#7 minutes just going off on his emotions singing on the piano | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aliypop · 7 months

Text

That's Alright for Such a Night

(Rewrite Chapter 4)

Word Count: 3,132

Writers Note: So far I'm enjoying rewriting this

Warning: mostly fluff / Historic Language and Values

Pairing: POC OC x Elvis

Plot: During the Louisiana Hayride two breakout stars meet in a rush only to learn they've dealt their cards in the hands of fate.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

Arkansas, 1955

"You need to take your advice." Elvis looked at her, " I mean, Cece, You're so confident in yourself," he brushed his hand against hers, "But sometimes you're not." he shrugged as she pouted.

"That's not true!" Cecelia grumbled,

Elvis sighed as he looked into her eyes; it was like he could see right through her, and she hated it. Cecelia tried hard to hide her emotions, but she wore them clearly on her sleeves, and he knew it because he did too, the beautiful storm in her mind was swirling and whirling around through her eyes, and he could see it. Elvis wanted to do everything he could to take the hurt and worry away, but how, he wondered without damping her shine.

"On stage, you're so sure of yourself and so confident it almost comes off as cocky." Watching as she got silent, he worried that he might have offended her.

I'm not cocky," Cecelia nearly snapped at him.

"Not saying you were." Elvis said, "I'm just saying that you don't have to prove yourself to anyone."

"I'm not trying to." Cecelia turned away from him, and Elvis let out another deep sigh,

Cecelia was stubborn, but so was he, he wasn't going to give up on her,

"You don't have to impress me, not your group, not even your fans, not your mama, and not the damn magazine you're hiding under your comic book."

"I-"

"I can see the tears, Cece." Elvis stood up. Elvis placed his hand on her cheek and rubbed circles on it. Cecelia was fantastic and more than what any paper could say about her.

"So Val."

"Yeah, Pres."

"Tell me what's wrong."

Cecelia took a deep sigh as she then looked up at Elvis; his eyes were as comforting as his touch that she almost leaned into, "When I flip those pages and those hateful things they say about me, like how I'm a sellout, or how I'm abandoning the Negro ways, it tears my heart out." tears running down her face, his thumb catching them and wiping them away.

"I wish I could go up there and sing and be fearless like you." She coughed from her sobbing, "And not have to worry about things like that!"

"You think I'm fearless; I get stage fright when they say to the stage, Elvis Presley." he took a deep breath, "And don't get me started on the papers and what they say about me." He laughed, and all her grey clouds turned to sunlight.

"You have stage fright?"

"Badly."

"What do you do when it gets bad," Cecelia asked as he took her by the hand, his eyes catching a piano in the lobby; the piano was home to him; Elvis could get lost for hours tickling the ivories.

"I get lost in my music," Elvis smiled.

"Any song in particular?"

"Not really." he shrugged,

" What about when the press gets touchy and tough to handle?"

"I get lost in my music even more." patting a seat next to him, Cecelia sat down and laid her head on his shoulder; Elvis then began to play a song she had heard too many times growin up but still loved it so much.

"Why don't you swing down, sweet chariot, stop, and let me ride." Cecelia sang out, giggling; there was nothing more freeing than the gospel, and that was something Elvis could agree to,

"Rock me, lord, rock me, lord, calm and easy. I've got a home on the other side." The two then kept singing, and as the minutes turned into hours, Cecelia was on top of the piano, pretending to serenade him, much like she had seen in the movies,

" Dream a little dream of me." Cecelia sang as Elvis stared at her in awe. This was the side of her he enjoyed, the free spirit, the sweetheart who was shy yet bold, the girl who could sing in a cabaret, and steal every heart but only want one,

"HEY WHAT'S ALL THAT RUCKUS!"

"RUN!"Cecelia and Elvis ran through the lobby with their belongings in hand as he raced her toward his room.

"HEY YOU!"

Cecelia pushed open the door as she pulled Elvis in, both of their laughter intoxicating each other,

"You okay?" Cecelia asked as the two kept laughing, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, what about you?" he laughed, sitting on the bed.

Cecelia tried to look everywhere else in the room except at him

His legs spread open, and the slight sheen of sweat, Elvis was giving her a fire. Cecelia knew he could satisfy it. It was just up to her to reach out and taste it if she wanted to, and she wanted to.

"Cece.?"

Her mind wandered to what this forbidden fruit tasted like did he truly want her or-

"Cecelia!"

"Huh!" she jumped, falling into his lap. Elvis laughed as he held her.

"Sorry, Cece." he chuckled, "You were starin' into space." he then leaned in closer, "What were you thinking about?"

"Me? Thinking about something?" Her face flushed as their eyes met again, "I, uh, should get to bed,"

"There's one right here."

"Pres, what are you implying!"

"You can sleep here if you'd like." his charming smile made her heart skip a beat,

"I can sleep over there an-"

"No, you sleep in the bed, I'll sleep over there on the couch." Cecelia smiled,

"You sure," he watched Cecelia as she grabbed a blanket and tried to make do with the feel of the couch,

"I'm completely comfy." she lied through her teeth as she tossed and turned.

Elvis was slowly falling asleep until he heard a thud.

"Cece, the hell was that!"

"Just gettin comfy." she lied as he looked down on the floor, her scarf nearly coming off her head.

"Well...I'm sure the carpets are comfy." he sighed, "But not as much as a bed is..." Cecelia grumbled as she pulled the cover on top of her,

"Cece, why don'tcha just lay here and quit being stubborn."

"I'm not stubborn!" her voice muffled,

"Mhmm..." he nodded, "More stubborn than a jackass."

"You talk to your mama with that mouth, Presley!" she acted shocked,

"I do, an you're switchin' subjects, Valmos!" he leaned in, "So tell me why..."

Cecelia took a deep breath, "Cause I've never really been that close to a guy." she sighed,

Cecelia knew Elvis would see her as just a friend, especially with all his escapades she'd either heard of or damn near witnessed or worse, Snuck off with Midge's car to get his dates all douched out.

"So you never?"

"No... No, I've messed around a bit," she laughed, "I mean, who hasn't, but slept next to a man, well uh. I've never really had any guy around me long enough to do that-" she stopped herself from rambling,

"Well, I won't bite unless I have to." he joked, extending his arm out,

Cecelia reached over for it,

"Is this okay?" she asked, her arm over his waist,

"Y-Yeah Th-that's alright." he blushed, holding her close as she began to yawn,

"Elvis..."

"Hmm..."

"Whys the sun up..."

"Shit..." the two both laughing. Cecelia cuddled in close to Elvis, her head on his chest. She liked the way he felt next to her, and he liked how she smelled of roses. "Cece?" Elvis asked as she softly sighed,

"Yeah, El,"

"N-Nothing doll."

Mississippi September 8th, 1955

"Daphne, Rosa," Midge shouted as the two young women appeared from the dressing room. Midge was holding in her laughter as two young girls were trying their hardest not to cuss out whoever had them dressed as,

"Aw, look if it isn't Howdy Doody!"

"What in the hillbilly hell is this," Rosa grumbled, she hated the way her dress fit, and the white fringe with the black jean material was driving her up a wall,

"This feels like a joke," Daphne sighed, looking at her aunt. Midge thought her outfit was cute, and she had a matching little hat with her scarf around her neck,

"Just smile and play. Hey, where's Cece?"

"Damnit, it's in my eye again, Scotty!" Elvis grumbled. Trying to do his makeup. It was something he was still getting the hang of,

"Maybe try not getting it into your eyes?"

"Geez, thanks." Elvis groaned, "Bill, what color goes with black?"

"Have you tried Topaz? Cosmopolitan says it's a good color for blue eyes, " Cecelia said from the doorway, "Need help, Pres?"

"God does he," Bill said,

"We'll meet you on the stage." Scotty and Bill left Cecelia and Elvis alone,

"Here, you sit down, and I'll make your face up." Elivs sat as he looked up at Cecelia, who took a seat in his lap. Elvis had turned red, but he tried to stay still. Her body was perfect, but so was her soft features. He could see how she was fixing to make him even more handsome.

"Okay, so the first thing you want to remember to do is your lashes." she said, "At least I start with mine first," putting the mascara on him as it began to bring even more life to his features,

"Yeah I know that." he sassed as Cecelia looked down at him,

"Clearly not. You were trying to use it to line your eyes..."

"You uh saw that?"

"Mhmm." She giggled a little, putting the eyeliner pencil under his eye,

"You'll poke my eye with that thing."

"Eh, you'll be fine, just look up." Elvis looked up, and he hadn't fully realized that Cecelia was in her petticoat and whatever else girls wore under their dresses, "Eyes are up here, Pres." she said as she reached for her eyeshadow. It was a nice color, not too light and not too dark, perfect enough for the lights to focus on his eyes,

"Wasn't looking mama," Elvis winked as she playfully hit him,

"Elvis! You've messed up the shadow!" she huffed, "Now I have to smudge the other side." Cecelia took her finger and smudged it a bit. A gasp left her lips, and Elvis laughed.

"My eyes are up here," he leaned in, his lips nearly brushing hers. Cecelia could feel his breath on the top of her lip, and Cecelia wanted to give in,

"I know, they're really pretty-"

"HEY!" Scotty shouted,

the two broke apart as she shook her head. It was like she was hypnotized by Elvis Presley.

"I, uh, I-I..."

"Yeah, me too..."

"Cecelia's going to be late." Midge said, walking out towards Rosa, and Daphane was Cecelia, dressed in red Gangham, "I mean, it's kinda cute." Cecelia smiled, shining off her cowboy boots.

"Of course, your North Carolinian ass would say that." Rosa rolled her eyes. Rosa was mad that Cecelia could pull anything you gave her off.

"Howdy, ladies." a slight laugh coming from backstage

"Johnny Cash," Rosa swooned as Midge groaned, watching her tip her hat to him,

"I thought she hated the outfit," Midge mumbled to herself,

"That's the fourth laugh." Daphne groaned, "We look ridiculous..."

"It's still kinda cute-"

"Well, if it ain't Howdy Doody and the gang." Elvis joked, walking by.

"Did Hank's team send other choices?" Cecelia stormed off.

"Come on, you three sound checks in a minute."

"See, it's ugly, ain't it." Rosa cackled.

"We'd like to bring a special group to perform this last song with us." Elvis smiled. Cecelia could see he was shaking like a leaf up there. He'd told about how this venue was either lively or dead, and God she'd hope they were lively.

"Cecelia and The Garnets," Elvis announced, trying to hold in his laughter from their outfits from earlier, Rosa walked by wearing a red Gingham dress and a red bow in her hair as she waved to the crowd, Scotty nearly drooling.

Daphne soon followed, wearing an all-black skirt with a blouse covered in fringe. Cecelia was walking in with a fiddle in hand with a gingham print wiggle dress and matching shoes, Cheryl had decided to damn near wrap Cecelia in the dress, with the way it clung to her.

Oh, if her mother could see her, she'd been a bit frowned up at her daughter.

"Our newest hit is a Hank Williams song, and I hope you folks enjoy it."

Cecelia focused on Elvis as she remembered what he told her. Cecelia had nothing to prove. All she had to do was get lost in the music, get lost with him, nobody else but him. Dancing next to Elvis, she caught him winking at her, Cecelia had then winked back at him as giggled.

This was a performance she'd cherish.

Florida August 1956

"Make way for Cecelia Valmos and the Garnets," Midge shouted, walking the girls down. Things had been successful for Cecelia, her first musical movie had been released. She had several new hit singles and was the talk of every town she'd toured. Cecelia was making a name for herself, and it was thanks to her manager who was her mother, but there was still a void in her chest, while she was no longer touring with Elvis and the Blue Moon Boys, she had been trying to keep in touch as best as she could with letters and trying to sneak out to rehearsals to see him and miss him every time.

"Can we have your autograph!"

"Can we get a picture!"

Cecelia nodded as she took pictures with her group and the fans. Looking toward the stage. Cecelia saw a familiar silhouette, but she shook her head. She just missed a friend, a friend whom she wanted to tell that it felt horrible every time she'd see him with another girl who wasn't her, or how badly she wanted to be his.

Wearing her now iconic pencil dress, she walked towards the dressing room as she heard the screams of fun from the carnival. Cecelia hadn't been to one in so long. Well not since she had dated that one actor, or was it a singer? Either way, she'd perform her new original hits for her fans and hopefully enjoy the carnival alone with no one to talk to.

"Cil, where are you going!" Daphne asked as they had finished their set,

"Clearing my head." Cecelia sighed, Rosa knew what that meant. Cecelia was overwhelmed or overthinking,

"Well, be back before Mrs. Valmos finds out!" she sighed, seeing they were gone,

Walking toward the carnival, Cecelia had felt lonelier than she ever did.

Seeing the couples and getting stopped for autographs was the life she wanted, but she wanted to be held. She wanted what everyone else had wanted, love,

"Is that Mr. Presley alone, by himself?" Rosa smirked,

"Where!" Cecelia turned to look in his direction.

"Right there by the hall of mirrors," Rosa smiled as her eyes then found Scotty as she joined him.

Cecelia slowly walked towards the building where he was, her shoulders chilly from the off-shoulder dress she was wearing,

"Is this wall taken?"

"U-Uh, no." Elvis responded, "It's a public wall,"

"You come here often?"

"First time here, really?" he huffed, hoping the person talking to him would secretly leave him alone. "You."

"Yeah, it is, pres?" Pres? There was only one person who called him that! As Elvis turned around, he saw Cecelia picking her up off the ground like he was Captain Marvel Jr.

"Cece!"

"El!" she gasped, holding onto him, he was holding her tightly as he peppered kisses all over her face,

"You look amazing, Cece!" he put her back down on the ground as she blushed,

"So do you."

"Would you wanna catch up?"

"I'd love to." Brushing his hand against hers, Cecelia took hold of it. Elvis smiled at her, her head on her shoulder as the two continued to walk together,

"So RCA, huh..." Cecelia looked at him, "That's big time compared to Sun Records, not that I didn't enjoy that era." Elvis bit some of her funnel cake as he then laughed,

Yeah, my manager figured it'd be a good idea."

"This is the same one who's been telling you to change into a family-friendly Elvis?"

Elvis scratched the back of his head, Cecelia chuckled a little,

"Yeah," he sighed,

"Well, I personally like the real Elvis." she mentioned as she blushed, "The frantic movements and the hips," she bit her lip, "Drives me wild."

"I-It does?"

"Yeah, but at least they don't call you Lady Elvis."

"Lady, what?" he burst into laughter.

"Ha ha chalk it up, big guy." She rolled her eyes, pushing him away from her.

"It suits you, Lady Presley." He chuckled, "Speaking of which, are you seeing anyone?" his heart was pounding at his own question,

"No, I'm not actually seeing anyone." Cecelia responded, "Are you?" she asked, seeing him turn red in the face, his cheekbones ever so tempting,

"Actually, for once, I'm not Cece..." He said, carrying the bear, he had won her on his back.

"Would you like to see someone..."

"If that someones you, yes," Elvis smirked, holding her close to him,

"You askin me to be your girl Pres?"

"Yeah, I am," he got down on one knee, "Cecelia Shanel Valmos, will you be my girl?" Cecelia blushed hard as she nodded,

"Yes, I will," picking her up, he began to carry her to a ride,

"You ever been on a Ferris wheel," he asked,

"Pres, you know how I feel about heights like that..."

"You scared?" He leaned his face closer toward hers,

"Yes." she gulped. Elvis could hear Cecelia mumbling, but he had to end the night with something fun, something memorable.

"Cece it ain't that bad it just rocks a little and-"

"It goes to the top, and it stays there..." she grumbled, "Elvis, you will not get me on that damned-"

"You two are next."

"Thing." Cecelia closed her eyes as she felt the ride move. Cecelia was scared with the way she was clinging onto Elvis, though he liked how close she was to him, "It's okay, doll, I gotcha."

"Do you."

"Always will, just look at me."

Cecelia looked into his eyes as she felt that burning yearning feeling for him. He could feel it too. As he felt himself lean in closer toward her, he was greeted by a pair of soft plump lips on top of his own, his hands holding her close.

"Elvis..." her voice rasped out,

"Yes, doll..."

"Kiss me again..." he did so as the carriage of the ride came to a complete stop they could hear their bandmates cheering for them,

"You know somethin,"

"What's that doll..."

"I've been wantin to kiss you since the day we met,"

"You wanna know something, mama?"

"What's that."

"Me too."

Taglist: If you wanna be tagged let me know!

@darkmoviesquotespizza

@sissylittlefeather

@richardslady121

@thegettingbyp2

@presleyenterprise

@sissylittlefeather

@dkayfixates

@rjmartin11

@thetaoofzoe

#oc #fanfiction #new stuff #new #romance #elvis presley #new series #elvis fanfiction #elvis x oc #elvis the pelvis #50s elvis #50s #1950s #cecelia valmos #poc oc x elvis #elvispresley #Spotify

7 notes · View notes

sinceileftyoublog · 4 months

Text

Willi Carlisle Live Preview: 2/9, Schubas, Chicago

BY JORDAN MAINZER

The critters in Willi Carlisle's Critterland (Signature Sounds) aren't just varmints like the one that graces the album's absurd cover, nor the two-headed lamb "too strange to survive." They're anybody--human or otherwise--considered an outcast by the unrealistic standards set forth by society. On his Darrell Scott-produced third album, Carlisle digs into his own personal history and local mythology to paint a picture of an American south that pits the freaks against each other, and where those who dare to be different nonetheless find kinship in one another. With a pared-down instrumental arsenal (most songs contain just acoustic guitar, banjo, steel guitar, and/or harmonica), Carlisle's ramshackle delivery and utmost longing stand tall and beckon you to sing along.

On Critterland, Carlisle gives you anthems right from the start. The album's title track, based on an attempt at living in an intentional community in Arkansas, celebrates those "makin' wagers on the critters that we see crossing the road;" led by propulsive banjo, the song soars in the chorus with celebratory harmonica and expansive steel guitar. Purportedly, Carlisle wanted to let loose on the record, inspired by the ragged rambunctiousness of his live show, and you can see "Critterland" becoming a set highlight for the rest of his career. Critterland is far from a fists-in-the-air record, though. Many songs tackle substance abuse, addiction, and suicide with a mix of earnestness, dark humor, and self-awareness. On the gorgeously finger-picked "The Arrangements", the narrator can't take too much joy in the fact that his horrible father has met his maker, as he's beginning to see himself in his dad, ultimately leading himself to think, "It's still sad when bad men die." "Higher Lonesome", the album's only completely true story, sees a drug-addled Carlisle at first "dreamin' of a country I saw at the rodeo," mistaken in his quest for non-existent perfection. As the song progresses, he toys with his own mortality: "See, I don't want to hit rock bottom, just to see how deep it goes / Shine a light on six feet under so I ain't afraid to go." Eventually, he joins AL-Anon and realizes the pain he's inflicted on himself and others, and his penchant for soul-crushing wordplay shines brightest: "With every coin the joiners get, they're farther from the pain of it / All the hurting that we did, it's a shame no coin'll pay for it."

Carlisle certainly knows how to start a song and hook you. He'll pay tribute to a friend who committed suicide and whose body was never found because his note used words too complex for the cops to understand. His immediate vocal harmonies with Jude Brothers on "I Want No Children" catalyze a fiddle-and-banjo instant folk classic. And as soon as 7-minute spoken word closer "The Money Grows on Trees" begins, you know you're in for Carlisle at his troubadour best, showcasing the lyrical dexterity of your favorite rapper. It's "When the Pills Wear Off", though, that devastates all the way through. "Father forgive me for what I have done / Drove 200 miles for six inches of love," he sings, placing you in a world of neon-lit bars and dingy motels. But the song's big reveal, from both an emotional, plot, and instrumental standpoint breaks you. "It's selfish to fall for yourself in someone," Carlisle opines, the other side of the coin of the mourning narrator of "The Arrangements", before continuing, "I know that I want him and always will / I don't think he could have known that it was fentanyl." At the moment he names the deadly drug, the song's plaintive piano and cinematic strings squeak and warble to a clumsy stop, as if to emulate a life cut short. When the "The Money Grows on Trees" ends--it's a song based on David Mac's When Money Grew on Trees, firsthand accounts of a weed moonshiner and the corrupt sheriff that allowed him to do it--it's clear that Carlisle's use of regional history is far from mere aesthetic cosplay like it is for so many of his contemporaries. He can change endings all he wants, in the stories of his lives and those of others, through his songs, but it's the act of analyzing contemporary ills through bonafide folklore that emphasizes the absurdity of the here and now.

Carlisle headlines Schubas tonight. Nashville folk duo Golden Shoals opens. Doors at 7:30 PM, show at 8. The show is sold out.

youtube

#live picks #willi carlisle #schubas #signature sounds #golden shoals #mark kilianski #amy alvey #critterland #signature sounds recording inc #signature sounds recording inc.#signature sounds recordings #darrell scott #jude brothers #david mac #when money grew on trees

0 notes

rosepetalmark · 3 years

Text

it was good until it wasn’t

↬ pairing: kim doyoung x reader ↬word count: 3k ↬ genre: angst, mentions of fluff ↬warnings: mentions of sex, it’s pretty sad (you may shed a tear or two i’m v sorry) ↬ synopsis: breakups suck, especially when you’re still in-love and don’t understand where you both went wrong.

he makes it look so easy.

ignoring your texts, coming home late, barely saying a word to you when you’re together. you can’t hate him for it though, you’re the exact same.

you wonder why he doesn’t break up with you already. your relationship was basically hopeless at this point and you both know it isn’t going anywhere- it hasn’t been going anywhere for months now.

it pains you seeing him not stare at you lovingly anymore. you grew so fond of the idea of spending hours on the phone talking about the dumbest things, staying up late watching reruns of your favourite shows, even making him do face masks with you when you wanted to do self care days. you knew he loved it of course, but he always played it off as something he detested because seeing you pout over his lack of interest in a sheet mask always made him love you ten times more.

you haven’t felt his touch in two months. it was like you were living with a ghost, the feeling of his presence ever so prominent, but the actual feeling and embracement of him completely diminished. every morning he’d wake you up by kissing both your cheeks, quiet laughter humming from his chest as he admired your sleepy presence in his quest to get you to start your day.

now you wake up to the sound of him sighing as he leaves your shared bed, his empty presence filling the quiet room, causing you to feel lonely.

never in the several years of knowing doyoung did you ever imagine that his presence would become something that no longer brought you happiness.

you’ve both drifted, but you’re still together- too stubborn to admit to yourselves and each other that this relationship has run its course, forming a cohabitation with one another rather than maintaining a loving, healthy relationship.

it’s complicated, you like to believe. trying to puzzle together when everything went wrong. but you can’t because all you remember is that one day you were both madly in love with one another and the next you acted as if you were strangers.

deep down you’re scared. you’ve spent so many years and time and effort in your relationship with doyoung that you don’t truly know what life outside of him is like.

you may not have long talks anymore or stay up late watching movies or even have sex- damn you missed the days where you both would divulge in sex multiple times a week, but gosh did you find solace in his presence.

when he’s not there in bed beside you when you wake up each morning you feel empty, like a piece of your heart has been ripped out of your body and hidden halfway across the world for you to find.

he’s all you’ve touched and laughed and connected with in years and to have that ripped away from you is beyond frightening.

he’s all you know.

you yearn for the days when you were fresh in love and could never keep your hands off each other, wanting to be in each other’s presence 24/7. sadly the days of two twenty years olds having quickies in the backseat of a car and drunkenly singing karaoke at three in the morning on friday nights at the local bar were long gone. you’re not two college kids in love anymore, just two completely different adults who fell out of it.

it hurts reminiscing about the way his hands would find your waist and how his chin dipped into your neck when he found you speaking with your friends at parties; the way he would sing to you when you had trouble falling asleep, bringing you to his piano to play you whatever melody he created earlier in the day just to bring you comfort, even if it meant he was losing sleep in the process.

you especially miss his attempts at making you iced coffee in the morning. it was such a mundane act, but no matter how hard he tried and how closely he followed the instructions you gave him (not as if making iced coffee was hard anyways), he’d always make it too bitter. but you still drank it anyway, because you loved doyoung with every fibre in your being, and anything he did for you made you appreciate and fall in love with him even more. everything he did for you showed how deeply he loved and cared for you.

now you don’t get any of it. no obnoxious flirting when out in public. no beautiful nights falling asleep to his soft, angelic voice, wrapped up warmly in his tender arms. and especially no bitter, watered down iced coffee.

you’re lucky enough if he holds your hand when out in public with friends, not wanting anyone to clue in on the lack of intimacy and love that ceases to exist between the two of you.

you used to be that annoying couple who couldn’t get enough of one another, always finding ways to be in each other’s presence whenever you went out together, wanting to show the world that you were his and he was yours. now you can barely look each other in the eyes for more than five minutes without an unnecessary argument beginning to brew.

you wish you could have that all back. the routine. the peace. the love you both shared. you’re just two adults who can’t even be mature enough to break off a six year relationship because you’re both too comfortable with the thought of one another; too scared to leave what you’ve built as a couple to realize that this once great love affair has turned into something so sad and toxic, pulling you back from what you both deserve in life.

your friends have been telling you to sit down and speak to him about your feelings, his urging you both to call it quits for months now, claiming you’re making your friendship dynamic awkward, and in the end only harming yourselves. but they don’t understand what it’s like to have something so beautiful ripped from your hands without a warning, because that’s what this all felt like. as if someone swooped in and stole your bond with doyoung, when in actuality it was just the two of you growing apart-one thing you never thought would ever occur.

those four dry months eventually turned into a fifth, and that’s when you knew you had to pull the plug. you couldn’t keep living like this- wasting your life and heart and energy on a relationship that ended so long ago. it was draining the life out of you both and it was painfully evident in your faces.

the days of crying over him have long passed, making it much easier to process that you won’t ever be with him again, mentally checking out after the first two months this distance became a regular occurrence. that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt ending a love that once was your everything.

you remember so clearly the day doyoung asked you out. it was a monday after a lecture you both shared, the both of you walking alongside campus, too invested in your conversations with one another to say goodbye. you both knew you had feelings for one another, every interaction between the two of you held an abundance of smiles and rosy red cheeks.

he bit the bullet and asked if you wanted to grab dinner some time, just the two of you and away from your chaotic friend group, wanting it to be an actual date and not a group outing.

that was six years ago, and the butterflies you felt in your stomach the moment he said he wanted to date you still linger when you think back to such heartfelt innocence.

when you finally decided enough was enough and the words eventually left your mouth, he wasn’t even upset. he showed no sign of emotion, a stoic expression stuck on his tender face, only a nod of agreement following your difficult confession.

he knew he didn’t have to say anything and you didn’t expect him to. there was no fighting for something that didn’t exist anymore. doyoung may have been your boyfriend by title, but these last few months he was just doyoung. not your lover. not your best friend. just doyoung.

a stranger you know who’s smile and laugh and kisses you’ll forever have ingrained in your brain, but have not come into pure contact with for an unreasonable amount of time.

and you can’t even hate him for this breakup because he hasn’t done anything wrong. you simply grew apart, and you hate how you drug it out for so long where it got to the point where you can’t even look him into the eyes without feeling some sort of pain and resentment. the only thing you wish you could go back and change was to talk about it, because who knows, the both of you could have either resolved whatever underlying issues you had, or you would’ve been broken up by now- not stranded and confused as to where your life and relationship is going.

you never pictured you’d end up like this, assuming by the time you were in your late twenties you’d be engaged, with a dog, constantly looking at homes online for you and doyoung to one day grow your future family in. you so desperately wanted to be his forever, the one he turned to for everything. the father of your children, the greatest love of your life the entire world had to offer.

that was all in the past now.

the entire “official” breakup didn’t even hit you until doyoung was moving his stuff out of your shared apartment, little pieces of him vanishing as each minute passed.

the picture of your two year anniversary is no longer on display in the living room, the frame facing the table to signal that the once happy couple in that old photograph are no longer together and madly in love.

the pastel flower magnets doyoung loved to collect and place on the fridge ceased to exist, leaving your kitchen slightly less colourful and fun as they were tossed away in one of the many random boxes he got from the hardware store earlier.

even the ugly rustic coffee table you hated but he adored- something that totally clashed with the aesthetic of the apartment but reminded doyoung of his childhood, all removed from your shared space and never to be seen in your presence again. you begged doyoung for a new one years ago but he always managed to convince you it had charm, always flashing you a wide grin in his process to win your heart over. you never thought the day would come where you’d miss seeing it in your living room.

everything was so clean and spacious. everything was gone.

it was weird seeing your once cluttered home look so different. yet despite all the space, every single memory and experience you shared with doyoung was ever present in your mind, overwhelming you all at once as no future memories between the two of you will be made.

it felt like just yesterday you both signed the lease, accidentally spilling red wine on the brand new white rug doyoung bought an hour after you got the keys, knowing you were eyeing it for months online, refusing to buy it until you officially had a place together. you were both so excited to start your lives here. to be young and to evolve and to explore your relationship in a manner more romantic and mature than you had the last few years.

all his instruments and songbooks that were once scattered in the corner of your living room are gone, packed in their cases and in doyoung’s car, awaiting their new home once he takes his remaining items and leaves.

it hurts the most when thinking about the bedroom. you haven’t slept there since he started packing his things four days ago, not wanting to get emotional over half the room and its belongings disappearing with what felt like a snap of the fingers.

but you had to make your way in there now, because all you could hear coming from the thin white wall down the hallway were soft, hiccupped sobs- such emotion you weren’t familiar with in months.

part of you wants to let him be and pretend like you hear nothing just so he can gather his thoughts and belongings and be on his way.

but you can’t. because despite how much you tell yourself that this is for the best and you’re past everything, you’re not. there’s a huge part of you that still cares so deeply for doyoung and you wouldn’t ever wish pain on him.

quietly walking into your bedroom towards your once shared bed, you sit beside him. grabbing his hand, you can feel the warmth radiating from his body, reminding you of the days you’d go on long walks, him never letting go of you because he never wanted to break physical contact.

“hi.” you whisper, not entirely sure how to spark a conversation with him. you haven’t been this vulnerable with him in what feels like forever, the last time you saw him cry was over two years ago when your relationship was seemingly at its best. he hasn’t been this upset was when he thought he lost taeyong’s dog, but it turned out that it was yuta’s day to watch him while he went to work.

“hey.” he says, his voice raspy and shaky due to the tears, his face red with anxiety.

“so we’re really doing this, huh?” you ask, your voice beginning to shake as well. seeing doyoung cry always breaks your heart, and the fact that he’s doing so after you both ended things makes you want to crawl in a hole and never leave.

this was hitting you too hard. so much harder than you could’ve ever imagined. you thought that because you both just fell apart and seemed unbothered by such a drastic change in your lives and relationship that he’d pack his things and you’d both be on with your lives. but now that you’re both separating from one another for good when all you’ve known was each other for years, it’s soul crushing.

doyoung is here in your once shared bedroom holding your hand and crying with you because you both failed to make your relationship work despite having such strong feelings for one another.

you love this man so much, yet you know there’s nothing you can do to bring you both back to the state you were once in. you’re different people now, and you can’t mold back into the two young, horny, and madly in love college sophomores anymore thinking you’re going to be together forever.

“god i hate this!” he yells in between sobs, his face getting more and more red as the tears stream down his face. and you hate this too, because you didn’t think this whole process would cause each of you to bawl your eyes out because you don’t want to leave a love and comfort you’ve both outgrown.

you wiped his tears with your fingers, caressing his cheeks to reassure him that none of this is his fault. you needed to be strong for him and yourself, because unfortunately this is life and even the shittiest things happen to good people.

falling out of love unfortunately falls into that category.

he places a kiss on your forehead and wraps his arms tightly around your frame as a final goodbye, embracing all of you within these last few moments as a reminder of how much love and respect he has for you.

“so this is it.” he whispers softly, slowly getting up from the bed and untangling himself from his previous hold on you, acting as if his emotional outburst didn’t even happen, composing himself to make this already hard process the slightest bit easier.

matching his actions, you get up as well and follow him out of the bedroom, glancing back at your half empty room and feeling your heart shatter.

no more stealing his sweaters when you’re cold and want to be comfy. no more late nights of talking or making love. no more doyoung.

“this is it.” you whisper back, not having much to say, the tightness in your chest growing further as you continue to relish in such heartbreak together. you were each other’s first serious loves, and not having that constant in your lives will be such a heart wrenching adjustment.

“i love you, doyoung.” you say, needing to remind him that there will always be a part of him in your heart and that you’re sorry things ended this way.

“i know, love. i’ll always love you. i’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“i’d like that.” you nod, the emotions filling up your chest, suddenly making it hard to breathe knowing this is all happening now. “be safe getting to your apartment.”

“always.” he winked, tears evident in his eyes as he began to turn his body away from yours and towards the final box beside the front door, turning the knob and leaving for good- gone from the love and home you’ve both invested so much time and warmth into.

you’ve spent so much of your life with this man, planned so much and anticipated such a beautiful future just for it to end and for you both not to know how to fix the broken pieces you left each other in.

maybe someday in the future you and doyoung will get back together and plan that beautiful wedding and have those three beautiful kids in a big house with a pool and a baby french bulldog.

but as for now you are letting go.

#nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct 127 scenarios #doyoung scenarios #doyoung imagines #nct 127 imagines #nct smut #kim doyung #nct #nct 127 #nct angst #kim doyoung scenarios

180 notes · View notes

lochtayboatsong · 3 years

Text

The Jesus Christ Superstar essay absolutely no one asked for.

Last weekend, I watched the pro-shot of the 2012 arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar starring Ben Forster, Tim Minchin, and Melanie C, because it was Easter and it was up on YT for the weekend. I never managed to do my annual listen-through of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass this year, as is my usual Easter tradition, so I figured “Why not watch/listen to this instead?” It was my first time seeing and hearing JCS in full, and Y’ALL, it has been living rent-free in my brain ever since. I have a mighty need to get my thoughts out, so here they are, in chronological order by song.

1) Prologue: I love the way JCS 2012 makes use of the arena video screen. The production design and concept clearly took a lot of inspiration from the “Occupy ______” movement, which makes it feel a bit dated now. But every single production of JCS is a product of its time period, so this is a feature and not a bug.

2) Heaven On Their Minds: This is a straight-up rock song. It wouldn’t be out of place on any rock and roll album released between 1970 and 2021, and it boggles my mind that Webber and Rice were both in their early twenties when they wrote it. Also, the lyric “You’ve begun to matter more than the things you say” hits hard no matter the year.

3) What’s the Buzz: A+ use of the arena screens again, this time bringing in social media to set the tone. Also, this song establishes right from the outset that Jesus is burnt out and T I R E D by this point in the story. Seriously, can we just let this man have a nap?

4) Strange Thing Mystifying: Judas publicly calls out Mary and Jesus claps back. Folx, get you a partner who will defend your honor the way Jesus defends MM in this scene. Also Jesus loses his shoes and is mostly barefoot for the remainder of the show.

5) Everything’s Alright: Okay, this is one of the songs I have A LOT to say about. First, it’s important to know that I was a church musician throughout all of my adolescence and into my early adulthood. The pianist at the services I usually played at was a top-notch jazz pianist, and also my piano teacher for about six years while I as in high school and undergrad. (Incidentally, I had a HUGE crush on his son, who was/is a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist and also played in the church band, but that’s a story for another day.) One of the hymns we played a few times a year was called “Sing of the Lord’s Goodness,” which is notable for being in 5/4 time. Whenever this hymn was on the schedule, it was usually the recessional, or the last song played as the clergy processed out and the congregation got ready to leave, so we were able to have some fun with it. After a couple verses the piano player and his son would usually morph it into “Take Five,” a famous jazz standard by Dave Brubeck which is also in 5/4 time. Anyway, the first time I listened to this song in full, it got to Judas’s line “People who are hungry, people who are starving,” and I sat bolt upright and went “HOLY SHIT THIS IS ‘SING OF THE LORD’S GOODNESS/TAKE FIVE.’” And I was ricocheted back in time to being fourteen and trying to keep up with this father/son duo in a cavernous Catholic church while simultaneously making heart-eyes at the son. Final note: This is the only song in the musical to feature all three leads (Jesus, Judas, and Mary Magdalene) and is mostly Jesus and MM being soft with each other in between bouts of Jesus and Judas snarling at one another.

6) This Jesus Must Die: I LOVE that all the villains in this production are in tailored suits. LOVE IT. Also, Caiaphas and Annas are a comedy duo akin to “the thin guy and the fat guy,” except in this case it’s “the low basso profundo and the high tenor.” Excellent use of the arena video screen again, this time as CCTV.

7) Hosanna: My background as a church musician strikes back again. It honestly took me two or three listens to catch it, but then I had another moment of sitting bolt upright and going “HOLY SHIT THIS IS A PSALM.” Psalms sung in church usually take the form of call-and-response, with a cantor singing the verses and the congregation joining in for the chorus. If I close my eyes during this song, I have no trouble imagining Jesus as a church cantor singing the verses and then bringing the congregation in for the “Ho-sanna, Hey-sanna” chorus.

8) Simon Zealotes: This is part “Gloria In Excelsis” and part over-the-top Gospel song. Honestly it’s not my favorite, but it marks an important mood change in the show. The end of “Hosanna” is probably Jesus at his happiest in the entire show, and then Simon comes in and sours the mood by trying to tip the triumphant moment into a violent one. Jesus is not truly happy again from this moment on.

9) Poor Jerusalem: Also not my fave. It kinda reads like Webber and Rice realized that Jesus didn’t have a solo aria in Act I, so they came up with this. But it has the distinction of containing the lyric, “To conquer death you only have to die,” which is the biggest overarching theme of the story.

10) Pilate’s Dream: Pontius Pilate might be the most underrated role in this entire show, and I love that this production has him singing this song while being dressed in judge’s robes.

11) The Temple: The first half of this is one of the campiest numbers in Act I, at least in this production, and it’s awesome. The second half is one of the saddest, as Jesus tries to heal the sick but finds there are too many of them. Also the whole scene is almost entirely in 7/8 time, which I think is just cool.

12) I Don’t Know How To Love Him: Mary Magdalene’s big aria, and one of the songs I knew prior to seeing the full-length show. This production has MM taking off her heavy lipstick and eye makeup onstage, mid-song, which is kind of cool. Melanie C says in a BTS interview that MM’s makeup is her armor, so this is a Big Symbolic Moment.

13) Damned For All Time: The scene transition into this song is played entirely in pantomime, and I love it. The solo guitarist gets to be onstage for a bit, A+ use of the video screen again to show Judas on CCTV, etc. Love it. And then this song is Judas frantically rationalizing what he’s doing, and what he’s about to do, with Caiphas and Annas just reacting with raised eyebrows and knowing looks.

14) Blood Money: This is where the tone of the show really takes a turn for the dark. I think this might be one of Tim Minchin’s finest moments as Judas, because his facial expressions and microexpressions throughout this scene speak absolute volumes. And the offstage chorus quietly singing “Well done Judas” as he picks up the money is a positively chilling way to end Act I.

15) The Last Supper: Act II begins with major “Drink With Me” vibes. (Except JCS came WAY before Les Miz, so it’s probably more accurate to say that “Drink With Me” has major “The Last Supper” vibes.) Jesus and Judas have their knock-down, drag-out fight, and it’s honestly heartbreaking, thanks again to Tim Minchin’s facial expressions. A well-done production of JCS will really convey that Jesus and Judas were once closer than brothers, even though their relationship is at breaking point when Act I begins.

16) Gethsemane: This is Jesus’s major showpiece and one of my faves. Jesus knows he has less than 24 hours to live, he knows he’s going to suffer, and worst of all, he doesn’t know whether it’s going to be worth it. It’s an emotional rollercoaster to watch and to perform, and it goes on for ages: something like 6 or 7 minutes. Fun fact: the famous G5 is not written in the score. Ian Gillan, who played Jesus on the original concept album, just sang it that way, so most subsequent Jesuses have also done it that way. Lindsay Ellis has a great supercut of this on YT. John Legend notably sang the line as written during the 2018 concert.

17) The Arrest: Judas’s Betrayer’s Kiss is played differently across different productions. The 2012 version is pretty tame - I’ve seen clips and gifs of other productions, including the 2000 direct-to-video version, where they kiss fully on the mouth and have to be dragged apart by the guards and it is THE MOST TENDER THING. Then the 7/8 riff from “The Temple” comes back and the 2012 version lets the video screen do its thing again as Jesus is swarmed by reporters.

18) Peter’s Denial: Not much to say about this one, as it’s basically a scene transition. But it’s a significant moment in the Passion story, so I’m glad they included it.

19) Pilate and Christ: The 2012 production continues with the theme of Caiaphas, Annas, and Pilate all being bougie af, since Pilate intentionally looks like he just came from tennis practice during this scene. Also he does pilates...hehehe.

20) King Herod’s Song: Tim Minchin says in a BTS interview that JCS works best when Jesus and Judas are played seriously and the rest of the production is allowed to be completely camp and wild and bizarre all around them, and he is bloody well CORRECT about that. Case in point: King Herod. There is not a single production of JCS that I know of where Herod is played “straight.” He’s been played by everyone from Alice Cooper to Jack Black, and everyone puts a different zany spin on him. In JCS 2012 he’s a chat show host in a red crushed velvet suit, who is clearly having the time of his LIFE.

21) Could We Start Again Please: This is another of my faves. Just a quiet moment where MM, Peter, and the disciples try to grapple with the fact that Jesus is arrested and things are going very, very badly. This is also my favorite Melanie C moment of the 2012 show. Her grief is very real, and the little moment she has with Peter at the end is very real.

22) Death of Judas: This is basically Tim Minchin screaming for about five minutes, and incredibly harrowing to watch on first viewing.

23) Trial Before Pilate: Possibly my single favorite scene in the entire 2012 production. This is another harrowing watch, but there’s so much to take in. The “set” that the entire show takes place on is essentially just a massive staircase, and the people with power are almost always positioned above the people without power. In this scene, the crowd shouting “Crucify Him!” is positioned above Pilate, which is a very telling clue to Pilate’s psychology during this scene. Jesus is at the very bottom of the stairs, of course. Excellent use of the video screen once again during the 39 Lashes, to show the lash marks building and building until the entire screen is a wash of red. Pilate’s counting also gets more and more frantic, especially starting around “20.” And all the while the guitar riff from “Heaven On Their Minds” is playing. Jesus’s line “Everything is fixed and you can’t change it” is played quite differently in different productions - here it’s defiant, but elsewhere (in JCS 2000 for example) it’s almost tender, like Jesus is absolving Pilate for his part in the trial. But it always ends the same - with Pilate almost screaming as he passes the sentence and “washes his hands” of the whole sorry business.

24) Superstar: The most over-the-top number in the show. Judas, who died two scenes ago, comes back to sing this. There are soul singers. There are girls in skimpy angel costumes. The parkour guys from the prologue are back. Judas pulls a tambourine out of hammerspace midway through the song. And Jesus is silently screaming and crying as he gets hoisted onto a lighting beam while all this is going on.

25) The Crucifixion: More of a spoken-word piece than a song, it’s Jesus’s final words on the cross over eerie piano music, and another harrowing watch.

26) John 19:41: An instrumental piece in which Jesus is taken from the cross and carried, at last, to the top of the stairs, before being lowered out of sight as the video screen turns into a memorial wall and everything fades to black.

So. I know I’m anywhere from three to fifty-one years late to this particular party, but I am on the JCS bandwagon now and I’m thoroughly enjoying myself. :)

#jesus christ superstar #jcs 2012 #jcs is all i have been thinking about all week sorry not sorry #ben forster #tim minchin #melanie c #andrew lloyd webber #tim rice

89 notes · View notes

sobremesavpetrichor · 4 years

Text

Regulus Black headcanon

if he wasn't sorted to slytherin he would definitely be a ravenclaw

11 year old regulus is probably smarter than every seventh year (can and will beat you up)

is a chaotic dumbass bastard

smokes on a daily basis but only like, 3 people knew

caught a snitch in less than a minute once??? mf just break a record

the true slytherin ride or die

knows it's a bad fucken idea but doing it anyway

"so you're telling me we have a test in 3 hours in which i haven't study at all but you wanna sneak into hogsmeade? absolutely, let's go"

is the only person in history to ever got an O AND a T in McGonagall's transfiguration test

somehow still manage to be the top of the class

sirius' first ride or die soulmate

long fringe and its v v v pretty

just imagine,,, he's playing quidditch and his hair was held by bobby pins

while sirius' are steel grey, regulus' eyes are mercury

study dark arts bc its fascinating to him but doesn't want to practice it

emotional range of a brick

but also compassionate and understanding

probably do cocaine once or twice

long slender legs he could strangle me w his legs and I'd thank him

nails are on point bitch look like he live in a nail salon

has the urge to laugh in inappropriate times

his silk robes collection could feed the whole hogwarts

bff w evan and barty

speaks like 7 languages

sarcastic and savage

but also chill and laidback

can play violin (viola???), cello, and piano

angelic voice but doesn't sing that much

it's easier to name a thing he CAN'T do rather than a thing he can do

regulus?? not knowing things?? impossible

Hogwarts uniform who?? i just know a soft yellow knitted cardigan i stole from evan

can do roundoff back tuck

spilled vanilla milkshake all over sirius' lap once and then walburga walks in and thought sirius jacked off

"I'M SO SICK OF STUDYING jk i don't wanna sleep on the street"

drink his respect women juice

master duellist

THE og bamf. baddest bitch on the block. sirius kneels before him

soft-spoken. is an actual softie

i like timothee chalamet as his fancast bUT HAVE U SEEN TIMMY + ARON PIPER???

yep that's regulus

okay i have to sleep so feel free to add more!

#MY SON #*our son #Regulus Black #harry potter #marauders era #sirius and regulus #sirius black #hp #marauders headcanon #headcanon #Regulus Black headcanon #bamf regulus black

366 notes · View notes

violetwolfraven · 3 years

Text

Willie Headcanons

So I actually came up with this like a month ago and forgot to post it. Anyway enjoy my headcanons about our favorite sk8er boi. Be ready for feels.

Tw: death, car accident mention, emotional manipulation.

...

In my mind, Willie had a good relationship with his parents. They were supportive and everything. They both loved Willie very much.

And Willie has youngest child energy so I’m saying he has a sister who’s 2 years older and a brother who’s 5 years older. Their names are Delilah and Austin.

AND ALL THREE OF THEM ARE ADRENALINE JUNKIES.

Seriously imagine the worst possible combination of head empty only skateboarding and you’ve got Willie, Delilah, and Austin.

Austin started skating when he was 7 and got Delilah hooked on it a year later.

Their parents kinda didn’t like the idea of it but those two had already started teaching Willie basic stuff by the time he was 3.

But... the other two had other interests. Delilah was into art (painting) and Austin played piano (like, really well).

For Willie, skateboarding was his thing. And it always was.

He had fun with it when his big brother would put his hands on his and teach him to play a bit, or his sister would give him some paint and a spare canvas and they’d doodle together, but it wasn’t like skating.

As far as I’ve seen (which admittedly isn’t that far) it’s widely accepted that Willie has ADHD so I’m leaning into that here.

And Willie inherited his brain from his dad, who had a bad experience with meds and so wouldn’t let any of his kids go through it.

So Willie grew up unmedicated but probably better off for the time period. His dad taught him coping mechanisms. Him and Austin. Delilah didn’t inherit it but she was taught to empathize with her brothers and recognize when they needed her help with something.

She’s a badass who can and does beat up anybody who’s mean to her brothers for missing social cues.

But anyway while Austin had piano (and skating as a side thing) Willie got even more hooked on skateboarding than either of his siblings because his brain latched onto it from a young age and couldn’t let go.

We all have our outlets. The chaos in our brains has to go somewhere. For Willie it goes into skating.

When he’s young he and his siblings will skateboard to school and then after school they’ll skate all around Hollywood for hours.

They do their homework in random McDonalds and Denny’s and tbh become local cryptid customers. Like they’re just these 3 super friendly skater siblings who tip really well and visit every fast food place within a 20 mile radius of their house with varying frequency.

They also find e v e r y skatepark, empty pool, and vacant lot in that 20 mile radius that they can possibly find.

Their parents have to bail them out of jail for trespassing and the occasional vandalism every so often.

Sometimes one of them has stuff to do and it’s just two of them out skating but if two of them are busy the other one never goes out alone cause it’s dangerous. We’ll get back to that later.

So anyway when they’re 17, 14, and 12, Delilah comes out as a lesbian.

And the family is supportive of course because they’re a good family.

But her coming out gets Willie thinking. About how some of his friends have crushes on girls but he just... doesn’t see the appeal.

Like he has a couple friends who are girls and they’re great and he likes hanging out with them at recess but he doesn’t get the hype. They’re just more friends. So he doesn’t really see what his big sister is so interested in either.

In my mind Willie actually is from around the same time as the boys (dying in like 1999) so one day while nobody else in their house is home he and Delilah are watching Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Willie’s again wondering why people think Leia is so hot cause she’s cool and all but Luke is right there and he looks really good and—

Willie: I think I might be gay.

Delilah: Yeah I know.

They talk about it and Willie does decide to tell the rest of the family but he’s a bit wary about anyone else because he saw how some of Delilah’s friends turned on her after she came out. He doesn’t want that to happen to him.

He does end up telling a few of his friends but he doesn’t quite not care what people think of him the way his big sister does.

Austin is the only straight one and he’s like. So awkward about it but in a sweet way.

Austin: So, Britney Spears is hot, right?

Delilah: Stop.

And

Austin: So I saw you hanging around Chris the other day are you two..?

Willie: ...no...???

Austin: Cool, yeah I didn’t think so. Just had to make sure. Not that I’m doubting your ability to get boys but I’d have to shovel talk him if you were.

Willie: If I ever do get a boyfriend, please don’t.

He tries. He’s a himbo if that wasn’t clear. Where did you think Willie learned it?

So anyway fast forward a couple years and they’re 22, 19, and 17. Austin and Delilah are both in college and Willie’s the last one left at home and things between their parents start getting... tense.

Like they don’t fight exactly but they’ve fallen out of love and things are awkward.

Even Austin and Delilah can tell and they’re only home on breaks and some weekends but for Willie it’s right there and he’s watching it happen. He has no option but to see.

They used to have a rule that they don’t go skating alone because it’s dangerous but Willie just can’t make himself stay home so he goes out skateboarding.

At first it’s never too far from home or anywhere where there’s too much traffic but as things get increasingly awkward at home he goes out farther and farther, chasing the adrenaline high he used to get from going anywhere and everywhere every day after school with his siblings.

Then his parents officially tell him they’re getting divorced and

And it’s not like he couldn’t see it coming, but... it still hurts.

And neither of his siblings are coming home any time soon so

So he goes out skating on his own, way too far from home. He keeps going until he doesn’t even know where he is anymore.

He isn’t really paying attention the way he should but that’s not why he runs into trouble.

The driver of that red pickup is drunk and he rounds the corner out of nowhere.

If Delilah or Austin had been there they could have yelled for Willie to jump out of the way, or maybe up on the hood so the impact wouldn’t be as bad, but he’s alone.

So he gets hit, and the car was going fast enough that he’s dead before he even hits the pavement.

After that there’s a lot of confusion but once Willie figures out he’s a ghost... it’s too painful to think about going home, so he just... doesn’t.

He doesn’t want to see his family mourning him, so he just distracts himself, skating everywhere he couldn’t before without getting busted.

Plus some old routes where he used to go with Delilah and Austin, just for something that’s familiar but not too familiar.

He’s on one of those more familiar routes a few weeks after his death when he’s skating down Sunset Boulevard one night, singing along to Toxic by Britney Spears blasting from a nearby club and a man dressed in a purple suit comments on how he’s got a good voice.

Honestly Willie is just so relieved to have someone to talk to that he forgets about stranger danger completely.

Plus he recognizes an Elder Gay in Caleb and assumes he can trust him because the Elder Gays he met at pride that one time he went with Delilah were so nice and understanding of how reassuring it was to see queer people of older generations who got a happy ending.

Caleb barely even has to try. He just lets this 17-year-old obviously-queer ghost rant at him for a few minutes, asks a few questions and finds out that he also can play piano, and convinces him to come to the Hollywood Ghost Club the next night.

From there it’s not like Willie has anyone to save him so of course he has to join the club.

At first he’s completely alone because the other performers scare him almost as much as Caleb does.

Then slowly, he sees how they give him space because they know he’s scared of them. How they turn a blind eye when he leaves the club without permission. How they don’t critique his mistakes with the same sarcasm they show each other.

Willie starts to realize that the other performers are doing their best to look out for him, and he starts being less afraid.

They’re all too concerned with their own survival to really protect him but if they draw some attention to themselves occasionally so Caleb doesn’t notice Willie being slow to pick up some tricky choreography, that’s not too risky.

The others are all like 21 at the youngest and they really don’t appreciate Caleb tricking a literal child into working for him no matter how talented said child is. (Cause Willie is good at singing and piano. It’s just not his passion.)

The twins are 22 but they died in 1925 and before that they were performing to support a younger brother who they never got to say goodbye to so maybe they see Willie as a kind of second chance.

Lyssa (what I decided to name drummer woman because I don’t know her real name if she has one) is 25 and she died in 1984. She had a daughter who’d be about Willie’s age now and... who knows? Maybe they were friends.

Fuego is 24 and from 1951 and he had a childhood best friend who enlisted and died in WWII that he thought he might get to see when he died but that boy moved on and so... well, Willie’s just a little younger than his friend was the last time he saw him.

In short Willie becomes everyone’s baby brother and they do what they can to look out for him even if they’re just as scared of Caleb as he is.

And the better adjusted Willie gets to (after)life at the HGC and the better they get to know him, the guiltier the others start to feel about him being stuck there.

Eventually a combination of guilt and worked-up courage leads Fuego tells him about the whole unfinished business thing, in hopes maybe he can figure his out and get away from Caleb.

It doesn’t take Willie long to think of his family, how hopeless he felt about the divorce, how worried he was it would change everything and then how scared he was to see his family in pain because of his death.

He realizes his unfinished business is probably seeing them. Letting himself say goodbye.

He almost gets away with it.

Caleb catches up and stops him in the driveway of his house and poofs them back to the HGC.

He convinces (gaslights) Willie into believing that saying goodbye was never his unfinished business and even if it was it’s not like it would matter because Caleb wouldn’t let him do it.

The next morning he ships the HGC out to Tokyo. They stay on the move for a long time and when they are in town, Willie is basically locked in his room.

The next time he’s allowed out in Hollywood, his parents don’t live in their old house anymore and he has no way to find them.

As a coping mechanism, he just starts making the best of a bad situation. Becoming better friends with the other ghosts. Helping soften the blow whenever someone new comes along.

None of that means he stops checking the faces of passing skaters or keeping eyes on restaurants his folks used to like, but it does mean he more or less gives up hope.

That’s what he’s doing when he bumps into Alex.

Look, Willie loves his friends at the HGC. He really does. But there’s a big difference between 17 and 20-something. Like the others will drink alcohol some nights and technically Willie was born over 21 years ago but he still feels weird enough about it that he doesn’t drink.

He hasn’t talked to anyone his age in a long time so Alex is a breath of fresh air.

Also he’s like. Really cute. And sweet. And funny. And shit, Willie’s fallen for him before he even has time to think about it.

He keeps thinking about how Alex doesn’t seem like he’d be physically capable of hurting someone on purpose so Austin would approve and every once in a while there’s that sarcasm that pops out which means he’d get along great with Delilah.

In general Alex is the kind of guy he would’ve loved to take home to meet the family. Them not included, he’s kind of... everything Willie’s missed about Hollywood in the form of one person.

Then they hang out more and Alex is still everything he’s missed but he’s also so much more than that and...

It almost feels like a part of Alex is still alive. And for the first time in years, a part of Willie feels alive, too.

They’ve known each other for like a week tops and Willie is already in love.

Not that he’s admitting that to anyone, because he’s learned the hard way that anyone you care about can be used against you.

Still... when Alex asks for help getting revenge on Bobby, he can’t bring himself to say no because he needs to keep Alex in his (after)life and the only way he knows how to do that (or to make people be nice to him in general) is to be as useful as possible.

That turns out to be a big mistake, because Caleb sees right through him in an instant, targets Alex to confirm it, then immediately starts the process to trick the boys into committing to eternity at the HGC.

Willie feels like an idiot for thinking he could actually get away with it. Doing something good for someone he cares about.

He hadn’t thought Caleb would be interested in them because he’d never actually heard them play. The assumption was that he’d make them do some small favor and then let them talk to their bandmate for 5 minutes. A clean deal where they never have to commit to anything. Willie forgot to take magic into account.

He almost manages to convince himself it was all a bad dream, but when he seeks out Alex and his friends to check on them, he can almost feel the jolts himself, and seeing Alexthem in pain feels terrible.

Willie knows that theoretically they could figure out their unfinished business and cross over, but that all depends on finding it and doing it fast enough and if they failed...

People you care about can be used against you. And Willie does not want to be used against Alex again. He doesn’t want to see Alex used against him.

So he keeps his distance, in hopes Caleb will think he lost interest. He’s pretty sure once the boys find out about the stamp they’ll hate him, anyway.

And plus, as he’s been taught by his friends at the HGC, you have to look out for yourself because no one else will do it for you. Maybe you hurt somebody by not standing up for them, but you can apologize later and hope they forgive you. You can’t apologize if you’re gone, and it’s not like it would make a difference anyway because Caleb is too powerful for anyone to beat.

The thought of how spending eternity with Alex might not be so bad even if it has to be at the HGC does come up, but ironically that’s what makes Willie decide to screw his courage to the sticking point and tell them.

Because he has seen what decades at the club has done to his friends.

They’re all great performers, and they perform happiness well even to each other, but Willie knows them enough to know how tired they all are. How they have been doing the same thing over and over again for decades and they are sick of it.

They’re young, talented tragedies lost to drug overdoses, or AIDS, or accidents, or suicide, and they should’ve gotten to rest after everything they went through in their lives. Instead, they got a curse disguised as a blessing. They got to stay on a stage, got to keep performing and soaking up applause, never got to stop.

Willie has been there a shorter time than most of them and he feels it. The exhaustion, because ghosts are supposed to haunt for a few years then figure out their unfinished business and move on. They’re not meant to be trapped for decades, used as party tricks.

A part of Alex still feels alive and being trapped in the Hollywood Ghost Club for years on end would kill that part of him.

Willie can’t let that happen, so as hard as it is...

He tells the boys what’s wrong with them. And by that hurt, betrayed look in Alex’s eyes, he’s honestly expecting him to never forgive him.

But then Alex does. And that almost hurts worse because whether he figures out his unfinished business or not, Willie doubts he’s ever going to see him again.

He honest to God almost cries when Alex hugs him because... shit, he hasn’t gotten a hug since he was breathing.

He goes back to the HGC and tries to go about his day, and keeps replaying how good it felt to have Alex’s arms around him, hoping that memory will get him through the next few decades on his own.

The ghosts at the club do actually gossip a fair amount and by this point all of them know about the 3 dead members of Sunset Curve.

So when Willie admits to Helen (what I’m calling one of the twins) that Alex hugging him was the first time he’d gotten a hug since he died, she hugs him tight for a good 20 seconds, telling him she’s sorry he has to lose him, and if Willie closes his eyes he can almost pretend it’s Delilah.

The next thing he knows, he’s locked in a closet.

Caleb comes to talk to (intimidate) him a few hours later, saying he knows what Willie did.

He’s magically locked in his room alone for a couple weeks after that and it’s essentially psychological torture.

Helen, Anna (what I decided to call the other twin), Dante, Fuego, Lyssa, and everyone else tell him not to test Caleb for the next couple years, but Willie has a heart full of love and a head full of fuck it, so he doesn’t listen.

He gives it exactly one day of being/acting scared and obedient, then goes out without permission again, fully intending to scream in a museum alone to let out all his feelings.

Remember: Willie didn’t see the Orpheum performance. He doesn’t know the boys didn’t cross over but by Caleb’s mood he has a feeling the outcome of that scenario was not in the magician’s favor.

He gets there and it’s literally this comic by the very talented @williessweatycherrysocks

He can’t stay long but he and Alex scream in each other’s faces, talk a bit, maybe sing a duet.

After that, they sneak to see each other when they can but don’t get to see much of each other for months.

It’s hard on both of them but they don’t give up on their relationship.

Through long and complicated events which I will outline later, Willie eventually gets free of the HGC, hugs his friends goodbye already making plans to take down Caleb for good to free them, too, and promptly declines an offer to stay in the Molinas’ garage.

As much as he wants to be close to Alex he’s done being confined to one place.

He still comes and visits like every day tho.

He knows a lot more about ghosting than the other boys do so he and Carlos get along amazingly like:

Carlos: So do you know who Jack the Ripper was?

Willie: No? How old do you think I am?

Carlos: I dunno but I thought it might be Caleb cause that would explain how he never got caught.

Willie, taking notes in his Things To Potentially Use To Take Caleb Down notebook: You’re a tiny genius.

No one was expecting it but everyone is in awe of how well he and Carrie get along. Between the two of them they know so much celebrity gossip. (and it’s definitely a good thing he’s on good terms with her cause she and Alex are close)

On the angsty side, Willie also bonds with Nick over how they both know how it feels to be manipulated and used by Caleb.

Also it takes a long time before he’s able to trust him, but he does get adopted into the Molina clan by Ray.

Ray reminds him a lot of his own dad, once Willie’s able to see that he’s nothing like Caleb.

Ray’s honestly just 100% happy to Dad™️ anyone who needs a dad so it works out great once Julie and the boys figure out how to make Willie visible.

But anyway back to important stuff.

Now that they don’t have to hide for any reason, Willie and Alex can both breathe a little easier. Or... they both feel better. Ghosts don’t really breathe.

Willie can finally let himself get used to feeling alive again.

The whole ghost gang goes (invisibly) to the Los Feliz Homecoming dance and maybe it should make him feel a little on-edge with the kind of club-like environment but...

He’s got Alex there, and they’re dancing to some corny pop love song from the 90s that Flynn probably put on because she knew the ghost boys would be there so how could he feel anything but safe?

For a minute it almost feels like actually being alive and there’s yellow and pink and blue lights coming from everywhere reflecting in Alex’s eyes and Willie is suddenly very aware of the fact that though they’ve been together for a long time now, they haven’t had their first kiss.

Then the Cha Cha Slide starts up and the atmosphere switches and Willie totally forgets about the whole romantic tension thing because it’s the Cha Cha Slide everybody has to dance along.

Dirty Candi performs towards the end of the night and the ghost boys cheer the loudest despite how Julie’s laughing at them. They don’t care that Carrie can’t even hear them, they’re being supportive!!!

Everybody screams even louder when Flynn runs up on stage and kisses Carrie and Willie feels a big burst of affection at how Alex shouts ABOUT TIME!

Then he gives Willie a quick hug and leaves cause he and the rest of Julie and the Phantoms have to go get set up for their performance.

Since Alex was able to flip Carrie’s hair in All Eyes on Me I’m saying that ghosts can touch lifers if they focus and believe it will happen hard enough, so the ghost gang has developed a system for alerting their non-Julie lifer friends to their presence.

So while they’re waiting in the crowd Willie taps Carrie on the shoulder like: • - - one short tap, two long taps, a Morse code ‘W’ and Carrie lets Flynn know that he’s there.

(Nick can see him too but Nick’s off somewhere with his date {one of his lacrosse teammates you know the one})

Anyway so Julie goes out and starts up the song and then the rest of the band poofs in but

Something’s unusual.

Cause it’s not Luke on the lower main vocals.

It’s

Alex

Singing while he plays the drums and fucking killing it.

Willie totally bluescreens for a second but then when he actually focuses on the lyrics...

It’s a new song about beating the odds and being with the person you love in spite of the challenges that come with them.

And yeah there are Julie elements in there, (and she’s definitely making heart eyes at Luke even as he sticks to backup vocals) because of course there are since she has to start the song up, but

But Willie might not have any formal music training, but he was at the HGC long enough to know his stuff about music and recognize different artists’ styles.

And there’s a time signature switch on the bridge that’s a little off from how Luke would write it. There’s a swing to the melody that’s a bit more ‘pop’ than the band’s usual songs. Julie’s harmony doesn’t go as high as it normally would, as if whoever wrote the song didn’t have as high of an upper range to work with as she does.

The song is so unmistakably Alex that no one else could have written it.

Flynn and Carrie are quietly making smug comments on what they bet his face looks like right now but Willie’s not listening to them.

On the last chorus, Alex fucking winks at him right before poofing out.

Willie has whiplash like how did they go from him having to psych Alex up to break into a museum even when there’s zero chance of getting caught to Alex openly flirting with him from the stage?

He poofs backstage right as the boys get back from dropping their instruments back in the Molinas’ garage and he honestly doesn’t know what he even wants to say to convey how amazing that performance was.

Then Alex just smiles at him.

Alex: So I take it you liked the song?

Willie: Can I kiss you right now?

They both kinda freeze after he blurts that out and Reggie goes wow really quietly before he and Luke poof out to give them some privacy and whoops now they’re both flustered but

Alex: Wow, didn’t expect that. That’s... um, wow. But yeah.

They kiss and it’s a total romcom moment.

And the story’s far from over, but to Willie this definitely feels like happily ever after.

28 notes · View notes

horansqueen · 3 years

Text

Stuck With You - Chapter 25

Chapter 25: The Only Exception

🡪chapter 1 🡪chapter 2 🡪chapter 3 🡪chapter 4 🡪chapter 5 🡪chapter 6 🡪chapter 7 🡪chapter 8 🡪chapter 9 🡪chapter 10 🡪chapter 11 🡪chapter 12 🡪chapter 13 🡪chapter 14 🡪chapter 15 🡪chapter 16 🡪chapter 17 🡪chapter 18 🡪chapter 19 🡪chapter 20 🡪chapter 21 🡪chapter 22 🡪chapter 23 🡪chapter 24

College Enemies To Lovers AU

characters // masterlist // instagrams // mood board

And that was the day that I promised I'd never sing of love if it does not exist

But darling, you are the only exception You are the only exception You are the only exception You are the only exception

And up until now I had sworn to myself That I'm content with loneliness Because none of it was ever worth the risk

click here to be on the update list

NIALL

The first hour of the ride was pretty silent. Devon kept playing with the buttons of the radio, switching channels and humming a few of the songs. I knew she was nervous but I also knew she wanted to be away from here. She had taken the time to get changed into jeans and a t-shirt, and she also took her make up off, and when she sent me a smile with her bags on her shoulders, I realized she was just as pretty than she was with a dress and red lipstick. We had also stopped by the art department to grab a few canvas and it made me wonder if she would let me watch her paint or if she'd lock herself in a room of my apartment.

"Are you ever gonna let me listen to one of the songs you wrote?" she finally asked after a while, taking me out of my thoughts.

I glanced at her and raised my eyebrows up in surprise before looking back at the road. "I don't know, I don't usually do that." I admitted, not sure if it was a good idea. "Why would you like to hear?"

She shrugged a shoulder and looking down at her hands as she played nervously with her fingers. I didn't know why my question stressed her but now I was even more interested in the answer.

"You saw one of my paintings, so it would be fair." she just pointed out without really answering. "I heard you were really good at that, too."

"Who said that? Louis?" I raised my eyebrows again with a chuckle. "It doesn't count, he's always rooting for me."

"Him and others." she quickly replied, looking up. "You're not so modest normally."

I turned my head to her again, noticing she was sending me a cheeky half-smile and I chuckled.

"I didn't say he was not right." I corrected her with a smirk.

This time, she started laughing and I joined her but when she stopped, she turned her head my way and leaned it again the bench. I wanted to stop on the side of the road to look at her too. I wanted to just stare at her for hours and I couldn't wait to arrive at our destination.

"Louis really loves you, you know." she expressed in a low tone with emotions. "Whenever he talks about you, it's with kindness and love in his voice. And also regrets and guilt."

I didn't expect her to go there but my smile fell and I breathed in before sighing.

"I know."

"I know why you're mad at him and, honestly, what he did was horrible, especially for a friend. But I want you to know he's sincere when he says he's sorry and he regrets what he did." she continued before licking her lips. "He didn't ask me to talk to you, by the way. And-And.. you obviously don't have to forgive him, but I wanted you to know that."

It took me a while to answer. I tried to keep track of the emotions it brought in me but I was not sure how I felt. I wanted to make Devon happy and tell her that Louis and I were okay, but I knew it was because she was the one asking me. I didn't know how I felt about Louis. I still considered him one of my best friends, and I couldn't pretend that he hadn't been an amazing friend to me in the past few years. On the other hand, it didn't erase the pain inside me. I didn't have feelings for my ex girlfriend anymore, but he had still hurt me, and I didn't know how I could really trust him again. Maybe it would take time, maybe it would never go back to the way it was, I didn't know and I didn't want to force myself to anything.

"I thought she was the love of my life, you know." I explained slowly after a few minutes of silence. "And he knew that, and he slept with her anyway. I know he was drunk, I know she insisted... but it doesn't change anything. My trust is shaken. They both made me suspicious of everyone. I was not even a jealous person and now I can barely control it. It fucked me up in more ways than I thought it would."

I couldn't remember the last time I had opened up to someone like that but I was glad it was with her. Perhaps I did that unconciously because I had feeling for her, or maybe it was because I knew she could understand how I felt. Either way, the fond smile she sent me made my heart twist and I sent it back.

"I'm pretty fucked up myself." she chuckled, turning her head back and tilting her chin up with a sigh. "I can't blame you."

Silence came back between us but it was not heavy. In fact, it was light and knowing, as if we understood each other and we accepted each other the way we were without question. I enjoyed this atmosphere and I realized I had never felt like that with anyone else in my life.

"I knew he was not the love of my life." Devon replied, bringing one of her feet on the bench to lean her cheek on her knee. "Deep down I even knew he didn't really love me. But I didn't want to face it. I wanted to keep pretending I was special for him. I just wanted to feel special for someone. I want someone who wants me, who thinks I'm pretty, who genuinely love me. I know it's not happening but I wanted to dream. I know what people see when they look at me."

"What do you think people see when they look at you?"

She was not answering and I dared turning to look at her. My heart broke when I saw tears coming out of her eyes and she sniffed before closing them. "A below average girl. Someone who's not physically attractive and most people stop there. And the very few who actually give me a chance? They see a broken person with no self-esteem, a naive girl who was so in need of affection that she let a man play with her and now she's can't get over it. Tell me, Niall, who the fuck would want to start something with someone like that?"

I saw my apartment appear on the road and I remained silent until I was parked. We both remained silent and motionless, sitting in my car. I knew I should have replied 'me', because it was true. I should have told her that I would want to start something with her if she gave me a chance, but I felt like saying that would be the equivalent to tell her that I was the only one who could ever be interested in her, and it was not true.

"Can you help me with my bags?" she asked, wiping her eyes quickly without looking at me.

She reached for the handle and opened the door slightly when I grabbed her free wrist.

"Devie." she stopped but it took her a few seconds to turn her head and look in my eyes. "Many people, trust me."

---

"The guest room is on your left." I pointed out when we walked in.

She walked slowly inside, her eyes moving everywhere in my living room. She turned slowly on herself to make sure she saw everything and it made me chuckle. She finally got out of her thoughts and blinked a few times before frowning.

"The-The guest room?" her face changed and she cleared her throat. "Oh you have a guest room."

"Yea," I chuckled again. "You didn't think I'd let you sleep on the couch, did you?"

I helped her bring her stuff to the room but she kept quiet the whole time and when I finally grabbed my phone to order, I noticed she was sitting in front of my piano. I joined her, sitting next to her on the small bench, and started playing an old song of mine but decided not to sing.

"It's pretty." she just pointed out, letting her fingertips slip on the keys without making any sound.

"I wrote it about Abby a few years ago." I admitted, staring at her fingers. "The lyrics don't mean anything anymore but back then, I really felt them."

"If you want to sing me a song you wrote, I think you should sing one that's not about her."

I turned my head slightly to look at her but she was too focused on her own fingers on the piano to notice. I wanted to tell her that I would sing a song about her instead but I didn't want things to be awkward with her after only an hour at my apartment.

"Good idea."

We decided to eat pizza while watching a movie and I told myself I'd need to go grocery shopping the next day to make sure we wouldn't have to order every single meal we'd eat. The movie was funny and every time she laughed, I'd turn my head to look at her. It was crazy how much better she seemed to be now that we were away from school and her bad memories. I ended up making tea and we sat at the kitchen's table to drink it while looking by the window in silence. I didn't know silence could be so comfortable with someone. I was used to be by myself and I liked it that way, but when Devon was there, it was like being alone but better. I didn't know how to explain it but I knew I'd need to write a song about it.

"Why did you bring me here, Niall?" she finally asked after half an hour of comfortable silence.

I turned to her and she was already looking at me. "You asked me to take you as far away as possible and this is the first place that came to my mind." I admitted, shrugging a shoulder.

She didn't say anything and we kept quiet for an other few minutes.

"Niall, I don't-" she stopped herself and sighed, closing her eyes. "Niall, I don't want to sleep in your guest room. I would prefer to be in your room, with you."

It took me by surprise but it also made my heart jump high in my chest and my whole body started throbbing. We had never really slept in the same bed, not for more than a few minutes, and It never even crossed my mind that she would want to share a bed with me.

"I'm scared to wake up and panic if I'm alone." she added when she realized I wasn’t answering.

"What did you do when you lived with Lewis?" I asked gently.

"Most of the time I fell asleep in the living room. When he realized what I was doing, he fell asleep with me on the other couch so when I woke up he was there. Or sometimes, I'd invite Louis over." she explained while looking down. It seemed like she was ashamed of it and I was not sure why. "It's okay if you don't want to."

"No, it's okay, you can sleep with me in my bed, it's big enough."

She looked up and her eyes met mine as a small smile appeared on her lips. Why did she make me feel like that? Why did everything she did make me feel like a teenager in love? A kid who couldn't control his feelings and his hormones?

"Can I take a shower?"

I leaned against the door the whole time she took a shower, my eyes closed, wondering what she was doing exactly, how she was feeling... Somehow, I could feel that her mind was still on Henry and Cammy who had both betrayed her but selfishly, I hoped she was also thinking about me. When the shower stopped, I sighed and walked to my room, ready to take her place. I told her I would be quick and when I walked back into my room, she was laying on my bed, under the covers. I normally only sleep in my boxers but I put a t-shirt this time, just to make sure she was not uncomfortable. I kept the lights on and lied down next to her in silence for a while. It was not awkward but for some odd reason, my heart was beating harder and faster than usual. It was ridiculous. I was in bed with a girl I had feelings for, something I thought would never happen again, and I was scared of what could happen between us.

"How do you feel?" I finally asked, turning my body completely her way.

"I don't know. I thought I was healed but I guess it takes time." she admitted low. "I feel.. I feel worthless."

"They don't decide of your value." I pointed out in a whisper. "You're a million times better than them. You're special, Devie. You just can't see it."

"You don't have to say these things, Niall." she murmured, licking her lips before glancing at mine. "It's not your job to make me feel better about myself."

"I'm not just saying it, okay? I mean it." I insisted gently just as low. "Devie, you're anything but average."

"I'm below that."

"No, you're not." I quickly argued, bringing my hand to her cheek and running my thumb slowly on her face. "So you got your heart broken and it fucking hurts, I know. Someone played with your feelings and it's horrible, I know that feeling. But you? You as a person, you as a woman... you are not to blame. And it doesn't make you worthless. It just makes them assholes."

She swallowed hard and I saw her tear up as my heart kept thumping hard in my chest.

"Why are you so nice to me?" she breathed but I could still hear her voice crack slightly. "I thought you hated me."

"I never hated you. Not a second."

I felt a sudden rush invade my whole body as I admitted that to her. She blinked a few times and I brought my face closer to hers, pressing my lips against hers as my body started throbbing hard. I could feel her vibrate near me and I couldn't push the thought away, the one that told me she felt for me exactly the way I did for her.

"Why are you doing that, Niall?" she asked against my mouth, her lips brushing against mine.

"I just want to make you feel better." I explained, my eyes never leaving hers.

"How?"

I stared at her for a minute or two and she did the same. So many things came to my mind but I swallowed most words I wanted to let out. I had many ideas but I was not sure it would really make her feel better or if it would make me feel good. Was I doing that for myself? I wanted it to be exclusively about her, if only to show her I meant every word I had told her.

"When's the last time you had someone between your legs?"

Her face changed into surprise and something else I couldn't decipher. Was it lust? She squirmed slightly in bed and I could swear she had squeezed her thighs together but I didn't dare looking. I just let my eyes roam on her face from up close, waiting for her answer.

"I don't... I don't know." she confessed, licking her lips. "Henry was not so much into that."

"Henry is a fucking loser."

Silence invaded the room once again. It was pure torture waiting for her decision but at the same time, It gave me time to just stare at her the way I wanted to do it back when I was driving. She had a little scar barely visible near her mouth and I couldn't believe I had never noticed before.

"Nothing will have changed tomorrow morning, you know?" she pointed out with a small frown. "I will still be against love and romantic relationships."

"I know."

I couldn't say I didn't expect it but it still hurt me a bit. I knew it would take time and I was not even sure she would ever give me an other chance, but it didn't make me change my mind. I would still wait for her because there was no one I was ready to be with anyway, no one else I wanted or cared for.

"I just want to make you feel good."

She nodded so lightly I barely saw but I was suddenly impatient to taste her. I wanted to slip my hand in her sweatpants and touch her but that's not what I had mentioned and slowly, I brought my hand under the sheets, pulling gently on her pants. She moved her butt up and helped me until her pants fell in a light thud on the floor. Knowing she was naked from the waist down laying right next to me was exciting but I tried to focus on what I was about to do instead of all the other thoughts rushing to my brain.

I slid down before disappearing under the sheets and was glad that I had left the lights on, making it possible to see what I was doing through the white sheets of my bed. She brought her knees up, placing her feet flat on the mattress and exposing her pussy to me. I muttered a low 'fuck', barely believing what was happening and what I was lucky enough to see. I licked my lips without thinking at the sight of her inner thighs and breathed in, trying to bring my heartbeats back to normal.

Slowly, I ran two fingers on her slit and she tensed a bit before relaxing again. It was my cue to bring my mouth closer and press my tongue on her clit.

"Oh. Fuck." she let out, grinding a bit my way.

I stopped what I was doing and brought my mouth to her left thigh, sometimes leaving a trail of small kisses on it, sometimes brushing my lips against her skin before doing the same with the right one. I felt her squirm a bit and she seemed impatient but I didn't want to go too fast, especially if she hadn't had someone between her legs in a long time. I ran my tongue on one of her lips slowly, tilting my head slightly to suck on it gently and finally pushed my tongue inside her.

"Oh my.. god."

I started going slowly, moving my tongue in and out of her, and the faster I went, the more her hips met with my movements. She tasted amazing, the bitter-sweet flavor reaching my buds and making me slightly dizzy. She started whimpering and let out a few curse words but it's only when she moaned my name that I realized how hard I was.

"Fuck, Niall." her voice was low, in a mix of a whisper and a whimper, and my hard cock started throbbing against the mattress. I couldn't let that distract me and i brought my mouth to her clit, alternating between sucking it and flicking my tongue on it until I felt her squirm more.

She pushed the covers off my head and I pressed my cock harder on the bed, grinding a bit as I noticed she had moved her shirt up and was running one of her hands on her breasts. It reminded me of that time in the elevator when I had barely touched her and I just wanted to move back up to touch them. I fought against that urge and her free hand slipped in my hair, gripping it tightly and holding me down on her.

"Niall, please don't stop I'm gonna cum."

Her words brought a rush to my brain and I sucked harder, rubbing myself against the mattress at the same time as both my hands gripping her thighs tight, my fingers sinking in her skin. Her eyes were closed, her back was arching, and I knew it was a matter of seconds before I would see her cum.

"Fuck fuck fuck..." she let out and suddenly stopped moving.

He lips parted and an expression of intense pleasure appeared on her face as I kept going, trying to make her orgasm last as long as possible. She started shaking against me and I felt her gush on my lips and chin, almost bringing me to my own orgasm. It took a bit longer than I thought before her body relaxed and her grip in my hair loosened but when she did, her knees fell on the sides and she let out a satisfied whimper, making me smile against her pussy. I kissed her clit and it gave her a spasm before I ran my tongue again but very slowly between her legs, gathering her orgasm to taste her some more. She played with my hair, her fingers slipping in it before she scratched my head gently. I moved back up very slowly on top of her, leaving kisses on her stomach and letting my eyes linger a bit on her tits before moving up to her face. I could feel how hard her nipples were against my chest and her eyes fluttered open to meet mine. She sent me a fond smile until it suddenly turned into an amused one.

"That turned you on?" she asked, raising her eyebrows as I realized she probably felt how hard I was between her legs.

It was crazy but I could swear I could still feel her pussy throb against me, but it was probably just the throbbing of my cock against it. She reached for my face gently, biting her bottom lip, and wiped the vestige of her orgasm on my chin.

"Do you want me to-"

"No, no." I cut her quickly, shaking my head but still looking in her eyes. "I just wanted to make you feel better."

Her smile fell and she studied me for a while, her eyes slightly smaller. I remained motionless, letting her look at me, and when she brought one of her hands on my back, I held my breath. Her fingertips ran under my shirt, up and down my spine, and I licked my lips.

"How was it?" I wondered, sending her a small smile. "Better than Bob?"

She chuckled and shook her head with a grin. "I don't know a Bob."

We both chuckled again and I waited for my brain to form a coherent but not too intense thought before talking again.

"How about we try something else tomorrow?"

Her smile faltered and she started nibbling on her bottom lip. I knew she was hesitating but I counted on her post-orgasm feeling to help her agree to my proposition. I had never felt closer than anyone else in general, but it was the same thing sexually, and even if I shouldn't be surprised that Devon and I connected on everything, sex included, I couldn't help but be amazed by it. Was that what it felt like to meet someone that was perfect for you? Could that be qualified as 'soulmates'?

"Yea, we should."

Her answer made my lips curl into a big smile despite myself and I chuckled again.

"I thought we were not the kind of friends who have sex?" I teased with a grin, making her smile too and shrug.

"What happens here, stays here."

#niall horan #niall horan fluff #niall horan smut #niall horan fan fic #niall horan fanfic #niall horan fan fiction #niall horan fanfiction #niall horan story #niall horan writing #niall horan au #niall horan college au #niall horan uni au #niall horan enemies to lovers #my fanfics #swy

67 notes · View notes

mowu-moment · 3 years

Text

i feel controversial & i care too much, so here's my des rocs complete tierlist

ranked list & reasoning (ish) under the cut

1. WAYNE: hoholy shit wayne. can hardly put into words how explosive this one is to me. the intro sets a Whole Mood before swiftly (& cleanly) smacking it down into an Absolute Banger and i don't use the term lightly. very hard not to scream along with it. only detriment is that wayne the person is kinda an ass in the mmc video but that's no qualm

2. POS: basically the same thing as wayne (oh both have great lyrics btw, this one more so), only gets points knocked for being 2 minutes long and having 30 seconds of that being intro & outro. go danny give us nothing

3. WHY WHY WHY: there's a theme among my top picks--they're all hard-hitting w/ killer guitar. the lyrics are absolute batshit in a good way, but the chorus is a lil flat & i feel like in general it just needed a touch more spice to score the top spot. or maybe it's just seniority & it'll have a coup a few months out idk

4. DEAD RINGER: similar killer guitar & lyrics but this one is Groovy as Hell. don't particularly like his singing in this one & it's too repetitive if i'm feeling grumpy but there's something so magic about after the bridge. top 10 songs to twirl a flag to

5. NOTHING PERSONAL: the minute long outro irks me & it's a little bit empty but plays into that well. groovy, great lyrics, the Sexiest Guitar Solo of the lot, the screaming's a minus but it does have an emotion there. not entirely sure what one but it's there.

6. LET ME LIVE / LET ME DIE: his first time being all over the goddamn place, history was made. amazing guitar, a little worse lyrics than 1-4 i'll admit, the intro Slays me both in a good and bad way. must be a joy to play live where he can just drag out that intro & bridge as long as feels right. at least i liked it in the digital concert like that. would actually kill me in a physical concert, imagine how much stomping gets going to that beat. bonus points for presumable cowbell

7. PIECES: for once not this high for the guitar & lyrics, they're both kinda basic. idk what's about this one but it just takes me to a separate dimension & i love it so much for that. really fills those earholes. also a bit of personal meaning, heard it for the first time on the day we moved into the house i'm currently split-custody-living in (is that tmi?) & the first music video of his i saw. man i love some spaghetti on the wall

8. SLO: basically the same as dead ringer, but knocked points for a kinda lame outro & the subject matter being a little less interesting to me. still lovely.

9. HANGING BY A THREAD: not my normal fare really & the way that the ends of the verses don't really fit in the pacing of them is bleh, but it's just so reminiscent of the songs my brother puts on whenever we hang out together that it just makes me all warm & fuzzy. it's also nicely put together which is something i'll have to start saying for. the later list.

10. SUICIDE ROMANTICS: this is where i start griping about head voice & higher pitches in general. don't like em so the pre-chorus is a lil annoying. also not my normal fare but it's tender & the ending is awe-striking. imo better live where he's loud on that last line before the final chorus. not enough to bump it up though. shoutouts to love and a smoking gun, i still am dying to hear that one

11. THE PAST HAS PASSED AWAY: my favorite lyrics out of the first 2 ep's. only thing wrong with it really is the bridge getting kinda repetitive. love that last chorus heehoo. same schpeel as the Banger Category

12. MMC: this one's lower than the rest of the Bangers for being pop punk which is something the radio has made me dislike, i guess. that trope with the guitar in the second half of the chorus just kills me so much. improves greatly during & after the bridge, love that lil ragtime piano. generally the same bit as before but i do love him doing something un-romance-related. yeah fuck the establishment!

13. THE DEVIL INSIDE: reminds me A Lot of the electronic-ish cassettes i've got from the early 90's but that's just me. this one will probably move up as i get more used to it, but only a little bit. the first part of the second verse makes me like. genuinely uncomfy? but the second part of it's fantastic. ending's ass though what happened to the instrumence. bonus points for using 'reverie' that's an SAT word (maybe). good singing but returning to the gripe at higher pitches, just a little bit though

14. THIS IS OUR LIFE: feels shockingly generic for a des rocs song tbh but there's nothing really wrong with that. adore the bridge. singing's alright. kinda miffed that he doesn't pronounce the 'f' in the second 'life' in the chorus, but it makes sense here. that sort of thing won't later so i'm bringing it up now. guitar's nothing spectacular but fits nicely into the song, probably one of the most cohesive of his (especially in recent history).

15. OUTTA MY MIND: really lives in the same space as slo and dead ringer do in my head (most likely the 'songs to twirl a flag to' zone), but this is by far the worst of the three for when i'm grumpy. just. Very repetitive. back to great lyrics here but it's kinda hard to pick them out (i've heard the song at least 100 times by now & i'm still missing a few lines). still groovin'

16. RUBY WITH THE SHARPEST LIES: what the fuck actually goes on in this song by the way? not the premise or whatever it's just. so all over the place. the verses are incredible but bringing in another vocalist just for one line kills me. bridge is really cool but that one part i don't remember where it is, the one that alternates basically nothing & an Electronic Piano Chord blaring at ya? ruins it. partially anyhow. also can someone tell the people on genius that it's 'carved it in my skin' not 'crawled down in my skin'

17. GIVE ME THE NIGHT: same repetitive issue as outta my mind but it's not groovy enough to save it, shame. feels like a trial run of all the wackshit stuff he's been doing recently, with the additional vocal bits at the end & the kinda weird lyrics. it still has a place in my heart don't get me wrong but it's just fallen in favor of stuff that Commits to banger or batshit (or actually pulls off both strongly, yyy). oh yeah nice guitar alright singing etc etc

18. USED TO THE DARKNESS: similar story to give me the night. i love it i do, but it's just lackluster nowadays. also remember that under-pronunciation thing i brought up in this is our life? this is where that comes back. rampant i tell you! that second verse he just doesn't finish the words & i hate it!

19. DON'T HURT ME: i honestly don't know why this one isn't in D. the chorus bit where he just cuts it short is irksome. the lyrics aren't anything special. i don't know what i like about it. but i can tell it does exactly what it set out to do if that makes sense. respect, respect. and using missile in an analogy, he's getting creative with the vocab

20. LIVING PROOF: kinda got a vendetta against this one i think? i don't know why i hate this one but i do. it's just kinda, blah. like the perfect sort of thing to nightcore up. sentiment's lovely & i do love the lyrics even if they aren't impressive but like. it bores me to an extent

21. TICK (LIVE): separating the version i heard in the digital concert just to give it some credit, this one was actually kinda nice. another one with a nice sentiment & what he was going for is great. no clue what the second part of the second verse has to do with any of this though. and it also begins our final group, the songs that just feel empty. like there's not nearly enough going on. this one's alright though i was just hoping the studio version would add some flair. you can see where that one is though.

22. IMAGINARY FRIENDS: also got a vendetta against pop. kinda hate the sentiment here (contrast!), the chorus just falls short of what the verses prime me for, head voice is rampant, and yet i still swing along to it. it's infectious props to him. love the outro though, monkey laugh and all.

23. MAYBE, I: another empty one, like it's a four-note progression what is that. love his singing in it, and the chorus parts do round it out, but like. eh? it doesn't even give me much to say.

24. BORN TO LOSE: another flop on the chorus! too smooth i say! and i absolutely Despise the pitch-shifting thing going on. not something i was expecting him to express so points there, lyrics are nothing fancy to my Literary Mind though. initially good singing but the chorus he's just sloppy over it. the instrumental is lovely but the vocals just throw it so hard into the bin which is a right shame. fuck that outro too i hate that gimmick

25. I KNOW: here's where the bad batshit comes in. singing is some of his worst imo, does the other-vocalist thing for that bridge, genre i'm not fond of, just a soup of Stuff I Don't Like. not one i'd kill someone over putting as #1 like i can see where it comes from but. mmmmmhhhh bad. cover does NOT help his case.

26. HVY MTL DRMR: empirically i should put this one higher. but the chorus flops so goddamn hard it deserves to be in the bottom of the barrel. the verses are lovely for what he was doing back then! but then just... nothing!

27. RABBIT HOLE: i was so excited for this name but it's just sad boi hours playlist curated by some corporation you hate. probably the most nothing of them all, genuinely where are the instruments. what happened. was this one just shoehorned in as the final track just to pump numbers up. and i swear he had some autotune or something which only makes his voice worse it's fantastic naturally. also that's not what a rabbit hole is! that's not the idiom! a rabbit hole is when you go on a wikipedia spiral from jennifer lopez to group theory! not when you just have a shitty night's sleep or whatever this is! i'm not just miffed i'm downright annoyed

28. TICK (STUDIO): what the fuck happened des. how did you release this. it sounds like a 3rd grader singing for the school talent show it's so out of rhythm. singing's honestly kinda bad & the instrumental has the same problems i talked about in the live version. the last chorus is fine, i guess, but no i don't forgive him for what he did to tick.

#des rocs #yeah i forgot tphpa on the first pass. it's always at least one #i guess i'm pessimistic on the new album? or i just don't like his new direction? idk i just finished it like. today.#wasn't expecting to be able to rank the songs of my Favorite Musician & be happy with it but here we are #tell me why i'm wrong in the notes <3

8 notes · View notes

blackcherrykiss · 3 years

Text

BLOOD BOUNDARIES - Enhypen OT7 Fanfic (ch.6)

[CH.1] [CH.2] [CH.3] [CH.4] [CH.5] previous chapters

[CH.7] next chapter (unavailable, check back or follow for updates!)

genre: vampire au, romance, drama, mystery, thriller

note: written inspired by enhypen's storyline, given-taken lyrics & teasers. please keep in mind all members are apart of this fanfic and the main theme is mystery/drama!

*P.S swear words are used (i try not to use them often lol but i feel they added to the emotion in the dialogue) the beginning lowkey not proofread sorry happy readings!

"I sensed you were here." He commented sternly as he stood up from the piano bench.

You stepped back, "Y-you just play really well... Didn't mean to be a creep." You get shy with shivers after realizing he knew you were around. From what you recall, you were absolutely silent.

His wordless response was a cold signal to leave. And so you did. Whipping your head back behind you to see people begin to exit their rehearsal rooms. You left Jay alone as he probably wished, mindlessly waiting for your roommates to storm out. The doors along the hall were now wide open so that you could search the rooms. Like a scavenger hunt, you went in and out of each music room, clueless as to which one you would find your friends in.

"Y/N?" You hear Hyesun before you could even step foot into one of the larger sized rooms along the hall. You slung your head up in surprise to see your roommates chatting with faces you were tired of seeing.

"Long time no see." Heeseung visibly bit down on the tip of his tongue causing your emotions to run wild. You were irked to see Nana, Hyesun and Dahee (in case you forgot these are the names of y/n's dormmates) with Jaeyun, Heeseung and Sunghoon.

"Haha..." You laugh uncomfortably at the overwhelming mixture of people.

"We were just thinking about having a party before the upcoming long weekend," Sunghoon plastered a dark smile that you found strangely annoying. He had some corrupt aura and every bit of your gut felt alarmed by him.

"Jungwon is in the next room over, you should ask him to come here," Dahee said calmly and reassuringly. If anything all of your roommates looked unexpectedly comfortable and relaxed in the presence of some of the school's hottest boys. You imagined your friends to be flustered since they had secretly fangirled to you about them during late-night girl talks. It seemed they had become genuine friends instead of fangirls. It made you question your intuition and trust issues. Maybe it was just you overreacting and these boys were friends, not threats.

Nodding your head, you run off to where Dahee had mentioned Jungwon was. Chasing until you met a closed door with a dim light shining through its' crystallized glass. Listening close you could hear Jungwon sing softly through the door, making your heart rate rise a bit. Like a fool, your heart was going in circles. You focus your eyes through the bits of glass that didn't distort your vision to see Jungwon in pure grace.

"He sings pretty well doesn't he?" You felt a whisper brush the conch of your ear. Not even bothering to see who the whisper belonged to, you agreed.

"Yeah... I've never heard him sing before." You blush at yourself, finally taking a look to see who you were even talking to.

Your gaze met a pair of sharp cut out eyes, "If I heard a person sing like that, I'd be convinced I'm in love with them." Kim Sunoo taunted, trying to make it obvious that your feelings of interest were on full display, even to a stranger. "You might get hurt though, being in love with Jungwon." His voice was a deep frequency that hummed in the bloodstream of your ears.

"Why would it hurt?" Your curiosity getting the best of you.

"He's capable of things you don't want to imagine," Sunoo fakely sighed, his breath hitting the side of your neck. "Jungwon's truly a bad boy. Playing around such a delicate flower." And with that said, Sunoo swung the door right open.

Jungwon abruptly stopped mid sentence, startlement creating a pale cast over his face, "Y/N? What are you doing here?" Jungwon laughed a bit to himself, a little embarrassed after the fact you had probably heard him sing.

"She was standing outside since the beginning of the song." Sunoo smiled smugly before walking out, leaving you in the icy room alone with Jungwon.

"I didn't want to interrupt... That's not even the point... I came to tell you that my dormmates are in the other room talking with the guys."

"The guys?"

"You know... Sunghoon and them... I-I'd really appreciate if you were just there Jungwon." You were sincere because, for some reason, he looked lonely. You would also really feel more at ease with Jungwon around and you hoped your sincerity reached him.

Jungwon had put on a concerned face before dropping it, realizing he was overreacting."Oh. Alright... I'll be there in a few minutes." Jungwon got up, shuffling his sheet music stand into a neat stack that hid in the corner. He had responded in a way that was much calmer than you expected. Perhaps you were expecting him to lash out about being around his friends?

"But Jungwon I want to ask you something..." You hated the secrets between the two of you, it was a mystery game you didn't want to play anymore, "Can you just explain what your relationship with Sunoo... Not even Sunoo, the rest of the guys."

He stopped in his tracks, knowing you were tired of his lies. "We're all orphans from the same orphanage. We just never got adopted." He spoke bluntly in a cold and rushed tone. His answer was enough to have you not ask any more questions about their relationship as it seemed too personal and insensitive of you to keep asking. "Since we were all too old to stay at the orphanage, some social workers came and took us to live in a house together. The house is just on the outskirts of the school but we only go there for long weekends and breaks when there is nobody on campus..." The realization of when Jungwon had said Heeseung was his dormmate came back to you. "They're like my brothers. But, some bad things happened to them in an incident we had a couple of years back at this carnival.. We were never the same after that." Jungwon had gotten somewhat emotional blurting it all out. He had choked up as you heard his words full of frustration built up in his throat. When you looked deeper into him, you found your heartache as his eyes glittered with tears.

"I-I trust you Jungwon. I'm so sorry I must've put you in an uncomfortable situation." You felt like an awful human being hearing his story.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm being too protective with you over those guys. I'm sorry about that. I just see you and get worried. They've become bad people..." He slid his fingertips from his forehead up until they tangled with the roots of his hair, closing his eyes to conceal his emotions.

You could've just hugged him right then seeing him in the midst of crying but your mind was a haze, foggy with not wanting to cross the unspoken boundaries between the two of you. The skinship of hugging was still considered too much for your friendship and you weren't openly ready to have the feelings of endearment that come with carrying out such an intimate gesture. You knew by being in such close distance with him would make you a fool for love.

"I think we should go to the others." You darted with a sudden wall forming between the both of you. You shuddered in pain with your cold remark after Jungwon had just revealed something so deep and vulnerable to you. Even if Jungwon had just told you an intimate part of his identity it was like he became more of a stranger to you. It seemed everything Jungwon was saying was quite true but still Sunoo's words had scarred your subconscious of falling in love with him or even merely liking him. Jungwon had said the boys were bad people but what excluded him from them?

You made your way back, leaving Jungwon to be alone and cool down from whatever you had just made him think of. Every second, regretting you didn't just wrap your arms around him and comfort him. Had it not been for Sunoo, maybe you would've trusted there was nothing more to what Jungwon than what he had just said.

"Did you find Jungwon?" Dahee lifted her eyes off of Sunghoon to yours. You got deja vu when you saw Sunghoon staring at Dahee with the same eyes he used during the commotion at the library.

"Yeah, I think he's just packing up his stuff right now..." You gulp awkwardly as everyone had settled into smaller groups. You think your eyes were deceiving you when you noticed Sunoo now in the room, being quick to withdraw from the conversation he was having with Hyesun and Nana to approach you.

"You don't look well. Something happen between you and Jungwon?" A wicked bubble of laughter rising in his chest.

"Not at all..." It was half true half not. Nothing had really happened mentally or physically but emotionally, there was something.

"Interesting because I was just asking those two girls about you and Jungwon. It seems you two are a lot closer than I anticipated."

"We're just friends, we're just getting closer these days."

"Sweetheart, he's not really trying to be your friend, right? He's just using you like how these boys are doing with your girl friends right now."

"Using us? Using me? Our relationship isn't that shallow. Maybe your dimwit friends would do that but I know Jungwon." You were offended by his assumption, who was Sunoo to claim such an idea?

"What makes you think you know him?" Sunoo laughed gravely at your statement. "I've heard a lot about you from Heeseung and Jaeyun, Y/N." Sunoo used your name. It seemed you both knew each other's names without having to directly say it or formally introduce yourselves.

"I'm flattered I'm that pretty enough to them that they would talk about me, Kim Sunoo." You used his name in the same power he had used yours in a sentence.

"More than just pretty, you should watch yourself. The pretty girls of this school don't last very long in this school."

"And why is that?"

"I think you'll find out soon enough." Sunoo snickered while swaying himself up and away after looking at the doorway.

"It looks like a party in here." Jay had entered with an arm hanging around Jungwon. You hadn't realized how packed the room was until Jay mentioned it.

"Yeah and we're planning one right now." Heeseung spat in a jokingly annoyed tone at Jay.

"A party???" He laughed, "If the school finds girls with us outside school grounds or even near the dorm we'll all be fucking expelled." Jay raised his scratched brow in interest as to Heeseung's response.

"Yeah as if the teachers are even awake super late at night. Literally, no one monitors the halls at night." Heeseung let out an airy scoff from across the room. You and your roommates were all flustered at the plan of a party so late at night. You were embarrassed your mind was even in that direction. "Our place is not far from here Jay, calm the fuck down."

"H-hey I think us girls will head off to eat, we'll settle the plans another time." Nana made eye contact with all the girls as a signal to exit. It seemed the mood took a bitter turn when Jay had entered.

It was an awkward scurry out the door as Nana pulled Hyesun with her. You shortly followed, looking behind you to see Jungwon give a lifeless stare at the ground. Your eyes focusing in on Sunghoon who whispers ever-so closely to Dahee. Whatever he told her, it tinted her face a plush pink.

"Dahee let's go." You glared at Sunghoon before putting on a sweet smile toward Dahee. You couldn't just watch Sunghoon act like such a flirt to Dahee, not when you knew something was also going on between him and Kyungeun.

...

Dahee hums beside you as Nana and Hyesun walk in front. The four of you were quiet, not one of you bringing up the encounter with the boys.

"Do you guys actually want to have a party with them?" You interrupt the silence.

"Y/N they are the hottest guys at our school, do you think we're going to pass on the opportunity?" Hyesun answers.

"Jaeyun told me he and Heeseung could get a couple of drinks from the town over the weekend." Nana added.

"Drinks?! How? Were literally all minors?!" You freaked out like a child.

"Not sure... I do admit though... I'm scared we'll get caught." Nana admitted making you feel reassured knowing she was leaning more toward not having a party.

"What else did you guys already discuss about the party?" You asked, hungry for the details.

"Apparently they've got a place really close by to here. I guess they live together?" The thought of what Jungwon had said to you earlier about the boys all being orphans came back to you.

"Where exactly is there place?"

"Somewhere in the woods of school." _________ author here lol just want to check in and make sure everyone remembers everything from the very first chapter :-) i told you guys that stuff mentioned in early chapters have big significance in the later chapters! Also feel so bad there are so many characters to keep track of LOL I will make a profile of all the characters once everyone is introduced.

Please leave feedback if you have any and thank you for being patient!

36 notes · View notes

siyeonjisoo · 3 years

Text

AVATAR GOING HUNTING NYC 9/3

It has finally happened, y’all! Concerts are back in my life and I am more than thrilled about it. Last night was the first concert I’ve been to since February 13, 2020 so over a year and a half when I’m used to maybe 3 months at most between concerts. Felt so SO good to be back at it and see concert fam folks again!

My comeback was with the incomparable metal band Avatar who I first saw in 2019 when they toured with Babymetal and I had no clue who they were. How things have changed since then. Now without any further ado, I give you how the day went.

I sadly had to go to work in the morning but I left at noon and made it to Irving Plaza around 1:40. I was really worried that I was going to have a horrible spot in line and thus have to hide in the back or along the walls to avoid the mosh pits but I ended up being only the 7th person in line. I had GA ticket and was the first person in line for that. Between already knowing some of the folks there and spending the next 6 hours making friends with them, I ended up being promised they would help me get as close to front row as they could get me which was AMAZING.

Doors opened actually on time and we were able to get into the venue pretty quickly! I ended up SECOND ROW for this show DEAD CENTER. An intense place to be but so very amazing.

Touring with Avatar are two other bands, Tallah and Magic Sword. Tallah performed first with about 5 songs. I’m always completely unfamiliar with the bands touring with folks so I didn’t know this group either. And they aren’t bad but not a group I will go out of my way to listen to again. Drummer kicked ass though, apparently he only joined the band as a replacement drummer 2 months ago and he killed it. The singer has the ability to do splits but that’s the only thing about him I think I like. The other members of the band were just as memorable as their songs, which is to say, not at all.

Next was Magic Sword. That group is a trio, of drummer, guitarist, and keyboardist. They were amazing, 10 out of 10. If you can get the chance to see them in concert, I beg of you to do so. That said, I can’t say I’ll be listening to their music again unless it’s live because they don’t have a vocalist and I like to be able to sing/rap along with music unless it is loud enough I can feel it in every single cell of my body, which is what Magic Sword delivered. Only bad thing to happen here was the crowd was starting to be...less than sober...and the person behind me spilled a quarter of their beer down my ass, right into the pocket where my phone was. I was less than thrilled with this person and was thankful they traded places with their friend for Avatar’s set because the second person was kinder and actually made conversation with us a little bit and apologized for how drunk they both were.

The stage was cleared after Magic Sword performed probably 6 or 7 songs? I can’t tell for sure since their songs do seem to run on the longer side so I may have split a song that is actually one into two. And then it was time for the reason I was there, the main event: AVATAR.

The roadies came out and set up the stage for them with a very different setup than ANY of us expected. There was a projector screen blocking most of our view but we could see three mic stands set up in the front middle, the usual lights and drumset in the back, and then another drumset on stageright next to the microphones.

After many attemted Avatar chants and false alarms from the crew, the band came out. They all lined up, John at the front drumset, Henrik, Johannes, Jonas, and Tim in that order filled in the microphones set up. They all stood looking dead ahead, barely blinking, for a few moments of us screaming before jumping into the first two songs of the night, Colossus and Let it Burn. They performed Colossus without moving or smiling or anything, they looked like robots so so perfectly. They held the positions for what felt like a full minute or two with Henrik trying so so hard to not smile, I could see the corner of his mouth twitching. He looked so happy to be here the whole night!

The lights went down after those 2 songs and they took off the front drumset and changed the microphones back to the usual ones that they can kick up and spread them to give them all more space. When they did, a drumstick dropped on the ground and got left behind so a friend of mine got the venue staff to pick it up and hand it to her! She got a drum stick from Tallah, too I believe.

Next came SIlence in the Age of Apes, Bloody Angel, (Johannes said he thinks of all of us as his) Child (ren), and The Eagle Has Landed. This is where things started getting a LOT more intense in the crowd. I could feel the crowd moving more behind me in Apes so I could tell that there was a mosh pit that was at least starting out by then and by Bloody Angel, people were crowd surfing. At least one person per song would come crashing over us for the rest of the show and I didn’t really love it. I was scared the whole time a foot was gonna come crashing into my head or a staff member was gonna punch me in the nose AGAIN to keep me from getting a foot in the head. which yes, the dude full-on punched me in the nose to catch a foot that swerved away from my head and into the person in front of me instead. An adventure of a moment.

Everyone went off-stage for a few minutes except for Johannes who took a moment to greet us and thank us all for coming He was in his full glory the whole night, that cocky grin glued to his face and a manic joy in his eyes that was genuine happiness to be back in front of a crowd after so long. He gave us some kind of witty (but obvious if you know song names) intro into the next set of songs and the rest of the band came back out.

(Insert quirky pun her) Paint it Red, Secret Door, Swarm, Torn Apart. This was the period of time when I could barely keep my eyes off of Tim because he looked so giddy half the time. Either making faces to tease us or just looking around himself in amazement. More moshing pushing us around and crowd surfers kicking us in the head but oh-so amazing.

Then came the grand piano being carried on stage. No, it wasn’t actually a grand piano, it was a keyboard put into a wood frame to look like a shrunken down grand piano so it looked real but was able to be lifted by three or four people and carried on stage. Johannes sat down and seranaded us with Gun and I have not hated being in an American crowd so much before in my life. Every time I would start to get into the emotions of the song, someone would shout something hardly intelligible because they were so far away or it would be someone screaming “I LOVE AVATAR!” Made me so so so annoyed but Johannes was smiling so I tried to ignore it and let it go.

The piano was taken away and the rest of the band came back to perform Going Hunting. And lemme just tell you that it was an honor to be in the third ever audience to hear that song performed live. It hits all the right feels to kick ass live and at home so I hope people are loving it.

Johannes thanked us for tuning in and making their streamed Dream concerts happen in Avataruary. He said it gave them all a chance to reflect and think about the songs they haven’t performed in years, leading them to their self-titled album, leading us Deeper Down. This song was actually one I don’t know if I’ve listened to before, I’ve kind of stuck with the 4 albums I really like and haven’t branched out much. But it slaps hard.

Next it was time for us to worship our king. Everyone but Kungen left stage and he looked at us like we were ants beneath his feet, barely worthy of being acknowleged while the roadies came and changed his guitar and gave him his royal attire. Kungen slowly started playing the intro and Tim joined him, standing back to back and both of them looking gorgeous while everyone else slowly joined them on stage to build up A Statue of the King. They followed that with zero comments jumping immediately into The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country. Both of those songs are so effing hype that when they all just walked off stage after, I was shook.

I think this was when Johannes started getting a little sappy with us in his comment. He said they’d all agreed that they wouldn’t get emotional on us but he had to take a minute and thank us all for being back here with them. And the way he knows that we’re really back together is because even though we all look so different we all *snifs armpits* smell the same. We all Smell Like a Freakshow. I don’t know if it’s just me but it felt like we were all saving up energy for this song and went absolutely feral. I used up almost all the energy I had left so I just did the bare minumum for Wormhole right after. Moved just enough to avoid getting hit in the head with someone else’s head.

Then for what I think was only the second time all night, everybody went off stage. Every other time, Johannes has stuck around and chatted while the others were gone but he left too. They did a quick little outfit change behind the scenes I think, Johannes came back on with his overalls undone so clearly he was hot. And, you know, a warm temperature as well. Yup.

And just like that, as though 3 hours hadn’t passed since the first band started, it was time for the last song of the night. It was time to Hail the Apocalypse. This song is the only song I know for sure they performed the last time I saw them live and I feel like it only gets better the more I hear it. They could make a 10 minute version of it and I would still be asking for more.

They went off-stage for a second and everyone put down their instruments and came back without anything and just let us cheer for them. They gave us a little bow and then started saying thank you and waving good bye. I saw Tim say “I love you” at the crowd and I think John and Jonas both blew kisses at us.

And then it was over. They left the stage, the lights came up in the house, we all made sure everyone was okay from all the flying feet that came at us, and the venue staff told us it was time to go home. I had friends going the same way I was so I was able to keep the magic going for a little while longer before I started my journey home alone.

These guys are all so amazing and I am so lucky I got to fall in love with them the way I did. And I am so happy to have the friends I’ve made at this show and every other show I’ve been to. It was an amazing way to get back to concerts, starting it off with a bang. I have blisters, bruises, and sore everything but I would do it all again tonight if only I could. It is now time to start counting down the days till I follow Miyavi around for a week on tour in October!

THANK YOU FOR TAKING ME HUNTING, AVATAR! Glory to Our King!

The setlist was given to my my friend. All other photographs are taken by yours truly

#avatarmetal #johannes #john #henrik #tim #jonas #kungen #concerts #going hunting #avatar going hunting #magic sword #tallah

7 notes · View notes

nickydestati · 4 years

Text

duolingo tog prompts #7

this was taken from the story module ‘saturday night’ and i got really carried away so it is a solid 1.8k, you have been warned

prompt: saturday night (sabato sera)

***

joe’s heart never fails to go batshit insane as soon as he lays eyes on nicky. you would think that after three years of friendship and one year of seeing each other almost every day, one would get used to the sight of another person, of a friend. turns out that isn’t necessarily the case.

but it’s this ridiculously exaggerated reaction of his heart that tells him nicky isn’t only a friend. or that he at least wishes he isn’t. of course, nile is very ardent about pointing it out to him whenever the occasion arises as well.

it seems nile and his heart have finally gotten through to him, though, because when he walks past one of the posters for a concert that litter the campus walls lately, he stops and reads it. it’s a stylish poster, simple and elegant, the work of someone who knows what they’re doing. a white double-sided axe stands against a black background, beneath it is written: ‘the old guard’ along with the venue, date and other details. he remembers nile saying something about it being a perfect date opportunity.

joe takes a picture and when he gets back to his dorm room, he buys two tickets before he can change his mind. it’s only when he has the order confirmation that he thinks he maybe should’ve checked if the band is any good. he shrugs, even if it happens to be the worst band in existence, at least they’ll have something to laugh about afterwards.

he meets nicky the next day for lunch, like they meet every day, and his heart practically leaps out of his chest when nicky smiles and waves at him. they talk about classes and work while they eat. or rather, nicky talks and joe nervously picks at his food thinking he should ask now. no, now. come on, now. why is it so hard? he has asked nicky to go do something a thousand times before.

“-and then the raccoon jumped through the window in a superhero costume and ate my assignment.”

joe looks up with a frown. “raccoon?”

nicky snorts. “there you are. what’s on your mind?”

joe looks away, pursing his lips. okay, now. “a date.”

nicky’s fork falls in his plate and he fumbles to pick it up again, not meeting joe’s eyes. “a date?” he clears his throat. “i didn’t know you had a date.”

“well no, not yet. i mean a date as in a… as in a you-and-me-date.” what is happening to him? usually he’s so good with words.

nicky looks at him in confusion. “a you-and-me-hang-out-as-we-always-do-date?”

“no,” joe says slowly, really wishing the firealarm would go off or something so they could both flee for their lives. “kind of a you-and-me-date-date. there’s a band playing this saturday and i thought it might be, you know, fun to go,” he quickly continues before nicky can speak. “they’re called the old guard and i’ve already bought tickets so it would be kind of a shame to waste them.”

“this saturday? i’m afraid i already have plans, i’m so sorry.”

“oh,” joe says very eloquently. “oh, yeah, no sure.”

“i planned on working for my thesis this weekend,” nicky explains with a very apologetic look on his face that makes it somehow even worse. “i’m behind on my schedule, you know.”

“no of course, that’s alright. school’s more important.” joe stuffs rice in his mouth so the disappointment won’t show on his face. nicky could’ve just told him he didn’t want to go on a date with him, they’ve always been honest with each other. and joe had really thought... hoped... stupid, stupid.

“i’m sorry, i gotta go to class now. see you tomorrow?” nicky is already getting up. probably desperate to get away.

joe squeezes out a smile. it hurts his cheeks. “see you tomorrow.”

“i’ve heard they’re really good, thanks for taking me,” nile says excitedly as they enter the venue. it’s already pretty crowded so they stand almost all the way to the back.

“of course,” joe says.

nile must’ve noticed the lingering sadness in his voice, though, because she says, “hey, i’m sure he really had planned to work on his thesis. you know how he gets when a deadline is drawing near.”

“yeah, you’re probably right,” joe says with a shrug and tries to forget the fact he has barely seen nicky since their fatal lunch.

they talk of other things until the lights in the audience dim and the spots on stage turn on. the crowd cheers wildly as the band members enter the stage, and joe is surprised to discover they are friends of his. andy takes place behind the drum, quynh picks up a shining red guitar and booker a dark green bass guitar.

“hm, i didn’t know they had a band,” he mutters to nile. though he faintly recalls them talking about rehearsals.

then the singer comes on stage and joe’s heart stops working altogether. he’s standing a far way off, but he would recognise those broad shoulders anywhere, that step as he walks to the mic, that brown hair.

“is that nicky?” he yells over the crowd and turns to nile to find her actually laughing. “you knew?”

nile has a mischievous and very pleased twinkle in her eyes. “i designed their poster.”

joe wants to ask more but andy ticks off and the band starts playing. and when nicky starts singing joe forgets every language in existence and his poor, just revived heart goes right back into cardiac arrest. he knows nicky can sing, from secretly overhearing him humming to himself as he cleans or cooks, sometimes even coaxing a chorus from him when he plays one of nicky’s favourite songs on the piano, but he never knew he could sing like that. his voice is rougher than joe expected, and so full of conviction and emotion.

“this can’t be true,” he mutters to himself after listening absolutely paralysed to several songs. he starts elbowing his way to the front of the crowd, barely noticing nile hastily following him.

somehow, he manages to reach the edge of the stage and stands there like a still statue in the sea of dancing bodies. they are throwing him strange looks, but he has only eye for one person. nicky, singing his soul out on stage with closed eyes and furrowed brow, moving along with the music and andy’s steady beat. he looks more handsome than joe has ever seen him, with his earrings and his hair falling in his eyes and is that eyeliner he’s wearing?

then nicky opens his eyes, and they immediately find joe, as if he knew he’s standing right there. and he smiles. the bastard smiles at joe. and god, if joe didn’t already know he was hopelessly in love with nicky, then he surely does now.

the music falls back into something calmer, and quynh trades her electric guitar for an acoustic one. nicky’s voice is so heartfelt and vulnerable, joe closes his eyes for a moment, absentmindedly swaying to the melody.

halfway through the song, nicky steps away from the mic stand.

“and if you’d ask me to

I’d spend all my eternities with you”

as he sings this, he kneels right in front of joe and reaches out his hand. and joe stares at it and up at nicky’s eyes and back again as if he’s never seen a hand before. nile elbows him softly in the side and nicky smiles encouragingly at him as he repeats the verses. joe’s hand is trembling as he takes nicky’s, and he blinks to try and clear his suddenly blurred vision. he barely registers the crowd’s cheers as their hands meet, his whole world narrows down to their touch and the man singing before him. for him.

in the guitar solo that follows, nicky leans forward and presses his lips to the back of joe’s hand and all joe can do is hold on for dear life and smile and laugh through escaping tears. after a last squeeze, nicky releases him with a smile. and in the smile, joe catches a glimpse of the quiet and shy man nicky is behind the stage, the nicky he knows so well and has come to love with all his heart.

the rest of the concert goes by in a blissful haze with dancing and singing and yelling at the top of his lungs.

afterwards, nicky finds joe and nile in the bar of the venue. he’s back in his usual simple shirt and jeans outfit and has removed the eyeliner. by the timid way he approaches, nobody would ever guess what a performance he gave mere moments ago.

“i’ll go get some new drinks,” nile says and slips away, smiling and complimenting nicky on her way.

nicky and joe stand in awkward silence for a minute, nicky shifting on his feet, barely daring to meet joe’s eyes and joe observing him with a soft smile.

“working on your thesis, huh?”

nicky chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck.

“why didn’t you just tell me?” joe continues.

nicky swallows. “i think i was scared. of what you would think and that you wouldn’t like it. and i’m not that good of a singer so i was-”

“please tell me you don’t honestly think that,” joe interrupts and takes a step closer. “you were fantastic up there, nicky, absolutely phenomenal.”

nicky glances at joe with that slight smile of his that makes joe’s heart skip a beat every time.

“thank you,” nicky says. “but i’m really sorry, i should have told you. when you asked me to go out, i panicked completely and made such a fool of myself.”

the most endearing embarrassed smile crosses his lips as he rubs his cheek with his hand, so you really can’t blame joe that he takes another step closer and takes that hand in his, bringing it to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to the knuckles.

nicky stares at him with wide eyes.

“so does that mean you do want to go out with me?” joe asks, playfully raising one eyebrow.

and the smile that breaks out on nicky’s face is more brilliant than all the spotlights centered on him this evening combined. “yes,” he says, “i would want nothing more.”

what joe wants nothing more is to kiss nicky right then and there, and he probably would have, if nile and the rest of the old guard didn’t appear behind nicky.

“thank god, he knows,” andy says, clapping nicky on the back. “can we now finally ask him to be our pianist?”

#duolingo prompts #joe x nicky #immortal husbands #kaysanova #the old guard #the old guard fanifc #modern au #band au

61 notes · View notes

mybiasisexo · 4 years

Text

Oh, Brother

Genre: Angst | Fluff | College!au

Pairing: Kai x Reader

Length: 7.5k

Warning: Unfinished | Language | Love Triangle (I know, but hear me out!!)

Summary: You’ve finally started college and are getting the full freshman year teen romcom experience and it’s not as great as you though it would be, but a certain ballerina (ballerino? I googled it and its ballerino in Italian [quote unquote] but in French they are a danseur and im rambling) might be the calmness you’ve been needing...that is until you meet his brother....

Author’s Note: I plan on turning this into a scenario??? Question marks cause idk if I want to turn it into a chaptered fic instead??? Anyways I wrote this back in like 2014 so its kinda dated but it is what it is yall.

MASTERLIST

credit

With the arrival of the bell came the flood.

You got caught in it. Dragged into the depths of the sea that was the main hall. You grunted and fought against the current, as students barged their way past you, slamming roughly against your shoulders as you clutched onto your books for dear life.

It seemed never-ending, it actually felt like you were moving backwards as more and more people rushed, trying in vain to arrive to their next class on time.

You didn’t think that college would be like this.

You thought it would be peaceful and calm, like a pond or a small lake.

Not the damn sea during a hurricane.

It was probably because it was the first day, and everyone was still trying to catch their bearings. Or because this hall was seriously the most used and classes held up to two hundred people. Whatever the reason, you felt a sudden panic attack crawling up your throat like a corpse clawing out of the grave. You knew that very soon you would lose it, and so you began to count in your head to calm yourself down.

“I…2…3…4—” push “—5…6—” shove “—7…..8….9….”

Before you could lose your cool, you broke the surface and felt the cold wind snap deliciously against your damp face. You closed your eyes and sighed with relief as you realized that you had won.

You battled against the human sea and you beat it victoriously.

But could you deal with that every other day?

You shuddered as the thought hit you and decided to ignore it for the meantime. You had to admit, despite that near death journey you had just trekked, your first day as a college student wasn’t as bad as you—and your parents, not to mention your little sister—had imagined. Today was Monday, and on Mondays, you had three classes: English 1102, Math 1143, and Introduction to Art.

You had just left the math department and now had a couple hours to kill before your last class.

You decided to call your best friend, Suho, and see if he had escaped his side of campus.

“Hello?” He answered happily—did he have any other emotion?

“I nearly died just now. This hallway is lethal, I don’t know if I’ll make it.”

“Well, I’m glad you made it out alive. When does your next class start?”

“In two hours. Wanna get lunch?”

“Absolutely, I’m starving. Meet me at the Student Union building?”

“Okay, see you then.” You hung up and tried your hardest to recall just where exactly the Student Union building was located.

Nearly twenty minutes later, you stumbled upon the holy land. You found Suho almost immediately and rushed over to his table.

“What took you so long?” He wondered, munching on a fry.

You plopped down in the seat across from him and let out an exhausted breath, “I forgot how to get here. I had to backtrack like four different times.”

He sighed, “You could have called me, I would have helped you.”

“I’m aware,” you dismissed, stealing a fry from his tray. He frowned, but didn’t do anything to stop you from stealing another one.

“It’s the first day, and I’m already beat,” you muttered after you had returned to the table after leaving him briefly to buy a cold sandwich, a bag of salty chips, and a bottle of green tea.

“And it’s not even over yet,” Suho reminded you with a smile on his face.

“Can you not? I don’t want to think about that just yet.”

“At least it’s art. You can unwind in your last class. My last class is Physics, there is no unwinding in physics.”

“You’re smart, you can literally handle anything.”

He cocked his head to the side and studied you. Once he caught your attention, you stuck your tongue out at him and drained your drink, smacking your lips obnoxiously when you were done.

“it’s a wonder we’re even friends,” he mused aloud around his sandwich.

You shrugged, “you still have time to run.”

He grinned, not missing a beat, “I wouldn’t even dream of it.”

You held out your semi-empty plastic bottle, “I’ll drink to that.”

He chuckled and lifted his own soda can, your drinks clinking exotically together, confirming your status as best friends for life.

Which Suho was. The two of you had known each other since you were five. Your fathers were childhood friends that lost contact after college, but somehow—when the two of you were five—reunited and stuck to each other like glue. Even opening their own music store together. Kim Junmyeon, who was lovingly addressed as Suho, and you grew up at the music store, learning how to play different instruments as well as the ropes to owning a business, and the chemistry between your fathers ultimately rubbed off onto you, causing yet another family-like bond.

“You are taking piano, aren’t you?” You asked him a few minutes later.

His attitude shifted instantly as his smile faltered a tad. It was barely noticeable, but you could read this young man in front of you like a book.

“Junmyeon,” You said warningly, using his real name to show how serious you were.

He sighed, “I want to. I just… so much is already on my plate, and I didn’t want to burden my parents with another credit and…”

“And you just didn’t want to,” You finished for him. You lowered your voice, “I thought you liked music.”

“Of course I do, but that’s something our fathers love. Music is their dream, not ours.”

You pouted. He was right, even you weren’t taking any classes related to music, but you were still planning on practicing the viola on your own time. Music was in your blood, it was just as unavoidable as Suho. You didn’t know what life would be like without it, and quite frankly, you didn’t want a life without it.

Suho adored music more than you did. When his father first taught him how to play the piano, he had to be forcefully removed from the bench. There was nowhere else he would rather be, and as he grew, so did his talent. He was so talented, that he won many competitions, and even wrote compositions for many popular songs heard on the radio today.

He was a prodigy.

You? Well, you just liked to play. You were nowhere near as good as Suho, despite the many things he had told you, and you knew that and was fine with it. For you, it didn’t matter if you won or lost, as long as you got to play. You learned how to play the guitar, clarinet, drums, and even the piano, but nothing called to you like the viola. It was an extension of yourself, and Suho once said that when you played, people could tell you transported into a different realm. You were in your own little universe, and would only return once the piece was finished.

“It can be both, couldn’t it? You play so well…” You could tell Suho felt uncomfortable and would rather not discuss the matter anymore, so you just let your sentence carry. Instead, talking about everything else and nothing for the rest of your time together. “Well, my class is about to start in ten minutes. Luckily, I know where the art building is. I’ve only been going there since I was twelve.”

You tried to laugh, but got nothing out of Suho. His smile still plastered on his face, but his eyes dull as he pulled himself up and collected your trash, throwing it in the trashcan and following you out into the crisp fall air.

The art building was very hard to miss. It was one of the bigger buildings because the college you attended focused mostly on the arts, and was painted a bright blue, while every other building was a tan brick color.

“Paint me something nice, alright?” Suho said once you both stopped outside the doors of the building.

You rolled your eyes, “You know I suck at painting, Su, I’m more of a charcoal person.”

He shrugged, “I still want a painting. Charcoal is so boring.”

You smacked his shoulder, “go. Before I lose my temper.”

He laughed and held his arms up in surrender, “We wouldn’t want that now would we?”

He sauntered away and left you to stare up at the intimidating building. Hesitantly, you pried the glass door open and scuttled into the structure. Noise overwhelmed you. You could hear many people tuning their instruments, and the noise of a teacher counting and the soft thud of footsteps. If you listened harder, you could faintly make out people singing.

It was beautiful.

The cacophony of sound settled around you in a somewhat numbing hum, beckoning you to walk even deeper within the building. Almost all the doors were open and you peered into each one, loving everything that you saw. A chubby boy wailing away on his trombone. A lanky boy with a mop top and a short thick girl with glasses singing a duet. What appeared to be an African dance class. A trio practicing on their violins. A boy twirling about in an empty dance room.

You paused once you glanced inside the dance room. He was doing barrel turns across the room, and when he reached the end, he pirouetted for what seemed like a long time, stopping smoothly with one foot resting in back of him and his arms held out in the perfect stance.

He was breathing hard as he dropped his position and ran his fingers through his dark hair, dragging the strands away from his face, only for them to return. He must have felt your stare, because he suddenly swiveled his head to meet you eyes.

He was gorgeous, to put it simply. He had slightly tan skin and perfectly shaped almond brown eyes and a straight nose, and lips that seemed to be the center of his face. He looked almost ethereal as he attempted to catch his breath and sweat slid alluringly down his lean frame and his eyes remained on you.

“Lost?” He asked. His tone wasn’t mocking, simply curious.

His voice was just as lovely as his features. You shook your head, “Just looking around.”

He walked up to the mirror where a drawstring backpack laid, and pulled a small towel out of it, wrapping it around his neck, “class starts pretty soon, doesn’t it? You might be late,”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s so easy to get distracted in this building. There’s so much going on.”

“First day?” He asked with an understanding nod of his head.

You returned the nod with a rushed one of your own, “I’m in sensory overload at the moment.”

“Happens to all of us.”

He turned around and headed back to the corner of the room. You stared at his retreating frame for a moment and then decided it was time to leave. “See you around then.”

He turned his head so that you could see the outline of his nose and raised a hand, “see you.”

You had to forcefully remove yourself from the doorway, and practically run to your classroom, making it in with thirty seconds to spare.

~*~

After your last class was finished, you headed over to the dorms.

You still could not believe you were actually living on your own, away from your parents and sister. And as you stepped into your new home, you couldn’t help but grin.

It was small, but cozy. With a living room that held a couch, there was one bedroom that your roommate and you would be sharing and you got your own bathroom which was nice.

You noticed that your bedroom door was open and you could faintly make out a voice coming from within. It appeared your roommate was in. You hadn’t met her yet, and was nervous. Would you like her? Would she like you? You carefully tiptoed towards the door and paused in the threshold. She was singing under her breath and it was beautiful. The words did not sound very familiar to you, but her voice was so lovely, you found myself creating notes to accompany her with in you head.

Finally, you grew the courage to gently knock on the wall and peek your head in.

She was sitting at a white vanity she must had brought with her, and was clipping something into her jaw length black hair. She spun around quickly, startled.

Once you were facing each other, you carefully examined the other. She was gorgeous, but seemed a bit rebellious with her black lace clothing and scruffy boots. With the light from the window on her hair, you spotted green and blue highlights in it. Her eyes were covered in kohl and her lips were set in a hard line, but you noticed the tips curled slightly in a mischievous grin.

After your slight stare down, she held out her hand, “Park Sunyoung. But I go by Luna.”

You smiled and marched in to shake her hand and introduced yourself as well.

“Like what I’ve done with the place?” She smirked, spinning around to face the mirror again.

The room was placed in such a way that each half was your own. Her side was crowded. The white walls were covered with posters. You spotted both movies and boy and girl groups respectively. She had a purple fluffy mat on the wooden floor, and clothes were strung there and about. She also placed a flat screen television on a dresser that she pushed in the middle of a wall so that it was between your beds.

You glanced at your side, You had only put sheets on your bed, leaned your viola case against the wall, and tossed your suitcases on your bed. It was—and would still be once you finished unpacking—bare compared to hers.

You nodded your head, “you just moved in?”

She nodded her head also. “Bout to grab a bite to eat. Wanna come?”

You bit your lip. You wanted to unpack and maybe practice your instrument for a while, but the need to make friends overwhelmed you, especially a girlfriend. “Sure.”

You watched as Luna hopped off her chair and grabbed a black homburg hat before snatching your wrist and dragging you out of your room.

You entered the cafeteria five minutes later, the building was bustling with life and you couldn’t help but to search around, looking at your fellow schoolmates.

There were a bunch of different stores to choose from, and after watching Luna tap her chin while glaring at each station, you both finally decide on Chinese. You grabbed your plates and then Luna pulled out her phone, dialing a number before she pressed it to her ear.

“Yah! Where are you?” She laughed. Your eyes widened. You were not planning on meeting other people. “I can’t see you! Oh! By the taco station? Mmm… Okay, on my way.” She hung up and glanced at you, tilting her head in the direction she was heading before walking off. You quickly tried to match her pace. You arrived at a round table with seven chairs and two girls sitting there in comfortable silence.

“Hey!” Luna sang as she pulled a chair next to one of them, you quickly followed suite.

The girl next to Luna had brown hair that she had cut really short, a pixie cut. While the girl beside her had straight black hair that cascaded down her body. The one with the pixie cut was sporting a guy tank top and khakis while the one beside her was wearing a black and white stripped dress and blood red lipstick.

“Who’s the stranger?” The girl next to Luna asked, studying you.

“This is my roommate,” Luna beamed with pride and you smiled shyly as she introduced you. “This is my cousin Victoria and our friend, Amber.”

“Nice to meet you,” you greeted.

“Are you a freshman like Luna?” Amber asked, giving you her full attention.

You nodded, “what grade are you in?”

“We’re both juniors,” Victoria supplied, taking a giant bite of her food.

“So… how was your first day?” Amber asked Luna, who rolled her eyes.

“Fine. I guess. All I had were generals today. I can’t wait till my fun classes begin.”

“Are you, by any chance, in choir?” You asked.

She stared at you with wide eyes, “oh god, no! What makes you think that!?”

“Well,” you began nervously. “I heard you singing when I entered the room…”

“Oh~~” The three nodded.

“I do love singing,” Luna informed somewhat sheepishly. “I just…”

“She just doesn’t like to do things when told to do them.” A girl who just walked up to the table finished for Luna, pulling the chair next to Victoria out and unceremoniously plopping down. She was tall and skinny and had long blonde hair. Just like Luna, she was wearing dark clothes and makeup, her expression unimpressed.

Another girl who was the polar opposite took a seat beside her. She had reddish-brown hair that went down to her collarbones and was wearing a pink skirt and shirt and a genuine bright smile. She instantly reminded you of Suho.

“Shut up, Krystal,” Luna barked.

“Make me,” the Krystal girl retorted, sticking her tongue out.

“Choir is just so stuffy,” Luna defended herself. “You have to sing three octaves higher than you normally do, have to wear hideous outfits, and have to move your mouth like this,” she began to open and close her mouth in a way that resembled a fish. “It’s horrible.”

“Plus, she never goes to class, so she’d probably get dropped,” Krystal grinned wickedly at Luna.

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?!” The two began to bicker, and you locked eyes with the bright girl next to Krystal who was looking at you.

“What is your name?” She asked. You told her and asked for hers in return. “I’m Sulli. Sorry about my friends. They tend to not have manners.”

“I heard that!” Krystal screeched and smacked Sulli’s shoulder, causing her to wince. She then turned her gaze to you. “I’m not that bad, really. I’m Krystal, by the way.”

You introduced yourself to her and she boldly held out her hand for you to shake. Her hand was very soft.

“Are you a freshman?” She asked and you nodded your head. “Cool. So are Sulli and me. Are you Luna’s roommate?”

“Yes she is, so can you stop asking so many questions?” Luna asked, exasperated.

Krystal shrugged, sniffing a cup of fruit, “just curious. I’m surprised you’d invite her along. I know how much you hate new people.”

“I don’t—”

“YES YOU DO!” The four interrupted Luna, causing the whole table to laugh.

“You all suck,” Luna pouted, but a smile tugged on her lips.

“Welcome to our crew,” Victoria said to me, holding up a bottle of apple juice. You lifted your own drink and you all chugged the liquid.

It tasted like a long friendship.

~*~

Back in your room, all unpacked and exhausted, you laid on your bed. Luna was taking her last class of the day, which was at eight, and she wasn’t very excited about that, so you had the place to yourself. You wanted to play your viola, but was so tired, you couldn’t budge.

Vibrating caught your attention and you groaned as you felt around for your phone. Once found, you answered it without bothering to check caller I.D.

“I take it you’ve already eaten?” Suho asked you from the other end.

You grinned, “What makes you so sure?”

“Because you aren’t harassing me about how you will die any second if you don’t get any food in you soon.”

You sighed, “You know me so well.”

“That’s why I hold the title of best friend.”

“Sorry. Are you hungry?”

“Kind of.”

“Did you just finish your last class?”

He was silent for a second, “no. I, uh, finished it a while ago.”

“Well why didn’t you call me then?”

“I was…distracted. Come down. I’m at your dorm.”

“But, Suho!”

“You shouldn’t have unpacked all at once. That’s your fault. Hurry!”

He hung up and you had no choice but to get your lazy butt up and head downstairs.

He was outside the building, leaning against the cool brick.

“What is the rush?” You asked once you spotted him.

“It’s the first week of school, there is so much we could do!”

“Like…?”

“Like visit the art building and watch people.”

Your eyes brightened and you hurriedly pushed Suho, he laughed at your eagerness and you headed over to your favorite building.

“I should have brought my instrument,” you pouted as the doors opened.

Suho shook his head and you entered the first room you found.

There were a couple kids acting in this one. You watched for a minute, but you both knew which rooms you wanted to really be at.

“Let’s just go to the music room,” You ordered. You started running down the familiar halls, eager to enter the one room you had been in over the years.

Suho continued walking, and you wondered if it was because he didn’t want to go to this room after all.

You entered the room and took a deep breath, smiling widely as you were surrounded by all the instruments. You were in the string room, and you bowed to the professor before heading over to decide which instrument to play.

There were a few kids there in a small circle with guitars on laps, so you picked up an acoustic guitar and joined them.

You quietly tuned your instrument as two of the other boys were playing off each other. The music was very bluesy and you nodded along as they continued.

All music stopped and you heard a few gasps. Suho must have entered. You turned to verify his presence and tried not to laugh at his awkward smile. He hated the attention. Anybody who considered themselves piano players knew who Suho was, and anybody in this area who was aware of music knew who he was as well. He was kind of a big deal.

“Please, continue,” Suho said, motioning for the two boys to play. They stared at him instead, either too nervous or starstruck. With a sigh, you held your guitar on your lap and began to play a song you had made up a few years ago. The people around the room blinked over at you, distracted from Suho, which you knew he was grateful. You felt him sit down beside you, but you ignored him and continued playing. Your fingers gliding confidently over the strings.

“You think she’s good at this,” You heard Suho say. “You should see her play the viola.”

You missed a note and lost your train of thought as laughter bubbled up your throat.

“Please stop, Suho,” you chuckled, finishing the song quickly. Once you were done, everyone in the room applauded and you bowed your thanks and Suho and you sat silently and listened to the others play for a while.

“Should we go now?” he whispered in your ear after about twenty minutes and you nodded. You both got up and bowed to everyone before heading out.

“That was nice,” you grinned up at your best friend, his hands in his pockets and his smile somewhat strained.

“Uh… yeah, nice…”

You laughed, “You hated every waking minute of it.”

“No!” He quickly defended. “I just… you know I hate it when people treat me like that.”

“Like a celebrity?”

He sighed, “I hate that word.”

“But, I mean, you kind of are a celebrity, Suho.”

He groaned and covered his face with his hands, “don’t say that!”

You laughed again and dragged him out of the hall. On your way out, you passed the dance room, and you glanced into the empty room. You were somewhat disappointed to see how lifeless it was in there compared to earlier today….

~*~

Your first week went by smoothly. You hung out quite a bit with Luna and her friends and only got lost once. Suho and your schedules did not align very well, and you rarely got to see each other, which frustrated both of you, but you made time—as little as it was—to hang out at least once a day.

It was Monday again, and after a semi stressful weekend, you were looking forward to another week of college.

Your alarm went off and you chuckled as Luna groaned and tossed in her bed, “turn that off!”

She threw a pillow in your direction and you turned the alarm off, and with a whispered ‘goodbye’ you left for your first class.

After your math class ended, and you had once again fought against the ten o’clock rush, you decided to head over to the art building early to goof off for a bit and kill time.

You found yourself pausing in front of that damned dance room again. The door was closed, but you could hear the faint thud of bass coming from the speakers within, and you just knew that man from last week was in there. After a bit of hesitation, you finally pried the door open.

He was there alright. Wearing cut offs and a black wife beater. He was stretching on the center of the floor, leaning against one leg as the music played on. When he lifted his upper body he noticed you, “you’re back.”

You couldn’t tell if he was happy or annoyed by the fact, but you smiled at him anyway, “I told you I’d see you later.”

He laughed once under his breath and shook his head faintly.

“Mind if I watch?”

He opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything.

You deflated, “or…not.”

As you began taking a step back he let out a breath, “no! Wait.”

You glanced at him expectantly and he sighed, “You can stay if you want.”

You beamed and came all the way into the room, closing the door solidly behind you. You sat against the mirror and pulled your legs up to your chin.

“It’s nothing much,” the beautiful boy began. “I’m just going to be doing some stretches and going over some routines….”

“That’s fine,” You encouraged and he paused before nodding his head self-consciously.

After fifteen minutes of warming up, he began to dance. You knew he was not going full out, but even still he was captivating. He moved effortlessly, almost as if he were bored, and he made every move seem easy, although you knew it was anything but.

At one moment he attempted a leap, but couldn’t land right. He groaned with frustration, “I can’t get this jump right.”

You perked up, with him talking for the first time in thirty minutes. He was standing in the middle of the room with his hands on his hips, eyeing himself in the mirror.

“I don’t even know why it is so difficult for me, but I just can’t get it. The teacher told me I was landing too hard but what does that even mean?”

You blinked at him and were silent for a moment. Finally you worked up the courage to speak, “may—maybe you can demonstrate it again? I’ll watch and see if I can spot the problem?”

His eyes flickered to yours questioningly, “you dance?”

“Uh… no, but I’m sure I’d notice if you weren’t landing right.”

He thought about it for a second, but must have seen there was no harm in it because he shrugged and started the music up again.

You watched him as he twirled around the room before going for the leap. He was flawless in the air, but once his foot came down, he was a stumbling mess. He had to hold his arms out to catch his balance and you figured out the problem.

“You’re not distributing your weight properly,” You informed him once he was at a standstill. “You put all your weight on the leg you’re landing on when you need to put it on both.”

“How do I go about doing that?” He asked, twirling the lid off of his water and chugging half the bottle.

“As soon as your foot touches the ground, stretch out your back leg and lift your arms higher.”

The dancer’s eyes wandered above him for a minute, probably imagining the actions he had to take, and then he put his water down and started the music again.

When it got to the troubling leap, you held your breath. He was up, up, up and then he came down. His foot touched the floor and he seemed to spring higher as he flexed his legs and raised his arms, not even wobbling.

“Perfect landing,” you breathed with a grin as he continued on with the choreography. You couldn’t help but to notice how dazzling his face looked graced with that triumphant smile that seemed nearly blinding.

He was now going all out, as if he were performing on a stage, and your heart was in your throat.

You had seen a lot of beautiful things. Watching your father play the trombone, watching Suho play the piano, listening to one of your friends, Yuri, sing, but this fellow in front of you took passion to another level.

Tears began to obstruct your vision as you watched him reach towards the heavens with every jump. Every flex of a muscle seemed to be a part of a story only he knew how to tell, but the story was magnificent and you could not look away.

It ended with him pirouetting before landing on one knee, an arm stretched towards you.

The music ended and the only thing that could be heard was his hard breathing.

“That… that was beautiful.” Beautiful could not cover base to how life altering watching him perform was. He was beyond that, he was something no word could yet define.

“Thank you,” he grinned and bowed humbly.

“No, I’m… I’m serious. I don’t think I have ever seen anything that passionate before in my entire life, and my father lives and breathes music. You are truly talented.”

You watched him bite his lip and scratch the back of his head before repeating, “thank you.”

“No, thank you,” That sounded so cheesy out loud, but you really wanted to thank him for showing you that. You wiped away the tears that had fallen from your eyes and laughed at yourself, “I swear I don’t usually cry watching people dance. Only if I’m moved enough.”

“I moved you?” He asked. You noticed the teasing tone in his voice, but also surprise, as if he didn’t believe he was that good.

“To tears,” You confirmed, holding your hands out to show him the salty wetness on them.

“Thank you,” he repeated yet again, and you blinked up at him.

“For what?”

“For helping me with that turn. Also for letting me know just how good I am. Sometimes you need other people besides those who are always telling you to realize your potential, you know?”

“Absolutely. I definitely understand. I remember when I was first learning how to play the viola, and my father was constantly telling me how good I was, but I felt like I wasn’t adequate. It took my best friend to finally make me realize that maybe I was worthy of the instrument.”

The sweaty ballerina just stared at you for a moment, and you grew embarrassed. Were you talking too much? You were definitely talking too much. This is why you only had two friends growing up.

“You can come watch me practice whenever you want,” he suddenly allowed. His smile grew at your shocked expression. “I realize now I enjoy the company, and you can probably help me on some things. So… whenever you want, if I’m here, don’t be shy.”

He said all of that without even glancing at you, but you could tell the sincerity in his voice. Plus, you found it endearing how he dug the ground with his toes.

It was your turn to repeat yourself, “thank you.”

~*~

You ran all the way to your dorm after art, eager to get this off your chest.

You felt kind of bad that Suho wasn’t the person you wanted to talk to about the matter, but this was strictly a girl thing, and you knew he wouldn’t understand.

“Luna!” You practically screeched when you finally slammed the door to your bedroom open, scaring the living daylights out of your roommate.

“Jesus!” she cried, throwing the magazine she was peacefully reading on her bed onto the floor. “What’s gotten into you?!”

“I’m in like,” You breathed, falling unto your bed with a longing sigh.

“In like?” she questioned.

“Yes. With a beautiful ballerina.”

“Ballerina?”

“It’s a guy,” you clarified, rising up to meet Luna’s gaze. She was grinning from ear to ear, leaning in closer.

“Well, spill it!”

You told her about the mystery dancer who just so happened to be drop dead gorgeous and wanted your company.

“Wow, that is so romantic! What is his name? Maybe I know him.”

“It’s…” Your smile melted off with the realization that you in fact had no name for the face you most definitely would be dreaming of later tonight.

“You don’t know?” Luna’s eyes widened and than she gasped, “that’s even more romantic! It’s like Cinderella! Does he know yours?”

You shook your head and she threw a pillow up in the air. It hit the ceiling before landing on the floor behind her, next to her long forgotten magazine. “Oh my god! The two of you are so mysterious! That is so hot.”

You couldn’t help but giggle. You’ve grown quite close to Luna this past week; she was someone you really needed in your life.

“You have to keep me posted on the development on your unfolding love story. And don’t forget who was there in the beginning when you have to pick a maid of honor for your wedding!”

“Oh, I will def keep you up to date.”

~*~

Sadly, there was nothing to report back to Luna.

Classes started to add pressure the rest of the week, and you were so swamped in schoolwork, that you had no time to eat a normal meal, let alone watch someone dance for a couple hours. you even had a test in art!

When Friday came around, all you wanted to do was relax, but Suho had other plans for you.

“Come on! We haven’t seen each other all week! I miss my bestie!”

“I miss you too, but I’m so tired,” you complained, rolling around in your bed for affect.

“We are all tired, we’re college students.”

“Why can’t you hang out with your roommate? I’m sure he will keep you company.”

“He is hanging out with me. I’m trying to expose you to more people,” You could hear the annoyance in his voice.

“I don’t need more friends. You’re like five friends put together!”

“Please,” Suho whimpered, muttering your name softly. You tensed, knowing what he was doing. “We haven’t seen one another in five days and I just really need my best friend right now. Is that a crime? Is wanting to see you such a bad thing?”

He sighed when you remained silent, “fine. I won’t bother you anymore. Take your nap and be a loser for all your life, but don’t call me when you finally want to settle down, because I would have moved on with a new bestie by then.”

“Fine!” You cried, hopping off your bed. “Jesus, Suho! I’ll hang out with you, damn!”

He chuckled and you heard a muffled ‘works every time’ before he was back in your ear, “you have ten minutes. Dress really cute, we’re going somewhere fun. You better be waiting for us when we get there.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” You hung up before he could guilt you into doing something else you didn’t want to do and slumped over to your closet.

Suho’s definition of really cute was a scary concept, and it made you wonder where he was dragging you. He loved heels and thigh highs. You always joked and told him he was a subtle pervert, and he would reply by simply shrugging, tilting his head to get a good view of the girl he had his eye on at the time.

You groaned and yanked the clothes you knew he was already picturing in his head before getting ready.

Six minutes later, you were standing outside the dorms in a thin pink dress, black tights, chunky black heels, and a glare.

True to his word, Suho was in front of the dorms ten minutes after your call ended. He stepped out of the passenger side of a very expensive looking black car, dressed in dark jeans and a sky blue button down, and you knew that you were dressed accordingly.

His grin grew into a full-blown smile as he took you in, “you never disappoint.”

“Shut up, you perv,” You retaliated. He just laughed, continuing walking up to you. Once you were right in front of each other, he pulled you into a hug and you soon felt a tugging at your hair.

Suho pulled away with a satisfied grin, “you look prettier with your hair down.”

“What is this?” You snapped, as he ruffled your brown hair that he had released from the ponytail you had it in seconds ago. “Are you trying to hook me up with someone?”

“I might be, but I just want you to have fun tonight. You have to dress good to feel good.”

“I mean, I guess?” You let him drag you over to the car. He opened the backseat door for you and helped you get in before crawling back to the front. There were two males sitting to your left, both incredibly handsome and one behind the wheel.

Suho called you and you glanced at him, really nervous. You usually felt at ease around the opposite sex, but Suho made you dress up, and it made you self-conscious, especially since all the men in the car were good looking.

Not as fine as your little ballerina, you thought suddenly, and you felt your cheeks heat up. They definitely weren’t that pleasing to the eyes.

You blinked, quickly focusing back at Suho. He had his hand on the driver’s shoulder, “This is my roommate, Kris, and those two sitting next to you are Kim Jongdae and Do Kyungsoo.”

“Nice to meet you,” you said, nodding towards them. They all nodded in return and you zoomed off to some unknown place.

“Jongdae and Kyungsoo are singers,” Suho informed as you continued driving. “And Kris here is an actor. They all have scholarships and are top of their classes.”

“Why must you talk us up like this?” The one furthest to the window whined. He had a cute voice and a cat like curve to his lips that you couldn’t help but stare at.

“It’s alright,” you began. “It’s in his nature. He’s like a proud father.”

“This girl right here,” he started, and you rolled your eyes. “Is one of the best viola players in the country, if not the continent! She also draws, plays other instruments, and sings.”

You shook your head rapidly, “please do not tell professional singers that I sing, Suho. That’s embarrassing.”

He simply shrugged, “how many times have you sung the lyrics to my compositions?”

“I’m not sure anymore, Suho,” you sighed, your gaze flickering to the singers beside you. They looked intrigued, and you wanted to shrink.

“Exactly, because it’s been too many times to count. If it had been up to me, I would have given you the songs to record. I write them for you anyway.”

“Gross,” you cried, kicking his seat. Sometimes he said things that made it seem as if you were closer than you actually were. It was a habit you were trying to get him out of.

It was around ten when Kris—who had been silent throughout the entire ride there—pulled into a karaoke bar.

“Damn,” you muttered under your breath. Suho was toying with you the entire ride there, the bastard.

“What was that?” The smaller boy beside you, Kyungsoo, asked. His voice was deeper than you had thought it would be at first glance and his wide eyes and plump lips made him seem older than you would have originally thought, more mature.

“I should have known we would be singing,” you said a bit louder to him, although you pushed your knee deep into the back of Suho’s seat.

“And drinking,” the guy near the window, Jongdae, winked at you playfully and you sighed with both content and relief, because he was really cute and you really needed a drink.

“Good,” you breathed as you all headed out.

You followed the guys into the bar, and was led into probably the biggest room you had ever seen in one of these places. It was already filled with about six other people, both male and female.

You felt pressure on your arm and lips at your ear. “Don’t be afraid to make friends, and maybe even get a bit touchy if you want,” Suho winked at you and you grimaced. What was up with him today?

There were only two other girls in the room, and you quickly ran to sit beside them, introducing yourself quickly. They were Hyeri and Hyorin. There was a guy singing a Super Junior song, and he was really good. You just sat silently as everyone got comfortable. Jongdae soon appeared with around four huge bottles of liquor, while Kyungsoo scuttled behind him with shot glasses.

“Whose ready to turn up!” Jongdae’s high-pitched voice rang loudly over the commotion of the room, and everyone—including yourself—cheered. Jongdae and another boy who you weren’t acquainted with poured the shots, while Kyungsoo handed them out. You were the last one to receive a glass, and he sat beside you with a shy smile. You returned it and waited for one of the shorter boys in the room to give the toast speech, “to freshman! To the beginning of the rest of our lives!”

You all held your glasses up high before tilting your heads back and downing the liquid fire with grimaces and coughs.

Liquor made you friendly, to put it simply. It also made you extremely confident, yet also very uncoordinated. You took six more shots of the strongest stuff Jongdae had to offer, and before you knew it, you were singing a duet with one of the boys named Byun Baekhyun. It was an intense balled, and you acted the part, even pressing against each other, his arm around your waist while one of your hands were on his cheek as you both shared his microphone.

You gathered hoots and hollers and you just laughed and laughed when the song ended. He gave you a wink and carried you off the small platform, making you sit on his lap back on the couch.

“You’re fun,” He yelled into your ear, his voice deep enough for you to feel warm from the compliment.

“You give good speeches,” you replied, remembering him giving the toast earlier.

“You sing very well,” he countered.

“Well… you’re very handsome.”

His smile was a million watts.

~*~

(Another lil snippet that I haven’t even gotten to plot wise but I had a Vision™ and wrote it down before I forgot, to give you better insight on what I'm trying to do here haha)

“Jongin….”

“Oh no, silly girl, I’m not Jongin,” his eyes remained piercing into your soul as he pushed a chunk of your hair back behind your ear just to whisper, “I’m Kai.”

You blinked up at him, “who?”

“Kai,” he clarified. “Jongin’s twin brother.”

It was silent for a moment and then you burst out laughing, pushing his shoulder. He looked at you stunned, “stop playing, Jongin. What kind of joke is this?”

He raised an eyebrow, “It’s not a joke, plus, Jongin’s sense of humor wouldn’t allow him to play such a prank. Maybe when we were younger and used to switch classes for the day, but ever since college, all that boy’s focused on is the art.”

“The art?”

“Dancing.”

“Oh… oh!” Your eyes widened as you remembered asking Jongin about his hiphop routine. Your eyes flashed up to the Jongin in front of you, “you were the one doing the hiphop routine!”

He smirked and nodded boldly, “That I was.”

“Shit, you’re telling the truth.”

“Duh. I’m not a liar. But, it seems like Jongin might be…..”

#kai scenarios #kai scenario #exo scenario #exo scenarios #kai drabble #kai drabbles #exo drabbles #exo drabble #kai oneshot #kai oneshots #exo oneshot #exo oneshots #kai

21 notes · View notes

nerianasims · 3 years

Text

Billboard #1s 1988

Under the cut.

"So Emotional" -- Whitney Houston -- January 9, 1988

It's either a song about cheating or about being hung up on an ex. She's got a love of her own, but she's "so emotional" with this other guy, and keeps a picture of him by her bed. Um, does the other guy know this? Maybe she needs to have sex with the other guy so she stops being obsessed with the touch of the previous one. It's a dance song, and I like the beat, but it's painfully repetitive in the second half. Also, while I've known the chorus to this song very well since it came out, I thought it was a normal love song until I looked up the lyrics just now. Houston doesn't sing it like she's in any pain -- well, except I bet her throat hurt from the oversinging.

"Got My Mind Set on You" -- George Harrison -- January 16, 1988

Super repetitive lyrics. But the music's really fun, and I love what lyrics there are. I wish there weren't so few, though. "It's gonna take a whole lot of money" harks back to the many Beatles songs where they sang proudly about spending money on women they loved. Still, this is an example of how George was the best solo Beatle eventually. The video's cute, too, and obviously lampshades the idea of George Harrison doing backflips and dancing.

"The Way You Make Me Feel" -- Michael Jackson -- January 23, 1988

Michael Jackson was no Janelle Monáe. On so many levels. In this case, he wasn't anywhere near her artistic standard. This song does have the lyrics "Oh I'll be workin' from nine to five/ To buy you things to keep you by my side," but it sounds more like a Beatles rip-off than a tribute. I actually didn't remember this song at all, and the video is one of those annoying 80s ones that takes an entire minute to start the song. Then Jackson does a whole bunch of "woos" and "ows" and all that stuff he did that worked in moderation. But "moderation" was not what he was doing in 1988. In any way. He actually oversings in this. I turned it off halfway through. And immediately turned to Janelle Monáe's "The Way You Make Me Feel," which I adore.

"Need You Tonight" -- INXS -- January 30, 1988

This is one of my favorite songs. It's incredibly sexy, obviously. I didn't really notice it until I was around 15, and then I NOTICED it. As I got older, the song got better. The lines "You can care all you want/ Everybody does yeah that's okay" have meant so much to me ever since I started dating seriously. Because caring was not what you were supposed to do.

Anyway, this song is phenomenal and I love it.

"Could've Been" -- Tiffany -- February 6, 1988

This song was #1 for two weeks, and all the previous ones from 1988 have been one week. How? It's a heartbreak song that starts with the lyrics "The flowers you gave me/ Are just about to die," which is painfully on-the-nose. They'd probably work in a country song, but this is lite pop, not country. Tiffany occasionally seems to be trying to do some country stuff with her voice, which is smart. But that's not enough. It's not a terrible song, but it does nothing for me. I don't remember ever having heard it before.

"Seasons Change" -- Exposé -- February 20, 1988

Speaking of songs I haven't heard before. I like this one though. The music's pretty interesting, especially the melody. The singing's excellent. And the music behind "seasons change/people change" sounds exactly like some of the music from Persona 4, so I wonder if Atlus' composer was influenced by it, unconsciously or not. It's just a couple notes, though. Lyrically, the song is about being in love now but realizing it might not last. It's good. I'm gonna look up more of their music.

"Father Figure" -- George Michael -- February 27, 1988

The music for this song is great, and George Michael as usual sings wonderfully. But um. There are some kinks that make me run screaming even when they're really mild. "I will be your father figure/ Put your tiny hand in mine" are two of them. So if you enjoy this song, I'm happy for you, it's musically lovely. I will be going to take a shower now.

"Never Gonna Give You Up" -- Rick Astley -- March 12, 1988

There was a time when I would have easily been able to have an opinion on this song. That time was long ago. It's hard to hear as a song now, rather than an internet meme. But I will not give up. (The video has almost 9 million views, sheesh.)

Okay so they're friends and now he wants a relationship. He says "You wouldn't get this from any other guy," which is a total jerkass line. Other than that, the lyrics are -- oh who am I kidding, I can't do this.

"Man in the Mirror" -- Michael Jackson -- March 26, 1988

I try to separate the art from the artist. That's in both positive and negative directions. If I love someone's art, that doesn't mean they're a good person. If I hate it, that doesn't mean they're a bad person.

This song, though -- "I'm starting with the man in the mirror/ I'm asking him to change his ways" -- uh yeah. Liar. And it's wedged in with all this "oh you should care about all the starving kids and homeless people" self-sanctification that Michael Jackson always protected himself with. This song disgusts me.

"Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car" -- Billy Ocean -- April 9, 1988

Speaking of disgust. Yay street harassment! I've never heard anything bad about Billy Ocean as a human being though. But I'm not listening to more than 5 seconds of this song. Gross.

"Where Do Broken Hearts Go" -- Whitney Houston -- April 23, 1988

She's singing to a man she wants to get back together with after they decided they needed some "space." There's a lot of naivete in the song -- "And if somebody loves you/ Won't they always love you?" No. Even if they do still love you, that doesn't mean it will work. But maybe it will. I've never gotten back together with someone after a breakup, though I've been asked to many times (percentage-wise.) I've always had an allergy to it, both because my parents got back together after divorcing and should not have, and because I had a friend who broke up with her boyfriend and got back together with him at least 8 times in the space of a year and I had to keep hearing about it.

So this song doesn't really speak to me. But it's pretty good. Houston sings it well too, reigning in the oversinging until near the end.

"Wishing Well" -- Terence Trent D'Arby -- May 7, 1988

That's an awesome name. The writer of this song said he wrote it when he was half-asleep, which makes sense. "Butterfly tears", okay, just poetry, but you want to fall in love near a well of crocodile tears too? Doesn't that mean you're faking? I like the song though. It's sort of funk, but softer than full-on funk. I like the way D'Arby sings it. The whistling part (keyboard whistling) is very enjoyable. It's a fun song, and one I do remember from the time.

"Anything for You" -- Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine -- May 14, 1988

A pretty breakup song. But, of course, I have an issue. "I can pretend each time I see you/ That I don't care and I don't need you/ And though you'll never see me cryin'/ You know inside I feel like dying." Well that makes his life a lot easier, doesn't it. The whole song is about how she'll do anything to make him happy. Urgh. She needs to tell him to get out of her life so she can make a brand new start.

"One More Try" -- George Michael -- May 28, 1988

Yet another heartbreak song. It's not surprising that I remember so few songs from this year. I feel like I'm back in the 60s before The Beatles again. Though this year is musically better, I'm still bored. Anyway, in this one, the narrator doesn't want to try again, and he keeps addressing the person he doesn't want to try again with as "teacher," which is... a thing. The only time he seems willing to try again is the very last line, which is "Maybe just one more try."

It's slow, it's pretty enough, it would be unbearably boring if George Michael weren't such a good singer. I'm bored anyway. No wonder we ran screaming from anything smacking of this kind of thing in the early 90s. I feel stupid and contagious.

"Together Forever" -- Rick Astley -- June 18, 1988

He certainly had a brand, didn't he? The song title tells you everything you need to know about the lyrics. The song sounds a lot like "Never Gonna Give You Up," but much more boring. A massive drum machine intro can't carry this. I do recognize the chorus, but that's it. The song is fine, really. But that's it. It sounds like a lesser knockoff of "Never Gonna Give You Up."

"Foolish Beat" -- Debbie Gibson -- June 25, 1988

Heartbreak song. Sigh. There's a nice cheesy saxophone that I like, at least. She left him and she regrets it and thinks "I could never love again/ The way that I loved you." Nope, it's never the same. That doesn't mean it's worse. It's often better. I'm not listening to the whole thing, not even in case the sax comes back. The song's too dull.

"Dirty Diana" -- Michael Jackson -- July 2, 1988

It's about some groupie trying to seduce poor widdle helpless Michael. I don't remember ever hearing this song, and it's musically whiny too. Yuck. So much yuck.

"The Flame" -- Cheap Trick -- July 9, 1988

Heartbreak. Song. Again. "You were the first, you'll be the last" oh no they won't. I entirely approve of being honest about heartbreak, but this year is just crushing with the monotony of it. At least there's a beat to this one.

By the way, in the video, the lead singer's hair appears to be made of straw. Ah, the late 80s, when people thought cooking their hair was the way to go.

"Hold on to the Nights" -- Richard Marx -- July 23, 1988

A heartbreak song in disguise. He's in love with this woman but they can't be together. Are they cheating? I don't know. I don't care. It's so boring, words and music both. Even the piano is blah.

Speaking of late 80s hair, it looks like Richard Marx used an entire can of Aqua Velva on his in the video.

"Roll With It" -- Steve Winwood -- July 30, 1988

This was a #1 hit for four weeks, and I know why. It's not boring! Or depressing! It's got kind of an old-fashioned soul sound: Horns, groove, lyrics. When life is too much, roll with it baby. Not profound, but this is a really good song. One I've heard quite a lot, too, on purpose and everything.

Also, Steve Winwood's hair would work fine today. Coincidence?

"Monkey" -- George Michael -- August 27, 1988

This is actually kind of a heartbreak song, but not really. The one he loves has a "monkey" on their back and he wonders if they love it more than they love him. Addiction is my guess. It's a high-energy dance song, though -- it sounds a little angry, not sad at all. I find the melody sort of dull, but at least there's a beat. But I'm sorry, "Why can't you set your monkey free" is an absolutely hilarious lyric, and I can't take this song seriously in any way.

I think I had the hat George Michael's wearing in the video.

"Sweet Child O' Mine" -- Guns N' Roses -- September 10, 1988

Okay, yeah, sort of a heartbreak song, the relationship sounds like it's a mess with "where do we go now?" sung a zillion times. But it's so good. SO good. And it's rock. It's no wonder that it's one of the few songs that have stayed around from this list. It's not some kind of mass-produced pap without personality. Only Guns N'Roses could do this. Great song, I love it, and I love it more knowing what came before it. Man, Slash can play.

"Don't Worry, Be Happy" -- Bobby McFerrin -- September 24, 1988

Yeah, I'm guessing people were horribly sick of all the overproduced depression on the charts this year. A lot of music critics, and other critics, were really nasty about it because of the simplicity of its lyrics and its earworm-ness. And we made fun of the phrase plenty as young teens in the 90s. But now? I think it's pretty good. Philosophically, it's a mess, but the music isn't serious so I don't think we're supposed to take it seriously. And I like a-cappella. It was played way too much back in the day, though.

(Robin Williams is in the video, which made me tear up. Oof.)

"Love Bites" -- Def Leppard -- October 8, 1988

Technically about heartbreak I guess, but I feel like they're lampshading all the songs from this year which may as well have had the same title. Probably not intentionally. I can't take this song the tiniest bit seriously. It's rock, but not with a lot of personality. Any hair metal band from the time with interchangeable bleached blond frontmen could have done it.

I think this guy used an air fryer on his hair.

"Red Red Wine" -- UB40 -- October 15, 1988

One is supposed to hate this song, or was I don't hate it. I was a kid when it came out, the pop reggae appealed to me, and I still find it fun. Neil Diamond, the original singer, likes it. I certainly find it more interesting than anything with Neil Diamond singing on it.

"A Groovy Kind of Love" -- Phil Collins -- October 22, 1988

It's a cover of a 60s song. "Baby, you and me/ Got a groovy kind of love." This version is incredibly slow, and doesn't have any interesting drum work from Phil. It doesn't make me angry, but it doesn't make me anything. It's there. My brain wandered off and I started looking at stuff on the internet while trying to listen to it.

"Kokomo" -- The Beach Boys -- November 5, 1988

I loved this song as a kid and no one is prying it from me. It makes me happy when I feel down. I got the Cocktail soundtrack this is on for Christmas in my stocking 1988 -- me and seemingly every other kid, I think the tape was massively on sale. I loved the soundtrack, and I especially loved this song. I will never see the movie. I always felt that the song was a middle-aged man singing to his middle-aged wife ("pretty mama".) Which I thought was sweet. I figured that's what middle-aged people did, went off on vacations to tropical islands sometimes, even though my parents never did. I want to though.

"Wild, Wild West" -- The Escape Club -- November 12, 1988

"Heading for the nineties," hm? Well one of the lines is "give me, give me safe sex," and safe sex messaging being absolutely everywhere was an early to mid 90s thing. It's always funny to hear someone with an English accent sing about something extremely American. This song does sound like it's heading for the nineties musically, which is good. Only heading toward though. It's okay, but not very interesting. The music is repetitive. I got bored halfway though.

"Bad Medicine" -- Bon Jovi -- November 19, 1988

Your love is like "bad medicine" and he's addicted. Like a monkey on his back. What's with that phrase this year? I don't recognize this song. It's overproduced, it's shouty, there's too much going on, and it feels like it's trying too hard. Nope.

"Baby, I Love Your Way/ Freebird Medley" -- Will to Power -- December 3, 1988

I'm used to the 90s cover of "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain. And I don't think I'm being biased when I say the Big Mountain version is significantly better. The lead singer of this one, a woman, is way too breathy and mannered.

The "Freebird" portion is bad. Just plain bad. The man singing is also breathy and there's absolutely no oomph. Also a lite, bouncy pop song in which the woman is singing how much she loves the man and the man's like "no I gotta be free" is blech. It does not work.

"Look Away" -- Chicago -- December 10, 1988

This was Chicago's biggest single. The narrator's ex called him to tell him she's with someone new, and he pretends to be happy for her, but wants her to look away so she doesn't see the tears of a clown -- er, no, that's a better song. Same idea though.

A heartbreak song, but I don't mind it, because it's got some blood to it. It's not slow and there's a real beat. Also Peter Cetera wasn't with Chicago any more, so Bill Champlin's the lead singer here, and he's so much better than Cetera it's ridiculous. Champlin brings some guts to the song, he doesn't sing through his nose, and he sounds truly heartbroken. Worlds better than Cetera. So it's a good enough song, if you're in the mood for that kind of thing.

"Every Rose Has Its Thorn" -- Poison -- December 24, 1988

I never minded this song before at all, but I am so sick of this kind of song at this point. Whine whine whine every cowboy sings a sad sad song. You're no Johnny Cash, dude. He said something wrong, he doesn't know what it was, they broke up and he still doesn't know why -- okay, who does this? Actually wait, I know one person who did this, and he keeps saying he has no idea why either of his wives broke up with him and I do because I was there and they told him they would break up with him if he didn't change. Over and over and over and over. And now he's like "poor me, I don't know why this happened. " He probably doesn't, either. He cannot admit fault.

Anyway, projections of my own personal trauma onto a hair metal band aside, the narrator’s ex is now with someone new and he thinks "I never meant that much to you." Maybe, maybe not. Cowboy, change your ways today.

BEST OF 1988 -- "Need You Tonight" by INXS and "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses. WORST OF 1988 -- "Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car" by Billy Ocean

#billboard number ones #there are a lot this year

7 notes · View notes

lostinfantasyworlds · 3 years

Text

Playlist for Everything

READ “EVERYTHING” ON AO3

This post is going to be extra af, but I am really inspired by music and am so in love with how perfectly some of these songs fit in with feeling of this story. I just want to yell loudly about how much I love some of these songs 😂

Here’s the link to the playlist (YouTube)

Below the cut = more details and some highlights of the lyrics for each song!

TL;DR: If I had to narrow it down to only a few songs that really capture the essence of the story, they would be (in order of importance):

1. Unfold by Alina Baraz and Galimatias 2. Lights Out by Ayelle and Sonn 3. Strange by Kris Bowers feat Hilary Smith 4. I Miss You by Adele 5. The Bitter Suite III: Embrace by The Dear Hunter

1. The Bitter Suite III: Embrace by The Dear Hunter

Darkness Hesitation I fell into her arms Breathe in, this is amazing Breathe out, this is amazing She removed her clothes and all of the world shined Now that we're alone, all of the world shines First hot breath, then cold hands Intrusion, but aware The fire inside was alight, and she bloomed I never knew life could ever be this good The distant sighs, the clothes on the floor The bedding a mess, she sings for more We fall beneath the sea in the back of our hearts, And fail to breathe until we resurface again.

So I’m just in love with this band. They have a series of albums (Act I - V) that tell a story throughout all of the songs (they are AMAZING and I highly recommend). In this song, the main character loses his virginity to a woman he later falls in love with, and I just thought this song perfectly captures the overall experience really well. Plus, the bass riff that starts around the 5 minute mark is absolutely beautiful/emotional in a way that I can’t quite explain.

2. Come Here by Sabrina Claudio

I'm dying to see you You know what I'm fiending for The only one to get to me Only one to get this close So I want you to come here I want you to come here I just need you near

This one is more about the sensual vibe of the music, but the lyrics are also pretty fitting.

3. Speechless by Beyonce

Goin' out my head I think I'm losin' all my mind (all my mind) Drive me crazy burning candles, makin' love all night (all night) Feels so strange, it feels so crazy to be in your world (in your world) In your arms lost for words, you got me (you got me) Speechless

This one is pretty obvious when you listen to it hahaha

4. Unfold by Alina Baraz and Galimatias

Cover my thoughts in gold I'm your flower, watch me unfold My vulnerability, letting you consume me The parts of me that eyes can't see The glowing underneath Picking off the petals I'll let you if you're gentle This kind of love we can't control The art of touch, I am covered in gold I know that you feel me now No I'm never going down The parts of me buried underneath The glowing, don’t you see? I know that you feel me now

This is one of the songs I am OBSESSED WITH, especially in relation to this story. Such beautiful lyrics and just a beautiful song in general with that perfectly slow, sexy/sensual vibe.

5. I Miss You by Adele

I want every single piece of you I want your heaven and your oceans too Treat me soft but touch me cruel I wanna teach you things you never knew, baby Bring the floor up to my knees Let me fall into your gravity Then kiss me back to life to see Your body standing over me I love the way your body moves Towards me from across the room Brushing past my every groove No one has me like you do, baby Bring your heart, I'll bring my soul But be delicate with my ego I wanna step into your great unknown With you and me setting the tone

I’ve always loved this song and how sexy/emotional it is. The beat (especially around the 30 second mark when it really starts) is ON POINT.

6. Until It Hurts by Fransisca Hall

Undress these beautiful lies Blind me with animal eyes Carve your heart into mine Carve your heart into mine Brush me with venomous lips Tear me to passionate strips Stir up the beast inside Stir up the beast inside Take me for all I'm worth Touch me until it hurts

7. The End by JPOLND

Keep your breath on me And keep keep keep going 'Til my body is free Keep your eyes on me And keep keep keep going 'Til I'm the last thing you see Keep your touch on my skin And keep keep keep going Keep keep keep going...

8. Show Me by Alina Baraz and Galimatias

Rising like the smoke You linger on me You got me so high I can finally breathe You're walking poetry It's what you do to me It's what you do to me Touch me with no hands Hold me with your eyes Unwind me with your mind tonight Speak with no words Show me and I'm all yours

ANOTHER PERFECTLY FITTING SONG. The beat/sexy vibe + lyrics UGH.

9. Strange by Kris Bowers feat Hilary Smith

This is an instrumental track from the Bridgerton soundtrack that played when the main couple makes love for the first time. I just thought it was SO beautiful. One of those pieces that really makes you feel something without needing any words. I envisioned this to be playing during either the “everything” scene where he touches her face, or when they actually finally start making love. P.S. This is a cover of Strange by Celeste, which is also just as beautiful but the lyrics don’t really fit for the situation. Highly recommend checking it out though!

10. Vulnerable (David Luxe remix) by Tinashe

Once upon a time I was all alone How you like me now? Do I turn you on? Now I got you drunk, hot, and vulnerable Show me what you want, give me what you want, want Have to make you mine, get you on the floor Yeah, watch me go to work, I’ll put on a show

This is for when things start really heating up lol. It’s more about the sexy beat/vibe, but the lyrics are relatively fitting too. I like the original too, but this remix gets rid of the rap part which isn’t as appropriate for this use, plus I like the beat a bit better in the remix.

11. One in a Million by Aaliyah

So, no one else love me like you do That's why I don't mind to spend my life with you (with you) I want to please you in any way I can I want to share my world, don't you understand? Your love is one in a million It goes on and on and on You give me a really good feeling, all day long

Just kind of continuing the sexy vibe here, but the lyrics fit really well too.

12. Made to Love by John Legend

Oh I've never loved, I've never loved Never loved someone like this All-I-know is... I was sent here for you We were made to love We were made to love You were sent for me too We were made to love We were made to love

Again, needed a few songs that were a little faster for the sexier parts haha. The lyrics on this one are also pretty beautiful too.

13. Lights Out by Ayelle and Sonn

Talk about the way you wanna be You don't ever hesitate to say how All you wanna do is to be with me Taking it all in I wanna be with you 'til the sun rises In your eyes, in your eyes, in your eyes I wanna paint the moon with your eyelashes Paint the night, paint the night, paint the night Lights out

THIS ONE MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE ON THE WHOLE PLAYLIST (along with Unfold). This song is not only slow and sensual but the lyrics are BEAUTIFUL. I put it towards to the end because I think of it as when they’re coming down after and cuddling. Just imagine them looking into each other’s eyes being super in love. WARNING: If you are wearing headphones, there is a realistic knocking sound throughout the song that can be kind of alarming lol

14. I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing (piano version) by Aerosmith

Don't want to close my eyes I don't want to fall asleep 'Cause I'd miss you, babe And I don't want to miss a thing

Ok so...I’m partial to this song because the full version is what my husband and I had our first dance to at our wedding. So this song will always give me major feels. BUT I included this special piano version specifically, because just like Strange, it evokes a certain beautiful feeling of romance without needing the extra words. Just to wrap up the end with that warm fuzzy feeling of love

If anyone actually read this.....THANK YOU. It really means a lot to me ❤️

#everything #playlist

6 notes · View notes

justbecausewhynot · 4 years

Text

Lady Of Sun and Shadows Part 2 {Azriel x Reader/OC}

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

A/n- when she is playing the piano, she is playing a piano cover of let her go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rExcQ5nm_yU&feature=emb_title

Down in the living room, Helion sat with the High Lord and Lady and the two Illyrian soldiers.

"How great it is to see you Rhysand, I must admit I was not expecting your letter." Helion said

"Well, Feyre here has been battering me about seeing your wife, and I thought it might be a good idea to run over some of our agreements. Thought I could kill two birds with one stone."

"And by the way, congratulations on the child" Feyre added

"Took her long enough" Helion muttered. Everyone sat in awkward silence with someone complimenting something or bringing up a new topic only for it to again become silent. Just then, a servant came in and announced that dinner was ready. Relieved, everyone made their way to the dining room. There was a large wood table with a white tablecloth and gold candles all along with it. Chairs and plates were already set up for each member and servants came to seat them.

Aurora was already seated at one end and ushered for Feyre to sit next to her. Servants came in and brought plates of all food. Mashed potatoes, steak, every kind of vegetable you could imagine. Helion moved for everyone to sit and dig in. There was little talk, only the clattering of dishes being moved about. Aurora piled potatoes onto her plate. Because of her pregnancy, in the past few months, she had been constantly famished and craving the strangest foods.

"That's quite enough Aurora." Helion announced from the other side of the table. "We don't want you getting any fatter than you already are." All eyes turned back and forth in disbelief from husband to wife. Neither broke the stare off one another, heat came off their glares at one another.

"Come now, she's eating for two now." Cassian countered making Aurora smile at him and continue serving herself. Helion huffed and started talking to Rhysand one on one about borders and politics. Feyre looked to Aurora and once again saw that same feeling that she had once endured.

"So what have you been up to lately?" She asked

"Oh, you know, nothing much, I spend almost all my time either in the garden or the library. There's not much else to do around here or anyone to talk to. I find myself going crazy sometimes."

A deep voice came from beside Cassian "I've heard the libraries here are quite extensive." Aurora's eyes met those of Azriel's.

"Yes they are, do you enjoy reading?" She responded

"You wouldn't believe how much time he spends in the library at home" Cassian laughs "It's a miracle he has time for anything else.

"Well then, you must visit the one upstairs, I am the only one who ever goes in there, I fear dust is collecting from the lack of use."

"I'll be sure to check it out" he responded, still keeping that curious stare. Helion cleared his throat looking at Azriel, aware of the watch of his wife. All hints of emotion disappeared from his face as Azriel looked down at his plate. Aurora, confused about what just happened, turned to Feyre who looked amused and raised an eyebrow at her tinted cheeks. Not too hard, but aggressive enough to send a message, Aurora kicked her friend under the table. The conversation started up again; Talk of other High Lords and Ladies.

"Now Kallias' wife wants to become a High Lady" Rhysand added, "Feyre has really changed things up." he said grinning at her.

"What about you Aurora, How does Lady of the Day court sound to you?" Cassian said, unaware of any consequences.

Helion fumed. "We will not be having any of that here. My wife is here for an heir, she has no need or idea how to lead an entire court." The room went silent. Heat radiated off of Helion. His eyes became brighter as he stared down the table. Aurora swallowed, not knowing what to do. She felt a familiar comforting stare on her, but it was certainly not from her husband. At that moment she felt something against her, almost like a shadow, holding her hand softly. She looked up to Azriel and the shadow was gone. His face was alarmed and now faced down to his plate.

"Well, on that note, why don't we all head to the sitting room?" Aurora said, trying to lighten the mood

"That sounds like a good idea." Rhysand affirmed.

"No" Helion hollered "I will decide when we leave the table and I will not have you act above your status Aurora." Setting his glass down with a thump causing the glass of Azriel beside him to fall over and spill onto his lap. "Now look at what you've made me do." He glared down "Ingrid...Ingrid! By the Cauldron, what good are servants when they are nowhere to be found?"

Nervously, Aurora replied "I-I gave her the night off"

"What?! Why in the world would you do that?" Helion yelled

"Her daughter was sick and needed to be tended to." Aurora answered with as much confidence as she could muster.

"Well then, seeing as this is entirely your fault, you can show Azriel to his room and ensure he has everything he needs."

"Very well" She said standing up, watching Azriel try to dry the wine off his shirt.

"Get some common sense while you are up there woman." Helion added as they left the room. Everyone at the table stayed as still as possible as Helion threw a glass at the doorway his wife had just passed through.

Leading the way, Aurora moved up the stairs a few paces away from Azriel. As she walked through the marble hallways, her heels clinked until she stopped in front of two giant wooden doors. Aurora opened the doors to a giant library with a loft and books everywhere. There were large windows overlooking the gardens.

"This... is not my bedroom" Azriel said

"Very perceptive," Aurora said cheekily "I figured you might want to know where this is. These books really do need some more attention. I have barely even read half of them." Half of this giant collection is still a great feat, Azriel thought to himself. He walked through the middle of the room to a window sill with a book open, picking it up and looking at it, he looked back at Aurora.

"The art of War?" He mused "And what would a classy woman like you be doing with a book like this?"

"What did you expect? How to be a perfect housewife? Not quite my thing"

"I can imagine." After a few minutes of wandering around, looking at books, the clock chimed 8:00.

"Oh we must go, and I've totally forgotten why we came up here. I'll bring you to your room and let you change, that must have been very uncomfortable."

"Don't worry, I've been through worse than a damp blouse."

"I don't doubt it"

Aurora led Azriel to a large room with all of his luggage already inside and packed away. Azriel closed the door while still keeping his eyes locked on hers. Downstairs, the company had already moved to the sitting room. Dull conversations of wars and soldiers and lots of alcohol were a must with Helion.

"Ah, she is back" Helion said, seemingly undisturbed by the scene a few moments before. "I was scared you had gotten lost, why don't you play us something on the piano dear?" Aurora had been taught to play from a young age. Yet another way she would train to become a perfect wife. Though it was something that added to her state of misery, Aurora loved to play and sing. And so, she went to the grand piano near the window and started playing. In her head, she sang the words she knew went to this melody.

Staring at the bottom of your glass

Hoping one day you'll make a dream last

But dreams come slow and they go so fast

As much as her mind urged her to let everyone know what was flowing inside of her, she saw the promise of regret in her husband's eyes. Once she had sung the same song while the captain's of the guards were here. He said he had never been so humiliated in his whole life. Aurora was singing from the cold lonely place in her heart and it was easy to tell; it was not some simple song, and that was certain. Three nights of lessons for that. Aurora was not about to make that mistake again. Thus, she kept playing. Kept her emotions in check, and didn't get carried away by the music. That is until she again felt the same stare on her from dinner. Those same shadows crept down her arm, only this time she could see them. The shape of a hand brushing her arm. Certainly, this was something to be worried about, but Aurora felt comforted by it and kept playing. She kept playing softer and harder with more affection. And then, it was done. She didn't even notice but the shadow had crept up to her neck. Everyone has ceased their talking and were now watching Aurora. She looked up to see Azriel once again, watching her. This time, his face was betraying him, it had softened into what looked like what could only be described as warmth. Helion cleared his throat which made both of them snap out of the trance and look towards him.

"I think you have delighted us enough for one evening Aurora, it is time to resign to your room." Slowly, she got up off the piano bench and made her way out. Each person held their breath and sorrowful faces as she left. When she strode past Azriel, who was standing by the door, she smiled at him and walked away.

Tag List (open, send me a message if u want in)

@theimaginehotspot

@moonlit-stardust

#acotar #acomaf #acowar #acofas #azriel #rhysand #feyre #cassian #oc #daycourt #nightcourt #sjm

30 notes · View notes