#your friends with pentagon

[cosmojjong]

thinking of when that universe lied to her fiancé saying she was gonna hang out with a few friends and went to pentagon's fanmeeting instead and pentagon covered for her saying they're actually nine guy friends of his soon-to-be wife like. no it was hilarious

#was it jinho who said 'the 9 guy friends of your wife" #idk but that segment was the funniest #pentagon

[anonymousangstmonster]

Prompt #34

Little three year old Danny Fenton died when he accidentally zapped himself with a live wire. The parents were devastated, and tried all that they could to bring him back, and they succeeded!

In a week they managed to resurrect their baby by making him half-ghost.

But ever since then he would have random and unpredictable fits of aggression and violence. Sometimes they would be mere days apart, other times they would be several months apart.

So unfortunately they had to keep him under control. To do that they put a padded shackle that he couldn’t phase out of around his ankle, chained to the wall with a rubber coated, lightweight, double-reinforced, long chain.

His new room was a little corner of the lab sectioned off by a semicircle of glass with toggle-able fogginess. You might have thought that it was plain and sterile like the rest of the lab, and you’d be wrong, it was pretty cozy. The space was bigger than his old room, and the ceiling was twice as high. He had a desk and chair, three bird nest-like hammocks(one of which was more like a hidy-hole), his old bed, a couch and tv with a wii console, a mini-fridge for juice and water, a shelf for snacks, little model spaceships hanging from the ceiling, and monkey bars. The hammocks and monkey bars were attached to the wall, though that wasn’t a problem for him since he could fly. The wall was painted with a mural of the night sky and there were NASA posters plastered everywhere.

Even with the parents busy schedules they took the time to homeschool him, and encouraged his love of astronomy.

The Fentons hired a whole team devoted to his wellbeing, a doctor, a therapist, a tutor for when neither of them had the time, a lawyer, and even a specific CPS agent came to visit him every once in a while to bring him his favorite tea.

The FentonWorks lab was heavily secured, with voice activated and handprint required entry, so many firewalls that the place was harder to hack into than the Pentagon.

Fortunately for Sam, her best friend has had plenty of experience hacking into the Pentagon. So she brought him along to break her in when she heard that there was human experimentation going on in FentonWorks.

What she didn’t expect to see was a healthy looking(if a bit pale) boy, lounging on a couch playing video games on a large tv while snacking on a bag of Doritos at three AM.

A boy that would soon be let outside the lab for the first time in eleven years to attend high school.

Man, I really like making Danny grow up thinking that being the product of your parents lab experiment is normal.

#Danny Phantom #writing #writing prompt #Danny Phantom writing prompt #DP #writing idea #dp writing #fic #fic prompt #fic idea #DP fic #DP fic prompt #DP writing #DP writing prompt #AnAnMo’s DP writing ideas #danny fenton #maddie fenton #jack fenton #sam manson #tucker foley #lab rat #long

[rad-batson]

The Robins as RA’s Because I Said So

Credentials: I’m an RA, trust me.

Dick Grayson: The “Cool” RA

His friends told him he’d be great at it so he applied

Holds your hair back when you’re throwing up in the bathroom

Gives life lessons at every opportunity even when you don’t want them

Sees his residents in the hallway and proceeds to talk their ear off

Knocks on your door if he hasn’t seen you in a few days to make sure you’re doing alright

Has the “I’m not mad. I’m just disappointed” face on point

You actually feel bad when he catches you drinking in the halls :(

Jason Todd: The Cool RA

Wanted something to pad his resume so he applied

Will help you hide a body. “Just ask.” You didn’t, but you can’t remember how it came up either

Doesn’t care about the Rules, per se, but he will judge you for lacking common sense

“You know what, Derek? I’m writing you up just for being stupid. You could have at least put it in a paper bag.”

Organizes all of his events last minute, best attendance in the building

One day, he lets it slip that he has a 4.3 GPA

No one believes him until he actually shows them with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face

Tim Drake: The Invisible RA

Didn’t want to go apartment hunting so he applied for the free housing

Do you even have an RA? Does he even live here?

Apparently, he’s like triple-majoring or something, but like…no one knows what for. Or how. (He's really Undecided)

Does the bare minimum, but somehow still excels at his job

Everyone who sees him has a completely different description of what he looks like

One person starts the rumor that he’s a vampire, which is only made worse when someone sees him looking ghostly pale while chugging some weird red drink (Ultra Red Monster) in the middle of the night

Stephanie Brown: The Best Friend RA

One of those people who actually likes living in student housing so she applied

Gossips with everyone

“You didn’t hear this from me but-“ and “What am I, your mother?” are her most common phrases

Will probably get fired just because of how many university secrets she’s spilled

Keeps her door open at all times, her room is super cute too

One of her residents walks in and says, “You won’t believe what my boyfriend did this time!” Stephanie is already popping popcorn.

Will let you get away with shit if you make a good case for yourself

Damian Wayne: The Try-Hard RA

It’s a tradition in his family now, and he takes those very seriously, so he applied

A troublemaker’s worst nightmare

He will catch you drinking. No one knows how. Even his boss thinks it’s suspicious.

Seconds from a mental breakdown at all times of the day

Absolutely livid when the event he spent the least amount of effort on gets the best attendance (He just brought all of his art supplies to the lounge and taught people how to draw)

Writes incident reports like they’re addressed to the Pentagon

A resident comes to his door crying because her grandmother passed away, and Damian completely blanks on what to do so he lets her into his room and gives her a really long hug while she calms down, then he sits her down and lets her vent for an hour. A week later, she comes back and thanks him for being there when she needed it. It sticks with him for years.

#batfamily #dick grayson #jason todd #tim drake #stephanie brown #damian wayne #batfam #robin #batfamily headcanons #dc robin #dc #tw death

[everywherea11thetime]

So High School | ln4 x singer!reader| smau

warnings: mentions of sex

a/n: added a lil espresso bc it was way too short:/

y/ninstagram

liked by 300,405 others

y/ninstagram: New single out now! It’s called so high school. I wanna thank jack for helping produce this and i wanna thank my boy for being my muse<3 You know who you are i love you;).

view all comments

fan63: YESS Y/N IS FEEDING USSSS

fan95: hello who is this about😭

fan24: girlll “you know how to drive i know Aristotle” imma need every person who has a license in the world

fan78: is this abt a race car driver?

→fan75: Nascar maybe??

mclaren: We love the song y/n🧡

→fan35: ariana wyd here?

→fan40: is the song about a mclaren driver?

→fan28: girl no

twitter

fan40: guys I think so high school is abt a McLaren f1 driver and here’s why. Most obvious one, in her song So High School she says you know how to drive i know aristotle, so it’s somebody in the racing world, then on her anouncement mclaren commented saying that they “loved the song” know it might just be that y/n a McLaren f1 fan but also maybe they met at the bahrain gp that y/n was in march. coincidence I THINK NOT.

→fan38: girl im not gonna lie ur kinda onto something…

→fan82: nurse shes out again!

F1wags

Liked by:y/ninstagram and 18,974 others

F1wags: Lando Norris and singer/songwriter Y/n Y/Ln spotted at Club Gascon in London out only a week after speculations of who her new song So High School was about. People said they had their romantic dinner then were spotted walking to the guildhall art gallery. New couple alert?

view all comments

fan64: Y/N IN THE LIKES?????!!!!

fan71: guys maybe that twitter thread was right…

fan49: she dates to many guys, im scared for lando

→fan57: her song abt him is literally how she wants them to be forever bsffr…

fan35: Not my two worlds colliding

fan91: im actually so ready for this relationship

fan86: the next album is about to be so fireee

fan63: @/y/ninstagram @/landonorris care to explain yourselves???

→y/ninstagram: No thanks

→landonorris: no we’re good

→fan63: WE’RE!!!???????

fan54: THEY HIT THE PENTAGON

Texts between lando and y/n

y/n: should we just hard launch already?

landino: I mean they kinda already know.

y/n: alr im making the post, make yours sweet please. I dont trust you

landino: awhh please baby i had a whole caption out😔🤚

y/n: don’t come crying to after mclaren scolding you again babe

landino: YIPPIEEEE

y/ninstagram

y/ninstagram: you know what you wanted and boy, you got her🧡 ft real pic of me on the last slide watching lan and his friends listen to so high school

tagged:landonorris

comments

maxfewtrell: still haven’t recovered from that song…

→landonorris: wanna play gta tonight?

→maxfewtrell: NO

→angryginge13: NO

→martingarrix: NO

→ maxverstappen: NO

→ danielricciardo: NO

→ y/ninstagram: damn, American Pie then?

landonorris: love you babe(i would have chose kill)

→ y/ninstagram: oh what’d you say “no sex for a month”

→ landonorris: NO I SAID I LOVE YOU AND YOUR THE BEST PERSON ON THIS EARTH AND YOUR SO AWESOME AND COOL😍❤️❤️❤️💕💕😘😘🥰(plz lemme eat u out)

fan40: I WAS RIGHT AND U ALL SAID I WAS CRAZY

fan83: the fifth slide!!!!???

fan74: they’re actually so cute omg

landonorris

liked by:y/Instagram and 1,031,495

landonorris: it’s true, swear, scouts honor . Also me n her if we were in gta🤭

Comments

Maxfewtrell:WAIT I JUST GOT THE SCOUTS HONOR LYRIC… GROSS

→ landonorris: sorry💁

→ y/ninstagram: sorry💁‍♀️

martingarrix: I will never be able to look either of y'all in the eye

→ y/ninstagram: sorry💁‍♀️

→ landonorris: sorry💁

Y/Instagram: i told you to make it sweet…

→landonorris: this IS sweet…like you😛

→y/Instagram: blocked and reported

fan57: 3RD SLIDE IS SO MOMMY🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️

Mclaren: hey can we maybe not

fan10: y/n plz I could treat you so much better

→landonorris: did you not listen to the song?

carlossainz: landos not so little anymore🥲

→y/Instagram: definitely not little

oscarpiastri: guys please tell them to stop making out in front of me I. AM. TIRED

Y/Instagram

liked by landonorris and 2,275,286 others

y/ninstagram: ESPRESSO SONG AND MUSIC VIDEO OUT NOW!

veiw all comments

landonorris: you mountain dew it for me😻😻😻

landonorris: first

landonorris: most beautiful amazing gorgeous person on this earth🤭🤭

→y/ninstagram: 🤭🤭🤭 cmere🤭🤭🤭

→ landonorris: yes ma’am🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️

fan45: not Lando being a simp on main

→landonorris: AND I WILL DO IT AGAIN

fan76: why does vroom vroom guy keep getting songs😔

→y/ninstagram: the d is fireeeeee

☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎☺︎

a/n2: sorry this took so long and was so short, collage is not for the weak and I've had tests all week

#everywherea11thetime #lando norris x reader #lando norris smau #f1 x reader #lando norris x you #ln4 x reader

[skele-ghost]

Baby, it’s Hot Outside: Part 1

I wrote this like 8 months ago as a smut fic…and never got to the smut part. Rest assured, there will be smut eventually.

MDNI, 18+, Warnings: Omegaverse AU, being sick, mentions of illicit drug use, people yelling?

See prologue for summary and masterlist

You’ve been with the 141 for about six months. A decent amount of time, plenty of missions—but you still feel like you’re the outsider, somehow.

It’s because they’re a pack, the five of them, and you’re the tag-along coworker, the specialist. You’re all good friends, sure, but they’re all mates. You don’t stand half a chance against a bond like that.

You keep your sorrows to yourself, though—your envy. They’re all happy together, and you’re happy for them, even if part of your heart aches for that kind of love and affection you’ve never known.

You’re a beta, we’re raised by betas, in a beta-dominant community. Your health class in school didn’t even cover the other dynamics, and even in college all of your irl friends had been betas.

You’re a loner, anyways. You’re most comfortable behind a computer screen, getting into files you shouldn’t, pulling the strings from the shadows.

That’s how you’d been recruited, anyways (don’t hack into the Pentagon drunk), Laswell taking an interest in your effortless talent and skill for computers and machinery.

After working on a few missions with the 141, you were given a formal invite with a nice pay upgrade that you didn’t want to turn down.

They guys are a little intimidating at times. Ghost is…Ghost. He, Price, and König all being alphas. König worried you at first—he’s something called an Apex Alpha, and while you’re not completely sure what that means, you know that the term comes from ‘apex predator’ and connected the dots from there.

But it turns out he’s just a big sweetheart. Yeah, he’s the team’s human battering ram, and yeah, he gets a little scary on the field; but none of them, not even König, had made you feel threatened or unsafe.

Maybe that’s why you stay even if you sometimes feel a little left out. You keep yourself occupied with your tasks: hacking, repairing, making little electronics. You’ve all fallen into a comfortable routine with each other, falling into your roles like good little soldiers.

Which is why you’re confused to all hell as to why they seem pissed at you. You keep going over and over it in your mind, each interaction picked over and analyzed, but you come up on a blank.

Ghost had outright shoulder-checked you this morning. You told him to watch it and he glared at you. He hadn’t glared at you since the early days when you were new.

It was worse with Soap. You were closest with him. He always comes in and checks on you since you have a pension for locking yourself away while working which causes you to forget to eat or sleep. Now he’s glaring at you, too.

It didn’t help that you’re all on a mission. Recon, roughing it in sleeping bags, camped out at an old abandoned cluster of cabins. You’re all monitoring a base down below the ridge of the mountain, intent to find intel on El Sin Nombre.

You decide to brush it all off. Maybe they’re just in sour moods? Maybe you really did do something wrong, but until either of them confronted you about it, there was no point in worrying about it.

So you kept busy monitoring the local radio frequencies in your cabin. It’s damn boring, though, and the summer heat of Mexico isn’t helping.

You’d die for an air conditioner right now. Well, you’d die to not be on this mission anymore, to be back on base and have more space away from your colleagues. And you’d die to not have this guilty, worried pit in your stomach. You always get it when something bad is going to happen, the dread getting worse and worse over time. It’s stressing you out, making you sweat even more. You probably stink.

It’s almost a relief when Gaz shows up, creaking the old screen door open, but he looks pissed at you, too, and you want to cry from sheer frustration.

“God, not you, too,” you groan, smoothing your sweaty hair away from your face.

“Captain wants to see you,” Gaz says, sounding angry, confusing her just as much.

“Seriously? This about Ghost and Soap? What did I do?”

Gaz scowls, “don’t play coy, Seraph, he’s not going to like that.”

“What are you—“ you sigh, “you know what? Fine. Maybe he’ll explain why you’re all so pissed at me.”

Being outside in the sunshine, even briefly, makes you feel worse and hotter. You wonder if maybe you’re getting heat exhaustion or something—you aren’t used to being in the field and you’re sure as hell not used to being in the summer heat for so long.

Shit, maybe you’re coming down with something. As you and Gaz march over to the Captain’s cabin, you notice that everything smells different. Off. It’s making you nauseous.

When you step into the cabin, you know you’re in for it. Captain Price is standing at his desk, glowering down at you. Soap is standing a little ways behind him, his arms crossed, and Ghost is sitting in the back corner like the spook he’s named after, arms crossed.

It takes a hell of a lot of restraint not to curse under your breath, but you manage.

“Take a seat, Private,” the captain gestures at the chair in front of the desk and you have no room to argue.

You hate when they call you that—Private. It’s not even your rank. Technically you have none, you’re a specialist, and you never enlisted. You were a CIA Special Agent before all of this. Why they picked ‘private’ out for you, you have no idea, but you do feel like it undermines your hard work. You’re not some E-1, after all.

Everyone’s eyes on you makes you want to squirm, but you hold fast. It smells overwhelmingly like several different things: cigars, whiskey, cinnamon, wood smoke, the wild flowers that are outside.

Your guts keep screaming that something is wrong, wrong, wrong.

“You’ve put this mission in jeopardy, Seraph. I have half a mind to relieve you of duty and send you home,” Price says, his voice terse.

“Sir?” You ask, wanting him to elaborate, to tell you what you did wrong so that you can fix it.

“You set König off, he’s up at the deer blind refusing to come down,” he adds, voice rising in volume.

You frown, now noticing his missing figure. “König? What’s wrong with him,” you ask, concerned.

Your Captain lets out a disingenuous chuckle, which probably would’ve made your blood run cold if you weren’t so hot.

“Don’t act like you don’t know,” he says, practically growling. “We can tell. There’s no hiding it.”

“Wh—“

“Why did you do it?” Soap interrupts, fuming. “You’ve been part of the team for nearly two years, you don’t think you can trust us?”

The CIA training kicks in and you keep your mouth shut for the moment. This is starting to sound like a set up—like you’re being pinned for something you didn’t do. Or like they think you’re lying about something and are waiting for you to spill first.

But the other part of you, the part that knows your team, doesn’t think so. Maybe that part of you just doesn’t want to imagine them betraying you.

Price sighs, stepping away from the table, running his hands down his face. A sour smell begins to stack in the room and you crinkle your nose.

You hate confrontation. It was your biggest downfall, considering that you now work in special forces. You’d just barely passed your interrogation training after four attempts—yelling people upset you, which is why you never thought you’d be working alongside the military.

“I don’t…know what this is about,” you say, your voice small and meek.

“Yes, you do,” Price insists, crossing his arms, and before you can open your mouth the screen door opens again.

Gaz comes in holding your medicine, the ziplock bag stuffed with your prescribed medications and supplements.

“What the fuck,” you whisper as he puts it on the table, and then raise your voice, “that’s a HIPAA violation, you can’t just take those!”

Gaz’s hand on your shoulder is the only thing stopping you from taking your bag back. Price points at the bag, “which ones are the heat suppressants? I’m giving you a chance to come clean, (L/N).”

“Come cle—“ you stop yourself, frowning as you try to pull the new piece of evidence into the mix. “You…think I’m abusing prescription drugs?”

Soap huffs, “let me see, I know what they look like.”

Price hands him the bag, and everyone’s still just glaring at you while you try and think.

“What are you looking for, opiates? I’ve never been prescribed—“

“The heat suppressants, (L/N), where are they?!” Soap shouts, tossing the bag back onto the table. “Do you ‘ave any idea what that shite does to your body? They can kill you!”

You take in a deep breath, trying to stay calm. Your head is starting to pound with all this shouting. “What the fuck are you guys talking about? What are heat suppressants?”

“Oh, come on,” Ghost growls, rising from his chair in the corner and stalking over. “Quit acting daft and tell us the truth!”

Soap’s hand on his chest holds him back from coming any closer. You’re about ready to cry, now, swallowing down the lump in your throat. You have to stay calm, that’s what your training taught you.

“You can be discharged for this,” Price continues, still angry. “Hiding any medical history can get you booted, especially your designation!”

“My designation?” You furrow your brow, “I never lied about my designation, I’m a beta.”

“You fucking—“ But Soap holds Ghost back, walking him to sit back down in the chair in the corner. He’s livid. You’ve never seen any of them so mad.

“No, you’re not,” Price says, and you can tell how hard it is to keep himself calm and at an even tone of voice. “Heat suppressants might’ve tricked your body into thinking that, but that’s not the truth, is it, (Y/N)?”

This is beyond frustrating. Fuck being calm, you’re on your last nerve, “what the hell are heat suppressants, and why the fuck do you think I’m taking them? And for the love of god, will one of you motherfuckers tell me what I’m being accused of here?!”

Your voice echos in the old cabin for a minute. Somehow, that managed to shut them up and get them thinking. Less angry now, they look at you with confusion, apprehension.

“You really don’t know what’s going on?” Gaz asks next to you, and you glance up at him briefly.

“No! How many times do I have to tell you fuckers?” You wince at the ache in your skull that’s becoming worse, “and will someone pass me a Tylenol? Y’all are making my head hurt.”

You rest your face in your hands, trying to get your erratic breathing to calm down along with your skipping heart.

“(Y/N), when was your last heat?” Soap asks, his voice much, much more gentle.

You look up at him, squinting, “huh? I never had heat exhaustion before. My mama did, when I was little…”

“I think she’s serious,” Gaz says, as if you’re not right next to him.

“Shit,” someone says, and you can’t really tell who. You look up when you hear the sound of your medicine bag again, Soap fishing out two Tylenols and handing them to you along with a nearby water bottle.

“Thanks,” you mutter, quickly downing the pills and the rest of the water. Looking around the room at everyone again, you almost wish they were angry again. The anxious looks of worry on their faces is much worse, because they’re worried about you, and you don’t know what for.

Price sighs, sitting down at his desk chair. “You’ve never had a heat before?”

“That’s what I just said,” you quip, snippier than usual.

Price glances up at Soap, who nods, and then he looks back at you. “That’s not what this is, Seraph. You’re going into heat. You’re an omega.”

—

You scrunch your face up, frowning. “No, I’m a beta,” you insist, voice soft.

“No, (Y/N), you’re not.” Your captain pinches the bridge of his nose, and it’s the first time you’ve seen him at a total loss for words.

“You’re going inta heat, bonnie,” Soap says. “Even Gaz can smell you.”

You freeze, picking up the collar of your shirt and taking an experimental whiff of yourself. No, it just smells like sweat and laundry detergent.

“Am I the one that smells weird?” You ask, “because it does smell weird.”

“No, that’s us,” Soap explains. “Your nose is sharper now that you’re going into heat.”

“Mm-hmm,” you say, not believing a word of it. “But there’s no way I’m an omega. Both sides of my parents lineage goes back six generations—all betas. It’s literally impossible.”

“You never had the genetic testing done?” Soap asks. Testing can be done when you’re born to best guess what you’ll present as by looking at your dominant genes.

“There was no reason to, seeing as there’s a 0% chance of me being anything other than a beta,” you argue, wiping the sweat from your chin. “I mean, if I’m an omega, then Soap’s King of Scotland.”

“And it’s damn good to be king,” Soap says, crossing his arms.

Price shakes his head, “it’s not a debate, sweetheart, you are an omega. Is it possible you’re adopted?”

“What?! No!” Your head snaps up to glare at him, “my mom would’ve told me.”

“Have you seen your birth certificate?”

You roll your eyes, “have you seen yours?”

“I have mine,” he raises his eyebrows at you and you sigh.

“My ma lost the original copy—house fire,” you explain, but you know you’re not wrong. “Even if I was, that wouldn’t change anything, right? You present your designation in puberty, and I never presented, therefore…beta.”

You cross your arms.

“Then explain the smell,” Ghost says, speaking up from his quiet corner. You had almost forgotten about him.

“Obviously I’m sick,” you say, “maybe I ate something bad.”

“We all ate the same thing,” Ghost sighs, unsatisfied with your answer.

“Allergic reaction. I’ve never been to Mexico; we touch plants all the time.” That one’s more feasible, you think.

“That’s not—“

“Alright, enough,” Price says, stopping yours and Ghost’s banter. “Arguing about this isn’t going to change anything.”

“Right,” Soap agrees, walking over to you. “Whether you’re sick, or in heat, or having an allergic reaction, you need rest.”

“But who’s gonna monitor the radio?” You’re a little wobbly as Soap hauls you to your feet, but you shake it off.

“Gaz knows how to use the equipment,” Soap says and you begin walking out of the cabin and back to yours.

“Who’s gonna do Gaz’s job?”

“Me, probably.”

“Then who’s gonna do your job?”

“Quit it, (L/N).”

—

A/N: If you made it this far, thanks! I’ve recently been inspired by the fic authors I follow to post my own content. I write a lot, mostly for my own enjoyment, but I’ve never really shared anything except this and the Graves fic I posted forever ago. I think I’m gonna post fic like this that I’m comfortable with and see where it goes. I’m not taking requests and I can’t guarantee I’ll reply to messages or asks, but I will look at them lol

#cod mw2 #cod x reader #task force 141 #cod omegaverse #omegaverse au #cod ghost #ghost x reader #ghost cod #cod soap #cod gaz #cod price #konig cod #konig x reader #cod x fem!reader #john soap mactavish #john price #simon ghost riley #konig x y/n #kyle gaz garrick #fem reader #baby it’s hot outside

[lizardsfromspace]

When I was in elementary school, in 4th grade, we went on a overnight school trip, a multi-day one, to this campground and to various educational areas: a preserved 19th century mansion, a science museum. It was beautiful and maybe my fondest memory to date, in my young life; I spent the time with my group of obviously-queer-in-retrospect friends, reading Goosebumps choose your adventures in the woods, and looking out over a glorious sunset over a wide, winding river, together. It was led by my teacher, who I would later learn was openly Scottish lesbian; other adults on the trip joked that hanging out around girls all the time must mean I have a crush, but she knew better, and helped our friend group spend time together.

On the final day of the trip, our bus prepared to leave, and accidentally backed into this great, old tree at the top of the camp. We were fine, and we carried on.

In 6th grade, we returned to that camp for what would be the last overnight trip of my school years. As we entered, I could still see the dent in that old tree from when the school bus hit it. The trip was different. I'd changed schools, and none of those friends were there; the closest one, I'd never see again. It was much colder, more alone.

The final morning, we got back in that bus, and I looked back at that old, busted tree, which was, in its own way, a reminder of what I'd lost. A scary moment that now, two years on, looked like an oasis of peace. I passed the ride in silence, thinking, there's no way anyone's having a worse time than me. Then we got off the bus and our parents told us terrorists had flown airplanes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, because it was also 9/11

#story time

[orphicdreamers-wp]

Girl Of My Dreams — Mat Barzal

Summary: In which Mat Barzal inadvertently falls for the oldest Hughes sibling and her brothers aren’t happy.

Content Warning; Taylor swift 1989 isn’t by Tay(its by reader) Mentions of University of Alabama (reader went there) Trevor Zegras being hopelessly in love with reader. Readers social media face claim is Addison Rae bc idc she’d clear as a WAG for a athlete.

Pairing: Mat Barzal x Hughes! Reader.

Mat would be lying if he said he didn’t sneak glances at the announcers box after meeting you. You had been carrying a plate of food and two margaritas to your booth where your friends sat. Tito had made a joke about you seeming familiar then the pair heard your voice and knew, “Alright now, eat up because y’all are bumming me out.” Mat’s jaw slacked, “He’d known that the Islanders had gotten a new game announcer who was a girl but he wouldn’t have known it was you. You were effortlessly stunning, you had captivated the attention of every straight man in the bar. Mat had approached you as you sat at the bar, “I’m Mat, can I buy you a drink?”

You grinned and spoke, southern accent slipping out, “I’m Y/N, I mean Barzy after the way you played last game? You better buy me a drink. ‘Yknow how many hate comments my broadcast got?” Mat grinned as the bartender approached you, “Another Corona Light and whatever she’s having on me.” You grinned sheepishly, “I’m fucking with you. I’ve heard worse.” Mat grinned, “So now would probably be a shitty time to ask you out?” You smiled at him, “Maybe not.” Mat smiled, “If I may, your not from New York are you? Where are you from?” You grinned, “I grew up in Toronto with my 3 younger brothers and moved to Alabama for college and been in New York for a few months now.” Mat grinned, “Well welcome to New York beautiful.” That was a year and a half ago. You still hadn’t told your brothers who your boyfriend was, just that his name was Mathew. Until your album release came creeping in and you wanted to go public with Mat.

Instagram

ynhughes; my album ‘1997’ is now streaming! thank you for all your support(especially the bf, ‘slut’ and ‘suburban legends’ are 4 us)

barzal97: celebrating you is my favorite pastime. i have never met someone who people gravitate towards more than you. you are by far the most wonderfully amazing woman i know. it is a privilege to say i love you🤎 this past year or so has changed my life. you make living easy and so so much better. i can’t wait to see what the future has in store for you.

trevorzegras: alexa play that should be me💔💔

ynhughes: forever in awe of you mathew barzal. amazed a gal like me is lucky enough to be adored by you🤎

oliviarodrigo; THEY HIT THE PENTAGON!! @conangray

>conangray; told you it was them i saw at radio music hall!

ny_islanders; our roman empire is all the sweet posts for to y/n today🥹🥹

sydneyemartin: brb crying. the purest people in the world. so grateful my girls get to grow up seeing a love this pure that isn’t their parents.

>ynhughes: we adore your girls more than words can express.

_quinnhughes: my biggest inspiration is out here killing it. in awe of you everyday sissy🥹 thank you for being my best friend from day 1

ynhughes: in a puddle of tears quinny. thank you for always being on my side, even when im wrong.

sabrinacarpenter; hockey players making me ugly sob wasn’t on my 2023 bingo card

elhughes; my first babies🥹 extremely emotional over you all today

>_quinnhughes: we love you momma💕

jackhughes: 1997 reasons to love my meanie head sister, i guess her bf’s alright

ynhughes: i love you little brat, come visit me and mat!!

>jackhughes: will do, sissy🫡

trevorzegras: i can’t believe she won’t date me 😞😞

>ynhughes: buck up z, your way too young for me. perfect age for @sabrinacarpenter tho!

lukehughes: the worlds best big sister came out with the best album to date

ynhughes; really feeling the hughes love train today, i need to plan for all of us to be together soon! so y’all can meet Mat!

etnow; this just in; the Hughes brothers have brought tears to my eyes supporting their sister

barzal97: the third picture is actually the most accurate representation of your sister now

>lukehughes; always messing with those darn cats! even if they are on the side of the street.

#hockey player x reader #fanfic #hockey #nhl #nhl fanfiction #social media #jack hughes x reader #jack x reader #mat barzal x reader #mat barzal #hughes sister #1989 taylor's version #music #addison rae

[lonely-vault-boy]

Modern Fatui harbingers but it’s just Childe making excuses for why he never brings any friends over for the holidays bc the other harbingers r the worst types of boomer relatives

Featuring: 

 The Jester  “there’s nothing wrong with being gay, but don’t you think it’s a little weird that *all* your friends are homosexuals” Pierro 

 The Captain “no one is leaving this table until we get along” Capitano

The Doctor “I hacked into the pentagon and now I’m on a watchlist but trust me they’re reptiles” Dottore 

Damslette “Arlecchino, you won’t believe what Pantalone said about you. You should confront him” Columbina

The Knave “I INVITED YOU INTO MY HOUSE AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME YOU SLIMY WORM” Arlecchino 

The Rooster “Childe, you should really eat more! You’re far too skinny” Pulcinella

The Balladeer “are we still getting together for the holidays this year? Guys? Is this the right number” Scaramouche 

Marionette “this machine is a 20-in-1 juicer, server, pressure cooker…trust me, this will make cooking way more efficient” Sandrone 

(Spoiler: it did not)

The Fair Lady “she’s in our thoughts and prayers” Signora 

(She’s not dead, she’s just always fashionably late)

The Regrator “maybe if Dottore put as much effort into our marriage as Sandrone put into her failed cooking device, I’d be willing to sit next to him” Pantalone 

(He would not sit down next to Dottore at the table until an enraged Arlecchino threatened him with a fork)

And Childe “I’m gonna eat in my room” Tartaglia

#genshin impact hcs #genshin impact #fatui harbingers #fatui headcanons #sigh #pierro #capitano #dottore #damslette #columbina #arlecchino #pulcinella #scaramouche #sandrone #signora #regrator #pantalone #childe #tartaglia #dottolone

[makncheese12]

Omg

Fallen Angel R x Wednesday and she sees R literally fall from the sky

That’s actually a good idea omg.

Masterlist

A/N: I actually like this omg(bare with me English is not my first language🥲 I’m getting help from my friend to edit it)

Warnings: my writing, slight language, falling

Wednesday Addams x fallen!angel Reader

High risk

“Welcome to the quad!” Wednesday’s blonde new roommate stares, arms open as they step outside.

“It’s a pentagon.” The brunette states matter-of-factly as she looks through the open area of students.

The area full of hormonal teenagers only souring her mood further as some notice her presence and stare in interest as they both step out.

Enid rolls her eyes before turning to the girl. “The whole snarky, goth girl thing might have worked at normie school, but here things are different.” The blonde says with a smile before turning to walk.

“Let me give you a wiki on Nevermore’s social scene.” Wednesday huffs out, keeping her face straight.

“I’m not interested in participating in tribal adolescent cliches.” She replies following after the girl. “Well, then use it to fill your obviously bottomless pit of disdain.”

“There are many flavors of outcast here, but the four main cliques are the Fangs, Furs, Stoners and Scales.” Enid continues as they both continue down the turning hall way.

“Those are the Fangs, AKA vampires.” She gestures to a table full of pale students with sunglasses on, some drinking out of small bags full of red liquid.

They turn their heads at the mention of vampire, a few hissing quietly making Wednesday subtly cringe back at the horrible attempt of a threat.

“Some of them have literally been here for decades.” She finishes making some smirk and nudge at a girl in the middle who rolls her eyes.

“That bunch of knuckle heads are the Furs, AKA werewolves. Like me!” A series out howls are let out at the mention of their name. One jumping on the table in the process.

The boy then jumps off the table and pushes his friend playfully.

Wednesday watches the boy catch himself from falling and let out a loud laugh before he pushes his friend back making him stumble into a nearby table where you sat. The table full of crows on top as you pull crumbs out of a small brown paper bag, dark wings sprawled out as you do so. He slightly trips over your wings and your body stiffens up

A loud hiss like snarl is heard making the boy turn quickly to defend himself from its source.

“And that is Y/N L/N,” the blonde says watching you stand quickly. “What the hell! Are you trying to break some bones?” You ask, teeth bared at the bushy haired boy who too lets out his own growl.

“Maybe you should pick them up from off the floor.” He says baring his teeth at you. “Or maybe you should just watch where you step.” You say angrily, practically hissing at the boy making some of your feathers fluff around.

“I wouldn’t need to watch my step if you kept them where they belong.” He says in an insulting tone which only causes the crows around you to flap their wings and caw around.

Wednesday watched with amusement as you both continued your argument. “Y/N’s clique is.. well, her own. She’s the only one of her kind here, she does tend to hover around the scales though.” The blonde mumbles watching as you step closer toward the boy.

He also takes a step forward, coming nose to nose with you as some of his pack members step up while the others decide to stay down.

At least some of them know better than most not to get in the way of a former angel.

“Back off.” You growl, eyes quite literally darkening to a darker shade of crimson as you glare up at him. His features are a mix of anger and fear as he stares down at you, not knowing what to do or say next at your angry state.

“Why don’t you just go back to hell, it’s where you clearly belong.” He throws another insult making your eyes narrow and dark fist clench.

“Hell is where your going, I’ll make sure of it once I’m done with you.” You say before a gasp from enid could be heard.

Everyone knew angels kept their promises, even if they were banished to the depths of hell.

You were playing a dangerous game, werewolf against angel would leave most of the area destroyed if you decided to play around with him before decided to take the victory.

The silent threat in your eyes is enough to send the group of wolves gathered behind him back to their table, tails between their legs by the sudden change of atmosphere and sudden eerie quietness the crows have.

The boy stares down at you, searching for something even he didn’t know before rolling his eyes and turning on his heels. “I’m starting to see why they kicked you out of heaven.” He throws one last insult before going back to his table, quickening his pace at the sound of your hiss.

Werewolves, always needed to last word or hit. It made your eye twitch and your clenched hand to puncture your palm, drawing a small amount of blood.

Your eyes then suddenly look around the quad, watching as the eyes that were once on you snap away at the sudden eye contact.

Your eyes then land on Wednesday, noticing the way she doesn’t flinch nor look away. Just simply stare back.

You stare for another moment, eyes scanning her over before they slowly go back to their normal color and your feathers lay down from their frenzied state.

“Y/N L/N!” A voice booms through the quad making you flinch and roll your eyes before they land on a teacher in the main doorway. “My classroom, now.” He calls before turning around.

You scoff before marching off after him, the pathway already clearing as students move out of the way.

“She’s not that bad,” Wednesday hears enid says making her eyes snap from the door way to the blonde. “She’s actually really cool once you meet her non-angry side.” She says, a smile on her face at the memories you two had shared.

Wednesday doesn’t react as she continues her way through the hall, the blonde quickly on her heels as she does so.

“Im assuming scales are sirens?” She asks, eager to get this whole interaction over with.

————

The sound of howls echo through the school hallways and any surrounding area keeping most of Nevermore’s residents awake.

Some watching their favorite shows, others having friends over, hell they were even walking around at the late hour. Anything to drown out the consistent sound.

You scowl at the sound yourself and push your wings to flap harder as the air pressure begins to drop making your lungs burn, craving the regular air that it was so used to.

You take another deep breath before passing the cloud line.

You wish you could say you were used to it but that’d just be a lie. The only reason the burn grew was because you were going higher, closer to the place you were specifically locked out of.

It was like a barrier, or rather a cage made by god himself to keep you inside and trapped for eternity.

You wish you could break the barrier and see what it was like. What the feeling would be like in your lungs when you got inside. Would you be able to breath or would your lungs explode like any normal human?

You wished you could find out.

Not that you didn’t try, you did. And you passed out in the process, you were forced to regenerate in hell for a few years after.

Once the burning truly began to hurt you stop, flapping your wings to keep you in your position. The sound of the howls now faded into the back ground.

You look down to see Nevermore through the dense clouds, light barely breaking through them as they pass.

You let out a sigh of relief, the cool air whipping across your face enough to feel like you had just been slapped.

A feeling you liked and were fond of.

It showed the moments before you got to feel the pure bliss of the air blowing past your wings at an alarming rate.

It’s what you craved.

Right before you could let go, you heard another sound.

It was almost louder than the manically barks and howls running through the woods, it sounded far better too.

You crane your ears a little more to hear it better.

Music. You had decided. The sound of different chords getting louder then softer then louder again as it continued on through the song.

It piqued your interest. Yes there were plenty of musically instrument players around the large school but none were quite that good let alone played the Cello.

After making the decision to find the owner, you allow your wings to stop before leaning your head back with a smile on your face.

Your wings — now fully relaxed — float above your body, flapping around mindlessly as the wind blows past you. Clothes ruffling about, hair coming undone and flowing all over the place.

It was peaceful, knowing you would be able to catch yourself and avoid your demise. You could do it all day and never falter.

Wednesday watches thing turn to the last page, he strikes becoming stronger. Encouraged by the thought of finished strong when something catches her eye in the moon and faint light from the school.

She doesn’t allow herself to falter as she finish the piece before looking into the sky.

She sees a figure, falling at an alarming rate from high in the sky. Large wing flying around before straightening out and twisted their owner through the air

They dive into the tree line before she could see anymore and she could only assume who it was. The angry bird she had yet to meet throughout her day in Nevermore, never even getting a glimpse of them.

What a strange sight to see. Not everyone can just fly up and allow themselves to fall. Who in their right mind would?

She would if she could, it seemed like a enjoyable thing to do.

She lets out a sigh before closing her eyes and breathing in the cool air and howling once again echoes through the school once again.

Her brows crease at the noise, it was worse than Enid’s loud pop music she has yet to get used to. Her grip on her Cello tightens slightly when another round of bowls rang through the air.

This is where she found her peace, or was at least before she stopped and the wolves could be heard again.

When she had to clear her mind she would play her Cello, the lines and chords being the only thing on her mind.

After todays events, it’s what she needed.

She lets out another breath when the air suddenly picks up making her shiver very slightly, the cold feeling uncomfortable yet bearable.

The sudden movement of paper and tapping causes Wednesday’s eyes to snap open to be met with a still dark figure hunched over and pirched on her dorm patio railing.

Blood colored eyes piercing into her own.

It was like two Gargoyles staring at each other, both unmoving and unblinking. The other refusing to falter while waiting for the other to.

She took the chance to look at your features more clearly up close in her peripheral view.

Your wings black as night yet sprinkled with white fading feather like stars, blackened skin leading up your forearm before fading into the natural skin color, skin littered with scars in different areas. Hair, wild and untamed while your clothes did the same.

She would have kept inspecting if it weren’t for Thing who slowly crawls from behind her music holder.

You’re eyes snap to him and he almost shrinks back behind it.

“What is that?” You ask, head tilting slightly. The resemblance to a bird being quite exact, Wednesday thought to herself as her eyes shifted between you and Thing.

“That is Thing.” She says, taking offense for him as he sits on her nub and waves.

Your eyes open slightly more as you wave back, clawed fingers wiggling at the him. Your eyes quickly go to a lighter shade of red in the process.

“Cool,” you say watching him jump off and climb up the railing.

You had never seen anything like him, in all your years you had seen every creature created yet nothing like him.

You wondered if the devil himself was the one who created him instead of god.

“A pleasure to meet you, Thing.” You say, reaching out with an open palm. He inspects your hand for a moment, hesitating when seeing your long nails making you chuckle.

You force your nails into the flat ones that humans have and he jumps slightly.

He taps around excitedly turning to Wednesdays then back to you, taking your hand firmly making you laugh.

“Quite the handshake you’ve got.” You say and him tap, unknown to what he was saying before you look back to Wednesday.

“This isn’t your dorm.” She tells you as if it weren’t obvious with the large window to Ophelia hall.

“I know,” you say throwing your legs over the side and allowing yourself to plop down on the railing. “I was just taking a little stroll when I heard you playing.”

“If falling from the sky and almost to your demise is consider a ‘little stroll’ I think I would enjoy that.” Wednesday says, your smile grows giving her the sight of your top fangs.

“Trust me, you would. So,” You start before glancing up to their large window. “The loud and open girl roomed with the new dark and mysterious girl, how unfortunate.” You say, referring to Enid who forced her way into being friends with you.

“Yes it’s insulting, really.” She replies crossing her arms. “The colors burn my eyes, I sometime wish to gauge them out with a spoon every time I enter our room.” She says, remembering how only hours ago she almost strangled the girl and destroyed her music.

You chuckle lightly before looking to your right to see Thing, poking at one of your wings. “I see it now, ‘fallen angel’.” She says referring to what she had witnessed a few moments ago.

“Who would have thought being damned by god himself would be so fun.” You laugh at the irony of the situation, being a fallen angel and enjoying the feeling of falling from the sky.

“You must have done something horrible to do so.” She says and your smile fades.

Your face contorts, subtly. From anger and then to sadness. You didn’t know how to feel about your odd situation.

Your father was the one to do something, you were just a tag along.

“Perhaps,” your head tilts up toward the sky allowing the moon the kiss your skin. “Or maybe someone did it before I could.”

You mumble the last part but Wednesday catches it along with the sadness in your voice as a crow lands next to you.

“Caw!” It screams out making your head look down once again, your smile returning in process.

He perched next to you , head tilting almost upside down as you pull out something wrapped in a brown bag.

“Why were you falling from the sky?” She asks, the question blunt yet not blunt at the same time.

You pull out a lump of bread before breaking a small piece off and hand it to the Crow. He quickly snatches it before jumping a few feet away to eat it.

You chuckle at the sight before humming in response to her question. “I just like a little high risk.” You reply and her heart skips a beat for a moment, too quick for her to question yet doesn’t go unnoticed.

“You must not be fully sane then.” She says and you snort. “You don’t seem like you are either, nor your family from what I’ve heard.” You state before your face falls. “No offense.” You apologize with a small grimace at your own comment.

“None taken, I like to think that a compliment.” If your smile could grow even more than before, it definitely did just now.

You look back down at the bird who jumps back toward you, hopping up and down in excitement. Your eyebrows knit together for a moment, clearly deep in thought before you speak up again.

“I never caught your name.” You say as you take your index and middle finger and rub it down the back of the crow.

“Me or the bird?” She asks seriously making you bark out a laugh. “Crow.” You correct her before he could grow loud in offense by being called a bird. “But you, this is Atticus.” You say and the crow caws out multiple times before settling down again.

“Wednesday.” She says and you nod, humming to yourself before looking toward her away. “How unique for a unique person.” You say, head tilting like the crow next to you.

Wednesday suddenly feels her heart racing at the the sight. Strange.

“I don’t think I caught yours either.” She says watching as Thing and the bird come hand to face on the railing, inspecting each other.

“Y/N.” You say head tilting back once again to look at the sky. “It’s for some reason modern to the year.” You say, eyes full of question as you continue to stare up.

“Tell me, Wednesday,” your eyes once again meeting hers. “Have you ever met an angel?” You ask and she knits her eyebrows together.

“No.” She replies and you nod. “Good, their horrible creatures who should be damned to their own personal cages.” Your voice is suddenly tense and full of hatred as you look up again.

The question confused her, why would you ask that just out of the blue? The question was a random one but you also seemed to be with your sudden appearance.

Before she could ask what you meant the window opens and her bright roommate steps out.

“Oh, hi Y/N! What are you doing here? It’s not Thursday.” She questions as she quickly skips toward you in excitement. “And hello to you too, Atticus!”

The crow caws and hops closer, allowing the girl to scratch under his beak.

You smile at the reference to your weekly manicures the girl gives you. She insisted your long nails were too creepy without any polish and you agreed to allow her to paint them black.

“I was taking a stroll and met your new roommate here.” You tell her and your eyes travel to to Wednesday who continues to sit in her chair.

“Or did you just try and scare her like the rest?” Enid eyes you suspiciously and you raise your hands in defense.

“I would do no such thing.” You smile as the girl rolls her eyes. “You’d be shocked at how unfazed she was, I was sure I would get her.” You grumble, further proving the blondes point.

“I highly doubt that.” Wednesday mutters as she begins collecting her things. You chuckle, glancing toward the woods noticing the sudden silence.

“Well, sounds like your little furry mongrel friends have finally quieted down.” You state standing up in your spot, glaring towards the woods. “I think I’m gonna go up one more time before bed.”

“Okay, have a good night! Don’t fly too high.” She replies with much enthusiasm about your nightly routine and you smile. “I will. Goodnight,” your eyes then travel to Wednesday and you smile even bigger. “Goodnight, Wednesday.”

Her heart continues to race, the feeling very different from beating of fear. That she enjoyed, this feeling she did not.

Quick, angry sounding taps are heard next to you and you chuckle. “Goodnight to you too, Thing.” You laugh before leaning back and letting yourself fall.

Atticus caws a few times before following after you into the air.

A/N: definitely imagined this song while falling in your circumstance of being a fallen angel

#Wednesday Addams #Wednesday Addams x reader #fallen angel #Jenna Ortega #enid sinclair #x reader #Wednesday Addams imagine #nevermore academy #Jenna Ortega x reader #jenna ortega x you #Wednesday Addams x you

[gunsandspaceships]

Tony’s Childhood. Part 1: Identifying facts

In the MCU, Tony sometimes acts like a kid. There is a reason behind every behavior, so I wondered what it was like for him when he was a real kid.

So, the questions of the day: what do we know about Tony's childhood? Did he have one? And, most importantly, how did it affect him?

Let’s first list what we know from the movies:

At age 4 Tony built his first circuit board (IM1)

At age 6 built his first engine (IM1)

Was sent to a boarding school by Howard (IM2)

Cracked the Pentagon’s firewall in high school on a dare (AoU)

Had a nanny until the age of 14 (IM3)

Went to college at 14 (IM1)

Built Dum-E and U when he was there (IM1)

At 17 graduated summa cum laude from MIT (IM1)

Continued his education until his parents’ death (CW)

Tony’s genius gave him two things: the brain and the pain. And by the pain, I mean that instead of interacting and bonding with his parents, enjoying life, playing, having fun, making friends, taking care of pets, and all the other things children do to gradually prepare for adulthood and grow up "healthy", he got this list of achievements. That doesn’t make a person normal.

Parents

We know his relationship with Howard was complicated. Howard loved him in his own way. He had too many things to do to be a good father: SI, S.H.I.E.L.D., scientific projects, trying to build a better future with clean energy, etc. All good, except when you want your child to love you back. Especially if in the tiny amount of time you spend with him, you don’t show him any signs of affection.

What do we know about Maria? Her name, what she looked like, that she played the piano, and died at Winter Soldier’s hand on Dec 16, 1991. That’s it. She didn’t spend much time with Tony either. Remember, he even had a nanny, instead of a mother. Tony's words about her showed that he loved her, but he didn't talk much about her. Because she wasn’t present in his life enough. Why? Because…

School

Howard sent Tony to a boarding school.

Here’s in the S.H.I.E.L.D.s file we have this information about the school:

“Phillips Academy, Andover, MA 1977-1984”

This means he was there from age 7 to 14. Howard sent him to a boarding school when he was SEVEN.

Phillips Academy Andover serves grades 9-12 only (it is a college preparatory school). Thus, either this is a mistake by the creators of the film/file, or Tony, due to his genius, became an exception. Since the early age he was already at school was also mentioned in IM2 tie-in comics, and in Earth-616 that was also 7, we can mark 1977-1984 as valid.

Think about it again: Tony was sent to boarding school in another state when he was 7 years old. He spent another 7 years there, alone, among high school-aged teenagers. No parents around, no peers.

For example, even Hogwarts accepts 11-year-old children, and they live with their peers. Now imagine Harry Potter, at the age of 7, is thrown into a dorm with 7th-year students and locked there. Doesn’t make a person normal either, does it?

Nannies and Jarvis

Since Tony was at the boarding school, there are two options for how he could have a nanny (mentioned in IM3) and spend time with Edwin Jarvis:

1) He was at the boarding school with a nanny. There is almost no possibility that the nanny was Edwin Jarvis because Jarvis was Howard’s butler and had other responsibilities.

2) He had a nanny at home in the summer and during short school breaks. In this case, his parents couldn’t even give him this little of their precious time.

In any case, he could only see Jarvis at home, a few months a year at most.

Note: There is a date error in IM3, stating Tony was 14 in 1983. This is clearly an error and we can omit this detail.

Bullying

Remember this dialog between Tony and Harley in IM3?

0:45:15 – Harley asks him how he knew he was being bullied at school. Tony doesn't answer. He gives him a non-lethal flash thing to "discourage bullying."

We see that Tony knew exactly what was going on with Harley at school. Because that’s exactly what happened to him there. Harley reminded him of himself. Brilliant kid with no friends and practically no parents. He was bullied by 9th-12th graders.

If he had a nanny with him at the school, that probably made things even worse. He would be bullied because he has a nanny, and despite he has one to look after him.

In Part 2 we will discuss how all this affected him. Stay tuned.

#tony stark #iron man #marvel #mcu #the avengers #iron man 3 #iron man 2 #avengers age of ultron #captain america civil war #harley keener #phillips academy andover #edwin jarvis #howard stark #maria stark

[fandomnsfw]

Because He Listens - Klaus Mikaelson x Reader

Pairing: Klaus Mikaelson x Reader

Prompt: I tried my best with this one. It isn't as long as some of my others but I wrote what felt right at the time. love triangles are hard enough pentagons much harder.

Warnings: None just swearing really.

Beta'd by my lovely long time friend, beta and fellow writer @lets-imagine-fanfics

ENJOY!!

*********

You started your day like every other day.  

Wake up brush your teeth, take a shower, get dressed, makeup, hair, then out the door. However, this morning you were bombarded with Damon Salvatore laying on your bed causally when you came out with a towel on your body, and one wrapped around your hair. You gave him a silent glare as you picked out your clothes in silence.  

Once you’d gotten what you needed out of your closet, you spun around to face him when it became obvious that he wasn’t going away, no matter how much you ignored his presence. You gave him a fake sweet smile that did nothing but amuse the older man. 

“How can I help you, Damon?” You asked with a sickeningly sweet tone. 

“Have you thought about what I said last night?” He responded, his tone turning serious.  

“Why are you doing this Damon? You’ve never cared if I was at the centre of danger before!” You shouted as you walked through your front door after fighting against some witch who came for a doppelganger or more specifically doppelganger blood. 

“Because I care okay! Oh yes, I know that’s a shocking concept but I. CARE.” He punctuated with his usual level of sarcasm and sass.  

“About Elena yes. Me? Never.” You snarked back with an eye roll.  

“Well, I care about you, okay?” He sighed seriously, his usually sarcastic demeanour dropping.   

“Why?” You snapped making him close his eyes as if exasperated by this entire situation. 

“Because-” He seemed to stop, wondering whether his reason was worth stating but you crossed your arms in a way that said you wouldn’t drop this, so he stared down at you as he walked closer.  

“Because...I love you.” He muttered quietly.  

“Tell me your joking?” You whispered with wide eyes.  

“Oh yeah, this seems like the type of prank I’m fond of, doesn’t it?” He growled in annoyance.  

“What is it with you brothers!?” You screamed as you lightly pushed Damon away.  

“So, I guess Stefan got here first.” He grumbled like a pouting child.  

“What is there to think about, Damon?” You sighed as you stepped away from him, your eyes dropping to the floor as you contemplated how to handle this.  

You’d never really been told ‘I love you’ by anyone who seriously meant it and now you had Stefan, who had told you before the fight; and Damon, who had told you after the fight. Oh, and let's not forget the good Mikaelson brothers who seemed to have taken an interest too. How the hell were you supposed to deal with this?  

“Well, do you like either of us?” Damon tried with an eye roll to show his frustration.  

“Between the Salvatore brothers, the Mikaelson brothers and a witch trying to kill me I haven’t exactly thought about it!” You shouted as you disappeared into the bathroom to change.  

You slid on your undies, bra and jeans before realising you hadn’t grabbed your top as you were too busy thinking about how your life was turning out. You knew Klaus had a thing for Caroline as well, so you never really took him seriously until last night while fighting this witch, he jumped in front of a giant flaming ball to save you all the while Elijah hid you behind him.  

“I’m not doing this. I’m not Elena and I don’t enjoy being stuck in a love triangle...or a pentagon in this case.” You snapped through the door before wrapping the towel around your bra-covered torso and making your way out of the bathroom to grab your top.  

You grabbed the article of clothing ignoring Damon’s eyes on you before rushing back to the bathroom. Once you’d tucked your plain black V-neck t-shirt into your high waisted jeans you exited the bathroom to Damon who was sitting on the end of your bed staring at the floor.  

“If you can’t decide then I guess we’ll do it for you.” Damon hissed before speeding out of your room and your apartment before you could even ask what he meant. 

You stood there with a frown on your face as you pulled out a pair of socks and started putting them on but once again you were interrupted by a knock on your door. You finished putting your socks on and walked out of your bedroom to answer the apartment door.  

You stared at the British vampire with narrowed eyes as she looked at you in confusion, her eyebrow raised as if silently asking what was wrong.  

“You’re not here to profess your undying love for me too, are you Bex?” You whispered suspiciously.  

“No, definitely not love.” Rebekah snorted as she pushed her way into the apartment without another word. 

“So Damon told you?” Rebekah chuckled as she flopped down onto your couch.  

“Yeah, and Stefan. All the while your biggest brother protected me from a witch and your other brother took a fireball for me. I feel like I’m in the cheesiest rom-com ever to exist. I have my own Harem.” You sighed dramatically as you flopped down next to her, sinking into the couch as if that would protect you from this entire situation.  

“Did you get Bonnie to cast a spell?” She whispered jokingly.  

“In what world is this something I would want?” You asked seriously making Rebekah shrug in response. 

“To break 4 people's hearts all in one go!” You huffed angrily making her smile sympathetically.  

“So...you don’t like any of them?” Rebekah asked with a raised brow.  

“I didn’t say that! But I’m not gonna choose one so the others can watch as I have a happy ending with the one I do like!” You snapped as you jumped up from the couch.  

“Well, it's better than letting yourself be unhappy just to save these idiots. They all chose to pursue you, that was their choice. Forget about them and do what makes you happy.” She responded with a kind smile on her face.  

“Everyone is gonna be unhappy with my choice.” You muttered sadly, your eyes casting down to the floor the fear of your friends hating you was eating away at you.  

“So? Why does it matter? Do something for you.” She stated calmly as she stood from the couch.  

“Is it really that simple though?” You asked uneasily, your heart pounding a little at the thought of finally pursuing the one person you’d been head over heels for, for months.  

“Yeah, it’s really that simple.” She stated as she pulled you into a hug.  

You spend the rest of the day with Rebekah, eating waffles and drinking coffee while you watch bad tv. You didn’t know what you’d do without her in your corner to back you up. At least if your friends abandoned you, you’d always have Rebekah.  

It was now 4pm and Rebekah was about to leave but before she was out of the door one of her brothers texted her. The text had Rebekah staring at her phone with wide eyes before glancing up at you with a pained look on her face. You frowned as she passed you the phone but once you looked at the words you couldn’t help the scream of frustration that came out of your mouth. 

Kol - Why are our dear brothers having dinner with the Salvatores’? 

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” You screamed making Rebekah wince at the volume. 

“I’ll drive you.” was all Rebekah said as she took out her car keys and started to head out of the apartment. 

You slid your boots on, running after her with an angry frown on your face. You couldn’t believe these idiots! What were you, some prize to be won! You glanced at Rebekah who looked rather angry herself, but you knew it was because she, as a woman who fought for woman’s rights back in the twenties, thought this whole thing was barbaric. 

She sped to her house which wasn’t far her fingers gripping the steering wheel tightly as she pulled up to the Mikaelson mansion. She got out of the car, followed by you as you both stormed into the house.  

You’re glad you had backup because this wasn’t something you wanted to deal with at all, let alone by yourself. 

She flung the door open to the dining room rather dramatically. If it was any other day, you’d probably have laughed at her antics but right now all you could see was red. You stared at the four men who were casually eating dinner and sipping glasses of blood. 

“What the hell do you wankers think you’re doing!?” Rebekah screeched, her arms crossing over her chest. 

“That is not your concern, Rebekah. If you could please leave that would be much appreciated.” Elijah stated politely, making you raise a brow at him. 

“It’s definitely my business don’t you think, oh noble one.” You snapped sarcastically as you mirrored Rebekah’s stance. 

“I would like to point out I didn’t put this dinner together.” Klaus chuckled as he glanced at Damon and his own brother, snitching on them quite happily.  

“Seriously, Elijah? What happened to be a feminist? I guess we can’t just forget you were from a Viking era! Fucking caveman.” You snarled making Elijah look down at the floor, shame taking over his expression.  

“What did you think was going to come from this?” You asked seriously.  

“We were trying to find a fair way we could all throw our hat in the ring,” Stefan muttered quietly his face covered in shame just like Elijah’s. 

“THERE IS NO FUCKING RING! KEEP YOUR FUCKING HATS ASSHOLES!” You snapped.  

“That’s exactly what Klaus said you’d say.” Damon scoffed as he glanced over at the hybrid.  

“That’s because he listens to me!” You snapped angrily making everyone's eyes snap to Klaus who looked rather proud of himself.  

“Him? Seriously!” Damon shouted as he jumped up from his seat at the table. 

“I am so not getting into this right now.” You sighed as your caught Klaus’s eyes staring at you curiously, but he kept quiet. 

“He’s a fucking monster!” Damon growled angrily. 

“She only said he listened Damon. Calm down.” Stefan sighed softly. 

“She’s obviously not going to pick one of you nutters. What do ya say, darling?” You heard a mischievous voice chuckled behind you and Rebekah.  

“You’re so not funny Kol.” You huffed as you pushed him away from you with a small laugh.  

“Well, it’s obviously going to be one of the noble ones.” Kol snorted as he pointed to Stefan and Elijah. 

“Ya know what! I’m sick of you ancient bastards assuming you have all the answers, okay, so here we have it!” You shouted as you stormed over to Klaus’s chair and stood behind it.  

“SEE!” Damon screamed as he got into a position like he was about to fight anyone who disagreed. 

“SHUT UP! Do you even know why I’m picking him? Hmm or do you only care if I picked you? Hmm.” You snarled as you started towards Damon.  

“That man over there was abused and betrayed his entire life! Yes, he did some shit but so have ALL of you, so have I. He gifted me things-”  

“I gifted you things!” Damon shouted, interrupting you.  

“Yes, because I seem like a diamond and Prada kind of girl, don’t I!?” You snapped making his eyes widen. 

“What did he gift you? Princess dresses and horses?” Damon snapped right back at you.  

“No! He bought me a stuffed wolf, drew a picture of me, he gave me a hand-carved figurine of my favourite tv character and last, but definitely not least, he took my dead mother’s coat to be mended by the best he could find so it would look brand new! But gifts aren't everything Damon! He also listened to me talk for hours about things I like, even though he has no idea what I’m talking about half the time. He drops off coffee and food for me when I’m so busy with college work, I don’t eat or drink. He even brought me a full 2 weeks' worth of grocery shopping with all the things I would usually get. He never once touched me or came into my house without me saying so. The way he looks at me as he draws me doing mundane things, makes me feel so seen and cared for. I am very much in love with him and if you don’t fucking like it, there's the door!” You screamed as Klaus glanced at you in absolute disbelief.  

“You see that look right there?” You exclaimed as you looked at him from where you were originally screaming at Damon.  

“He’s shocked I chose him. You lot think you have the right to put your hat in the ring but he’s just happy to be around me and before anyone says anything else. It’s been him long before you lot made your feelings for me known.” You chuckled softly as you gave Klaus the sweetest smile you could muster which he returned rather shyly.  

“I think it’s time we leave, brother,” Stefan stated as Elijah stared between you and his brother.  

“I did not realise you cared for her so much Niklaus. I am sorry to have gotten in the way of that dear brother.” Elijah stated seriously his tone apologetic.  

“Congrats on doing what you wanted, Y/N. Can’t wait to be sister in laws!” Rebekah chuckled as she ran out of the room dragging Kol with her.  

Once you were alone with Klaus you stared at him from the other side of the dining room table with a soft nervous smile. Your heart was pounding in your chest as he stood up and stride over to you. You barely had a chance to know what was happening but when he took you into his arms holding you like this wasn’t real and it would vanish if he blinked too hard.  

“I love you, Niklaus Mikaelson.” You whispered into his ear softly. 

He pulled away to look down at you as he cupped the back of your head. His ocean blue eyes staring down at you in amazement. He opened his mouth a few times but for the first time in 1000 years, his words seemed to be failing him.  

“I love you too, Y/N Y/L/N.” He whispered as his eyes flickered to your lips.  

“Kiss me, Niklaus.” You whispered, clutching his Henley like it was the only thing grounding you.  

He leant down, his plush lips pressing against yours so carefully it made your heart pound against your chest as if looking for an escape. His lips were soft and gentle as he kissed you, holding onto you as if you’d disappear at any second.  

Once he pulled away you wrapped your arms around him and buried your head in your chest which he returned by holding you as close as he could.  

“T-Thank you for loving me.” He whispered into your hair before placing a kiss there.  

“I always will. Speaking of we should probably talk about me changing.” You stated softly making him frown.  

“I don’t see why you need to change. You look fine the way you are now.” He stated in confusion which had you giggling.  

“I meant into a vampire. I don’t wanna be old and wrinkly while you still look hotter than hell itself.” You chuckled and he pulled away from you his eyes widening.  

“You’d become a vampire for me?” He asked as if he couldn’t believe it.  

“Of course, I would. I’m waiting till I turn 21 though.” You chuckled making him smile down at you with a loving smile.  

“Yes, love.” He laughed as you pulled him back in for another hug.  

This was the man you loved, no matter what. 

#klaus mikaelson x you #klaus mikaelson x reader #reader insert #requested #tvd #the originals #imagine #vampire diaries #fluff #damon salvatore #elijah mikaelson #stefan salvatore #klaus mikaelson #niklaus mikaelson #niklaus mikaelson x reader

[mage-ical-character-person]

Kinito Digital Doodle Page!! Thing!

individual drawings below. plus me talking about drawings

Had fun with this one I especially think it's funny because Furbies were banned from the Pentagon for being suspicious and maybe spying on people. (They were not that technology didn't exist in Furbies until Furby connect but for Kinito reasons fun to think about.)

Little guy eated the bubbles and lost his mouth privileges. Based on Axolotls will do that and his profile on the Web World saying he likes chasing after bubbles and the fact that Web World Kinito and the Kinito Companion have mouths but our lil desktop Kinito does not.

Been a while since I've done a proper digital art of my beloved Beep Storybots. Might be a little rusty but it's good to come back to her. Love her and her weird standards of what nonsense is or isn't acceptable so it felt right to have these two interact. Also really had fun with shading hooray! yippee!

Trust is a foreign concept to the axolotl of isolation. I liked making him with glasses he looks cute in glasses.

Very funny prank Kinito I love you and I loved to draw your eyeballs for this.

Digital creature become physical and immediately receive the physical and emotional sensation of best friend touch. Everything is fixed and good so much and he is overwhelmed. His gills restored to full health out of pure shock.

Meanwhile turn around and confusion on how creature get out of computer grabbing him to see if really happening oh snap he's for real he feels real in hands oh god.

#kinitopet #kinito the axolotl #kinito #is there a tag for “you” in KinitoPET? #beep storybots #she's here #and finally #Mage’s Doodles and Drawings

[luckyfrogtarot]

Pick a Pikmin

How people view you

Disclaimer: take what resonates if a pile doesn’t resonate it might not be for you or you can pick another pile. Remember this is all just for fun ☺️💖

Pile 1: You guys definitely have a connection with fire, with two fire cards and the fire pikmin. You could be a Sagittarius, Leo, Aries or have those prominently in your birth chart. I’m sensing you guys can be “cut throat” or look cut throat. You’re someone who is fiery and passionate and can easily be a leader. You lead in a subtle way or you’re only a leader because others chose you for that position. Lost of people see you as a leader whether you want to be or not. Either way you enjoy it or you’re at least ok with it. The fire within you causes you to have a duality between go getter and child like. Sometimes you’re like an entrepreneur with several innovative ideas and relentless movement forward. Other times you let you inner child play, you like to go out to party or hang out with friends. I think when you’re at parties though you could be fun, but sometimes you can see it as a time to network. If the party has connections you’ll definitely take advantage of that in a good way. You see a good opportunity and you take it. You guys could be really intuitive and like manifesting. You either try to manifest a lot or you receive your manifestations quickly. I’m hearing that the more you enjoy something the quickly it’ll come to you. You could live so fully that what you manifest gets to you quickly and so you’re abundant. You have a few moments of peace and then you’re back at it. You could have found a job you like and it is fulfilling in every aspect of your life because you enjoy it so much. You could also job hop or do several jobs at once but enjoy doing that over staying at one boring job. Maybe a bit forgetful because you’re so quick thinking, a mile a minute thoughts. You don’t like to sit still for too long either. You have gone far or will go far due to that fiery energy though. Your fire can burn really bright and burn you if you’re not careful. Rest and rejuvenation is suggested even if it’s only for a few minutes out of your busy day. Something like an altar or a sacred space for yourself might help get you into a calm zone. Lastly,you might also have tattoos.

Pile 2: I’m seeing someone here who is rather cheerful and optimistic. That doesn’t mean life hasn’t given you some heavy lessons though. It seems like you could have had tower moments or impactful moments in your life before. And while these things were not great and I only hope you’re doing well now, it seems like you didn’t really dwell on it. These things happened to you and you seemed to stay just with what was good for you. Say you lost a good job, you were grateful that at least you got to spend more time with family before you got another job. There’s a sense here that you can find the good in everything and it’s not in a naive way. That’s because you know your path and your calling and that gives you a certain perspective in life. To others you’re a rebel or the black sheep of the family. You’re unconventional, but you deep down know what you’re doing and where you’re going in life. So no matter what happens to you, you’re perspective tends to lean towards the positive. I’m reminded of spiderman when he says he always gets back up. He has a sense of purpose that keeps him going and it seems like so do you. I will say though sometimes you could pretend to be happy in moments where you don’t feel 100% yourself. You feel as if you might need that mask at times, but normally you’re genuinely optimistic. I’m getting a sense of you feeling light. Again I don’t think you have many worries because you know how you’ll get through them. People think you’re not doing anything but really you’re just patient and know when to go and when to rest. I’m also getting that who you are or what you do in life doesn’t sit well with others sometimes. You know there’s nothing wrong with who you or what you do, even if others think that there is. You definitely resonate from a loving place and that love you give yourself is what helps you feel as if everything is ok and will be ok. A lovely energy!Lastly, you could enjoy travel and/or tea. These songs give off the same vibe you do. Especially “_World” in my opinion. The melody might be more accurate to you than the lyrics, that’s up to you though :).

Pile 3:

I’m sensing this group is pretty hardworking and you might work with your hands a lot. I’m seeing chef and even makeup artist. I’m seeing something more creative and a little less handiwork. You could be what some people consider a workaholic. You tend to want to work a lot either because you need the money or just because you want to. It could also be that you’re starting out in whatever career it is you’re doing and you really want to shine so you do everything you can to stand out. You work more or you plan more or you try out new idea at work. “You’re on your grind” basically. If people saw you they’d think your life was ‘perfect’. You could work, workout, cook your own meals, and/or go to school. What people don’t see is that this is all based on a foundation that isn’t beneficial in the long term. You might not get the rest you need. It could be that at work others rely on you so much that they get to take breaks but you don’t. I do think though that people know you’re a self starter or that you might be your own boss so that’s probably why you work so hard.You do have a lot of goals and aspirations that you’re trying to go for, they could even be on a vision board. There are cards here that suggest that people think you need a vacation or to do some meditation. It could also be that you moved away from your childhood home or you feel some type of way about your childhood. You could be someone who grew up too quickly or you don’t fully feel a grownup yet. Either way it leads you to work harder either because it’s all you know or because you want to keep up an appearance. People do perceive you to be really young though. I’m sensing sort of like Rory or Paris from Gilmore Girls. Both feminine energies who have big plans and schedules that they stick too. There could also be some ideas or ways of living that you are being called to move away from though. Particularly about your hardworking lifestyle. People think you might work too hard and not rest enough and you seem to work more when you feel unsatisfied in other areas of your life. You could have a breakup and instead of sitting with that feeling of sadness you go and do work to ignore the feeling. It seems like the best option for you will be to rest whenever possible, your fortune will come in within time. If you feel as if money is all you can think about maybe do some abundance planning it can help with putting the past and future on to paper and out of your mind. It can help you bring money in faster and externalize and financial worries. I wish you luck pile 3.

Photo Cr. - red pikmin- robotonic (tumblr) ,blue pikmin- groose (tumblr) yellow pikmin- ? (pinterest) -

#pac #pick a card #pick a pile #pikmin #tarot #tarotreading #luckyfrogtarot #luckyfrog #divination #spirituality

[ckret2]

Follow up on Bill gender: Bill and Mable's gender conversation implied that one could have a number-of-sides identity which might not be reflected by your... assigned shape? This analogy is breaking down. To the question: Do you think that was true in his real life home dimension, or just something he was chill about on a whim? Will it ever come up in the fic?

Yeah, there were trans shapes. Bill is one of them! Like I'm calling him "triangle" for simplicity but really it's pyramid which is like 4/5 triangle and 1/5 square simultaneously in a higher-dimensional way, but like also he's been calling himself a spherical triangle for literally a trillion years and he's still kinda loyal to that identity because he's only been thinking of himself as a pyramid for 4000-odd years, and spherical triangle captures some of the experience of being 2D in a 3D way but not all of the experience and it leaves out the squareness so pyramid's more accurate but "pyramid" doesn't reflect the whole "grew up with psychic powers" experience and Bill thinks being psychic is an important part of his gender identity still so like he's wondering whether fourth-dimensional hyperspherical pyramid is the best fit, but he doesn't FEEL 4D, he feels 2D in a 3D way—you know what, you know what, it's complicated, you're just a human, you can call him a triangle, it's fine, it's close enough, really, he's somewhere under the triangle umbrella, it's fine, don't worry about it, really don't worry about it, it's cool, he's cool with it.

Hectorgon decided somewhere along the way that he didn't feel like a 2D hexagon anymore and got some work done and is a 3D hexagonal prism now and is content with it. Amorphous Shape has stuff going on with them Bill can't even beGIN to make sense of but sometimes they look like a bunch of squares and sometimes they look like a bunch of other polygons and everyone just nods and goes with it, and tbh naming yourself Amorphous Shape is sort of like renaming yourself Genderfluid Human and then all your friends nickname you Derf. Bill's dad was intersex in one direction and picked up a trans-ish gender presentation in a totally different direction. As a child Bill met another spherical shape that looked like a line in the second dimension but in the third dimension was a polygon—a biangle—struggling to get that recognized as an actual sex.

And all this is like, the shape equivalent of having a gender that can't be described with anything less than five terms and a freshly-baked set of new neopronouns. There were also more conventional trans identities—assigned squares who wanted to be seen as lines, triangles who wanted to be seen as pentagons, hexagons that were sometimes hexagons and sometimes octagons, septagons that felt sideless, etc.

Bill's stance on all this since he was equivalent-to-a-teen has been Anybody Can Do Anything They Want Forever.

He got in fights with his dad about whether including biangles when greeting his audiences—"Welcome, lines, bis, and tris; quads, quints, and more"—would alienate the Traditional Members Of The Audience.

I don't know how much of all of the above will ever actually make it into the fic aside from discussing biangles.

#anonymous #ask #bill goldilocks cipher #shape gender

[lebrookestore]

love theory | l.ty

Pairing: Lee Taeyong x reader

Themes: best friends to lovers, idiots to lovers, college au, wingwoman au, fluff, angst, comedy, mutual pining, lots of lying, kissing, references to 13 going on 30, Lee ‘whipped’ Taeyong, PG 15

Warnings: profanity, usage of nicknames, food, kissing, lying, angst, themes of being let down, slight unrequited love, taeyong is a little bit of a jerk but its unintentional i promise you he’s a sweetheart

Wc: 21k

Summary: "hey google, how do you fake going on a date with someone that doesn't even exist because you were too much of a coward to tell your best friend you're in love with her so now you're screwed? sincerely, taeyong."

Playlist: love theory by taeyong and wonstein, theres no way by julia michaels and lauv; starlight by taeil; best friends by conan gray; how you get the girl by taylor swift; just friends by why don’t we, shine by pentagon

Notes from brooke: happy birthday to the loml!! it’s been a hot minute since i posted anything but i had to for taeyong day, so i wrote this entire fic in eight days 🧍‍♀️ go big or go home amirite? (living that enhypen agenda). anyway! i worked really hard on this fic and had a lot of fun writing this, so i hope you enjoy reading it! as always, feedback would be much appreciated<3

Taeyong didn’t have the best luck when it came to romance.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true, he had been in a few relationships before. He had been through the first date giddiness several times and that fluttery, nervous feeling you get when you first start to get to know someone. He had experienced the lows of heartbreak and the sorrow of a breakup, the awkwardness of a crush, and— well, you get the point. 

So theoretically, he should have been fine. There was no need to be so jittery about the situation because it wasn’t anything new. Unfortunately for him, knowing this did not help him at all, even though one would think it would. Even Doyoung agreed, he was hopeless.

To be fair though, Doyoung wasn’t much better than he was, if not worse. Taeyong sighed, taking his phone and holding it over his face as he opened his gallery. His current position was him lying down over the expanse of his sofa, aimlessly scrolling through the app.

It wasn’t completely aimless, he supposed. He was the type of guy who took pictures of the most random things on a daily basis, and sometimes he enjoyed looking through them, especially if they were artistic in a sense. His eyes caught on one and he smiled briefly, clicking on it.

This was one he hadn’t taken himself, but rather Doyoung had. In it was him and you standing over the kitchen island in your parent's house, with you staring down at a bowl of what he remembered to be a very uncooperative batch of icing with a poisonous look. You had never had much talent when it came to the kitchen, it was almost laughable at this point.

Taeyong, on the other hand, wasn’t looking at the icing, but rather at you, with the softest expression gracing his features. The ghost of a smile played on his lips as stared at you, beyond amused at your perplexed state at that moment.

He blinked, taking in the picture in its entirety with a small grin. He was so enraptured by it that he missed the clicking sound his door made when it was opened, and the footsteps that quickly made their way towards the living room where he sat (or rather, lay down), growing louder with each step.

“You won’t fucking believe what happened today-”

Taeyong was startled at the sudden sound of your voice cutting through his self-induced reverie, causing him to let go of his phone in a split second of panic. 

Now, in the ninth grade back in high school, he had learned about Newton’s law of universal gravitation. It stated that two bodies in space pull on each other with a force proportional to their masses and the distance between them. He could lie and say that he understood whatever the fuck that meant, but in truth, he had simply memorized it for the exam he had to write on it that year.

What he did understand, however, was the fact that gravity was a thing. He received a first-hand demonstration of it right then and there when his phone fell flat on his face, leaving him to let out a string of very colourful language in annoyance.

Picking up the device that caused him a face injury, he pushed himself to sit up straight, glaring at your figure as you walked through the doorway and into the living room. The sight of you thereafter you had let yourself in was by no means a new or surprising one- he had given you a key to his place a long time ago, one that you kept along with your own keys. 

No, Taeyong was more embarrassed that he had been caught so off guard, even if you hadn’t been there to see it. Thank god for that, because he knew that you would probably tease him for a good half an hour about it, before forgetting about it until some obscure moment in the future when you would bring it up again just to annoy him

How wonderful.

This time you didn’t seem aware of his sentiments at that moment, too caught up in your own business to do so. You stormed in after carefully taking your shoes out at the entrance and keeping them there neatly, and placed your hands on your hips, giving him an expectant look.

He sighed, pretending to be uninterested for a moment. “What happened?”

“I got paired with Kim Ji-woo for this project in my screenwriting class,” You groaned, making your way over to the couch where he sat and plopping yourself down beside him. “And look- Ji-woo is great, super sweet and a really nice person but is absolutely useless when it comes to project work! The last time someone was in a group with her she somehow managed to not contribute in the slightest!”

You slumped into the cushions in defeat, glancing at Taeyong who hummed in acknowledgment of your words.

“Sounds like a you problem.”

Scoffing, you took one of the cushions and hit his arm with it, causing him to laugh as he raised it in defense of himself.

“I come to you in time of distress and thats all you say? What type of shitty best friend are you?”

You were only joking, of course, because you knew that there was no way you could ever survive without Taeyong. He was your constant, the one person you knew you could fall back on with your eyes closed and trust that he would be there to catch you.

You had known him since the both of you were eighteen in your senior year of high school. Saying you knew him was a bit of a stretch considering your relationship at that only included polite nods and glances in between classes and in the hallways. You were acquaintances at most and forgot about each other's existence until you found yourself in the same classroom at your university, and he was the only person who was familiar to you.

Naturally, you went up to him and struck up a conversation with him and the acquaintance turned into a friend, and the friend turned into a best friend. Now a junior, you had stuck with him for around three years and could not have asked for more.

Alright, maybe that last bit was a small lie. There was something else you could have asked for, but it was a wish you preferred to keep to yourself.

He was gorgeous too, possibly one of the most beautiful people you had ever seen. It wasn’t your fault he was such a lovely person in every way, so really the possible feelings you harboured towards him (again, it was just a possibility and this was all off the record) was just a by-product of that. You would never be able to explain how just thinking about him would brighten your mood, or how you always felt safe with him. You would continue disregarding these thoughts, especially the one about how his idiotic little smile could prompt a smile of your own.

You chalked it down to him having an infectious smile and laugh, which wasn’t untrue. He was the type of guy who could light up a room with just his presence, and you were more than grateful to be able to call him yours.

Erm- your best friend, that is!

“Hey,” he caught your attention once again, a softer look on his face. “If it’s that much of an issue, just give her a few basic tasks and I’ll try and help you with your parts, okay?”

You furrowed your eyebrows in thought at this suggestion of his, and if you were going to be honest it sounded like a pretty good compromise. This wasn’t his first time being your saviour when it came to academics, in fact, he was there with you just last finals season. He had stayed up with you and helped you study even though his courses were not in any way similar to yours.

And you would do the same for him, you knew. It was just how the two of you worked, a good symbiotic relationship- well not a relationship but a friendship and-

While you were busy getting too in your head over your friendship and as you mindlessly nodded to his idea, he studied your features. The slope of your nose and the way your hair fell into your face since half of it was out of your poorly tied ponytail. Somehow throughout your graceful chaos, you were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Instinctively, he reached out and tucked some of your hair behind your ear, startling you just enough to look back at him with wide eyes. 

His mouth went dry for just a moment, and he realized that he was well and truly fucked. Whether you knew it or not, you had him wrapped around your little finger, and he couldn’t find it in himself to break away.

So yes, Taeyong didn’t have much luck in the love department.

Because he had fallen in love with his best friend.

There was something off about Taeyong today- like he wasn’t as normal as usual.

To be fair though, there wasn’t anything inherently normal about him either, but it was blatantly obvious right now. His knee bounced and he wasn’t paying any attention to the PowerPoint presentation of lecture notes on the screen of his laptop. 

Moreover, his outfit was just a tad fancier than what you were used to, which was a shirt and skinny jeans, a jacket if he wanted to dress it up a little. The button-up he was wearing made him look great (not that he didn’t look like someone who walked out of the cover of a Vogue issue anyways, but this only amped that up), and the pretty silver earrings he wore only added to the look. And you could be mistaken, but you knew him extremely well, and you were willing to bet that he was wearing that good cologne he had.

You knew about it since half of his hoodies lived in your closet, but that was a conversation for another time. What was important now was the fact that he was actually using it. He mostly went for the less lavish one- which was also pretty good, again you would know- so this was a little bit of a surprise.

“Okay, fine, I’ll bite,” you cut through the silence that reigned over the library, “What is going on here?”

He looked at you in confusion. Wincing, you realized you had been a little too loud when the library sent a scathing look in your general direction and you lowered your tone to a whisper.

“What do you mean?” He asked softly and you gave him a once over.

“You look….good,” you cleared your throat as quietly as possible. “Why do you look good?”

This was not the reaction he had been hoping for. Taeyong raised an eyebrow, “Thank you? I’m sorry? Why do I feel like I’ve done something wrong?”

You shook your head, leaning over so you could speak a little softer, “I mean- you look great all the time but it feels like you put in more effort today- why?”

Why? Oh, that truly was an interesting question. A loaded question, but an interesting one nonetheless, because the answer was embarrassing. He studied your face, the narrowing of your eyes and furrowing of your eyebrows out of curiosity. You looked cute.

“I just felt like it.” He shrugged, but you could tell he was lying the moment the words left his mouth. The tips of his ears turned red, which was his tell. You scoffed at his attempt to lie to your face because he had always been absolutely terrible at doing so. You could see through him and read him like a book.

“Uh-huh.”

Okay, so maybe there was a motive behind this. Doyoung- god, he really had to stop going to him for help when it came to you- suggested he start trying to make his way out of the best friend zone because it was around ten times worse than the friend zone. The best friend zone was much deeper for it symbolized the trust and relationship between the two of you, but it wasn’t exactly the relationship he had been hoping for.

You were squinting at him now as if trying to peer into his mind and figure out what was going on in it. He briefly wondered if he should hold his book over his head so he could stop the brainwaves, or whatever. 

“You’re trying to impress someone,” you concluded incredulously, eyes wide when you realized. In your ‘eureka’ moment, you once again forgot that you were in a library. The librarian rapped one of her books on her desk hard against it to catch your attention, leaving you to mouth that you were sorry, before muttering something about her under your breath.

Before Taeyong could even respond, you raised an eyebrow, “A girl? Oh my god, do you like someone?”

‘Yeah, you.’ He thought.

“Nope.” He lied.

But the lie came out much too quick, and you immediately figured out that you had hit the nail right on the head. So you waited for a moment to think of a clever one-liner to tease him with.

Nothing.

Instead, you felt rather hollow about this new development. You knew you should feel excited about it for him, to press him for answers and be delighted, but you didn’t and the worst part was that you had to make sure he wouldn’t pick up on that.

“Who is it?” You demanded, trying your best to sound normal as if you were genuinely curious. You weren’t. You would rather know anything else than who the person who had captured Taeyongs affections was. Lucky bitch.

Oh god, that definitely wasn’t very nice of you. This was why you didn’t want to know because if anyone was going to turn into a bitch because of it, it was you. No, that simply wouldn’t do, instead, you would help him.

Why?

Because you loved Taeyong enough to let him go, or at least that was what you were going to tell yourself. Also because that was what friends did.

And you and Taeyong were really good fucking friends.

He looked a little scandalized, eyes wide when he realized you had managed to deduce what the matter was within seconds. He almost dropped his book in surprise.

“It—it’s not important.”

“Yes, it is,” you leaned forward, “Do I know her?”

Now it was Taeyongs turn to panic because while just telling you the truth sounded extremely appealing, the possibility of getting rejected didn’t. He didn’t really want to lie to you either, but if those were the only two choices he had, he knew what he had to do.

“Nope.”

You deflated, slumping in your seat. Knowing who your competition was would be nice.

“Just tell me already!” You pouted, and Taeyong had to physically make sure he wasn’t looking at you at that moment because he knew that even one glance at your expression would have him melting on the spot. 

“No.”

You pressed your lips together. You would help him, you promised yourself, but perhaps now your motivations were a little different. If you offered to help him, you’d learn who the lucky girl was sooner or later. You hoped later wouldn’t be at their wedding.

“At least let me help you,” you sighed in exasperation, “This is what best friends do, you know, they play wingwoman. Give you the love theory you need.” You cleared your throat to rid it of the lump that had lodged there when you figured out that he liked someone.

He scoffed, “Help me? Now how would you do that?” 

An amused smile played on his pretty lips, and you momentarily wondered how it would feel to kiss them. Promptly after that, you pinched yourself under the table to bring yourself back to reality. Thinking ridiculously wouldn’t do you any good.

“I listen to Taylor Swift,” you said solemnly as if it answered everything perfectly. “And she literally has a song called ‘How You Get the Girl, so if anyone could help it was her or me, and you’re not important enough to talk to T Swizzle before I do, so you’re just going to have to make do.”

Taeyong was a little concerned over how enthusiastic you seemed about assisting him in this. If you were so happy about him being interested in someone else then didn’t that mean that you weren’t interested in him? Now he hated the fact he had lied because it all seemed pointless. Saying no to you was not something he liked to do often, but it was also something he couldn’t do now or you would grow suspicious.

God damn it.

“Hello? Earth to Taeyong?” You snapped your fingers in front of his face, causing him to blink rapidly, eyes focusing back on you. 

His eyes had always been intense to look into, dark and demanding, which is something he had always hated about them. Over the years he had tried his best to soften them since it was one of the reasons others found him intimidating as well.

To you, however, they were rather mesmerizing. You loved the way that everything around you would slowly fade away when he looked at you like that, especially when they were upturned into little crescents when he was happy.

“I’m sorry?”

“Yes or no?.”

“To….what?”

“To being your wingwoman,” You reiterated, feigning annoyance. This earned you yet another glare from the librarian, but you were much too invested in your best friend's business to care about it.

“I—,” He thought about arguing for just a minute, but it seemed that he deemed it worthless to do so with you. He knew how convincing you could be when you wanted to, and so he simply nodded in defeat. “Fine.”

(There were two idiots in this room. Dumb and dumber, and no one would ever know who was which.)

You straightened in your seat, plastering another smile on your face as you did so to convey your supposed joy over him letting you do this. He looked dubious but allowed a small smile of his own as he pushed the book that you were holding open in your hands closer to your face. To this, you almost dropped the book, managing to catch it just in time to avoid a scolding from the librarian, who definitely didn’t like the two of you very much anymore.

“Study,” he instructed, “Worry about my love life later.”

Little did he know that you were very much worrying about your own.

When you were little, your parents had been extremely strict about everything you did to instill a sense of discipline in you. You had to wake up at seven-thirty to get ready for school every day, and on the weekend, it was eight. At birthday parties you always had to ask them if you could have juice when someone offered, and after dinner, you were only ever allowed to eat one cookie if there were any.

One day, however, after finishing your obligatory cookie, you found yourself really wanting another. It was urgent, you absolutely had to sink your teeth into one more to appreciate its chocolatey goodness properly.

So you waited till your parents thought you were asleep to sneak out into the kitchen and take one. You had no regrets for that night only, because you were caught the next night itself when your mother found that there was one cookie less in the stack. When she asked you about it, you stoutly denied this accusation, which she definitely didn’t appreciate, and sat you down with your father so that the both of them could give you a talking to about honesty.

This had left a mark on you, and so you tended to be as honest as possible from that point onwards. Your first lie led to the end of that road you had just begun to traverse, making you the perfect child. 

Which was exactly why you weren’t ashamed to admit that your first thought was to somehow sabotage Taeyong’s possible relationship with this girl he said he liked when you proposed to be of help.

You really had to learn how to lie again properly.

You thanked the barista that handed you the two coffees you had ordered, managing to make your way through the busy line that infested the Starbucks that morning. Only God knew why you still opted to go there before classes sometimes, and you intended to keep it that way because even Taeyong didn’t understand it. 

At first, it was because you liked the aesthetic, then you started realizing that people yelling over each other, uncomfortable lines, and your name being misspelled for the nth time did not count as an aesthetic. Alas, you were in too deep now and your pride wouldn’t let you quit.

“Here,” You handed one of the drinks to Taeyong and he nodded in silent thanks, holding the top and taking a small sip. It was one of those days when both of you had early morning classes and caffeine was the only thing that was capable of giving you the will to live through them.

“You know this tastes like normal coffee right?”

“Don’t,” You warned, but you knew what would follow. This might have been his favorite argument to revisit with you.

“I could literally make this at my apartment and it would taste the same,” He pointed out, taking yet another sip as you started to walk, falling into step with you. You liked walking around with him because it felt so natural and simple. 

“You keep saying that but you’ve never actually followed through with that claim,” Your shoes clicked on the pavement, joining the rest of the cacophony that made up the walk to eight a.m. classes. “So you either are shit at making coffee and lying to me or you’re lazy.”

“Well, now I definitely don’t want to.” You caught the indignant pout on his lips from the corner of your eyes.

“Aha, so he’s lazy,” You concluded, glancing to your side to properly look at him as you stopped to wait for the traffic to pass by on the street. “So? Have you ever spoken with her?”

Confusion took over his features and he frowned. “Her?”

“The girl you refuse to tell me anything about.”

Shit. He had forgotten about that entire ordeal, eyes widening at the mention. You watched him with expectant eyes and he cleared his throat, nodding non-committal.

“A few times, yeah,” He hummed, nodding forward to tell you that it was okay to cross now. You did that, mulling over this information and commemorating it with a big gulp of coffee, almost burning your tongue. You would definitely more caffeine to survive this conversation.

“And? You have to give me something to work with, dude.”

Taeyong had no idea where he was going with this. He supposed he deserved to be stuck in such a situation because he had gotten himself into it without thinking about how it would sustain such a lie. Sighing to himself, he started speaking.

“She’s….nice.” What an eloquent description he had gone for. Trying to describe a girl that didn’t exist was extraordinarily hard, and he wondered where his childhood imagination had disappeared to. Your blank expression told him that he was doing a terrible job at whatever he was trying to achieve.

Well, there was only one thing he could think to do.

“She ‘s fun to be around,” He started, “Speaking to her is incredibly easy and I enjoy our conversations. She’s really pretty too.” The corners of his lips curled up into a slight smile as he spoke about this supposed ‘girl’. 

Stop.

You wanted him to stop the moment he started elaborating because it was becoming clearer and clearer that he truly cared for this person. You had caught the way his eyes softened just a little when he started speaking, and the fond tone his voice had taken. You knew it all too well because you had sat through him speaking like this when he had been with his previous girlfriends. It was as if he reserved a special place in his heart for the people he loved romantically and spoke about them in a specific way. 

You would be lying if you said you hadn’t thought about him speaking like that about you, but then again, you didn’t lie.

The university campus came into view and you knew that the both of you would have to part ways for your separate classes soon.

“Do you think she likes you back?”

He didn’t know how to answer that one, so he stopped for a moment and frowned in thought. You stopped as well, waiting for him. At times like these, you wished you could read his mind to figure out what went on in there. Normally you could read him like a book, and you knew everything about him, but when he would think really hard like this, it was like he put a mental block up that prevented you from doing what you normally did.

And then he started walking again as if you had never asked the question.

You stared in bewilderment as he walked in front, gaping and grumbling under your breath at being so blatantly ignored. Quickening your steps, you managed to catch up with him, panting a little now.

“Hey an answer would be lovely, you know!”

Taeyong stopped in front of the gate and shrugged. “I don’t know.”

He fucking what?

“You—you don’t know?” You spluttered, a little annoyed now. “You don’t know if she likes you even a little bit?”

He shrugged once more, a victimised look on his face as he kept his shoulders up. “She’s hard to read!”

You scoffed in disbelief. “Say’s you.”

He snapped his head towards you, noting the stiff way you said that. It was a little resentful as well like you were annoyed at him, and maybe it was warranted, especially with the answers he was giving you. He was trying to be as vague as possible while being honest, so he had told the truth. He truly couldn’t read you one bit, he definitely didn’t know if you liked him back, and right now the answer was leaning towards a big, fat NO.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

You shook your head, patting his arm. “I have class, see you later.” 

You began walking away, and then turned around when you realized how childish you had just been. He looked like a confused puppy now, unable to keep up with your constant switch in the mood.

“Did I….do something?” He asked gently as he cocked his head to the side, and you felt totally undeserving. You shut your eyes and shook your head. You couldn’t keep taking your frustration over him liking someone else on him. It just wasn’t fair.

“No, you didn’t,” You sighed, “I’m having a weird day, thats all.” 

He raised his hand to look at his watch and then back at you. “It’s eight in the morning, what day?”

Panic seized you and your eyes widened in horror at that news. “It’s already eight? Fuck, fuck, fuck-”

“Y/n?”

“I’m late for my class!” You whined, walking backward quickly and turning around, breaking into a run. “I’ll see you later! Next time we’ll work on asking her out!”

He scoffed, watching as you hurried into one of the buildings and vanished from his line of sight, biting back the smile that was threatening to spill over. It was a very special smile, one he only kept for you. 

And with another sip of his coffee, he too turned around and walked away to his class. He would have to make some coffee for you sometime soon so you would stop wasting your money on Starbucks.

“Idiot,” he muttered affectionately, “Going to miss your class and you’re still talking about that.”

lesson #1: talking to the girl

“So she knows who you are right?”

You adjusted the volume of the music playing from the radio of his car, letting go of your chopsticks and letting them fall to the inside corner of the takeout box. Your classes for the day were finally over and just like you had promised, you were going to help him

He nodded, taking a mouthful of his own noodles. On nights like these when none of you felt like cooking, takeout was your saviour. Tonight’s dinner consisted of Chinese food from the nearby restaurant. The food itself was by no means authentic, but it was tasty nonetheless a quick fix.

“Have you flirted with her?” You let him think over your latest question while he finished his bite. 

“I probably have?” He ended it like a question rather than a statement. “We talk quite a bit actually, but anything I say always seems to go over her head like she’s completely oblivious.”

Damn. You couldn’t even hide the sympathetic look on your face at that. The girl really didn’t know what she was missing out on if she was able to ignore him so easily. You almost wished you had that talent so you wouldn’t have to be simply the best friend.

“Sucks,” You muttered, “Maybe step it up a bit? Try and gauge if she’s actually interested in you the way you are for her so you can actually answer me the next time I ask.” You rolled your eyes at the memory of him saying he didn’t know. What person didn’t try to figure out if their crush liked them back?

“I’ll try my best,” He promised absentmindedly, shaking some of his hair out of his face. Then, he offered you some of his food, and you exchanged boxes naturally, like you had done this a million times before- because you had. There were certain things in your friendship that had become so routine that you did them without thinking.

“You’re hopeless,” You muttered, “It’s like you don’t actually even care about this girl when I give you advice on what to do, but then you wear your nice cologne for her.”

He raised his eyebrow in surprise. “How did you know it was the nice one?”

“I know you,” You clicked your tongue to look at him, causing a mischievous glint to spark in his eyes. You were almost afraid of the next words that were going to come out of his pretty lips.

“Nice to know you pay so much attention to me, sweetheart,” He teased, reaching out to give your box back. Heart curled up your neck and to your cheeks, painting them in a warm flush as you puffed them out and looked away from him.

“You’re so annoying.”

“Am I wrong though?”

You were still hung up on the nickname. It wasn’t the first time he had ever called you that, after all, your friendship was affectionate and extremely close, but that didn’t stop you from being affected by it. You were more used to words like ‘dumbass’ or ‘idiot’ spoken fondly to your face with a grin, just like you did for him. The ‘sweethearts’ and ‘loves’ were more teasing than anything, never serious.

“I pay attention to you because I’m your best friend,” You argued, placing the empty take-out box to the side. “If I don’t, who will?”

The laugh that escaped him at that was enchanting, and he scrunched his nose up for a moment, as if in thought. “I guess you’re right.”

“I’m always right.”

“Hah, could’ve fooled me.”

You reached over and pinched his forearm, eliciting a yelp due to the force at which you executed it. “You’re impossible. I don’t know why I still hang out with you.”

“It’s because I’m impossibly lovable,” He corrected you with a shit-eating grin, finishing up his own food. Then he dropped his voice just a little. “And because you have no friends.”

The sound of your hand slapping against his arm was enough to inform anybody how you reacted to that smart-ass statement of his. He loved pushing your buttons because you looked pretty even when your brows were knitted and your lips were set in an angry pout. He especially loved it when that expression was directed toward him.

“Just talk to her more,” You sighed, “I pity her to be honest, imagine having to deal with you. I’ll start praying for her right now.”

“Wow, real nice Y/n. You always know exactly how to hype me up.”

“I’m excellent at boosting a person's confidence. Wanna see?” You were looking at him in anticipation now like you were really proud of what you were going to say next and wanted him to match your energy. He pretended to be exasperated with you, exhaling slowly. 

“Fine.”

You beamed at him, turning in the passenger seat to face him properly. “Jellyfish have survived 600,000 years without a brain.”

For once, he truly didn’t know where you were going with this and waited patiently. The way you were trying your best to keep a straight face was enough to tell him that it wasn’t going to be anything good.

“So I’m really optimistic about you.”

He grimaced. “Do me a favour and never become a motivational speaker. Ever.”

If you thought his laugh was enchanting, he thought yours was nothing short of angelic. The way your eyes would crease into little crescent moons and how you would cover your mouth with your hands as you giggled. It was a habit of yours, one that he had picked up on pretty quickly into the first few weeks of your friendship itself.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry,” You weren’t sorry at all, not in the slightest. “But I’m serious, you have to talk to her more before you ask her out. The whole ‘instant ask out’ thing doesn’t really get you far. I’ve realized that being friends to an extent works best.”

“From what experience?” He snickered and you glared, holding back from giving the boy another pinch (or rather a shove this time around, which he wholly deserved for that backhand comment). 

“Hey, I have dated around you know!” You protested, “And I’ve had a boyfriend before, so I know what I’m talking about.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“I’m serious!”

He twisted the keys in the ignition to start the car, amused at how eagerly you defended yourself. He had to give it to you though, you definitely sounded more credible than Doyoung did when he gave advice. After all, it was that said boy's advice that got him into this whole mess in the first place, with you being his wingwoman.

The world surely did love irony.

Doyoung was sick.

Not sick in the sense that he had to stay in bed and spend his day with a box of kleenex. That would have been much more bearable than having to be subjected to this madness. 

He was looking on from afar as you and Taeyong spoke. He had been on his way to his next class, only to happen to catch a glimpse of his two best friends. Even though he was equally close to Taeyong and you, he more often than not felt like a third wheel in your relationship.

So yes, he was sick of seeing the two of you tip-toe around each other.

He had never seen two people more perfect for each other, and definitely not two who were so damn oblivious about it. Someone could dangle it right in front of your eyes and you would purposefully turn the other way and walk in the other direction.

The first time Taeyong had come to Doyoung all panicked was around a year ago when he had miraculously realized that he was in love with his best friend. Doyoung remembered this well because he had never been caught so off guard before at such a confession. Or so he thought.

Because around a week later, you came to him, whining about your feelings for Taeyong.

Fucking dumbasses. 

You were so in tune with each other that you just happened to go to the same person for advice- the person who had yet to be in any relationships himself. Hey, the life of a STEM major was hard and Doyoung didn’t particularly want to waste any of the ridiculously high tuition he had paid. You had once teased him about being married to his studies, and at this point, he couldn’t even deny it.

Now you were pushing some of Taeyong’s hair out of his face, a deadpan look on yours. Doyoung could see the slight alarm on the other boy's face at this action, the way he stared intently at you as you did it. Then you flicked his forehead and laughed, causing him to puff out his pink cheeks.

Lord, give him strength. The sooner the two of you got together, the better.

lesson #2: how to ask a girl out

Taeyong thought you were the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, from the slope of your nose to the crease of your eyes when you laughed, even if you did cover up your mouth when you laughed most of the time. He liked your smile too, the way the corners of your lips would turn upwards in glee was enough to get him to smile as well.

Even now, when you were staring at him like he had murdered your childhood dog, he thought you looked pretty.

“You’re telling me that you’ve never considered asking this girl out?!” You asked incredulously, hands resting on your hips. “At this point, I’m starting to think the person you like is Doyoung.”

He scowled at you, “It is not Doyoung, and of course, I’ve thought of asking her out, it’s just-” He paused, realizing he didn’t exactly know what to say. You raised an eyebrow, prompting him to continue.

So here was the problem.

Taeyong was starting to get a little tired of talking about this make-believe girl with you. It was slowly eating away at him, the fact that he was basically lying to your face at this point. Sure, there was some truth mixed in somewhere, but that very truth was getting buried deeper and deeper as time went on.

“It’s just?” You asked, giving him another helpful nudge to finish that statement, but he didn’t, sighing instead as he leaned back in the chair he was sitting on. Your persistence was going to be the death of him one day.

“We were working on your project a second ago, why are you bringing this up now?”

“Because!” You stressed the word, “It’s been around two weeks since you told me you started talking to her again, so I mean, isn’t it the appropriate time to ask her out?”

You sat up straight, closing your laptop and books, “Also I’m tired of this, so do you wanna watch a movie and order in? We can continue talking about this later.” You picked your phone up and sighed. “Ji-woo never answers.”

He frowned, “She’s still not responding to your messages? Damn. You really do need my help.”

“I do,” You whined, sighing in resignment as you once again slumped in your seat. Today was one of those days when you were all over the place, jumping from one topic to another. This happened sometimes, and he was used to it after being your friend for so long.

“Fine, let's take a break, I’ll choose the movie and you go order some pizza for us.” He didn’t exactly need the break, but he could tell from the way your eyes were drooping slightly and how quickly you had slouched again. He knew you so well that he could tell when you were done for the day. Chances were that you would probably fall asleep midway through whatever movie he chose anyways, so he picked one that you had watched previously, good enough to entertain the both of you till sleep took over you.

After placing the order, you moved to the couch where he was sitting now, browsing through the movies. You propped your legs up, grabbing a cushion and curling into his side like it was the most natural thing to do. He settled on 13 going on 30, one of your shared favorite movies from the 2000s. 

As the movie began, he couldn’t help but notice how perfectly you fit into him, how your head rested gently on his shoulder as your eyes remained trained on the television screen. The blue light from it fell onto your face, casting shadows over your features. 

“So? Are you going to ask her out?”

He pursed his lips, suppressing yet another groan at your words. He knew you meant well, wanting to help and all, but the truth was complicated. The truth was messy and the truth…..

“Nah.”

“Huh? Why? You said you have thought about it before.” Ever since this entire thing started, he had been getting harder and harder to figure out. 

He had spoken nothing but the truth because he really wasn’t going to ask you out, and this was a decision he had thought well and hard about. There were many factors that went into it- you were his best friend after all. If you didn’t feel the same way not only would he be crushed, but it would be awkward. That awkwardness would probably lead to drifting apart from you and that was something he never wanted to happen.

He loved being there for you, listening to your whine about your latest grievance, or nagging you about your terrible addiction to caffeine. You had the habit of keeping things to yourself, so he loved when you indulged that information to him just as much as he loved you.

He couldn’t lose you. That would be far worse than you not loving him the way he loved you. Losing you would mean not being able to love you at all, not even quietly.

“I don’t think I’m good enough for her,” he said quietly, “I mean, just because we’re talking doesn’t mean she likes me that way, for all I know she could totally hate the person I am.” He forced a cheery voice to communicate the fact that he was joking, but not entirely. The smile that he wore was tired and weary like he genuinely didn’t think he was enough.

You didn’t like it.

You knew it was in his nature to be hard on himself, he had been doing the same since freshman year. If things went wrong he would blame himself. If anyone was there to criticize, he saw it as himself. 

“Stop it,” You chided, moving away from him and glaring, much to his surprise. Your brow was knit in frustration as you reached out and took his face in your hands, cradling it gently enough so that he was looking at you.

“You listen to me,” You said firmly, voice dead serious. “You, Lee Taeyong, are absolutely fucking amazing, and I don’t want to hear you ever put yourself down again.”

You were angry, he could hear it in your voice. From sleepy to annoyed, the change in your demeanor had him blinking in silence for he was much too surprised to do anything else.

“You’re perfect,” You said so earnestly that it was a little amusing. “And whoever she is would be a goddamn fool if she doesn’t realize that because any girl would be the luckiest fucking girl in  the world to have you.”

Unbeknownst to him, there was some jealously mixed into it as well. One of your flaws was that you often let your envy seep into things you did and as much as you wanted to help Taeyong as the great friend you were, it killed you to see that he was so much into someone else but thought he wasn’t good enough for them. That was utter bullshit, and you were going to make sure he knew that.

You would have done anything to be that her.

“Y/n…” He whispered your name softly, trailing off into silence instead of continuing the sentence. The dialogue from the movie was the only thing that could be heard for the next minute or so, and you let go of his face, clearing your throat.

“Got it?”

“Yes ma’am,” He mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize? You did nothing wrong,” You huffed, retreating to your previous position. You weren’t quite sure what had possessed you to do that, but you had a feeling it was something he needed to hear. “Ask her out, and if she says no, her loss.”

You were stupid. So painfully stupid.

“Thank you,” he simpered, nudging you slightly. You only hummed in reply, muttering something about your insistence on being good at hyping people up. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Die. You would die.” You offered helpfully, and he snorted but didn’t deny it, instead once again glancing over at you to catch a glimpse of your face. Yeah, he really did think you were the most beautiful person he had ever seen, even in the crappy dim lighting of your living room right now.

“I would walk through fire for you,” He mumbled, “Thats how much I appreciate you.”

The giggle he earned for that was fucking dizzying, and he was tempted to repeat the statement just to hear it again. “Yeah?” “Yeah,” He confirmed, before thinking about that for a minute. “Okay, maybe not fire because I’m too young and hot to die. A really hot and humid room perhaps.”

You gave him an unimpressed look.

“Not too humid because of my hair.”

The pillow you were cuddling before quickly turned into a weapon to hit him with for his dumb quips, making him hold his arms up to shield himself. He was smiling though, silently laughing as he yelped at every hit you landed.

“Your hair is already dead from the amount that you dye it,” You deadpanned, reaching up and running your fingers threw the front stranger, pushing it out of his face like you so often did. His breath hitched in his throat as you then fixed it again. His eyes fell to your lips just for a moment as you were focused on his hair. 

He wanted to kiss you so bad, just like the many other times he had thought about it and backed out. The factors he had mentioned before were what he used to justify his chickening out every time.

“Yep, it’s fried,” You said, snapping him out of it. Pushing your hand away, he signaled towards the movie that was still playing, redirecting your attention away from his warm face.

“A moderately heated room it is.”

Now that you had given him the push to ask out the girl he wanted, you were somewhat anxious to know how that had ended. Had he finally gone for it? Had it worked out? More importantly, were you going to have to self-sabotage once again?

Top ten questions science couldn’t answer.

This time you found yourself at a different coffee shop rather than the overpriced one you usually visited due to the fact that your friend, Karina, worked there as a barista. Unfortunately, visiting your friend wasn’t the only reason you decided to go there today.

Ji-woo sat across from you, a nervous smile on her face. She was cute, with straight long hair till her elbows, fringe across the forehead, and eyes that were always bright and expressive. It was because of these expressive eyes of hers that she ended up always being a fairly open book to read.

And right now, that book was full of excuses.

“I’m so sorry Y/n! I swear I didn’t mean to miss your messages.” Her words tumble from her lips absolutely covered in honey- scratch that- sugar syrup. They were so sweet and patronizing that they were going to give you diabetes.

“All of them? It’s been a whole two weeks Ji-woo, and I’ve messaged you regularly throughout all of it to ensure you were doing your bit of the project.” It was clear that you didn’t believe a single word that exited her lip-gloss-painted mouth, and she was stressed over it. 

People like her were why you were addicted to coffee. Hey, at least you weren’t as bad as Jaemin, the guy practically drowned all his sorrows in the bitter drink.

“I know—”

“You do?” You asked, pretending to be surprised. “Then why didn’t you answer those texts?”

Needless to say, you were not amused with being ignored, especially not when you had been working your ass off to get a good grade on this project. It was an important one, and you’d be damned if you didn’t do well just because of your partner who prioritized partying more than doing her work. There was nothing wrong with partying of course, but there was everything wrong with leaving your partner alone to do all the work while you rode off it scot-free.

You were mad. You had every right to be and Ji-woo knew it from the way she played nervously with the straw in her iced caramel macchiato.

“I—I promise to do whatever you give me to make up for it!” She bargained, a hopeful smile on her face. “I really am sorry Y/n.”

You definitely did not miss the way she completely evaded your question but decided to let it go. Exhaling, you collected every scrap of willpower you possessed before you started speaking so you wouldn’t snap at her.

“Fine,” you sighed, deciding to graciously give her another chance, much to her relief. “Handle half of the slides and make some notes. I’ve already most of everything anyway so this is all you have to do.” 

“Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“I expect you to have it done a week before our presentation, okay? Start working on it today itself.”

She pauses, pressing her lips together. “I’m busy today but I could start tom- never mind, I’ll do it right away.” She shut up after catching the near-fatal glare you were giving her, collecting her things and drink, getting up and bidding you farewell. 

Pinching the bridge of your nose, you sighed in exasperation. Karina noticed your distress and walked over and a fresh cup of coffee, placing it down next to your now lukewarm one.

“You look like you’ve been through shit,” She said dryly, tucking the empty tray under her arm vertically. You scoffed, eyeing the new cup, all too tempted. 

“I didn’t order another.”

“I know, it’s on the house,” She winked, shifting her weight from one leg to the other. “You looked like you were suffering and my mother always taught me to have pity on the less fortunate.”

“I don’t know if I should thank you or give you a shove.”

She pat your shoulder in faux sympathy. “Both. Both are good. Also, your boyfriend is waiting for you.”

“My who?” You gave her a puzzled look because you were very much- in the words of Na Jaemin himself- painfully single. Karina had a mischievous look on her face as she pointed to the side of the store where Taeyong stood, holding his own cup of coffee. When he realized you had seen him, a lopsided grin plants itself on his mouth and he waved.

“Rina, that is not my boyfriend. I don’t have a boyfriend and even if I did, it definitely wouldn’t be Taeyong.” You mumbled softly, waving back. Then you beckon at him to come to join you at your table.

“Yeah right, but you wouldn’t complain if he was.”

You were a hundred percent ready to argue back, but Taeyong was close, and saying anything further would give you away, which you definitely didn’t want to happen. Instead, you settled for glaring at her as she slipped away while Taeyong took a seat opposite you.

“Hey! Oh geez, who stole your candy?” It was then you realized you were still wearing a disgruntled look on your face and shook your head. 

“Sorry, I just met with my lovely partner.”

“Seriously? What were her excuses?”

This was why he was your best friend, he somehow knew things without you having to tell him anything at all. All you had to do was fill him in on the details. The two of you were just so in sync that you worked perfectly in every way.

You were definitely grateful for the new cup of coffee Karina had gotten you since your old one was almost over and now cold. As the drink kissed your throat soothingly, you remembered the question you had been dying to know the answers to.

“Did you ask her on a date?” 

Taeyong was mid-sip when you asked the question, glancing up at you as he did so. He nodded.

Oh.

“.....Well?”

“Well, what?”

“She said yes, didn’t she?” You asked, forcing a gleeful tone. Taeyong stared at you in bafflement, probably at how you had deciphered that so quickly as you down the rest of your coffee, resting your elbows on the table and chin in your palms. “I’ll help you get ready for the date.”

In actuality, Taeyong was panicking. His initial plan was to just say that this hypothetical girl said no to him, but you had already jumped to conclusions and looked so excited about it that he didn’t want to rain down on your parade.

The indifference on his face made you sit up straight, a triumphant grin on your face. You see, Taeyong had the habit of pretending something hadn’t gone his way to fool you before he gave you the correct information, and this was no doubt one of those times.

“Oh it’ll be fun- just tell me what type of date you’re taking her on and I’ll style you.” You clapped your hands together, and your best friend had no idea how to tell you that you were extremely wrong. 

Whatever god was out there was probably laughing at him, clutching their stomach and all.

So! New plan. He was going to just go with the flow, fake going on a date, and then somewhere down the road say he broke it off with this girl. It would be fine.

Taeyongs fatal flaw would always be his inability to say no to you. It was the reason you ended up being his wingwoman, he knew this- no matter how much he tried putting the blame on Doyoung (who would call him an idiot and a simp for being so easily swayed by you every damn time. Taeyong would have to agree).

“Dinner maybe?” He asked, suddenly forgetting everything he ever knew about dates. This was so stupid, he had been on a plethora of dates before, and he had had girlfriends. He knew what to do and how to do it but when it came to you, all of that knowledge he had built up over the years seemed to disappear inexplicably.

You nodded appreciatively at this suggestion, pushing the empty mug to the side. “Nice, somewhere fancy maybe? I heard that the new restaurant is pretty good.” 

The devil on your shoulder was pulling at your hair for being such a professional idiot and genuinely helping him. The angel was proud, perplexed at the way you were going on about it- yes- but proud nevertheless.

“I guess I’ll be taking her there then,” He said, sucking in a breath and giving you a tight-lipped smile. “Thanks for all the help Y/n, I mean it. Even if I’m a little scared to see how you’re going to…style me.”

You threw him a look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You don’t really have the best fashion taste.”

You scoffed, offended that he would ever dare utter something so outlandish right to your face. “Excuse you, just because I don’t have the perfect clothing pieces does not mean I have bad style. I got the skill, just not the materials because they’re expensive and I live off ramen as it is.”

“You have no proof and therefore, due to my deeply inlaid trust issues, I cannot take your word for it.” He said this as solemnly as he possibly could, nodding his head slowly and swiftly pinching his lips to avoid laughing.

Lee Taeyong was the worst tier of insufferable.“Screw you.”

“Time and place.”

“Someday, you’ll go far—” You started wisely, “and I hope you stay there.”

“Rude? I should have never bought you that coffee.” He said in disbelief, bringing his hand to his heart as he got to his feet so that he could leave. You frowned in confusion even though his voice held a playful lilt because something there didn’t add up.

“You got it for me? Karina said it was on the house I- KARINA!?”

lesson #3: the date

Taeyong was what you would call fashionably challenged.

The reason you said this was because while his style was good, it had two sides. On one hand, he dressed well, like the twenty-one-year-old he was. It didn’t really matter, you supposed, because Taeyong looked good in almost everything he wore.

Ah but you see, he had range. He could go from that to grandma-core in a blink of an eye. And while it was certainly a look, it wasn’t date-worthy at all.

God knows you weren’t going to let him show up in that quirky knitted sweater he had gotten at a random festival. You would rather eat your fist.

“Let’s see,” You hummed, running your fingers over his clothes. You were standing in front of his closet, mentally trying to sort out what items of clothing would work well with each other. You had been there many times before, but those instances usually ended with you nabbing a hoodie or t-shirt you had taken a liking to and was going to claim as your own.

Looking through your own closet didn’t look much different at this point.

He had been through two outfits at this point and was confused beyond compare at this point. Never had he ever taken so much effort for a date, let alone for one that was completely fake, so he had no experience with this whole ‘pre-date drama’, as you had oh so eloquently put it.

The first outfit had been cute, but a little too casual for a dinner date at a potentially fancy restaurant. The tee paired with jeans was a classic combo, but it more suited going to his Monday morning lectures.

The second outfit was too formal, the dress shirt and dress pants screamed prom and while you had full faith in Taeyongs abilities to win Prom King, that wasn’t the vibe you were going for either. 

“Here,” You thrust another set of clothes to him. “Go change into these and let’s see how they look.”

He nodded, taking the clothing from you and going to change. While he did that, you plopped yourself on his bed, taking your phone out and scrolling through Instagram to amuse yourself in the time he took. He had started out pretty talkative, but you supposed after all the fussing you had done over him till this point had dulled him down a little.

You looked up when he walked back out, adjusting the sleeves and folding them up a little- just to his elbow to uncover his forearms. The shirt itself leaned more on the formal lines, dark blue in colour, collar kissing his collar bones perfectly, and the top few buttons left unbuttoned on purpose. The end of the shirt was tucked into his jeans that were ripped at the knees. 

Your eyes remained trained on his figure, widening ever so slightly as you did a full-body scan of the entire outfit. Was this you blatantly checking your best friend out under the guise of judging the appropriateness of what he was wearing? Absolutely.

Were you even slightly ashamed? Not really. Hey, a girl has got to be proactive, especially when she was in love with the guy who was going on a date with another girl right at that moment.

Your lips parted in surprise as you sat up. With the way you had styled his hair before (and of course, the fact that Taeyong was attractive anyway), you couldn’t even think of any way else to describe him.

Other than, of course, saying that your best friend was hot as hell.

“So?” He asked, looking at you expectantly., awaiting your conclusion. You swallowed thickly, trying to think of the words to say. 

“You look….wow,” You settled for finally, cringing at yourself when you heard it leave your tongue. 

Bemused, he shook some of the hair that had fallen into his face out of it, cocking his head to the side in the process. “Wow? What an articulate observation from the English Lit. major.”

He was teasing you now, and you rolled your eyes, getting to your feet and walking over when you realized a part of his collar was a bit messed up on one side. His breath hitched in his throat when you were close enough, reaching your hand up and folding it over in the manner it was supposed to be.

“It was a good wow,” You defended, flickering your eyes up to his. He was already looking at you, and the attention had you feeling a little dizzy. “And I’m better than you, Mr. I exchanged the word assonance for alliteration.”

“I’m not the English major here though.”

You yanked a little on his collar to get him to shut up, and he did so promptly, but not without letting a dumb smile settle on his lips. Arguing with you would forever be one of his favorite past times and he would never give up the chance to do so.

“Alright,” You mumbled, taking a step back and admiring your handiwork. “You’re all set to go.”

“Where?” He breathed out, still looking at you in that maddening way. He was so distracted by you that he had completely forgotten what he was doing at that moment

“Your date, you idiot,” You pushed his shoulder, snapping him out of his daze. 

The date. Yes.

He coughed slightly, nodding as he got his things, ready to leave. “Right. Thanks for…you know.”

“Any time,” You said, flashing him an assuring look. “Now go get your girl.”

He left a few minutes, later and you watched him do so, the smile on your face fading little by little with every second that passed. When you heard the door of his apartment click shut, you finally dropped the cheery look on your face, all sobered up.

You wondered how Taeyong would be on a date. He was confident, it was one of his most attractive features and you knew that he had this quality about him that had everyone charmed. He would be the sweetest on a date, no doubt, making sure his date was comfortable above everything else.

You almost wished that date was for you.

Irony was quickly becoming one of Taeyong’s least favorite things.

On approaching his car, he opened the door and placed himself in the driver's seat, letting out a sigh. He didn’t start the car, nor did he even switch the radio on. All he did was take his phone out and open Tiktok.

Ah yes, what an excellent date.

The consequences of lying about having a date meant that he had to go through the entire pre-date drama he had mentioned before, without actually going anywhere. It was why he now had two whole hours to kill without a single thing to do. His fancy ‘date’ consisted of scrolling through random people enthusiastically dancing to Lizzo’s About Damn Time and some dude whose money didn’t jiggle. Instead, it folded.

It was just as depressing as it sounded.

Good for the guy honestly, sounded like he was financially stable.

Taeyong wondered how his life had come to this. He ran a hand through his hair, successfully messing up the way you had carefully helped style it in the process. There were very few moments in his life when he had felt truly like an idiot, and this instance, in particular, took the first spot, dethroning whatever held that position before it.

The car was warm. He switched the air conditioning on and resumed watching the thirty-second video clips that were the reason his attention span had degraded so much. 

He figured he deserved this, considering all he had done the past few weeks was lie to your face. Granted, the lies came from a place of protection- protecting himself from potentially getting rejected and protecting you from being disappointed about not being able to be his wingwoman.

But they had evolved from him simply omitting the truth by not being honest about how he felt to getting dressed in a really nice outfit with nowhere to go but two whole hours to kill in his car. It had him thinking over his life decisions, and anything that had him going all existential was immediately a bad thing.

This was definitely a downgrade. From actually going on dates and having girlfriends to faking dating someone because he was hopefully taken with you. He remembered the first time he realized was when you made the joke about getting married if the two of you were still single by the age of thirty-two and not being opposed to the idea. In fact, he rather liked the sound of it.

It was all downhill from there, and even though he considered it as such, he still smiled at the thought.

Two mind-numbingly boring hours later and another Tiktok sound that would be inevitably stuck in his head for the next two weeks minimum, he decided it was now acceptable to go back to his apartment. 

When he was younger, his parents had always been proud of how responsible he had been, how he barely ever wasted time. 

Oh if they could see him now. One hundred and twenty minutes of his life he was never going to get back.

He slid his keys into the lock, twisting them and pushing the door open. His apartment was quiet, and he wondered if you had gone back to your own as he slipped his shoes off. He unbuttoned another button on his shirt and walked into his bedroom, freezing when he saw the sight that lay before him.

You were asleep in what he could only describe as the most uncomfortable position known to humankind. You were still sort of sitting, curled over his pillows that were propped against the headboard, one hand held out as you held your phone weakly. It was just about to slip out of your fingers and hit the ground, but he managed to walk over in time to lunge over and catch it.

Taeyong scoffed, but the ghost of a smile played on his lips as he placed your phone on the little bedside table. He knew all too well that you would complain to no end when you woke up after sleeping like that, and so he carefully picked you up and adjusted your position, before tucking you under the sheets.

His heart was fighting its way out of his chest the more he looked at you. You were so peaceful as you slept, if you were awake he would have made a joke about it. Now, however, you were knocked out, and for once he didn’t have to lie. He didn’t have to pretend. 

Leaning forward, he pressed a soft kiss to your forehead, mumbling a goodnight as he switched the lights off.

He’d whisper his confessions into the dark, where they would stay.

You were going to tear your hair out.

It had been more than a week since you met up with her to talk, and Ji-woo hadn’t done even a thing from the lot she had promised. You were tired from all your classes and the extra guest- lecture you had attended. Not to mention the fact that midterms were coming up and you had to spend time finishing other assignments for other classes along with your general studies.

You were exhausted beyond compare and couldn’t even bear the thought of having to do her work as well. It was already two a.m and you were so damn close to breaking down- ugly tears and all- as you stared at your laptop screen and at the unfinished slides. So you did the one thing you could think of and called the person you knew would have your back, whether that was to help or assist in your breakdown.

“Y/n?” Taeyong’s groggy voice sounded through your phone speaker and you let out a sound that could only be compared to a wail in response to properly convey how you were feeling. You could imagine him sitting up in his bed and rubbing his eyes. 

“The fuck? It’s ass o’clock in the morning, why are you calling me?”

“I’m screwed,” You whined, kicking your feet childishly under the table you sat at for effect though you knew he couldn’t see it. “Ji-woo, and pardon my french but that bitch hasn’t done anything and I’m so close to dropping out I-”

“Why are you awake right now?” His question cut through your complaining, causing you to shut up and frown.

“Did you not hear me? I’m going to fail because of this girl, Tae, that’s why I’m awake.”

“Go to sleep,” He groaned, “You’ll definitely fail if you don’t sleep enough.”

“Wow, thanks.”

You could hear some shuffling in the background, and you assumed he had put his phone down for a moment. Then, you heard him speak again.

“Be there in five.”

You blinked, not really knowing to respond to that, but it was all okay since he ended the call right then. You had called him to vent, that was it.

Needless to say, Taeyong was at your door a few minutes later in his sweats and a jacket to combat the chilly night air, giving you the most murderous look he could muster up. Those eyes of his really did it justice.

“You disturbed my beauty sleep.”

You don’t need it anyway, you thought. “I didn’t expect you to come over?!? Don’t blame this on me.”

“Oh please,” He glared, but it wasn’t serious in the slightest as he sauntered inside. “You called me in the middle of the night, and I’ve been your best friend long enough to know what that means. Are you telling me you didn’t want me to be here in the slightest?”

You could only give him a sheepish smile because it was 100% true. Then, your smile melted into a look of disgruntlement as you led him to the table in your living room, collapsing on one of the chairs while you gestured wildly to the blank slides.

“Nothing, nada, I’m going to fail.”

He sighed, joining you in your task of staring down the unfinished work. Not that was much to stare at, but he definitely pitied you for somehow landing the worst project partner of the year. 

He could also tell how tired you were from just one look at you and how there was no way you would be able to get anything done like this. Slipping his jacket off, he hung it on the back of one of the chairs around the table and clapped his hands together. “Alright, we can do this, but first I need to know where you keep your kettle because you keep stress cleaning and reorganizing the kitchen.”

You looked at him, puzzled. “Huh? Why would you need that?”

“Because,” he walked into the kitchen, leaving you with no choice but to trail after him. “I’m making your coffee, there is no way in hell I’m helping you without some and you look like crap right now.”

You almost missed the dig at you, too surprised at the fact he was actually making your coffee. It had been a running joke that he never would because he was terrible at doing so, which was why you kept running to Starbucks. 

“First of all, ouch.” You glared at him, taking your kettle down from one of the cupboards. “And secondly, are you really?”

“Yep,” he confirmed, finding the coffee beans by himself and taking the appliance from you, placing it on the fire. “After a cup, you’ll have all the motivation in the world.”

“I sure hope so,” you chirped, leaning against the counter. “God, I can’t believe she didn’t do it this time. She said she would.”

“You trust too easily,” He muttered, mostly to himself. The gravity of the situation had started to eat away at him more than before and he was guilty. You trusted every word that came out of his mouth and he just kept lying. He told you he had been going on more dates with the girl to make it more believable, you were overjoyed and told him to ask her to be his girlfriend.

It was all going wrong. All he had wanted to do was impress you that day.

“Maybe so,” you agreed quietly, pushing yourself off the counter. He poured the coffee into two cups that you got down wordlessly, the both of you working together perfectly even without any words being said.

Taeyong handed you a cup, and you wrapped your fingers around it to absorb the warmth, taking a cautionary sip so as to not burn your tongue. The bitter drink washed over your tongue and you savoured the flavour. It revitalized you, giving you back some of the energy you had lost.

“Holy shit,” You said in quiet awe, “This coffee fucking slaps.”

He chuckled in amusement, happy to have proven himself right. Even more so, he was happy to see you happy over something as minute as him making you some coffee. “I know,” He said smugly, “Come on, let’s get back to working on your project.”

You stopped, realizing how much you depended on Taeyong. Without him, you would have probably been throwing a tantrum right now, throwing stuff around your apartment and all. Within a short period of time, he had managed to put you together again.

“Yeah sounds good.” You murmured, warming your hands on the mug. He sighed, pointing the spoon he used to mix the coffee in your direction with a strict look on his face

“And you have got to stop staying up this late, you’re going to fall sick, and then I’ll have to stay over and take care of you.” He pretended to look as displeased as possible with that hypothetical situation. “Honestly, I’m at a loss for words with how bad your sleep schedule is.”

Despite being at a loss for words, he continued to lecture you.

You put the cup down and moved towards him, wrapping your arms around him and tucking your face in the crook of his neck. The hug caught him off guard, but he returned it almost immediately, his own arms around your frame and lips pressing a soft kiss into your hair as if he could sense you needed the comfort.

“Thank you,” you whispered, shutting your eyes and pretending for a moment. Every day you had to remind yourself that there was someone else he was interested in because of things like these. He assured you with the usual ‘don’t mention it’ and whatnot, but you weren’t paying attention.

Just a moment.

final lesson: how to ask her to be your girlfriend

“I can’t believe you still haven’t told me who she is,” you said incredulously. “This might be the longest you’ve ever kept a secret from me, so maybe if you would just-”

“I’m not telling you.” He seemed adamant about keeping it a secret and part of you were starting to wonder if you were ever going to meet this girl. You exhaled in exasperation, throwing your hands up in defeat.

“It would be a lot easier to help you with asking her to be your girlfriend if I knew who she was, you know?”

But you knew better than to try and convince your best friend of something he had already made his mind up about. You were never going to get that girl’s name from his lips, so this entire thing was for naught. Besides, there was no point in competing with someone you didn’t know when it already looked like you had lost.

You really didn’t understand how you were supposed to help him make this ‘thing’ he had with her official when you knew next to nothing about her. If you had even a little information, you could put something meaningful together, 

“Just seduce her into being your girlfriend.” You offered helpfully, not really having anything else to add. He gave you a deadpan look.

“Y/n, I am about as seductive as a cabbage.”

You snickered at that, somewhat agreeing with him. You were at his place, sitting opposite him on the couch with your legs criss-cross-applesauce. He mirrored your position, one hand propped up on the back of the couch. It was around this point in time when you were really starting to despise the wingwoman position you had landed yourself in because you couldn’t find a way out no matter how hard you tried.

Unfortunately, you had no one to blame but yourself for this predicament. 

“I guess you’re screwed then.”

“Helpful,” He muttered dryly, shutting his eyes and leaning back properly. You would never understand his reluctance towards the topic.

“Hell no, you have a girlfriend to get.” You sat up and hummed, “Just be honest about what you feel for her and tell her. People always want to know what they mean to others, and if you tell her how much you appreciate her she’ll realize that you’re perfect for her.”

“But saying shit like that without messing it up is hard, and messing up in the middle would be embarrassing.” Taeyong pointed out, jutting his lower lip out in thought. He ran a hand through his hair- a habit of his- messing up the strands that somehow always looked good no matter what he did. They always fell back in place perfectly.

“Then you need to practice,” You said firmly, “Ever tried the mirror technique?”

“Mirror….technique?”

You started explaining what you meant by that. “You know when you practice what you’re going to say in front of a mirror, as you would when rehearsing for a part in a play?” He hummed at this.

“I haven’t tried that, actually.” He admitted, “I don’t think I’d be able to be serious about it.”

A solution to this sprung to your mind, but it was a selfish one. It was selfish because it was more due to the fact that you wanted to hear what he had to say for yourself than to actually help him in knowing what to say to make things official with this girl. Hey, what he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him, right?

“Just try it on me.”

Taeyong’s eyes widened slightly, lips parting in shock at your proposition. You quickly scrambled to elaborate on what you meant by that so there were no misunderstandings.

“I mean— just pretend I’m her! Pretend I’m her and say what you want to me and I can judge it for you.” You coughed, trying to rid yourself of the strain that had suddenly caught onto your voice. “Maybe it would be more helpful than talking to a mirror.”

He stared at you for a second, digesting this information before nodding slowly. He adjusted his position and pressed his lips together in thought, recollecting everything he wanted to say. It was an opportunity to test out what he had ever wanted to say to you without actually going out and admitting it.

The best-case scenario was the only thing he had to consider over here. There were no consequences, no backlashes, just an experience that he was much too cowardly to claim for real.

“We’ve been going out for a few weeks now.” He started slow, deciding to just go where his words took him. “And—”

Update; his words then failed him.

You see, it was the way you were looking at him, so focused and determined to listen to every word. It reminded him of the fact that he didn’t actually have anything to say because he had pretty much told himself that he would never be in this position. His mouth went dry and he had to swallow thickly.

It was getting easier to lie to you, little by little the white lies piled up on top of each other and disillusioned his sight. However, for some reason, right now no lies sprung forth. So he did the only thing he could think of.

He chose the truth. Sort of.

“You make me really happy,” he said, voice dropping in volume a little bit. That fond tone you had always envied for others slipped into it and the sides of his lips curled upwards slightly into the smallest boyish smile. “I love spending time with you because you make me feel like those moments could last forever. I love seeing you happy, but more so when you’re sad because then I can be the one to cheer you up.”

Your heart had a mind of its own, dancing violently in your chest at the way he spoke. It was a cruel joke that the world played on you, for you to be selfish enough to want to hear this, but so selfish that it hurt. 

You couldn’t even look away, bound to your duty of listening to every word that left his honeyed lips. Words that weren’t meant for you and never would be, because you were the best friend. You had always been and forever would be just the best friend.

“I love your frowns and your smiles,” he continued, “And I want to be there for each and every one of those, so that’s why I’m asking.”

He sucked in a deep breath. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

Yes. 

No. You had very conveniently forgotten how to breathe at that very moment, air getting caught up in your lungs and throat. His eyes dropped down to your lips, making you want to lean over and perhaps press them against his own. Then you wanted to run far away and hide because the prospect of ever being able to kiss Taeyong on the mouth had you feeling so fucking dizzy-

“Y/n.”

Did he—

Did he fucking end his little speech with your name?

It served as a reminder, bringing you back to reality without even a semblance of mercy. One would think that him using your name there would only further your thoughts, but no. They dragged you back and rooted you to the ground from the clouds you had been previously walking upon.

Because you simply were not meant for that.

You blinked rapidly, sucking in a breath of air to calm yourself down. It was then that Taeyong realized his slip up of saying your name, alarmed at what he had done, and racked his brain on how to fix it.

“I used your name because I can’t tell you who she is,” He said all too quickly, cheeks flushed pink. Heat crept up your neck and to your own face, leaving it hot and flustered. 

“Yeah, I gathered as much,” You said, clearing your throat because it seemed like your voice had gotten stuck. “That—that was good. Really good. She’ll definitely say yes.”

(You knew you would.)

When you start to mix the truth with lies, it gets harder to distinguish the two from each other.

Taeyong told you that the ‘girl’ had agreed to be his girlfriend in the end, every deceitful letter becoming easier to pronounce as time went on. That didn’t mean that he liked it any better, of course not. He hated that he had to continually lie to you, he hated the bitter taste it left on his tongue.

The guilt seeped in like poison, tainting everything. He started to use his ‘girlfriend’ as an excuse to avoid meeting up, saying something about having a date, or spending the day with her. Distancing himself from you to avoid feeling bad about it, and then proceeding to feel like a terrible friend for doing so.

Third ring of hell, party of one.

The cycle was one that was going to be hard to break, and the problem was that he had no idea where to start making a crack.

From seeing each other almost daily to maybe once a week if you were lucky, you missed your best friend. It was only natural to miss the person you loved, but it wasn’t just that anymore. You missed the Taeyong that was your rock, the person who agreed to grocery shop with you at three a.m, the best friend that you knew would respond to all your texts within seconds.

But you understood. You forced yourself to understand and come to terms with the fact that while you were his best friend, he had a girlfriend now- a girlfriend he was very clearly head over heels for. You would just have to learn how to deal with only seeing him occasionally. You would have to relearn how to be just a friend.

That was the funny thing about love, one would find themselves doing absolutely anything for the person they had feelings for. It didn’t matter if it hurt them, as long as the other was happy, it would be okay.

You finished 13 going on 30 by yourself on a lonely night, without the company of your best friend. You watched as Jenna finally realize that Matty was the one that was for her, and how she run after him. You watched her get heartbroken and rejected and go back to being thirteen. You watch as she marries Matty when she really was thirty. Two best friends, in love.

This time around, you didn’t fall asleep until the very end.

It was two days before the presentation of your project. You wished you could have said that you were doing great and that you had your shit together, that everything was going smoothly, but that would be a big fat lie. You already talked about your reluctance with lying.

The truth was that you did not, in fact, have your shit together. You needed more fiber in your diet.

Two days before the project and Ji-woo hadn’t sent in her notes. She hadn’t followed up on her aural part of the presentation or anything to do with the project and you were done.

You really didn’t like Kim Ji-woo.

Unlike the other day, it wasn’t late at night. It was only eight in the evening, but you really didn’t feel like pulling another all-nighter because your partner decided to be irresponsible. Truly you had never met someone so hard to work with and you hoped you never would again. Working alone would have been better than having to put up with this nonsense since that was what you were essentially doing anyways.

Perhaps it was your fault for ever trusting that Ji-woo would do her work. You should have known better than to be so naive- like Taeyong had said. Your problem was that you were too trusting.

Taeyong

Right. You took your phone out and fumbled with it, clicking on his contact and holding the phone up to your ear. If there was anyone that would help calm your nerves, it would be him.

Wait. No. You pull the phone away and stare at the call screen for a moment, the picture you had taken of the two of you to put as the background. You were mid-hug, your own face was almost completely hidden while he displayed one of those brilliant smiles of his. It was a sweet picture, one you cherished.

Then you looked at the contact name, the way you had typed in ‘yongie<3’ with a little dragon emoji next to it. The original one never had the emoji, but since he knew the passcode to your phone (and had one day managed to convince you into adding his fingerprint in as well), he had broken in once and added it.

You click off the call, pressing your thumb onto the little red phone icon to end it before he could even pick up. There was no point trying to reach him, he would probably be busy with his girlfriend. Or something else. That thought has your gut in a twist because never before had you thought like this.

Since when had he ever been too busy for you? He had had girlfriends before and you had always been the best friend even then, watching from the sidelines. Even then, he never made you doubt what you meant to him. Even in a relationship, you were his favorite girl.

The fingers of your other hand curled into a fist, and you clenched it, swallowing hard. You missed him so fucking bad and you wanted nothing more than to call him. To hear him tease you about something and then show up anyways.  

Where was your best friend when you needed him? For some reason, the fact that you were drifting felt like it was all your fault, and you had no clue on how to fix your mess. You wanted to be able to call him without second-guessing yourself and crossing your fingers, without biting your lips and hoping that a certain other girl hadn’t already taken up his time.

When you needed it most, your best friend was nowhere to be found.

It wasn’t just the project. It was the fact that you were head over heels for the boy and it would never be known to him. It was the fact that there was no one else you wanted as badly as Taeyong. You wanted to be the girl he spoke about fondly, the one who he took on dates and the one he called his.

But you weren’t. Instead, you had been a complete idiot and assisted in the process of him falling in love with someone else. You thought it would help you figure out what he liked and who it was, but no, all it did was hurt.

You didn’t realize tears had welled up in your eyes until one trickled down your face to your chin. You sniffed softly, bringing your hand up and wiping your face, screwing your eyes shut to prevent any more tears from spilling out because fuck, you hated crying over something you had no control over.

More quiet tears made their way out and to your surprise, you weren’t breaking down over your project. You were crying because of your broken heart and the pieces that lay around you helpless. Pieces you didn’t know how to put back together yourself.

It had never hit you as hard as it did right then, leaving you to cry into the palms of your hands. You were crying for the loss of a lover, over having him slip out of your fingers and never even trying to hold on. You were crying for the loss of your best friend, who seemed to not value you as important enough anymore.

Your phone lay unattended on the table. You missed the quiet buzzing of a return call, the notification of a check-up message. It didn’t matter anyway, because when you did go to check, you found out that the message had been deleted. 

You were starting to feel a lot like that message.

From the moment he saw your name light up his phone screen, Taeyong had been worried. 

He hesitated to answer it for just a second too long, but it was that second that fucked everything up. The call ended right before he could even pick up his phone and there weren’t any follow-up calls. This was extremely unlike you because when you wanted to reach him, you would keep calling until you got tired of it or he picked up.

He waited for the second call. Nothing.

It was then he called you back, wanting to check up on you. It had been a week to ten days since he last saw you, something he hated with every fiber of his being. 

When you didn’t pick up, his stomach sank. He opened your texts, looking at how far back the last one had been, before pulling the keypad open and starting to type out a message to you.

[8:24 p.m.] yongie 🐉: hey, something up?

Fuck, that sounded weird for some reason. He backspaced, biting the inside of his cheek as he contemplated what to say.

[8:24 p.m.] yongie 🐉: u good?

He pressed send and then almost immediately regretted it. He dropped his phone and groaned aloud to no one in particular, looking up at the ceiling of his apartment. He missed hearing your set of keys jingle when you were outside the door, he missed your spontaneous visits. Without you, his home didn’t really feel much like one.

He deleted the message hurriedly and decided to call it a night. He would deal with all of this tomorrow when he had a fresh mind after a good night of sleep. Before bed, he checked to see if you had seen the deleted text.

You had.

The walk to campus the next day was lonely. He even waited at Starbucks for you, but you were nowhere to be seen and he was going to be late, which left him no choice but to go ahead without you. It felt wrong to walk without you chattering along by his side. 

He missed it.

So when he saw you walking through the hallways, reading some notes you had out, he knew he had to talk to you. He walked over and cleared his throat, gently tapping your shoulder to attract your attention. You stiffened, turning around to look at him.

Your expression relaxed just a bit but stayed guarded to an extent. He gave you an impassive smile, pressing his lips together to form a thin line to cover up the surge of guilt that rushed through him after going so long without seeing you. “Hey.”

“Hi.” You said softly and immediately he could tell something was wrong. Your demeanor was completely different from what he was used to, closed off and voice clipped. You held your notes close to your chest, waiting for him to continue with what he was going to say. 

“Can we talk?”

Talk, talk, talk. You wanted to talk to him so bad, but you knew that after you had finished it would be another week before you saw him again. Plus, you only had a day before the project left and so much to finish, you couldn’t be here wasting your time on a feeling that would only last a few minutes.

“I’m busy, got a project to finish.”

“It’ll take five minutes,” he promised, “I’m guessing Ji-woo didn’t do her work?” “She didn’t,” you confirmed, “Would have been helpful if I knew I could count on you.”

You didn’t mean to say that to his face and you definitely didn’t mean for it to come out so harshly. He looked taken aback, blinking slowly at your sudden outburst.

“I—I saw your call,” he mumbled, “It’s why I want to talk to you.”

You felt a little bad for springing that upon him so abruptly and so you agreed- out of pity, of course. You weren’t doing this because you were hopeless in love with him, you weren’t doing this because of some sort of futile hope. Definitely not. You were doing this because you felt bad and possessed empathy.

Wow. After all this time, you had finally started lying.

You nodded, and he gave you another one of those pretty smiles of his, this time a little brighter. Cocking his head to the side, he gestured towards an empty lecture hall that you could speak in. You followed him inside, noting that it was the same one you had to visit every Wednesday when you were a freshman.

It was quiet now. He turned to you and let out a sigh. 

“You didn’t call again,” he said finally, “That’s not like you and I got a little worried so—”

You wanted to groan. While you had been overthinking and crying like a little bitch, he actually noticed. He got worried and thought about you and you hated the way that little piece of information had butterflies erupting in your stomach.  

Because you’re angry, and being angry and in love at the same time was not the most optimal combination. It had your stomach fluttery and your mind pissed at you for being so affected by every little thing. It wasn’t your fault, you were just a girl in love.

“Stop. I’m fine, you can see that, can’t you?” You cut him off and once again it was like you had no control over your tongue. Hurt was thrown into the already mess that your feelings were right then, and it was ugly. You shut your eyes, regretting your words immediately.

“Sorry. I’m having a bad day.”

He knew what that meant, you had said the same thing all those days ago when you had gotten all snappy at him. Whenever something was wrong, you tended to hide it under the fact that you were supposedly having a bad day. This time, however, he wasn’t going to let you go without figuring out exactly what was troubling you.

“You’re not fooling me with that,” he said firmly, “Something is bothering you. Tell me.”

This was why you didn’t want to have this conversation. Taeyong could always see right through you and dealing with this was not on your agenda for the day.

“Taeyong—”

“You can trust me, you know? I’m your best friend.” There was a hint of offense in his voice. He was sad that you seemed to not want to share what was causing your shitty mood, even though all he wanted to do was help. After all, that was what best friends did, was it not?

You narrowed your eyes at him, your anger overriding your affection. Scoffing, you asked, “Best friends? Is that what we are?”

He looked bewildered but answered assuredly, “Always.”

“Right, because best friends avoid and ignore each other,” You scowled, taking a step away from him. “You haven’t been a best friend in weeks, Taeyong, so don’t pretend that you suddenly are now.”

It was the way that guilt took over his features so damn quickly; you knew that you hadn’t said a truer thing ever before. For weeks you had been trying to convince yourself it wasn’t so, that you were just reading too much into things, but you hadn’t. He had been avoiding you, you had hit the nail right on the head.

“Y/n I— I didn’t mean to, I swear,” he said earnestly, those eyes of his going round and insistent.

You raised your hand to shut him up, which did the trick pretty effectively. Immediately, he clamped his mouth close and you looked at him sharply.

You asked, “I get that you have a girlfriend and all, but does that mean you forget about me?” “Please if you would just—” He was panicking slightly now because of the fact that he was realizing exactly how far he had taken things. The lies had created a mountain, one that blocked his view of you and how you were doing. 

Pride comes before fall. The act as up, for he had been standing so tall on his metaphorical mountain, he forgot the person who helped bring him up there.

But he didn’t, he didn’t forget, which only made this worse. He did this to protect you- no, that was a lie. He did this to protect himself. Coward, chicken, scaredy-cat. 

“And I understand that you’ll never love me as you love her,” you exhaled, your throat feeling as if it had been pricked by several needles all at once, a strained pain that seemed to refuse to leave. Your eyes were wet, and you refused to cry but fuck, you might just start.

“So fuck me for falling in love with you,” you said. “But the least you could have done is be there for me like the best friend you claim to be. Somewhere along the path of you falling for her, you forgot about me.”

Confessions were supposed to be sweet and gentle, something that caught you from the fall that was love. Yours was nothing of the sort, instead a horrid sharp punch to the gut as he stared in horror at what he had done.

You loved him?

“Y/n,” he whispered your name as if it was something fragile. If he said it too loud, you would have crumbled right then and there. Then again, you were doing that anyway, right in front of his eyes.

“I just want you back.”

“I’m sorry.” 

He didn’t even think to tell you how much he fucking loved you back, because all he felt was this overwhelming guilt. It was taking over him and he despised himself for being the reason you were like this. You were right, he had been the worst friend in the world to you.

‘I’m sorry’. The words taunted you and you almost laughed. ‘I’m sorry I was a shitty person. I’m sorry you fell in love with me.’

You sniffed, turning around on your heel and walking to the door, leaving the classroom without another word. You had nothing to say and wanted to leave before those tears made their way down your face and reminded you once again of what you would never have and never be.

You felt pathetic. 

No one told you that there were repercussions for falling in love with your best friend. There really shouldn’t have been, but love was harsh. Love wasn’t like it was in the movies because you weren’t in one. Heartache was cruel and you were nowhere near prepared for the impact that it left on you, the hollow feeling you didn’t know how to fill.

From wingwoman to wreck, teaching Taeyong to fall in love and win the heart of another girl had never been a good idea, and you were insane to think so. 

You were sorry too.

Taeyong didn’t have much love when it came to the romance department.

He said this for several reasons. The first was his terrible habit of tending to chicken out of situations often instead of owning up. The second was the fact that he had managed to fall in love with his best friend and break her heart all in the same breath. 

The third was because somehow, he always went to the same person for advice.

Doyoung stared at his best friend, wondering how he always ended up being the therapist. Taeyong had showed up a few minutes ago, looking absolutely distraught and panicked, and although he had been pissed over his study time being interrupted, he knew he couldn’t just leave him there.

And so here he was, raising an eyebrow and prompting his friend to continue.

Taeyong sighed, feeling more like an idiot as time went on. The irony of him going to someone who had barely any experience in terms of dating for help was utterly ridiculous, but he kept finding himself in that position over and over again.

“I fucked up.”

Doyoung snorted. “You always do that.”

The former glared, “I’m serious. I fucked up so hard that I have no idea how to fix it.” 

You were in love with him. He fucking apologized for pushing you away instead of saying it back like the absolute dumbass he was. He was in love with you too and he failed to tell you in time.

“Fine, fine,” Doyoung sighed, pushing away his textbooks when he realized his friend was serious. He had watched the two of you dance around each other for so long, what was a few more minutes of his life dedicated to it? Plus, he was admittedly a little invested in it now. 

Yes, Kim Doyoung was potentially a whore for drama. And what about it?

Taeyong sucked in a deep breath and then started from the top. He told Doyoung the entire story, starting from that day so long ago at the library when he had dressed a little nicer than usual and used his good cologne just to impress you. He told him how you misunderstood his actions to such an extent that he ended up with you being his wingwoman.

He told him about how you helped him gather up the courage to ask this hypothetical girl out, and how you got him ready for the date. He was ready for the inevitable snickers around the part when he confessed that he sat alone in his car for two hours just to pretend he was at that date.

How he lied and ignored you and made every possible bad decision in the book along the way. You were right, after all, he really did need someone to guide him in the art of love, a wingwoman. 

Preferably one that wasn’t you. 

Once he was done, Doyoung was looking at him like he had grown another head. He probably deserved that, if he was going, to be honest with himself.

“You’re stupider than I thought.” 

“I didn’t come here to be verbally abused, I came here for assistance.”

“You’ll get your assistance but first I have to remind you of how absolutely idiotic you’ve been,” Doyoung deadpanned, leaning back in his seat. “You apologized? I mean, at least you have your manners down.”

Taeyong groaned, burying his face in his hands. Just because he knew this was called for didn’t mean that he liked it any better. He waited for a moment for the other boy to continue, but nothing came.

“How do I fix this?”

……And now Doyoung was looking at him like he was a maniac. “You’re kidding.”

“Dead serious.”

“You seriously don’t know how to fix it?” He asked incredulously. “Why do I hang out with you again?”

“I swear to god-”

“You have a pretty face but your head is empty,” Doyoung grumbled, getting up from his seat and turning it around so he could sit on it backward, properly facing his obviously challenged friend. “You have to tell her the truth.”

Taeyong paused, remembering how much you disliked lying. Doyoung was right once again (unfortunately), the best thing to do was to come clean about everything that had happened, even if it ended with you hating him even more than you did currently.

So that meant he had everything to lose, but also everything to gain if things went right. He had to bet on it swerving the right way.

Begrudgingly, he admitted. “You’re right.”

“Hah, I always am.”

Your love for Taylor Swift was something you made sure Taeyong knew from the very start, where that was him having to listen to all your borderline insane theories over the next album she was going to release, or the songs that somehow were connected. He sat through them every time, not really paying attention to the content of your words, but more so to how your eyes sparkled with excitement over something you were truly passionate about.

Turning to Doyoung for help when it came to his love life was bad, so turning to songs written by an eleven-time Grammy award winner was a significant step up.

Stand there like a ghost Shaking from the rain, rain She'll open up the door And say, are you insane, -ane?

It wasn’t raining- thankfully- so he had to settle for an apology that was a little less dramatic. He was pretty sure he knew what he was doing for once, so all he had to do was actually go through with it.  

He rang your doorbell twice in succession, which was a habit of his. He was the only person who did it like that, so the moment you heard it from where you were sitting in your bedroom (and sulking), you knew that it was Taeyong waiting out there for you. You cautiously swung your legs over the side of your bed and padded to the door, hesitating for a second before opening it.

You didn’t say anything when you first saw him standing there, instead, you silently held his gaze, gripping the side of the door. Taeyong gave you a crooked smile.

“Aren’t you going to ask me if I’m insane?”

You frowned, “I don’t follow.”

He shrugged before sobering up and biting the inside of his cheek. He knew you better than anyone did, down to your littlest habits that you didn’t know you did yourself. He could see the hurt in your eyes that you had disguised as indifference and apathy, and he was somewhat comforted by it. It meant you loved him just as he loved you.

Say it's been a long six months And you were too afraid to tell her what you want, want 

“The song said you would,” he said, hoping to at least crack a chuckle out of you, “Fine, I’ll continue and tell you why I’m here.” He shut his eyes for a moment and gathered his wits. “I would say it’s been a long six months but I saw you a week ago so.”

As if something had clicked in your mind, you gave him a look that was a mixture of amusement and bewilderment. “Shut up,” Your breathed out, unbelieving that he was actually doing this, “you’re not seriously—”

And then you say—

“I lied to you. A lot.”

So maybe he was thwarted from the original lyrics, but it had to be done. The moment he said those first few words, he could feel the weight of it all roll off his shoulders. He should have never lied in the first place because you were his best friend and you didn’t deserve that at all.

He was going to make this right. He was going to get his girl.

You blinked slowly to silently tell him to continue with whatever he had to say. It wasn’t like you had anything better to do anyway, and you were admittedly now intrigued to see where this was going.

“And I know you hate lying, but I promise it’ll all make sense.” Taeyong was nervous because as he had mentioned earlier, he had never thought about asking you our or every properly telling you how he felt. There were always a million excuses he fell back on to justify this decision, but for once everything depended on him putting those aside and doing it anyways.

“Do you remember the day at the library?”

You nodded because how could you forget? “You were trying to impress your girlfriend.” The word ‘girlfriend’ was said bitterly, you didn’t even try to hide it anymore. It wasn’t like you had to anyway, you had already outed yourself to his face.

He shook his head, “No, I was trying to impress you.”

And now you were confused and it was apparent on your face from the way your brow knitted and your lips turned downwards into a baffled pout. “I’m sorry?”

“Y/n,” he said, voice dropping to a whisper. It was barely loud enough, but due to the silence of the hallway outside your apartment and your own anticipation, you heard it. The way he said your name made you almost flinch, but his next words had the wind knocked out of your lungs.

“I love you too.”

Too, because he hadn’t responded to your own proclamation before. Too, because he returned those very feelings that you had harboured for so long towards the boy. Too, because your affections weren’t in lonesome, and too, because it was an assurance.

I love you too, and the world stopped just for a minute as you sucked in a breath, your heart beating faster as if reminding you to breathe. Could he perhaps hear the way it hammered against your chest?

“You love me,” You repeated his words in a whisper as if you couldn’t believe it. “Taeyong I don’t think—”

“Stop thinking then,” He said quickly, looking down at his shoes. “I lied because I was scared. I was scared that you wouldn’t see me the same way and then I just kept letting that lie get bigger and bigger. There isn’t another girl, there never was, because the girl I wanted the entire time was you. For fucks sake I faked going on a date! Do you know how boring it is to do nothing for two hours in your car?”

You couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of your throat, tears springing to your eyes. The information was overwhelming for you had never even considered this happening. You had settled firmly into your role as the best friend, the wingwoman, so much so that you had forgotten if there was anything after that. Your feelings had piled up so high that you couldn’t see what was behind them. 

His own lips curled into the most affectionate of smiles at your laugh as he took a step closer to you. He reached out, hesitantly cupping your face with one hand, thumb brushing over your cheekbone gently. You leaned into his touch, placing your own hand over his.

“You’re a fucking idiot.”

“Yeah, Doyoung said that too.”

More laughter, your eyes turned into little crescents of joy at the mention of your shared friend. Taeyong studied your face, picking up on the little things he loved so much about you.

“I love you Y/n, and I love you because you’re the one who I want to go with to the grocery store in the middle of the night, the one I want to call when something happens. I love seeing your caller ID on my phone, and the fact that you stayed with me to build that stupid set of lego flowers that still sits on my chest-of-drawers back home.”

His eyes- those eyes you adored so much- looked at you with so much emotion. You were positively enchanted by your best friend, as you had always been, and you were sure you always would be.

“I love when you show up at my place unannounced or drag me along to cook with you even though I end up doing most of the cooking because you suck at it. I love it when you call me at the worst hours possible and the look on your face when I show up.”

He dipped his head down a little, an infuriating little simper on his lips. “I love your smiles and your frowns, Y/n, because I love you.”

You thought you were going to start crying, because fuck, he was talking about you the way you had always wanted to be talked about. In that fond tone of voice where anyone could see how much he truly cared, he was using it for you. No matter how many times you had imagined that happening, nothing could ever beat the real thing.

“Stop it,” You choked out, hitting his arm, “You’re going to make me cry, you dumbass.” But you were smiling, blinking away the happy tears that were threatening to spill. “ Since you love my frowns so much, you’re forcing me to say this with the most unpleasant face I can muster up right now, but I love you too Taeyong, I have for an embarrassingly long time”

Your glower didn’t last very long, however, because you were too busy blinking rapidly to stop yourself from crying. It felt amazing to be able to say those words to him and have him say them back to you in the way you had always wanted. As something more.

He let out an offended sound. “Embarrassingly? I just poured my heart out to you and you classify it as embarrassing I-”

You quickly shut him up by pulling him forward and pressing your lips to his, which did the trick pretty quickly. He kissed you back, his arms falling to your waist as he pulled you in even more until your body was flush against his. You smiled into the kiss, not caring that you were still standing in your doorway.

There were no fireworks like they said in books and movies, no cheers in the background or music. Instead, you were hyperaware of the way his fingers drew dizzying circles on the exposed skin of your hips from how your shirt rid up and how his mouth moved against yours.

You memorised every second of your first kiss with your best friend, eyes fluttered shut and holy shit, you never knew a kiss could ever make your eyes flutter, but this one did.

The kiss was delicate, you slipped your arms around his neck and your fingers entangled in his hair, tugging ever so slightly. His lips were soft and cautious almost- he didn’t want to do anything you weren’t comfortable with.

You thought you fell just a little bit more in love with him.

Pulling away, you rested your forehead against his, eyes still screwed shut like you believed that it would all disappear if you opened them. A fever dream that you wanted so badly that you couldn’t bear the thought of it being ripped away from you. This time you clung onto it, holding it tight and you would never let it go.

You could still feel the ghost of his kiss on your mouth, something that you never wanted to forget. You let your hands slip from their position in his hair and down to his neck, trying your best to not giggle like a giddy schoolgirl.

It was by no means your first kiss, but the fact that it was with Taeyong, someone you truly loved, and not a random boy you had had a mild crush on made all the difference. He had kissed you like you were the only girl in the world, the only girl he ever wanted.

“So….do you wanna let me inside or do you wanna continue making out here in the cold hallway?”

“Fuck,” you muttered, a flush rising to your cheeks as you took a step away, having to bite down on your lower lip to stop your smile from showing. “Can we continue making out inside?”

He laughed, “Yes we can.” He was already pulling you back in after shutting the door, and you grinned, looking up at him. The boy had listened to Taylor Swift for you and loved you back, everything was perfect.

You just had one question though.

“Can we circle back to the fact that you faked going on a date or—”

“Not a chance.”

“I’m breaking up with you.”

Your boyfriend threw you a scandalized look at that statement, shaking his head as he took a few more steps. You were (surprisingly) not too far behind him, a grimace seemingly permanently etched into your face as you glared at him.

“Oh come on,” Taeyong protested, stopping where he was and helping you catch up to him. “It isn’t that bad.”

“You woke me up at four a.m for this! The sun is still asleep.” And it was because the sky was still a deep purple colour at five a.m. You were close to destroying all his chances of having offspring in the future.

“That’s…..that’s why it’s called a sunrise hike genius, you’re supposed to finish the hike to see the sun come out.” He deadpanned, a droll expression on his face at your whining. You knew he didn’t really mind it and was simply amused.

“If the sun isn’t awake, we shouldn’t be either.”

“What, are you a plant or something? Do you need photosynthesis?”

There were boyfriends that let their girlfriends sleep in on days off, and then there was Taeyong who practically dragged you out of bed to go on a stupid hike. For someone who constantly told you how fucked up your sleep schedule was, he wasn’t really helping fix it, now was he? Hypocrite - a cute one- but a hypocrite nonetheless.

“I’m trying to be romantic and this is how you act?” He asked, an infuriatingly adorable pout resting on his lips. You had to pinch your lips to stop yourself from smiling because if you did, he would never let you live it down.

“Taeyong, I love you, but nothing is romantic before ten.”

He simply rolled his eyes, reaching out to take your hand and help you climb up a jagged bit of the trail. You stumbled slightly and he slipped his arm around your waist to steady you so you wouldn’t fall flat on your face, making sure you found your footing. You mumbled thanks under your breath, shaking your hair out of your face and dusting your pants. 

“Come on,” He said, squeezing your hand, “We’re almost there anyway. I promise it’ll be worth it.”

You would never understand how he thought this was relaxing or romantic in the slightest because you were already tired and your hair was sticking to your forehead due to it being weirdly hot that morning. 

The things you did for this boy. You silently scoffed at yourself as you followed him, this time managing to stay in step and not fall too behind. You didn’t even have any caffeine in your system right now and he knew how much you needed your daily fix of it. The fact that he had managed to get you out here without that was a miracle in itself.

The two of you had made it official a few days after he told you that he loved you back, much to Doyoungs relief more than surprise. He had been tired of being subjected to your mutual obliviousness and was probably the first and biggest supporter of the relationship, but not without pointing out how much of a third wheel he had always been.

Taeyong was an amazing boyfriend, even when he made you wake up much too early for your liking. Being with him was incredibly natural and the two of you worked perfectly together as if it had been made to be that way all along. 

The sky was now a lighter colour, indicating that the sun was rising. The trail was almost finished, and Taeyong stopped where he was, a small smile making its way onto his face as he looked out at the view.

“We’re here,” He whispered, and you joined him, sucking in a breath- one, because you needed it from all the hiking and two, because god.

It was fucking gorgeous. He had been right, it really was worth the getting up early and taking the hike just to see how the sunrays filtered through the sky and spilled out over the city below, painting the sky with oranges and pink hues that blended into the blue.

“I…wow,” You couldn’t find the words to describe the beauty of the scene, forgetting all about your contempt over being awoken so early. 

“Told you so,” he quipped, and you elbowed him, letting out an unamused laugh, turning to face him properly. Maybe it was more than the view that had you feeling the way you did right then like you were on top of the world. Maybe it was Taeyong right by your side, hand in hand with you. The glow of the sun just about flickered through his hair, giving him a gentle halo.

“You….were right,” you admitted finally, letting him wrap you in a hug and pull you closer. “And you know what? I’ll give it to you, this is pretty romantic. Even if you did make me exercise at five in the morning.”

He pushed some of your hair out of your face and tucked it behind your ear. “Was that so hard to say?”

“Extremely. I’m never doing that again.” And with that, you pressed your lips to his for a short, sweet kiss underneath the rising sun atop the trail of the hike. Breaking away, you buried your head in the crook of his head, and the two of you stayed like that for a bit, basking in each other’s comforting silence.

Taeyong quite liked the outcome of the mess he made, somehow everything had worked out, and he promised himself he would never do something that stupid again. He would never let you go.

“Hey, Taeyong?”

“Yeah?”

There wasn’t even a moment of hesitation from you. “I love you.”

He would never, ever get tired of hearing that. The two of you had come a lot way, from a girl latching onto a boy because he was the only person she recognized, to both of you being everything to each other.

“I love you too.”

And that’s how it works, Taeyong thought, that’s how you get the girl.

fin.

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