Get Even’ by Brad Paisley. But it was worth it. Martin’s band never got names, they’re just the names of the actors that played them.

Words: 1533

Warnings: Swearing / Drinking

After how she treated you she cheated you and lied I guess you could go curl up into a ball and cry Or you could turn a heartache into sweet revenge at last 'Cause two can cheat at this game babe, And pay backs a blast Get even with her, with me You been done wrong for so long, now you're free Don't get angry, don't get filled with jealousy Get even with her, with me

If I know that girl, well now, there's one thing she can't stand She wasn't faithful in the least but, find another, and... She's going to go crazy thinking about how much she lost Your lips, your kiss, your touch, come on Let's really piss her off!

You weren't joking when you'd said you liked Martin in his overalls. You had nothing better to do today, and you weren't as work, so you were currently sitting on a bench sipping soda and watching him paint. Every brush stroke he made was sexy - God, was there ANYTHING about Martin that you didn't like!? Well, you couldn't beat the view. So that was probably a no. You watched the muscles in his arms and back flex, as he stretched to reach the top corners, under that white T-Shirt and groaned a little. Yeah, you might have also accidentally told him you always found his white shirts sexy too... You also loved the way he would hum along to tunes. Sometimes he'd have the radio blasting, sometimes it would be songs he was performing with the band... But sometimes, just sometimes, it would be music you'd played. And that made you so happy. You leant back with a satisfied smirk. This was really living. The LA sun warming you as you sat here without a care in the world. You checked your watch. Martin took breaks with religious timing. Though, he never wore a watch himself, he always told you it was his body clock. But you'd taken notes - and you knew exactly when he'd been calling off for another break. You had 15 minutes to wander off and wander back... Where was the closest coffee shop? You got back with about two minutes to spare. Setting down his favourite coffee and a box of donuts. That ought to keep him here a little while. "Oh my god!" He laughed as he got to the table "Now, would ya look at this..." He sat and picked the coffee up "See... now... You shouldn't even be here, you should be living your life, but.... This is..." pink dusted his cheeks "I uh... Thank you..." "You're welcome! I mean it's the least I could do, right?" He took a sip with a shrug "She never did." "Yeah, well she's an idiot." He shook his head 'God, I'm sorry - I keep promisin' - I do! That I'll stop talking about her-!" "Martin... Martin-! Baby-! Don't worry about it! I get it!" It'd been a few months, and you weren't exactly sure Tara knew yet. Andrea had pretty much told you she wasn't telling her little sister. And you certainly hadn't said anything. But you knew it still hurt him. What she'd done still hurt him. He bit into a donut with a satisfied hum "See-! Why didn't we start dating sooner!?" "I'm an idiot?" You tilted your head "See, Andrea says I should have made a move the FIRST time." "Andrea was probably right. She nearly always is - Hey, maybe we should go on a double date with - what's his name?" He snapped his fingers trying to remember; "With Nick? Oh Lord. Don't get her started - she'll actually agree." He chuckled "Yeah, I know. But if she suggests it, you'll actually go!" "Are you being serious?" "Yeah - C'mon it'll be fun!" He laughed at the uncertainty on your face. Sitting on the end of the table was your little notebook; Martin pulled it gently towards him "Ok, what have you been writing today? Andrea got you writing epic novels again has she?" "No! They're just poems!" “Uh huh - just poems..." he flicked it open "What about, me?" You flushed "NO!" Though quite a lot of them were about him, he read one and his eyes flicked to you; "You sure?" You couldn't hold his eyes "Yes!" He continued reading; then his face lit up "No! Look! Look at this...!" He pulled you from sitting next to him to sitting on his lap, which only made you blush further "Look! These are song lyrics! Look at that!" "Isn't a song just a poem?" He hummed a tune to himself, arms around you "No...! Well okay, maybe essentially but... " He got excited "Can I use this!?" You stared at him "Are you being serious?!" "Yeah! Baby, yeah! Can I?" "Be my guest!" You giggled "No, Martin! C'mon - really?" He pulled you in closer and kissed you gently "Yes...! Those lines are gorgeous. Let me use them! I beg you!" You shook your head with a smile; "You don't have to beg me!" and you kissed him again. Soon enough you were full blown making out on the park bench and literally did not have a care in the world about who saw. Eventually Martin pulled away, but still gave you butterfly kisses between words "Now I'd love to stay and make out with you all day, sweetheart, but - That wall isn't gonna paint itself!" He slid you back onto the bench "Just keep sitting here and looking pretty. Ok?” He gave a cheeky wink “Write some more lines. It’s good. It's real good." You gave a smirk as he stole one last kiss; "Aw! I'd rather watch you!" He laughed; "You are literally watching paint dry for fun Y/N!" "NO!" You called after him "I'm watching you look all sexy in that White T!" ** He was obviously too excited about your 'lyrics' because whilst driving home he called up his band and decided they needed to book another gig. Which made you beyond excited. Also, he wasn't kidding about Andrea, because after he'd hung up on them he called her with his double-date suggestion. Which she screamed in delight and eagerly accepted. You didn't think he was serious, so you had to try to fight to grab the phone off him; until he swerved the car and you thought you better give up on that idea.

Which is why a couple of weeks later you were sitting with Andrea and the band drinking after yet another successful gig. “So hang on – when are we all going on a date!?” Andrea elbowed you in the ribs and you covered your face “NO-! Don’t start him off again!” Martin laughed “YES! Thank you! Andrea! I’m suggesting next week!” “Martin---!” you almost wailed, placing your head on the table and leaving the others howling with laughter. “Next week is great Martin, we’ll sort the details and drag her along!” They clinked beer bottles as she put an arm around your shoulders. Eventually you were done whining and looked up. Martin brushed his hair off his face and leant back on his chair; “MAN! What a gig!” “I’ll say! You guys killed it again!” “Look we’ll take what we can get from the two best looking girls at the gig!” Adam also rocked back on his chair with a smirk. “Oh-! Okay! Hang on a minute! There are no single ladies here!” You laughed “Just one thing-!” You looked to Martin, and the way you bit your lip let him know you were about to make some remark about something he’d done wrong. But you couldn’t get it out without giggling “Where was your rhythm? Like – what was…? What!?” “OHHHH----!!” Daniel and Michael, the other members of his band cracked up. “Shots FIRED!” Martin gave a shrug; “Are you saying I can’t dance?” “That’s not what I said!” “You’re saying I can’t dance.” “No Martin-!” He put his bottle down and stood, holding out his hand “Come on, prove it.” “What!? NO!” “Come on…” He walked around the table to you “I didn’t say-!” He pulled your seat back and picked you up, causing you to shriek, laughing as he dragged you to the dancefloor. “Martin! Stop!! Put me down!!”

He did so, taking you hand and pulling you into him. Well, you guessed you pretty much asked for it. His band mates and Andrea (some friend she was!) were hollering and whistling at you, which only made him laugh. “See what you get yourself into when you open that mouth of yours?!” You tipped your head and gave him a seductive little smirk; “Guess there are other things I could be doing with my mouth…” He leant back slightly with a grin and a raised eyebrow; “Woah! Down girl. Not on a dancefloor.” “Mmm I dunno…” You wound your arms around his neck, and leaning closer to you, he brushed his lips with yours. The cheering from the corner of the room only increased – causing Martin to raise his hand in a clear, f**k you!, wrapping his other arm around your waist. Suddenly he stopped kissing you, and pulled back, his eyes went wide and he wasn’t looking at you. You turned; oh sh*t! Standing on the other side of the bar was none other than Tara. And by the look on her face she’d witnessed far too much. He looked from her to you, but he knew where he stood, his arm was still around your waist. He took back the gap he’d created and kissed your hair gently, making you turn back to him. Martin didn’t have to say anything he just shook his head, before kissing you again. He entwined his fingers with yours, refusing to let you go as he pulled you away from her. Tara had her chance, he was all yours now.

---

@stcphstrange @beany-ben @shantellorraine @alotofrandomfangirling @mfolcore I know you didn’t ask to be tagged - but for your continued interest in Martin I thought I would let you know ❤😘

#Checklist of stuff Martin gets excited about: the prospect of double dating - his band - coffee and donuts - his SOs creativity.#Eventually I'm gonna write reader watching a gig. I mean. its there i just...#Patience friends #Untogether #Martin #Ben Mendelsohn #Honesty Hour: I fall a little bit more in love with Martin as I WRITE him. I didn't really take to him like I wanted to when I saw the movie #That's a good thing though. I think it's cuz I love the relationship I've written so much...#Like I thought Martin would push Nolan from the top spot but NOPE.#Anyway look where we are now!#24

34 notes · View notes

seoulscenarios · 6 years

Text

Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo?

Genre: light angsty fluff, high school au, female reader insert

Member(s): Stray Kids’ Minho (ft. Jisung and the lads)

Word count: 2991

Warnings: light swearing, light pda at the end

Summary: you and Minho had been best friends since you could walk but it seems only you had developed a crush on him. Will a late class and a small two man production of Romeo and Juliet change his mind or does he really not like you? Featuring the rest of the crackheads with their leader, Han Jisung, love is in the air at school and a certain someone is just oblivious to it.

Authors note: based off the following request “All time fav cliché best friends to lovers with Minho (stray kids) angsty fluff where reader (preferably female) thinks her love is one sided, but turns out it’s not. Good ending”. I hope this is something to what you wanted and sorry it’s not heavy on the angst pls enjoy !!

-You and Minho had een best friends for years and you always had the tiniest crush on Minho but it escalated a lot over the summer as Minho glowed UP

-Wow u are whipped

-However whipped as you are for him he never seemed to reciprocate it

-Ever

-You even went out with on valentine’s day 3 (three?!) years in a row but his thick skull didn’t acknowledge it and just thought it was another friends doing friends things

-So, you moved on

-I mean he’s your best friend you can’t let your crush get in the way of things

-You were there for him whenever he argued with his parents or friends, he was stressed about school or failed a test and uwu

-You’re just the bestest of friends and everyone is jealous (tho most think you are dating)

-So,,,,,

-You guys always hang out in school together bc you’re in the same friendship group

-And youre in most of the same classes, so you normally walk together

-WELL

-Minho managed to make the BOTH of you late to ur first class bc his dumb ass slept through his alarm and u had to basically drag him out of bed lmao

-So u rock up late for class

-Ur teacher is NOT impressed

-So as a punishment they give u a script of a play and told to learn it by next week

-U groan when u see the title of the play

-Romeo and Juliet

- Oh no

-This won’t end well

-You glance at Minho to see if he has any reaction bc,,,,, hello ur dying on the inside and probably the outside and you can hear Jisung and felix trying to hold in their laughs at u

-(you make a mental note to beat their asses later)

-And Minho

-Is very unfazed as he flicks through the script

-Ur kinda disappointed

-I mean it’s not fair how you’re a literal MESS trying not to let the floor swallow u up in embarrassment tbh

-So,, the two of you practice outside of class at ur guys’ house and you can’t help but notice how utterly unfazed he was by this whole ordeal

-Ur both literally reciting the most well-known love story on this planet and yet,,,,, nothing

-Not an ounce of feeling that he likes you

-I mean,,, he’s not a bad actor and his romeo makes u SWOON but honestly you swoon for irl Minho not just romeo Minho

-As you stutter over some of the lovey-dovey lines u hear Minho laugh a little and tells u to redo it

-his little shit

-After a week of practice, you guys are ready to perform this goddamn piece

-I may add that ur teacher only gave you the condensed version and not the whole play

-It just so happens that the condensed version only focuses on romeo and juliet’s love

-Bc English teachers amirite?

-So the two of you turn up to class ON TIME this week, not wanting to get ur ass beat again

-And ur just the tiniest bit nervous bc !!!! hello !!!! ur performing with ur crush !!!!

-U glance over at ur seatmate Jisung who gives u a big thumbs up

-BREATHE Y/N

-Everything is going well, u don’t stutter and Minho is just the perfect romeo

-Until the final scene I may add

-As you lay “dying” as Juliet, Minho runs onto the scene and spots u laying down

-He walks up to u and goes to kneel

-BUT

-Before you both knew it, he stumbled

-And fell

-Right

-On

-Top

-Of

-You

-Lips centimetres apart from each other

-OWO what’s this

-U swear the whole class are holding their breaths and can hear ur damn heartbeat

-U stare at Minho in shock for what must have been a minute

-Neither one of you tearing ur eyes apart from the other

-It wasn’t until you hear ur teacher cough slightly that the two of you snap out of it and Minho pulls away

-He finishes the scene off with no problem and honestly,,,, u don’t even register it’s over until Minho offers his hand to help you stand up

-You grab it, flushing a hella lot bc,,,,, u nearly kissed ur crush in front of ur whole class RIP

-Ur teacher was impressed with u guys and let you off the next assignment ur class had (if only u were aware of this then u would hear the whole class esp Jisung groan)

-As u go back to ur seat,,, ur eyes drift back to Minho and ur thoughts go back to that last scene and his lips……

-“yah Y/N ! u and minho were so close I swear you were gonna kiss you shoulda seen ur face!!!!! I thought for real that Minho was just gonna plant one on you !”

-Smh Jisung

-Poor baby,,, u just sit in shock trying to concentrate

-Hint: it doesn’t work

-Ur plagued with thoughts of Minho for the rest of the day,,,,, I mean you already were but now it’s like sensory overload but with Minho

-But u know he doesn’t like you

-Lmao why would he

-He surely would’ve spoken to you about by now esp after that near kiss in class

-But this dumbass is still oblivious

-School ends and ur trying to forget about the near kiss

-But in this, you forget that Minho has a habit of walking you home

-So there he is

-Leaning on your locker waiting for you to turn up

-YOU SWOON BC NO ONE SHOULD LOOK THAT HOT IN SCHOOL UNIFORM FOR PETE’S SAKE

-His blazer was off, shirt sleeves rolled up, blonde hair tousled and wavy (ladies, imagine Minho like this I’m crying)

-U feel ur heart literally stutter

-I swear that’s a medical condition Y/N

-“Let’s stop by the convenience store, my treat” he smiles down at you as he moves out the way so u can get to ur locker

-Dude,,,,, u need to stop before I melt into the floor

-“Uhhhh I can’t I have,,,,,, a study session at the library gotta work on some literature stuff u know ahaha”

-Minho frowns but doesn’t react massively

-Secretly he thinks its hella cute that ur tryna avoid him but that’s for another time

-“Okay, don’t study too hard and I’ll treat you another time. Text me when you get home”

-UWU

-Anyone who overhears this would be like wow 10/10 relationship goals tbh

-U however, a self-proclaimed dumbass, don’t dwell on it too much

-You guys tend to grab food after school together

-ANYWAYS

-Minho pulls you in for a hug before leaving

-Oof ur heart is stuttering again

-How you made it to the library for ur study session is a wonder tbh

-25 minutes later finds you groaning into ur books cursing minho’s name

-That’s when u realise 2 things, 1) that wow ur a FOOL bc there is no literature homework bc of ur work from earlier and 2) Minho is very bad for your health and u gotta avoid him for ur own sake

-U walk into school with this resolve

-It doesn’t work

-Minho is in practically every single one of ur classes

-So u practically have to run from each class to avoid him

-Which leaves Minho very confused

-He doesn’t walk with anyone else from class or treat them like he does to you

-Which makes Jisung very jealous,,, bc why can’t Minho treat him like this

-Little did you know Minho has a PHAT crush on you and Jisung is PLAGUED by the both of u gushing about the other

-Jisung is MEDITATING

-So when you start avoiding him even more Minho is extremely put out bc what does he do now who does he spend time with now

-(jeongin: we’re still here hyung!!!)

-Being the good friend he is, he gives u space but is still v sad about it

-And honestly, ur sad too bc as much as you love spending time with Jisung,,,,,, he’s no Minho lmao

-One night after school Minho is kicking round the football field with the others and that’s when he realises

-He’d much rather spend his time with you

-It’s not that he doesn’t love his friends, he just happens to love you even more

-But how can he reach out to you when ur avoiding him still

-Jisung notices how glazed over Minho’s eyes and knows

-*cracks knuckles* it’s time

-Jisung sends Minho home telling him to grow some chest hair n text u lmao

-Minho does go home but does not text you bc he’s just a nervous boy

-Jisung to the lads: “now he’s gone, we gotta make a plan for the two lovebirds they’re so BLIND I’m sick of it I might just confess to Minho myself”

-Chan: “……….”

-Jisung: “that was a joke old man, let’s focus pls ladies”

-So the plan

-Was it an elaborate one?

-Definitely not

-Lmao have u seen these kids they’re a bunch of crackheads

-Baso,,,, they’re just following the classic let’s text them separately to meet up as a front but SIKE it’s just the two of you alone

-Fool proof right?

-Somehow it is???

-Shocking??

-The two of you don’t expect anything is going on

-So it’s the weekend when the plan is put into action

-It’s been 17 days since you last spoke to Minho not that you had been counting haahaha okay yesyouhaveitsnotlikeyoumisshimoranything

-You wake up to a text from Jisung saying that him, felix, hyunjin, and changbin were going for ice cream and whether you wanted to go

-Which duh??? Ice cream???

-U needed it so you dragged yourself out of bed to get ready

-Little did you know that Minho too had received a text from Woojin saying that him and the others (a.k.a the family,,,,, Woojin, chan, seungmin and jeongin) were going for ice cream

-And Minho wasn’t passing up the chance esp when there was a high probability that chan would pay lmao

-*in the master gc of getting Minho and Y/N together*

-Jisung: excellent

-So 1pm rolls by and ur there at the ice cream parlour waiting for the others to rock up

-U go to order bc honestly boys take so long to get ready istg

-As you give ur order a voice behind goes “and a matcha ice cream as well please”

-U FREEZE

-Why of all the ppl to turn up

-It’s the one ur trying to avoid

-U turn to face him

-“Minho?”

-“Y/N?”

-Felix, somewhere: beYONCE?

-Ur in shock bc 1) why is here? 2) who allowed him to look so good in white ripped jeans ur DYING HERE 3) where is everyone else?

-That’s when u realise

-Jisung is a snake and ur friendship is over

-Y/N is taking applications for a new friend who isn’t called Han Jisung thank you

-Ur heart is stuttering bc Minho looks so boyfriend ur not okay

-Safe to say those 17 days did NOTHING in swaying your crush on him

-“Is that all?” oh yikes yeah this isn’t a drama scene Y/N where ur crush confesses to u, someone has to pay at this point and the queue behind the two of u is getting impatient lmao

-You whip around blushing “uh yeah that’s everything” u reply stuttering and trying to whip out ur card

-Before you can, Minho’s arm stretches out in front of u and taps the machine in front of you

-Istg u feel butterflies in ur stomach at Minho being in such close contact with u

-U can feel the heat radiating on ur back

-You get ur ice cream and u go to leave the shop but Minho grabs your arm

-U turn to him questioningly to be met with slightly hurt eyes

-Did I do that to him?

-Yes u fool

-“Sit with me. Please?”

-How can you refuse that

-……………

-It’s so awkward

-“Are you okay? Why are you avoiding me? Did something happen? Just let me know if you’re okay?”

-Owo my heart

-“uh,, no nothing’s happening….. I’m just busy u know??? Hahaaha school is really kicking my ass”

-Minho just nods and takes a spoonful of ice cream so u do the same

-“Just let me know if I can help you in anyway, I’m always here for you. Don’t suffer alone, I hate seeing you so down?”

-………….

-…………

-Honestly,,,,, u just about melt at this

-Putting ur spoon down and u look at him

-Now or never, Y/N

-“Okay…. I’ll let you know what’s the real problem. It’s you, mr lee Minho.”

-Minho is SHOCKED why is he the problem

-“uhhhhhh”

-“Please let me finish or else I’ll never have the courage to do this again. You have no right to be stealing my heart yet again by nearly kissing me in the middle of class. Do you know how embarrassing that was, I really just wanted to kiss you and I would’ve combusted if you did but you didn’t which made it worse. Why didn’t you kiss me? I’ve literally been sending you signals for nearly two years, and that’s saying something because I saw you in your awkward teen phase and still liked you, and you haven’t even responded. So I avoided you because my heart keeps stuttering whenever I’m near you I’m surprised you can’t hear it. I mean you’re so hot I just wanna kiss you, especially since that day all I can think about is your lips as you were SO close to me this is the worst time to confess but I really like you Lee Minho.”

-And breathe Y/N

-And Minho is no better

-How dare his crush confess before he can smh

-He sits in shocked silence trying to process this information

-You, however, are dying

-That’s it, he’s not replying he doesn’t like you Y/N LEAVE

-So u try to

-But as you stand up so does Minho

-And his hand shoots out to grab your shirt and he just plants one on you ????? in the middle of a damn ice cream parlour?????

-UWU

-Ur in shock

-The man of your dreams,,,,, kissing you ???? more likely than you think ??? so u kiss him back ??? ofc u do how could you not

-It tastes of matcha and strawberry ice cream and something,,, so inherently Minho u just wanna keep kissing him tbh

-Y’all break apart and honestly,, you sit back down in shock

-“That…. Was some confession Y/N”

-“Shut up!”

-“Hey, it’s okay babe. I like you too. Sorry my confession isn’t as grand as yours but,,,, I like you and always have done”

-….

-Oh

-“So please, Y/N, be my girlfriend” his hand stretches across the table nervously

-You smile as u see his hand creep across the table and you reach for him, intertwining your fingers

-He smiles back even bigger and pulls you out of the shop

-You guys had a lot of time to make up for ajbfaiubsag

-So,,, Monday rocks around and you walk to school with Minho this time, rather than mooching in with headphones in

-You guys walk to your normal spot before school starts and Minho is telling you some story about Felix, Changbin and Hyunjin when u hear a scream and lots of wolf whistles

-Spoiler: it’s Jisung and the lads

-“YOU OWE ME MONEY I TOLD YOU THIS PLAN WOULD WORK THEY’RE HOLDING HANDS! I AM THE DOCTOR OF LOVE, HAN JISUNG”

-You laugh as you take a seat next to him as chan grumbles about his wallet being drained AGAIN by his kids’ appetites

-As the hollering quietened down Jisung taps ur shoulder

-“Sooo, you guys are official now? After years of pining ???”

-Rather than deigning Jisung with a worded response a wicked plan forms in ur head

-You tapped Minho’s shoulder to divert his attention from Seungmin

-As he faced you, you grabbed his tie and pulled him in for a kiss

-He was a little shocked at how brazen you were bc hello this is school and these are ur friends but honestly,,, he freaking LOVED it

-He smiled into the kiss and one hand rested on your waist as the other rested on your jaw pulling you deeper into the kiss

-“there ARE CHILDREN HERE OH MY GOD” u heard chan yell distantly

-You couldn’t help but break apart from Minho, laughing as you catch chan covering jeongin’s eyes in distress

-You turned back to Jisung

-“Does that answer your question?”

#stray kids scenarios #stray kids imagine #stray kids au #stray kids #stray kids minho #stray kids lee know #lee know scenarios #lee know imagines #stray kids minho scenarios #stray kids minho imagines #i love lee know a lot #he's so beautiful #im going to his lane atm im so sorry chan #forgive me chan

128 notes · View notes

fantasticworksandwheretofindthem · 6 years

Text

New Rules - “One”

Summary: In which [Name] finds out from her best friend that Tom is famous.

Warnings: angst, swearing (mainly from Tom), drinking heavily, drunk Tom

Notes: I’m currently obsessed with “New Rules” by Dua Lipa, so that’s where the inspiration for this came from. (There will be three parts to this.)

[ two ] | [ three ]

“Hey, I have a surprise for you,” Harrison told Alaysia, leading her into the living room. “But first, you have to pick out a movie.” He gestured to the movie cabinet, and she plopped down in front of it, opening up the left side door.

Alaysia scanned the movies, a little unimpressed with his lack of Disney until her eyes rested upon the new Spider-Man movie. “You have Spider-Man: Homecoming!” she exclaimed, pulling it from the stack.

“Yeah,” Harrison said, a smile creeping onto his face. She looked so cute when she was excited. “You like Marvel?”

“I love Marvel!” It wasn’t until she had began reading the back of the case that Harrison suddenly realized that Tom hadn’t yet told [Name] the full extent of who he was and what he did for a living.

“Wait, babe, I know a great --”

“Your best friend is Spider-Man!” Alaysia looked up at Harrison, all bug-eyed. He tried to deny it, asked what she was talking about, so she read aloud the description: “A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War --” She stopped her reading to squeal. “How have you kept this from me?” She bounced up from her spot, the case still in hand. Suddenly, she gasped. “How has [Name] not told me?”

Harrison cringed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “She doesn’t know,” he admitted quietly. Before he could ask her not to say anything, she was pulling her phone out and dialing [Name]’s number.

You stepped out of the bathroom, your speaker blasting “Something That We’re Not” by Demi Lovato. The song was suddenly replaced by Cher Lloyd’s “Oath”, your best friend’s ringtone. You turned the speaker off and answered the phone, putting it to your ear and setting the speaker next to your lamp on your bedside table.

Before you could even get out a ‘hello’, Alaysia screamed, “Tom plays Peter Parker in the new Spider-Man!”

As if on cue, a knock on your door was heard, followed by the door opening and closing. You knew Tom said some sort of greeting, but you weren’t sure as to which exact word it was because you were too focused on your best friend’s explanation.

“I’ll call you back, ‘Laya,” you said quietly and hung up the phone. You heard Tom call for you and ask where you were.

When he saw you emerge from your room, his smile widened, and his eyes sparkled. He moved to wrap his arms around you in a hug, but you pushed him away. “What’s wrong, Cinderella?”

You felt a pang in your heart as he called you the endearing term. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?” He cocked his head to the side, genuine confusion written across his face. What he didn’t know was that his phone, stowed away in his pocket, was silently displaying two missed calls from Harrison, who was trying to warn him.

“That you’re..” You cleared your throat, having to look away from his adorable, puppy-like face. “That you’re Spider-Man.”

Tom seemed to be at a loss for words. More than once, he would open his mouth, but just as quickly, he would close it once more. Finally, he said, “I didn’t.. I’ve already messed up once, and you finally forgave me for that. I didn’t want to risk ruining us again.”

“But that’s such a big part of your life, Tom!” you exclaimed, turning to face him again. He looked sincerely sorry that he hadn’t told you sooner. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I-I didn’t want you to..” Tom trailed off, letting his words hang unfinished in the air, almost as if he knew better than to say what he originally thought.

“You didn’t want me to what?” There was a minute of silence from both of you and confusion on your part. Suddenly, it was as if every cliche about a celebrity and a normal person dating you’d ever read came swimming to the surface and took center stage. “You didn’t trust me enough to not judge you, did you? Or that I would take advantage of your fame. Is that what you thought?”

Tom said nothing. He made no attempt to defend himself. He shoulders sagged and his head drooped. If guilty were a person, it would be Tom now.

“Unbelievable,” you whispered. Even if Tom didn’t have a clear view of the tears in your eyes, he would definitely be able to hear them in your voice. “I thought you knew me better than that.” You shook your head and turned around, walking back to your room and slamming your door. You walked over to your window, refusing to let yourself shed a single tear until you saw his car pull away.

After he was gone, you curled up on your bed, wondering why you hadn’t realized it sooner. Tom being famous explained so many things: why he’d been so offended about your love for DC rather than Marvel; why his name sounded familiar when he’d called you that night at the bar; the look of recognition on Trysdale’s face when he met Tom at Marvel Movie Night; why he’d said he was used to girls throwing themselves at him; how he’d been able to offer you and Trysdale a trip to Six Flags, then Disneyland, then Disneyland in Paris; and why those girls at the Ed Sheeran concert had asked for his autograph, but he’d brushed it off as them mistaking him for someone else.

Before you knew it, the sun had set and your pillow was soaked with your tears. Your phone buzzed, and you saw that Tom had blown up your phone, apologizing and trying to get you to talk to him. You had a notification from every social media: iMessage, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and even Facebook. You sighed and opened them, only to get rid of the notifications. When you hit the back button on Instagram, it took you back to your profile. You stared at the date with the lock and key and heart emojis. Your heart breaking even more, you hit ‘Edit Profile’ and, with a heavy heart, deleted the date.

Where was the sense in having a date with a heart emoji next to it on your profile when you were single?

Harrison had been scrolling through Instagram when he saw [Name]’s post of a tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and sad, sappy movies spread out of her bed. Under the picture was the caption: Ice cream and sad movies - the perfect breakup remedy.

He furrowed his eyebrows. Since when did she need a breakup remedy? Harrison knew that she hadn’t taken the news of Tom being famous too well because of Alaysia having to rush over to comfort her, but surely that hadn’t resulted in a breakup. Harrison went to her profile, and at first he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but then he realized that Tom’s and her anniversary date was no longer there. He took a screenshot of her profile and sent it to Tom.

Are you and [Name] going through a rough patch or something?

She found out about me being an actor, and she got upset. Can’t really blame her though.

Have you seen her Instagram?

No, I just got back from the gym, why?

Take a look at the screenshot

Okay, what about it?

Look closer, there’s something missing

Oh, shit.. I really messed up, didn’t I?

Looks like it

Shit

One: Don’t pick up the phone, you know he’s only calling ‘cause he’s drunk and alone.

Ever since you and Tom had broken up, he’d been using a lot of his free time away from set to call you to try and apologize. Most times you would pick up and foolishly listen to his apologies until Alaysia would literally take the phone from your hand, say some form of “Goodbye, Tom”, and hang up. She would remind you of the rules she’d told you time and time again, saying that if you ever wanted to get over him, you would have to follow them. He’d only called you in a drunken stupor once, but once was enough for your best friend to hold against him forever.

It had been a night Harrison had taken him to a moderately popular night club. They’d been rehearsing all day for the upcoming scene that they were shooting that Monday, but Tom had been so hung up on you that he was giving a less-than-half-assed performance. Harrison figured the best way to cheer him up, or at least get him out of such a funk, would be to take him to a bar so he’d forget about you for at least a couple hours.

The plan hadn’t gone so swell because Tom seemed to have no self-control that night. It got to the point where Harrison had to drag Tom out of the building so Tom could get some fresh air and Harrison could call an Uber.

“Tom, what are you doing?” Harrison exasperated after he’d gotten off the phone.

“I’m callin’ [Name],” he slurred. “I haf’ta ‘pologize and tell ‘er I miss ‘er.”

“That’s not a good idea, and you know it,” Harrison advised, but Tom didn’t listen, which wasn’t much of an abnormality when it came to [Name] now.

You had been washing the dishes when your phone started ringing. Instead of the Spider-Man theme that had once been set for Tom, your phone played the default tone. You’d taken the customized ring off when Alaysia got better at ‘answering’ the phone than you did. You leaned over to see who was calling, and you weren’t surprised to see the name Heartbreaker flash the screen. Quickly drying your hands, you answered the phone. “Tom, you’ve got to stop calling me.”

“[Name], I miss you.”

With Tom’s slurring and the loud remixed music playing in the background, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together. “Tom, you’re drunk.”

“And you’re gone.” He sounded like he was crying.

Here he was, breaking your heart again. You wanted to tell him that you forgive him, that everything would be okay. Instead, you hung up the phone and resumed washing the dishes as you cried.

The more Tom called, the more you drilled the first rule into your head. Finally, you didn’t need Alaysia to hang up or decline the calls. You blocked his number once and unfollowed him on all social medias once and for all.

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #reader insert #tom holland imagine #angst #spiderman: homecoming #sm: hoco #sm: hc #song fic #dua lipa #new rules

63 notes · View notes

gukyi · 7 years

Text

earnestly yours | pjm

⇒ summary: it doesn’t matter if you and park jimin hate each other’s guts, because you will always get cast opposite each other for the school’s drama productions, and you will always have to kiss.

⇒ {enemies to lovers!au, high school!au, actor!au}

⇒ pairing: jimin x female reader

⇒ word count: 8k

⇒ genre: fluff

⇒ warnings: none!

⇒ a/n: god was this an impulse write. i actually got the inspiration for this because i hang out with all of the drama kids in school. the play that they’re performing is the importance of being earnest by oscar wilde, and the piece used for the reader’s audition is from all’s well that end’s well by willy shakes.

Park Jimin and you have a… rich history, most might say. One that extends far past the most recent years of your life, down to the beginning of your schooling when the two of you were competing for the role of Peter Pan in your kindergarten play. Both of you were adamant about playing the role, but it sort of goes without saying that the part went to him because ugh, the patriarchy.

Ever since then, things have always been a little tense between the two of you.

Everyone in the drama club knows that the two of you are not to be left alone with each other, despite the fact that you are almost always cast in the lead roles in the school plays and musicals, parts that often times have a romantic notion than not. This makes for a fantastically entertaining drama season, because everyone, especially the directors, find it massively hilarious to see the contrast between out-of-character you and him and in-character you and him. It’s the perfect breeding ground for sexual tension.

Park Jimin is the best actor this school has seen in a decade, that much you will admit. The way he so easily falls into character, becomes anybody the play wants him to be is something that isn’t easy to come across in an actor, but he pulls it off alarmingly well. He brings whatever audience is watching him on a movie, magicks them into a trance where it’s difficult to discern where the character ends and the boy begins, and it even has some of the other characters on stage swooning. You almost wouldn’t be able to tell when he’s in character or when he’s not, almost, if not for the fact that out-of-character Jimin is superbly unbearable and generally makes you want to fight him, an easy characteristic to distinguish between the two.

Kindergarten grudges aren’t supposed to last this long, but that Peter Pan discourse sparked a rivalry that somehow bled into elementary, middle, and high school, a constant competition for who can do it better, even if you’ve stopped auditioning for the same roles.

You have a sneaking suspicion that the drama club plays up your rivalry for the money, because it’s been so longstanding that everyone in the whole school knows about it at this point, is willing to shell out their cash to give to the drama productions just to see the two of you act together onstage. The drama productions aren’t some nerdy thing that only parents and reject students attend, they’re a massive aspect of your schooling, and with you and Jimin almost always snagging the leads, they’re even grander. But it doesn’t matter what the drama club does, because they need all the money they can get, and getting cast across Jimin for practically everything isn’t going to change your feelings about him.

Half the drama kids think that the rivalry is just a shallow cover-up for your true feelings about each other, that after every drama rehearsal where you’re swearing to knock his head off actually ends with the two of you making out in the storage closet, and the other half think that if the fucking directors cast you across from each other in one more show you might both end up bloody and bruised by the final curtain. But it’s your last year, the last spring play you will ever do in high school, and there’s no better way to end it than with Jimin across from you, making you want to knock his teeth out with that charming smile of his.

This year’s auditions are much earlier than they should be, for reasons you can’t really discern. The fall musical ended in November with a bang of Fame, a musical that has a fantastic soundtrack but a plot that is, well, marginal at best. Neither you nor Jimin managed to score the two lead characters, but no matter, because there’s always sexual tension in a New York City performing arts high school, so the directors (and the cast) got what they wanted out of the two of you regardless. But now, it’s January, the spring play is in full swing despite the fact that the final shows aren’t scheduled to be until April, and you and Jimin have things to do and people to see.

Everyone already knows that the two of you will get the leads in this year’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest, so no one really has any clue why you’re both auditioning if the roles are practically set in stone at this point, but no one wants to miss out on some good rival moments between you and Jimin at auditions anyway, so they’re all there.

“Have you read this play, Y/N?” Jimin asks as he crashes into you while you’re walking into the auditorium. The force nearly makes you topple over as you turn your head to him sneering. “There’s lots of making out.”

“Stop lying to me, Jimin. There are like, three scenes and only one of them’s with the leads. Besides, this play is a satirical mockery of traditions of love in the Victorian age, so don’t expect too much from me,” you retort, pushing the door open to see the directors, the rest of the drama club, and a couple of parents as well all staring at you.

“There they are! Our favorite actors,” Taehyung calls out immediately, grinning at the sight of the two of you walking in at the same time, both clearly just having come out of a little spat with each other. “Ready to knock the directors’ socks off?”

“I am, but I don’t know if Jimin has really grasped the full meaning of this play yet,” you say, making all of the other students ‘ooooh’ and wince at your words.

“Oh, Y/N, ever the entertainer,” one of the directors says, shaking his head. “Well, we have auditions for the role of John Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff first, so you can sit down until we have your role called, Y/N.”

“I cannot believe you guys would think I’m not auditioning for the role of Algernon Moncrieff,” you exclaim sarcastically, putting a hand over your chest to represent mock offense. “I’m hurt.”

“Catch you on the flip side, Y/N!” Jimin says, grabbing you by the shoulders and planting a firm kiss on your cheek, one that has everyone in the room, including you, gasping in shock.

“Park Jimin!” You shriek loudly, your voice echoing throughout the theater, but he’s already off, following the directors up onto the stage, with a wave, one that has you fuming.

“He really got you there,” Taehyung, Jimin’s best friend and most often his right-hand man in almost every single play thus far (Taehyung doesn’t do musicals, according to him), says as he comes up to you, flinging his backpack into the seat behind you as he settles down in the seat that you were about to take. “You better come up with something good to put him in his place.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be rooting for him?” You ask, an eyebrow quirked as you put your bag into the seat next to him before Taehyung can start manspreading all over the place, taking up five seats so that he and Jimin don’t invade each other’s personal bubbles when they sit near each other.

“Technically yes, but I always love seeing the two of you fight. It brings all of us so much joy.”

“It’s also why none of you voted for either of us to be on the drama club officer board.”

“Y/N, we all love you here in drama club, but if you and Jimin ended up as officers, we’d never get anything done,” Taehyung says, and he’s absolutely correct. The drama club finds your rivalry with him entertaining and exciting, but any time where the two of you have to work with each other off stage is a bad idea straight from the get go. Still, you are a bit offended.

“How dare you think I can’t be civil around him,” you chide.

“Last year for the school play you literally said during rehearsal, while everyone was watching, ‘Park Jimin if you mess up your one line in this entire scene one more time, I will enter your house while you are sleeping and pour Legos all over your bedroom floor for you to step on the following morning’.”

“I can be civil enough,” you say, face heating up at the receipts Taehyung is whipping out.

“Sure,” Taehyung nods, and by the time your conversation comes to a halt, Jimin is on stage, donning a monocle for no reason in particular—literally no reason. Jack Worthing doesn’t wear a monocle. He’s like, twenty-five—ready to say his lines.

“We’re ready whenever you are, Jimin!” The one director shouts from below. Jimin shoots a finger gun his way, takes a deep breath, and begins to recite lines from a play that isn’t this one, because of course Jimin just has to go out of the box like that for his last high school audition ever. Of course.

As per usual, Jimin’s pretty fucking amazing at the audition—he always is, mind you, a little rivalry isn’t going to change that—and he’s got most of the audience with their jaws dropped to the floor in awe, the only one who isn’t charmed by his acting ways you. When the monologue is over, Jimin and you meet eyes like a lover searching for his betrothed in the sea of people below him, and he grins, boxy and insufferable, almost as if to say, “Top that.”

“Thank you, Jimin,” the director calls into the mic, tapping it a couple of times to make sure it’s hooked up to the auditorium sound system. Jimin bows melodramatically, because of course he does, sending a kiss into the audience that has that one cluster of freshmen girls in the corner swooning. Oh, how trivial young love is. “Next up for the role of John we have—”

“Wait! Mr. Kim, Mr. Kim,” you shout, standing up quickly and waving your hand, getting the directors’ attention.

When you turn back to Taehyung, his brows are furrowed and mouth wide open in shock, mouthing to you, what the hell are you doing?

“Y/N,” the director says, turning to you, “is there something we can help you with?”

You look up at the stage, where Jimin stands smirking, like he’s waiting for whatever show you’re putting on, tapping his food with his hands on his hips. Panting, you say to the directors, “I’d like to audition now.”

“Y/N, auditioning for the role of Gwendolen isn’t until later—”

“Please, Seokjin? Can I just do this?” You ask, referring to the one director by his first name, because you guys have been on that type of basis since sophomore year. He’s one of those directors.

Seokjin turns to the other two directors, muttering quietly so the microphones don’t pick up their words. After a solid thirty seconds of debate, they turn back to you, and Seokjin motions for you to take the stage.

“Do you need a script?” Seokjin calls.

“No,” you respond as you push yourself up onto the stage, dusting off your pants as you look Jimin dead in the eye. “I don’t need one.”

“Shall I get out of your way, m’lady?” Jimin asks sarcastically, tipping his head forward to imitate a gentleman. He takes a couple steps back before you stop him, forcing him to stay onstage as you take a deep breath. There’s only one monologue you’ve ever committed to heart, and thank God you haven’t used it as an audition piece before. This isn’t necessarily something you’ve done before.

“Then, I confess,” you begin, staring Jimin down as you let the emotion take over your words, ripping them from you and placing them in the character’s mouth instead. “Here on my knee, before high heaven and you, that before you, and next unto high heaven, I love your son.”

Jimin’s stopped standing like he owns the building, rules the stage like a damn king. His arms have come uncrossed and his expression has grown softer as he takes in the monologue you are beginning, one that you know he recognizes and understands.

You take a tentative step towards him as you continue. “My friends were poor, but honest; so’s my love: be not offended, for it hurts not him that he is lov’d of me: I follow him not by any token of presumptuous suit; nor would I have him till I do deserve him, yet never know how that desert should be.”

With each step you take you find yourself getting closer to him, a position you’ve been in so many times onstage with him, and it makes your breath hitch in your throat as you continue. Jimin’s starstruck, silent with his eyes blown wide as he watches you carefully, judging your every move like he’s afraid of them.

“I know I love in vain, strive against hope; yet, in this captious and intenible sieve I still pour in the waters of my love, and lack not to lose still,” you cry, voice loud as it echoes throughout the theatre. Just then, the lights shut off and a spotlight illuminates the small area of the stage that you and Jimin occupy. One of the tech kids sitting in for the audition must have done that, but instead of distracting you, it pulls you in further. With nothing but a fluorescent yellow shining on you, it feels like you and Jimin are the only ones on stage, the only ones in the whole theatre as you watch him, stare into his eyes helplessly as you finish the monologue.

Somewhere along the way, Jimin takes your hands in his, or maybe you take his hands in yours, but by the final lines, you two are gazing right at each other, and for once, you can’t read the expression on his face like you’ve easily done for all these years. “Give pity to her, whose state is such that she cannot choose, but lend and give where she is sure to lose; that seeks not to find her search implies, but, riddle-like, live sweetly where she dies.”

The lights switch back on, and for the first time since kindergarten, Jimin is speechless, his brown eyes fuzzy with thought as you let his hands go, turning back to the audience and bowing. Taehyung is the first one to start clapping, followed by Seokjin and the rest of the directors soon after, and suddenly you’ve got a standing ovation in front of you for nothing but an audition piece, but somehow, it feels like it’s a bit more than that.

“Thank you, Y/N,” Seokjin says after the applause dies down. “That was astounding.”

“Just doing my best, I guess,” you say, shrugging awkwardly as you turn to look at Jimin. He immediately avoids your gaze right when you do, and quickly shuffles back stage, disappearing behind the curtains.

You hop off the stage and take your seat next to Taehyung, whose jaw seems to be perpetually dropped.

“Shut your mouth, you’ll attract flies,” you chide him, shaking your head as you grab onto his chin, pushing his lips together.

Taehyung looks to be just as speechless as Jimin.

“What, no compliment?”

“That was the most incredible thing I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life,” Taehyung says stupidly, still entranced.

“I’m touched.”

“Y/N, do you know what you just did?” Taehyung asks, snapping out of his whirring mind and turning to you, a significantly more serious look on his face.

“I just totally fucking crushed Jimin with my epic monologue,” you say proudly, sitting up taller at the notion that you definitely topped Jimin’s dramatic reading of whatever monocle-requiring monologue he had set up.

Taehyung looks hesitant at your answer, constantly glancing back at the stage curtains, the same ones Jimin vanished behind after your audition. “I think you might have done a bit more than that.”

Surprisingly enough, the directors though it would be a better fit if Jimin was the lead’s best friend and you were said lead’s best friend’s love interest, but when you look at the cast list posted outside Seokjin’s door, you think he might have had some ulterior motives. From your recollection, Algernon and Cecily kiss a total of three or four times. The leads? Once.

Rehearsals start almost instantly, as they always do, but especially because Seokjin would rather focus on getting the nuances of the play correct instead of the lines and the stage directions, which he generally knows the cast are familiar with at this point. According to his husband, some super prestigious university English teacher named Namjoon, the play requires something of a knowledge of the purpose of it being written in order to capture the true essence.

To make a long story much, much shorter, the rehearsal time is longer because this play is satirically deep, and that means you have to stare at Jimin’s face and pretend to be madly in love with him for about half a month longer than you typically would.

So, great.

The dynamic between you and Jimin has been a lot… weirder ever since the audition, when you took his hands and recited some sappy Shakespearean love confession in front of the entire drama club. Not to say that he’s any less annoying than he used to be, because he isn’t, but he’s been spending more time around you in character than not, and he’s been significantly less touchy with you. They’re subtle things that no one else would pick up about a change in his behavior, but when you’ve spent countless hours with him, rehearsing lines and performing and stage-kissing, it’s difficult for you not to notice.

Meanwhile, Taehyung’s totally just swooping that sophomore Joy right off of her feet before your eyes, charming and handsome and flirtatious and everything else that makes him the perfect person to be Jimin’s best friend, because he is exactly like him.

“You’re a real ladies’ man, aren’t you, Tae?” You ask after Seokjin calls cut on one of the scenes, leaving Joy to scurry off to her friends to squeal about how Taehyung did this, or that, or just something.

“I got it from him,” Taehyung responds, pointing to Jimin. When you turn around to look at him, he’s staring up at the stage lights above you, reciting the lines he can from memory and tapping his foot at the same time, keeping a beat. This is why he’s the best actor the school’s seen in decades.

“Jimin?” You call out, snapping the boy out of his trance as he looks at you, eyes wide for a quick second before they immediately morph into something noticeably more cheeky.

“Is there something my lady desires?” He asks dramatically.

“If you speak to me in Victorian era colloquial one more time—”

“Pardon me, Miss, but I believe you were the one who addressed me,” Jimin says, shutting his script and taking some firm steps towards you as you hear Taehyung chuckling behind you, bowing out of the conversation to go win over Joy some more. “So, how may I be of service?”

“I just wanted to ask you if you found anything interesting on those stage lights up there, since you seem to be spending an awful lot of time staring at them,” you scoff, crossing your arms and ignoring his remarks.

“Oh, my dear, dear Y/N,” he murmurs in your ear, and this would seem suggestive in literally any other context if the entire drama club didn’t already know how much you both hated each other, “you’re the only one I’ve got my eyes on.”

Your pupils dilate at the sound of his words, and it’s not long before you’re shoving him away from you, covering up the thumping of your annoyingly vociferous heart and how your hands are getting all clammy by scoffing, over and over like you’re in a permanent state of disbelief.

“Alright, break time’s over everyone!” Seokjin shouts, clapping his hands loudly to attract everyone’s attention. “We’re going to Act II for the next hour, I need all of the main cast on stage now!”

And with that, Jimin renders you speechless, standing there like an idiot as he saunters his way over to the center of the stage, a place that you hate to admit is a place that Jimin looks like he belongs in.

“This is absolutely no fair,” you’re shouting from on top of the stage, where Seokjin is standing in the pit, shrugging helplessly. “The first scene of this entire play is the two of them eating sandwiches and tea cakes,” you whine, pointing an accusing finger at the food offenders, Jimin and Taehyung as they’re crouched over the prop table decorated with very real edible goodies.

“Sorry, love,” Jimin says, mouth grossly full of multigrain bread and cucumbers. “I’d offer you some, but, you see, I don’t really want to.”

You immediately throw your fists up in his direction, and all Jimin does is wink in response. You can hear Seokjin chuckling from the pit, laughing to himself about the dynamic he’s grown so fond of over these years.

“I feel like you guys cast Jimin as Algernon solely because of the food. I swear to God, in every scene he’s in, he’s eating something,” you sigh, exasperated as you snatch up a cucumber sandwich before Jimin can swipe it away from you.

“Y/N, Y/N, Y/N,” Taehyung says in such Taehyung fashion, wrapping an arm around your shoulder as he makes a grand gesture with his free hand, one that’s holding a half-eaten tea cake, the sugar getting all over his fingertips, “I think we all know why you and Jimin were cast in the roles you were.”

“If you think me and Jimin enjoy kissing each other on stage in front of like, five-hundred people, then you’re wrong,” you hiss, pulling Taehyung’s arm from you. Today just looks like one of those days where he and Jimin have banded together to make your life (or at least, this specific day) hell on this godforsaken Earth. Damn.

“Y/N’s right, Tae,” Jimin says, rescuing you from Taehyung’s grasp as he pulls you into his own, pressing you against his body, “we prefer kissing each other in private.”

The words make you gasp loudly, attracting the attention of the rest of the cast and the directors as they turn your way. You immediately wrestle yourself from Jimin’s hold, glaring him down with your eyes narrowed in disgust, a vow that you will get back at him for totally just saying that in front of Taehyung, who is notorious for not keeping his damn mouth shut. Now the whole school’s going to think you and Jimin make out in secret locations around the building. Great.

You stomp off, tired of this nonsense, and hear Jimin and Taehyung cackling from behind you, a slap of skin telling you that they’re high-fiving.

But even as you leave the stage to compose yourself so you don’t burst when Seokjin calls ‘Action!’, that sneaking little feeling in the back of your brain can’t help but wonder what it might be like to kiss Jimin when no one’s watching, when it’s just the two of you together like it was during your audition. With a furious shake of your head, you push the thought from your mind, because how could you ever think of kissing the one boy you’re supposed to hate?

Despite what you insist with all of your heart about not ever wanting to be given the curse of having to see Jimin’s face in front of you, you end up spending a damn long amount of time with him, Taehyung, and Joy, because drama club kids stick together, you guess?

You’ve never actually hung out with Jimin outside of drama, because every time you see him you send him an obligatory rude glare that he easily reciprocates, and that was the extent of your contact outside of your drama responsibilities. But now, Jimin’s acting strange, and by strange, you mean bizarrely approachable for someone who hates you with just as much of a fiery passion as you him. So, without even realizing it, you’re walking with him down the hallways to your respective classes and eating lunch in Seokjin’s room because he has a free period that time of the day, and things are going alarmingly well for two people that share such a fierce rivalry like you.

Jimin’s actually not that bad. He’s not. Not that you had anything to base his actual personality on besides the fact that he’s just a total sleaze around you, dangling that Peter Pan casting over your head like a trophy, but being with him like this is different. He still taunts you and you still threaten to sock him in the jaw the day after the final show—you can’t risk sacrificing the production for a little bit of some good vengeance, no matter how much you want to—but things have changed. They’ve changed ever since the audition, if you think about it.

And you can’t really pinpoint why.

You can’t believe you’re actually coming to this conclusion, but you think you and Jimin might be becoming friends, in that twisted, competitive, insulting way of yours.

“Wait,” you say during lunch one time, with only about two weeks out until your first show. “Repeat your line again.”

Seokjin keeps drilling the four leads on their chemistry, because while you and Jimin have got it all, it’s still not enough. The audience needs more, Seokjin tells you every single time you rehearse the scene you have with him, the one in which his character confesses his attraction for yours. The audience knows you have chemistry, of course they do, you always do, but you need something more than just chemistry. You need pure, unadulterated emotion.

“He’s going to send me away,” Jimin says, fully absorbed in the character of Algernon Moncrieff, but Seokjin’s right. There’s something missing.

“Then have we got to part?” You respond airily and disappointed.

Jimin nods, sighing softly. “I am afraid so. It’s a very painful parting.”

“It is always painful to part from people whom one has known for a very brief space of time. The absence of old friends one can endure with equanimity. But even a momentary separation from anyone whom one has just been introduced to is almost unbearable.”

You’re so busy sticking your nose in your script, making sure you have the line exactly right despite the fact that you’ve said it probably a thousand times at this point, that you don’t notice Jimin’s placed his script down entirely. When you finish your line, you look up to find Jimin staring at you, that same expression on his face as the one from the audition. Even after all of these weeks, that look of his hasn’t left your mind. He’s gazing at you with something in his eyes, a hazy, fuzzy blur that you can’t quite distinguish.

“Jimin?” You ask, leaning towards him with concern lacing your features. This expression of his has been getting more frequent recently, but you aren’t any closer to deciphering it now than you were in January.

“What?” He asks, snapping out of his trance. “Oh, yeah, sorry. Thank you.”

“Are you okay, Jimin?” You ask, a hand coming to rest on his upper arm, making his eyes dart up at you in surprise. “You seem kinda… not yourself.”

“Me? I’m fine,” he quickly responds. “I’m peachy. Stop trying to psychoanalyze me all the time.”

The comment at the end sounds like it was added just to make him seem as taunting and unbearable as he typically is, but it doesn’t sound biting or annoying in the slightest. All it sounds is stiff.

“Alright then…” you say, trailing off and avoiding eye contact. “Your next line, then?”

“I hope, Cecily, I shall not offend you if I state quite frankly and openly that you seem to me to be in every way the visible personification of absolute perfection,” Jimin says, looking you dead in the eyes as he does so, but all of his features are soft, lacking the resilience and fire that normally resides within them.

“Jimin…” you repeat his name again, like a mantra that flows off of your tongue as though it’s a waterfall, and for the first time ever, neither of you have anything to say to each other. Jimin gets up, grabbing his lunch with one hand and his bag with the other, and exits Seokjin’s room, leaving you in a stunned silence as you can barely process what just happened.

Tech Week is the worst week of your life every year. It’s become so infamous among the drama kids that none of you even call it Tech Week anymore. Now, it’s just Wreck Week, because it’s exactly what it sounds like. Wreck week means six hours at school after classes end, rehearsing and re-rehearsing and checking the mics and double-checking the mics and triple checking the mics just in case, fucking around with the sound system because it never works the way it should, and it’s stressful.

That’s one sentiment you know you and Jimin share, and you can tell from the way that by the second day of Wreck Week, Jimin’s walking into school with under-eye bags down to his knees and the insufferable smirk is missing, a surefire sign.

It’s not like you’re really doing any better, because you were up into the ungodly hours of the night finishing up school work along with double-checking the lines you were unsure you had 100% correct, and right now you just want to collapse. But you power through the school day, dreading the sound of the final bell that means not your freedom, but six to seven more hours of hell, trapped in the auditorium.

When you walk in, Jimin’s lying flat on the stage, arms and legs splayed out like a star as Taehyung tries to toss bits of cucumber into his open mouth from a couple steps away. Is this what Wreck Week has reduced the drama club to?

You drop your backpack somewhere on the theatre floor and hop onto the stage as Seokjin tries to wrangle everyone together, making to stand over Jimin with your hands on your hips, feet next to each of his shins.

“The hell are you doing, Park?”

“Dying a slow and painful death.”

“Hey!” Taehyung shouts from across the way. “What have you got against cucumbers?”

“Everything,” Jimin remarks, making you choke back a snort.

“Get up, Jimin. You look ridiculous,” you say, leaning down to smack his face lightly.

Jimin whines, groaning as he squirms in place, like a petulant child not wanting to get out of bed for school. “Can’t we just rehearse the whole thing with me lying down?”

“You’re so selfish,” you chide. “Nowhere in the script does it say Algernon dies.”

“I wish it did,” Taehyung comments from afar, eliciting a bit of a laugh from you as Jimin slides his legs out from under you, whirling around on his ass before he stands up, purposefully knocking into you as he does.

“Alright, Tech Week day two, I want a full rehearsal of Act II, and then I’m gonna nitpick,” Seokjin says somewhat maniacally, wriggling his eyebrows as he clasps his hands together.

Later, when you’ve all got your mics attached with the help of the lovely makeup team, you’re standing on the stage as Seokjin directs all of you to where he wants you to be for this particular act.

The only thing missing from the rehearsal are your costumes, heavy things they are, and Seokjin is merciful enough to not make you change into them until the dress rehearsal tomorrow, when you will be at school, trapped in the vicinity of the auditorium for much later than usual, thank God. But everything else is there, the props, the mics, the lights, and it, surprisingly, seems to be running quite smoothly. Even Seokjin’s impressed that nothing’s gone horribly wrong yet.

“What a perfect angel you are, Cecily,” Jimin says, fully absorbed in his character as he kneels down in front of you, taking your hand in his, looking up at you with those big brown eyes of his that make your heart skip a beat even though they shouldn’t.

“You—”

Mic drop. Literally. The sound has just completely cut out from your mic, your voice not travelling much further than just past Jimin’s ears.

“You—” You repeat, just making sure that you’re not going crazy and that the mic actually isn’t working. You reach a finger up and tap the mic, and the once familiar sound of a thud echoing through the room is no more. “God fucking damnit,” you mutter to yourself, thankful that the mic isn’t able to pick up your swears.

“Cut!” Seokjin shrieks from below, and all of the lights switch back on as everyone resumes their normal personas, postures sinking collectively. “Y/N, what’s going on up there?”

“My mic cut out,” you say, tapping it again as further proof. “Damn, everything was going so well, too.”

“Alright, um,” Seokjin says, scratching the nape of his neck, the action he does every time something goes mildly wrong during drama. “Go up to the soundbooth and talk with the kid in there, see if he can fix it.”

“Okay,” you say, hopping off of the stage and making a speedy walk up to the top of the auditorium. As you do so, you catch Taehyung cruising his way over to Jimin, placing a hand on his upper arm as Jimin sulks about something unimportant.

Inside the soundbooth is a kid named Jungkook, some sophomore who’s a genius with tech when he’s not fiddling with it himself. The drama club plucked him right from the hallways after hearing from a friend of a friend of a friend that he was pretty decent with sound stuff, and here he is.

“Knock knock,” you say, not even tapping your fist on the wood as you peek your head through the doorway. “Hey.”

“Oh, hey Y/N,” Jungkook says, wide-eyed as he sees you in front of him, scrambling to stuff his phone in his pocket. From what you can catch a glimpse of on his screen, it looks like he’s watching old reruns of Pokemon.

“Um, my mic cut out halfway through the scene,” you say awkwardly, rocking back and forth on your feet. “Can you fix it?”

“What? Wait, your mic?” He asks, an eyebrow raised as he points to the contraption taped to your cheek. He swivels around in the office chair he’s sitting in to face the sound board, adjusting a couple of things and pressing a couple of buttons here and there, eyebrows knitted as the focus sets in.

“Were you watching Pokemon?” You ask curiously, trying to spark up a conversation with the kid. He seems nice.

Even in the dim light of the soundbooth, you can see Jungkook blushing a furious red as you mention it.

“Do you like it?” He asks, avoiding your gaze. His movements, nimble fingers dancing along the buttons and pegs and switches like second nature, have slowed down immensely.

“I know it well,” you admit. “It was hard not for me to notice.”

“Yeah, I just, got, uh… a bit bored up here,” Jungkook sheepishly tells you, a hand going to ruffle his hair to keep it occupied. “You guys looked like you were fine without me.”

“That’s one of the smoothest rehearsals we’ve had all year,” you inform him. “You know, up until my mic cutting out.”

“Do you watch Pokemon a lot?” Jungkook asks.

“I did, but I’m so busy these days.”

“Me too,” Jungkook says, nodding. “Chemistry is kicking my ass. How am I supposed to know what the hell Tungsten is called if it’s labelled as ‘W’ on the Periodic Table?”

You giggle at his rhetorical question, making you reminisce on the good ol’ days of chem class, the struggles of walking out of lab with red lines all over your face from the goggles. “I guess you’re right, you know.”

“It’s infuriating.”

“You know, if you ever needed help with chem stuff, I could tutor you sometime during study hall,” you suggest innocently, figuring that it would be nice of you to help out a fellow struggler.

Jungkook lights up, pressing a couple more buttons on the soundboard. “Really? I’d appreciate that. Also, your mic should be up, test it?”

“Testing, testing, avocado toast,” you say into the microphone, sighing in relief at the sound of your voice reverberating around the theatre. Jungkook laughs at what you’re saying, and you send him a smile as you bid him goodbye.

When you reach the stage, Jimin looks thoroughly unimpressed with whatever you just did.

“What?” You ask defensively, hands on your hips as Seokjin reels everyone back, ordering them into place.

“Get comfortable up there with that little sophomore?” Jimin asks, pushing his mic away from his face so it can’t pick up his words, scowl ever-present on his face.

“Leave him alone, Jimin,” you say, mimicking his actions and rolling your eyes. “Why the hell do you care about him?”

Jimin scoffs. “He’s a kid.”

“We’re all kids, Jimin,” you remind him. “Seokjin and the other directors are the only one’s who aren’t.”

“But he isn’t right for you,” Jimin mutters to himself, almost soft enough for even you not to catch it, but your ears manage to hear it anyway.

“Okay, everyone, we’re picking up right where we left off!” Seokjin shouts, clapping his hands to attract attention. “Y/N, is your mic okay?”

“We are healthy and happy.”

“Okay, action!”

“What a perfect angel you are, Cecily,” Jimin says again, down on his knees in front of you with your hand in his, except this time the emotion is evidently missing from his tone.

“You dear romantic boy,” you respond, and Jimin comes up to meet your gaze, staring into you as he wraps a hand around the back of your neck, bringing you in for one kiss out of thousands. His lips are warm, warm as they always are, but the kiss is hardly anything delicate. Jimin’s kissing you with something of a ferocity on his tongue, pushing you together harshly, barely giving you time to put your hands in his soft locks like the stage directions tell you. You part quickly, it feeling like not even a second has passed since you joined lips, continuing on with your line as you try to mask the expression of confusion on your face. “I hope your hair curls naturally, does it?”

“Yes, darling, with a little help from others,” Jimin responds, and it feels like with every word he utters he loses more and more of the touch that makes him such a brilliant actor, so convincing and sincere. But it looks like you’re the only one who’s noticed it, because Seokjin hasn’t called either of you out for anything just yet.

“I am so glad.”

It’s the night of the final show, and Jimin hasn’t spoken to you outside of a snarky remark or a stiff comment during drama setup since Wreck Week, and you don’t know why. He’s been super talkative with Taehyung and even Joy, though, so what gives?

“Last show, hey?” Joy asks as she walks into the dressing room in full costume.

“Time flies by so quickly,” you respond as the girl doing your makeup, Rose, chides you for moving your head as she finishes up your eyeshadow. “I feel old as hell.”

“You sure look like it with that cake face on you,” Joy jokes, fixing her hair in the mirror as she adjusts the hat atop her head.

“Oh, shush,” you say with Rose finishing the other eye, handing you the liquid matte lipstick you’ve been ordered to wear despite the fact that your lips are dry as hell all the time, just so Jimin’s face doesn’t look like Smudge Central by the end of the play. “It’s so weird to think about.”

“I know,” Joy says. “No more kissing Jimin after this.”

Strangely enough, the thought never crossed your mind all throughout the last shows you will ever perform for this school, with these people. You never once found yourself looking forward to the fact that you would never have to lock lips with Jimin after this. In fact, it sort of feels like you’re dreading it. Like the feeling of kissing him has become second nature to you at this point.

“How is Jimin, by the way?” You ask. “We haven’t really spoken much recently.”

“Same old, same old,” Joy says. “He does get a lot quieter whenever Taehyung or I bring you up, though. Not sure why, since he almost always has something to say about you.”

“Huh.”

“Huh, indeed.”

When your makeup is finished and your costume is on, the heavy dress weighing your body down despite your best efforts to keep it up, you peek through the closed stage curtain, only to be greeted with a full house. Not a single seat in the auditorium is empty, not for a show like this. It’s not the play the crowd wants to see, it’s you and Jimin, your final show of your high school careers right in front of your eyes. Never again will there be a stage with the two of you on it, emotions high and chemistry alive.

“The theatre’s packed!” You whisper excitedly, turning to Taehyung as he beams. “I can’t believe it. I’ve never seen so many people in the auditorium before!”

“D’ya hear that, Jimin?” Taehyung asks as Jimin emerges from the back curtain, dressed primly in a full suit, the same kind of thing men in the Victorian Era wore every day. “Everyone’s come to watch you on your last night!”

“Neato,” Jimin responds mindlessly.

Taehyung smacks Jimin’s chest with the back of his hand. “Gonna make it your best night ever?”

Finally, finally, finally, Jimin—not his character, not the fictional person he’s roleplaying as—looks dead at you. “I will,” he says firmly.

There’s an inkling of a feeling in the back of your mind that Jimin might not be talking only about his performance.

“Okay guys, bring it in!” Seokjin whisper-shouts as he clambers onto the stage, clipboard in hand as the cast huddles around him. “This is the last show of the year, and for the seniors, it’s the last show you will ever be performing under my direction, with such talented people like this, as high school students.” Taehyung’s excited, jumping on the tips of his feet from anticipation. Joy’s grinning wildly, softly clapping her hands together. And you make eye contact with Jimin as Seokjin says, “Make every second count.”

Soon enough, you’re shuffling off the stage with only Jimin and Taehyung left, posing perfectly, waiting for the curtains to be drawn. You wait backstage with enthusiasm next to Joy, and Jimin turns his head to you ever so slightly, cracking a smile.

“Okay, action!”

The show goes on practically perfectly. Taehyung forgets one of his lines in one of his many scenes with Joy as he enchants both her and her character, and it’s a damn shame that he’s graduating this year, because you know Joy would have really liked being with him, but he recovers remarkably well, like you knew he would. Jimin charms the audience, like he fucking always does, with his wit and his humor, how he commands the stage with his presence, leaving the crowd (and you) in awe.

Soon, your scenes creep up on you, and you are flung into the spotlight for your final show as a senior, final show as a high school student. The audience is equally as excited to see you on stage as they were with Jimin, everyone perking up at the sight of you. Throughout the entire scene you have with another character, you keep stealing glances at Jimin as he waits for his cue to come on stage for the next part, letting the rivalry finally just die down between the two of you.

Before you can hardly realize it, the kissing scene is upon you, and you find yourself scarily looking forward to it. Some big celebration to commemorate the final kiss you will ever have with Jimin.

Jimin gets down on his knees, looking up at you with those same big brown eyes, only they’ve got wonder hidden within the flecks of copper and gold, amazement scrawled all over his features as you gaze at each other. “What a perfect angel you are, Cecily,” he says, much softer than he’s been saying it all of these months, like he means it this time.

“You dear romantic boy,” you respond, and Jimin comes up to meet you without a second thought, bringing your lips together like you’ve done so many times.

You realize it after a couple of seconds. There’s something different about this kiss, something different about the way Jimin’s lips move against yours, the way his hand comes to rest on your lower jaw, holding your cheek in his palm. The sensation leaves you pressing for more, drunk and desperate for another taste, hand snaking up to tug gently on the strands of his hair, earning something akin to a moan from his lips, spilling into your mouth. This kiss is undeniably different.

It occurs to you that this might be the emotion Seokjin was always looking for. Or perhaps, it’s always been there, but neither of you were aware of it.

You part, panting significantly more than you should, foreheads pressed against each other’s. You’re sweating, and if anybody asks, you’ll blame it on the stage lights.

“I hope your hair curls naturally, does it?” You continue with the line, albeit a bit breathless, and it looks to you that the entire audience is starstruck, speechless in their seats.

Jimin’s beaming, like a child at a candy shop, eyes crinkling up to match the smile of his lips. “Yes, darling, with a little help from others.”

You take his hand, even though that’s not a part of the script, and it looks to you that everywhere where his skin touches yours your nerves catch on fire, igniting from the heat. “I am so glad.”

For the final play you will ever perform in this theatre, in front of this audience, with these castmates, with that director, the Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde earns you and Jimin a standing ovation. As the audience cheers, whistles, applauds, as Taehyung hoots from where he’s standing behind you, Jimin takes your hand in his, and kisses it ever so gently, before catching you off guard and pulling you in close, pressing his soft lips to your cheek.

“I’m never eating another cucumber for the rest of my life,” Jimin says once the audience has long filtered out of the theatre, as you’re wiping off your makeup and unpinning your hair in the dressing room together. “I can’t even think about them without wanting to throw up.”

“Me too, and I didn’t even eat those damn sandwiches.”

“They were so good,” Jimin says, exasperated, “but I think my stomach is now perpetually full.”

“How do you think you did for today’s show, Jimin?” You ask hesitantly, turning to face him in your drab regular clothes, having already changed before he marched through the dressing room door and sat down in one of the seats.

“How do you think I did?” He quips back, turning to you with a smirk on his face.

“Eh. A solid seven out of ten.”

“Only a seven?” Jimin asks, mock offended. “All that kissing and confessing only earns me a seven?”

“You win some, you lose some.”

“You play a mean game, Miss Y/N.”

“Did you mean what you did?” You ask, walking over to him.

“I mean and do not mean lots of things.”

“Did you mean that kiss?”

Jimin smiles, a smug little thing that dances along his lips as he fiddles with his fingers, twiddling his thumbs in front of him as he takes a step towards you, eliminating the distance between your body and his. “Did you want me to mean it?”

“I think I might have,” you admit sheepishly, looking to the side as you shrug.

Jimin’s hand comes up to your cheek, brushing away any loose strands of hair that must have fallen out as you were removing all of the little pins and bobs and knick knacks holding your hair in the position it was. “Then I did. I’ve loved you for a long time, Y/N. I can’t believe I finally got the message across.”

“When did you start loving me, hmm?” You hum softly.

“When you marched up on stage in kindergarten and demanded the role of Peter Pan,” Jimin tells you. “When did you start loving me?”

“When you so unfairly marched up on stage after the teacher decided you would get the role of Peter Pan,” you respond.

“Listen here, I deserved that role—”

You shut him up with your lips, bounding forwards and pressing them onto his like an innocent schoolkid kiss, making him squeak out a noise of surprise as the two of you melt into each other. Here, makeup-less, tired, with messy hair and ugly clothes, you love each other.

“I love you,” Jimin whispers against your skin, and it feels like home, feels like words that were meant to be.

You grin. “I am so glad.”

⇒ hmu with feedback or just talk 2 me here!!

#sfwbangtan #bangtan bookclub #bangtanwriters-net #bts writing squad #jimin fluff #bts fluff #jimin oneshot #jimin imagine #bts imagine #jimin au #bts au #bts enemies to lovers #bts high school au #bts actor au #w: earnestly yours #I CANT BELIEVE I GOT ALL OF THIS INSPIRATION FROM THE DRAMA KIDS

4K notes · View notes