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agustdef · 4 years

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Knuckleheads - Part 1

Pairing: Yoongi x OC [From Here & Now]

Genre: Idol!AU; Some fluff; Angst

Word Count: 12.6k

Warning: Angst. Some Language. Medical emergency. Unhealthy habits. (Not eating. Not sleeping. Just not taking care of one self in favor of working too much.)

Rating: PG15

Banner Marker: @shadowsremedy

Lovely Beta Reader: @shadowsremedy

Author’s Note: So, this is part of a two-shot for the Bangtan Scenery ‘April Showers Bring May Flowers’ collab. So this month you get the angst and next month comes the fluff. I promise I won’t just leave people hanging with this ending.

P.S. The creator of this lovely banner is also my posting twin and is giving us some angst with a Jungkook x Reader story here.

Summary: When you refuse to take care of yourself, you’re accepting that the consequences may vary. Or Kendall and Yoongi can’t seem to find a balance within their work and it’s doing more damage than they think.

Kendall's fingers flew across the keyboard, her eyes focused solely on the open document in front of her. She was almost at the end and could feel it or at least that's what she tricked herself into believing. In truth she still had a few more chapters to write, but the end of chapter goal was what kept her going.

Lying to herself was the way to get stuff done.

And after twenty minutes of typing away, the chapter was finished. Kendall then took a short break to drink some water and flex her fingers, but it wasn't long before she was on the next chapter. There were deadlines she needed to meet and getting ahead was her only goal for the day.

Even if that meant she was glued to her chair for twenty-four hours.

Time passed quickly as she wrote, especially since she'd gotten lost into the world she was weaving. Before she knew it, it was midnight and she was writing the final words of her last chapter of the day. She'd breezed through writing two of them and pushed for three more, even though her eyes were begging for a break.

Just as she typed the last word, she heard an aggressive vibration coming from the drawer in her desk. Confused, she opened it up to see her phone squirming around, which made no sense since she'd told everyone to leave her be for the day.

Kendall pulled the phone out of the drawer and flipped it over just as the vibrations stopped. And when she saw the screen her eyes nearly fell out of her head.

There were twelve missed calls from Yoongi.

She'd completely forgotten that they were supposed to have a facetime that night.

He was going to be pissed.

Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the phone and called him back. As she waited and was forced to see the reflection of herself, she realized she'd forgotten to do all her skincare that morning. Her face was beyond dry, but she didn't have time to remedy that because Yoongi was answering her call.

The expression on his face was blank, but she could see the annoyance in his eyes and the way his jaw was rigid.

"Hi Yoon," she said.

Being calm was her best option, because if she tried to play innocent or too sweet, he'd be even more annoyed with her than he was. And she honestly felt bad so that was the last thing she wanted.

A minute went by and he just stared at her, his eyes almost never blinking. It made the silent treatment even more uncomfortable.

Kendall sighed. "I'm sorry, Yoongi. I really am. I've been writing nonstop all day and time just got away from me. I seriously didn't mean to forget. I even set an alarm on my desktop, but it didn't notify me."

Though her words seemed to soften his expression it only lasted for a moment, because then he was leaning closer to his phone with an obvious frown.

"Nonstop? You've been writing nonstop all day?"

Kendall cursed herself for that slip up. Of course, that would make him even more annoyed with her.

Not knowing what else to say she nodded.

Yoongi ran a hand over his face and took a deep breath before his full attention turned back to her. For a moment he still looked miffed, but soon enough his entire expression shifted to one of worry.

"Why?" he asked.

Knowing she'd already ended up on his bad side she took a moment to gather her thoughts. Articulating her reasons clearly would lead to less confusion and annoyance for him if she accidentally said something in a way she didn't mean it.

"You know I'm on deadline for this rewrite and I wanted to knock out as much as possible. And I know, I know it's a bit further away and I have time, but I have all these other things to do that I wanted to get a head start. Give myself time to breathe later on since I know I'm going to have to start that outline for the one duology that Ara and I have been talking about. Plus, I don't want to spend all my time while I'm in Korea writing. So, I didn't think that a goal of ten chapters today would hurt anything," she rambled.

"Ten?" he shouted.

Again, Kendall nodded.

There was a series of sighs that he let out before he spoke again.

"Were you wearing your wrist braces?"

"Yes."

"Did you take Tylenol before you started and then again a few hours later?"

"Yes."

"Did you move around some?"

"Kind of."

Another sigh.

"Did you eat?"

Kendall knew she was screwed, but she wasn't going to lie to him.

"I had a pop tart throughout the day, but nothing else," she said.

If his glare could kill, Kendall would've died the moment he looked at her. And she understood why. It hadn't been her intention not to eat. Not eating was never her intention, but when she was focused on something else and didn't feel any biological urges, she'd forget. Even if she did get hungry it wasn't long before it slipped her mind.

After another stare down he broke again, though that time the anger didn't leave his face; it merely softened a bit.

"My day was a late start so I'm having a late lunch. It's on the way. Order something and we'll eat together. And it better be something filling. I don't care about how late it is; you need to eat."

"I can do that," Kendall said.

Not wanting him to glare at her anymore she sprang into action. Propping the phone against the monitor she went to her browser and looked at the places she had bookmarked. She wasn't craving anything specific, so she went with a Chinese restaurant not too far from her. Quickly her order of chicken with broccoli and vegetable fried rice was placed. She even flipped her camera and raised the phone so he could see her do it.

"It says fifteen minutes," she said once it sent.

He grunted. "Mine should be here around that time too."

Even though he was more at ease because she got her life together he didn't look at her. He'd sat the phone against something, and his eyes were focused on the screen in front of him. Though she wanted a little more interaction with him she couldn't help but enjoy watching him focused on work.

After a few minutes she broke the silence.

"Did you get the samples I sent you?"

Yoongi nodded and said nothing, but then directed his gaze to the camera.

"But you didn't put that one cello piece in there. That and the synth drum track," he said.

Kendall's brows furrowed and she sat the phone back down to focus on her own screen. After going into her email, she saw that it was indeed missing something and huffed.

"I'll send the synth drum and this other thing I meant to give you, but you have to wait on the cello piece. I wanted to redo it. Something sounded off," she muttered.

Despite not looking at her phone she knew he was rolling his eyes at her.

"It sounded great. You're just being a perfectionist," he said.

Kendall scoffed. "Says the man who played me Clair de Lune so flawlessly that I cried and then had the nerve to say it didn't flow well enough."

Yoongi smacked his lips, but Kendall could see a small smile form. No matter how much he pushed it back down it flared up again.

After pressing send Kendall watched him closely and said nothing. Not even when he confirmed he got the tracks did she speak a word. She just watched him with a weird smile on her face.

When Yoongi looked her way, he was taken aback by how focused on him she was, but he didn't mind it one bit.

"What?" he asked.

Without thinking she said, "I love you."

Yoongi rolled his eyes but smiled wide at her words. "I love you too, idiot. You just need to do better at taking care of yourself. This shit isn't healthy."

Kendall nodded and continued to stare at him with love in her eyes. Yoongi stared back with the same intense feeling.

They remained like that until her food arrived, then they spent the rest of the night eating and watching Sailor Moon Crystal together until Kendall fell asleep.

Kendall tried not to be annoyed, she really did, but it just wasn't feasible. And it was beyond clear to Kihyun as he drove her from the airport to Yoongi's apartment.

"I'm sorry. I called him and Namjoon, but got no answer from either of them," he said.

That made Kendall sigh. Not because she was pissy, which she was, but because he'd apologized a million times since picking her up. He apologized more than Jungkook that time he thought he'd deleted the track she was working on. In neither instance was it their fault, but both men seemed insistent on quelling her agitation.

She turned her head and stared at Kihyun; whose eyes remained on the road.

"Ki, we've been over this already. You have nothing to apologize for, so stop it. I'm not mad at you. Hell, I'm not mad at all. Just annoyed. I promise."

Kihyun glanced at her as they came to a stop light. Though he appeared skeptical after a few seconds he nodded, and she watched his body physically relax. In turn she relaxed because she hated making people feel uncomfortable when they had done nothing to warrant her mood. She could save her agitation for later.

After about half an hour and some small talk they arrived at the entrance of the building. Kihyun got out to help her with her bags and after a hi-five she made her way inside. The guard on duty was one she was familiar with and he waved at her, a smile on his face. She returned it before heading into the elevator.

As she stood and watched the floor number change it was easy to settle back into her agitated state. Pulling her phone from her pocket she checked to see if there were any messages from the hour she hadn't looked at it. The only things were from her mom responding to her landing text, some emails, and social media notification. Not one message from any of the boys.

When the doors of the elevator finally parted, she practically stormed out, dragging her luggage behind her. She punched in the code into the keypad and just as she stepped into the apartment, she saw the reason Yoongi wasn't answering. On the small table next to the door sat his phone.

Rolling her eyes Kendall kicked off her shoes and fully entered the apartment, ensuring that the door locked behind her. Since she knew he wasn't home she went about her business. That meant taking her luggage and unpacking it and then going into the kitchen to make her a quick lunch. Which was reheated kimchi stew from the fridge and some rice.

By the time Kendall finished her food a wave of tired coursed through her. She'd slept well on the plane, but that didn't make her completely void of jet lag. Staying up was the goal, but after ten minutes of sitting and fighting sleep she realized a nap wouldn't hurt. It was only three in the afternoon anyway, so it wouldn't mess with her sleep that night.

Before she slept, she checked her phone one last time, but again there was nothing from any of the people she needed messages from. Sighing, she texted the group chat and all the boys separately asking why no one was answering. She didn't bother to try and wait for a response though, merely setting an alarm and passing out on the bed.

Her dreams were filled with normal everyday things, so it was a peaceful sleep. Once she'd woken up her body still felt that linger of tiredness, but it was mostly energized. Which was a miracle for a nap. Though once she tapped the screen of her phone, she realized it was because she'd been knocked out for six hours.

None of her alarms had woken her up.

"Damnit," she groaned.

After throwing a small fit she carefully rose from the bed and stretched out. She wondered if Yoongi had appeared, though since he wasn't in the bed with her or hadn't woken her up, she was sure he hadn't. And after a quick look around the apartment, including his studio, she was proven right.

Checking her phone, she went to every single chat and there was nothing, not even a read message. And she knew they kept those things on so they could drag each other when they didn't get a prompt response. Hell, she knew that half the time Jimin went to the bathroom was to check his phone where he wouldn't get scolded and yet nothing.

Tired of it she finally texted Sejin.

Kendall: Hey, Sejin. Is everyone alive? No one is answering my texts or calls.

She went to put down her phone after that, but there was a notification before she could.

Sejin: Today's just been a bit busy with practice and things. Is there something that you need? Something wrong? Do I need to get Yoongi? I know he accidentally left his phone at home.

All the questions made her laugh. Of course, he'd think something was wrong.

Kendall: Nothings wrong. And I know he left his phone. I saw it when I got in a few hours ago

The three dots came almost instantly and then stopped. It went on like that for a minute solid and Kendall had no clue what he could possibly be typing. Finally, it came in.

Sejin: That was today???

So, Yoongi wasn't the only one who'd forgotten about her. It didn't hurt her feelings any because while it was partially Sejin's job to remember it also wasn't. He wasn't the one who was supposed to come get her. Nor was he the one who left her sitting in the airport for almost two hours.

Kendall: Yes

Again, the dots, but he didn't take as long.

Sejin: I'm so sorry, Kendall. I had it down somewhere and it slipped my mind. How did no one get back to you? Yoongi didn't contact you? That punk. I'll let them no to get back to you. We just finished and everyone should be heading home now.

That didn't really warrant much of a response, so she said ok and thank you before throwing the phone on the couch. Them getting back to her was no longer a worry of hers, so she'd just continue with her evening.

Feeling disgusting she grabbed some stuff and went off to take a shower. The moment the hot water hit her skin was like a cleansing for her mind. Was her annoyance gone? No, but she felt calmer and much more relaxed. Well, at least until she remembered she'd gotten in without a shower cap on and scrambled away from the water. Thankfully, there was one already in there from when she'd been in Korea months before.

Refreshed, she hopped out the shower and got dressed. Settling on some short shorts and a tank top for her sleep attire. And after twisting her hair in large sections in order to put on her bonnet, she snagged one of Yoongi's hoodies to walk around in.

Hunger struck her again, so she found her phone and ordered from a place that had pho. It would take some time to get there and she was set on ignoring the messages from the boys that sat in her inbox. So, she went about straightening and cleaning things. She'd done the kitchen and the living room by the time she was notified the food was there. Slipping on her shoes she went down to get it, once back in the apartment she practically inhaled it.

She watched some random show while she ate, but once she was done the urge to be productive hit her. Grabbing her laptop from the bedroom she planned to work from the couch, but then her eyes drifted towards the hall where the studio was. Being fully immersed in her work sounded better to her, and she'd wanted to work on a track, so it made sense.

Kendall grabbed some water and a pop tart before heading into the studio.

It only took her a minute to set everything up. Even booting the computer up under her log in. Everything was just like she wanted it, thankfully. Sometimes when Yoongi typed in his password wrong too many times he used her log in and ended up altering how she liked to set up her software. It was a pain in the ass to fix.

He was a pain in the ass.

Not allowing herself to get worked up Kendall focused on the computer. Slipping on some headphones she played the track a few times before tweaking it. The goal was reggae trap, but it wasn't coming out that way at all, so she just went wherever it took her.

But twenty minutes in her phone wouldn't stop vibrating, so she was forced to deal with it. It was a series of messages from the boys. They'd all sent apologies separately, but also blew up the group chat. Scrolling through and reading them all took a solid two minutes.

She wasn't that upset with them. Much like Sejin they were supposed to remember, but weren't the ones with any real responsibility. It wasn't necessarily their job. Kendall was just being petty when she ignored their messages before.

Sighing, she realized that if she didn't reply they'd keep messaging her nonstop or start thinking she was pissed at them or something.

Kendall: It's fine. I'm annoyed and hate that I had to call Kihyun to come get me, but it's fine. I'm not mad at any of you. But I'm also trying to work, so maybe tone down the spamming

There was an overall okay in response to her and she went to set her phone down only for it to go off again. That time it was just Namjoon.

Namjoon: Did Yoongi call or text?

Kendall checked her phone for a message from someone other than Joon and there was none.

Kendall: No

Namjoon: Taehyung gave him his phone so he should get to you soon. And I swear that he feels like shit for forgetting.

Though she believed him, something in her questioned why he felt the need to emphasize that. And why Yoongi didn't just head home instead of using Tae's phone to contact her, but she chose not to ask Joon a million questions.

Kendall: Ok, thanks for letting me know

With that she got back to work but sat the phone on her thigh, so she'd feel when it went off. Enough time passed that she'd been so into her work that the vibrating almost went unnoticed. But when she realized it, she took off the headphones and answered the call from Tae's phone, though she did take note that it was over an hour later.

"Hello?" she said.

There was silence and then a gruff voice came through. "Hi, baby."

"Yes?" she wasn't going to play that game with him.

"I know I fucked up," he said.

"Accurate."

He laughed at that but kept going. "But I really need a favor from you and then I'll be on the way home. Where I will apologize thoroughly."

Of course, he needed something from her first. That explained her weird feeling about how bad he truly felt.

"What is it?" she asked.

A sigh of relief came through the phone. "There are some things in the folder labeled Jin and I need you to send it to me."

"Fine."

"Thank you so much. I love you."

In return all she did was grunt. Saving her own project, she logged out and logged into his. Within a minute or two she'd found the folder and sent it to him.

"It should be there," she said.

"Thank you. I swear I'll be home in forty-five minutes or less."

Kendall rolled her eyes. "Sure."

Right as he tried to say bye, she stopped him though, there was something else she needed to say.

"If your version of telling me your sorry involves sex, you're going to want to rethink your plan. It's not happening."

And with that she hung up.

Locking her phone, she threw it on the desk and refocused on her music. She wasn't going to let him derail what she was doing.

By the time thirty minutes passed Kendall was okay with where she was in terms of progress and knew she'd need to come back to it with fresh eyes. But she played it aloud a few times to see if she genuinely liked it.

Kendall was so immersed in listening she didn't realize that by the third playthrough she was no longer alone. Not until Yoongi's hands were on her shoulders. It caused her to jump, but when she registered his fingers she calmed down.

She then stopped the music and turned around to face him. He was looking all sweet and innocent, but she knew better than to give in to that.

"Go ahead," she said.

Yoongi immediately dropped the act and sighed. Then after staring at her for thirty seconds he moved closer and pushed her legs together. Before she could question that both of his knees were on either side of her thighs and he was sitting in her lap, his arms wrapping around her neck.

"Baby."

"Don't baby me mister."

Yoongi rolled his eyes but didn't retort.

"Kendall. I'm sorry I forgot about you today, I really am. I told myself last night, but then today was crazier than we thought it would be. It didn't help that I was up late working on this thing for Kook. Which meant I rushed out of the house forgetting my phone and then I was so wrapped up in work that nothing else crossed my mind," he rambled.

Kendall's eyes narrowed. "Pause. A thing for Kook? As in the thing you said you stopped working on and would pick up today when you had the chance. Because you'd already pulled three all-nighters this week and you needed the rest."

With each word Kendall became more annoyed and Yoongi realized he'd messed up.

She watched as he scrambled for something, but then finally gave up.

"Look, I know. I should've slept, especially since it takes me so much more energy to fake that I have energy in order to get through work. But inspiration hit and I just started working. Next thing I knew it was early in the morning and I needed to get ready for the day. I fucked up and I'll do better about it. I promise."

His words were sincere, and he wasn't the only one prone to doing that, so she couldn't be too upset with him.

"I get it. We both suck at taking better care of ourselves. We'll both do better," she said.

Yoongi nodded, removing one arm from around her neck so he could hold out his pinky. Smiling she linked her own with it.

"We'll do better," he said.

Kendall nodded and with that Yoongi got off her.

"I showered and ate dinner already, so how about we go to bed?" he asked.

A sarcastic laugh escaped Kendall and she shook her head.

"I said sex isn't happening."

Yoongi scoffed. "I just want to cuddle you, not sleep with you. Goodness, woman."

Though she didn't believe him Kendall shut everything down and allowed him to lead her out of the studio to the bedroom. There they snuggled up and watched TV. Yoongi copped several feels, especially on her butt, which he insisted was an accident.

But the truth was, they didn't do better. In fact, they got worse.

Comeback preparation came at them harder than usual and they had to dive into the chaos. Of course, it wasn't their first time handling it, but that didn't make things easier for either of them.

Yoongi was fully submerged in it, along with one or two projects outside of the group. Kendall wasn't essential for the album, but she still worked on it nearly every day. Plus, there were other groups she worked with that were preparing to comeback, along with all the writing she needed to get done. It was a blessing that projects in the western world were off limits to her during prep or the stress would've tripled.

To their credit they did try to keep things from getting out of hand, but it only took a week before they slipped into unhealthy habits. Their focus was so on getting things done so they were out of the way, that there was no thought about taking a moment to breathe. A moment to take a walk and not think about all the things that needed to be done.

If a thing they planned wasn't mandatory it wasn't going to happen. There were countless outings with friends that they flaked on. A cancelled lunch here, a trip to Lotte World there, jam sessions that were only meant for some fun and stress relief. Kendall nearly missed a friend's engagement party because she'd brushed off the reminder and twenty minutes before someone called to ask her when she was getting there.

At some point people stopped inviting them places and neither of them even noticed.

And that didn't even account for them flaking on each other. Date nights or plans to do even the grocery shopping were put off or forgotten about. Not that either of them ever brought it up, because even if they were aware enough to remember themselves something always caught their attention, so they forgot it even happened. Well, didn't happen.

It even reached the point where spending time together was sitting in Yoongi's studio and working on different things. Kendall preferred her studio for producing so she'd just bring her laptop in and write. Yoongi was usually the one to invite her, but he didn't stop staring at his screen or talking to one of the guys about a track long enough to say anything but hi.

It was getting out of control, but of the two Yoongi was the one dealing with all the stress and work better. He was pushing too hard and not taking proper care of himself, but sometimes logic would prevail. A snack would get eaten or he'd walk to a secluded park to write lyrics because he needed a change of scenery.

But even with his brief moments within reality, he was blind to the fact that Kendall was descending farther than he'd ever reached. He always had faith that she would be fine because she was strong enough to know when things truly needed to slow down, but she wasn't doing that. And right under his nose she was on a downward spiral.

For over a month he remained blind to that, everyone did. Or at least they weren't saying anything to him about it. Not that he listened much to what anyone told him when he was focused on something else.

However, at some point someone got fed up with the bullshit.

Kendall was on Yoongi's couch typing away on her laptop with music blasting through her headphones, while Yoongi sat at his desk writing lyrics. They'd started working on a song the night before that he needed help tweaking. Hours past rapidly as they brainstormed and worked through it. When that was figured out, she decided to write while he finished up.

Both neglected to notice that by the time Kendall's butt hit the couch it was seven in the morning. And they stayed like that until nine rolled around and Jin was bursting through the doors with bags in hand.

The suddenness startled them both and they stopped what they were doing to focus on him. They were met with an incredibly angry Jin and a smirking Taehyung who stood behind him watching the show.

"What time is it?" Jin asked.

"Uh..." Kendall shrugged, eyes flitting down to the bottom right of her computer screen.

When she saw the time, her eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped. There was a curse from Yoongi which indicated that he'd also checked.

"Mhm, and when were you supposed to leave?" he asked.

"No later than one," Yoongi mumbled.

"And why is that?"

"Because we've already been pushing it, so the rule has been imposed for everyone so not to overwork ourselves," Kendall said.

Jin nodded. "And yet, here you two are. Up for over twenty-four hours. Plus, you haven't eaten since who knows when. So, you're going home and today is an off day."

Yoongi opened his mouth to speak, but Jin just reiterated his point.

"You're both going to eat all of that. Only then will you be allowed to leave and when you leave, you're going to go home and rest. Don't make me have to come over and watch you do it either. I will know if you don't."

The way he glared at them meant there was no room for argument and Yoongi wasn't going to, but Kendall had something to say.

"Actually, I have a meeting at one that's like an hour away and then I have a session at four. So..."

That made Jin glare at her, but he didn't have anything else to say. Of course, arguing it was an option, but work was work and there was no way around that. Yoongi even had it in him to look displeased by the news.

Without saying anything Jin moved farther into the studio and shooed Yoongi out of his chair and onto the couch. From there he took a seat and started pulling things out of the bag he'd brought with him. Before they knew it, containers of steaming food were in each of their laps and Taehyung was handing them drinks.

Once they had the food, he stared them down and waited, but Yoongi was the only one who started eating right away. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Kendall playing with the food.

"Look, Jin we didn't mean too..."

"Just eat," Jin said, clearly not in the mood for an explanation.

After that nothing else was said and they both just sat there and ate their food. Every drop of food was consumed too because no matter how much they told him they were full he just stared at them until they continued.

It was like they were children.

When all the food was gone Jin directed to shut everything down and gather their stuff. Jin supervised every movement. It didn't stop there though. He got into the van that took them home and glared the entire drive there. Then he went up with them and watched as they both got ready for different things.

Yoongi prepared for bed and Kendall for her meetings. In half an hour of arrival she was out the door and Yoongi was down for the count.

But his sleep was only temporary.

After about twenty minutes he was up again, and his body didn't want to go back down. He gave up and dragged his feet out into the living room, where Jin was still present.

"Are you not leaving?" Yoongi asked, his voice gruff.

Jin was startled by him and jumped a little, but quickly collected himself and went back to the scowl that seemed permanent.

"Not until you've been out for a few hours. And maybe not until Ken gets back," Jin said.

Yoongi chuckled at that. "I can't sleep, and she might not be back for a while so you're going to get bored fast."

There was a moment or two of silence before Jin's expression shifted to something more distressed, a sigh escaping him.

"Yeah, I know."

That response through Yoongi off. Obviously, Jin would be tired of their antics but something about him read more than that. Yoongi couldn't pinpoint what else could be plaguing the oldest member, but he would find out. He hated seeing any of his brothers down and out.

Moving toward the couch he laid out a few feet from Jin and watched him closely.

"Something wrong? You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" Yoongi asked.

That made Jin sigh again, but it was accompanied by a humorless laugh. After a second or so Jin nodded and turned to face Yoongi.

"Not when you're like this I can't."

Yoongi scoffed. "Of course, you can. I know I've been a little too focused lately, but you know I'm always here for you. You don't need to worry about that."

"You're the one I'm least worried about," he mumbled.

"Huh?"

For a moment Jin appeared conflicted, but then his expression turned serious. He turned his body so he was facing Yoongi full on and stared at him for a few seconds.

"Have you really not noticed Kendall's behavior?" Jin asked.

That made Yoongi frown. He'd been caught up in work, but he liked to think if something was wrong, he'd noticed it. There was nothing that came to mind though. All he was met with was memories of her being as engulfed in her work as him, which wasn't a great thing, but it wasn't that bad. She had a lot of work.

Though part of him felt like that line of thinking was stupid since he was on her constantly about taking care of herself. But of course, he shook it off, they were in a high-pressure time and sometimes things needed all their attention.

"She's been working a lot, but that's it. Did something happen?" he asked.

Jin groaned and wiped a hand over his face.

"You've both been working a lot, but she's taking it to an almost extreme level. Have you seriously not seen that she's almost always working on something or going somewhere to do more work? I'm not even sure that she gets much sleep at this point. Let alone eats enough. I'm sure this morning was the biggest meal she had in a few weeks."

That made Yoongi even more confused. "But I almost always see her when you guys force a group lunch. She eats then."

Jin pursed his lips. "Have you actually seen her eat or just pick at the food while typing away at her phone and basically running away when everyone else finishes?"

Yoongi tried to think back to all the times they'd eaten together, and he remembered eating at least half his meal, but never actually seeing Kendall eat. His attention always focused on his screen or notebook. And when he'd go to put the leftovers in the fridge or trash Kendall's containers would be beside her in the exact spot it was placed. But of course, she just happened to sit it back down there or ate out of it from that position. She wouldn't forgo food for long, so she had to be eating.

"Of course, she..." Yoongi started, but then he recalls seeing her walk down the hall one afternoon and having to lean against the wall for a moment with her eyes closed. That could've been a one time thing though. Couldn't it?

It reached a point where he just laid there with his mind going over every interaction they'd had since the prep began. He was finding all types of things that seemed normal at the time, but in hindsight didn't make any sense if she was taking proper care of herself.

"Listen," Jin said, regaining his attention. "You just need to talk to her. We've all tried, but she plays it off or has something else she needs to do. Jimin almost got her to listen, but she just went back into the habit a few hours later. You're the only one who can call her out on it. You both need to be called out, but I know you'll be fine. I'm scared she's going down a dangerous path."

At that Yoongi nodded, but he was still a bit lost in his own head. He couldn't believe that he'd missed so many signs. There was just no way.

Jin confronting him the week before had woken Yoongi up from what he was doing to himself. The way he'd slimmed down a bit and how no amount of skincare could save his face; the undereye bags were going strong. It wasn't good and so he made changes in order to be healthier. Even having the younger members enforce him taking breaks multiple times a day. It was easier to see how things were going down a bad path for him and he was eternally grateful for Jin helping pull him back as he always did.

However, with his newfound clarity and self-awareness he finally saw what was going on with Kendall. Finally, he was paying attention. He watched her for a week and could see that he'd missed everything. Even the biggest flag of them all, which was how she never left her studio if she didn't need to. He hadn't been looking for that before, so it got by him, but every day until who knows when she was in that room by herself working. Food set outside would go ignored and he was sure she never even peed.

How he'd been so far gone that none of those things caught his attention was still a major question, but he couldn't focus on that. His attention needed to be on figuring out how to handle Kendall. If someone didn't get her to snap out of it, she'd lose steam completely and enter a creative block. And she didn't need to do that when all her jobs were creative. Yoongi cared more about her health than her hitting a roadblock, but he knew that when she did that it was much worse for her mentally. She put too much pressure on herself.

So, he needed to be strategic about it. Coming straight at her would do no good and if he was too nice or tried too hard to get her to forgo something to do something else, she'd suspect him. The only choice was for her lone plan for the day to be cancelled to create a slot where she was free. It would be hard for her to turn him down then, so he did what he had to.

Yoongi pulled out his phone and called Kihyun. His friend answered after a few rings.

"Hello."

"Hey, Kihyun. I have a question," Yoongi said.

"Sure, what's up?"

"Is the thing that you're working with Ken on something urgent? Can it be postponed or something?"

"Yes. Yes, it can!" Kihyun shouted.

It shocked Yoongi. "Uh, okay..."

A throat cleared and then Kihyun was speaking at a normal level. "Sorry. It's just the last time she came to work on the song she looked so tired. And even though she was working as well as usual there seemed to be a lack of her normal spark. I asked her about it, and she brushed me off, but I've been worrying about it. So, it can definitely be put on hold so she can rest or whatever you have in mind."

Everyone, but Yoongi had been paying attention it seemed.

"Yeah, I want to get her to rest. But listen, I need you to make up a reason why it's pushed to another day. She cannot know that I'm the reason that this was cancelled. Getting her to stop depends on her not knowing."

"Okay, I can do that. I'll text her now and then text you when it's done," Kihyun said.

"Thanks man."

"No problem."

With that they hung up and Yoongi shut down everything and prepared to head out. But he couldn't just stroll into her office after she got the news, so he played on his phone for half an hour after getting the confirmation text. After that he just casually made his way to her studio, knocking before letting himself in.

What he was met with was her sitting on the couch and staring at her table with a pen in hand. She was making edits, which made his appearance even better time wise. If she was doing it then that meant she was ahead of her schedule in some way and was even less likely to turn him down.

"Hey, baby. I was going to head out for some food. You want to come?" Yoongi asked.

For a moment or two she didn't say anything, but that was unsurprising since he'd asked as she started to write on the screen. Once she was done with the task at hand her attention became his and he truly saw the tired in her face. The bags under her eyes were prominent and her usually plump cheeks weren't as chubby. It made him feel even worse for not noticing it before.

"Uh. I'm not really hungry." she said, her voice softer than usual.

"But you were gone before breakfast. Come eat with me. Unless you have something else planned?"

That made her sigh and deflate a little. Yoongi almost felt bad for messing with her schedule, but it needed to be done.

"No. Ki said that something in his schedule changed so he'd need to meet with me another day."

Yoongi tried his best to seem chill about it. "Damn, that sucks. I hope they aren't overworking him over there as per usual. Okay, then you can come eat with me since your meeting fell through."

Again, he was met with no response for several seconds, but then she nodded her head and carefully rose from the couch. It was clear that it disoriented her a little, but Yoongi couldn't react to it. He had to let her move at her own pace and get her where he wanted her to be.

As she packed up her stuff, he kept a close eye on her.

"Is there anything you want to get in particular?" she asked.

Yoongi shook his head. "Nah, not really. I was thinking something close by, but then I also remembered that Jin put some kimchi stew in the fridge so we could just eat that."

Kendall froze and that worried Yoongi, he did not need to be found out so early. But when she turned around, she smiled at him.

"That sounds really good."

He returned the smile. "Great. I already had one of the vans waiting out front for me, so we can just tell them where we're going."

Kendall nodded and then motioned for Yoongi to lead the way. When he turned around, he released a deep breath and led them out of the building and into the awaiting van. Once they were on the road it was silent between them, but he didn't mind. He needed to ensure that he didn't say something too soon and if they got talking, he would slip up.

Once they arrived home, he led her upstairs with a hand wrapped around her waist, which wasn't something unusual. It appeared like affection to her and everyone else, but it was mostly him trying to keep her stable enough that she didn't sway or stumble. If that happened, she'd get defensive when he asked if she was okay.

They got into the apartment without issue and Yoongi got to work reheating the food so they could eat. Kendall took a seat at the dining room table and began editing again. It wasn't too intensive, so he let it be, but the moment the stew was ready, and he had some side dishes he had her put it away.

Again, they sat in silence, though that time he turned on the TV and put Brooklyn Nine-Nine on in the background. It drew in some of her attention and that's what he wanted. He needed her calm and comfortable. If she got a filling lunch and was somewhat immersed in the show some of her walls would be down. It also helped that he genuinely enjoyed the series and she knew that, so it didn't appear that he was trying anything.

But despite Yoongi's careful steps Kendall saw through him. After he'd taken the dishes to the kitchen, he returned to find her waiting for him with her arms crossed.

"What?" he asked.

"You're up to something."

That made his heart rate spike, but he'd perfected a steady expression over the years so of course that didn't show.

"What are you talking about?"

"We haven't spent real time together in a while and now you're actively seeking me out. Plus, you've been watching me a lot over the last two days. It's weird and sudden. So, what are you up to?" she asked.

"I'm not allowed to show interest and want to spend time with you now? That's suddenly... actually, no. I'm not going to do this. We'll go back and forth for forever and I'm just going to get to the point. I've stopped being so caught up in work that I noticed that you're too caught up in it. You're not taking care of yourself and I'm worried about you. Many people are worried about you. I thought we could spend some time together and that means you would rest."

Kendall's expression went from suspicious to annoyed. One of her brows raised and she rose from her seat, though she didn't move closer to Yoongi. In fact, he saw her take the smallest step back.

"So, what? You were going to try to get me to bend to your will by using things I like to lull me into a sense of comfort? Thought that would be enough to get me to forget about all the work I have to do?"

"No, I..."

"And then what? Get me to sleep? Make sure I stay in bed until tomorrow? Or were you planning on trying to get me to not work the rest of the week? Something that would put me back severely since I have things to do. Something that..."

"Stop!" he shouted. "Yes, I wanted you to take a break. And I would've loved if it was for the rest of the day. I would love for you to just sit down for a moment and relax. To sleep more than you do. To eat more than you do. I'd love for things to not be how they are now. But I wasn't and don't plan to commit some grand conspiracy against you, Kendall. I just want you to slow down and breathe."

There was silence and then Kendall scoffed. "When you're doing it it's fine, but when it's me there is suddenly this major problem. I'm fine. I'm stressed and working a lot, but I'm fine. This isn't anything that I can't handle. I've had more to do, so it's not a problem. But a problem occurs when everyone seems to think they need to insert themselves into my life for one reason or the other. I don't need to be watched like a child who can't function on her own. I'm more than capable."

Yoongi sighed and ran a hand over his face. Of course, things were taking a turn. She reacted much like him when backed into a corner when they swore, they were okay when in truth it felt like life was drowning them.

"No one is saying you're not capable, Kendall. We just want you healthy and not pushing yourself so much. You're losing weight and you look so drained of energy all the time. Even Kihyun said something was off during your last session. That you had your same work ethic, but your usual energy was gone," Yoongi said gently.

He hoped that his words would change something within her, and they did, but she was angry which wasn't the goal.

Kendall took a deep breath; her fists clenched and unclenched a few times before she glanced at Yoongi.

"Kihyun? Is that why he canceled? Because I don't seem well enough? Great."

Yoongi took a step forward, but she took two steps back.

"Everyone seems to have these grand ideas about what I should be doing and making decisions on my behalf. So, I'm going to let you all do what you want to do. But I won't be around to let you do it. I have things to get done today and Kihyun canceling means I have more time. So, if you need me for my job then let me know. Other than that, back the hell off."

With that she grabbed her stuff and was headed towards the door. Yoongi went after her, but after she slipped on her shoes she whipped around and held her hand up to stop him.

"I'll be sleeping somewhere else tonight. Don't wait up or come looking for me to make sure that I'm sleeping up to your standards."

And with that she was gone. Yoongi was left cursing himself and wishing he'd handled things differently. Maybe if he had she'd be still in the apartment. If he'd only caught on sooner maybe the evening would've been spent cuddled together on the couch or in bed. Honestly, anything was better than what happened.

Yoongi couldn't help but feel like he'd messed everything up.

Despite wanting to fix things as soon as they happened Yoongi waited it out. He knew that coming at Kendall again would just yield another argument and he didn't want that. Especially because he was likely to lose his cool and things would become worse.

So, he sat back and let her do what she wanted for a few days. Every time he ate, he grabbed her food, sat it near the door and walked away. Sometimes it would be gone when he went by again, but more often than not it was still sitting there. It was frustrating, but he didn't let up and just kept doing it. There were even little notes where he left her with encouraging messages or that relayed how much he loved her. He hoped it would help soften her and that she'd see his true intentions.

And when they worked together, he was his usual self. There was no pressure to eat, drink, or rest. Kendall had already taken to avoiding him, so he didn't want her to just completely ignore his existence. He only got such brief time with her to make sure she was okay, and he refused to risk it.

The method was honestly great for the first few days, but then after two days in a row with food untouched and her barely leaving the office he'd had enough. The boys could see it too, they watched as he was pushed over the edge.

They stood in the middle of the practice room discussing the choreography they went over a few times. It was the early stages, they were more worried about everyone getting it than it being in sync, so the topic of discussion was one move that almost everyone was struggling with.

But it was during Namjoon explaining that maybe they could alter the instrumental a little to fit that shit hit the fan.

"I could talk to Kendall about it. Of course, making changes is a bit much but it would be kind of cool. None of us are doing it as smoothly as needed and we were discussing adding more of that slightly disjointed sound to the chorus. It wouldn't take much time at all," Namjoon said.

Hoseok pursed his lips and nodded. "But when can she do it? Of course, we can practice it with that in mind, but we need to hear it and get approval before we make that choice. And she said she had a lot to do today. Something about having a new project to work on and needing to prepar..."

When Yoongi heard she took on another project his head snapped up, his eyes focused on Hoseok. The younger male was startled by the attention, especially since Yoongi was glaring at him.

"She has another what?" Yoongi said, practically shouting the words.

No one said a thing, but then after they all were the focus of his glare Jungkook said something.

"Yeah, she took on this thing for some artist she really likes. They're an American one, but she wanted it more than she cared about sticking to her rule during comeback prep."

The rage that filled Yoongi was swift and before anyone could utter another word, he was storming out of the practice room. He didn't stop until he reached the elevators, but as he waited for the doors to open, he could feel his emotions intensify. It was time to put an end to the situation and he didn't care about her being upset with him.

"Where are you going?" Namjoon called out as he caught up with Yoongi.

"To stop this shit."

"Yoongi, you can't just come at her all pissed off. She doesn't respond well to that, you know this," Joon tried to reason.

"I'm not going to her."

Just as he said that the doors opened, and he stepped through. Namjoon stood and watched him, conflict clear in his expression. Yoongi waited a second, but when he didn't make a move, he pressed the floor number. Just before the doors closed Namjoon slid in after him.

The elevator ride was tense and quiet. Yoongi was trying to control his anger so that he wouldn't lash out at anyone. No one was at fault for this and there was no need for them to have to deal with his issues. Even if they were all willing, he'd hate if he'd made anyone too uncomfortable once everything was over.

When the doors opened, they walked out and the secretary simply nodded and pointed towards their destination. After knocking and being granted entrance they walked into Bang's office.

Their boss looked prepared for their arrival and Yoongi was sure one of the boys put two and two together and warned him. He didn't mind though; it was easier to handle it if he didn't have to just show up and lay it all out when he least expected it.

"Is there something I can help you with, Yoongi?" Bang asked.

Taking a deep breath Yoongi collected himself and then nodded. "Yes, there is. Kendall has been a little, well a lot overwhelmed the last few months. She's working more than she needs to and not taking care of herself properly. Obviously, some of this stuff is out of your domain, but a lot of it is work on producing and writing. It's reached a point where she won't listen and even when things fall through, she finds a million other things to do in its place. I know that her main focus is on the girl group debut and you wanted her to take full control of that, but they won't even be announced for a few months and she's way ahead of schedule. So, what I'm asking for is her taking a break. She'll have more than enough time to come back to it and have them ready. But right now, she needs to step back. I need her to step back before things get worse."

Yoongi hadn't meant to be long winded, but once he started talking it all came out. And that included the distress he was feeling. His voice went up a few octaves and he was pleading with Bang to agree with him. He needed for him to give the go ahead.

It was silent for a moment, but then Bang nodded. "I've noticed that she's been working a lot, but I didn't know to what extent. She's farther ahead then what we talked about. Practically finished the album. So, we can put a hold on any more work until she's had proper rest. If that needs to start today, then it can. I'll send the email and make the call."

After nodding and giving a brief thank you Yoongi was out the door and back in the elevator with Namjoon hot on his heels.

"What are you going to do?" Namjoon asked.

"We're going home."

"And if she doesn't choose to go? You know she's not just going to agree. So, what are you going to do?"

For a while Yoongi didn't say anything, but the moment he stepped off the elevator he turned to face Joon.

"I'm going to tell her too much time has gone."

Namjoon's eyes widened at that, but Yoongi could see on his face he understood. That phrase - too much time has gone - was used when there was something serious they needed to talk about. Something where one of them needed to be heard out and it invoked the urge to listen better with the other. Kendall wouldn't be able to refuse and would have to see how concerned he was.

He hated using it because it always left him on edge when she used it and he would assume the worst, so he knew she had to feel it too when he did it.

"Call or text me after. Okay?" Namjoon said.

Yoongi nodded and then turned to walk down the hall. He made a quick stop in the practice room to grab his stuff and then did the same in his office. Once packed up he headed towards her studio. As he went, he prepared himself for a shit show and he really wished it didn't need to be, but he'd accept that if it meant she'd be okay.

When he walked up to the door the bag of food he'd left earlier was gone and that helped calm him. At least she ate something. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door but got nothing. Several knocks and doorbell rings later he put in the passcode and entered the studio. Instead of finding Kendall immersed in her work he was met with darkness, which was weird because she didn't have any outside work.

Yoongi flipped the switch and found everything was shut down, but something on her desk caught his eye. He moved closer and saw the bag of food, which was still untouched, but before he could focus on that his eyes drifted to the note on the desk. It was the one he left, and it read: You're doing a great job, baby. I got your favorite. I love you.

The paper was wet unlike it had been when he dropped it off and it only took a second to realize that it was from tears. Even the space around it had a few drops here and there.

His first thoughts were about if she was okay and the next were hoping that maybe they'd just been from him finally breaking through to her. Either way she needed to be found.

Yoongi sprinted out of the room and slammed into SlowRabbit who looked at him confused, but then noticed where he was coming from.

"Ken went home. Said she needed to do something," SlowRabbit said.

Muttering a quick thank you Yoongi was running again. He needed to get home fast. Thankfully once he got to the lobby Joon was waiting there with one of the drivers, once they saw him the driver headed to a car out front and Yoongi moved after him.

The drive to the apartment was tense. There was a giddiness inside of him as he clung to the idea that she'd finally seen the light, but there was also a deep-rooted fear of what could happen if she wasn't coming back to reality. It left him all over the place and sweating more than he had during dance practice.

Once in his building he felt his anxiety diminish, but for some reason he walked very slowly through the lobby and to the elevators. Like he was stalling for time trying to come up with something, but in truth his mind was completely blank. Even as the elevator indicated he was getting closer to his floor his mind remained emptied.

It was weird.

As the doors opened, he started to think again, but that quickly came to a halt. At the end of the hall there was a person collapsed onto the floor. Panic filled him and he sprinted out to them, dropping to his knees to make sure they were okay.

"Excuse me? Hey. Hey. Wake up." He chanted as he carefully rolled them over.

When he saw the face, he stopped breathing. For some reason it didn't register in his head that the person was on his floor and in front of his door. It didn't register that the person could be Kendall. Until he saw her face.

"Kendall! Kendall! Baby!"

He shook her gently, one of his hands going to cup her face. She wasn't responding or even moving and that panicked him more. His mind raced and he continued trying to get her to wake up. Screaming her name and shaking her to get some sort of response.

It took a minute or so before it clicked with him that he needed to act. That there was no time to waste.

He placed his fingers under her nose and waited, after a few seconds he was sure that she was still breathing. It wasn't strong, but it was something. He then fumbled in his pocket for his phone and when it was finally in his clutches, he dialed emergency services. His eyes never left Kendall's face and his finger remained under her nose.

When they answered he had a response ready, but instead of words a sob broke free. The tears came soon after and he was finding it hard to say anything.

"Hello? Hello? I can hear you crying, dear. Please tell me what's wrong," a soft voice said on the other end.

Yoongi took a breath and reminded himself what was at stake.

"My... my girlfriend collapsed, and I don't know how long she's been out. I found her in the hallway of our apartment building. Her breathing... her... her breathing isn't as strong as it should be. And neither is her... pul... pulse." He finally managed to choke out.

"Okay. I'm glad that you checked all those things out. If she's still breathing, there's a chance she's fine. Can you give me the location?"

He mumbled off the address and what floor they were on. As he spoke more, he calmed, but the tears never stopped and at any given moment he was hit with an intense wave of distress.

Yoongi's eyes never left Kendall, even as the dispatcher kept him talking so he wouldn't freak out too much. He couldn't take his eyes off her. The last time he'd done that led him to the pain he was enduring in that moment.

Kendall's body felt too hot and she needed to cool off but no matter how much she adjusted there was no escape. At some point she was forced to wake up and try to free herself, but the moment that her eyes opened she felt disoriented.

Everything was fuzzy and her head felt swimmy. It was as if she wasn't grounded and she didn't know why. Of course, she wanted to fight for some clarity, but she knew she'd needed to just let it pass first. So, she waited until her vision cleared and she felt settled before trying to figure anything else out.

Who knows how much time passed before she could make out her surroundings, but when she could confusion filled her. She wasn't in the apartment or in her studio, but what looked like a hospital room. But for the life of her she couldn't figure out why she'd be there.

Kendall searched her memory for something, but it was as clouded as her vision had been. She didn't let that stop her though, she focused on what she could last remember until snippets of her day came up. They were so short that she couldn't make anything out of them though. It was frustrating, but she needed answers and she was alone so there was no one to give them.

At least she thought she was alone.

As Kendall took in her surroundings and then herself, she finally noticed that she wasn't the only one in the hospital bed. Next to her lay Yoongi. He was asleep and looked so peaceful that she momentarily forgot what she was doing. It had been so long since she'd seen him like that and she wanted to savor it, but before she could even get comfortable with the idea it all came rushing back to her.

She'd been working on a track that was proving difficult for her. The idea she had in her head wouldn't translate into the actual work. Nothing she tried was working and she was close to screaming about it. Instead she decided to take a step back and finish some things on a different track for a friend. It would give her a break and the chance to get some more work done.

Halfway through that hunger struck her and she'd peeked out to see if Yoongi left any food for her like he had been. Kendall was still upset with him for actively trying to hinder her work, but she appreciated the gesture because she often forgot to eat. It wasn't that big a deal, but not having to search for food when she finally decided to eat was a good thing.

She'd grabbed the food and brought it in, but as she opened the bag there was a post-it on top. It wasn't surprising since he left them with every meal and she'd planned to sit it aside, but then she read the words. For some reason something in her finally snapped and she felt her body droop and tears fall from her eyes.

Yoongi was being so caring and loving, even after she lashed out at him. He was making sure that she at least ate and reminding her constantly that she was doing great and was enough. She'd been so caught up in doing everything that she'd let those things slip away from her. Let herself reach a point where she was so tired all the time and barely functioning mentally but using the excuse of needing to stay ahead as a reason to keep going. As a reason to not take a moment to breathe.

Kendall ran herself into the ground. And instead of giving into him and taking in what he tried to tell her she'd pushed herself further to prove a point.

But she was tired of proving that point.

So, after crying she packed her stuff and planned to head home. Yoongi was practicing so she didn't want to disturb him. She'd planned to text him after she got home and showered, it would be enough time for the boys to be taking a break. After telling Slow Rabbit she was leaving, a van took her to the apartment and she was eager to finally stop being so hardheaded so she could rest. However, as she got onto the elevator, she felt weird, but couldn't pinpoint why. She brushed it off as being tired and thought maybe she should nap and then shower.

But as she got off the elevator and walked towards the door everything around her shifted. It was like a kaleidoscope was right in front of her eyes and before she knew it her body was falling in slow motion. After that everything was blank.

The moment her brain caught up she felt herself tear up; she'd fucked up. Not only had she done damage to her body, but she couldn't imagine how Yoongi felt. Had he been the one to find her? Was he notified as he tried to live out his day? She hoped she hadn't scared him too much.

As the tears fell her hand moved to caress his cheek. At her touch he shifted but didn't wake up. Leaning down she pressed a kiss to his forehead. It was soft and lingered for several seconds. When she pulled away though, his eyes were wide open, and he was staring at her. The sadness was clear, but there was also some relief.

"Baby," he whispered.

Kendall didn't get the chance to say anything though, because he was kissing all over her face in seconds. After he pulled her tight, burying his face in her neck.

"You scared the shit out of me, Kendall. You can't keep doing this shit, okay? It needs to stop," he mumbled.

"I know. I'm sorry," she said.

It was all she could think to say. She wanted to explain herself, but it didn't feel like the right time, so she let it be.

They spent the rest of the day like that. Even when the doctors came in Yoongi didn't stray too far from her, he always had to be touching her. If he couldn't be in the bed with her then he was holding her hand and if she left to use the bathroom, he would snatch it up the moment she was out.

It hurt her heart to see him like that. To watch him look at her as if she were going to slip through his fingers and disappear.

"I'm sorry," she started. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I should've listened to all of you and stopped letting work take over, but I just pushed myself harder. And when it finally clicked, when your note put me back into reality, I was going to take a break. I'd gone home to shower and rest. I was going to message you after to not be a disturbance and because I knew we were going to need to talk, but I didn't get the chance. I didn't mean for it to get this far."

Yoongi just watched her as she spoke, nodding along to show that he was listening. When she finished, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her lips. He murmured about how it would be okay, and they would deal with it later. Kendall didn't think that wise, but then the boys showed up to pay her a visit and lightly scold her, so the moment was lost.

After her explanation Yoongi still remained close by, but she noticed a shift in him. His relief faded and he relaxed more, but something else rose to the surface. He was clearly annoyed and though she wanted to ask if he was okay, she knew it was best not to. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know why he was upset. Kendall expected his rage to surface at some point, but she wished it made him more vocal.

Instead of scolding her or just straight up yelling he remained silent. They didn't speak much and any conversations she tried to start fizzled within seconds. It left things tense all the time and despite the guilt it grew tiresome.

Thankfully, they only kept her for a day after she'd woken up so she could rest at home. That meant that she wasn't confined in one room with him watching her with his underlying anger, but it didn't make her feel any less uncomfortable. Yoongi still made sure she rested, took her medication, and ate. He worked outside of the home studio to keep an eye on her but kept his distance. And his silence remained. He'd even mastered answering her questions without saying a single word and after three days Kendall was over it.

She'd come home from the hospital still quite drained, but with eating regularly and resting her energy returned to her. Which meant she could risk exerting herself a bit to push the issue. And after he'd blatantly ignored a question she asked it was hard not to snap.

"Can you just fucking yell at me already? I get you have some stuff to work through and are probably trying to figure out how you want to address this, but please just do it. Just say what you want to say. Yell. Cuss. Tell me you hate me. I don't care. Just please say something!" she blurted out.

That made him pause and turn around to face her. His expression was one that he wore when he was pissed off and though it made her stomach drop it's what she wanted. What she needed.

Yoongi laughed after a few seconds. One of those humorless ones, that were so loud and obnoxious that they seemed fake. It lasted for a moment and then he abruptly stopped, taking a few steps forward so they were only two feet apart.

"Okay. I'll talk. We both went off the deep in and got too caught up in things. You more than me, but we're both guilty of it. But I was so off in my own damn world that I didn't notice you were taking it a step too far. I had to be told by Jin, who saw it from the start and tried to help. I had to be told to take a closer look at my girlfriend who I saw often, and thought was okay. I fucked up and part of this is on me. No matter what you say I'm sticking to that because I know how far you can go, and I wasn't seeing the signs. Hell, I even encouraged it with my own behavior.

"But then you have to be so damn stubborn about things. You have to think because there are no obvious effects on you that you're doing okay and that everyone else is seeing things. You push yourself too hard, Kendall. No matter how overwhelmed you are, you push so hard as if you can't take a breath. As if you couldn't half ass it and still come out with some great work. And you let yourself get so in your head that you fucking forgot that and neglected yourself. Barely ate. Barely slept. Barely did anything besides work, even when there shouldn't have been any work to do. And that shit ended with me fucking finding you passed out on the ground in front of our home. Of me fearing that you weren't going to be... be... that you weren't going to be okay. This entire situation is fucked up and I need some time, okay?

So, let me have my time to fucking think. Let me have the chance to stop being mad at you and me, so we can try to move the hell forward after this shit show."

With that he turned on his heel and walked away. He went into the bedroom and slammed the door behind him. It left Kendall alone in the living room feeling worse than she had when she woke up in the hospital. She knew she had no valid reason to cry since she'd brought this on herself, but it felt like her heart was ripped out of her chest.

It felt like she'd fucked her entire relationship up.

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overanalyzingelswordiswhatido · 5 years

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Add is a Protector

Even though he has nowhere near the defense stats required to be one. Though, he's only actively protective of what he deems to be his. Because to try to protect anything else is a waste of energy from his perspective. And I suppose I would be talking specifically about Doom Bringer, since that's his route in the actual story.

He's actually shown to be protective as early as Ruben. When Ann is going on about how the elven ruins are an important tourist destination Add asks why she's talking like they belong to her. It's extremely passive and he doesn't actually do anything about it because the ruins aren't his either. Then of course you have Toma in Bethma. But you also see the vaguest kind of almost sympathy for Chacha Buch when they have to kill Berauk. Also, he's pissed when they find out that Kayak is messing with the dead. That one's pretty obvious considering his mother's status. In Altera, you see that vague kind of sympathy again with the Ponggos. Specifically when Adel talks about when Ignis and Leviathan went on a rampage and destroyed a lot of their village. Add tells him that those who can't fight or defend themselves get hurt and taken advantage of and that's just how the world works. That does seem pretty harsh, but then he continues to help the Ponggos even when it would be going out of his way to do so. And, unlike Elder or even Bethma, he doesn't hold it against them. Also, while he really doesn't have the right to do so, he gives himself the role of either keeper (or guardian I can't remember which but I'm PRETTY sure its keeper) of the Altera Core in one of his end of dungeon dialogues. That sort of role is specifically both as a caretaker and a protector. It is possessive in nature but it implies a lack of (from Add's point of view) destructive intention. I mentioned this in my analysis of Add and Laby but Add and Allegro are actually amazing and you will have to pry their friendship from my cold dead hands. And again, we see more of Add's protectiveness with Allegro. And we also see more sympathy from Add with Allegro. With Allegro (and Toma) it's more that Add is protecting their interests and emotions than protecting them physically. He's very supportive of both of them and encourages them to do what they're good at. To do what will help the people they care about. Also, he agrees to gather the gargoyle horns to boost morale because he recognizes how important it is. Instead of just deciding to deal with it himself, he helps Lento boost the spirits of the soldiers.

In Velder there are two moments. I don't remember when specifically the first one is, but at some in Velder he says, in reference to the El Search Party, that he might be a little upset if they all died here. And of course he continues stalking them like the stalker he is, but that implies that, while she is still his main goal, it's not just Eve he's watching out for any longer. The second one is when the Glitter Vanguard explodes. Add is pissed. He's pissed the demons outsmarted him. But we've seen him respond to being outsmarted before, and while he got mad then, it wasn't to that extent. I'm assuming here, but given previous moments in the story I don't think it's a stretch. I think he got so angry in Velder because there was a cost to being outsmarted that he wasn't expecting to pay. Because Add is cool with sacrifice. He's also aware that this is war and that not everyone will make it out. But he wasn't expecting to be outsmarted and so he wasn't prepared to lose as much as he did in that single moment. But, unlike Elsword who tries to rush in to save them and get revenge, Add redirects himself without too much trouble to getting those that are still okay out of that situation. Part of that is because he is used to sacrifice while Elsword isn't. But I also think it's because he's already lost a lot in that situation. He's not prepared to sacrifice any more so he makes sure he isn't going to have to. In Hamel, Add's official introduction to the El Search Party is when he protects Eve. And based on the way the dialogue scene plays out I'm assuming he got in the way. When there were about five million other things he could've done, it seems to me that he got in the way. And yes, he's possessive of Eve and that is NOT healthy. But that situation is still protective in nature. Then of course there's the fact that he treats Chung and Ara similar to other childlike characters. I don't remember much of Sander. I hate Sander. But in Lanox there's an interesting sort of situation with Gloria and Darkmoon. Yes, Add interrogated them and accidentally made them cry, yet with adults he wouldn't have bothered with the interrogation at all. He has little regard or sympathy for Ignia despite her situation obviously being a difficult one. But, despite being suspicious of them and their ssituation, he still asks them about it. I also vaguely recall moments with Steel that are similar??? But I don't actually remember. There's also Yuno of course.

And, tangenting for a second, I noticed that at some point between Altera and Atlas the way he refers to Nasods has changed. In Altera he talked about them like they were prizes to be won. In Atlas he talks about them more like... This is probably gonna sound weird, but in Atlas he talks about more like how a scientist talks about an animal. That implies though that while they still aren't quite sentient or autonomous to him, he's recognized that they are alive. There's also the fact that he is very proud of the fact that he helped upgrade Yuno's body to make an allowance for his more powerful core. The thing about that is if he hadn't gained Eve's trust at some point she would not have allowed him ANYWHERE near Yuno while Yuno was so vulnerable. And Add didn't do anything to Yuno except upgrade his body. And Add's so proud of himself for it. Idk that really stuck out to me.

Anyway, back to Add being protective. In Atlas it's almost exclusive to Yuno. Because I think that in spending time with Eve, Add picked up (probably subconsciously) that if they're like Eve then they're basically human. The reason I think that is because he treats Yuno exactly the same way he treats other kids. That clashes very hard with how he treats other Nasods. Yet, you see this lack of objectification with Dekal as well. Because Add talks about Dekal the way he does people. He respects Dekal's pursuit of knowledge but also isn't going to let him get in the way. That's practically exactly his attitude with Wally. He was drawn to Wally because of the latter's own fascination for Nasods. The difference between Dekal and Wally is Add needed Wally there for a little bit.

NOT THAT ITS OKAY OR KOSHER but even Add's possessiveness over Nasods is protective in its essence. Possessiveness is often a desire to protect warped by fear until it's unrecognizeable as such. And Nasods as a concept and in their being are one of the few things he can still recognize and understand in the current time, as well as being a hold over from a time in his life when he felt safest and comfortable.

I think his overall patience with more child-like characters is part of his protectiveness as well. Add knows that losing it with a kid WILL hurt them all too well. So while it is most definitely a struggle sometimes, he tries hard to keep his cool. With the more childlike characters his protectiveness goes above and beyond where it normally is. Not only does he protect them physically, but he encourages them and protects their emotions. Rarely ever do we see him actively protecting an adult, let alone to that sort of extent.

#elsword #elsword online #edward add grenore #add elsword #add #add grenore #psychic tracer #lunatic psyker #doom bringer #arc tracer #mastermind #dominator #time tracer #diabolic esper #mad paradox #can you tell ive played 4 adds #its obvious isnt it

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escapingreality1992 · 5 years

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Corn Maze Fun

On a cool, crisp afternoon in the compound, I sat in my room with one of my best friends, Carol Danvers. We were talking about going out for dinner when Tony popped his head inside the open doorway.

"Family meeting, five minutes. Oh and Arabella, Strange is in attendance," he alerted us.

"Really? You call a family meeting and invite Stephen? Not much of a family meeting is it? Did Thor invite Loki?" I joked, earning a frown from him.

"I can't get over the fact that you're on a first name basis with the wizard,"

"I'll take your answer as a yes. Stephen isn't too bad. He's nice to me anyway,"

"Oh, come on. You do realize the guy can be an asshole sometimes right?"

"There once was a time when you acted the same way. Give him some time. I'm positive he'll come around one day," I said.

"We'll be down in a minute. I need to discuss something with Arabella real quick," Carol interrupted us before we got into a nasty argument. Tony opened his mouth to make another statement but something about Carol's expression made him close it and disappear from sight. Once Tony was out of earshot, she turned her attention on me.

"What?" I questioned.

"We've got to talk about this crush of yours," she stated, making me cringe.

"I don't have a crush on Stephen. Everyone thinks I do but-,"

"Why are you crushing on Thor? Have you seen him lately?" Carol blurted out, a disapproving expression scrawled over her features. I narrowed my eyes at her, anger flaring up inside.

"You disapprove of it because why? Because he's chubby? You know looks have never mattered to me right? Besides he's adorable. I love Viking Thor," I snapped.

"Ara, I love you but surely there are better options than him. Even Strange would be a significant improvement. And you look cute when you're around-,"

"We're late to the meeting," I stated, cutting her off. I got off the bed and walked out into the hallway. Carol let out an exasperated sigh, giving up at the idea of convincing me I was nuts to like Thor. Sure, he had let himself go, but he hadn't changed much in personality. In fact he'd gotten funnier, more relaxed than before. We descended the steps to the lounge and I gracefully glided over to Stephen, who was sitting on one of the couches; I placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. He chuckled and stood to give me a quick hug. I returned it, releasing him a moment later and made my way to approach Thor. He truly became my favorite person in the world.

"Mind if I sit here?" I asked him, gesturing to his lap. I noticed Loki rolling his eyes and shot him a wink, waiting on Thor to answer me.

"I don't mind at all. Come, sit. Drink," he replied, holding up a beer stein filled to the brim with a bright golden ale; as tempting as it looked, I knew better. Asgardian ale took its toll on me and I no longer could tolerate its taste; it made me sick and I woke with the worst hangover I've had in my lifetime.

"No thanks. I'll take my seat though," I said, lowering myself onto his spread legs, throwing my own over the armrest, careful not to spill his beer. My back pressed into his arm and our attention turned onto Tony when he began the meeting.

"We've been invited to attend a corn maze tomorrow morning at 11 by Horror Candies, an organization that specializes in fall activities not limited to just horror shows. It sounds fun but it's adult-themed meaning alcohol will be served. We're to go in groups of five and I've assigned everyone to a specific one and in what order we go in," he announced. How intriguing. Perfect for fall though, I thought. I watched as some in the room frowned, others grinned, deeming it easy.

"There are rules. No magic, no powers or mischief," Tony continued, looking directly at Loki with utterance of the last rule. I stifled a laugh watching Loki feign surprise at the mention of it.

"Wonderful! A grand idea indeed!" Thor boomed, a ginormous grin plastered on his face.

"Drinks are served at the end of the maze. There is to be no drinking during or before the event. They're afraid of disorderly conduct of the people attending. Plus, they don't want to be liable for any accidents or injuries," Steve explained, reading from a piece of paper, my guess being the invitation for the event. Thor's smile faded from his lips, forming into somewhat of a pout.

"Don't look so glum. It'll be fun," I told him.

"Yeah, anything to get out of the compound for a few hours. At least it's not a mission this time," Natasha agreed.

"How many people to a group?" Stephen asked, making Tony continue the discussion.

"Five. I've invited a few others. They're planning on meeting us there. The groups are as follows. First group, Rhodey, Wanda, Vision, Clint and me. Second group, Thor, Lang, Sam, Strange and Bruce. Third group, Danvers, my lovely Pepper, Hope Van Dyne, Hill and Arabella. Last group, Barnes, T'Challa, Reindeer Games, Nat and Cap," he told us.

"Weird combinations of people," I commented.

"Eh, different people with a unique set of skills between them," Carol commented, shrugging her shoulders.

"Right. We'll meet down here at 7 a.m. and fly out to Roanoke, Virginia. We'll meet the rest of the crew there. Group up, do the maze and have a celebration after," Steve informed us. Most of us groaned, Thor and I included. We weren't early morning people but at least we'd get some reward out of it. Dispersing after being dismissed, Carol and I, joined by Stephen went out to grab dinner at a local sushi restaurant, washing it down with beer and returned home where I spent most of the evening playing on my phone and watching YouTube videos.

The Next Morning

My alarm blared at exactly 6 a.m. waking me from my deep sleep. I set it exceedingly early in order to take a shower and still have enough time to get dressed to meet everyone downstairs. I yelped at the cold water, it being necessary to help wake me up fully and be alert should I need to concentrate later. Cleaning rather quickly, I got out, checking the temperature in Roanoke. I dressed accordingly, putting on an outfit I didn't mind getting dirty. I exited my room, first grabbing a novel and stuffing my earbuds in my pocket for the two hour flight. I met my friends downstairs, Steve, Nat, Carol, and Tony having got up earlier than I did. Damn the 5 a.m. people. As more people filed in, Stephen arriving by portal, we started discussing the itinerary of the day's event. Scott, Hope, and T'Challa were expected to arrive a few minutes after us, followed by Hill who had demanded to travel alone. We were meeting the hosts, Sally and Jack, and have picture then we could do the maze, which only lasted an hour supposedly; each group would go in half an hour after each other.

"Ara, go get your boyfriend," Natasha told me when Thor still hadn't come down at the meeting time.

"He's not my boyfriend," I commented, heat spreading across my face.

"Not yet. Just go get him will you? We're running behind," Carol stated. The heat grew hotter and I ran down the hallway to the room at the end of the hall. I knocked and called out his name, receiving no answer. Twisting the door knob, I discovered it unlocked and let myself in.

"Thor? Are you ready? We've got...Oh my god! T-Thor! Put some clothes on!" I stated, abruptly shielding my eyes when I slammed into him and his nude body. A new heat flushed my cheeks and I turned, averting my eyesight to the plush, carpeted floor.

"Arabella! Sorry! I didn't hear you knock," he said.

"J-Just put something on and let's go. Preferably something with pants," I told him, ashamed of glancing back at him. I heard a ruffle of clothes and felt the tap of his hand against my shoulder when he was decent. We walked out of his room and I hoped embarrassment at what I encountered had faded from my face as we entered the lounge.

"Finally! Time to go," Tony exclaimed. I caught the concerned looks of Carol and Stephen, both mouthing the words 'Are you okay?' my way. I nodded and caught up with Carol linking arms.

"You sure?" she whispered, her breath soft as a feather brushing against my skin.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I whispered back. We made it to the airport and climbed aboard, Loki and I both making tea, settling into our books for the flight. Halfway through Thor, approached me and took the empty seat next to me.

"I am sorry for what occurred earlier. You weren't meant to see me in that way," he apologized. My face burned in embarrassment and shame.

"Don't worry about it. I should've been more forceful with my knock,"

"Ara.."

"I don't want to talk about it. Please, Thor. Drop it,"

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I-,"

"I'm not embarrassed. Can you drop it and leave me alone," I snapped and looked at him. Instant regret flooded my mind at his expression.

"I am sorry. Truly. I know you must find me repulsive. I'll leave you to your novel," he commented, hurt clouding his blue eyes. He got up and returned to his prior seat up front beside Bruce. Nice, Arabella. You hurt his feelings, I thought. I attempted to resume my book but his words lingered in my head for the rest of the flight and I made a note to apologize later.

Corn Maze

Since we got a late start, we arrived after the others and had a quick introduction with the hosts. We took the picture and then grouped off, Rhodey's team entering first. The area where we at was gorgeous. They had a tent beginning to be set up where drinks and food would be served. Music blared from speakers all around the maze giving it a party-like atmosphere. The maze itself was huge and reminded me of the one in Goblet of Fire except with corn and less creepy. While waiting on our turn, I tried to talk to Thor, to apologize for my outburst on the plane.

"Thor? Listen I-,"

"Look, it's my turn. Hope you have fun," he cut me off, following the rest of his group into the maze.

"Dammit," I mumbled. When it came time for my group, Carol took her place on my left, Hope on my right.

"Having a lover's spat?" Carol asked as we turned a corner and kept going along the path.

"We are not dating. I doubt we ever will. Especially since I snapped at him on the plane,"

"Yeah, I heard. What did he do? Flatten you?"

"Stop making fun of his weight. He...ranintomenaked," I answered, saying the last part quickly.

"What?" Hope asked.

"He ran into me naked. I knocked but he didn't answer. Naturally, I went in and he was in the midst of getting dressed. We collided into each other. He happened to be nude as we did so," I ground out, my face on fire. The girls around me busted out laughing.

"Shut up..." I grumbled.

"This way. So, you were embarrassed. How big was it?" Pepper stated, trying to refrain from laughing again. My skin felt so hot, I thought I'd combust.

"I...didn't notice. I turned around too fast to really see,"

"What I don't understand it...well, why do you like Thor so much? I mean he really let himself go," Maria commented.

"Give him a break. He's been through a lot. He lost his parents, Jane dumped him and then he thought Loki died for real again and half of his people abandoned him. Besides, he's very sweet and down-to-earth, you know. He's still Thor but chubbier," I answered, pulling them around another turn.

"Hey! I think I'm lost!" Thor's loud voice echoed through the maze.

"It doesn't bother you?" Hope questioned. I shook my head and soon we were out of the maze.

"Didn't he go with Strange and Bruce? Shouldn't they have...hey, there they are," Carol noted, gesturing over to the other groups that went in before us.

"Thor's not with them," I stated.

"Guys! Where did everyone go?" Thor yelled from inside the maze.

"What happened? Wasn't he with you?" I asked, concern growing in my mind.

"Yeah, but he took a left when he should have gone straight. He kept walking ahead of us. We tried getting him to come back but he seemed distracted," Bruce answered.

"Fuck! So, he's really lost then?" I said. I started pacing, worried my outburst might have messed him up. The last group joined us and they walked over to the tent with the bar that got set up when we arrived.

"Are you coming?" Stephen asked me. I shook my head, worried about Thor.

"He's going to be okay. He'll find his way out. There's probably more exits," Stephen attempted to reassure me, rubbing my shoulders in a comforting motion.

"You don't understand. I snapped at him on the plane. Told him to leave me alone. He thought I found him repulsive," I told him, my voice quaking with a mixture of fear, concern and, more importantly, guilt.

"Hello? I'm lost. Guys, I'm really starting to panic here," Thor called out again.

"Arabella! Strange! Grab a drink. What's wrong?" Tony said, walking over to us followed by Carol, Steve, Bucky and Maria.

"She's worried that she made Thor sad. She said she snapped at him earlier. Maybe somehow convinced him she didn't like him," Carol commented. I shot her a glare and looked to the sky. The sun began to set, the day getting darker by the minute.

"Help! I can't find my way out!" Thor's voice boomed over the loud music, over the crowd of people partying.

"Why doesn't he just fly out?" Tony asked.

"No flying remember. He didn't bring the hammer or Stormbreaker either to try to stick to the rules," I stated, leaving Stephen's grasp to walk into the maze so I could find Thor.

"Wait! Arabella! You can't go in there alone. We don't even know which path he took and we can't have two Avengers lost in the maze. Look..." Steve protested, releasing a huge sigh. "I brought the hammer. So just ask him to call out for it," he stated.

"Fly out, you idiot!" Tony yelled.

"I can't! It's against the rules!" Thor shouted.

"Screw the rules! You're lost! Call out for the hammer! Fly out!" Tony shouted back, facepalming himself.

"Oh, right!" A few moments of silence filled the air despite the music blaring from the speakers around us and the people talking nearby and then the silver hammer lifted and flew into the maze. Rows of corn splintered, creating a path, disappearing deep into the maze. We watched as Thor rose above the stalks, hovering high for a few seconds before being lowered, his feet brushing the top of the corn husks. Most of us struggled not to laugh, failing as he continued flying towards us, his feet still brushing the top of the husks; his weight evidently a factor of this. He landed before the group, blue eyes twinkling, cheeks flushed red from the cool temperature and the flight back to us.

"Good job big guy. Go grab yourself a drink," Carol told him, patting his shoulder.

"Yes. I must celebrate this glorious night," He walked past us, not even glancing my way; it hurt me and I tried not let anyone see the tears springing to my eyes.

"See, he's fine. You need to get a drink yourself. Relax, have fun," Stephen told me. I nodded and headed into the direction of the bar, waiting on the bartender to come to me.

"What will it be sweetheart?" she asked me, when it came to be my turn.

"She'll take a bloody Mary, extra spicy," Thor's voice ordered before I had a chance to open my mouth. He walked up beside me, beer in hand.

"Coming right up," the bartender said, walking away to mix it up.

"You know me too well," I told him, leaning forward on the bar counter as he leaned his back on it.

"All those years and you've never noticed how much I've liked you," he confessed.

"What about Jane? Surely, you must've liked her if you dated her,"

"Jane is different. She's smart and beautiful in her own way. She's nothing compared to you. I thought that after we broke up, you might consider...but then my father died and then Asgard burned, more chaos happening shortly after that. It really messed up my mind," he told me, looking out at our friends who were talking among each other.

"Then that," I gestured to his stomach. "Happened. I guess we've both been through a lot," I commented, getting my drink and proceeding to thank the bartender.

"Repulsive, I know. You made that clear this morning," he mumbled.

"No. I don't find you repulsive at all. You're still you. That's what matters most. I'm sorry I snapped at you. You were right. I was embarrassed from walking in on you," I stated, toying with my straw. He set down his mug as he turned his body to face me. Our eyes locked and his lips were on mine before I even registered his movements. His hands came to cup the back of my skull, my own reaching up to keep them there. The kiss was soft and gentle; sweet like maple syrup, even though he had been drinking beer. His thick beard scratched my skin, tickling my lips when we took a breath only to go back in for one more. I pressed closer, my fingers crawling to latch in his long Viking style hair, his arms wrapped around my waist, gripping the fabric of my hoodie. We broke apart, foreheads touching, breathing hard.

"So does this mean you accept my apology?" I asked. He chuckled and placed a kiss on the top of my head, pulling my body into his side and wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"Yes and much more. It confirms you like me as much as I like you. Let's go join our friends. I'm sure they'd enjoy our company," he replied. We walked down, hugging each other much to the surprise of our friends. Carol gave me a thumbs up and we continued celebrating until it was time to return home.

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goliath-de-senfina-sango · 5 years

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Jewelry and Moral Dilemmas

School was its usual boring self, a tad tenser with Danny feeling less than happy talking with Sam. He was sure he’d be over it soon enough. Right as it was about to end, Danny found his traitorous mind swinging away from the chemicals needed to reflect a specific part of the ultraviolet spectrum of light and toward his social failings. School did things like that to the brain after all.

“Thanks to you,” Tucker poked at him with a grin, “I now know the quickest way to a girl’s heart: clean boxers.”

Danny sighed and rubbed his neck, kicking the tile floor. “Man, I blew it yesterday. Paulina probably won’t even look at me now.”

Moping at the floor like he was, Danny didn’t notice the footsteps of a certain latina cheerleader, who offered a small wave. “Yoohoo, Danny?”

Danny’s head rose so fast a joint almost popped. Paulina was back? After everything? Danny nudged Tucker in the ribs and Tuck gave a thumbs up before jogging off. “Uh hi, Paulina.”

“Hi you,” Paulina chuckled, walking closer. “I just wanted…”

A crushing blow at his side shoved the too small Danny into his locker, closing the door on him. “Meet me?” A gratingly familiar voice finished her sentence. “Who doesn’t?”

Danny felt anger buzz under his skin and vibrate him out of the visible rainbow. Does Dash think he can just fucking shove anyone around? Well, Danny thought, let’s see how he feels about having his clothes fused together. Sliding through the molecules of his locker, Danny grabbed onto Dash’s back, reaching through the jacket. But he reached too deep too quickly and suddenly he was being pulled in, filling a space larger than he was normally crammed into, his being humming through muscles not his own. “I’m… in Dash?”

“Excuse me?” Right, Paulina. Think about the new power later, think about the weirdness of wearing Dash like a heavy coat later. Currently, it was revenge time.

“I’m captain of the resident Geek club and I’ve kept every toenail I’ve ever clipped!” With all the excitement he could muster Danny leaned in close. “Wanna see?”

“No.” Sour notes rang in her aura and Danny nearly cackled. Considering the circumstances, he let the body cackle and got down on one knee.

“Oh well, you should see the guy I just shoved in the locker, Fenton! He doesn’t rub his mom’s feet like me.” Dash’s hands reached for Paulina’s shoes. “Which is a shame cause I’ve been tryna teach him how to give foot rubs.”

“Eew, get away loser!” Paulina took a step back and Danny smirked as he pulled up and away from Dash’s big clumsy form. Phasing back into his locker, Danny noted that Dash felt a compulsion to rub his mom’s feet and that was a fascinating additional tidbit about the power. “Hey, Danny? What’s your number?” Danny gave her the numbers and was soon tumbling out of the locker, face meeting linoleum. Danny rolled over and Paulina laughed. “We have to stop meeting like this.” Her eyes widened, picking up something that must’ve fallen out of Danny’s bag. “Oh my goodness, what is that?” Paulina picked up a necklace, glittering gold surrounding an emerald and held together on a gold chain. With the way she was looking at it, it could practically be made of real gems and gold.

“That? Uh. You like it?”

“It’s beautiful!”

Danny got to his feet and rubbed his arm with a smile. “That’s great cause It’s for you!”

Paulina gave Danny a smile that warmed him up on the inside and her aura was singing with chirping birds. “Really?”

“Yeah, uh, I got it in case I got the nerve to ask you to the dance and you said yes.” Danny grabbed his pants before they could fall. “I wanted to get you something in case of that and uh that’s what I was planning on though, now that I look again it doesn’t really do you justice.”

“Well, you are kinda cute, and you have great taste in underwear.” Paulina put the necklace on herself and flashed another smile Danny’s way. “I’d love to go with you.”

As soon as Paulina was out of earshot Danny tugged on his jacket. “What am I doing? That doesn’t belong to me- it could be my mom’s or my sister’s…” Paulina waved goodbye and turned the corner, that blossom of warmth in Danny’s chest spreading. “Which is future Danny’s problem, cause she said yes ! Whoo!” Tossing his arms in the air, Danny barely felt embarrassed when his jeans fell again. Picking them up Danny heard the grating whine of displeasure behind him on the wrong level of existence to be paying attention to.

“Pantless again, Mr. Fenton?” The balding pot-bellied vice principal drawled with his hands behind his back. “That’s the third time this week I’ve caught you,” Lancer paused, pulled out a book titled How to Sound Hip for the Unhip, “dropping trou.” Danny’s foot nearly dipped below the tiles as he tried to keep his laughter inside. “I think it’s time I met your father for a Parent-Teacher Conference.” The paper Lancer handed him made keeping the giggles in a lot easier.

“My Dad?” Orion, how am I gonna handle this one?

“Until then, here.” Lancer handed him a belt. How did that fit in his pocket? “It’ll keep your pants up and you out of trouble with the man.”

During class, Danny took down notes on how his power expanded itself. The flesh had felt wrong, alien when he was inside of it. Dash was bigger than him, heavier and Danny was amazed he hadn’t stumbled around when moving the jerk’s body. The feeling of Dash’s mind beneath his, pushed under the surface of consciousness, was like wisps of air trying to escape like bubbles but not quite knowing it was trapped.

Mr. Falluca tried to get the slip on a seemingly inattentive Danny, but Science was his Thing, and Danny managed an answer and a tangent on every question shot his way. Falluca was impressed but reminded Danny to at least look at the board occasionally. Danny made no promises to do so.

When Danny got home, the belt Lancer had repeatedly instructed him to put on nearly forgotten at his waist, he found his Dad monitoring the portal with the Fenton Fisher in his hands, though there was an extra blast shield between Dad and the rest of the lab. Let it never be said that Fenton’s work slow.

Walking through the door of the shield Danny waved. "Hey Dad, catch anything?“ Danny knew the answer, but it was the best way to Segway to the issue.

"Couldn’t catch a cold, Danny. I’m so frustrated I wanna take it out on the first person to give me bad news! Probably one of those GIW agents…”

Trying to ignore the sound of a hornet’s nest coming from his dad on that second level of reality, Danny weighed his options. Then, he slipped onto that second level, reaching into his Dad and pushing him up to the third layer that Danny saw when he dissociated. "Mr. Lancer wants to talk to us.“

Dad’s muscle memory took over for him as Danny directed the body to drive to the school immediately. Danny had more to do than just fake his way through a PT conference.

Lancer’s office was so much smaller from his dad’s point of view. The chair especially so. Lancer’s droning voice, unfortunately, was always going to be boring. “Thank you for coming to discuss your son’s schooling, Mr. Fenton.”

“Well yeah of course!” Danny never realized before that this was his dad’s speaking volume. “He’s my little man, gotta know what’s up with him.”

“Well, there’s been a couple of incidents with his pants.” Sweet Tucana, is this how he describes everyone’s problems?

“Ah, his pants! I told Danny if he didn’t stop studying so he could eat some more his pants’d fall down. He forgets ya see.”

Lancer hummed, looking to the side in consideration. “That would explain some things…”

Holy Pavo, did that work? “Of course you understand! No wonder you’re Danny’s favorite teacher.”

Lancer arched a brow at that, leaning forward a bit. “I am?”

“Yeah, ‘strict but fair and informative’ he always calls ya.” Danny held up a fist with a grin. “We Fentons, as people of science, understand that teachers are underpaid and underappreciated. Without you who would be there to educate our future society on how it all works?”

A smile slowly spread over Lancer’s face. “I like your style, Mr. Fenton.” Hook line and sinker. “In fact, I’d like you to chaperone the dance.”

Internally, Danny recoiled at the idea of his dad chaperoning the dance in any capacity what so ever. Remembering exactly how his dad responded to anything he wasn’t interested in, Danny gave as firm and exuberant a, “No thanks!” as he could. “I’ve got to test my inventions, see what needs improving.”

“Are you sure, Mr. Fenton?”

“That’s Dr. Fenton,” Danny corrected, “and yes. Now, if that’s all you wanted to talk about.” Not giving Lancer so much as a chance to say otherwise, Danny walked his dad out of the office and drove home. Portal open, fishing line tossed, Danny whispered in his father’s head that he’d been doing this so long he zoned out and flew out of him. Danny rose up to his room and slumped against the wall.

“Ara, that went better than I expected,” Danny muttered. “I gotta tell Tuck and Sam about this.”

“So wait, you got Dash to say he scrubs his mom’s feet?” Sam snorted. “To Paulina of all people?”

“Not only that but he also asked himself - out loud which is a dumb way to ask yourself certain questions - why he wanted to scrub his mom’s feet after I left his body.” Danny chuckled as he took a bite of his burger.

“So lemme get this straight,” Tucker said.

“Nothing I say is straight, Tucker.”

“You can just walk into people and take over their bodies?”

“Well, when you put it that way.” Danny smacked away Tucker’s thieving hands from his food.

“No no, I mean, if you could walk into a girl for like, 3 minutes…” Tucker was then assaulted by Sam’s combat boots directly to the toes, and Danny glared at him. “Christ, it was just a joke!”

“It was a horribly creepy joke, and you should feel bad about it,” Sam said, stealing his fries. Tucker looked ready to protest but Sam gave him a challenging scowl and he let it drop.

“You can get a date to the dance on your own like I did.” Danny rolled his eyes.

“Does he have to take off his pants and act like a dweeb or will either work?” Sam tilted her head. “No, wait he’s always acting like a dweeb. Looks like the pants must go Tuck.”

Danny pouted, narrowing his eyes at Sam. “I do not act like a dweeb, Sam. I act like an intelligent romantic.” The laughter from both of his friends was frankly rude and unnecessary. “What?”

Tucker leaned over and patted Danny’s hand. “Nothing Danny, you’re very romantic and understand how all that works. Definitely.”

“I don’t stalk the girl’s locker room looking for dates,” Danny said as flatly as he could manage. Tucker winced, then jabbed Danny in the shoulder.

“Touche.”

“Honestly, I’m glad I’m not going to this stupid dance,” Sam said, picking at the scraps left of her salad. “Saves me the embarrassment of wearing this lame dress my parents bought me.”

Tucker, ever insightful, smirked at her. “No one asked you, did they?”

“Guess I’m not as standardly pretty as Paulina is,” Sam spat out venomously.

“So she’s pretty,” Danny said, pointing his last fry at Sam. “It’s not a crime. What’s your deal?”

“Looks are deceiving Danny.”

Before Danny could offer a rebuttal to that blanket statement that answered nothing, his body went cold and he heard a familiar melody at the back of his mind. The three teens stood up as one, and Danny turned to the sound of screaming. “Shit. Guys let’s see what we’ve got.”

Danny ran to a shadowy corner where he was sure the cameras couldn’t see him and slipped into his Phantom form. He flew around the corner and pulled up short when he saw the dragon from the other day. “Well fuck. Haven’t I seen you before?” The dragon roared at him, a line of fire spewing out of its mouth and Danny swerved around it, ready for that this time. “Let’s try that again. Hi, I’m Danny Phantom, and you are?”

Danny saw Tucker and Sam’s wrist ray fire before he saw the tail coming his way, and dropped to the ground, thankful for his friends. The beams flew right over the ducking dragon’s head and it swiped it’s tail at Danny, missing by a mile. “Testy got it.” Danny charged at the dragon, tackling it by the midsection. It flew back when he stopped and Danny grinned when twin wrist ray shots flew and one managed to zap the dragon in the face.

It roared at them all, and pounced at Danny, missing once again when Danny phased through it. “Must have Tee!” A line of fire shot forth again and Danny dove to the ground.

“Oh, tea? Good idea! Coffee can make you a mite jittery.” Danny slipped onto that second level and smirked. “Better yet.” Sinking into the ground, Danny rose up with an uppercut to the dragon’s jaw. “How bout some punch?” The dragon flew so far that Danny lost track of it for a second as he flew.

Lowering down to Sam and Tucker’s level, he noted that the aura of crackling flames had vanished and flew off to a corner to turn back, then walked around a different corner.

“Holy shit, Danny are you ok?” Tucker was immediately checking Danny for burns and bruises and Danny chuckled.

“Yeah, Tuck, I’m fine. Except that’s the second time I fought that dragon. We need to investigate. How are you guys?”

“We’re fine,” Sam said. “Though Tucker needs to work on his aim.”

“That dragon was moving really fast, Sam, and so was Danny. I didn’t wanna hit him.” Tucker sighed. “But yeah, I’m fine. Dateless still though I’ve asked pretty much every girl in school except…” Tucker turned as Valerie Grey walked by. “Hey, Val?”

“No.”

“Ugh. Alright, well plan fuckin B I guess.” Tucker glared as Sam opened her mouth. “And I’m keeping my pants on.”

“Sure you are Tuck.” Sam patted the geek on the arm. “Meanwhile, during important business, I’m going to look up that dragon best I can. Send me a picture of it?”

“Sending now,” Tucker muttered, already walking off to go find a date.

“Well, while you guys do that I’m gonna go see if I can manage to make blurple into a color I can paint with.” Danny grinned as he ran off.

“That color doesn’t need a name if only you can see it!”

“Yes, it does!”

When Danny got home, he ran first upstairs to find something suitable for the dance, and then to find his mother when he found nothing. “Hey, Mom? Where’s that suit you got me for the Sadie Hawkins’ dance that Sam made the middle school do? I wanna see if it still fits or if I need a new one.”

#Danny Phantom #Danny Fenton #Tucker Foley #Paulina Sanchez #Dash Baxter #Mr. Lancer #Jack Fenton #Sam Manson #Fanfiction #Phanfiction #Homo Ecto Sapiens

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