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hwrryscherry · 3 years

Text

The one where the reader is a singer

characters: HARRY x SINGER!Y/N

blurb: The reader is finishing up her brand-new album and as Harry comes to visit her on her last day of working in the studio, he gets to react to one of her songs, 34+35.

word count: 1.9K

author's note: HI GUYS! It’s been a week I think? Anyway, I’ll get back to school tomorrow so idk when imma post the next request but I’m hoping that it will be soon! Anyway, I want to thank y’all for the love and support on my writing and I hope that the anon who asked this likes it as much as I did. Never forget that you’re so golden and tpwk. AND ALSO, HAPPY 27TH BIRTHDAY TO HARRY!

You took a deep breath right after asking for the track to be played again. To everyone else the track was perfect, but it was different for you. It just felt like something was missing and you didn't know what. And god, you were tired. You were so genuinely exhausted that if you sit up in a chair and stay silent for more than five minutes you'll simply fall asleep. You felt your eyes heaving at every blink of yours and it was only 5 pm, but you were in this studio for so long. You were inside this place for 36 hours now with no shower and no sleep. You did eat but now you were hungry again.Your shoulders were tensed up, and you couldn't feel comfortable anywhere. Not in the couch, not in the chair, not in the floor and not even stand up. All you genuinely demanded right now was to be home under your bed sheets curled up with your boyfriend of four years while taking many naps or watching many movies, but no, you needed to have this done. You needed the album to be done and were extremely thrilled to release it to your fans that were excited as well. But yes, you were so frickin' tired.

— Again... — You repeated after a long and sharp breath listening to some groans from your coworkers. You all have been listening to this one song for about an hour and a half now and you haven't actually changed anything yet. — I know, I know, and I'm sorry guys, it's just not right!

— Maybe you think it's not right, but it is and you're just making a huge deal about it. — One of your co-workers said. A girl, Lucy, one of your friends as well. You turned your head to stare at her face and gave her that glaze that made her shrug her shoulders because of it — Alright, I'm sorry.

— I'm not making a huge deal. It's just not right, and I feel like the entire album is so great and this is just wrong. Like... — You said standing up from the couch you were sitten in and walked to the table with the computers on to grab the one paper you used to write this song. You stared at it in your hands for a while as you read the letters. — See, here is the problem. So here it's "you drink it just like water" and then suddenly comes "so what you doin' tonight?", it doesn't make sense, there's something missing in here. — You go through the lyrics again as you hear more groans from the people in the room — And honestly, I'm disappointed with myself for the rest. I need to change it so badly, but I have no idea on how.

— No problem, love — You naturally said referring to his previous apologies.

That's when you hear the sound of the door being opened. You rise your head to look at the door and see Harry, your boyfriend, walking into the room with some paper bags in his hands that contained burgers directly from In-N-Out, which was in fact your favorite Los Angeles burger place ever. He arrived in silence, trying not to make a noise for fear that you were recording something but you could note his surprised expression when he saw everyone was looking at him instead of recording.

— Sorry guys, I didn't want to disturb you. I was passing by and wanted to check up! — Harry said as he closed the door behind him and walked farther into the room. You smiled tenderly when you saw the figure of the man walking closer to you. You haven't seen each other personally in some days, and he consistently secured you so much spiritual peace, he just had such a light energy and it made you feel so good — And also y’all had been stealing my girl for so long now! — He joked getting a slight laugh from everyone inside the studio. He approached you by wrapping your waist with one of his arms around your waist and sealing your lips together as he bends down a little.

— And Harry, technically she is maintaining us here and not the other way around — Lucy said in an ironic tone causing you to look at her quickly before letting out a deep breath and lowering your head by rubbing your sleepless eyes with the help of your hands, probably a negative result of sleep. Harry reflected the girl's words and then looked at you carefully before placing the bags on the coffee table that was next to the studio sofa.

— Why? What happened? — Harry asked encountering his gaze with yours as he crossed his arms and observed you raising your hand that contained the papers with the lyrics of your new song.

— I can't write a proper ending that I genuinely like! — You said, sounding frustrated to everyone in that room.

— The ending is good! — Another of your friends, Jaden, said as he got up and picked up one of the bags Harry had brought and then started walking again to sit on the sofa.

— Jaden, you in silence is everything to me! — You said in a mocking tone while running your hand through your hair — But you understand, don't you? — You asked Harry because he has experience with such a specific subject — It's not that it's bad, it's that I don't feel like it's ready!

— I get it! But have you already recorded? — Harry asked softly in his understanding tone. He more than anyone in this room comprehended exactly what you were feeling and he would do his best to help you since you did the same with him so many times before.

— Yes, twenty times! — Jaden murmured a little before taking a bite of one of the burgers that Harry had brought. Harry couldn't hold back the laugh when he heard the boy, as they knew each other well and Harry knew all his sassiness was based on nothing more than hunger.

— Let me hear it, so I can have some ideas to help! — Harry said looking at you, and then noticing your reaction. Your eyes widened at the man's request. It wasn't fear. It was just an apprehension and that made Harry extremely curious — What?

— Well... It's a little... — You said in a lower tone seeking your words.

— Promiscuous and indulgent! — Lucy and Jaden completed your sentence making Harry look at her and the boy sitting on the sofa and then Harry raised one of his eyebrows and looked at you with a smirk on his lips.

— Uh, is it about me? — Harry asked in a mocking tone, waiting for the answer that would raise his ego, of course.

— Look, let's not specify anything — You said quickly and nervously looking at the smirk on your boyfriend's face — Ok, Trevor, play the song right for the love of god! — You said getting a laugh out of Harry, Jaden and Lucy due to your despair in ending this matter.

And Trevor did as you asked and put the song on. You sat down on the bench near the wall and crossed your arms while watching Harry's reactions. The soon as the song started everyone could notice your voice and the rhythm of it that matched the beat.

You may think I’m crazy

The way I’ve been craving

If I put it quite plainly

Just give me them babies

You could notice Harry bouncing his head on the rhythm of the song as a sign that he liked it because you knew that he only did that to songs that he likes. And you also noticed a small smile when he listened to the end of this verse because he did remember all the times you both had talked about having a baby before.

So what you doin’ tonight?

Better say doin’ you right

Watching movies

But we ain’t seen a thing tonight

Again you noticed the smirk and you did smirk as well because you both knew the lack of ability that you had to watch any movie that lasted longer than two hours and you almost ended not watching anything.

I don’t wanna keep you up

But assuming can you keep it up

‘Cause then I’d like to keep you up

So maybe Imma keep you up

Boy

Harry wasn’t looking at you, though. He was looking at the floor while bouncing his head and paying attention to the song as he was trying to catch the vibe of it and honestly you don’t know if it’s the song that had this vibe but he was looking way too hot to handle at this moment.

I’ve been drinking coffe

And I’ve been eating healthy

Know I get squeaky, yeah

Saving all my energy

Now the chorus was about to start and you were actually excited and nervous to see Harry’s reaction of it. You two have been dating for four years now. He probably understood any little detail of this song more than anyone else.

Can you stay up all night?

F**k me till the daylight

34 35

You started to hold back your laugh as Harry lifted his head up fastly with winded eyes and a surprised look so he could face you. It wasn’t actually your style to write songs that promiscuous so he was actually surprised at it even though he loved it. He had a smile on his face though and so did you.

The song kept playing as the words repeated itself and it stopped just after the second chorus so Harry passed his hands through his hair as you waited for his opinion on it. Honestly, Harry’s opinion about your music is extremely important to you because you cherish and admire him way too much and love his songs so you hope that he does too with yours.

— So... What do you think? — You asked anxiously waiting for his opinion. The truth is Harry had already listened to all the songs on his new album except this one.

— I like it! — Harry said with a smile on his lips making you breathe a sigh of relief — Maybe I can help write the rest, but they really didn't lie and it's great. The beat is good and the lyrics are catchy and everything will be fine. The point, my love, is that you are too worried! — Harry said as he approached you, placing his big, strong hands on your shoulders and massaging them lightly feeling all the tension in your muscles slowly dissolving — Relax, it's amazing! You got it!

With Harry's help, you finished the song in less than an hour. When you recorded the rest and listened, you felt that now it was ready and now you could go home with him. It was simply incredible to know you could always count on him and to know that while you were together creativity would be present and life wouldn't be boring. After all, you had each other and had the art.

#hwrryscherry #hwrryscherryxreader #harry and y/n #harry styles and y/n #harry x reader #harry styles au #harry styles x reader #harry styles x you #harry styles blurb #harry styles x y/n #boyfriend harry styles #harry styles imagines #harry styles imagine

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cocochannel00 · 4 years

Text

Quarantine Date

Boyfriend!Harry plans a date in the era of social distancing...

A big PSA to all of my lovely followers: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WEAR A MASK AND SOCIAL DISTANCE WHEN IN PUBLIC. DON’T PUT YOURSELF AND OTHER PEOPLE AT RISK

Harry knew how important your work was to you. You were an essential worker during the COVID pandemic and had been working rigours 12+ hour shift at the hospital. You had barely seen or talked to Harry over the last couple of months, mainly because he had been locked down in LA for the first half of quarantine and you had been basically living in the hospital lounge. You had been dating Harry for almost a year now so you knew what it was like to have him far away, but this time it felt different. This time all you wanted to was spend your day off curled up in bed with Harry and watch as he tried to imitate Heath Ledger's accent in 10 Things I Hate About You instead of watching it by yourself. I guess you’d just have to spend the day wallowing in self pity with your tub of ice cream.

You were half way through your movie when your phone rang. Too lazy to look at who’s calling to picked up the phone and spoke a quick hello.

“You. Me. Date tonight. No excuses” the person said through the phone.

“Why Tom Holland I’m flattered, but I’m sorry, I have a boyfriend already” you replied back as a joke.

“Ha ha very funny (y/n) and besides I know you don’t have Tom’s number yet. But seriously, I’ve been home nearly a week and I haven’t seen you in person.” Harry spoke.

“Haz, 4 patients on my floor tested positive for COVID this week. I don’t want to expose you or god forbid Anne or Gemma to it”

“We can do a social distance date, I’ll plan the whole thing,” Harry practically begged.

“Harry I don’t know...” you stated with a sigh.

“I know today is your day off and you’re probably curled up in bed with some ice cream right now so hear me out. You stay in your room and relax for the rest of the day and I’ll spend the day planning our date tonight. Please, love, I really want to see you even if it’s six feet apart and with a mask” Harry pleaded.

“Ok ok fine I’ll go on a social distancing date with you but only if you promise to stay 6 ft away” you said sternly.

“I’ll bring a measuring tape so you can double check” he replied as you laughed.

“Wonderful, I can’t wait. Do I need to wear something special to this date tonight?” You asked curiously.

“That’s a surprise for later”

“Harold you know I hate surprises” you whined over the phone.

“I know that’s why I love them. Now I need to go, I have lots of planning to do for tonight. Love you”

“Love you too, H. See you tonight” you replied before hanging up the phone.

You were excited yet nervous to see Harry in person. Seeing his face through zoom was one thing but seeming all of him in person without being able to run up and hug him could very well crush you on the spot. All you knew for sure was that thinking about this date was take up your entire day. You weren’t one for grand cheesy gestures and you hated being the center of attention so you prayed that Harry didn’t go overboard on the whole evening.

You groaned quietly as you rolled over the the other side of your bed (usually Harry’s side) and checked the alarm clock to see it was only 5 pm so you had at least another 3 hours of wallowing in self pity until Harry came back. For once you just wanted the clock to move faster. Sinking back down into your sheets you ran a hand through your wet hair from your morning shower. You knew you should have brushed it earlier so that it didn’t frizz , but you hadn’t been expecting company and you didn’t really care what you looked like under all your PPE at the hospital. Just as you were beginning to detangle your hair you got a message from Harry.

Harry: Wear pajamas tonight, we’re going extra comfy. Love you - H

You smiled at the message and placed the phone back onto your lap. Nothing could ever put a smile on your face faster than Harry’s name popping up on your screen. Back when you first started dating and you had been stressed about going back to work after visiting him on tour he would send you pictures of puppies every morning just to cheer you up. Now he’s resorted to other much less innocent tactics to try and cheer you up when you’re have a bad day, but you couldn’t complain (especially during quarantine). With all that said, Harry continues to surprise you daily so to say you were excited for your date night would be an understatement. The only thing getting you through the wait was knowing you needed to take at least a 2 hour nap before he got there otherwise you would pass out during your date tonight.

——————— /// ——————— // ——————-

You woke up to the sound of “Kiwi” blasting in your ear as the timer you had set went off. Carefully, you untangled yourself from your excessively long phone charger before check the time and realizing you only had ten minutes to get ready. How many times had you pressed snooze in your sleep? You were in too much of a rush to figure it out as you raced to your closet to put on a comfy pair of pajama shorts and an old college t shirt. Even though Harry said it was going to be casual you decided to still go through the effort of putting on a bit of concealer and foundation to try and cover up the bags under your eyes. You were just rubbing in your moisturizer when you got another text from Harry.

Harry: I’m downstairs, don’t look out your window. Come to the backyard when you’re ready because our date night is about to begin. - H

You grinned widely at the message and quickly finished putting on the rest of your make-up while also running a brush through your hair. Your hair had definitely had better days but it was too late to do anything besides put your hair in a bun to try and keep the frizz down with the growing humidity. With one last look in the mirror, you went downstairs to go meet Harry.

You carefully made your way to the door and grabbed one of your cloth masks off of the counter before putting it on and opening the door to your backyard. Your porch had been covered in fairy lights and two mountains of pillows had been placed on opposite sides of the backyard. In the middle their stood a giant sheet with a projector set up underneath it. It looked like something out of a rom-com and you were shocked that Harry was able to set all of this up without you knowing. Just as you were about to call out Harry’s name you saw him walk in through the back door with a mask on, a bottle of wine in his hands. He was wearing one of your favorite striped shirts that you said made him look like Where’s Waldo’s cousin.

“I know it’s not exactly how I would have liked to see you on our first date in months, but I made sure to measure out the 1 meter (6 feet) for the cushions” Harry stated as he placed the bottle of wine down on a table next to a box of pizza.

Your eyes began to water at the sight of him in front of you. It had been so long since you had seen him in person and so much had happened in your life in the last couple months that all you wanted to do was run up and wrap your arms around him. You impulsively put your arms out and took a couple of steps forward before you remembered that you couldn’t touch him and put your hands down. A tear fell down your cheek just as Harry looked up from the bottle he was attempting to open.

“Y/n what’s wrong love. Did I do something wrong?” He asked cautiously as you shook your head.

“Just missed you a lot. Wanted to give you a hug, but I don’t want to risk it” you replied softly as you took off your mask and wiped the stray tears from your face.

Harry slowly took off his mask and gave you a sympathetic smile, “Wish I could run up and hug you too, love. Missed you so much these past couple of weeks. Thought I was going to go crazy with Jeff and all that baking in LA”.

You chuckled softly at his efforts of lightening the mood before scrunching your nose the extensive facial hair you didn’t remember seeing before.

“When did you grow that fuzz ball on your face?” you questioned sarcastically as you made your way over to one of the pillow piles.

Harry scoffed at your remark and ran his hand across his face, “Excuse me miss [y/l/n] but this has taken me nearly four months to grow and I’d say it is much more than just a fuzz ball”

“You’re right Har, you definitely grew it out to pornstar level. Proud of you baby” you said with a giggle as Harry glared at you.

“I did not come here to get harassed about my new look” Harry grumbled jokingly as he gave you his cheshire smile.

“You’re right, you’re right, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t make fun of your tremendous accomplishments. Thank you by the way, for putting all of this together. This was really sweet. Oh my god, stop, is this your fuzzy sweater” You said with a squeal as you put on his multicolored cardigan he had placed on top of a blanket. You inhaled the smell of his Tom Ford cologne and smiled.

“I figured since I can’t give you a hug yet, you could wear that” he replied back as he carefully opened the box of pizza he had placed on a small table in the middle of the porch.

You moaned softly as you stared at the pizza just a few feet away from you.

“Why have I never heard you moan like that for me in bed?” Harry joked as you glared at him.

“That was my foodgasm moan. You know damn well I don’t keep quiet with you so I don’t want to hear any complaints. Now, give me two slices of that delicious pizza please”

Harry laughed at your response as he placed his mask back on and put on some hand sanitizer before placing two piece of pizza on a plate and pouring you a glass of wine. He walked over to you carefully and placed the food and the glass on a tray next to you that you hadn’t seen. You thanked him before placing the tray in your lap and taking a sip of your wine. Harry began to grab himself a slice when you shouted his name and took out your phone.

“Wait I want to get a picture of you in person. I can’t keep stalking your fans’ accounts to get pictures of you.” you mumbled as you tapped on your camera.

Harry nodded grudgingly before he took off his mask and began posing with the bottle of wine.

“I think I could be one of those influencers” he joked as he nearly spilled the wine onto his shirt.

“I think maybe we should leave that to the pros” you replied jokingly as you curled up into your pillow fort and began munching on your food.

Harry sat down in the the pillow fort adjacent to yours on your porch. The two of you talked as you ate and tried to catch each other up on anything that you had missed on your various facetime calls. It was nice to be able to see him in person and know that he was okay. You had been so worried he would catch it while in LA and even though he wasn’t in one of the high risk categories you had witnessed several health people die of the disease and you didn’t even want to think about Harry in that situation. After you had both finished your meals Harry decided to put on “10 Things I Hate About You” and proceed to jump up next to the sheet you guys were using for a screen and act out the entire bleacher serenade live.

You could not keep the smile off of your face that night. Harry had this way of making you forget all of your problems when you were with him and you were grateful to have found someone as caring as him.

“ I love you H, thank you for a wonderful night” you whispered as the credits rolled onto the screen.

“Anything for you love. Glad I got to see for a bit even if you did fall asleep on me halfway through the movie.” He replied back with a grin.

“It wasn’t my fault! You made my pillow fort to cozy, how could I resist a cat nap?” you stated as you smiled at him.

“Can’t blame you for it. Got a couple of cute pictures of you sleeping for my lock screen though.” He replied with a smirk as you groaned.

“Harry I was definitely drooling, you need to delete those” you said as Harry shook his head.

“Can’t do that. Got to show mom our lovely date night”

“Fine, but no one else sees that picture besides Anne. I can’t have Mitch and Jeff teasing me everytime I see them like with the whole ketchup fiasco.” you mumbled as you began to fold the blanket you had wrapped around your body during the movie.

“Leave everything there love, you need to go get some sleep before your shift tomorrow. I’ll clean all of this up, you just head inside for me” Harry stated as he turned off the projector and began taking down the sheet.

“Are you sure?” you asked hesitantly.

‘Yes, love, you need your rest. Go, come on. I can’t have you falling asleep while taking care of your patients.” Harry replied.

You hesitated for a minute before buttoning up the sweater Harry had given you and putting your mask back on.

“I don’t want to leave here without giving you a hug” you stated softly as Harry looked at you with a small smile.

“(Y/n) if you want a hug all you have to do is ask, would have given you one the minute I got here. Let me grab my mask.”

“You’re sure you’re okay with this? I got tested two days ago for COVID and the last 6 have been negative but I don’t get the results till tomorrow and I don’t want you to get ill” you replied with a hesitant look.

“Love I think with all of the hand washing and the masks we’ll be okay, but I’ll only give you one if you want it” he said as he put on his mask and adjusted the nose wire.

“I want one” you said as Harry opened his arms up for you.

You practically jumped into his arms and nearly started sobbing from the first really physical contact you’ve had with anybody in weeks.

“God I love you so much (Y/n)” Harry stated as he tugged you closer and placed a kiss on your temple through his mask.

“I love you too H” you replied back as you closed your eyes tight and tried to hold on as long as possible.

“Good now come on, get to bed so you’re well rested for tomorrow. I’ll come back tomorrow night with some dinner after your shift so we can eat together again. Would that be ok?” he asked as he placed his hands on your hips.

“That would be lovely. I get off at 8 tomorrow”

“I’ll be waiting for you here, don’t worry” Harry stated.

“Ok, I’ll go. I love you” you replied as you carefully untangled yourself from Harry and slowly made your way inside.

“I love you too. good night Haz”

“Night love, see you tomorrow”

———————————————————————

@thereal(y/n) Someone tell my boyfriend that he’s not cool enough to be sponsored by this amazing wine

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@harrystyles Tell that to Gucci

@annetwist You two are too cute

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Masterlist

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles fluff #boyfriend!harry #one direction #harry styles x reader #harry styles x you #harry styles x y/n #fluff!harry #harry styles masterlist

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bangtae-sohotddaeng · 3 years

Text

we’ll be counting stars | k.th. | 2

(^ gif cred: ON THE VOYAGE | pinterest)

pairing: idol!Taehyung x publisher!Reader

rating: nc-17 (for language and themes)

summary: You’d sworn off love and relationships forever. You were here to do your job - work with the biggest boyband of the world. Not forge friendships and...and whatever it was that you and Taehyung were building up with these sneaky glances. It was, to be very fair, your Chief Editor’s fault that you’d landed in this mess. Maybe you should quit your job? Maybe you should quit life -

Oh, he was staring again, and did he freaking lick his lips?

warnings: swearing (reader’s got a potty mouth) + this is set like 5 years in the future + reader has emotional issues, she's a relationship phobe + mentions of weed

genre: so much ANGST ugh + fluff + comedy + some crack

words: 3.3 k

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gimme feedback, much much appreciated!

“We’re all clear on the schedule, but I’ll repeat it for your sake,” you announced.

Your team was huddled around you, right outside the airport, with their luggage in their hands. You’d landed in Seoul less than an hour ago.

“So, right now, we’re going to take a cab to the hotel our company has booked us. We’ll rest, let our bodies recharge and adjust—because we left on Friday morning and reached Saturday morning in thirteen hours.” You grimaced. “Dunno about you, but my mind needs to adjust.”

You received collective groans of agreement in response.

“Great, you feel me. So we all do that first. And then we’ll collect in the lobby after lunch, at around 4 pm? I’ll have a word with BTS’ manager, and he’ll arrange for our commute. I’ll update you of the exact time, then. For now, let’s just go grab naps.”

You all hailed three taxis to the hotel, with Sana grabbing you by the elbow to make you sit with her. You did so, with a frown. She looked nervous.

“Y/N!” she almost wailed as soon as you’d shut the door.

The driver looked at her in alarm. You winced in embarrassment, and apologized in Korean. He started the car without a word.

“Sana, compose yourself. What is the matter with you?” you scolded the girl.

“Y/N, how am I gonna face him? I might freeze up at sight! And—and what if my brain starts to think up scenarios from… oh God, you won’t believe the kind of fanfiction-stuff I’ve read about him!”

Your ears started to warm up. You had some idea. It had been a while, sure, but you could still vividly remember the kind of fanfictions you yourself had indulged in—

Wait a second. This girl was gonna make you nervous, too!

“Okay, Sana, enough. It doesn’t matter how cute you find Yoongi, he’s our client. We’re gonna have to be formal with him. At all costs. We mess it up, we lose our jobs. You get that? So, think about your husband, try to be the professional woman he married, and for God's sake, stop making me overthink shit!”

Sana shut up, then, but her eyes still looked worried. "How do you do it, Y/N?"

You frowned. "How do I do what? I don't have a fucking crush on Yoongi!"

She gave a small laugh, looking slightly more at ease. "Exactly! How?"

You blinked, confused.

"I mean," she elaborated, "not just him. In general. How do you manage to not get dragged down by feelings and stuff?"

"I kinda had to." You snorted. "People are like leeches, Sana. You only stand a chance for a good, peaceful life if you avoid getting too close to them. Get caught up in feelings, get your soul sucked out of you. Get crushed under expectations, live the rest of your life trying to fulfil them. Die on the inside before your body perishes.” You shrugged. “A pretty horrid way to die, if you ask me.”

Sana gave a huff of laughter. “Who hurt you, Y/N?”

You froze. Sana probably said that rhetorically, but it still hit you hard enough.

It wasn’t the question of who hurt you, but actually, who you had hurt.

You shut your eyes for a few extended seconds, willing yourself to not think of the past. You succeeded for the most parts, too. But then Sana nudged your shoulder.

“Hey, I didn’t—I didn’t mean to upset…you…” She trailed off with a worried look on her face when you shot her a glare. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not upset,” you grumbled, turning to look out of the window. “I’m just done with my quota of personal-unnecessary-unneeded-interactions with people, for the day.”

You heard Sana sigh. Mentally, you sighed, too.

You all found the two vans a bit excessive. There were eight seats in one—there were seven of you. But Manager Woo insisted that the boys actually used three of these to commute, so even this was a bit miserly of the management.

Rich people problems.

You shook your head with a small smile. “It’s all okay,” you said to the Manager in Korean, following his lead into the BigHit offices where you were to meet your clients for the first time, ever.

You chanced a discreet glance at Sana. Maybe your frustrated, shitty pep-talk in the taxi had actually worked, because she looked a lot more held together than she had ever since you dragged her onboards with this project.

“This way,” Manager Woo instructed you, gesturing towards a lift. “The security personnel will lead you to the second floor, and into the meeting room. I will join you in a while.”

You bowed and your team followed, and then you all stepped into the elevator that looked big enough to hold the meeting within itself. Two security guards, all suited up with a tie and fitted with earpieces in a stereotypical bodyguard look, followed you in.

You exhaled, rubbing your hands together. “Guys,” you addressed your team in English. “You all have the detailed itinerary on your tabs, right?” At their nods, you pulled your own iPad out. “Good. Keep it on you when I talk about it with them.”

“Y/N,” Simon called out to you.

You looked at the fidgety guy with raised eyebrows.

“Are we gonna stick with the choices…” He trailed off when your eyes narrowed.

“We’ve spent more than seventy-two hours researching, Simon. Please stop with this.”

Simon gulped, but shut up.

The elevators opened up, just then. One of the guards stepped out, and gestured towards the glass doors on the right. “That is the meeting room,” he said in Korean.

You all stepped out, elegantly, and you turned to bow to the two guards. “Thank you,” you said in Korean

They bowed in return, looking slightly flustered, and stepped back into the lift. You turned to face the meeting room, inhaled deeply, and then exhaled.

“Come on, guys. Showtime.”

You led your team as they walked behind you in pairs. Once you got to the doors, a guard stepped up from inside the room, and opened the doors for you.

A long meeting table sat in the centre of the room, with seven occupants on one of its sides. BigHit’s Founder and CEO sat at the head of the table, and the foot lay vacant—reserved for, you assumed, the Manager. Seven chairs also lay vacant for your team, opposite the BTS members.

As the door gave way, the CEO met your eyes. You gulped your nerves, and plastered a smile on your face. As you all crossed the threshold, the eight people seated on the table stood.

Dragging in a deep breath, you placed your tablet on the table before you faced them all. “Hello everyone,” you enunciated in Korean, and then bowed.

Your team followed your lead, and the people in the room bowed back. You kept your professional smile in place, discreetly wiping your sweating hand on the thigh of your cotton pants. Then you nodded at the CEO and he asked everyone to settle down.

“Welcome to Korea,” the CEO started. “Did you get here okay?”

“Besides the jet-lag, we’re actually very good,” you told the CEO to receive chuckles in response.

“Manager Woo will join us in a few seconds,” he then continued, looking between your team and the boys—that you were yet to properly look at—and gestured towards them. “Meanwhile, let’s introduce ourselves. I’m Bang Si-Hyuk, BigHit’s founder and CEO. Nice to meet you.”

You bowed, telling him your own name, and then shook hands with CEO Bang. Standing from your place, you finally willed your gaze to focus on the faces of the members instead of nervously looking into space.

Oh, wow. Cameras didn’t do these guys any justice, apparently. Not even the 8K ones, because they were really freaking beautiful human beings.

Dressed in lounge wear consisting mainly of extremely baggy hoodies as far as you could gauge, they still managed to look jaw-droppingly gorgeous. And their skin was glowing so bright, it looked unreal. But it was very much real because you were sitting across a three foot wide table from them, you could tell. It looked so soft.

You’d tightly held your lips up in a smile to save your mouth from dropping open.

While you were trying to get a grip on yourself, your eyes landed on a pair of brown ones framed by gorgeous lashes, right opposite to you. They were looking down. But then, they were looking up, as if sensing your gaze on them. Your professional grin involuntarily melted into a genuine one as Taehyung gave you a bashful nod of acknowledgement. You nodded back.

“Hello,” you mumbled, watching as his eyes grew wider. You blinked, releasing how private that sounded. You cleared your throat and ducked your head before looking at all of the seven guys in turn and nodding at each one of them. “Hello to you all,” you addressed them in Korean this time and told them your name. “And this is my team.” You gestured with both hands to your sides. “We’ll be your interviewers and companions for the next six months.”

A flurry of bows, nods and hellos passed over the table, followed by your teammates announcing their names. You doubted any of these would be retained, including your own. Which is why you handed over the seven identical copies of all your resumes to the CEO. “Here, Mister CEO. My boss had mailed them over to you, but these are to help the boys get acquainted with us better,” you told the man, and he gave you an appreciative seeming smile.

“That’s thoughtful of you,” Namjoon suddenly said, smiling with dimples up at you from his place on Taehyung’s right. His black hair was ruffled and a circular framed pair of glasses rested on his eyes. “I’m RM,” he said in English, “but please call me Namjoon. It’s a pleasure meeting you and your team.”

You smiled wide, shaking his hand when he forwarded it. His skin felt super soft, just as you’d expected it to be by looking at it.

The rest of the boys followed suit, minus the handshaking. They all insisted you all call them by their real names, which felt almost funny to you, because you were gonna be unwinding their whole life. This felt so unnecessary.

Just then, the door opened and Manager Woo reappeared. He bowed his head in the CEO’s direction before taking a seat to your extreme left, at the foot of the table. “Hello, everyone,” he said, “did I miss anything?”

“Just the introductions,” Namjoon filled him in with a smile.

Manager Woo nodded and then looked at you. “The next thing to talk about is the schedule your team has planned for us, so that we can sort out any doubts or disagreements that might be there.”

Nodding, you pulled up the itinerary on your iPad, and cleared your throat. “I have planned out a strategy of working on interviews, and then sitting back to compile everything in an orderly fashion,” you announced. “We’ll divide each one of the six months we have on our hands into two groups—three weeks of discussions, and one week of compilation. All seven of us would be working with one member each, one on one, continuously for a time span of three weeks. After that my team will sit together, compare notes and move forth with the actual writing part. Then we’ll check if something has been missed by someone and arrange for its cover up, before we move forward into the next set of three weeks.”

You turned to look at your team to see if any of them wished to add anything, but they nodded at you with discrete thumbs ups. You exhaled in relief.

CEO Bang nodded at Manager Woo, who hummed in response. “Sounds workable to me. Boys?” He gestured towards the band members.

You looked up to find seven pairs of round eyes and gawking mouths.

Murmurs ran across the seven angels seated opposite you. While they were distracted, you took your sweet time looking at each one of their faces. They really did look unreal.

Next to CEO Bang, Jin and Yoongi were engrossed in some discussion. With their heads bent, their hair shined blindingly bright—Yoongi’s like liquid silver, and Jin’s like molten lead. Next to Jin, Namjoon was adjusting his glasses over his shut eyes as he listened to Taehyung whisper something in his ear, and kept shaking his head in response every few seconds. Taehyung was almost drowning in his oversized hoodie with the hood up, as he used his hands with those elegant ass fingers of his to cover his mouth while speaking into Namjoon’s ear. Next to him, Jimin was nodding along to Hoseok as the latter spoke in whispers, gesticulating widely.

Your eyes fell onto the far end of the table, then. Jungkook, who was already looking at you, shot his hand up when your gazes met. His eyes were literally sparkling with curiosity.

“Yes?” you asked with a big smile.

Jungkook flashed his teeth at you, looking not a day over five years of age. “Is one week enough time to write?”

You frowned. “In theory, yes. But if things go south and we need more time, we can always extend the contract. Mr. CEO?”

“According to the clauses in the contracts, definitely.” CEO Bang nodded with a small smile. “The book has to be good. We can compromise with everything, except for the quality.”

You nodded in understanding. There was an extendable clause in your contract, but you had every intention to not have to employ it. Not only did your boss have huge expectations from you, but you yourself were determined to give this project your best. Better than your best. You’d wanted to manage a complete project by yourself for so long, this was your chance of a lifetime to shine.

Taehyung’s hand shot up, breaking you out of your thoughts. He looked beyond adorable with his eyes rounded and lips nervously folded in.

“Ye—yes?” you stuttered very unprofessionally and then covered up with a cough.

“Who works with who?” he said in a breath, confusing you for a moment. “Will you take chits out? Or ask us to choose?”

“Oh, no no.” You chuckled when you caught his drift. “We’ve already decided among ourselves and also done some homework. You’ll find your personal interviewers in your contract copies.”

“Did you decide by picking out chits?” Namjoon grinned at you, and you laughed.

It had been chits, but you weren't about to tell them that. “Something like that.” You shrugged, playfully, and giggles rolled over the table.

Manager Woo, then, launched into a set of instructions for the band members. CEO Bang kept adding details in the middle, and the band members just kept nodding along in a bored fashion. Maybe they’d been over this multiple times.

You sat back to relax, observing everyone as you listened to the set of rules and procedures you were already familiar with. You looked from the corner of your eye as Jimin elbowed Taehyung.

“Did you want to work with someone in particular?” Jimin’s whisper into Taehyung’s ear floated over to you.

Taehyung’s eyes briefly met yours, nearly burning a hole through your head by the deep curiosity emanating from them. And then he ducked his head again, shrugging Jimin off of him.

You swallowed, roughly. Oh, God.

Manager Woo wound up his instructions with a repetition of be as honest as you can be, and then called out to you. “Do you wish to add something, Miss?”

You looked at your team. They shrugged. You shrugged, too. “You’ve covered it really well, Mister Manager. I’d actually like to emphasize one of your points—this is not an interview.” You looked across the table, at each of their faces, turn-wise. “There would be no cameras, no recorders, and no one monitoring your actions. Relax and be at ease. You should, in fact, think of the sessions as making new friends. You tell them about yourself, and they tell you about themselves. Only difference being, what you tell them will get compiled in a book so there must be a bit more of that.”

Your eyes met Taehyung’s and he nodded with a small laugh. The others gave you similar reactions, with Hoseok giving a two-fingered salute.

“That’s good. Also, Miss, we would like to request your team to work around the boys’ bodyguards.” Manager Woo looked at you earnestly.

“We’re really very grateful that you’ve agreed to our request for privacy and not enforced the sessions to be with the boys’ managers.” You shrugged a shoulder, and exchanged glances with Sana and Nathan. “And so, we would be okay working in the presence of the bodyguards, no issues.”

Your team hummed and nodded their own agreements. Manager Woo nodded back with a huge smile, looking relieved.

“We have the first interview scheduled for the day after tomorrow,” he then said as he distributed the individual contract copies among the BTS members and then your team. “Have a look at the details, one last time.”

You could, by this point, recite the clauses of the contract in your sleep. Yet, to be respectful, you accepted the file and placed it before yourself. You looked to your right and then left at your team. “Any questions, guys?”

Meryl raised her hand. Your eyebrows rose in intrigue. You gestured for her to speak up. “Yeah, um. About the secrecy clause—can we get a rough estimate as to when the news of the biography will be released?”

You nodded along. That was kind of a good question.

Manager Woo looked at CEO Bang, and all seven boys’ eyes adorably followed. CEO Bang readjusted his glasses. “We are planning a press conference at the end of six months.” Whoa. “I believe you’re going to have to keep this secret for the entirety of the project.”

You exhaled. It was gonna be kinda hard, but you’d manage.

“I got you!”

Your head snapped up at Jungkook’s shout of joy. He held the file in one hand and the other was raised up, mid-cheer. When all eyes fell on him, he froze for a moment before folding onto himself, bashfully. The boys all broke out laughing. You too had to stifle yours, by looking down in your lap, to maintain your professionality.

When you looked up after a moment, your eyes met Taheyung’s again. He seemed to be slightly confused and kept looking between the file in his hand, you and Jungkook.

“Si… Simon?” he whispered with a heavy accent, but it was all you could hear despite the chaotic discussions happening all around you.

You pointed at the guy sitting next to you. “Him,” you responded in English.

Taehyung’s eyes reverted back to you. “You?” he asked in English, very quietly.

You paused. “Jungkook,” you responded, gesturing to the still blushing boy with your eyes. And then, realizing how intimate your exchange was, you flashed him a professional smile. “Simon is great at conversation! You’ll have a good time with him,” you old him loudly, in Korean, earning smiles from the Manager and CEO.

Taehyung had still looked a bit lost when you tore your gaze away from him and picked up your tablet, but you willed yourself to unlock the gadget and not let your eyes stray.

This was just your first meeting, and Taehyung’s person’s intensity was already too much to handle. You thanked God you weren't gonna work with him one on one, or you won’t survive.

But, little did you know.

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gimme feedback, much much appreciated!

Tags: @tangledsparkles @hoefortaeshands @getmemyfries

#taehyung angst #bts angst #taehyung fluff #bts fluff #taehyung imagine #bts imagine #bts v #v angst #v fluff #v imagine #wbcs #*mine

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soahappylowman · 4 years

Text

Boundaries ch. 6 (Happy Lowman)

Summary: Happy’s in charge of protecting a camgirl for Diosa. Words: 1634 Warnings: Nothing that I can think of? Notes: Momentum, I’m telling you. Sorry if the pacing is off on this story. Originally this was supposed to be a quick story and I think that’s why I haven’t moved onto a new day yet. I’m still working through this pandemic since I’m an essential worker. I’m schedule for the next three days, and they’re all overnights. My shifts aren’t short, they’re 12 hours so I’ll likely not have any time to keep writing and updating so there might be a short break for the next couple days, just know that I am trying really hard to keep this up. Either way, enjoy n shit my dudes.

----

True to Happy’s word, he came back to Tessa’s room around 3 hours later. Tessa felt significantly better after a shower and a cat nap, although no more looking forward to her discussion with Happy.

Tessa slid into a pair of tight jeans, a plain long sleeve black t shirt and a pair of boots. She even straightened her hair after her shower. Tessa wasn’t sure what compelled her to put on jeans, let alone do anything with her hair when she wasn’t doing anything but spending time with Happy. She blamed it on the fact that he had packed her bag with the only whole clothes left which honestly didn’t leave her with a lot anyways. Tessa didn’t even want to think about the amount of money that she was going to have to put out in order to fix her life. Her apartment, all of her furniture, her clothes, her car, oh god this is such a mess.

Before Tessa could drown in the despair that began to cut through her chest, there was a knock at her door. Hesitating for only a second, Tessa slowly opened the door to reveal Happy. He was leaning against the door frame in such a casual manner, Tessa was struck by the size of him. Before she could stop herself, her eyes raked down his body and back up. Standing at least 6’1”, cladded in dark jeans and grey Sam Cro shirt with his leather kutte on top. Tessa can work out the lines of his muscles in his forearms up to his biceps, down to his thighs where his legs were crossed at the ankle and his dusty old boots. His thigh, oh god, his thighs if she could just get on top – stop. Jesus, fuck, Tessa. Control yourself. Tessa brought her gaze up to Happy, who noticed that she was checking him out. With a raised eyebrow, Happy’s eyes slide down her body and back up just as slowly as Tessa’s did. Tessa felt her face flush with heat, taking note of how Happy’s jaw seemed to clamp down on his toothpick just a little harder.

Tessa, once again, made the excuse that she hadn’t been to work in a week, therefore hadn’t gotten off in a week and simply needed a release and that’s it. This was no more than that, her body was simply used to being satisfied at least three times a week.

“Ready?” Happy’s raspy voice shot through her and pushed her to move. Turning around abruptly, she snatched her wallet off her bed and walked pasted Happy into the hallway without looking at him, determined to act like that didn’t just happen. Happy couldn’t help the smirk that pulled at the corner of his lips. Turning back to face Tessa’s back, he admired the cup of her ass in those jeans before walking past her.

The way that the clubhouse was left 3 hours ago was not the state that it was in now. It was early evening, around approximately 4 pm. Before, the place was practically empty with a few men in kuttes buzzing around, but now it was more packed. There were more men in kuttes hanging around, as well as women. There were significantly more women here, and they were all in various states of undress, which shocked Tessa a little. Tessa worked at a porn studio so a naked woman wasn’t something to bother her, but she never expected to see that in a clubhouse. Happy grabbed her hand as they made their way through the crowded clubhouse. Some women were bringing cases of liquor and beer, accompanied by the prospects, from the backroom connected to the bar. Some women were draped across the men in kuttes like clothing, and other women were cleaning. Tessa frowned a little.

Tessa dutifully followed Happy, although it wasn’t much of a choice with the way her hand was locked in his. She stared down at their interlocked grip, wondering if she should let go. Tessa’s developed boundary problems over the past couple years, as a result of people entering her personal space without her consent one too many times. Despite the fact that typically, she has reservations about being touched, let alone someone doing something as domestic and romantic as holding her hand, Tessa found that Happy’s was a little comforting. It was big, and the skin was rough and his hand was undoubtably warm but it made Tessa feel nice. This made her frown further. So lost in her thoughts about Happy’s hand, which almost moved into the impure range, she didn’t notice when they stopped up at the bar instead of heading to the exit.

“Well look at you two,” Jax leaned back in his seated position on the bar stool, appraising the couple that walked up to him, a smirk playing on his lips. Tessa’s face heated up again, using that as her sign, she slipped her hand out of Happy’s, although he didn’t put up much of a protest over it.

“We’re gonna head out for a bit, I’m gonna see what other information I can get.” Happy crossed his arms over his chest, widening his stance. Happy and Tessa may not have noticed that he moved into a defensive position, but Jax did. He fought to keep his smirk from moving into an all out grin. All he did instead was nod his head.

“Gonna be back in time tonight for the ring? I got a couple bucks to place on you tonight.” Happy nodded, although didn’t offer up any more conversation. “Alright, make sure I can reach you.” With that, Happy turned and reached back for Tessa’s hand again, who, without thinking about it and despite the fact that she purposefully pulled away from him two second earlier, slide her hand easily into his.

Before they could get very far, they were intercepted in the middle of the clubhouse, half way to the exit when Juice called out to Happy.

“Hey, Happy, hold on!” Juice jogged through the clubhouse, narrowly missing a few of the other girls scurrying around, cleaning and grabbing alcohol. Despite another interruption, Happy didn’t seem irritated and Tessa didn’t bother try to dislodge her hand from his again. “I got a couple questions for you, Tess.” Tessa tried not to cringe at the nick name. How very… familiar of him to call her that.

“How long have you had your equipment? Like your camera and your laptop?” Tessa thought for a moment.

“I’ve had the laptop for years, about 4 or 5 years now, I got it when I started college. The camera’s fairly new, within the last year at least. It’s top quality. Why?”

“It’s going to take me a few days to work through all the equipment. You won’t need it for a few days right?” Tessa shook her head.

“I would prefer to use my own equipment. I like to save the videos on a zip file on my laptop to edit. I can deal without the camera and shoot equipment but the laptop’s kind of important. I don’t want videos on a computer that doesn’t belong to me.” Juiced nodded.

“If I can get all the passwords for your stuff, it’ll take less time. I can probably work with giving you your laptop back to you. I’ll just run a scan on the laptop. It can work in the background if what you’re gonna do isn’t too heavy.” Juice shot Tessa a wide grin. Tessa pursed her lips, and almost subconsciously leaned against Happy.

“Okay, I can work around that. I’ll get you my passwords, but if I find any of my videos released on the internet without my consent, I’ll charge ya Juicey.” Tessa shot Juice a toothy grin, in which he responded in kind.

“Sure, but can’t promise I won’t enjoy them on my own.” Juice winked at Tessa and a second later, Happy began pulling on her hand still attached to his. Tessa followed the biker dutifully, looking at Juice over her shoulder.

“I’ll get Happy to send them to you!” Tessa had a smile on her face. Despite her earlier reservations about the club she found she really liked the atmosphere. She doesn’t remember the last time that she enjoyed joking around with very many people.

Just as Happy and Tessa were about to exit the club, Happy stopped short, nearly knocking into someone coming in. Tessa peered around the biker, noticing a women taller than Tessa with long blonde hair. Tessa recognized her from Diosa.

Happy didn’t say anything to the woman who the pair nearly ran into it. The woman started for a second like she was surprised, although a second later, a sly smile slid onto her face as she eyed the biker up and down.

“Hey, Happy.” Her voice was as warm as butter and as sweet as sugar. She took a step closer to Happy, sliding her hand down the bicep of the arm that wasn’t holding Tessa’s hand. “I’ll see you later tonight?” The woman didn’t wait for a response before continuing on her way towards the bar. The only acknowledgement that this woman gave to Tessa was a last minute look at Tessa, then down to her hand still connected to Happy’s. The woman’s eyes snapped back to Tessa, giving her a once over. The sly smirk donned her face once more as she moved past Tessa, not saying a word.

Tessa doesn’t know why, but nothing about that exchange sat well in her chest. She shot a look over to Happy, who had clearly seen the moment between Tessa and the woman from Diosa. Tessa slipped her hand out of Happy’s and moved past him, exiting the clubhouse without a word.

---

taglist:

@geeksareunique

#soa #sons of anarchy #happy lowman #happy lowman fic #boundaries #here ya are homies #be patient with me #and let me know what you think

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paleprincessturtle · 4 years

Text

Maybe we should...

Author’s Note: Hello ladies of Cavill’s Thirst Kingdom, greetings. It’s my new account and my first time ever writing fanfic. Soooooo, I’m a nervous wreck and not to mention that English isn’t my first language. But well, here goes nothing. Tell me what you think! Happy reading and thank you :)

Pairing: Henry Cavill x Reader Word Count: 1728 Warnings: umm, nothing??

Henry drops his bag seconds after he passed the door, pecked your lips then murmured that he wants nothing but to nap and head upstairs to the bedroom. Confused by his unusual gloomy behaviour, you trailed behind him. You stopped at the door when you see Henry flopped face-first to the bed. Kal was anxious on the floor, obviously missing his papa and wanted his attention. You observe Kal for a few seconds and thought to yourself, same Kal same. When Kal readied himself to jump to the bed, you stepped inside the room and warned Kal. "Kal, no. Let papa rest". At the sound of your voice, Kal snapped his head and huffed to the floor. You bend down and pet him softly, "good boy" you whisper. Stand up straight, you look at Henry and realized that he hasn't taken off his shoes. God, is he that tired? You start to take off his shoes and socks. Rewarded by a groaning Henry, you lay quietly beside him. Your fingers slowly caressing his soft curls. You love it when his hair like this, so soft to the touch, the curls loose, and he feels just like Henry, a kind-hearted man that you fall in love with. Not Superman nor August Walker nor Geralt of Rivia. He's just your Henry. He hummed as you caress his hair and snapped you out of your mindless dreaming. "Love, how about I prepare you a warm bath and you can go back to your napping activity?", Henry just hummed again and you sigh. You scooted your body closer to him and kissed his shoulder. "Come on, darling. It will make you feel better. I promise" you whispered against his sweater covered shoulder. How much you missed his scent. He smells like home. He moves his head to look at you with only one eye opened. You giggle and he smiles. "Warm bath?" instead of answering, he briskly moves to kiss your lips softly, oh so softly. "I take that as a yes" you kiss his nose and got up from the bed. "Don't go back to sleep, honey. It will only take a few seconds". You rush to the bathroom and fill the bathtub with warm water. Unlike you, Henry isn't a fan of a hot bath. You shake your head softly remembering all the time Henry complained that you never bath, instead you cooked yourself, but most importantly, him, when you two bathed together. You are now arguing with your mind. Should you stay and bath with Henry or leave him alone? He seems so tired he barely touched you. And the fact that you haven't met in 3 days, clearly says it all. After contemplating, you decided not to disturb Henry. You pour some rose oil to the water and leave the bathroom to fetch your tired lover. You sigh in relief when you see Kal is sleeping soundly, he seemed restless wanted to get to the bed. Henry looks at you as you enter the bathroom and his eyes light up. But the tiredness in his eyes, he couldn't hide it. You stand at his feet, "the bath is ready, your highness" you bow and smile at him. Henry slowly sits up and leans his head on your stomach. You put your hands around his head and caress him. He sighs. "Bad day at the set?" you looked down at his head, how he buried his face to your stomach. After he doesn't answer, you choose to let it go and now massaging his scalp. He looks up at you and softly says "it's not a bad day, I just got really tired". You straddle his lap and he rests himself at the crook of your neck. As much as you like feeling him this close, you place your palm gently at both sides of his face and he smiles at you. You caress his temple, hoping it will somehow soothe him and you kiss his lips. Your temple touches his, your lips just mere inches away. "I really love you, y/n" he whispers, loud enough for you to hear. "And I, you" you kiss him again and smile. Reluctantly, you stand up from his warmth. "Come, darling. Your bath is ready" you stretch out your hand and he takes it. "Just call me when you need anything, okay?" he nods and kisses your temple before walking to the bathroom. You walk to Henry's office downstairs to catch up on some works. Well, actually you've been using this room more that Henry ever did. Since the house Henry will surprises you with is still a working progress, you have to share an office with Henry. Not that you mind. You powered up your laptop and set an alarm at 5 PM. Enough time to make some steak for dinner.

Now, it's been 6 hours after Henry got home and he's still sleeping. You're plating the steak when you feel a pair of strong arms on your waist. You giggle as Henry kiss your neck featherlight. You look back at him and kiss his lips. "I'm sorry I went straight to sleep. I know we haven't met in 3 days". You move to take the caramelized carrots with Henry glued to your back. Henry laughs as he sees you struggling to move. "Henry……." you whine and Henry swirl you so you're facing him. "I'm sorry" he says as he caresses your cheek. You instantly lean into his warm touch. You coat his hand with yours "I'm not even close to mad, darling" Henry smiles at your words. "Now, good sir, will you let me finish your dinner? Because I can hear your tummy growling in hunger" at that Henry sheepishly blush. "Is there anything I can help?" he let go of you and stand beside you in front of the stove. "At the kitchen, no. But you can go fetch the wine" he salutes at you and off he goes on his wine hunting. You finished plating and as you carry the plates, Henry is pouring the wine. "Where you wanna eat, babe?" you ask and he pointed to the living room with his head. Both of you sit at the sofa and Henry hums. "This smells delicious" he takes a bite "and tastes even more delicious" you laugh at him as you sip on the wine. "I have no idea why I got so tired today" he said while pouring more wine to both your glasses. "Maybe…. Superman just getting older" at your words his face falls. You suddenly want to smack your own head, Henry is a bit sensitive about the age gap between you too. He's 8 years older than you, and he doesn't need a reminder. You put your plate down and hold Henry's hands. "Babe, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up about our age gap, really. It meant to be a joke but definitely failed" you laughed nervously and Henry just nod. He slips his hands away from yours and goes back eating. You eat the rest of your dinner in an uncomfortable silence. You are scolding yourself for saying what you said to him and ruined the whole night completely. And Henry looks so forlorn ever since. You dawdling with the hem of your sweater as Henry take your plate and bring it to the sink. You follow behind him and stop as Henry starts to wash the dishes. You take a deep breath and wrap your arms around his back. You rest your head on his chiseled back and you feel him tensed up. "Henry, I'm really sorry" you murmur, holding back tears. You don't like seeing Henry in pain. And now you're the cause of his pain, you feel like you are the worse arse in the whole wide world. Henry says nothing and you keep hugging him. As he finishes with the dishes, he hangs his head low. And you're already crying by now. Feeling you cry, Henry turns to face you in a blink of an eye. "Darling" he picks you up in his arms and sits on the sofa. "Darling love" he cradles you "you aren't hurting me, please stop crying. I've been just.." he pauses "thinking". You sniffle and wipe your eyes with the sleeves of your sweater. "Thinking about what?" you whisper as you lay your head on his board chest. Henry exhales and quite for a moment. "I've been thinking that maybe we should.." he pauses again and another deep exhale. You tensed up in his lap and started toying with your engagement ring. It's now become a habit when you’re nervous. Sensing how you tensed up, Henry caresses you back. "It sounds really stupid" he laughs nervously and now you're really worried. "That maybe we should.. have a child" you sit up straight in Henry's lap and stare at him in disbelief. "Have a child? Now?" make no mistake, the thought of having little Henry running around the house, warm your heart to the fullest. But now? Henry is shooting for the Witcher 2, you are still finishing your doctoral. "I just" Henry takes your right hand and starts making circles in your palm. "You are right about me getting old, I'm not getting any younger.. I want to be in our daughter's life. How if I die before she gets married because I'll be too old by then. And how if I die before she finds the right man? Fuck me, the thought of men ogling over my daughter, I wi.." you kissed his lips to shut him up. You break up the kiss and you just stare at each other. "Daughter?" you smile and Henry eagerly nods. "Then Mr. Cavill, I suggest you, or we, start trying" Henry's eyes got as big as the moon as he grins from ear to ear. He stands up so suddenly and you yelp. He starts laughing as he keeps holding you close in his arms. Your feet don't even touch the floor. The happiness that this non-existence (well, not yet at least) baby brings to Henry, to you. That's beyond comprehension. Henry can't stop laughing as he keeps kissing your face murmuring his gratitude and your heart swell. "By the way, I want a son" Henry laugh harder as he crashed his lips to yours.

#henry cavill #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill fic #henry cavill one shot #henry cavill imagine

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thesmalltowngal · 4 years

Text

COC Snowbaz 10- Force of Nature

COC #10: Side Characters

Micah is finally ready to break up with Penny, but she never lets him get a word in.

~ Okay, so I’m super happy with how this one turned out. I think I wrote Penny pretty accurately, but I’m not sure. Enjoy! ~

I smooth my shirt out one more time, sitting in front of my computer, checking the time on my watch. 5:30 pm. Penny was supposed to Skype me half an hour. But I’m staring at a blank screen on my computer, waiting mindlessly for my girlfriend but not really girlfriend to Skype. Have I lost my mind? I don’t think I’m ready for the talk that’s about to come- maybe I’m never really ready to talk to Penelope Bunce. Who really ever is? I know she’s my ‘girlfriend’, but honestly, I feel like we haven’t really talked since she was in fifth year. She’s always off doing her own thing. At first I missed her, but now… I don’t know, I guess I’m used to it. It’s not like she quit on us cold turkey- it was more of a gradual thing, honestly.

I decide to get over myself and I call her on Skype. She answers on the third ring, much to my surprise. All of a sudden, it’s like the room has gotten stuffier. “Micah! Oh Crowley, I completely forgot about our Skype call!” Crowley. I’d forgotten how cute her British words are.

“It’s okay, Pen…” I start, but I slowly get quieter as she continues on over me.

“I was out with Simon and Agatha! We were out following Baz, because Simon is paranoid as always,” She rolls her eyes. Her curls bounce up and down as she talks animatedly. “Merlin, when I got back, I was so tired that I laid down for a bloody quick nap- I guess I just spaced. I’m so sorry, love.” I just nod, letting her talk. I don’t listen to her much anymore. It makes me feel kind of bad, but honestly, I’m tired of excuses. Tired of hearing about Simon.

“It’s alright. So was Baz up to anything?” She rolls her eyes again. She seems tired, lately. Whenever we Skype I feel like I’m taking up too much of her time. Kind of like I’m just another thing on her list of things to do to cross out. It’s not enjoyable anymore.

“No, as usual. He just wandered down to the catacombs again,”

I try to provide some input. “Maybe he goes down there to eat, or-”

“You know, I bloody bet he goes down there to eat. Simon thinks I don’t listen to his vampire theories, but I do. Every one of them. And Aleistar Crowley, I think maybe he’s got a point. Not that I’d ever tell him that. No need to spur along his obsession with Baz.” She’s going a mile a minute and I can barely keep up. Penelope Bunce… she’s really something.

“Penny, maybe Simon and Baz like each-” She interrupts me again.

“No, no I think not. Baz is evil. Simon is a hero. That could never happen! Oh Nicks and Slicks, did I ever tell you about the other week when Simon and Baz got into a huge fight about…” She continues on, but she might as well be talking to a wall. I zone in and out, waiting for her to pause so I can interject. But I can’t even get a word in when she’s like this. I run my fingers through my hair and take in a deep breath.

More confidently than I have been prior to this moment, I cut her off in the middle of a sentence. Forcefully but not unkindly. “Penny, we need to talk,” “Isn’t that what we’ve been doing?” She scrunches her eyebrows. No, I want to tell her. I haven’t said hardly a word. You’ve been talking.

“Pen, this long distance thing… it’s hard.” I start. I have more to say, but she overlaps me for the millionth time in just the past ten minutes.

Her face immediately softens. “Micah, I know… I know.” Do you, Penny? Do you really know what it’s like to be the boyfriend of a tornado? “But, well, Micah, I love you-”

“I love you, too.” I reassure her.

“And love can fix everything, yeah?” She pauses for a moment, looking me in the eyes with her own round brown ones. I just shrug. “I know this is hard. I wish we could talk more- I do, love. I really do. I’ve just been so busy lately with the Humdrum and everything,” Fuck the Humdrum, I want to say. What about us?

Instead I say, “I just don’t know if I can do it for much longer. I feel so separate from you-”

“I do, too! We need to Skype more,” A plow. Penelope Bunce is a plow, running over everything and everyone in her path. Not letting anyone get a word in.

“Well, yeah, I guess, but that’s not it…” I trail off softly.

She waves me off and smiles her trademark Penny smile. My heart melts, just a little. “Micah, we don’t have very long to go until we can be together in person again! Just the rest of this year and Uni. And then we can figure out you moving here, and-”

“Penny, what if I don’t want to move out to England?” I like it here in America. In my home. She waves that off, too.

“Oh, pish posh. Who wouldn’t want to live in England?” Me. She cocks her head at me.

“I really think that maybe we should take a break.” I’m barely keeping my voice from wavering. Penelope is so intimidating that it’s hard not to stutter. She looks like she’s about to say something, but then her door opens and she whips her head up, immediately to attention.

I hear a frail, light voice coming from her room. “Penny, Simon needs your help with…” I don’t hear the rest of the sentence, but Penny seems ready to jump up and go help. She gives one short nod and tells the girl (Agatha, I’d assume) she’ll be right there.

“Listen, Micah, we can talk about this later, I promise. I just… I have to go.” Always a mile a minute, that girl. Before I can even say goodbye, she’s signed off, and once again, I’m staring at my computer screen, wondering how the hell we’re going to make this work. I’m a stable guy, and Penny is… well, she’s Penny. Unpredictable. Always looking for some new adventure. (Ten bucks she doesn’t end up calling me back until next month. ‘I just forgot- I’ve been so busy’, she’ll say.)

Penelope Bunce has always been a force of nature.

The thing is, I’ve never considered myself to be much of a storm chaser.

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datingintampafails · 3 years

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Chapter 26: Jake* Part Four

Starting to go Sour.

He blows me off for a couple of days, he’s feeling crappy. Regardless, we are still texting each other throughout the day about this and that, and I am continuously checking on him. Trying to be upbeat or at least funny about it. He has a dark sense of humor and has joked about probably having a tumor, as he does later say he has to see a doctor at some point to make sure he isn’t having, as he said, a “brain stem problem.”

One can assume his boos are his own dogs, but for a second I thought he was talking about me and my dog. We continue to talk, I try to figure out when I will see him again. I’m just a bit attached.

He gives me more details the next day about more health issues. He now has to have his wisdom teeth taken out.

I ask him why he thinks I won’t like him anymore, asking if it’s because he will be grumpy. Seeing as the current pain medicine makes him disgruntled and non-communicative, this is why I assume that that would be his expectations. He says that is why.

Although we chat every day, it isn’t until Friday, when I finally have a day off work that he subtly asks me to come over. That is, he asks if I am working, which is an indicator that he wants to spend time together. I have a couple of errands to run, but I tell him I will come over after that. I beat him to his place and had to wait for him in the driveway. I was hanging out with a friend that night for dinner, so I was going to hang out until more or less my friend was ready to hang out.

Jake* excuses himself to the bathroom, rather, he tells me rather explicitly he needs to go take a shit. I’m sitting on the couch waiting for him to be done, he’s taking a bit. My friend texts me and says she is ready so I need to go. I give him another minute or so and when he doesn’t emerge, I say I gotta go, but he doesn’t hear me. I text him “Byeee” instead and he yells out “BYE!” from the bathroom. As I leave, I send him a kiss emoji and say that I wouldn't kiss him goodbye on the toilet, to which he responds “smart.” We talk just a little the rest of the night, as he too is over at a friend’s house.

The next day, I am going to the beach with Ethan*, as I still owe him taking photos for his dating profile(s). Jake* more or less wants me to bail, not because of the history with Ethan*, but he wants to spend time with me instead. He has a couple of friends sleeping on his couch, so despite me saying I could come to see him before and after the beach, he says no since they’re still sleeping. While I’m on the way to his from dropping Ethan* back home, Jake* tells me that he wouldn’t be available now until 5 pm. This is a little irritating given I bumped up my beach trip so I could spend more time with Jake*, but I am understanding.

While I am driving, I have Apple Carplay, so Siri is reading me the texts. He does some dirty talk, and I ask him if he’s doing it on purpose because he knows I’m using Siri to text. He then just gets silly.

Honestly, though, this is the kind of energy I’m looking for in relationships. Just good fun. I get home and take a shower, he arrives maybe half an hour before 5. I don’t remember what happened that night.

In the early morning, this is Sunday now, we have a direct conversation.

He must have been over very briefly because I sent him a text a couple of hours later, but only said two things, got a short answer back, and I gave a one-word text back to that one-word text. Four hours after that, I let him know I was playing Among Us. He is much more involved in this conversation and asks a lot of questions and asks for me to show him how to play. I say I will show him, but I never get a chance to. We then get into a conversation about Nintendo Switch. He says he wants to get one. I let him know I just bought one.

The prime word here, I think, is “we.” This for whatever reason is a woah moment for me. He is talking about a “we.” This moment, mixed with how things start to go in the not too distant future from here, utterly confuses me, as, at this time, he is using specific language indicating he sees a future. A “we should” do this or that, indicates it is for us both. A lot of planning goes into the games we are going to buy as well, where to look, etc.

I’ve also mentioned a few times with him that I would like our dogs all to meet, mostly so that theoretically in the future we could not leave our dogs alone and just have them together when we are staying the night, etc. I am surprised to still be getting tepid responses.

The next day, we are hardly talking. I am making efforts, but not getting much back. He has had more dental work and is taking a lot of naps. I am starting to go back to trivia nights with friends, and I invite him to join us.

He responds “yeah true.” The trivia ends up being canceled because of the World Series while my friends and I are there but I hang out anyway. I mention Jake* to this group of friends for the first time, as I haven’t seen them since he and I started talking. My friend says him not wanting to come to trivia is a red flag, I become a little defensive at the moment, though in the end, I tell her she was right after things ended.

Since there is a stolen base at the world series that night, Jake* tells me that Taco Bell is gonna have free Doritos Locos Taco. This turns into him saying he will bring me lunch the next day at work. He follows through, I give him my order, then I step away from work to be with him. He ordered a crunch wrap supreme, which they had sour cream on, even though he asked without due to his dairy allergy. He is a little bummed but eats his other taco without issue. Lunch starts nice, I’m happy to see him and cozy up to him when I’m done eating. We watch an episode of Legend of Korra on his phone.

I am touching him and laying my head on his shoulder. Suddenly he blurts out, “why do you do that,” in a rather abrasive tone. I ask him what he’s talking about. He is saying that I am fidgety, anxious, all the time. “I don’t even know I’m doing it,” I responded. We had this conversation once before, but this time he seems more irritable about it. All I am doing is stroking his arms with my finger, something I have done with other men in my past, where it has never been a problem if anything something they liked.

“So like I’m like this,” he demonstrates, leaning over staring forward, completely still, for a few moments. “And you are like,” he demonstrates shifting a few times, jittering. I am starting to tear up a little bit. I only have a few more minutes left on my break, and I hate to leave back to work in this state. I am no longer touching him and crossing my arms in the passenger seat, watching his phone, and more or less waiting for the episode to end so I can leave. As it is time to go and I’m leaving the car, he is upbeat as if he didn’t just yell at me. He says “see you later?” and I’m caught off guard, “are we going to see each other later?” I asked. “Yeah depending on work,” he replies. “Uh okay. Talk to you later.” I return to work, still misty-eyed, still hurt by him talking to me the way he did.

He is acting as nothing happened and is debating eating his crunch wrap, I tell him not to. He says he is wanting dinner with me and wants to take me to one of his favorites around town. One which he had sent a menu of me to before. I pick him up on the way to my house and we go get ramen. It’s delicious. He has a few drinks since I am driving. We shared some sake, it was also delicious, and I have a jello shot drink. 10/10 would go again. Afterward we go to my place. I know I am going to need to get it off my chest how I feel about earlier today, and that it hurt me.

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jjkfire · 4 years

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me: bro don’t do it. don’t start another fic that you won’t finish. ok but imagine e2l jungkook

(don’t click if u hate unfinished fics)

jungkook // enemies to lovers // 3k words

With the rain pouring down outside, you hum delightedly as you bite into your juicy chicken sandwich that you had lathered in honey mustard. Sure, it wasn’t particularly healthy, but you could care less about that, especially when it’s 9 pm and you had just gotten off work. Not to mention the fact that you’re completely drenched seeing as you had forgotten to look at the weather app, again. At this point, you could care less. To be quite honest, you’ve become numb to everything. You guess that’s just what being another cog in the capitalist machine does to you.

It’s been over a year since you moved to the big city for a job. At the start you were a bright-eyed college graduate, ready to take on the world. Now, you’re just a shell of a human being, and one of the only things that can bring you joy is the very chicken sandwich you’re feasting on.

You like this place at this time of the night. It’s not as busy, just the soft chatter of some of the customers or rather the collective munching of all the other people who just got off work, feeling and looking exactly like you. The standing bar by the window is where all the tired, beaten down employees find solace with earphones plugged in and glazed over eyes looking out into the streets ahead. That’s your routine and just like any other night, you’re doing the same. Slowly chewing, as your mind drifts off somewhere, the music playing in your ears barely registering.

Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

You see a semblance of a figure standing in front of you on the other side of the window pane, but you’ve encountered enough oddballs in all your trips to this store that you’ve learnt to ignore anyone that stands in front of the window. Most times, it’s some crazy guy, going on some rant, expecting you to care. Your eyes only refocus when the person next to you taps you on the shoulder and directs your attention to the man waving wildly in front of you. You squint, trying to make out the person’s face through the rain, but by then the person has moved on, disappeared. You only shrug at the person who tapped your shoulder, turning your attention back to your sandwich instead.

“Y/N?”

It’s soft, but you think you hear someone calling your name over the music.

“Y/N!”

You pull out your earphones, head whipping around just to make sure you weren’t going crazy and oh god, when your eyes meet his, you sure hope this is just a fever dream.

“Christ, it’s like you’re on a different planet. I’ve never had to work so hard to get someone’s attention before,” The boy in front of you says as he wipes his rain-soaked face with a paper napkin.

“Jungkook?” You mumble, confused, staring at him with your mouth hanging half opened. What was he doing here and more importantly what was he doing here talking to you?

“Yes, sweetheart,” He smiles. “Keep looking at me like that and I might get the wrong idea,” He smirks.

God, he hasn’t changed at all.

“How is it possible that every time I see you, your ego is just 5 times the size it was before?” You question. “How do you manage to find space to keep it in that tiny brain of yours?”

“Easy,” He grins. “I store it in a bigger organ,” He directs your attention simply with his eyes, looking down towards his nether region.

You swear you almost throw up in your mouth. You simply shake your head at him, placing your earphones back in your ears before you turn towards what mattered the most. Your chicken sandwich.

“Oh come on,” Jungkook chuckles, yanking your earphones out. You absolutely hated it when people do that. “That’s no way to treat an old friend. Why the cold shoulder?”

“In what universe were we ever friends?” You ask. “Acquaintances maybe, but never friends.”

“Ah, that hurt,” He groans, clutching his chest. “You mean you don’t consider all the times I chased you around school with worms in my hands, quality time with a friend?”

“No,” You answer, with a curt smile. “And just in case you’re wondering, activities such as yanking my hair, putting tadpoles in my water and double knotting my shoelaces together under the table are also other events I don’t consider quality time with a friend.”

“Shame,” The boy pouts. “I really thought we were the best of friends.”

You roll your eyes at him, though a hint of a smile shows.

Jungkook, truly and genuinely is nothing more than an acquaintance… even if, both your parents wish otherwise. See, the two of you attended the same primary school and that’s how your mother had met his. After yet another torturous day at school with Jungkook attempting to put a live frog in your bag, you had ran up to your mother in tears. She assured you that she was going to have a stern talk with this Jungkook boy. She stepped up, ready to give the boy a piece of her mind when Jungkook’s mother stormed right up, ready to fight. It was hostile at first but soon enough the mothers were laughing together. Wait. This wasn’t what you wanted. After a lengthy chat, one that basically had both you and Jungkook ready to take a nap right on the bench the two of you had been sitting on, you heard your mother making plans to have tea with his mother one day. Hold on. You definitely didn’t want that. Yet, it happened. Jungkook never got reprimanded for trying to put a live frog in your bag and as your mother became friends with his mother, and later, best friends, Jungkook would soon earn a pass to play whatever heinous prank he wanted on you. Oh, but that meant so did you and so began the war between you and Jungkook.

Though you’ll agree that you weren’t quite as creative as Jungkook when it came to coming up with disgusting pranks, you could hurt him in different ways. See, Jungkook wasn’t the most studious kid and he was abysmal at math. You’ve seen him try to hide his report card many times, yet somehow or the rather, courtesy of you, it would end up straight in his mother’s hands. Oh, you still remember the way he would look at you. If looks could kill, you would’ve been dead and buried 50 times over. In any case, whatever amount of nagging Jungkook got wasn’t your problem. If he wanted it to stop, he should spend less time collecting tadpoles and more time studying.

Your war with Jungkook continued on until you were 12. By then, you had many battle scars. You’ve had gum stuck in your hair, had your shoes dipped in sewage water, your textbook put up onto the ceiling fan, among many other seemingly ‘harmless’ pranks that your mother would shrug off. If you had to go on living like this, there’s no telling what you would do to the boy. Luckily, as the year came to a close, and all the students got their results from the national test, you receive the best news you’ve ever heard. You had almost leaped with joy when Jungkook’s mother told you which school was bound for, it was the one just a few streets away, while you, you had gotten into a private school in the neighbouring district considering that you had passed the test with flying colours.

So began the ceasefire between you and Jungkook, or so you thought.

Granted, life was better now that you didn’t see Jungkook every day but that didn’t mean he was out of your life forever. Perhaps, you thought now that you and Jungkook were at different schools, your mothers wouldn’t be close considering they didn’t get to catchup every time they picked the both of you up from school. Oh, how wrong you were. Not only did your mothers stay friends, but soon enough, your fathers became golfing buddies too. Great. Just wonderful.

The worst part about having your fathers become golfing buddies was the fact that they would have these huge get togethers with all the other golfers and their families. They were quarterly events and though the adults had great fun with their booze and chit-chat, it was almost always awkward for the kids. All the kids would be lumped together in multiple ‘kids tables’ and everyone would just sit and stare at each other, trying to make small talk. Though you hated it, the food was almost always amazing and even if you had to be seated next to Jungkook, you didn’t mind because that meant his brother was never too far away.

You’ve had a crush on his brother, Junghoon, for as long as you can remember. Sure, he was four years older but he was everything Jungkook wasn’t. He was nice, sweet and best of all, he never tried putting tadpoles into your drink, or sticking gum in your hair. In fact, you think he’s the only one that listens to you and tells Jungkook off for misbehaving. He was an angel, your saving grace, the boy you would forever be in love with. Jungkook tells you that you’re wasting your time, that his brother has been dating the same girl since he was 11 and he was 17 now. Just because there’s a goalkeeper in front of a goal, doesn’t mean you couldn’t score, you would remind him.

So, that’s how those quarterly dinners went. You dreamily conversing with his older brother while Jungkook made his moves on all the girls in the room. That is, until Junghoon started bringing his girlfriend to the events. Now, you had to sit there and watch them act all lovey-dovey while you were stuck next to Jungkook. Wonderful. Of course, it was of no help that puberty seemed to hit Jungkook like a train. He went from looking lanky and shabby to… hot. As much as you hated the boy, you couldn’t deny that he was plain attractive. If anything, the girls at the dinners, constantly trying to talk and flirt with him was a glaring reminder of how good looking he’d become. It wasn’t like you were staring but he had a well-built chest, solid thighs and of course his face that bordered between cute and straight up sultry depending on how he styled his hair. Towards the later years, he started leaning away from his favourite bowl cut, which meant it started getting harder to pretend that you most definitely thought he was handsome and if he wasn’t the Jungkook that you knew, you’d be like any one of the other girls trying to strike up a conversation with him.

Despite it all, you still looked forward to the dinners because of the delicious food, and perhaps also because you and Jungkook would sneak towards the table at the back where the bottles of wine and hard liquor were placed, often stealing a sip or two when no one was looking. As the years went by, the two of you got bolder, both pouring yourselves a generous serving of whiskey and of course pouring in some coke after that to make it seem like you were good little kids, sipping on soda. Though from afar, it may seem like you and Jungkook were friends, you were adamant that the two of you were nothing more than acquaintances. It wasn’t very easy to convince people because he often posted up pictures of the two of you. He usually looked great in them meanwhile he usually caught you while you’re placing your spoon into your mouth, or while you’re in the midst of sneezing. It was deliberate of course and you had expected nothing less from Jeon Jungkook.

Though Jungkook and you didn’t share the same circle of friends, most of your classmates knew him. With a face like that, of course they did. Of course, the fact that he was exceptional at sports didn’t help. He’d gotten close to some of your friends when he would meet them at sports meets. All the schools in the same district would often duke it out before moving on to the next level, and the next until they reached the state level and finally, nationals. Jungkook got as far as the state level when it came to swimming. Honestly, he had the talent to go all the way, but he was always too busy trying to chat up girls instead of trying to best his own record. In fact, you think he only decided to be a swimmer because he could post pictures of himself in that itty-bitty swimming costume and get all the girls to swoon. Also, yes, you’ve been forced to attend his swim meets, usually at the request of his mother and god, it was torture trying to pretend like you weren’t staring at the boy half the time. You just had to admit that you loved the fact that he had that V-line. God, what you’d give if you could just run your finger along— no, never mind, thoughts like that weren’t meant to be wasted on boys like him.

Many times, you’ve had girls in your school come up to ask you if you could perhaps introduce him to them. You would often say no, but that you could give them the next best thing and that is his number. Can’t you at least only give my number to the hot ones? Jungkook would ask you when he saw you at the quarterly dinners. You would tell him that each time you gave out his number was only revenge for each tadpole he had put into your water bottle back in primary school. God, you’re so petty, he would groan. He promised he’d get his revenge on you too.

As high school rolled on to college, Jungkook had learnt that mentioning your name to his mother gave him the all good sign to go hang out until whatever time he wanted. If my mum calls, just tell her I’m with you, he would say. Truth is, the two of you really would be together, except on the opposite end of the same club. So, you’d oblige when he would ask you to pose for a picture together. In fact, you needed to send one to your mother too because you had told her the same lie, that you’d be hanging out with Jungkook for the night. The two of you usually staged the photo, walking to a nearby restaurant, to sit down and snap a picture before heading to the club.

Back at the club, the two of you were truly acquaintances at best. A rare smile, an even rarer few shared sentences and that was it. Of course, barring the times Jungkook would send his friends your way for a neat little prank. You had caught on pretty quick though. Anytime, a boy would approach you, your go to sentence would be, if Jungkook sent you then sure, I’d give you my number but only if we split whatever it is he’s giving you. So that’s how you ended up with a few extra ten dollar bills by the end of the month. Even so, it started getting annoying, so of course, you had gone up to tell Jungkook that you’ve had enough. At that he only scoffed before telling you that each time he sent a boy your way was only revenge for all the times you had given out his number. He promised that unlike you he only sent the good-looking boys your way… because it looked like you could use a good lay. Oh, you wanted to strangle him right there and then.

After that, you got smart. You told any of the boys that came your way that you were willing to pay double of whatever Jungkook was paying if they would kick him in the balls for you. Turns out boys aren’t quite loyal and after being assaulted a few too many times, Jungkook learns to stop sending boys your way. You thought that would be the end of it, that you would be able to enjoy your nights in peace but You should’ve known better. Jungkook was hard to miss at the club. He was loud, obnoxious, and god, did he look good in a button down. If anyone looked closely, they would’ve mistaken you for any other girl, almost drooling as you watched him sip from his whiskey glass, seated on the couch with his legs spread out. He would wink in your direction, as if inviting you take a seat. Fuck, what you’d give to do just that. To grind down on him and put your hands on his broad chests that you— no, wait, thoughts like these really shouldn’t be wasted on boys like Jungkook. Of course, your mind would never really listen, so you would find one of his friends instead, giving Jungkook a full view of what could have been if he wasn’t such a dickhead.

Ignoring Jungkook was a tough task, really, and honestly if he tried anything more than harmless flirting with you, you think you would end up under him in less than a second. Which of course, is bad news. You truly had no self-control when it came to handsome men, but to be fair… look at him. Would any sane person say no? However, fortunately for you, you would get your one and only true, clean break from Jungkook. University. The two of you had gone to universities on opposite coasts and so, the two of you hadn’t seen each other in three good years. You had spent your breaks volunteering and travelling and it seemed so did Jungkook. Whenever the two of you went back home, one of you would have already left. Of course, you still knew what he was up to. It seemed like he was getting even more attention in university. It shouldn’t surprise you. Being on a university campus meant everyone was your age and equally as horny, so of course he was having fun. To be fair, so were you. In any case, you think whatever lingering attraction or rather lust you felt for the boy, had long died away. Yes, that is what you thought… until of course you find Jungkook standing in front of you after four long years of not seeing him and against all laws of nature, it seems like puberty had hit him a second time. That or your dry spell was just really starting to get to you. You reasoned that you would be okay, that this would be the one and only time you and him would run into each other in a city so big, but no, you would run into him time and time again. Then he would convince you to do something so stupid, that you believe the only explanation to you saying yes was that you were possessed. That’s the only way to think about it… because why else would one say yes to sharing a studio apartment with the devil incarnate, Jeon Jungkook himself?

click for some more secret sauce (aka my collection of unfinished fics bc i have no self control)

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1dffchallenges · 5 years

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Pure Coincidence

Written By: @tinyfelthat

Characters: Katharine/Louis

Summary: Katharine (literally) runs into Louis while getting coffee on the morning she and two of her best friends are leaving town for a wedding. Little does she know, she'll be seeing him again, and sooner than expected.

Author’s Note: I threw this together at the very last minute, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!

Warnings: Some language

Pure Coincidence

On the day we left for Boston, it was raining and I’d run out of K-Cups for my coffee.

***

FRIDAY, ABOUT 8:45 AM, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

I was supposed to meet Marnie and Niall at their apartment (after we graduated, they immediately moved in together, and I was so happy for them). I never minded being the third wheel, because they always made sure not to exclude me, except on their date nights, of course. Instead of heading straight to their place, I had to stop at Wawa for a cup of coffee, because I was doing all of the driving. We were taking my car, after all. As luck would have it, I walked straight into somebody while trying to open my umbrella when I was leaving Wawa, and I spilled my coffee all over both of us.

“Hey! Watch it!” he snarled at me.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t see you. Can I buy you a coffee to make it up to you? I have to replace mine anyway.” I gestured with the empty coffee cup in my hand.

“Yeah, okay,” he said as we walked in. “But watch where you’re going next time. I have to go home and change now. I’ve got a long drive ahead of me and I don’t want to spend the whole time sticky and smelling of coffee.”

“Me too! I’m headed to Boston for the weekend with my two best friends. We’re going to a wedding.”

“No way. I’m headed up the same way for my cousin’s wedding. Well, third cousin. Twice removed, maybe? I don’t really remember. He’s a really cool guy, though, from what I remember. But I haven’t seen him since we were in elementary school. I was really surprised he invited me. He even made me a groomsman.”

“Huh. Well, ours is a friend from college. She’s having a huge wedding, and the invitation said open bar, so I am ready for that, especially considering that the groom’s best man is my ex and I’m a bridesmaid.”

“Hmm, that really sucks.” The guy sipped his coffee. “Thanks for the coffee. I gotta go back and change otherwise I’ll get caught in traffic and won’t make it to the rehearsal dinner.”

“Okay,” I said. “Good luck with the wedding. I hope your cousin is as cool as you remember him being.”

FRIDAY, ABOUT 12:15 PM, SOMEWHERE ON I-95

“Ugh, I gotta pee,” Marnie complained. “Find the nearest rest stop.” I glared at her in the rearview mirror, and she reluctantly added, “Please.”

“The next rest stop is in two miles,” Niall said from the passenger seat as we passed a sign that said so. “Marn, can you make it two more miles?”

“Yeah, okay.”

There was a silence for a moment, so I said, “Did I tell you guys why I was late this morning?”

“Actually, you didn’t,” Marnie said.

“So, I was out of K-Cups.”

“As you often are,” noted Niall.

“Yeah, anyway, so I had to go to Wawa for coffee. And I was trying to get my umbrella to open as I left and I walked right into this really cute guy. Coffee all over both of us.”

“Mhm,” chorused my friends.

“Well, I offered to buy him his coffee to make up for the fact that I’d spilled mine all over the both of us, and we talked for a little while we were in line to pay for the coffees…”

“Coffees, plural?” Niall asked. “He had other people with him that you offered to buy coffee for?”

“No, dumbass, I’d spilled mine all over him, so I needed a new one too. Anyway, he’s going to Boston for a wedding this weekend also.”

“No way!” Niall said. “Did you get his number?”

“Nah, he was in a rush and I didn’t get a chance to ask him for it. I don’t think I even got his name.”

“That’s terrible, Katharine,” Marnie said. “Do better next time.”

I pulled into the rest stop and said, “Do you guys want anything to eat? It’s just about lunchtime.”

“Yeah, I could eat.” Niall answered, as Marnie said, “Sure, but I gotta pee first.”

“I gotta pee too,” I said. “But then we should get some slices of pizza. Are you guys good with that?”

They nodded, and Niall added, “I’ll get gas while you two use the bathroom and I’ll meet you in there.” We all got out of the car, and Niall got in the driver’s seat while Marnie handed me my purse. He leaned out the car window. “See you in a bit.”

He drove off, and as we walked in, I said to Marnie, “Whoever is done first should get in line for the pizza.” She looked over at the growing line and agreed.

A few minutes later, I was drying my hands on a paper towel, and walking out of the bathroom, when I spotted the guy I’d spilled coffee on that morning getting in line for coffee. I stopped, briefly, staring. Or at least I thought it was brief, because the next thing I knew, Marnie was standing next to me. “Earth to Katharine!” she said, waving her hands in front of my face. “Do you need more coffee?”

“Yeah, probably. You won’t believe this, but the guy I walked into this morning is here.”

“What?!” she exclaimed.

“Shhhh,” I quieted her. “You’re going to blow our cover.”

“Cover?”

“Yeah,” I said, “I don’t really want to make him think I’ve told you about him.”

“But you’re going to go talk to him, right?”

“Okay,” I said uncertainly, “What do I say though?”

“Fancy seeing you here? I don’t know! Just be yourself.”

“All right. I’ll see what I can do. I’ll meet you at a table.” I started walking away.

“And don’t forget to get his name!” Marnie whisper-shouted after me.

I got in line behind the guy, and feigned surprise. “Wow! Who’d’ve thought we’d end up at the same rest stop after this morning?”

He turned around, shock registering on his face. “Hmm, I think you’ve been following me.”

“I don’t even know your name, let alone what kind of car you’re driving,” I teased.

“Louis Tomlinson,” he extended his hand. “And you are?”

“Katharine Redwood,” I said, and we shook hands.

“Well, it’s nice to officially meet you Katharine,” Louis said.

“Likewise. I gotta get back to my friends though. I promised we’d get some pizza. I know it sucks at rest stops, don’t look at me like that,” I added as he made a grossed out face at me.

“At least get sandwiches instead. The pizza here is so sad.”

“Yeah, but it’s a tradition we’ve had since college, so…”

“Yeah, okay, I get it,” he said. “Go, get back to your friends.”

“I need one more thing from you before I go though,” I said, my voice surprisingly not wavering despite how nervous I was. “Your number.”

“Oh. Yeah. Sure. Gimme your phone.”

I surrendered my phone to Louis and he punched in his number. He handed it back with a coffee emoji next to his name and I laughed. “Here, let me text you so you have mine.”

K: Katharine Redwood

Now you have my number too

L: Thanks. Saving you as a contact :)

I gave Louis a wave and returned to my friends, who, of course, had been watching us interact from afar with rapt interest. They also had gotten me pizza while I’d been talking to him, which I really appreciated.

“So?” they asked.

“His name’s Louis and I got his number.” They cheered and I shushed them. “Shut up! He’ll hear you.”

“What kind of name is Louis, though? Is he French or something?” Marnie asked.

“What? No. I think he’s probably from Philly, like us. Somewhere near there, anyway. I assume. I don’t actually know.”

“Sounds kind of pretentious if you ask me,” she said.

“He didn’t name himself,” I reminded her.

“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” Marnie agreed as we finished eating.

We got up, throwing away our trash, and walking back to my car. We climbed back into the vehicle and got back on the highway.

FRIDAY, ABOUT 2:00 PM, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

“I don’t know why we decided to drive instead of flying,” I complained. “I can’t find a parking spot anywhere.”

“Just go to a parking garage, Katharine,” Niall chided. “Honestly.”

“But it’s for the whole weekend, and they’re so expensive.”

“We’re splitting the cost, remember? Let’s just find one and park in it,” Marnie agreed with her boyfriend.

“Okay, fine,” I conceded.

I drove into a parking garage, and found a spot. We got our suitcases out of the trunk, and walked the few blocks to the hotel where the wedding would be held. We got our room keys, and made our way to our separate rooms. When I got in mine, I set an alarm on my phone and collapsed into the bed for a short nap.

FRIDAY, ABOUT 5:45 PM, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

I woke up suddenly to someone pounding on the door. Disoriented by my surroundings, I sat up slowly, and looked around, my eyes landing on the digital clock on the nightstand.

“KATHARINE ARE YOU ALIVE IN THERE?” Marnie shouted, her voice muffled by the door. I got up and threw the door open. “Shit,” she cursed. “You’re supposed to be ready by now! We have to be at the rehearsal dinner in half an hour!”

I looked down at myself, and looked back up at Marnie in her dress, made up perfectly, and let loose a stream of curses that would’ve made a sailor blush.

“We can do this,” she mumbled. “We can do this,” she repeated, more confidently. “Go take the fastest shower of your life, and I’ll get out your dress and your make up.

“Okay,” I mumbled, still half asleep.

“Get in while the water’s still cold,” she instructed me. “You need the shock to your system to wake you up.”

I nodded and gave a pseudo-salute.

FRIDAY, EXACTLY 6:11 PM, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Breathing hard, Marnie and I ran out of the elevator and into the ballroom. The rehearsal dinner was only for the bridesmaids, groomsmen, and close family of the bride and groom. We, thankfully, did not have to wear matching outfits for this, but Niall was not allowed to come, even though he was Marnie’s date, because there were ‘already too many people coming to the dinner.’

“We made it!” I choked out.

“Yes, and you’re actually on time,” Lily, the bride, said, sounding a little surprised.

“Actually, we’re four minutes early,” Marnie corrected her, looking at her watch.

“Hmm, so you are,” Lily agreed, and floated off to greet someone else.

Marnie and I found our seats at the table, and I looked around. I was glancing around the room, trying to gauge which of the younger men might be single, when I locked eyes with someone familiar. Rob, my ex and the best man, was standing across the room staring at me. I saw him making his way over so I turned and tried to make conversation with Marnie. Unfortunately, she was engrossed in a conversation with Lily’s sister.

“Shit,” I cursed under my breath. We’d had a messy breakup and I didn’t really want to talk to him. I’d broken up with him and I knew he was still in love with me. Every time we ran into each other, it was beyond awkward, and I was the one who had introduced him to his best friend, Oscar, the groom, which is how he ended up as the best man. Every day leading up to the wedding, post-breakup, I cursed myself for having made the introduction.

Before Rob reached the table, I pulled out my phone, desperate for a distraction and a way to ward him off. I ended up texting Louis, out of all the people in my phone, hoping that his rehearsal dinner wasn’t about to start, like mine.

K: Hey, hope your cousin hasn’t turned boring :P

L: Haven’t gotten the chance to say hi to him yet actually

Running late

K: To your own third (?) cousin’s rehearsal dinner??? Shame on you

L: Yeah I know

I’m one of the groomsmen too

K: How’d that happen?

I thought you said you hadn’t talked to him in forever

L: Idk

I think his fiancee wanted a huge wedding with a big bridal party

And he didn’t have enough friends or something

K: Oops

L: Anyway I gtg I’m about to get to the hotel restaurant where they’re having the dinner

Marnie shoved my shoulder. “Stop looking at your phone. They’re about to start serving the food. What’re you so smiley about anyway?”

“What?” I said, looking up. “I’m just texting Louis.”

“Oh, setting up a booty call for later?” she winked.

“God no! I was just trying to avoid having to talk to Rob.”

“Well, you’ve been successful. He’s over there talking up one of Oscar’s cousins. Looks like he’s trying to set up a post-dinner hook up.”

I snorted. “He’s not that smooth, I promise. Watch.”

As we spied on the interaction from afar, Oscar’s cousin slapped Rob across the face.

“Ooh,” Marnie cringed, “That’s going to leave a mark.”

“It’s what he deserves,” I laughed.

Just then, the door to the hotel restaurant burst open, revealing Louis. “Sorry I’m late!” He apologized to the room at large.

“You’re all right,” Oscar called to him. “They haven’t started serving the food yet. Just find your place card.”

Meanwhile, I’d gone wide-eyed. Marnie turned to me and asked, “Isn’t that your guy?”

“Mhm,” I squeaked.

Thankfully for me, I wasn’t seated anywhere near Louis and was able to avoid him for the rest of the evening, escaping to my hotel room as soon as it was acceptable.

SATURDAY, ABOUT 2:15 AM, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

I was having trouble sleeping because I was worried about the Louis situation and the unfamiliar bed wasn’t helping. I was going to have big bags under my eyes in all of Lily and Oscar’s wedding photos. I got out of bed, and texted Marnie to see if she was awake. She was, so I grabbed my room key and padded over to her room down the hall. She’d told me Niall was snoring like a lion so I would have to knock loudly. I banged on the door and got no response, so I hit it a little harder. Finally, I heard some movement from the room. The door opened to reveal, not Marnie or Niall, but a disheveled and sleepy Louis.

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry Louis. I was trying to find my friend’s room. She must’ve given me the wrong room number,” I said in a rush, backing away from the door slowly.

“Katharine?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s me,” I squeaked.

“What’re you doing here?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.

“I was looking for my friend Marnie’s room, but she gave me the wrong room number.”

“Oh. Okay. G’night.”

“Good night, Louis. See you around.” I went back to my room.

Somehow I knew that Marnie had found out Louis’ room number and given it to me in place of her own, but I was too tired to care. My trip down the hall had actually made me sleepy, so I got back into bed and fell asleep immediately.

SATURDAY, ABOUT 3:45 PM, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

“So, Katharine, you’ll be walking down the aisle arm in arm with Oscar’s cousin Louis,” Lily told me. A weird look must’ve crossed my face because she added, “You know him?”

“Not really,” I said. “Only in passing.”

“Mhm,” she said, only half paying attention, as her hair was being done, and she was reading off a list of bridesmaid/groomsman pairings.

I was church-ready, as was Marnie, so we sat together amongst the five other bridesmaids, including the maid of honor, who were all gossiping about single men they were hoping would be at the wedding. Finally, after I couldn’t take it anymore, I turned to Marnie and asked her, “Did you give me Louis’ room number on purpose last night?”

“No!” she said. I glared at her. “I swear, I didn’t realize until you hadn’t shown up after ten minutes that I’d given you a wrong room number.”

“Then how did I end up at his room?” I asked angrily.

“Pure coincidence,” she said.

“There’s no way.”

“Face it Katharine, the universe is throwing the two of you together for some reason. And I think I know what it is,” she wiggled her eyebrows at me.

“Oh shut up,” I laughed.

SATURDAY, A LITTLE BEFORE 6:00 PM, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

We were lining up to walk down the aisle when I caught sight of Louis looking pretty attractive in his tux. While I was staring, he looked up and I turned red, embarrassed to be caught in what I was doing. Shock registered on his face, and then he mouthed “Is that really you?” at me.

I nodded slightly, so as not to mess up my carefully done hair.

The music started, and we linked arms and walked down the aisle. He said something to me as we were walking, just before we separated and went to our separate sides of the altar, but I couldn’t hear him over the music.

We took our places, then the music swelled, and Lily floated down the aisle, arm in arm with her father. She looked radiant. I took a peek at Oscar and he was smiling and crying and looking like it was the best day of his life.

They had written their own vows. Oscar went first and his were touching and beautiful, but there were a few lines in Lily’s that stood out to me more than any other bit, despite its simplicity. “It was pure coincidence that we sat next to each other in that lecture hall on the first day of that semester. And it was pure coincidence that we were assigned as partners on the final project, given that we sat nowhere near each other for the rest of the semester. But it was no coincidence that we fell in love, because you really are my other half.”

By the end of the ceremony, all the bridesmaids and groomsmen were crying. We were given a few minutes with the makeup artists before we went outside to take the wedding photos. It was a chilly day in early October and it wasn’t long before I was shivering in my strapless dress. Louis sidled over and offered me his suit coat, which I accepted gratefully.

“I saw you crying during the ceremony,” he said.

“Your eyes weren’t dry either,” I noted.

Ignoring me, he continued. “You look beautiful in that dress. I tried to tell you in the church but I guess you couldn’t hear me over the music.”

I blushed and nodded. “Thank you.”

“Is that douche of a best man really your ex?”

“Unfortunately.”

“How long were you together?”

“Too long,” I said. “Oh, no. He’s coming over.”

“No, he’s not,” Louis said. “Oh, shit, never mind, he is definitely headed this way and he has murder in his eyes.”

As Rob approached, he bellowed, “WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY GIRL?”

“Um, I’m not your girl,” I said. “We broke up in January, in case you forgot.”

“Besides, Katharine’s not a girl, she’s a woman,” Marnie said. I hadn’t seen her come over and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“I’m Oscar’s distant cousin, Louis,” Louis said, calmly, “And I saw that Katharine was cold, so I offered her my suit coat. I didn’t even know her name until yesterday.”

Rob deflated a bit. “Doesn’t explain why… never mind. Fuck you Katharine. You too Marnie. And you too Louis. Or whatever the fuck your name is.” He stomped off.

“Thanks for helping me get rid of him, you guys,” I said.

SATURDAY, ABOUT 9:45 PM, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

I was tipsy. Not enough to completely lose my inhibitions, but I was a little looser than usual. That had to explain why I was dancing with Louis the way I had all night. The wedding reception was drawing to a close. I’d had too much to drink closer to the beginning of the party, but for the most part, that had gotten out of my system due to the near-gallon of water that I had also had.

The night was bound to end with me in Louis’ bed or him in mine, but that’s not what I wanted. I mean, I kind of did, but I’d had way too much fun with him, dancing and talking and making fun of Rob striking out with every single woman he tried to hit on.

“Go on a date with me when we’re back in Philly,” I whispered to him during a slow dance.

“Okay,” he whispered back, then kissed me softly.

***

The night we danced together for the first time, it was cold and I’d run out of explanations for how we’d met.

#1dff #cliche challenge #louis

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alextravelstojapan · 6 years

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Saturday, Sept 29th, 2018 Day 39

I woke up at 11:40am. I had a few messages from my friend group chat saying that we were going on the 1 o’clock bus to Akita city where we will walk to an onsen. I was so hungover from the night before though that I felt like absolute death. I ate a waffle (they have individually packed Belgian waffle breads here and they’re usually really yummy) and a cucumber and chugged a ton of water and felt a little better. For the onsen, I packed a large towel, a small towel, my shampoo and conditioner, and a change of clothes. We rode the bus to the train station where we were to board the train that would take us the Akita city. The bus ride was rough, the motion of it was making my hangover so much worse. We got our tickets and I was going to go to the bathroom before we got on the train but the bathroom nearest the train platform was locked and dread closed in on me. I followed everyone to the train platform anyways and then accepted the reality that I couldn't make it through the train ride without throwing up. There was only 7 minutes until the train was scheduled to come, so I ran up the stairs from the train platform, past the ticket booth, down the stairs to the bus terminal and into the bathroom and threw up. I had 5 minutes to throw up and also make it back to the train platform. So while I probably could have thrown up a few more times I had to run back to the train platform in a cold sweat. I felt so much better after that, but when we got off the train in the city, I started to feel terrible again. I didn't throw up again but walking around the city was brutal. We met up with Chen and went to a convenience store called Lawson’s. What I really wanted was some watered down chicken noodle soup but obviously I couldn't have that. So instead I chose a few things from this heated broth basin (I really don't know what to call it). I chose a radish, tofu, and a hard boiled egg which had all been sitting in this broth. I tried to eat but failed at consuming anymore than a bite of the radish. The broth was just way too salty for me at that point. We walked to the onsen and we locked our shoes in lockers near the door then made our way to the women’s locker room and onsen bath. When we walked in, the first thing I saw was a naked elderly woman drying herself off and it shocked me into realizing where we were. I think the agony I was in from my hangover had made me space out without realizing it. I started to get nervous because I knew I was also about to have to get naked in front of Chen and Carson and a bunch of other women strangers. But then I asked myself, “Why do I care?” and told myself that I should just relax. We found our lockers and undressed. I used my small towel to cover my private areas as we walked to the showers. They were sitting showers so there was a small stool, a bowl, and a removable shower hose, as well as shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. It may sound dumb, but I didn't know if I was bathing like a Japanese person usually does, but I also knew I couldn't look at the other naked women long enough to find out without seeming creepy so I just went with it. And then I realized that the other women also would be trying to not look at me too long. I found a lot of comfort in this because I’m used to people on the streets and at the mall staring at me and it makes me uncomfortable. Children usually stare the most but that doesn't bother me because I know they are just curious.

Anyways after my shower I felt soo much better and then when I joined Chen and Carson in the first onsen pool, I felt like a new person. The water was rust colored and was so warm that it completely relaxed me which allowed me to get past the fact that I was naked. We went outside after a few minutes because Chen and Carson got hot from the water. The outside air felt chilly in comparison to the water and it reminded me of fall which increased my good mood even more. Outside were two more deep full body baths for sitting, a foot bath, and two very shallow full body baths for laying down. We went into the deep full body baths first but they got really hot after a couple minutes so when we couldn't stand the heat of those anymore we sat on the rock bench where the foot bath was. We sat there for a pretty long time just talking and then I started to feel kinda sick so I got out and sat on a wooden bench nearby. The cool air was really refreshing. Then I laid down in the shallow full body bath where the water was just a little warm and had some algae and salt in the water. There was an elevated rock surface and a wooden “pillow” for my head. Despite the rock surface jabbing me in the neck and the wooden pillow not cushioning my head at all, I laid in the shallow pool for a long time because I felt like laying down was the best thing for my hangover at that point. I tried to take a nap too but I couldn't get past my neck hurting from the wood and rock so instead I just meditated as I listened to the very peaceful music they were softly playing. After about 10 minutes of laying down I joined Carson and Chen back at the foot baths for a little bit. We then went inside and I laid in another rust-colored pool where you laid down and there were jets that massaged your feet or tickled them depending on how you placed them. We then showered again to get the salt off ourselves from the water and got dressed.

We joined Caleb and Kevin in the lobby and then walked back to the train station to go home. I was starving when we got to campus because I hadn't eaten anything after I threw up my breakfast so we went straight to dinner. Right after that, Carson, Caleb, Kevin and I went to Campus Art. I don't think I’ve explained what Campus Art is yet so I will now. Campus Art is a very large group of people that took the job to decorate our campus for the annual AIU festival that this year took place on October 8th and 9th. Carson and I volunteered to decorate the D-building (a building for classrooms and a lecture hall) along with about 10 other people. For our decorations, we had to make a main object which they designed as a 6 foot tall hexagonal frame that had cardboard walls that could be opened up to reveal pictures of all the past AIU Festivals (15 years in all). One door had this year’s theme painted on it, “Untitled:| color your color”, and was able to open up completely so that a person could walk into the inside of the structure and open up the doors that we’re on the inside of the hexagonal frame. This might not make much sense but I’ll post a picture of it later. I had to make one of the doors for this structure on Saturday. I’ll post a pic of that later too. Afterwards we got ice cream from the vending machine. And then we went to Kevin’s apartment to talk for a while. I went home early (10 pm) because I wanted to go to bed since I was so exhausted from being hungover.

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5hfanfiction · 7 years

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Come Back, Be Here - Chapter 31

Camila groans when she sees “Unknown Number” pop up on her phone. This has been happening every day for the past week and like clockwork, she sends the call to voicemail. Seconds later, she gets a notification saying she has one new voicemail. Hesitantly she presses play and brings the phone to her ear.

You can hide out in California all you want, but eventually you’ll have to return to Miami and face me. I hope you aren’t planning to return to Lauren when you get back because if you do, I’ll make it my number one priority to make both of your lives a living hell. Come home soon, baby. I miss you.

Camila shudders at the sound of Austin’s voice and quickly deletes the voicemail. Before she throws it into her beach bag, she sends Dinah a quick text.

[12:30 pm] Camila🍌 : Keep her safe for me, D. I’ll be home soon. xx

It’s true, she will be home soon. Next weekend to be exact. She is putting the finishing touches on her EP and Eric said she would be free to go home by Friday of next week, which works out quite nicely considering Dinah and Normani’s wedding is next Saturday. Luckily, she had already gotten sized for her maid of honor dress back during the summer and Dinah informed her recently that her dress is hanging in her room in their apartment.

Camila’s stomach flips every time she remembers that she will come face to face with Lauren again in a weeks time. She just hopes that the green-eyed girl doesn’t hate her for leaving the way she did. It would absolutely destroy her if she looked in Lauren’s eyes and saw anything that remotely resembled hate or distrust. She immediately shakes the thoughts from her head as she spreads her beach towel out on the hot sand. She pulls her book out of her bag, but it slips out of her hands and falls face down on the sand. She immediately retrieves it and dusts the sand off. It’s such a small gesture, but it triggers a huge memory that she thought she’d never have the pleasure of ever remembering again.

Flashback

Camila wakes up from her nap and immediately looks at the clock that reads 3 pm. She looks around the unfamiliar room, forgetting where she is momentarily, but then she remembers that her and Lauren flew to Venice this morning to celebrate their two year anniversary that is tomorrow. They wanted to celebrate their anniversary in the place where it all began. She frowns when she reaches her arm out and all she feels is a cold bed. When she sits up and stretches, she notices an envelope sitting on the nightstand. The front of it reads come find me, baby and when she opens it up, there is a card that says where green eyes locked with brown for the first time.

Camila scrambles out of the bed and throws on a pair of ripped jeans and a tank top. Once she is dressed and looks halfway decent, she gets in their rental car and heads to the classroom where they first met. When she arrives there, she finds her second clue, which reads where we both realized we never wanted somebody else. Camila smiles like an idiot and tucks the note into her back pocket as she grabs her keys and drives to the arena where they shared their first kiss. There she finds a The 1975 album sitting behind the glass of the box office. There is a note taped to it that reads where we almost recreated the steamy scene in Titanic. She blushes momentarily before taking a quick picture of the clue and getting in her car to drive to the local college again.

When she arrives at the art classroom where she stripped down in front of Lauren for the first time, she finds another clue sitting on a stool in the middle of the room, where she sat years ago. The clue reads where I gave you all of me and you did the same… p.s. I know something about this art room makes you want to take off all your clothes, but please wait until you find me so I can help you out of them. She just laughs before heading back to the car and driving to the place where they made love for the first time.

She arrives at the secluded beach at 5 pm and the sun is starting to set. Orange and red colors light up the sky and Camila remembers that the sunset today looks almost identical to the one she watched with Lauren here a couple of years ago. When she walks closer to the water, she sees a blanket sprawled out on the sand, candles lit all around it. In the middle sits Lauren’s Beats Pill and it’s playing Somebody Else. The only other thing on the blanket is a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. She immediately squats down and picks up the book. She dusts off the sand on the cover that she accidentally kicked on it when she walked up. On the front is a note that reads I remember everything about the first time I saw you. Every little thing. Including what page you were reading before we exchanged names for the first time. Do you remember?

Camila furrows her eyebrows in concentration as she thinks back to that day in the classroom. After a couple of seconds of trying to remember, it hits her.

Chapter 13.

She immediately turns to Chapter 13 and when she finds the page, her heart starts beating wildly her chest. Harper Lee’s words always made her feel so much, it’s the reason why she rereads To Kill a Mockingbird over and over. However, the words on this particular page that are making her heart beat rapidly were not written by Harper Lee. They were written by Lauren Jauregui. They read:

Will you marry me?

Tears start falling freely as she scans the beach for her green-eyed girl. Her search is halted when she hears a husky voice speak up from behind her.

“Good choice.” Lauren’s voice fills her ears and Camila immediately spins around. The tears start coming faster when she sees that Lauren is down on one knee.

“Yeah, it’s my favorite.” Camila chokes out as she repeats the same words to the older Latina that she said the first time they met.

“You’re my favorite.” Lauren replies instantly as she reaches out to grab Camila’s left hand. “I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you, Camz, and I fall deeper in love with you every single time that you look at me, every single time that you kiss me, every single time that you smile.” Lauren takes a moment to kiss every knuckle on the tan hand that she holds in her own. “Your love of literature and music and just life in general is so beautiful. You see the good in everyone around you and you are kind to everyone you meet, even if they do not deserve your kindness. I want to spend the rest of my life watching in awe as you pick up To Kill a Mockingbird and read it cover to cover for the millionth time, watching in awe as your eyes light up as bright as the sun every time Ed Sheeran comes on the radio, watching in awe as you somehow manage to be the perfect combination of cute and sexy, and just being in awe of how you have the power to make me fall in love with you all over again, every single day.”

Lauren pauses to wipe away the tears that are flowing freely down her cheeks while Camila just lets hers fall, they are coming down too fast and she knows there is no use in trying to wipe them away while new ones are still falling. “You give so generously and always with the intention of wanting nothing in return. You gave me your heart so effortlessly and still to this day you have no idea that when you gave it to me, you gave me the single greatest gift anyone has ever given me. So today, I want to give you something. A promise. A promise to love you for the rest of my life.” Lauren pulls a black velvet box from the pocket of her leather jacket and slowly opens it. “So Karla Camila Cabello, will you marry me and give me the absolute pleasure of falling in love with you all over again, every single day, for the rest of our lives? Because I don’t want to fall in love with somebody else… anyone else. Ever. I just want you.” Camila chokes back a sob as she drops to her knees in front of Lauren and launches herself at the green-eyed girl. She immediately attaches their lips together and hungrily kisses the older Latina. Lauren immediately snakes her arms around the girl’s tiny waist and brings her closer to her body. Camila detaches their lips and stares into her favorite pair of green eyes.

“Yes.” She grins widely as she brings her hands up to wipe the tears away that are streaming down Lauren’s face. “The answer is yes, it will always be yes, baby. I love you so much.” Camila plants kisses all over the older Latina’s face before bringing their lips back together in a searing kiss. Lauren fumbles with the box and retrieves the ring from it while slowing down the pace of their kissing. When she pulls away, she carefully takes Camila’s left hand that is resting on her cheek and brings it between the two of them. Slowly, she slides the diamond onto her ring finger and smiles broadly when the ring seems to fit perfectly.

“It’s perfect.” Camila whispers as she studies the new piece of jewelry and Lauren just leans her forehead against Camila’s.

“So are you. So are we.” Lauren replies and softly kisses the tan nose in front of her. “Now lets get you wet Cabello.”

Camila leans back and sees Lauren smirking devilishly at her. “Don’t waste any time do you, Jauregui?”

“Nope.” Lauren smiles as she leans in and ghosts her lips over Camila’s. Before the younger brunette can lean in to connect her lips with Lauren’s, the older Latina stands up abruptly and pulls Camila with her. “But that can wait until we get home, I actually had another kind of wet in mind.” A mischievous smirk crosses Lauren’s face and before Camila can react, Lauren bends down and wraps her arms around her fiance’s legs so she can effectively sling the girl over her shoulder.

“Lauren Jauregui don’t you even think about it!” Camila bangs her tiny fists into Lauren’s back. The green-eyed girl makes no move to put her down, but instead walks down the beach and wades into the cool water with Camila in tow.

The younger girl yelps as Lauren falls into the water and submerges them both under water. They both reemerge seconds later and Camila just glares at Lauren, a pout on her lips.

“I told you I’d get you wet. I had to keep my promise.” Lauren smirks.

“Yeah, well my idea of getting you wet is a little different.” Camila husks as she walks back up to the shore. “This kind of wet is fun, but my way is more fun I assure you.” The younger Latina turns around when she’s on the shore and faces Lauren. “Because it doesn’t involve this.” She peels her wet top over her head and drops it on the beach. “Or this.” She unhooks her lacy bra and lets it fall to the sand as she back peddles to the blanket. “And it definitely doesn’t involve these.” She slides her jeans, along with her underwear, down her toned legs.

When she stands back upright, she smirks at her fiance, who is still standing in the water, her jaw dropped. The younger Cuban just turns around and walks the rest of the way to the blanket before sitting down on it. “Coming, fiance?” Camila bites her lip and watches as Lauren scrambles out of the water.

End of Flashback

For the second time in a month, Camila snaps out of her thoughts and sees her own tears cascading from her chin and landing on the front cover of her favorite book. Tears of happiness, of course. She smiles through the tears as she lays down on the towel she spread out. Brown eyes close as the sun attempts to dry the tears from her face. While she lays there, eyes closed, she ponders what exactly is warming her body more: the sun or the memories attached to the book that is currently hugged to her chest.

#UPDATE #series #AU #slash #camren #romance fluff #submission #come back be here

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everyonethinksmynameiskayla · 7 years

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Eggs & potatoes in a tropical paradise

Last week Brittany and I took a “ladies vacation” as my mom called it to Cabo Verde (until recently “Cape Verde” in English although it’s “Cap Vert” in French which is how I think of it since all the planning was done here). You could be forgiven for not knowing anything at all about Cabo Verde - it’s a tiny country made up of 9 also tiny islands off the coast of Senegal, just south of the Canary Islands. We visited three of the islands throughout the week, so I’ll divide this post up by island. I made a video compilation of all the little clips I took of the landscapes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVfdJw9M1Pw (set it to high resolution so you can see the images better).

1. Santiago - Praia side

Santiago is the biggest island (it takes two hours to drive from top to bottom and about an hour to do the width) and we flew from Dakar to the capital, Praia, which is on the south side of the island. We took the Cabo Verde national airline, TACV, which I was expecting, given that the flight was about $100 round trip and was going to be an hour and TACV mostly does island hopping within Cabo Verde, a puddle jumper plane with a bring-your-own-folding-chair to sit on type deal but boy was I wrong. The plane was the size of a regional jet in the US and pretty new and they even served us all sandwiches, which blew me away. Granted, the sandwich was a hotdog bun with some cheese slices, but still, I was so impressed.

We arrived in Praia in the evening and quickly made friends with a French guy who was in our hostel and he explained that apparently Praia is dangerous at night because of gangs so we went the three of us to get some food at a restaurant near the hostel. I was blown away by how dead everything was. It was only 8 PM and there was almost no one outside and practically every shop was closed. It was the quietest city, even during the day, that I’ve ever been in. The next day as we were exploring the city, I was struck by how small it felt, especially coming from Dakar, and how orderly and calm it was. It almost felt European at times, and occassionaly even kind of reminded me of Goa in India (Portuguese colonization being what the two places have in common). We went and explored the ruins in the old city where the Portuguese had first arrived and walked up to the fort. We came across an old abandoned bar/restaurant, which was wild - it's state wasn’t so dissimilar from the ruins of the old cathedral which were several hundred years old, but it was probably only a couple of decades abandoned (I would imagine that has something to do with weather wear). You could see all the old spots where there used to be a bar and bar stools and the bathroom, but it was totally gutted.

^The abandoned bar/restaurant

We ate dinner at a jazz club/restaurant downtown which was great because Cabo Verdian music is lovely and we got to try homemade “punch” which was everywhere and was basically rum with honey and coconut and tamarind (there are other kinds too, every sort of flavor you could imagine) and it’s so good. However I was massively annoyed because we both ordered the “vegetarian” dish which I was expecting to be like a vegetable curry of some kind which sounded good and I asked if it came with rice (the waiter told us he spoke French and seemed to be telling the truth) and the waiter said yes but then it came out and it was a plate with like 10 slices of raw vegetables on it and nothing else and I was absolutely furious because it was like 8 dollars which is completely insane given that most dishes in restaurants were in the $3-5 range.

2. Sao Vicente

The next day we went back to the airport at 5 AM, which, armed with the unfortunate knowledge that Praia is not a good place to be hanging out in the dark, was not fun because we had to stand around on the empty street waiting for a cab with our phones and passports in our underwear like idiots because the hostel owner never showed up the previous evening so we couldn’t ask him to call us a cab for the next morning (not that this was a surprise, he had messaged me before we left Dakar asking if we wanted to be picked up at the airport, to which I said sure, and no one showed up to pick us up). We found another woman standing waiting for something and waited with her, luckily only for about ten minutes before a cab drove by. We felt bad leaving her on the street but with the language barrier (Cabo Verdians speak Creole and Portuguese) we couldn’t get across that she could come in our cab to wherever she was going also.

Just as in Praia, when we arrived in Mindelo, the cultural capital and the only big city on Sao Vicente, the cab that the hostel was allegedly sending us didn’t come. I was still stoked about the hostel because it’s also a cat shelter so there were cats everywhere.

^ Some of the cats at the hostel; they had their own special area and every time I came in they would go nuts and start chatting away and meowing like crazy and trying to climb up me

Mindelo is much bigger and more alive than Praia and also absolutely gorgeous. The city is nestled in a half-moon cove with a lovely marina on the most perfectly blue water that looked more like the light blue Gatorade than the ocean. We spent most of the day sitting in the floating cafe we found in the marina enjoying the view and the perfect weather and tranquility and then Brittany went to nap in the hostel and I walked up to the old fort that looked like it would have a good 360 view. When I got to the top I discovered that it was private property but that sign was accompanied by only about 5 feet of fence so I just walked right by it to do a quick round and take some pictures, since there was absolutely no one around. Those pictures are on the photo blog. Then we went to the store and bought a bunch of chips and snacks and went and sat on the beach. We swam but neither of us had bathing suits so we wore our PJs, which was bizarre because that meant wearing shorts in public which I would never dream of doing in Senegal, but in Cabo Verde most of the women were wearing mini skirts and short shorts most of the time.

^ From the floating café. We stole the label off our Cabo Verdian beer

We had been trying to taste the national dish, catchupa, which appeared to be some sort of beans and rice deal, but every time we ordered it they came back and said “no catchupa” (we were mostly getting by with Brittany mumbling in Spanish and hoping for the best, but sometimes when that didn’t work I would try French and then we would speak to each other in English and people would just stare at us in utter confusion and back away slowly). So for dinner we went into this little local looking restaurant and ordered some catchupa and Brittany was trying to explain that she was a vegetarian, but apparently the Spanish mumbling didn’t work because we thought we were getting catchupa with egg and potato instead of with meat - we were sitting there waiting and laughing about how funny it would be if we ended up with just eggs and potatoes when she came out with two plates of french fries and a fried egg. She looked really confused when we both broke down laughing. Every time we ordered in a restaurant after that we were half expecting to be served a plate of eggs and fries.

3. Santo Antão

The next morning we took the ferry from Sao Vicente (the island Mindelo is on) to Santo Antão, which was easily one of my favorite parts of the trip - I already love boats, plus the islands are so close together and both so mountainous that at any point throughout the hour long ride you can see both (those views are in the video I mentioned at the top of this post). Plus the early morning light on the water and the cool breeze, and there was a cafe/bar thing on the boat so Brittany and I were even able to get some coffee.

^ Coffee on the ferry

When we arrived we grabbed an aluguer, amid some confusion. The aluguers aren’t taxis but they aren’t buses either, they’re generally big Toyota 15-seater vans (in fabulous condition, we couldn’t believe it - and the taxis in Praia were late model Toyota Corollas which for some reason was hilarious to us…not quite as much character as my beloved dilapidated Renaults with weird furry seat covers) and you pay your spot like in a bus but unlike a bus they don’t all have a set route. Some do, some have names of towns and/or cities painted on the side and they just go back and forth between those places but others just go where they decide they’re going to go that day and pick up people along the way. Anyway, we were jostled around a bit by the competing aluguer drivers but eventually got one to Paul, the city on the coast at the foot of the valley that we were planning to hike. It was a striking drive, the edges of the mountains of Santo Antão are baren and dotted with dramatic cliffs and drops into the ocean below, which was raging and wavy like I’ve never seen. But in Paul, it starts to get really green, palm trees start to pop up and I’ll get to it in a minute but once on the interior of the island its lush and green everywhere you look. Paul, or Vila das Pombas, I never figured out why some people called it one thing and some the other, is a tiny but nice little town on the water that stretches the coast before shooting up into the hills directly behind it.

^ Vila das Pombas

Our hotel was a few minutes up the hill and owned by a really friendly Italian guy who spoke no English or French but enough Spanish to sort of communicate with Brittany. Despite the language barrier he tried really hard to be helpful and answer our questions about the hiking etc. and his little hotel, with just two rooms, was absolutely adorable. Plus I was excited because he had a cat, one of the cutest most beautiful cats I’ve ever seen, who was super duper pregnant - it looked like she had swallowed a football. She would come sit outside our room and purr so loudly the floorboards would shake until I opened the door and then she would dart into the room, much to Brittany’s dismay.

We got a different kind of aluguer, kind of like a bush taxi here in Senegal, just a pickup with some benches in the back, up the mountain(s) about an 45 minutes (it probably would have taken twenty if we didn’t keep having to stop and reverse for 100 meters down the tiny narrow mountain road to accommodate the occasional car coming the other way, once we had to do it three times before we rounded a single bend).

^ In the aluguer

The hills just kept getting more and more massive - I suppose in some circles a “massive hill” is known as a “mountain” - and steep and green and there were little villages here and there but mostly just lots of banana and sugar cane and what I think was maybe corn and of course palm trees. We hiked the rest of the way up (about 2 hours of basically walking straight up on this absurd winding path) to Cova Crater, which is nothing special but the view from up next to it is extraordinary, especially since you can look down over the hills you just crossed through and see the ocean where you started and all while you’re above the clouds. Saying that walking back down was harder than going up would probably be overstating it, but it was not easy. In most places it was so steep that you couldn’t help but run down it failing your arms around like an idiot, and as we got closer to the bottom the dirt got looser and looser and there weren’t rocks and roots anymore and we were sliding around almost breaking our ankles every five seconds. But we made it down, exhausted and sunburnt (I put on so much sunscreen, religiously reapplied, and still got burnt to a crisp). We found a pizza place in town and basically dragged ourselves inside but it was totally empty and smelled like weed and then the Italian guy who owned it (I’m not sure why there are so many Italians living in Cabo Verde) came out from the back and told us that they didn’t start making pizza for another two hours because island time so we went back to the hotel and laid prostate on our beds half conscious until it was time and then we sprinted back to the restaurant and seriously contemplated getting two pizzas each. The pizza was great (Italians) and the owner, who spoke only Italian and Portuguese (it’s amazing how far one romance language gets you with the other, I understood almost everything that was said in Spanish and Italian throughout the week but since Portuguese has a totally different sound to it the same did not really apply) was so nice and served us some homemade “punch” and also gave us free shots of some sort of Italian lemon-y liquor.

The next day was quite relaxed because we were both basically zombies. We went to the edge of the island and did a short hike along the coast to a small village built into the cliffs called Fontainhas and then drank some coffee by the water before getting the aluguer back to the port city to get the ferry back to Sao Vicente. This time I stood all the way on top the whole time and it was so windy that I couldn’t wear my hat and I was half convinced that my face itself was going to be blown off. It was so windy I was terrified to take pictures and videos because I was worried about the genuine possibility of the wind blowing my phone out of my hands, so I white-knuckled it whenever I took any pictures.

4. Santiago again - Tarrafal side

We flew back to Santiago and stayed in Praia just for the night since we arrived late and couldn’t keep traveling until the next day. So early the next morning we got an aluguer to Tarrafal, the biggest city (which is not saying much at all) on the far north of the island. When I say we got an aluguer, I really mean we found one going to Tarrafal and sat in it falling asleep for two hours while we waited for other passengers and these two guys used some weird blue filmy material to tint the windows of the van. The drive was about two hours through rolling baren hills and dramatic peaks and then about halfway there the hills grew into mountains and we reached a certain point where you could see Tarrafal on the coast below but unfortunately it was quite overcast so none of my photos from the drive came out. We had been planning to hike in the nearby national park but we were so beat that we ended up just wandering around the tiny deserted city, or town really, sitting on the beach and going to bed at like 8:30 PM. We finally got to try catchupa, after a great deal of confusion and negotiations regarding Brittany’s vegetarianism, and while eating it it was good but it was perhaps the heaviest thing I have ever eaten in my life, I can’t understand how Cabo Verdians eat it for breakfast every day. It literally felt like someone had opened my stomach, placed all of the catchupa into it and then closed it again, and then it sat there like that for 24 hours. For dinner we had a plate of plain rice and some mild cheese cubes because we were incapable of eating real food with the catchupa still in us and I think our waitress thought we were insane.

The next day when we felt like real humans again we finally went to the national park, and even though it was a bit overcast (which did not prevent me from getting sunburnt again) the hike was beautiful - I love green mountains but I almost like bare ones more, because the closest ones look sort of brown but then they fade to purple and then to blue and the clouds cast crazy shadows over them that you can clearly see since there are so few trees. We were just congratulating ourselves on how easy the hike had been, since we started already high up and basically just walked straight along the top of the mountain ridge, when we got to a sharp turn downhill and a sign introducing the new trial which included the qualifiers « Difficulty: Hard » and « Path quality: bad ». Both of those things turned out to be true. Mostly because the path was in many places about as wide as one of my feet and it was basically three hours straight downhill. When we finally reached the town at the bottom where we could allegedly get an aluguer back to Tarrafal, we were disappointed to discover that our excessively vocalized fantasies about going to a little boutique in the town and getting some chips or a Kit Kat bar (which were strangely ubiquitous even in small stores) and some cold water were not going to be realized as the tiny town/village that we ended up waiting an hour in had no stores and also for some indistinguishable reason smelled so bad I thought I was going to pass out while we waited. But eventually and aluguer passed and we hopped on - when we got back to Tarrafal we bought chips and Kit Kat bars and then got another aluguer back to Praia and got cheeseburgers (and a veggie burger) and ate way too many french fries before packing up our stuff in preparation to fly back to Dakar the next day.

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nonevahed · 7 years

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Short Story

Criticism welcome, I’m trying to work on Jacob being a bit more relatable.

December 12th, 2043, 4:02 AM

Exhaling the cold, crisp winter air, Jacob looked up at the sky. The night was once again a dull orange-gray, bright city lights bouncing off low hanging clouds, as if the past forty hours hadn’t even happened. He still wasn’t crying. It had been a very, very long day… night? What do you even call it when you’re up for that long? And that was another thing he did to avoid thinking about things, wasn’t it, desperately pursuing the most inane of thoughts. Snow began to fall. Once the summoned taxi arrived, he collapsed into the vehicle, suddenly almost unable to move. It was a nice thing, wasn’t it, that there were no more drivers that’d be tempted to ask questions, huh? He thought back…

—-

December 12th, 2043, 2:53 AM

They were supposed to have time for naps, but somehow it still hadn’t happened. Jacob filled out the last sheet on the last patient to leave his care, and got the chance to sit down and commiserate with a resident who’d been up for sixteen hours himself. Incredible, really, how many people were coming in, the hospital had even had to call in many people that were supposed to have the day off. He almost fell asleep right then and there when his pager buzzed - another patient was arriving. He returned to the ICU just in time for the patient to be rolled in on a gurney. A young man, brown haired and tattooed, with a broken left arm sticking out at an awkward angle, and burns on his right. He had a familiar face. The nurse handed off the forms, minor concussion and blood loss as well. It was a fairly standard operation, and quite similar to the other cases that had been flooding the ward.

Jacob only realized something was wrong when the young man suddenly stopped breathing. He attempted to resuscitate the man, but it was too late. Looking at his face, Jacob suddenly realized where he’d seen it before: it was Lewis.

–––

May 12th, 2036, 11:10 PM

Jacob’s 21st birthday had passed without celebration two days before. Now that exams were finally over, Jacob let Lewis drag him out to drink, for once. Lewis had been Jacob’s closest friend – not that that was saying much – since freshman year. Lewis was a tall, lanky man with well kept but short brown hair.

After asking he frowning bartender for a beer, Lewis turned back to Jacob. “What do you want to drink?

“I don’t know… whatever you think would be best, I suppose.”

“Bartender, another beer?”

The bartender quickly served another. Lewis began to drink, while Jacob stared off into space.

“What’s the problem? I’m paying for this, not you, and this place isn’t exactly cheap? I mean, we even have a human bartender. The least you could do is enjoy yourself a little bit, for once.”

More silence.

“Are you worried about exams? Jacob, I’m sure you did fine, you studied way, way more than I did. There’s nothing you can do, now anyway, so why not relax?”

Jacob frowned and nodded. He admired - envied - Lewis’s ability to relax and be satisfied, even though Lewis was near the bottom of the class. But then again, the former likely had something to do with the latter.

Lewis went onwards. “And let me guess, you’re worried about writing your med school applications? Jesus Christ, you have to rest, sometime.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

They managed to talk, for a little while - Lewis talked about the book he read before exams, the latest news about the fight over the Basic Income bill in Congress. Jacob had little to add to the conversation, but, at least, it was nice to talk for once.

–––

May 20th, 2037, 2:42 PM

After the graduation, Lewis and Jacob met on the quad. By some miracle, Jacob had graduated Summa Cum Laude.

“Are you glad to finally have that behind you?” Lewis asked.

“I suppose so,” Jacob replied. “How are your plans on that startup going?”

“Okay, I suppose. I’ve contacted a few investors, I don’t quite have them sold but they are listening. And you, do you have any plans for the summer?”

Jacob smiled, “I’m planning on taking a few summer courses on programming in France.”

Lewis looked somewhat disappointed. “I thought you hated programming. You don’t have to do anything right now, you have no one to impress, you’re already accepted to med school, and you’re still just going on and on and on?”

“Well, I mean, more and more stuff is being automated, I have to get in a little bit of flexibility…”

“That’s your problem, man, you know? You always, always just go with the flow, do what you think others want, strive and strive, you never really ask what you want to do. Have you ever broken a rule, had fun a day in your life? Listen, just take the summer off, take a vacation, do something for yourself for once,” Lewis said.

“Well, I guess so.”

“Make a choice!”

Jacob paused, for a long time. That, a break, would be a nice idea, yes, I’ll do it, maybe you could come with me, somewhere -

“…This is something that I need to do. I mean, France is a nice place in the summer, and nowadays, I need every advantage that I can get. I’ve lived my whole life preparing to be a doctor, more and more stuff is being automated, and I don’t want to get sidelined at this point. I’ll drop a course or two, but, I should have buckled down and done this beforehand instead of those history courses, and I guess I’m now paying the price.”

“If that’s how you feel…” Something had gone cold in the air between the two men. They still had each other’s contact information, but over the course of the next year, the messages between the two would become more and more infrequent until they petered out altogether.

—-

December 12th, 2043, 4:20 AM

Jacob had always imagined Lewis being happy, content, successful. He’d just never really thought about any other possibility… that was just the way things would happen, because Lewis was that kind of person. Maybe it was part of the reason that he withdrew himself from Lewis - some subconscious part of the mind wanting to keep that foundational image steady.

But now, it cracked, and another series of events fell into place in Jacob’s mind. On one of the last few messages, he remembered complaints about investors calling for immediate profitability when the company still needed to just grow. If the investors spooked, or if the market Lewis was aiming for wasn’t as spacious as he thought, or a million other things, the business could collapse like so many other “Next Big Things. “ And then, where would Lewis head, who’d spent his time building connections and making ideas for an entrance into the business world instead of buffing up his GPA for a steadier job? He could find something, but, well, anything can go wrong, and when they start going wrong it’s difficult to stop the slide all the way down, no? Those full body tattoos – there are so many others competing for the slot that any little thing would render you practically disabled, you’d only see that on a man who’d lost hope.

…Ten hours ago, he had shooed away a secretary who had told him there was an important call for him, and never got a long enough break to remember it. Now, he wondered if maybe whoever it was had also called his cellphone. 5 messages in voicemail, from… another hospital? Tap, read the transcriptions…

-20 hours, “Your mother had a heart attack today…

-10 hours, “We’re sorry to inform you, but your mother has passed away…

He had to actually listen to them, just to make sure he’d gotten it right. Really? Really!

—-

December 12th, 2043, 4:28 AM

The car finally parked in front of his apartment complex. As if on autopilot, he walked through the doorway, through the uninhabited lobby, and stared at the elevator door for thirty seconds. *Ding*. A minute later, he was in his apartment. He wondered what was on the news.

“…Protesters expressed outrage over refusal to raise…”

Flip the channel.

“…Police have restored order after the riots in the Southwest Quarter…”

That would explain all the burns and broken limbs.

He still envied Lewis.

All this, all this, and it had gotten Jacob nowhere. Decades of dedication, and for what, some dream in the distance? He wasn’t worthy of it. He was a failure, clumsy, stupid, lazy, unworthy, a fake. Would he ever have that satisfaction, that ability to take life as it came? He doubted it. There was no light at the end of the tunnel. Or if there was, he couldn’t wait for it. When was the last he really, really talked with someone? Or when he really felt like he was having fun? Was it worth waiting, struggling any longer? Lewis was gone, he’d abandoned him, then killed him. His mother and father both died without so much as a goodbye. He was never going to be happy.

Slitting his wrists - no, he never had any tolerance for his own pain. Jumping - too attention seeking. His sleeping medicine… yes, that would work, wouldn’t it? Just, say goodbye to those nights so tired and drained and frustrated that he couldn’t so much as go to sleep, now permanently. He got a bottle of water from the fridge. Then, down, one, by one, by one…

——

December 15th 2043, 11:05 AM

White walls, the resident in the corner. In retrospect… In retrospect… he couldn’t believe he’d taken the whole bottle at once. How many failed suicide attempts had he seen of that variety? Had he really been that dumb, that impulsive? Well, he could certainly say goodbye to his career, at least.

#original fiction #my effortposts

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trendingnewsb · 7 years

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A 20-Minute Nap at Work Makes You Awake and Productive the Whole Day

Everyone experiences tiredness at work sometimes. At some point (usually around 2:00 PM), you find yourself ready for a nap. Your energy fluctuates naturally throughout the day.

Productivity expert Chris Bailey charted his motivation, focus, and energy levels for 21 days and found that all three tend to spike between 7:00 and 8:00 AM, 11:00 AM and 12:00 PM, and 6:00 and 7:00 PM.[1] For all those highs, he also noticed times when focus, energy, and motivation were nowhere to be found. Chris was tired at work.

Your peak productivity times may be different than Mr. Bailey’s, but the overall shape of your energetic graph would still look like a series of zigzags. The amount of sleep you have, the food you eat, and how you exercise are a few of the factors that cause rises and falls in your energy level.

You’re battling your biology when you don’t take a nap

We can fill up on caffeine and sugar as much as we want, but we’re fighting a natural downturn in energy when we do this. Most people feel fatigued in the latter half of the standard workday. Your tiredness may seem like an inconvenience, but it’s really your body telling you that it needs rest.

Our bodies operate on a natural clock called a circadian rhythm.[2] This sleep/wake cycle is perfectly adapted to give us adequate sleep over the course of a 24-hour period. Natural light is the primary means that your body uses to assess whether or not you should be asleep.

Much to our collective chagrin, circadian rhythms do not coincide with the average 9 to 5 job. Irregular sleep schedules, the light from electronic devices, and natural light exposure can also affect the cycle. This is why people working the graveyard shift have an increased risk for developing health problems.[3] They must remain awake when their body tells them it’s time for bed, and their sleep schedule is constantly disrupted when they try to stay awake on days off.

Neglecting to follow your circadian rhythms and not taking a nap go against your body’s natural balance.

Taking a nap is natural

We usually feel the most tired between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM. This is the post-lunch crash that most of us try to fend off with sugary snacks or espressos. We’re also naturally more inclined to sleep between 2:00 AM and 4:00 AM, which is why waking someone up during that time can feel like raising the dead.

Since most of us are already asleep between 2:00 AM and 4:00 AM, we need only concern ourselves with the post-lunch crash. Taking a nap right after lunch helps most people feel more alert, energized, and motivated.

Why you should squeeze a nap into your day

Taking a nap can replenish your brainpower and leave you feeling just as sharp as you were first thing in the morning. You can’t change the fact that your body operates on a circadian rhythm and your energy level rises and falls, but you can pay attention to what your body tells you to do. If you want to feel energized, you need to recharge.

When you don’t take a nap, you struggle against your body’s need for sleep. You may look busy while you’re sitting at your desk, but the simplest tasks will take you much longer to complete. You’ll have a harder time making decisions, and you’ll likely feel a bit grumpy.

Taking a nap may put you out of commission for 20 minutes, but you’ll be refreshed when you wake up. You’ll be able to do more work in a shorter amount of time, and you’ll probably have a better outlook on the rest of your day. That nap is the reset button that you need to do your best work.

You can reap amazing benefits from taking a 15-20 minute nap.[4] Longer naps put you into different phases of your sleep cycle, and if those are disrupted, you might end up feeling more tired. A nap of 20 minutes is all you need.

The catnap is a low-cost energy booster. It requires so little energy and effort to give yourself this time to refuel, and the return on investment is huge. Some studies suggest that a 20-minute nap has the energy-boosting equivalent of more than 200 mg of caffeine, or two cups of regular coffee (minus the jitters). A power-nap has the potential to add an extra three hours of productivity to your day.

My napping experience at work for the last 2 weeks

Just to be clear, I’m not advocating that you bring your sleeping bag and grab a little shuteye anytime you feel lethargic. That’s definitely not going to go over well with your boss. You won’t be napping the entire afternoon away on the clock. You just need to take a 20 minute break after lunch to do what I’ve been doing.

For the last two weeks, I’ve been taking 20-minute naps in my office after lunch. I silence my email notifications and set an alarm so that I wake up at the end of the 20-minute window. I put in my ear buds and listen to this relaxing playlist. I rest on the couch with a small cushion that I keep stashed in my desk.

At first it felt weird to be taking a nap at the office. It took me about 5 minutes to fall asleep the first few days because I wasn’t used to unplugging in the middle of the day. After a few days, though, I was able to fall asleep soon after I started listening to the relaxing playlist.

Within the first few days of conducting this little experiment on myself, I felt a big difference. After I woke up from my naps, I felt so much more energized. I could concentrate, and I was able to work all the way up until the end of the day instead of watching the clock in anticipation of closing time.

After just one week, I found that my productivity had dramatically improved. I used to feel so inefficient after lunch, but when I implemented the short post-lunch nap, I felt as energetic as I do in the morning. My energy seems to be more evenly distributed throughout the day, and I can be productive for longer.

Give power-napping a try

It may seem counterproductive to take a nap in order to do more, but there’s science behind the catnap. Instead of staring off into space and battling your natural fatigue, take a nap. You may think that you’ll lose 20 minutes of work, but the increased energy and focus you experience after your nap will more than make up for it.

Featured photo credit: Picjumbo via picjumbo.com

Reference

[1]^A Life of Productivity: How to calculate your Biological Prime Time – the time of the day you’re the most productive[2]^Sleep.org: Circadian Rhythm and Your Body Clock[3]^National Sleep Foundation: Living & Coping With Shift Work Disorder[4]^Web MD: The Secret (and Surprising) Power of Naps

The post A 20-Minute Nap at Work Makes You Awake and Productive the Whole Day appeared first on Lifehack.

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onegirlonegoal · 7 years

Text

Finding Motivation--Week 2

Hi everyone! Week two back in the gym was off to a rough start because I was drowning in assignments on Sunday and Monday. However, on Tuesday, I had planned all day to go to the gym after my last class at 9:15 PM but I ended up really not feeling well. All day, I had nothing to eat except a couple of tangerines, went home around 3:15 after my class to nap before my psychology class that night. I thought a nap would help me out but it just made me feel worse. I stopped to get something to eat on my way to school but my headache and lack of motivation were still there. This is when I thought I was getting sick again because of all the stress and lack of sleep I have been getting.

This week, I am not going to give you a line by line recap of my week but rather the workouts I had planned to do at the gym. I didn’t go at all this week but I will explain why on each planned day. I was telling my boyfriend that I think I need to ease myself back in instead of telling myself I will commit to five days. Next week, I will plan for three or four days and the following week, I will plan for five and stay consistent. I hope this way works out better for me in the long run. A quick update on what I have been eating…I still have not bought food from the food court and I have yet to drink coffee from Starbucks. I am so proud of myself for this because coffee and fast food are weaknesses since they’re so convenient.

Monday—9:30 AM: 45 minutes of cardio—I had planned to do 45 minutes of cardio after a meeting at work before the second half of my shift that started at 3:30 PM but again, I had so much homework to catch up on that I opted out. Later that day, I wish I had not because I procrastinated at home for two hours before actually starting my work. Two hours that could have been spent at the gym and then getting ready.

Tuesday—9:30 PM: 45 minutes of cardio—10 minute warm up on the stair master and a 35-minute workout on the elliptical. I used to do stairs A LOT during the summer but since I injured my knee in 2012, it is hard to do things like climbing stairs for too long or running. I enjoy the elliptical because it is easier on my knees but I still feel like I am working hard because I increase the hill and resistance a lot. I was excited for this workout because I love cardio because it makes me feel so good about myself. However, since I did not feel well, I opted out and went home to take medicine and go to sleep before I had to be up early Wednesday.

Wednesday—5:30 AM: RPM—a cycling class. I have been wanting to try this class for weeks and I finally went. It was hard but not as hard as I thought. The cycling class called “Cycle” seems much harder and I planned to do that Friday. I ended up sleeping through my alarms and not going because I was just so exhausted from Tuesday.

Thursday—6:30 PM: BODYPUMP—Bodypump always kills my body because you work everything. I like this class because I love the instructor on Thursday nights and the instructor really makes or breaks the class as I learned with another girl’s class. I chose to not go because this week is crazy busy for me at school and work. At school, I am almost caught up with my work and it is such a good feeling! At work, we had a big store meeting today (Saturday) so as a manager I had a lot more responsibility in the planning and I had to make a bunch of posters and run errands.

Friday—5:30 AM: Cycling—I have been trying to try this for forever but I couldn’t do it after my long night Thursday. I love morning classes because they make me feel energized but I had to go to work early again so I opted out. Work was crazy busy getting ready for the meeting and everyone decided to go to the mall this day.

What I’ve learned through this week is that I cannot give up. My motivation is looking at myself in the mirror and saying I want to look better. I am not doing this to please anyone but myself. I wrote a reflection for one of my classes about fat phobia after watching this TEDtalk. If you have the time, please watch it because she really hit home with some of the points she made. One thing a lot of people asked when I started losing weight and still do ask is “who are you doing it for?” Why do I have to be doing it for someone?

In May 2016, I noticed how overweight I was. I was uncomfortable in my own skin and I felt like people were always staring and judging me. This was the time in my life where I felt like I was not good enough for anyone. I was still not over my ex-boyfriend and I thought that the way to get back at him was to lose weight and show him what he was missing. So yes, there may have been a little bit of I should do this so someone would love me in the beginning of all of this but wow was I wrong. Now, I’m with someone who loves me for who I am and tells me I don’t need to lose weight. But now, I’m not doing it for anyone else but myself. I think it’s important to have a healthy relationship with someone who motivates you and you can motivate them. That’s exactly what we do. We are both so supportive of each other and help each other when we need it.

Through all of this, my mom is my biggest inspiration. She works full time, is a full-time student getting her PhD, and is a full-time mother. However, she still finds time to workout and eat right. Going forward this next week, I will continue to clean eat, drink tea, and drink a lot of water. I will commit to working out four times this next week and I cannot wait to share my strengths and my weaknesses with you all next week. Thanks for reading!

Julie

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