#at least we got a ‘we’re like brothers’ ‘don’t say that I’ll cry’ before it ended.... :(((( | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mirkwoodshewolf · 6 months

Text

A departed farewell; Eddie Munson x reader

*Author's note*

To all out there, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! Okay so this one is kinda heavy but after getting reintroduced to the great film known as The Crow, this little fic was born and I wanted to post it up on Halloween night. But there is also some heavy warnings which I will say below, so to the faint of heart or those at are easily triggered, I won't be hurt if you decide to skip this fic. Have a happy Halloween (and if you don't celebrate it, have a good day/afternoon/evening).

Warnings: Eddie's death scene, drug use (not just weed, I'm talking hardcore drugs shown and mentioned here), depression, angst, some fluff, Vamp Eddie(? You decide), death.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@gay-and-ready-to-cry

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queen-paladin

__________________________________________________________

Dustin Henderson and Steve Harrington walked out along the wooded trails all the way to Reefer Rick’s boathouse. In his hands, Dustin held some wild flowers that he had picked before he had Steve drive him up here. They stopped before the boathouse and Dustin placed the wild flowers amongst the pile of already decaying flowers that had been placed there throughout the year.

“I still can’t believe it’s been over a year since it happened.” Dustin said weakly. “He didn’t deserve any of this. And he deserved to have a proper burial. Why did I have to break my damn leg?!”

“You didn’t break it. But you can’t blame yourself for what happened Dustin. You didn’t know Eddie was going to do what he did.”

“I just……I just still can’t believe he’s really gone. He of all people didn’t deserve what he got. I mean the people we lost when all this started, they didn’t get any of the shit that Eddie got. This town—hates him. Still hates him. They really think he did all of this and we can’t change that.”

“It sucks, I’ll admit that. But small minded people can never be changed, no matter how hard we try. At least we know the truth that Eddie Munson went out a hero. A hardcore, metal hero.”

“Have you and Robin tried talking to (Y/n) recently?” asked Dustin.

“Do you really need to ask?”

“Right, dumb question.”

“As her twin brother I know we’re supposed to rag on each other at times, but now I really mean it when I say it. She looks like she’s been through hell, chewed up and then spat back up. She’s not sleeping, she’s barely eating. And what’s worse are the drugs.”

“You mean…..”

“I wish dude, she’s been at the hard stuff. Don’t know where she’s getting it but I’ve seen the syringes and rubber bands. I can’t stand to see her in that much pain. She needs help but everytime I try to talk to her about it she—”

“She was right there with him when he died Steve. Those bats literally held her back just so that she could watch as they devoured him alive. On one hand I don’t blame her for falling like that, hell if I were in her place and I saw Suzie die like that, I’d probably fall that hard too.”

“Don’t you ever say anything like that you little butthead! I don’t ever want you talking about drugs again understand?!”

“On the other hand, she isn’t grieving properly. And that’s on all of us, we were too focused on how we had to move on with the rest of the town after the earthquakes happened that we completely ignored (Y/n)’s feelings. And it’s not just your fault Steve.” Steve shook his head, stroking his fingers through his hair anxiously.

“I’m 12 minutes older than her. I’m her big brother, and—I wasn’t there for her. Not ever since we entered high school. These last couple of years we’ve managed to rebuild our sibling bond but now I……I’m losing her again man.” Tears started to build up in Steve’s eyes. “I can’t….I can’t lose another person.” He thought back on Max and how he had failed to keep her safe.

She was a sarcastic child who suddenly came in when she and Billy came by but after reading her note, she had admitted to him that he was the big brother she had hoped Billy could’ve been for her, and it all happened ever since he stepped forward to keep them safe when Billy came looking for her. Sure he got his ass beat but he was willing to keep himself in the line of Billy’s rage and not let any of the kids get a single punch. Now—now when she needed him most, he failed her.

Dustin looked up to see that Steve had buried his eyes behind his right hand and saw how his shoulders began shaking as he choked on his sobs. Dustin gave Steve a one armed hug.

“We’ll get her back. We’ll get them both back.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I’m not. But it’s all that’s going through my mind. And I’m not gonna rest until we finally find a way to kill Vecna and send that son of a bitch straight to hell.”

“You’re a tough kid Henderson, hell of a lot tougher than me.” Steve ruffled his hair then the two of them left Reefer Rick’s boathouse and drove back to town.

*Halloween 1987*

It was Halloween night and unlike in the years before, Hawkins wasn’t celebrating Halloween this year. There was no yearly town hall Halloween party, no trick-or-treaters going out and about to get candy, not even the high schoolers dared to try and host a party of their own.

At Forest hill trailer park, the crack that had spread from this part of Hawkins had actually driven most of the trailer homeowners to leave Hawkins all together. Most took their RV’s and fled, while others just packed whatever they could and skipped town or ended up homeless and were currently staying at a shelter on the other side of Hawkins.

A hand suddenly shot up from the cracks and began crawling out from the earth. Groaning and grunting in agony as he pulled himself out from the red light of the Upside town glowing from beneath the earth. Once he was free, he lay there on his back exhausted and stared up at the night sky. The stars shining like diamonds high above the abandoned trailer park.

Suddenly the man heard a meow and when he opened his eyes, a long haired black cat stared down at him with piercing green eyes he could make out from the light of the full moon.

“Loki?” the cat let out a purr as his eyes squinted but then he licked the man’s finger before nuzzling into his hand. He lifted his hand and stroked through the cat’s long soft fur and asked. “Wha—what happened here?” suddenly something flashed before his eyes. A flash like seeing the tv suddenly go static after a power outage. He gripped his forehead before he found himself standing up and walking forward.

He stumbled about, falling a couple of times but as his vision kept flashing he kept standing back up and trudged onward. He saw himself standing on top of his trailer, shredding on his guitar. A swarm of bat-like creatures surrounding him and two other people, he then found himself falling down once more but he also saw himself falling, this time off a bike and he had been attacked by one of those bat creatures.

He saw himself stand up wielding a spear as well as a trashcan shield with nails sticking out and he stood up getting into the same position as he saw himself in that vision. He then saw the girl from before coming toward him calling his name.

“EDDIE! EDDIE!!!”

“(Y/n)?! What are you doing here?! You weren’t supposed to come back!”

“I made a promise Mr. Frodo! A promise! Don’t you leave him Samwise Gamgee. And I don’t mean to, I don’t mean to.” She told him. He shook his head and found himself saying as he heard himself in his vision say.

“Into the fires of Mount Doom milady?” She nodded and together the two of them stood as the bats swarmed around them before charging head on, the two of them using their trashcan shields to block off the attacks.

He copied his fighting movements of spear and shield, as he saw the girl, (Y/n) use a bottle of hairspray and with a lighter, she had created her own flamethrower to burn any bats that came near her. He then felt and saw himself being choked by one of the bats and felt himself being pulled to the ground.

His arms and legs were pulled outward and he saw the bats beginning to feast on his flesh. He saw and remembered the pain of their teeth piercing his skin and digging out chunk after chunk of flesh. All the while he could hear (Y/n) screaming out his name as she was forcefully held back by the bats. Their tails wrapped around her arms, legs, neck and stomach, even as she pulled to free herself, they pulled harder until suddenly they dropped dead.

She crawled over to his bleeding body whimpering out his name and picking him up into his lap.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no baby! Teddy-bear! Don’t you leave me don’t you die like Boromir did!”

“Bad huh?” he choked up. Soon another voice spoke up, this time a younger man’s voice assured him.

“No, no you’re gonna be fine we just need to get you to a hospital okay?”

“Okay.” He choked up. Together (Y/n) and the young man tried to pick him up but the pain in his body was too great as he pleaded.

“I-I-I think I just need a second, I need a second, okay?”

“Okay, okay we—we’ll give it to you.” (Y/n) assured him as she rested his head on her lap, stroking through his hair. He looked up at both (Y/n) and the young man and strained out as blood started coming up his throat.

“I didn’t run away this time right?”

“No. No baby, you-you didn’t run. Though I wish you did. Whatever happened to having no shame in running?” she asked him.

“You both are gonna have to look after those little sheep for me okay?” he told them.

“No! You’re gonna do that yourself!” the young man said but he found himself saying along with his vision.

“No man. Say you’re going to look after them. Say it Henderson.” He saw as the two of them were sobbing over him. (Y/n) took his left hand and raised it up to her face, the blood along his arm seeping into her hands but she didn’t care.

“I’m gonna….I’m gonna look after them.” Henderson choked out. He then found himself looking up at (Y/n), only at her even through his hazy vision as he asked her.

“And you…..fair Ravenna.” She choked out a sob. “Please smile for me…….please.” with as much strength as he could, he managed to move his index finger along her jawline. She kissed the back of his hand and gave a small, sweet smile. “Good…..cause I…..think I’m actually going to graduate. I think it’s my year sweetheart—Hen-Henderson. I think it’s finally my year……” he remembered feeling the blood starting to rise in his throat, preventing him from speaking full sentences but he did manage to make one last statement before he fell silent.

“I love you guys.”

“I love you too.” Henderson wept.

“This belongs to you Eddie Munson, and always will.” He felt her hand cup the side of his face, watched as she leaned forward and felt the soft touch of her lips on his bloody ones. Even with the taste of iron that was now seeping between her lips, she dared not move as she kept the gentle, loving kiss going until she separated from him.

And it was at that moment he had felt himself slip into darkness.

He remembered who he was. He was Eddie Munson, three-time senior of Hawkins High. Dungeon Master of the Hellfire club, and the love of his life was (Y/n) Harrington.

Eddie stood up and walked towards a trailer that had somehow miraculously survived the earthquake. He opened the door and knew that no one was home as the place had been ransacked and just left behind for anyone to have. Loki followed him inside, racing into the bathroom and hopped on top of the sink.

Eddie stared at himself in the mirror as memories of him and (Y/n) together flashed through his mind. Them cuddled on her bed when he’d sneak over to her house. The times they’d both try to cook something only to end up nearly burning the trailer down and his uncle having to stop the flames from spreading cause the two of them would be panicking too much.

Seeing her read all her favorite fantasy books from Tolkien to C.S Lewis and even J.M Barrie’s Peter Pan. Him hovering over her as she would be sitting on a chair while she read and kissing her neck and face, pleading for attention. And even though she tried to fight it, giggles would come out from her lips until she ended up succumbing to his will and they’d end up making out, or even going further beyond that.

The love he felt for (Y/n) both filled him with joy and agony. How could he leave her like that? He knew that she had many people in her life abandon her. Her parents, her friends, even her own twin brother had left her behind. He was all she had and he left her. His anger rose until he snapped and punched the mirror with his bare fist, breaking it in half.

His knuckles bleeding until he saw them heal up in the blink of an eye. He turned to Loki who merely looked at him and slowly blinked before letting out a throaty meow. Eddie dug through the cabinets and drawers of the bathroom until he had found some white base makeup and black lipstick. He dipped his fingers into the white base, rubbed his hands together and covered his face in white makeup.

With the black lipstick he drew down from his eyes what almost resembled tearstains, as well as covered his lips black and even drew a line upward at the corner of his lips. He stripped out of his torn and bloody clothes and managed to find a skin-tight along-sleeved black shirt, a long leather jacket, black pants and some old black boots. He donned on the new look before turning over to Loki who raised a paw at him letting out a small meow.

Eddie rubbed Loki’s head before picking him up and walked out of the bathroom.

“I blame myself for wrecking your home Loki. I’ll bet it hasn’t been easy for god knows how long it’s been. But I’m going to make this right.” Loki meowed and as Eddie sat him down, Loki ran out the trailer and he followed the black cat.

At the Henderson household, Dustin had been pretty much kept under his mom’s tight thumb. He wasn’t allowed anywhere unless it was school and back home. Hell he was lucky if he was able to even get to visit Max once if not twice a week just to see how she’s doing or if anything had changed (even though nothing had. She had been in her coma for over a year now).

As rain now began to pour down heavily on this Halloween night, he looked at his old Ghostbusters proton pack from three years ago and thought back to simpler times. He wished that those days would come back, long before the whole Upside down and he and his friends were the four weirdos who loved to play DnD all day and night at each other’s houses.

He heard a gentle rap at the window and when he turned around he saw Loki sitting right outside his window.

“Loki?” he remembered seeing the long-haired black cat over at Forest hill whenever he’d go to visit Eddie. He opened the window and allowed the drenched cat inside. “I thought you had gotten caught up when the Upside down opened up, guess (Y/n) was right to name you after the Norse god of mischief.” Loki let out a meow. “Oh yeah, think you can let me dry you off?” Loki let out a merp (a mix of a meow and a purr) and Dustin left to get a cat-sized towel that his mom uses on their cat whenever he got out.

When Dustin returned with the towel, he gently dried off Loki then allowed the cat to lick himself clean.

“What are you doing all the way over here anyways?” Loki paused and turned to the corner of Dustin’s room and there he saw a figure hidden within the shadows. Dustin jumped back fearfully and Eddie said.

“You know you gotta learn to shut your windows Dustin Henderson. You never know what freaks lurk in the night.” Dustin narrowed his eyes as he heard the voice.

“I can’t believe it…….Eddie?”

“Nice to see you again butthead.” Dustin took large strides across his room and embraced Eddie, tears falling down his face. Eddie hugged the young boy back and Dustin looked up at him.

“How did—I mean how is…..I saw you die. How are you alive? Does (Y/n) know? When did you get back? How long have you been alive? What happened?”

“Henderson, you’re rambling like a mad man.” Eddie stopped the young boy’s frantic question asking.

“Sorry.” Dustin said meekly.

“I honestly don’t know how it happened. One moment I was dying in (Y/n)’s arms and next thing I know, I’m crawling out of a gateway from hell. I don’t even know if I’m really alive or not.”

“What do you mean?” Eddie walked over to Loki and stroked down his chest before trailing his finger towards his right paw. He knew that Loki once had been attacked by another stray cat and his right paw never fully healed, so now anytime someone goes to touch that paw, he’ll bite since he had been declawed by his previous owners.

After Eddie got a nasty bite and Loki went over to sit on Dustin’s dresser now, his tail twitching.

“Eddie what the hell did…..”

“Just watch.” Eddie showed Dustin how the nasty bite wound now began to close up, just like what happened to his knuckles after he had punched the mirror.

“Holy shit.” Dustin muttered.

“But that’s my least concern right now. I need to ask you some questions. How long has it been since that day?”

“It’s been over a year. It’s 1987 now, Halloween. Of course no one really celebrates that holiday here anymore ever since the gates opened and split Hawkins in four ways.”

“I take it we didn’t kill Vecna?”

“Nancy, Steve and Robin definitely laid one on him. But there wasn’t a body after Nancy gave him one last shot to the chest. Will even says he can still feel him, that he is weak but bidding his time.” Eddie looked down grimly. “We…..also lost Max. I mean we sorta did but she hasn’t woken up yet. And I’m sorry Eddie, I’m really, really sorry. But the town put all of this mess onto you.”

“No surprise there. Last anyone knew of me, I was wanted for Chrissy’s and Patrick’s murders. Once the satanic freak, always the satanic freak.” Eddie plopped down onto Dustin’s bed.

“I’ve tried to get Hooper to work with the government to clear your name but they’re still in the processing phase, which is basically them saying they’ve got too much on their plate right now to deal with this specific request.” Eddie perked his head up. “Oh yeah, apparently Hooper was alive in a Russian gulag and Joyce brought him back along with Murray the conspiracy maniac.”

“All be damned. One of the only cops in this town I actually liked back from the grave. Guess we have that in common.” There was a brief moment of silence before Dustin said.

“Eddie……” Eddie looked up at Dustin and knew what the kid wanted to say.

“There’s nothing you can say Henderson. What happened, happened. Me being associated with you had nothing to do with my death.” He stood up and walked over to Dustin. He placed two firm hands on Dustin’s shoulders, looked him square in the eye and continued, “It was a shitshow there’s no question about it. But the fact that you were the first and only one to truly believe I wouldn’t do this besides (Y/n), I couldn’t ask more of a friend. Hell even a little brother. But don’t go getting a big head about it, okay?” Dustin slightly chuckled as tears fell down his face. He wiped them away and choked out.

“I’ve missed you Eddie.”

“Missed you too yah little shit.” Dustin immediately held onto Eddie as tight as he could. Eddie rested his head on top of Dustin’s as he patted the young man’s back.

“Eddie, there’s something else you should know.” Eddie separated from the hug and Dustin told him, “It’s about (Y/n). She…..she’s really spiraled ever since you—well you know. And I’m scared she’s going down a path she can’t come back from. It’s more than just shutting herself in or not talking to us. Steve told me she’s been getting into drugs. And I don’t mean the light stuff.”

“And what has Steve done?”

“He’s tried everything. And I know he doesn’t want to admit it, but she’s not just hurting him emotionally. I saw the faint scratch marks on his left cheek. I know she’s not doing it on purpose but…..I’m scared we’ll lose her too if she keeps going down this path.”

“I’ll get the info I need from Harrington. But this meeting never happened, understand Henderson?” Dustin nodded.

“Thank you Eddie. Love you man.”

“Love you too butthead.” With a loud boom of thunder and a bright flash of lighting, Dustin found himself once again alone in his room.

Over at the Harrington’s place, Steve was cleaning himself up in the bathroom. Once again he and his twin had their daily screaming match of (Y/n)’s wellbeing, this time she had given him a hard punch to the nose and he had finally managed to get the bleeding to stop.

He walked into the kitchen and got out a beer, needing to take the stress out of him.

“Might wanna take something a bit stronger if you wanna take the edge off after a fight, trust me.” Steve jumped back but saw no one there.

“Who’s there?” Steve called out.

“Surely you know, after all this isn’t the first time I’ve snuck into this house.” Steve’s eyes widened and he immediately raced up the stairs and opened up his sister’s room and saw Eddie stroking his hand along (Y/n)’s acoustic guitar which sat at the corner of her room.

“This-this—that’s not possible. How are you—”

“Henderson asked me the same question.”

“Wait you saw Henderson? I swear if you’re one of Vecna’s tricks I swear to god……”

“One way to prove it’s actually me is that back in 81, I snuck in here to be with your sister after she had failed the SAT’s. Poor thing was so devastated she wouldn’t come to school for nearly a week cause it happened to be the time your parents came for their daily check in and she had a screaming match with your old man. So I came here that night and stayed with her. Then you barged right on in and said to me ‘Get out of my house freak! And don’t show your face around here again!’”

“Jesus Christ…..it really is you.”

“Nice to know when it comes to your sister you’re not that clueless anymore Harrington.” Eddie couldn’t help but mock with a smirk.

“If you’re here to mock me for being a horrible brother I already know that Eddie.”

“No, no I didn’t come here to gloat or to mock. Henderson gave me a brief summary on all that happened, but I want to hear your perspective.” He fully turned towards Steve holding up the locket necklace he had given her for a 16th birthday present their junior year. “What happened to my best girl?” Steve sighed heavily. He sat down on (Y/n)’s bed and confessed.

“(Y/n) was amess. At first it started off with her barely eating, then it was the constant nightmares of seeing you die over and over again. Then I noticed how she’d end up disappearing at night. I didn’t know where she was going until I caught her sneaking back in and her nose was bleeding. But not in the way where she’d been in a fight, and I didn’t want to believe it but I swear I thought I saw some white powder under her nose. Then it was the injections on her arms, I’ve been trying to get her to get some help but she’s lost it Eddie. Your death seemed to really fuck her mind up.”

“Jesus Christ.” Eddie mumbled solemnly.

“Now I don’t blame you, no way in hell am I blaming you. I just….It just pains me to see my twin sister like this. It’s like I’m feeling her pain like some weird twin telepathy if that shit’s even real. But I can’t stand to see her in that much pain, and for her not to know that she still has people here for her. Hell Henderson was there when you died too, and she’s acting like he wasn’t. You don’t think he’s feeling the same pain as she is?”

“She always did tease that we should’ve just grown a pair and shared custody of the twerp.” Eddie softly chuckled.

“She’s always struggled with depression ever since middle school. Our parents chose to ignore it and kept telling her to get over it or smile more. You’re not depressed, you’re just being dramatic. When she met you, that was probably the first time I’ve ever seen her truly happy.” Steve walked over to an old picture of her and Eddie together at the junior prom. “Deep down I guess I also grew jealous of just how happy she was around you, and not me. Now I see that it was because of my selfishness that I drove her away. And even when I got our relationship back to the way it was before, I knew she’d put you over me in a heartbeat.”

“Your wrong.” Steve turned to him.

“What do you mean?”

“You remember how we were on Lover’s lake to find that gate where Patrick was killed?” Steve nodded. “And you remember how you were dragged under the water, and I told you that Wheeler didn’t hesitate to dive in after you?” Steve nodded again. “She wasn’t the first. In fact, the second you went down, your sister dove in straight after you. Even for not being the best swimmer, she dove straight in after you. She does love you Steve. Like you said, twin telepathy is a serious bond. Now old King Steve, he wouldn’t have dared try to help (Y/n) in her grieving stage. But you’re not him anymore, you’re her twin brother Steve Harrington. The one she always believed was still somewhere deep inside of you.”

Steve scoffed but Eddie came up to him and placed a hand over his chest.

“You’re still trying, still fighting for her. But before you can save her, you have to save yourself. Not just for what happened to me, but for all that happened. That includes Mayfield.” Steve’s eyes slightly widened. “I’ve seen how you are with her Harrington. Ever since that mall fire, I’ve seen how you’ve come around to check in on her, how you’ve always tried to be there for her at school, and how you’ve been with her since I found out about this Upside down and Vecna shit. How can you even try to help your sister when you’re clearly not ready to forgive yourself?”

Steve couldn’t believe it but Eddie Munson was actually making sense. Ever since he had been knocked back into reality since all of this began, and ended up forming a bond with the kids who started it all, he’s been trying to be the big brother he naturally was to the kids who began it all. He knew none of the adults (minus Joyce and Hooper) wouldn’t understand and that the kids needed someone to protect them whenever no one was around. So he ended up becoming the ‘babysitter’ as he was deemed at first.

And at first it was an annoying title but now, ever since their first big failure, he began to truly understood why he was called that. He felt a strong need to protect these kids because who else was going to when Joyce had moved, when Nancy decided to try and return to her normal life, who else was there to talk to about all this stuff? Only him.

“She’s been dealing with Daniel Thompson.” Steve told him.

“Daniel. If there’s any drug dealer that should be in jail it’s that prick. At least Rick and I never dealt to pre-teens.” Eddie hissed as he felt his teeth starting to grow a bit sharp before they receded. “Does he still live in Hawkins?”

“After the earthquake he moved over to the next county about 20 minutes’ drive from here. You know what, screw it.” Steve raced over and grabbed his keys as well as his bat with nails. “C’mon.” Eddie followed close behind them and Steve started up his BMW and drove out of his driveway and through the storm to get his sister back by any means necessary.

With Eddie’s abilities, they were able to track down exactly where (Y/n) had gone to see Daniel and to Steve, it looked exactly where a drug dealer would live. A very run down apartment complex in what appeared to be an unsafe part of town. The rain still pouring down as Steve grabbed his bat.

“So what, you gonna come with and we bust his ass open?” Steve asked.

“This isn’t West side story Harrington. Daniel isn’t one to be messed with especially if he’s using with her. You go in there ready to bust his ass in, he’ll have you shot dead before you can even blink.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“Just follow my lead.” They exited the car and crept towards the fire escape on the side of the building. Steve then watched in shock as Eddie leapt up and across the railings of the fire escape with ease.

“That would normally scare the shit out of me but I’ve seen freakier shit than that to be surprised.” He climbed up the fire escape until he stood by Eddie as he looked into a darkened room. He placed his hand along the window and said.

“She’s in there. They’re both high as kites right now.”

“How can you tell?”

“I can smell the burnt spoons and blood inside.”

“Blood? Eddie are you—are you some kind of vampire or something?”

“Or something.” Eddie slowly opened the window and slipped inside like an assassin on a mission.

Once he was inside the room, he saw (Y/n) passed out on the bed while Daniel was up against his headboard staring up into space after getting his high. Eddie scoffed before letting out a low whistle that seemed to stir them both from their high. (Y/n) let out a groan and opened her eyes slowly raising her head while Daniel looked on ahead.

“What the…..fuck?” As Eddie continued to whistle, he noticed a lightbulb just hanging above him and trailed his head around it like a dazed man. He then once again felt his canine teeth grow into fangs as a sudden primal instinct came over him. He slowly walked towards them then once he got to the bed, he let out a leopard-like roar, baring his fangs which scared Daniel but startled (Y/n). “JESUS CHRIST MAN!! You nearly gave me a fucking heart attack!”

“Are his…..eyes glowing red? Damn his costume is like…..all in.” (Y/n)’s tone was slurred. Eddie couldn’t believe that this was the woman he had fallen in love with. She had fallen so far and so fast ever since his death, but he was going to make it right. But first he had to get her away from Daniel for good.

“Just the morphine yah dumb bitch. This is just some….freak looking for some kicks.” It was then Daniel withdrew his gun out from under his pillow. “Time for you to get out of here psycho. I ain’t got no more stuff, me and the girlie here used it all up.” Eddie withdrew his fangs and his glowing red eyes turned back to his normal dark brown as he pulled up a chair and sat down. He pressed his palm against the barrel of the gun and dared him.

“Take your shot Thompson. You got me dead flank.”

“You are seriously fucked up.” Daniel said. (Y/n) laughed in her high as Daniel continued, “Like you really need psycho-therapy help you sick fuck.” It was then Daniel pulled the trigger making Eddie jump back holding his hand in pain.

Daniel stood up and cheered in his victory on a bullseye but after his brief cries of pain, Eddie soon began laughing as he showed them both his hand and he then let out a cheer as the bullet hole healed instantly. Daniel’s joy soon turned to panic and fear as he muttered.

“Jesus Christ.”

“Jesus Christ. Stop me if you’ve heard this before; Jesus Christ walks into a hotel.” Daniel shot Eddie in the shoulder which made him lurch backward a bit but he recovered and started walking towards him, continuing with the taunting joke, “He hands the innkeeper three nails and asks,” another shot rang out this time to Eddie’s stomach.

(Y/n) got out from the bed staring at the figure in fear. At the second gunshot she ended up tripping over the bed sheets trying to get away but for some reason she couldn’t help but stare at the figure before Daniel.

“Don’t you ever fucking die!?” Daniel demanded.

“Can you put me up for the night?” in a flash, Eddie had forced Daniel to point the gun down at his own leg, the gun went off firing straight through Daniel’s femur, blood splattering everywhere. Daniel cried out in agony, clenching his bleeding thigh between his hands. “Hurts doesn’t it? When someone takes advantage of your weakness? Imagine what she’s gone through before you coaxed her into your web. In fact I’ll let you feel it.”

Eddie extended his hand and placed it over Daniel’s eyes and with a deep growl, Eddie allowed Daniel to feel every ounce of pain both he and (Y/n) felt on that day. Daniel let out a scream before he fell still and stiff as a board.

Once Daniel was taken care of, Eddie heard the bathroom door shut. He dropped the gun and slowly walked toward the bathroom. He opened it and saw as (Y/n) was waving her arms back and forth meekly holding what appeared to be an old razor. Her screams of fear piercing the bathroom echoing as she pleaded for her life.

“STAY AWAY FROM ME!! STAY AWAY!!” Eddie grabbed both her wrists and got the razor out of her hands. He pressed her back against his chest as he dragged her towards the mirror, her wailing making his heart ache but he had to fix this. He had her stand before the mirror, one hand holding out her arm that had been filled with old and new puncture wounds, while his other hand held her across her forehead.

“You once said; What is grief if not love persevering? It is okay to cry and mourn for those we lost,” she then saw as the veins in her arm suddenly began to move and she felt the morphine slip down her arm. “Drugs however is not the way to grieve.” (Y/n) soon felt her mind starting to clear up and when she turned to the man, she swore she was seeing Eddie looking at her. He cupped her face between his hands and he said to her, “your brother is outside willing and ready to help you.”

(Y/n)’s lip trembled as tears poured down her face and she fell to her knees as she wept hysterically.

“Harrington!” Eddie called out and soon enough Steve came in and immediately he knelt down beside (Y/n) and held her in his arms. Even as she felt him drenched from the rain, (Y/n) gripped onto her twin brother as tightly as she could all the while weeping out Eddie’s name. As Steve rocked his little sister back and forth, he looked up at Eddie in sorrow but also gratitude while Eddie looked down at the sibling solemnly.

Eventually (Y/n) passed out from her hysterical sobbing.

Steve had taken his sister to the hospital to help get whatever else could’ve been in her system and she ended up sleeping all throughout the night, all throughout the rest of the next day up until it was nearly sunset. She stirred away to hear machines beeping and the sound of voices speaking over intercoms.

She looked over and saw Steve along with Dustin talking with one another in a hushed manner. When Steve noticed (Y/n) waking up, he came over to her saying.

“Sleeping beauty awakes. You okay?”

“A bit.” She said groggily. “Where am I?”

“You’re in the hospital. Had to bring you here to get all that crap out of your body.” (Y/n) leaned up against her pillow shamefully.

“I am so, so sorry Steve. I am so sorry and ashamed of what I did. I know it doesn’t excuse me for my behavior, and I don’t expect you to forgive me. But I…..” Steve stopped her heartbroken confession by hugging his sister as tightly as he could. “How can you forgive me so easily? I thought you’d never wanted to speak to me again?”

“I was never angry with you for turning to the drugs. I was upset because I was afraid you were losing your way.”

“I did lose my way Steve.”

“But you found it again. And I swear, I’m gonna be there for you every step of the way. No matter what it takes to help you get back on your feet.” The Harrington siblings smiled at each other softly as they embraced one another as (Y/n) said.

“Thank you Steve. You really are the best big brother.” After a few visits from the kids, as well as the older members of Hellfire, (Y/n) would soon be on her way to recovery. After speaking with her doctor, he prescribed that she would need to go up to Indianapolis to their rehab center where she would get the coaching and help that I needed.

She and Steve signed a few forms and it was settled that after a couple of more days here for observation, she would take the first bus up to the capital for her rehab treatment.

Later that night as the hospital had closed down their offices to visitors and the night shift staff were doing their rounds. (Y/n) lay there on her bed watching the Golden girls on the tv. She was just about to fall asleep when she felt a cold brush of wind blow across her cheek, she turned and there she saw Eddie’s silhouette appearing from her window until he finally made himself known to her.

“Hello milady.” He greeted her with a warm smile and a gentleman’s bow.

“Eddie?” she softly whispered as her heart meter began to spike. Eddie raised a finger to his lips softly shushing her as he walked up to her.

“Guess when you say your heartbeats faster everytime I’m in the room, you’re not lying. But it’s best we don’t alert the staff about my presence sweetheart.” He stood at the foot of her bed.

“Is it…..is it really you? Were you there that night? Or am I going crazy again from the drugs?”

“It’s not the after effects of the drugs, nor is this a trick from Vecna. I am here sweetheart.”

“I…….” (Y/n) was speechless. “I’ve thought over a million, trillion things to say when I’d—” her breathing was shaky as she gasped softly, “How?”

“I had a mission to help three grieving souls who needed my words of wisdom. And you were the last one that needed saving.”

“So you’re…..you’re leaving again?” she asked sadly.

“Sweetheart I’ve heard and now seen just how my death has affected you. But there’s something you must understand. The Eddie Munson you once knew and loved has become someone entirely new. And I can’t let him near you until I’ve figured him out for myself.”

“But I…..I just got you back. Eddie I…..I see it happen every night when I sleep, and everytime when thunder rumbles, I’m back down there with you. Seeing those things rip you apart, not able to free myself or save you. Why must you leave me again?”

Eddie walked closer to her and hovered his upperbody over hers. He leaned towards her left ear and whispered to her.

“This belongs to you, and always will.” He came back up, cupped the left side of her face. His dark brown eyes staring down at hers as he leaned in closer to her face and captured her lips with his in a soft, hidden kiss. (Y/n) raised her hand up and stroked along Eddie’s face with the back of her hand and buried her hand underneath his curls.

As the clock by her bed chimed midnight, Eddie separated from the kiss and took her hand into his.

“Where can I find you again?”

“You know that place between sleep and awake? That place where you still remember dreaming?” he asked her. She softly nodded, “That’s where I will always love you. That’s where I’ll be waiting.” He told her in a soft, loving manner. His eyes soon glowed red as he told her, “Sleep now meleth nin, sleep.” A feeling of exhaustion came over her as she soon fell asleep. “Sleep until dawn.”

Eddie placed into her hands her necklace he had taken from her room and rested her hands over her chest. He gave her one last look, almost as if he were taking a mental picture to keep forever in his mind before he forced himself away from her bedside and with the last chime of the clock, and a wave of the curtain, Eddie Munson disappeared from the hospital.

54 notes · View notes

dandylovesturtles · 1 year

Text

anyway chapter 14 of IMBI will probably be Heavily Delayed while I work on my big bang fic + I'm about to go on vacation, and so you guys don't forget about me (don't don't don't don't) here's the WIP opening of chapter 14 (could change, may not, depends on how I feel later)

also I'm sorry to everyone who thought Leo is already back in his body I DIDN'T MEAN TO BAMBOOZLE YOU

spoilers of course. don't click the read more if you'd rather wait for the entire chapter to be out

He got bits and pieces.

…

“...eo? Can… hear me?”

“...not fading, just… really out of it.”

“Okay, Donnie, can you-”

…

“...got him.”

“Good thing he doesn’t weigh anything like this, huh?”

“Michael, are you insinuating I couldn’t normally-”

…

“...really gonna walk down this mountain in the dark?”

“Would you rather stay in the cave?”

“At least we have the moon. Once a Krang hound chased me into the old subway tunnels and I was lost for…”

…

“...until by death the soul is torn.”

“I’m genuinely surprised Raph of all people managed to remember all that.”

“Donnie, consider this an IOU on a shove late-”

…

“OW! Dang it.”

“April!?”

“I’m okay, just… my dang ankle.”

“Alright, come here.”

“No, Raph, you don’t- …Thanks, big guy.”

…

“...the ranger station.”

“So what’s the plan? We can’t exactly walk-”

…

“-believe you guys talked me into stealing a truck!”

“It’s not stealing if you bring it back.”

“Oh yeah? Which of your uncles taught you that?”

“Actually it was you, Comman-”

…

“Dee?”

“Yeah?”

“I think he’s crying.”

“I know… I can… him shaking…”

…

“Cellphone reception, oh how I missed thee!”

“Oh, that is a lot of missed calls…”

…

“...only motels open this late rent by the hour.”

“Who would only need a motel for an hour?”

“Oh no, I am not explaining-”

…

“-ditch the truck here.”

“You good to walk, April?”

“Yeah, my ankle’s-”

…

“...with me, Casey. Just act natural.”

“I’ll try…?”

…

“I’ve never stayed in a hotel before.”

“Us neither! Unless you count that time we were in Big Mama’s place to-”

…

“-taking Case to hit up the twenty four hour minimart.”

“Bring back… chips and…”

…

“You’re okay, Leo. You’re safe. We gotcha.”

“Did he say something?”

“No, he just chirps someti-”

…

“-gotta call Pops back.”

“Sounds like a job for the oldest brother.”

“Oh no, I’m putting your baby face between me and-”

…

“WHERE ARE YOU!?”

“Um… somewhere just outside Tucson?”

“Oh! You boys are grounded! No TV, no movies, no video games, no-”

…

“...just tell me if Blue is safe.”

“Yeah, he’s… well he’s not doing great but we’ve-”

…

“We’re back!”

“You just missed us getting chewed out by Dad.”

“I’m sure I’ll get to see round two later. What’s the-”

…

“Donnie? Do you wanna get up and stretch or-”

“I’m not putting him down. He hasn’t stopped shaking since-”

…

The feel of hands resting on his shell, the soft click of a phone keyboard, Raph’s snoring echoing through the room…

…

“-say they’re gonna be here soon, and to tell them if-”

…

“I’M AWAKE!”

Leo flailed his arms, rolled over, slid off Donnie’s plastron, and promptly fell through the bed they had apparently been lying on.

#fic: i may be invisible but i still look good #wheeeeee #idk when the chapter itself will be out but probably sometime in april

91 notes · View notes

sunboki · 2 years

Text

༉‧₊˚. BITE ME. 19. no traces

“chung hee?”

“y/n?”

standing at your doorstep was none other than chung hee, her expression saturated with urgency.

“i don’t have time for questions y/n, please trust me on this. we have to move, fast.” the girl ushered hurriedly, beckoning you to her car. the first thing you noticed was yeji in the backseat.

as soon as you got in the engine roared and the three of you sped to somewhere unknown. the car rattling with silence until chung hee sighed from the drivers seat.

“this was abrupt i know, but i’ll make this short. i happened to overhear lino’s mother planning on kidnapping the both of you and proclaiming y/n as a runaway. in order for it to be kept quiet she needed both of you.”

“…which means i’m taking you guys to stay at my place until this situation dies down and lino’s mom gives up.” the female vampire cast a pitying glance at you two, both shaken up from the situation.

it should’ve been anticipated that chung hee’s place was going to be luxurious, but even a speck of dust in this place felt like i’d be worth at least 100 dollars.

“how long do we have to stay here?” yeji finally piqued, spooning a mouthful of soup to her lips while you all sat on the couch, “maybe four days.. his mother is impatient.”

four days without any contact to the outside world, no texts, nothing.

like living in a remote desert with no one but you and yeji.

for the sake of being with him, this was the cost.

the first day wasn’t horrible, but as you scrolled through your hundreds of missed calls the next morning, it was impossible to not cry.

“he says he loves you.” yeji blinks in surprise, you nearly choked on your noodles before snatching the phone from chung hee’s hands.

the longing in your eyes while reading the texts could be seen from miles away.

officially three days without seeing him, not sleeping, being forced to eat by yeji. something out of twilight honestly.

if you could wish three wishes, every one of them would be to see lino. his pretty face smiling at you, kissing those plump lips in an empty classroom. all of him, you missed his everything.

apparently, it was chung hee’s turn to get woken in the late of night, her phone dinging. and weird enough, it was lino.

she found out.

✞ masterlist _ next _ previous

sypnosis; finally getting into your dream college as a nursing major, it just so happens that this college in is prestigious for its long history—and for the notorious eight vampires attending as well?! these mysterious eight spend their days either collecting an army of fangirls or breaking hearts. but when one of the eight vampires takes interest in you, you find yourself in quite a sticky situation when your vampire-hating brother steps in.

✞ notes; writing this chapter killed me😭😭 we’re almost there for the final chapter!!

#taglist: @emmie5168 @babyphotos0325 @hikari-chan69 @dark-mark @hyunee1 @purenjuniverse @that-crazy-five-foot-two-chick @mingyu1pup @goquokka @chaarcharr @moasworld @nattisbored @bubblelixie @brit97 @superdeath

all rights for this work are owned by @sunboki

73 notes · View notes

imabeautifulbutterfly · 1 year

Text

The Gym Membership - Part 16 (Echo)

Summary: The family deal with a trying day, Echo and Sofie take a step.

A/N: Hello Lovelies,

Sorry I wasn’t able to post it last week, but I was finishing up the editing. This is the last part for Echo, next will be Crosshair, but there will be a short hiatus, about two months. So I’m hoping by the week of May 1, 2023 I’ll have Crosshair’s first part up and ready to go. After Crosshair there will be a small Omega part and then the series will be done.

The next one I’m working on now is the Reunion, I’ll have that ready hopefully by next week.

Thank you for loving this series as much as you have.

I described the Haka dance of the Maori people in the story, I did research on how the dance is done. However, this is not the only way to do the Haka dance. Please accept it, in the spirit it was written, with one of respect and dignity.

Love oo.

Warnings: Grief, emotions, dance, discussions about kissing (nothing explicit), kissing, tears, fluff, angst, I think that’s all of the warnings, if I miss any please let me know.

AO3 Link | Words: 7,061 | PREVIOUS - -> NEXT

Gym Membership Master List | Main Master List

Echo held on to my hand as we walked back to the cars, everyone had pretty much left except for the immediate family. He didn’t say much simply tightening his grip on my hand, after what all these guys had been through, a cemetery was the last place they needed to be.

“How do you think he’s doing?”

Echo leaned against the car, looking at his brother still standing over Kamarie’s grave.

“As well as can be expected, I don’t think he’s ever really been in love or at least loved anyone as much as he loved her. Then again he does play things pretty close to the vest.” Echo wrapped his arm around Sofie pulling her in, “She was one of a kind though, I wish you got a chance to meet her.”

“Me too, from what I heard from the eulogy she was quite the amazing woman, held two doctorates, advanced prosthetic technology to an amazing degree, and helped thousands have a better life. She seemed exceptional.”

“Mmhmm” Echo pressed his lips against the top of her head, “She was, but beyond that she was incredibly kind” he mumbled against her hair. “Everyone wants to meet you properly, are you able to come to the wake? Don’t feel pressured to come, you’ve already done so much.”

I nodded against his shoulder, “I took the week off, specifically to be around to help you and your family. I can’t wait to meet them, too. I just didn’t expect you to have such a huge family.”

He couldn’t stop laughing at her statement, “Yeah, it’s … let’s just say my dad had a hard time staying with one person. However, we’re family and we’re always here for each other. Just remember their crazy.”

I chuckled against his side, “I’m fully prepared.” My eyes focused on Tech’s back he was still standing by Kamarie’s grave, Hunter and Crosshair stood off to the side, at least I believe I got their names right, talking amongst themselves.

Tech looked at the coffin freshly laid in the grave, despite needing to leave, he still couldn’t pull himself away, “I understand you are no longer here, and yet despite what my head knows, it seems I am unable to leave you.”

He cleared his throat, he had done enough crying, he didn’t want to cry again.

“This morning when I woke up in our bed, it felt inexplicably large; it’s not a different bed, it’s the same one I’ve always owned, but somehow it feels too big for just one person. I hadn’t realized there was still some of your yogurt in the fridge. When I opened it this morning, I began preparing your breakfast without a second thought, until a moment later I realized you wouldn’t be coming downstairs. I stood there looking at the breakfast I had made you for three minutes before Echo walked in and was kind enough to eat it, even though he doesn’t like yogurt.”

He kneeled down, the amaryllises flower in his hand, “I miss your beautiful face, your laugh, the way you would kiss my cheek to wake me up. I miss hearing your voice, the way you would hum or sing when you cooked. I miss you. I’m grateful I still have some of your perfume left, so I can always have your scent on my pillow.”

Tech let out a sigh, his hand trailed along his pocket, he shifted a little shoving his hand in, pulling out a box. He opened it, looking at the ring he had bought the week before she passed.

“I was going to give this to you on the anniversary when we first met, which would’ve been today.” He cleared his throat wiping away a tear. “I want you to have this” he took the ring, placing a gentle kiss on the stone, before threading it through the stem of the amaryllis. “I had it specially made for you, the band is both of our DNA strands intertwined, the emerald and the green moss agate the two stones you said reflected the both of us so well. You always said I was an emerald full of wit, eloquence and foresight, while you were my moss agate encouraging tranquility and emotional balance in my life. I couldn’t wait to see your face when I would’ve proposed this morning.” Tech stood, keeping his eyes focused on the coffin, “Thank you cyare, for allowing me the opportunity to love you. I’ll always carry you with me” his hand brushing against her James Webb Telescope pendant she always wore, which now hung around his neck. He remembered how she laughed when someone thought it was a honeycomb. He placed one final kiss on the flower, “and I’ll always be with you.” He tossed the flower and ring on to the top of the coffin.

No matter how much he wanted to move, his feet wouldn’t listen, he closed his eyes taking in one deep breath, tilting his head back, blinking back the tears that were making more of a presence, how was he going to move on? How had he managed to live before she came into his life?

Echo walked up quietly beside his brother, knowing the moments he had with her were fleeting and simply not enough, “It’s never easy is it?”

Tech shook his head no, the lump in his throat making it impossible for him to speak. He’d been to so many funerals, Fives’ funeral was probably the hardest one for him, not as difficult as it had been for Echo. Even Heather’s funeral was tough, but nothing like what he was feeling now. He finally could understand why Hunter threw himself into taking care of Omega, why it seemed every day was a struggle for him after he lost Heather.

“You know what I loved most about her?” Echo asked

“Her smile?”

“No. I loved how much she loved you” Tech turned to look at Echo, the tears streaking his cheeks. Echo offered a soft smile, full of warmth and respect, “She loved you, for you. She wasn’t trying to use you, she wasn’t doing it to make a point or to make her ex jealous. One night when you had fallen asleep on the couch, while we were watching the documentary on bridges, we had a discussion about you, me, all of us. She had such a unique way of seeing the world, she’s the one that helped me to see I was punishing myself for Fives’ death and Wrecker’s injury. She sat there, combing your hair with her fingers, while holding your other hand, and the entire time she talked about you, her smile never left her face. The love she held in her eyes never faltered. She told me the best part of her life had been every moment she got to spend with you.”

Echo fully turned to look at his brother, “Plus she made us promise”

“Promise what?”

“She made us promise we wouldn’t let you wallow” Crosshair answered, walking up behind Echo, his sharp eyes able to read their lips.

“She also made us promise we’d make you leave, and not remain here with her all day” Hunter added.

“She also made us promise we’d help you in any way we could” Wrecker stated, placing his hand on Tech’s shoulder, “We all loved her, Tech; she was your better half. She made you better. We’re here for you vod.”

Tech was holding back the tears as much as possible, even in her death she made sure to take care of him. His vision became blurry as the tears obstructed his view, and at some point, someone pulled him forward, and the next thing he knew he was in the middle of a group hug, as his brothers held on to him.

- - - - - - - - - - -

The wake was a monumental moment for Echo and me, he took the time to introduce me, not only to his brothers and sisters-in-law properly, but also to his various extended family. The man had so many cousins, I had no idea one family could have this many uncles and cousins. I was speaking with one of the cousins, named Tup, when Hunter stood in the middle of his living room.

It was inspiring to see how he commanded a room, he cleared his throat, and nodded his head, two uncles, Rex and Cody, I think was the name stepped forward standing beside him. Wrecker, and Crosshair followed, along with a few other cousins. They stood with their arms at their side, their hands quivering, their stance was wide as their knees were slight bent, they all made sure to keep their palms hidden.

As one they raised their arms in front of them to shoulder height, slapping the front of their thighs, raising their arms and slapping their thighs again.

It was mesmerizing as they turned their quivering hands sideways, stomping their foot and extending their arms out mid torso, pulling their arms back and repeating it again. They closed their fists, making a slow ‘rope pulling’ motion with their right hand, holding it in front of their torso, then with the left hand, repeating it slowly.

As they danced more and more joined, finally Echo and Tech joined in, standing beside their brothers. Their faces were full of emotion as their left hand extended, their right arm crossed the centreline pointing down, as their fingers quivered, their hands pulling back. Their right forearm raised with their hand in a fist, as their left hand rested on their hip. They then raised their left forearm straight in front with their hands in fist, as their right hand slapped their elbow, repeating their steps.

Their movements changed slightly with the next set, rather than slapping their elbow, they swept their right hand under the raised left forearm. Their movements were familiar, comfortable, something clearly taught to them from a young age, it amazed me to see their synchronicity, not one of them missed a step, as they raised their right and pointed their left arms down with open palms, fingers extend and quivering. They held their arms in place shifting their upper body to face to the left, then switching their arms as they shifted facing the right.

As one entity, they turned to face straight ahead, sweeping their right fist under their raised left forearm. Their right hand raise and their left lower, as their hands opened, their fingers quivering, their eyes bulging, as they stuck out their tongues.

The dance went on for a few minutes, my eyes were focused on Echo’s movements, he was in sync with his brothers, his prosthetics not causing any sort of discomfort or tripping him up in any way. The pain and emotion on Tech’s face was intense, his grief was breaking through, his movements were starting to slow down and break until he couldn’t stand up anymore, collapsing down on to the floor, as his tears and sobbing burst through.

Without a second, the guys surrounded him and helped him up. Echo and Crosshair each stuck to his side, as they walked him to a room at the end of the hall.

I walked over to Mel once the group had dispersed, the atmosphere taking on a new somber feel. She had organized the whole wake, and I had to say there was not one thing missing, it had to be one of the most functioning wakes I’d ever been to, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Sweetie, thank you for offering” she held on to my forearm, giving it a light squeeze. Despite the smile she had, her eyes were glistening, her hand was trembling.

I moved closer to her lowering my voice, “Are you okay? Do you need a break?”

She simply smiled, patting my forearm, “I’m okay, it’s just … we all got really close to Kamarie and it’s still …” she cleared her throat, “fresh, it’s still fresh. Seeing him break down … Tech’s always very logical and always does his best to keep his emotions in check. To see him fully let go, not in private, but in front of everyone …” Mel swiftly swiped a tear that had threatened to escape, “she opened up his heart.”

“And you’re concerned” Zaina’s voice joined us, as she stealthy joined our conversation, “I’m concerned too.” She gave Mel a side hug, “Like Mel said, Tech’s always been a logical man, it’s one of the things we connected on, when I first met him. There’s no doubt, Kamarie made him a better man, I’m just concerned he’ll lock up his heart for good this time if he can’t move on.”

“If that’s what he needs to do to deal with his grief …”

“No” Omega stated also joining our conversation, “I know my uncle, he wouldn’t just lock up his heart, he’d shut it up tighter than womprat’s butt”

“Omega! Where did you learn that?” Mel frowned at her teenage niece; I had to stifle my laugh, since apparently no one else found it funny.

“Uncle Cross”

“Explains more than enough” Zaina smirked, “Despite the colourful wording she isn’t wrong. If Tech is unable to handle what he’s going through, I have no doubt, he’ll shut down forever. However, unless he actually wants our help, the best we can do is just be there for him. Speaking of which, do you guys know if any of our guys have eaten?”

“Wrecker had a sandwich when we got here, about four hours ago” Mel answered

“Echo snacked on some fruit he wasn’t particularly hungry when we got here. I’m not sure about Crosshair though” I had to say Echo’s family were a lot more welcoming than I expected. I mean Echo’s always been kind and considerate but that doesn’t necessarily mean it would be the same for his family.

“Well Hunter hasn’t felt hungry,” Zaina glanced down to Omega, resting her hand on her shoulder, “Have you eaten sweetie?”

“Not really”

“Why don’t you go grab a sandwich or something” Omega simply nodded, as soon as she had stepped away, a solemn expression appeared on Zaina’s face, “Hunter told me this felt too close to home for him, reminded him too much of Heather’s funeral. He said he’d try and get Tech to eat, but they’re both somewhat similar that way, so my guess is if Hunter hasn’t eaten, chances are Tech hasn’t either.”

“How about I go with some sandwiches and stuff, and see if any of them want to eat?” I offered

“That would be amazing thank you so much Sofie. I know this probably isn’t the best way to meet your boyfriend’s family, but we’re really happy to meet you despite the circumstances” Mel’s calming and motherly personality really made me feel welcome.

Zaina however, I hadn’t quite figured out yet, she seemed kind but very guarded when it came to herself; I’ve worked with enough people to know trauma when I see it. I was doing my best not to push her too hard.

“Truthfully, I hadn’t expected to meet you all so soon, but I have to say I’m glad I got a chance to meet you all despite the circumstances. For the sandwiches, is there anything I should avoid?”

“Crosshair isn’t a fan of egg-salad” Mel responded, “made that mistake when I first met him.”

“Hunter is more into vegetables and fish, he’s not one for a lot of red meat. Tech and Wrecker are pretty good at eating anything” Zaina offered.

“What about Echo? I mean I know some of the things he likes but we haven’t gotten to the sandwich part of our relationship” I smirked, hoping to add a tiny bit of humour to the day.

“Echo is good with anything as long as it’s not super greasy, he finds it affects his stomach too much” Mel offered smirking.

“Yeah he mentioned something about that; alright, let me go and get some food for these guys”

“Need any help?” Zaina tilted her head as she looked at me.

“No, I should be okay. If I need help, I’ll let you guys know or rope Omega into helping me”

- - - - - - - - - -

“Excuse me” I called as I peered into the study, Tech had his head in his hands, as Hunter and Wrecker sat beside him, Echo waved me in, I assumed it was either Hunter’s or Zaina’s study, either way it was cozy.

There was a couch against the east wall, three large bay windows on the west wall, a wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling bookcase, filled with books and a TV in the centre, on the south wall. On the north side of the room was a desk, seemed like an antique, behind it was another bookcase just as big as the one on the opposite wall. Crosshair and Echo were sitting in the arm chairs in front of the bay windows. A coffee table in the middle of the room.

“We brought some food for you guys” I moved into the room, placing it gently on the table, Omega following behind with another tray, “I can bring you guys some coffee or tea, water, juice?” I offered as I glanced around the room. As soon as Omega left the tray, she went and gave a hug to Tech before heading out again.

“Coffee’s fine love” Echo answered, holding my hand and pulling me closer to him, “Just bring us five black coffees, and we’ll add in the cream and sugar after.”

“Alright” I nodded, placing a kiss on his forehead.

I was heading out when a thought struck me, “Tech,” I rested my hand on the door, ready to close it after I finished, “I know we don’t know each other, but from what I’ve heard Kamarie was a wonderful person; and if you can find someway to honour her memory, maybe a foundation or I don’t know something, then she’ll never really be gone.”

Tech didn’t say anything as he tilted his head to look at me, I don’t know if what I said helped or just made it worse. I glanced back to Echo who had a soft smile on his lips, as he looked at me.

“Anyway, just a thought. I’ll get those coffees.”

The door closed behind Sofie, as Tech’s eyes focused on Echo, “Did she just quote Star Trek to me?”

“It’s not bad advice, vod” Echo defended

“I don’t think he’s saying she said anything wrong, but she’s a geek.” Crosshair smirked, “Plus she’s easy on the eyes” he chuckled, hoping to irritate Echo.

“Yeah she is, and she’s my girlfriend”

Crosshair held his hands up chuckling to himself, Hunter simply shook his head, “Tech, why don’t you have something, even a few of these veggies here” Hunter leaned forward putting some on a plate, and handing it back to his younger brother.

Tech nodded a thanks, nibbling on the carrot he had in his mouth.

“You know, Kamarie once told me she wanted to examine my brain, to really figure out how I worked” Wrecker bumped Tech’s shoulder hoping to get him to smile.

“That’s because your brain doesn’t work, she wanted to know how you were able to still function” Cross sneered out.

“Come on now, everyone behave” Hunter’s Sergeant’s tone coming out.

The door opened once again as Sofie walked through with a pitcher of coffee and a bag full of essentials, “I stole one of the pitchers, there are five cups here, stir sticks, creamers, milk, sugar, brown sugar, sweetener. Oh do you guys want some pastries?” She was talking a mile a minute, Echo couldn’t tell if it was because she was nervous or if she was just doing her best to be helpful.

“Pastries sound nice” Tech spoke up, offering a thank you smile to her, she simply nodded and exited again. “Echo, she seems really nice. You did good”

Echo nodded, moving forward to pour everyone a cup, “She is, when she heard about the funeral, I didn’t even ask her to come with me, she offered. She said she wanted to be there for me, for us. She even helped me figure out coffee and snacks.”

“How long have you guys been dating?”

“Since the night of Wreck and Mel’s wedding”

“Only two weeks and she’s already helping you like a proper spouse?” Wrecker chuckled, “She’s quite the woman”

“I’ll say” Crosshair smirked, as his finger trailed along his lips, “Too bad I didn’t meet her first”

“Crosshair” Hunter spoke, elongating his name, it was his final warning. The door opened Sofie and Omega carrying pastries in, Sofie rearranged the table a little to make sure everything fit, she double checked if anyone needed anything again. Once she knew everyone was fine, her and Omega exited again.

Crosshair making a point to eye her figure as she walked out, only to get a smack from Echo, “I’m kidding.” He chuckled, “However, in all seriousness, how are you two able to date, isn’t it against a code or something since she’s a physiotherapist?’

“Yup,” Echo leaned back a cup of coffee in his hand, a sandwich in the other, he took a bite, chewing it for a bit as his brothers all watched him like he was a monkey in a zoo, “that’s why I fired her.”

Hunter choked on his coffee, Wrecker had stopped midway reaching for another sandwich. Tech had a carrot in his mouth, not finishing the bite, and Crosshair just blinked a few times before bursting out laughing.

“You fired her! Well there’s an I love you, if I ever heard one.”

Hunter wiped his mouth, ignoring the burn from the hot liquid, “She’s still talking to you?”

Echo simply nodded, smiling as he took a bite, “She was happy to be fired, she even kissed me after.”

“On the lips?” Tech finally spoke, it took him a lot longer to eat the carrot then he wanted.

“Uhhh…” Echo cleared his throat, “No. Not yet. We were about to but then Hunter called … and everything became super busy.”

“I’m sorry” Crosshair was holding in the laughter. He coughed, hoping to calm down the urge to laugh, “You’re blaming the inability to kiss your girlfriend on … being occupied. I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s understandable to focus all your attention on today, however … there wasn’t a moment, a second, a minute, where you could have taken her in your arms and just planted one, helping her remember she’s a woman, make you feel alive.”

Echo took in a deep breath and shifted in his seat, doing his best not to answer.

“Don’t you want to kiss her?” Wrecker looked hurt on behalf of Sofie, after everything she did for them.

“I do, that’s not the problem.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Hunter couldn’t help become invested in this conversation, the fact Crosshair was intrigued just sent a shiver down Hunter’s spine.

Echo rubbed the back of his head, “The night we almost kissed, I was … I was all set for it. I hyped myself up enough to get the courage to finally make the move, but then …”

“The phone call”

“Right, and since then … well I … I haven’t kissed anyone since before I was injured.” The silence in the room was strangling, all four pairs of eyes looked at him as though he had grown a second head all of a sudden. “Stop it” Echo muttered.

Tech blinked a few times, before he reached forward taking a sip of the coffee Hunter made him grabbing a pastry as well, “You haven’t kissed anyone … I mean no one - in nine, almost ten years, you’ve never kissed anyone?”

“It’s not that bizarre”

“Of course not” Wrecker agreed, “I was hesitant the first time I kissed someone after my injury.”

“Really? You seemed so comfortable around Mel” Hunter added hoping for clarity.

“Mel wasn’t the first kiss after my injury” Wrecker cleared his throat, glancing away from the rest, pretending to read the spines of the books on the shelf.

“Who was the first?”

“Done Queen-ho-tee. What kind of book is that?” Wrecker did his best to change the subject, not really wanting to discuss that night.

“It’s Don Quixote, and don’t change the subject” Tech directed, “Who was the first?”

Wrecker shifted, “Don’t tell Mel, I never told her, but it was just a quick thing.”

“What do you mean by ‘thing’?” Crosshair shifted his toothpick, focusing his attention on Wrecker, they all became super focused on him.

He stood from his seat, shifting around for a bit, until he leaned against the bookcase, “Okay, so I was feeling particularly low one night; it was the night I originally planned to propose to Isabella when I would’ve gotten back from my tour. I knew you guys wouldn’t have approved so I didn’t tell any of you, but before I could do anything, she broke up with me. Anyway, I went to a bar and before I knew it, I was about ten shots of whiskey in, I couldn’t tell my left from my right. All I do remember is the cold air snapping me back into coherence, and the feeling of someone’s tongue in my mouth.”

“Who was it?” Hunter asked shocked by the revelation, Wrecker was many things, but not one to go out drinking, that was more of a Crosshair story than a Wrecker one.

“I don’t know for sure, but they appeared to be a rather tall and somewhat muscular woman. Long red hair, striking green eyes, but that’s all I remember.”

“What happened after?”

“Nothing” Wrecker played with his ear, not looking at them.

“Nothing?” Tech questioned

“At least nothing that I can remember. Somehow I made it home, and I woke up in my bed.”

“Just because you woke up in your bed, don’t mean nothing happened” Crosshair jested.

“Whatever. Nothing happened. Well, the only thing that did happen, was I realized I didn’t want to kiss someone unless I was sure about them.”

“How long was it before you kissed Mel?” Hunter asked as he grabbed some food to snack on.

“Um… about ten seconds after I asked her out.”

“WHAT?!” All four shouted in unison.

Echo appeared shocked, his mouth gaped open, “You knew that quickly?”

“Yeah. I did. What about you Hunter? When did you first kiss Zai?”

“I’m not discussing that” Hunter chuckled.

“Come on, we’ve all been open about this. I’ll tell you when’s the last time I kissed someone” Crosshair egged on.

“You mean aside from whatever poor soul had the misfortune of meeting you last night” Tech teased.

“Alright well if he doesn’t want to say it, I can guess. It was after you sent Omega and I back to the hospital with the stuff for Wrecker, Mel and Iris.”

“No”

“Oh I know” Wrecker chimed in, “it was when she was living with you before the attack, when you guys were training?”

“No”

“When she woke up in the hospital” Tech stated with firm conviction.

“No. I almost kissed her then.”

“So then when did you?” Echo tilted his head, wondering how much darker his face would go, with all the blood rushing to Hunter’s face from embarrassment.

“Guys, drop it”

“Nope, we’ve been pretty open and honest about our embarrassing moments, come on” the pleading look on Echo’s face made Hunter want to punch him; instead he simply let out a frustrated laugh and resigned to just let them know.

“Fine, I kissed Zaina for the first time when I was helping her pack up her stuff.”

Silence filled the room, as the guys waited for him to continue, it “Wait that’s it, you’re not going to tell us anything more?” Crosshair sneered out, annoyed by his older brother.

“You don’t need to know the details, that’s between her and I, and frankly how is any of this helping?”

“During my research last night, on how to deal with grief, one scholar mentioned ‘while distraction isn’t healthy for long periods of time, it can be a relief to get your mind off of your present grief, with simple distractions, and help you deal with the weight of your loss.’ Granted, I doubt this was the kind of distraction he had been implying, it has been helpful.” Tech nodded his thanks to his brothers, grateful in that moment to have them.

There was a slight knock on the door as Sofie peered her head in, “Sorry, just wanted to see if you needed anything?”

Hunter glanced around, confirming with each of his brothers that nothing was needed, Wrecker simply motioned to his watch. Hunter nodded in confirmation, turning to look at Sofie, “We’re all good, thanks. Out of curiosity, how many people are still left?”

“Umm not a lot, most of Kamarie’s co-workers have left, some friends of the family if I remember correctly are gone, it’s most family that’s left, some cousins and your uncles are still here.”

“Do you feel like going back out again?” Hunter turned to Tech, resting his hand on his younger brother’s shoulder.

Tech nodded, “Yeah, yeah I’m good. Everyone has shown exemplary tolerance and extraordinary kindness in allowing me to hide here. I should go and express my deep gratitude and appreciation for the patience they have imparted towards me.”

I watched as the guys all stood at once, waiting for Tech to make his way first only for him to motion towards Hunter. I waited outside of the door for Echo, it had been a sad and overwhelming day, it been a long time since my anxiety started to act up, but meeting a lot of his family, being a listening ear to a few, and learning a little too much about some of them, all I wanted was Echo’s arms.

As soon as he stepped out, I grabbed his hand and pulled him over slightly, moving away from the rest, wrapping my arms around his torso, “Hey” he mumbled against my hair, “you okay?”

“Yeah, just needed a hug”

The warmth from Echo’s arm, and the pressure from his prosthetic somehow eased my stress and anxiety, his hands started rubbing up, down, and from side to side. I could feel the tension in my back melt away, “Is that better?”

I nodded against his chest, “Yeah sorry, it just got a bit overwhelming all of a sudden.”

“Didn’t realize you suffered from anxiety?” He tightened his arms around her, holding her a little closer. “Thank you for everything you did today, it meant a lot. Not just to me, but to everyone.”

“I really didn’t do much, mostly hung out with Omega, as she introduced me to your family. I got to talk a bit with Mel and Zaina, they’re really awesome.”

“Yeah they are, and you did a lot. Don’t sell yourself short” he placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head, squeezing her a little bit more, “How are you feeling? Is that okay?”

“Mmhmm” I nodded against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, standing there with his arms wrapped around me, felt like the best blanket in the world.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Hunter sat on the couch in the living room, everything was back to normal after the wake had finished.

Omega was lying on the couch as well, resting her head on Zaina’s lap, her eyes focused on the TV, Zaina was reading, while her hand carded through Omega’s hair. As he watched them he couldn’t help smile at his family, his hand reached out on its own as it started playing with Zai’s hair.

She glanced out of the corner of her eye looking at him, a smirk on her lips. However, when she saw his expression the smirk vanished, he looked like he was miles away, there was still a hint of a smile on his lips, yet his eyes held grief and pain.

‘You okay?’ She mouthed to him, trying not to disturb Omega.

He gave a simple nod, as his hand shifted from her hair to her cheek, his eyes widened as he really took her in. He thought of Tech, and everything he was going through, he leaned over placing a kiss on her cheek, “Love you, and love you too kid” he placed a kiss on Omega’s head.

Omega shifted her head to look at her dad, “You okay?”

“Yeah, just ... after everything today, I’m reminded that I have an awesome family. I love you both.”

Omega smiled, reaching her hand up to pinch his cheek, “Love you too, dad”

Zaina chuckled, placing a kiss on his cheek hoping to ease the pain from Omega’s pinch. “We both love you, amar (moon - arabic), and it grows more with each passing day.”

Hunter placed a kiss on Zaina’s lips pulling her into his side, focusing his attention back on the TV.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Wrecker stood beside Iris’ crib watching her sleep, his finger trailing over her forehead and along her cheek. Simply being beside her, and watching how she slept with confidence and without fear, made his heart ache. He couldn’t remember a time he slept the whole night through without a worry, without a nightmare of the war, to be able just to close his eyes and have pleasant dreams.

Even if he couldn’t experience it, he was happy, he could provide that comfort for his daughter.

Mel did her best to keep her footsteps light as she walked up to Wrecker, wrapping her arms around his middle, resting her head on his arm. She had woken up when she didn’t feel him lying beside her.

“You alright, sweetie?” Her voice was barely audible, doing her best not to wake their sleeping daughter, who was finally able to sleep through the night.

“I keep thinking about Tech and Hunter.” Wrecker’s voice didn’t exactly lead to quite whispering, but it was low enough not to disturb Iris, “I never fully understood the pain Hunter went through when he lost Heather, even though I had Isabella at the time. I’ve realized since then I was never really in love with her. Today, watching Tech fall apart, seeing how much pain he was going through, I kept imaging what my life would be like without you or Iris and …” he turned to face her, there were tears welling up in his eyes, “the very idea of not having you two in my life …” his voice trembled, his lips began to quiver, he couldn’t lose it now. He closed his eyes calming the storm within him. “I can’t lose you, either of you. You’re my rock, Mel. My foundation and my strength. You’re my sun and Iris is my moon, either by day or night you are both guiding me; always there to shine a light into my life I hadn’t realized I was missing. You brought me out of the dark.” His trembling hand, caressed her cheek, as his forehead gently pressed against hers, “Don’t leave me, cyar’ika. I can’t go back to the darkness.”

Mel’s heart ached in pain at seeing the one she loved without restraint torturing himself on the possibilities of what-ifs, her hands rested against his neck, as her thumb trailed along his jawline, “Sweetie, we’re not going anywhere, we’re here. Right now, with you. We’ll always be here. I’ll always be here.”

He pulled back his head, smiling as she wiped the tears from his face, he gently placed a kiss on her lips, as his arms slowly wrapped around her pulling her in. She pulled back a little as he started to deepen the kiss, “Wreck, we should go back to our room.”

He nodded, placing another kiss on her lips, lowering himself a little until he wrapped his arms around her knees picking her up, surprising her if the small squeak that escaped her lips gave any indication, he chuckled as he placed another kiss on her lips, heading towards their bedroom.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tech sat with Crosshair in Cross’ living room, he had refused to stay with either Hunter or Wrecker and he didn’t feel like going back home. He just wanted to sit there and drink, not having to be reminded that Kamarie was gone, which was irrational. He understood what he was getting into when he agreed to their relationship; he had accounted for every possible scenario, he simply hadn’t realized how painful it was going to feel.

“Want another one?” Cross motioned to the empty glass in Tech’s hand.

He tilted it back and forth, eyeing the ice that hadn’t melted yet, “Have you ever fallen in love?”

“You want another one?” Cross held up the bottle of scotch, pouring himself another, before he stood and headed towards his bookcase, it was one of the few things that truly brought him joy. Reading. He wasn’t as avid as Echo or Hunter, but he did enjoy it. He took a swig of his drink, grabbing the old photo album he had.

He turned to see Tech pouring himself another drink, downing it in seconds. Cross’ eyes widened as he watched his younger vod fill his cup again. Tech had never been one to drink, and the last thing Cross wanted was to have him develop a coping mechanism that would be detrimental.

He subtly moved the bottle away from Tech opening the photo album to a group photo of him and his unit sitting at a pub in London, he pointed to a short haired, bespectacled, chubby looking woman.

“Who’s that?” Tech asked doing his best to keep his eyes focused on the person Cross was pointing towards.

“You asked a question, I’m giving you the answer”

“The one who’s drinking … club soda?” He asked wearing into the photo

“Yup”

“The one who looks like she hasn’t slept for three days?”

“Yup”

He looked from the picture back to Cross, “Her?”

“You got something to say?”

Tech’s eyes closed as he swayed, “I’m just making sure she’s the one …” his voice trailed as he head slumped against the table passed out.

Cross chuckled at his vod, adjusting him till he was lying down on the couch, dropping the blanket on him, taking off his glasses. Once his younger brother was set, he grabbed the photo album sitting back on the couch, his finger trailing over her face again, “Yeah, she’s the one.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Echo stood in Sofie’s kitchen preparing their drinks, his hot chocolate, and her tea. It had been a long day for everyone, it was emotionally, mentally, spiritually and even physically draining. His body was hurting after the dance.

Truthfully, if it hadn’t been for all the physio and dance classes he was going to, he doubt he’d have the stamina to last as long as he did. It’d been a concern of his after the accident, whether or not his stamina would fail him, not just in this aspect, but in all aspects of his life.

Being in Sofie’s apartment was nice, it felt cozy and warm just like her; as soon as she stepped in to her place she turned on her speakers and started playing Miles Davis, they had gone through almost two of his albums already, it provided the perfect way to ease their stress and tension.

My arms wrapped around Echo, as I snuck up behind him, my hair was still a little wet, I could feel him shiver underneath me from the dampness, “Sorry”

“It’s okay, just unexpected. How was the shower?”

“Refreshing, you should take one too”

“I’ll take one when I get home”

I let go of his torso, my hands slowly dragging away; my mind couldn’t help think that maybe he didn’t want to stay because I’d done something wrong … I had to calm down my racing thoughts. This had nothing to do with me, it’s probably had more to do with his own comfort. However, no matter how much I tried to silence the inner voice that kept telling me I disappointed him, it still managed to rear its ugly head.

Echo could feel her breathing quicken against his back, he slowly turned around until he faced her completely, her head resting on his chest now. “Hey” his voice was gentle and soothing as his hand shifted her head a little, guiding it till he was able to look at her completely, “I would love to stay with you tonight, but … I’m …” he cleared his throat as Sofie looked into his eyes, he could feel his heart beat quicken, his blood pressure rising, all of a sudden it felt as though he was on fire. Everything was just too warm all of a sudden.

“Your?”

“As much as I want to stay ... spend time with you” his prosthetic finger trailed down her face, “I’m not …” he cleared his throat, “I’m not ready to … you know.”

It took me a minute to completely understand what he was referring to, when the shoe finally dropped, “Oh!” I chuckled a little resting my head against his chest, before I focused on his face again, “Echo, I’ve worked with enough veterans and trauma victims not to demand anything. I know this is a big step for you, and just being here with me doesn’t mean I’m expecting anything either. I’m happy just to be with you, Echo, like this and when you feel ready we can take that next step.”

He couldn’t help the tears that were welling up, his heart began beating faster, his face felt flushed, he never imagined he’d meet someone who was kind and as considerate as Sofie, his thumbs trailed along her jawline, as his eyes looked deep into hers, glancing between her eyes and lips.

He watched as her lips widened and parted a little, he leaned down unable to hold himself back any longer.

His breath fanned over my face, as his lips inched closer, grabbing the front of his shirt, I pulled him closer till our lips met. Echo took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, it was a little awkward and clumsy at first but soon enough it started to feel better than any previous kiss.

Echo held her closer, taking in all the warmth, love and comfort she had to offer. Knowing this had been a first step for him.

PREVIOUS - -> NEXT

Gym Membership Master List | Main Master List

TAG LIST:

@justanothersadperson93 @liadamerondjarin @badbatch-simp24 @spicymcnuggies @lady-ren @firstofficerwiggles @darkangel4121 @discofern @kavecika @monako-jinn-stories @ladykatakuri @avathebestx @theroguesully @furyhellfire66 @carodealmeida @ciramaris @sprout-fics @twinkofthedink @dindjarin-mandalorian

22 notes · View notes

pokegalla · 2 months

Text

Small note: Here’s a small mini series of short stories for the game Obey Me! I just recently got into the game so I thought of making a fun little project of chaos of my sona and mutual’s sona deal with the demon bro’s shenanigans✨ enjoy✨ (Let me know if I should write more!)

Rebel belongs to @veiled-rebel

Lisa belongs to me

Lesson 1

I yawn as me and my friend Rebel were traveling universes again and ended up crashing at the current universe we’re in. It was common for us to get lost every now and then as universe hopping can be pretty difficult sometimes. But this time….I think I really messed up. Because now….we’re going to be stuck living with 7 demon brothers for a year.

A few hours earlier……

“GAH-“

“SHIT WAIT-“

We fell right into the middle of a random conference room where several guys were having a discussion and they look at us confused. But one helped us up.

“Apologies for the rough travel my friends! Are you two alright….?” The red haired man said.

“We’re good sir…uh….” Rebel blinked a few times before realizing where we were. They quickly nudged me, “Lisa. We need to go….NOW. Cmoooooon-“

I looked a little confused by their sudden nervousness, “Ok ok calm down. The portals just probably got mixed up….I’ll fix it.”

But when I tried to resummon it. Nothing….happened? This….this never happened before. Sure I mess up spells before but never to this extent! I try again and again and AGAIN until….

”AHHHH! MY MAGIC!!! ITS COMPLETELY GOOOONE!” I sulk in the corner, “I’ve failed you my friend. If we must die, please all that I ask is that may it please be swift?”

Rebel sweatdropped, “Dude seriously….?”

A pink haired man laughed, “What a dramatic way to go out I’ll say. Almost noble….”

A blonde guy sweatdropped, “Jeez she was quick to accept death that quickly…?”

“Lord Diavolo. I do not mean to question your leadership in anyway….but what in the world is this…?” The raven haired man asked the guy who helped us up.

Diavolo laughed, “For my exchange program of my school of course! I’d like for these two to be apart of this learning experience!”

“Wait….what? You summoned us here for that?” Rebel tilted their head, curious but wary. They knew they were demons so they had to be careful around them….especially since I was just human.

“Why of course! The purpose of this program is to bring peace to humans, angels, and demons of this world. And you and your human friend seem like the ideal candidates for this program!” Diavolo said proudly, “If that’s alright with you of course.”

“Sure. Sounds like a nice ideal. Unity is my kinda thing too,” The guys turn to see me, now looking more motivated.

“……were you not just crying in the corner begging for a swift death?” The raven haired man asked with a brow raised.

“Well now I’m here and interested. So shush. Stop complaining,” I put a finger up to shush him much to everyone’s fear. “I’ll be delighted to take part of the program.”

“…..eh fuck it. If she’s going, I’ll join as well. As long as we remain together at least….” Rebel said with a shrug.

Diavolo nods, “Of course. I’ll allow it. As long as you don’t mind living with my student council of course. As your friend has seemed to post her powers, she’ll need protection. As well as you if necessary. They are the 7 brothers as well as the avatars of sin. That over there is Lucifer, the avatar of pride. He’ll be the one taking you in.”

……me and Rebel slowly look up at Lucifer in horror. Who looked livid as I still had my finger up still.

I move my hand away, “……s-sorry sir.”

Surprisingly, he just laughed it off, “I’ll let you off the hook just this once. After all you didn’t know who I was. But I can ensure it won’t happen again….correct? Besides let us get you aquatinted with my brothers and where you two will be sleeping…” I feel like he just low key threatened me there….I flip him off when he turned around but Rebel stopped me. This was already gonna be a pain…..Lucifer could see it. But if that’s what Lord Diavolo wants, he’ll just have to deal with us.

And now here me and Rebel are, after getting settled in and introduced to all the brothers, I sit in my new bed thinking about everything that happened. What the fuck am I doing? Agreeing to this shit?! I’m officially insane!

“Lisa…..It’s late. Don’t just be sitting there in the dark. You look scary as fuck-“ Rebel mumbled.

“First of all fuck you. Second of all that’s just rude- …..and I’m just uh thinking and stuff. I mean I’m not worried about staying here. But was this a good idea…? I mean I don’t fully know much about this universe,” I admit.

Rebel turned to me, “Well to be frank? Just be careful Lisa. In this world you’re just a regular human so all you gotta do is be careful because demons here will probably target you. So as much as you wanna get along with everyone, you have to be more wary around others, K? That also means tone down on the sass….”

“……man fuck Lucifer-“ I huff already knowing what they were indicating.

“If you have time to flap that mouth of yours, you have enough time to close your eyes and SLEEP,” Lucifer said from our doorway making us jump. “You have classes tomorrow. Do NOT be late…”

With that he left. Ugh what was his problem? He already annoys me. But me and Rebel ended up dozing off together. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day. But I really need to get stronger now that I have no magic…..I can’t rely on some demons we just met. Hm Maybe I can find a gym or training area tomorrow. Yeah that could provide something! I’ll make sure to go there right after classes!

…..if I can even find it.

#my writing #funny #self insert #Lesson 1 #obey me #obey me asmodeus #lucifer obey me #obey me diavolo #chaotic #mini series #satan obey me #just Lisa and Rebel trying to survive and act like this is normal #short story

5 notes · View notes

mahoutoons · 2 years

Text

Sonic Dimensions: Chapter 4 - Alternative Tails - Miles

AO3 link

The group landed in the next dimension. This one looked more peaceful than the last. They were in an area that looked like Green Hill Zone. “Alright, time to find Eris and Eggman,” Sonic said. “No time to waste.”

Suddenly, the ground shook. A giant robot came into view - the Death Egg robot. “Looks like we found him,” said Amy. “Alright everyone, get ready to fight!” said Sonic. The group went into fighting position.

“HO HO HO HO!” Eggman’s voice echoed through the robot. “This time, I will finally defeat you, Sonic the hedgehog!” “Not if we defeat you first!” Sonic exclaimed. A figure dashed past them just then. It was as fast as Sonic. “I’d like to see you try, Egg face!” the figure quipped. The group got a closer look. It was….. Sonic again? “Wow I wonder how many me’s I’m gonna meet before we get all the emeralds back,” Sonic commented. “My lovely assistant helped make this robot! With that I’m sure to defeat you!” Eggman bellowed. “Regardless of whether that kid made this robot or not, its going down!”

The current dimension’s Sonic and Eggman got into a showdown. “Something isn’t right here,” said Sonic. “Where is this dimension’s Tails?” “Yeah, after all I’m always accompanying Sonic on adventures,” Tails added. The showdown ended in the other Sonic’s victory. “Curse you Sonic! You’ll pay for this!” Eggman grunted. And then, a familiar voice spoke. One that made Tails’ fur stand up. “Sonic the hedgehog, next time I’ll destroy you for ruining my inventions!” the voice was like a child’s and sounded eerily like Tails. “Try it, I’ll keep destroying your toys, Tails!” the current Sonic said. “No…. no it can’t be!” Tails said softly. “Stop calling me that!” the other Tails demanded. “And its a promise! I will destroy you!” Eggman retreated in his Egg Mobile, taking his assistant with him - a two tailed fox.

“That was easy,” the current Sonic said. He looked behind to see the group standing there. “Oh, hello there! Come to get my autograph?” he asked. He noticed Tails and suddenly was on guard. “Oh, you’re here too? I thought you threw a tantrum when I destroyed your last toy!” the current Sonic teased him. “I…. this Tails…. He isn’t really evil, is he?” Tails asked. “What are you talking about?” At that moment, the current Sonic noticed Sonic. “Oh wow, do I have a lost twin or something?” “Listen, uh, Sonic, we’re from another dimension. I’m, um, you. These are my friends, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Blaze, and Serena.” “Another dimension, huh? And Tails isn’t evil?” “N-No, of course not!” Tails exclaimed. “Sonic is like my brother, I’d never betray him, I….” “Wow. Because in this dimension, Tails is Eggman’s assistant. He’s made a lot of Eggman’s robots. I’ve destroyed them all and he always goes home crying and throwing a tantrum like the spoiled brat he is,” the current Sonic said. “I…. I can’t believe this. A dimension where I’m evil and fighting with Sonic? I don’t know how to process this!” “Its alright, Tails,” Sonic assured him. “What matters is that you are on our side.” “Sonic is right,” Amy said. “This is an alternate dimension, so anything is possible. So don’t worry about-” “I’m gonna go speak to this Tails. Try to make him see what he’s doing,” Tails announced. “If he’s me, then we’ve gotta understand each other.” Saying this, Tails went away. “Hey, I wasn’t done talking!” said Amy. “Lets follow him,” suggested Blaze. “Good luck trying to reason with Tails. He’s as stubborn as a rock,” said the other Sonic. “I meant this dimension’s Tails, if that wasn’t clear.”

The rest of the group soon caught up with Tails. “Hey Tails, if you’re gonna leave, at least let us help,” said Sonic. “Thanks guys,” said Tails. “I just want to reason with this version of me.”

They soon came to Eggman’s base. “Now how are we going to get inside?” asked Sonic. “Maybe if I punched it!” Knuckles exclaimed. He punched the door, to no avail. “OWWW!” he screamed. “Whatever this material is, its too strong!” “Um…. guys….” Serena said, having noticed something. “Why don’t I try my hammer?” Amy summoned her hammer. “Guys….” Serena’s voice was so soft it was almost a whisper so no one heard her. Amy smashed the door with her hammer, again to no avail. “What is this thing made of?” she asked. “A good old spin dash might do the trick,” said Sonic. “Guys…. P-please look here…. I-I found something” Serena tried to get their attention but no one noticed her. Sonic spin dashed at the door, but it didn’t work again. “Perhaps my pyrokinesis can be of use,” Blaze suggested. “Y-Your highness….. Everyone….” Serena tried again, but no one listened. Blaze conjured up flames and aimed them at the door. She blasted them, to no effect. “Its fire proof too. How peculiar,” Blaze commented. “Serena, why don’t you try your light powers?” Sonic asked. “W-Well…. Actually…..” “Did you find something?” asked Tails. “Th-This door opens with f-facial recognition…. I was thinking since this dimension’s Tails was…. Eggman’s assistant then….. Our Tails could ah….. W-Well, maybe it won’t work b-but, ahhhh……” “Ohhh, I get what you’re saying now,” said Tails. He went to the pad that Serena was near. The device asked for him to stand in front of the camera. He did. It instantly recognized him. “Welcome, Miles Prower,” the AI voice said. The door opened. “It worked! Good observation Serena!” Sonic said. “Ah… uh, thank you,”

The group walked inside the base. “How long did you know that was there?” asked Tails. “F-For a while. I…. I was trying to g-get your attention but…..” “Maybe you should’ve spoken up,” Tails said. “Ah…. I tried but…” “Your voice was soft though. We couldn’t hear you.” “Ah…. I’m sorry…” “I know how you feel,” said Tails. “I used to be pretty shy too. Its mainly because I was bullied for my twin Tails and no one would really listen to me. But after meeting Sonic, I became more confident in myself. I wasn’t afraid to show off what I’d done. And Sonic was always interested in what I had to say. And then I met Knuckles and Amy too. Now I have a wonderful friend group by my side.” “Ah….. I… I also was bullied…. For a lot of r-reasons…. I d-didn’t have many friends growing up. The only people who r-really cared about me were my p-parents, so…” “Well you don’t have to worry here. We’re all your friends so when you want to say something, you can speak up. We’ll listen, no matter how stupid you think it sounds.” “I…. Alright, I’ll try….”

“This is almost too easy,” Sonic said. “Where’s the invisible lasers and the alarms?” “Well, Tails in this dimension is Eggman’s assistant so of course it’ll be easy,” said Amy. “Miles!” a gruff voice called. The group turned around to see Eggman. This Eggman was the same as their Eggman except he didn’t wear his signature glasses. His eyes were blue. “Wow, he looks weird without his glasses,” Sonic commented. “Miles, I thought you came back already. You didn’t tell me you were going out again,” said Eggman. “Ooh, are these your friends? My Miles is making friends now?! Have they also come to serve the Eggman empire? Ooh, and you’ve captured Sonic too. You’ve outdone yourself, Miles.” “Uhh…..”

“Dr Robotnik” a voice very similar to Tails said, with the slight difference being it sounded a bit monotone. “I have arranged the papers as you asked. Is there anything…” The other Tails looked at the group and froze in shock. Eggman looked at Tails, then the other Tails. “Wha-HUH?! Since when were there TWO MILESES? Unless there’s another two tailed fox somewhere!” “Who are you?” asked the other Tails. “You’re this dimension’s Tails, right?” Sonic asked. “You will not refer to me by that name!” the other Tails snapped. “You will address me as Miles!” “Oh, alright. Makes it less confusing at least.” “Miles, I’m you from another dimension!” Tails said. “Wait…. Really?” “Yeah! Look, we’ve got the same tails and everything!” “Oh…. my…. Gosh! This is SO EXCITING!” Miles ran over to Tails. “The existence of other dimensions was only a theory, but to see it proven right before my eyes! And with another me, no less! Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh, I have so many questions to ask you!” Miles seemed like an excited kid and less like an evil scientist’s assistant. “Dr Robotnik, I told you other dimensions exist! Living proof is right in front of us!” “Well, I found out long before you, Miles,” said Eggman. “I’d like to introduce you to a new friend. Well, two friends.”

The Eggman that Sonic and co. knew and Eris came out. “Eggman! And Eris!” Sonic exclaimed. Miles made a little noise of excitement. “This is so exciting!” he quaked. “I bet you’re every bit as genius as this dimension’s Robotnik!” He then turned to Tails. “And I bet you’re just as much of a help to your Robotnik as I am with mine!” “Um, actually…” Tails began. “Well, quite the opposite, actually. Our version of Tails is just as much of a thorn on my side as Sonic. Man are you lucky your Tails-” “Its MILES!” “Er, Miles, is actually your assistant. You don’t have to deal with twice the annoyance.” “Wow, I can’t imagine a world where I didn’t have Miles as my assistant. He sure is handy,” the current Eggman said. “Wait, so you’re not Robotnik’s assistant?” Miles asked. “No. Actually, I fight alongside Sonic against Eggman.” Some of the excitement in Miles’ eyes seemed to vanish. “I can’t believe this! Were you ever bullied in your dimension?” “Yeah, but-” “Then why are you working alongside him?” “Miles, I actually came here to reason with you. You don’t have to work alongside Eggman. Maybe you can talk to Sonic. I’m sure if he understands you, then-” “Stop! STOP! I don’t want to hear this! ROBOTS! Take all of them away! Throw them in the prison!” Robots appeared and grabbed Sonic and co. “Except him,” Miles pointed at Tails. “I wanna ask him a few more questions.” The robots hauled Sonic and co away. Sonic looked at Tails as if to say ‘I’m counting on you’. Tails nodded.

Miles led Tails to his room. It was a large room, most of it being coloured orange. his bed was in the shape of a car, and he had posters of his favourite musicians all over his room. There was a computer set for Miles to work. There was also a little table in the middle. He had a bookshelf practically climbing with books. There was a toolbox underneath his bed so he could work. Miles room was a stark contrast to the rest of the base, which was plain and lacked colour. It really drove home that despite being an evil scientist's assistant, Miles was still a kid after all.

Miles motioned for Tails to sit down. He clapped and a robot appeared before him. "Get us some cookies and tea, please," Miles ordered. The robot put plates and cups in front of them, poured out some tea, and set a plate of cookies in front of them after making it in two seconds. Tails was amazed. "Dr Robotnik made this for me," Miles said. "It can cook anything in less than a minute." Tails tried one of the cookies. "Mmm, this is really good," he said. "Isn't it?" Miles puffed up with pride. “Do you have robots do your bidding in your dimension?” “Well…. No. I’m actually taking cooking lessons from Amy. I can make decent cupcakes now thanks to her,” Tails said. “So I’m curious…. How come you are friends with Sonic?” asked Miles. “Me? Well, I was always bullied for my twin tails,” Tails swung his tails around. “The other kids would tease me, the older kids would play with my tails even when I told them to stop. Mom and dad tried to stop the bullying but it was just no use. Then one day, I met Sonic. I was fascinated by how fast he could run. So I followed him. He let me tag along and…. Then I met Amy and Knuckles. And now we’re friends. Sonic is like a big brother to me. I can’t imagine my life without him.” “Well, at least your parents tried to do something,” Miles sighed. “Mine couldn’t care less if I lived or died. And like you, I was bullied for my tails. They called me ‘Tails’ as a way to mock me and I hated it. And it didn’t help that my parents forgot I existed at times. I tried everything to get their attention. Fixing computers, changing tires, inventing things…. Nothing was ever enough. One day, I decided to make an airplane. I thought that would surely get their attention. I started working on it. And at that time, two fox kids came up to me and started teasing me as usual. They tried to ruin my plane. That’s when Dr Robotnik came in. He chased those kids away, then started complimenting my design. I told him all about the things I’d invented. He said a genius like me is needed. He took me in, and I began to assist him. Dr Robotnik is like a father to me. He even gave me this room.” Miles pointed around. “So you see, Dr Robotnik saved me. That’s why I’m fiercely loyal to him.” “But…. he’s done terrible things before. He uses small animals as living batteries for his robots, and he plans to take over the world.” “I know that. At first I was skeptical too. I thought the using animals for batteries thing was too much. But Dr Robotnik made me see it was a necessary evil, that robots can be more effective like this.” “But its still wrong!” Tails slammed his hands on the table. “They are living creatures. They deserve to live their life, not be used as some kind of battery for a crazy scientist!” “And you don’t understand,” Miles said. “Science only moved forward because at times, sacrifices were needed.” “Well that doesn’t make it right,” Tails said. “No matter what I’m going to make sure my inventions help people, not hurt them.”

Meanwhile Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Blaze, and Serena were in their prison cells. Knuckles kept punching the cell, but it didn’t work. “Knuckles that’s not going to work, just quit it already,” Amy said. “Just a little bit more….” Knuckles ran back and charged forward, letting his fists meet the cell wall but to no avail. “GRAAAH!” he growled. “Hey Serena, mind using your light powers to break us out?” “Oh…. uh, w-well, I m-might destroy this place a-a-along with us all…. So….” “Aw come on, you should have control of your powers by now!” Knuckles exclaimed. “I-I’m trying!” Serena defended herself. “Gaining control of the Rings of Light is no easy task, Knuckles,” Blaze explained. “I know how its like to try and control your powers. It took me years to learn to control my flames. I’m sure with time, Serena will control her light too.” A visible blush appeared on Serena’s face. “Alright, fine.” “Ugh, I hope Tails is trying to convince his evil counterpart to get us out of here,” said Knuckles. “Let me try something,” said Amy. “You guys may not know this but I have telepathy.” “WHAT?!” the others gasped. “Okay I knew about the tarot cards but TELEPATHY?! I did not know that!” Knuckles said. “That explains why your voice is in my head sometimes,” said Sonic. “I’m still working on it, okay? But I’ll try to contact Tails through telepathy,” Amy said. “I’ll need no distractions.” Amy closed her eyes and concentrated. “Tails”, she thought. “Tails, can you hear me?”

Tails was still in Miles’ room when he heard Amy’s voice. “Huh, Amy?” Tails was surprised to hear her voice. “Amy? Is that really you?” “Yeah, its me! Looks like the telepathy worked.” “You have telepathy?” “I’m working on it, but it looks like it worked for now. Anyways, how’s things going with Miles?” “He just won’t listen! I’m trying to get him to see that Eggman is evil, but he’s quite stubborn.” “Can you get him to try and free us?” “Hmm….. if I ask him he won’t listen but maybe I can try and trick him,” Tails said. “Good. We’re counting on you.”

“So Miles,” Tails said. “Would you mind giving me a tour of the base? I’m fascinated by all the tech here. Our Eggman doesn’t have half the tech here, and I’ll bet its because of you.” Miles was flattered and he showed it in a blush. “Ha ha. Okay, I’ll give you a tour.”

Miles showed Tails around the base. He showed Tails the room where Robotnik designs his robots, where kitchen where the chef bots work, the tech room where the robots are actually made, even Robotnik’s room itself. Finally, Miles showed Tails to the prison. “This is where we keep anyone who defies us,” Miles boasted. “Don’t do anything we don’t like or you might end up here too.” Tails spotted a button to open all the prison cells. He ran over to it and pushed it. “Hey, what did you do?!” Miles shouted. Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Blaze, and Serena ran out of their cells. “Thanks Tails! And thanks for showing him here, Miles!” Sonic taunted. “You…. you tricked me!” Miles snapped. “I won’t forgive you!” “I’m sorry Miles,” Tails said. “But I’m not abandoning my friends no matter how interesting the prospect of another me sounds.” “Come on now guys, we gotta find Eggman and Eris!” Sonic said.

The group ran out leaving Miles fuming. “You…. you…. Ah if only I was allowed to swear right now I would hurl a thousand insults at you!” he screamed. “I’ll show you! I’ll show you all!”

The group ran towards the main room of the base, only to find the two Eggmen and Eris weren’t there. “Strange… where are they?” Sonic mused. Suddenly there was an earthquake. The group ran outside. They saw the ground begin to open and a robot came out from it. It looked very similar to the Egg Emperor. Eris was sitting on the shoulder of the robot, an aura of darkness still surrounding her. “Ah, I see you have escaped,” Dr Robotnik said. “I’ve always had this but the nice alternate version of me helped enhance it. His catgirl friend is really powerful. I feel energy flowing through my veins as I sit here! You rodents don’t stand a chance!” “We’ll see about that!” Sonic exclaimed. “We’ve fought a similar robot in our dimension!” “Wait you have?” asked Blaze. “It was before we met you,” Tails said. “And even then we did it as a team!” “Well then, lets beat this thing to the ground!” Sonic declared, pointing at the Egg Emperor. “Yeah!” the group echoed.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy charged forward towards the Egg Emperor. Eris jumped from the robot and pinnes Serena down. “W-What are you…” “The rings! Give me the rings!” she tried to take them off Serena but they simply wouldn’t budge. The Rings electrocuted her every time she touched them but she was undeterred. Blaze rushed forward and shot a fireball at Eris. “Current princess of the Sol dimension, leave me ALONE!” Eris’ attention turned to Blaze. She came charging towards her and caught both her hands. Blaze shot a little fireball from her hand. “That won’t stop me!” Eris hissed. She kicked Blaze in the stomach. “Y-Your highness!” Serena ran towards Blaze. A black void appeared in Eris’ hands and she pointed it towards Blaze. “Give me my rings if you want your princess to live!” she demanded. “N-No! No chance! A-And even if I wanted to…. Well, you saw, th-they just won’t let anyone else…” “Curse you Harmonia” Eris seethed under her breath. “Even in death you continue to make me suffer! No matter, both of you will die!” Eris raised her hand up. A black beam came from her hand and pierced the clouds. The ground began to shake.

Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy were having a hard time with the Egg Emperor. Unlike the one they had fought, there was no visible weak spot. Knuckles’ fists and Amy’s hammer were useless against the metal. Sonic’s spindash didn’t work either. The Egg Emperor robot shot out energy waves at the quartet. “Don’t give up, guys!” Sonic persuaded. “We never would!” Knuckles exclaimed. “There has to be a weak spot somewhere!” Tails mused. “Ho ho ho!” Dr Eggman bellowed. “With the power Eris bestowed upon this robot, you four stand no chance!” “You see, Dr Robotnik is invincible!” Miles came into the scene. “Miles.” “I won’t forgive you for tricking me even if you’re me! Dr Robotnik, get them!” “Anything for you, Miles!” Robotnik said from inside the robot. The Egg Emperor launched missiles that landed near Sonic and co. They avoided them narrowly. One almost caught Amy, but Sonic reached her in the nick of time. “Its just too powerful!” Amy said. “What can we do?” “All we can do is keep fighting!” Knuckles balled up his fists.

It was at that moment the ground began to shake. Thunder flashed and lightning crashed. “What’s going on?” Amy asked. “Ah, the catgirl is bringing chaos to this dimension!” Eggman exclaimed. “Ooh, how exciting! Your friend sure is interesting!” Robotnik said. “Chaos to this world…. But if the world ends then…. We will perish along with it!” Miles realized. “DR ROBOTNIK!” Miles waved his hands. “DR ROBOTNIK THIS IS A BAD IDEA! THAT CATGIRL IS GONNA TAKE US ALL WITH HER!” But Robotnik didn’t listen. “He… he’s not listening… maybe he can’t hear me… DR ROBOTNIK..” “Miles, my child” Robotnik said. “Maybe you should go back to your room.” “But-but that catgirl…. She… she’ll end the world!” “Exactly! Now be a good boy and go to your room.” “What?” “I have to stop this somehow!” Tails said. He ran over to Blaze and Serena.

Meanwhile Blaze and Serena were still fighting Eris. Serena ran over to Blaze’s side. “Your highness, a-a-are you…. Are you a-alright?” she asked. “Yeah, I’m fine” Blaze caught Serena’s hand and got up. “Guys, what’s happening?” Tails ran over to their side. “Eris is a-already causing chaos in th-th-this dimension…” Serena said. “I got a plan that may help us get the next set of Chaos and Sol emeralds!” Tails said. “I’m gonna need you two to distract Eris first.” “Whatever you say, Tails!” Blaze said. The two girls ran in front of Eris. Blaze conjured up flames and hit Blaze with it. “Insolent princess,” Eris said. “Your fire won’t hurt me.” “E-E-Eris, just s-stop this already,” Serena said. “Wh-What will you g-gain from a-a-all this?” “I will gain satisfaction at having exacted my revenge!” Eris said. “Now get out of the way.” “Serena, use your powers,” Blaze said. “I-I’m not sure. I-I-I still d-don’t know to c-control them.” “Its alright. I will help you,” Blaze assured her. “Just trust yourself. I trust you.” Serena closed her eyes and conjured up a ball of light. When it got big enough, Blaze held her hand. “Y-Your highness?!” “Now Serena!” Serena threw the ball at Eris, stopping her for a while. “Why you-?” But before she could do anything, something exploded behind her - not enough to hurt her but enough to knock the next set of Chaos and Sol emeralds out of her. “Wha- How? Who did that?” Tails flew towards Blaze and Serena, holding the next set of emeralds. “Tails! What did you do?” asked Blaze. “I pinned a dummy ring to her!” Tails held out a ring that looked normal except it was a darker shade of yellow. “They’re explosive - not enough to grievously injure you but enough to knock you out for a while. They’ve come in handy before.” “You stupid little fox cub!” Eris screamed. “I won’t forgive you!”

Tails, Blaze, and Serena rushed towards where the rest of Sonic and co were. “Guys, we got the next Chaos and Sol emeralds!” Tails said. “That’s amazing.l” Sonic said. “Because we’re not doing so hot. That robot is quite powerful with Eris’ extra boost.” Serena noticed Miles staring at the robot. His eyes were sad. “M-Miles! Are you….” “He isn’t listening to me,” Miles said softly. “The world will end if that red catgirl causes chaos and there will be no world for us to take over.” “Miles, do you know a weak spot for that robot?” asked Blaze. “His shield. If you can get rid of it, then its power will lessen significantly. Then you have a chance of beating him.” “Sweet! Thanks Miles.” “Don’t get the wrong idea,” Miles retorted. “I’m only helping you because Robotnik isn’t seeing clearly here. I’m not on your side.”

“Alright guys, lets distract the robot by fighting normally. When the time is right, our two powerhouses, Knuckles and Amy, will run up to the robot’s hand and destroy the shield!” Sonic said. Everyone agreed. They began to fight the Egg Emperor again. The robot shot energy spears and missiles at the group. Blaze used her pyrokinesis and Serena her photokinesis to land hits on the robot. Serena conjured up a light beam in her hands, but then it became too small to do anything. “Wha-” An energy spear struck her and she was sent back. “Serena!” Blaze rushed to her side and lifted her up. “Knuckles, Amy, now!” Sonic whispered. Knuckles and Amy nodded. They ran forward and climbed up the robot’s shield. “Wha-What’s this?!” The robot shook its arm violently to get the two off. “Aah! Hold on!” Knuckles shouted. “Amy, summon the biggest hammer you have!” “On it!” She closed her eyes and summoned a hammer bigger than both her and Knuckles. Then she hit the shield in the middle, causing it to crack. Knuckles delivered the final blow, causing it to break completely. “N-N-N-NOOOOOO! My shield!” Robotnik screamed. “Now everyone!” Sonic said. “Tails, give me a boost!” Tails took Sonic by his arms and flew over to the robot. He dropped Sonic at the head of the robot. Sonic first looked through the eyes to see the two Eggmen. “Hello!” he taunted. He did a spindash into the middle of the robot pushing it down. The group then rushed forward. “This is for Serena!” Blaze exclaimed. Sheshot fire through her arms, heating up the robot and causing both the Eggmen to run out in a hurry.

“Curse you! You all will pay for this!” Robotnik exclaimed. He rushed back, then saw Miles standing there. “Miles! I told you to go back to your room! You could’ve gotten hurt! Come now.” Robotnik went back into his base. “Hey, I’m sorry he didn’t listen to you,” Tails said. “No need to apologise,” Miles said. “This was a one time thing. He…. he’ll listen to me next time. He just got carried away…” There was a hint of hesitation in his voice. He then rushed back to the base. “Well, hopefully this is the first in a series of red flags that makes him turn over to the good side,” Sonic sighed.

“We have nothing more to do here,” Eris said. “Lets go to the next dimension.” “Yes, lets!” said Eggman. Eris created another tear and both she and Eggman jumped through it.

Serena slowly began to wake up. “Serena! Serena thank goodnes!” Amy said. “Are you alright?” asked Knuckles. “Are you hurt?” asked Tails. “Guys…. Yeah, I’m alright…” “That’s good to hear,” Blaze said. Serena realized Blaze was holding her. Her face suddenly turned red and hot and she pulled herself out and looked away. “Serena?” “I-I-I-I’m fine your h-highness. T-t-t-totally fine.” She was stuttering more than usual. Amy made a knowing face. “Anyhow, lets get into the next dimension before Eris causes even more chaos there.” Blaze said.

The group then jumped into the next dimension.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic oc #sonic dimensions #miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna #amy rose #blaze the cat #serena the butterfly #eris the cat #miles prower #dr eggman #my fanfiction

2 notes · View notes

letterstoponyo · 9 months

Text

08/18/23

dear ponyo,

dad and i were just talking about how much we miss seeing your silhouette beside the soundbar every night before bed. two days you’re gone, my love, and i doubt it’s going to get easier as that count goes up.

anyway, i don’t want to well up your eyes if you ever get to read this, which i know you would, because you’d always been a nosy, nosy girl. it feels weird to talk about you in the past tense, but we know acceptance has to start somewhere… baby, if we ever overlooked anything, or if it ever felt like we weren’t urgent enough about your health, please forgive us. dad and i didn’t know what to do; we gave it the best we could within our means and i hope to god if he is ever real that you find it in your heart to let us love you still and more from where we are to where you are. we revel in the thought that you may no longer be with us, but you’re in a paradise where pain is as good as a myth and neck rubs are given by the second.

i’m sorry. i know i said i wouldn’t want to give you the blues writing this, but you gave us one too many great memories that it’s next to impossible not to at least shed a tear realizing there wouldn’t be additions to what you left anymore.

i just went to the bathroom. didn’t want dad to hear me crying again, if he sees me crying he’s going to burst into tears too. sorry, baby, dad and i are gonna try to be less sad. i’ll try to remember that when i found out i got a failing grade and was devastated, you were behind me with that empathetic eyes you always had — i knew you were sad for me too. dad and i don’t want you to be sad, not when you were here, and especially not now that you’re there and we can’t physically comfort you.

your sisters miss you, baby. bambi more so, you know you’re her baby. she misses being a big sister to you and sleeps in places you last slept on. they’re taking antibiotics too just like you did. and just like you they put up a hell of a fight before drinking the entire thing. we discovered vanilla flavored vitamins, which came in gel form. milo and bambi love it so much, we think they would trade us for a tube of it. we also got ahold of these breath mints, something we got to remedy milo’s insane mouth hygiene. i’m sorry baby but i think you would have benefited a way or two from that pack. hehe. i wish you lived for a little bit more to have tasted them. you would have shouted at dad for so long that he would have had no other choice but to give you more, you fat, fat girl.

milo’s appetite is through the roof. we think in a few months she’d be even larger than you were. bambi too. you should have seen it, baby, they could finish up two strips of lickables. we thought only you could do that! quick side note, milo just fell from the ottoman. your sister is so clumsy we don’t know what to do with her. when you visit us, could you catch her when she falls please? my brother in christ she’s fallen so many times we’re beginning to think she has elastic bones in there.

i had to pause writing, bambi just climbed up the bed and lay beside us. it’s been long since she last did this, did you tell her to do it? you sneaky baby. but thank you, we needed this so much.

tomorrow dad and i are getting our shots at the animal bite clinic. you left me quite the gift baby. i’m actually thinking of getting my bite marks tattooed — you know, something of yours to always be with me everywhere i go (even if it was incredibly painful to have sustained).

milo joined in and she’s grooming bambi at the moment. i may have to stop here to tend to them. i’ll try to write as often as i could. my semester starts in a little over a week so mom’s gonna be a busy bee again. we went from sais to amis, btw (yay!). enlistment is a little more convenient now so i got 19 units :) which is a ton of workload so idk why i’m even glad. hope i make it through the sem. you, bambi, and milo are my screensaver, so the “inspiration” part is well taken care of.

i’ll talk to you tomorrow. do me and dad a favor and catch lots of zzzs, ok? we miss you, baby, so bad. and we love you so, very much. good night all the way to cat heaven.

loving you even more,

mom and dad.

1 note · View note

punkscowardschampions · 2 years

Text

Janis & Casey

Janis: [Messaging on her lunch so it isn’t so early you can kick off, not that you have a right lmao but anyway]

Janis: Before you go to work today, can you put the shower curtain back up, and sort the mess in the plaster

Casey: [not ages later where it can be like you did not wake me but not immediately cos not gonna jump when you say so hun]

Casey: He done it for you yet or what

Janis: No, he’s at work

Janis: and you and your friend broke it so only fair, yeah

Casey: weren’t deliberate, no need to have a go like it was

Casey: nowt fair about that, is there

Janis: You know it takes the piss, sorting it does something to at least pretend you’re sorry about doing it, like

Casey: I know you two do

Janis: you reckon, yeah

Casey: at least pretend you want me here

Janis: We wouldn’t have had you back if we didn’t but come on

Janis: it’s way too much at the minute

Casey: she were a bit drunk, I get it, you don’t remember what that’s like

Janis: I’m pregnant, not demented

Janis: point is, it takes the piss, and it can happen even less when said baby gets here, we all have to make adjustments whilst we live together

Casey: What’s meant to be the difference

Janis: 🙄 I know kids ain’t your cup of tea but hardly

Casey: point is, calm down, don’t have to know owt to have heard stress is 👎 for it

Janis: If I weren’t calm I would’ve started a slanging match with you last night, regardless of how drunk you was

Casey: didn’t say I was, I said her

Janis: either way, I’m sure neither of you’d appreciate it

Janis: just sort it, yeah, it’s a piss easy job and it’ll stop it all kicking off

Casey: I reckon she would, but that’s her again, like

Casey: kicking off with who, you ain’t allowed ‘cause of your kid

Janis: Bit of a dickhead thing to use that against me

Janis: you know Jim ain’t happy about it all

Casey: weren’t me that did it to you, you’ll have to have a word with him about what a dickhead move it was knocking you up

Casey: we ain’t got nowt to say to each other, me and him

Casey: his mood’ll only have him crying, we both know

Janis: I’ll be sure to let him know

Janis: you’ve gotta grow up with this shit, it’s not your first choice to live with us but don’t treat us like total mugs, yeah

Janis: after you’ve got your own place, you can work out what you wanna say to your brother or not

Casey: it ain’t my fault he’s not grown a pair, love, don’t take it out on me, we’re all as fuming about it as each other

Janis: He stepped up when Ian pissed off so don’t know how you can say that and mean it

Janis: stepping up before he did but besides the point

Janis: you don’t have to make it this argument

Casey: ‘Course you don’t know, always have had a massive blindspot the size of him

Casey: me that’s gotta grow the fuck up though, yeah

Janis: you don’t wanna be mates, you don’t have to

Janis: but you’re asking us to be family still by living here, you want us to regret it so what, you win?

Janis: We all have to try

Casey: We’re not mates, you back the other two every single time

Casey: and it don’t look like you know what stepping up is, or trying

Casey: so alright, I’ll piss off out of it again and leave you to your total bollocks

Janis: that’s just not true, I’ve had yours countless times

Janis: I’m not the kinda mates that’s gonna pat you on the back for being a twat, never have been

Janis: no one wants that, but you’re a grown-up, can’t stop you can we

Casey: Well done, can have your pat on the back for bothering before I go and loads more else off him when I’ve gone

Janis: I don’t get why you’re still so angry at us

Janis: what the fuck have I done

Casey: you would’ve, not even ages ago you’d look at what you’ve done with yourself and be fuming

Janis: I couldn’t keep living just to spite the people who I didn’t like how they were living theirs, that weren’t for me either

Janis: if you seemed genuinely happy, I’d say crack on

Casey: and if you’re genuinely chuffed to bits there’s no need to go on at me, be a bit busy for it

Janis: you want us to ignore you so you say we are, and you can do whatever the fuck

Janis: just be smart about it if that’s actually what you want

Janis: cause a scene we’re gonna pay attention, simple

Casey: Don’t have no problem doing it when it suits you, which is whenever it don’t interfere with your nesting bollocks

Casey: it weren’t about you last night, it never is, I didn’t cause a scene, it were an accident

Janis: I’m not saying it’s about me, obviously it ain’t

Janis: if you care about people, you don’t treat ‘em like dickheads, all it boils down to

Casey: have it as a you x 3, or 4 if you’re getting the kid you’ve not had yet involved

Janis: You could just sort it

Janis: and try and keep the noise down, it doesn’t need to be this

Casey: you could’ve just left it til I were up, if we’re doing justs

Janis: ‘cos you gave a shit when we were trying to sleep?

Janis: not gonna get what you don’t give

Casey: What, ‘cause I’m meant to mute her throwing up, reckon you’d be more sympathetic in that state

Janis: it’s not like it’s just the once, is it, it’s a whole lifestyle

Casey: mine, that goes with the job I’ve got, either he stepped up and is a decent brother and all round top bloke and this is meant to be my home or you were chatting shit and it’s nowt like that

Janis: bringing home drunk girls when you ain’t sounds like a decent way to get fired, honestly

Janis: we’re literally just worried about you, you could get into deep shit

Casey: I’d already been given a few days off by then so you can leave it out

Janis: Why, I thought you liked this place

Casey: I do, it weren’t deep shit, don’t worry

Janis: what happened, like

Casey: some dickhead in the mass of, barely even touched him

Janis: You gotta keep out of that though, that’s what they pay security for

Casey: don’t need telling how to do my job, tah

Janis: I’m just saying, even if you’re in the right you can’t do shit like that on other people’s time and dollar

Casey: I said leave it out, didn’t I

Casey: you’re not my mum

Janis: no shit

Casey: this ain’t practice for that one’s teen mard, like

Janis: 1. You ain’t a teenager anymore 2. If you know I’m not your mum, be a grown-up and clean up your own messes without being nagged

Janis: I ain’t making any of this hard, fyi, you are

Janis: you can sort a fucking shower curtain out

Casey: You’re winding me up ‘cause neither he nor Bobby can sort a fucking shower curtain out, we’ve been over it, not up to me to make him a man

Casey: gutted if you hate what being a grown up looks like for you but

Janis: You’re looking for a rise out of me ‘cos you know you ain’t got a point and I do, at this point

Janis: neither of them tore it off the wall, why would they clean it up

Janis: I don’t ask you to sort out when Libi and Bobby have got every film in the gaff out, or whatever the fuck

Casey: Nor did I, but alright, might be a bit rude to wake her up an’ all and get her up a ladder

Casey: can’t have both of us being massive twats for nowt, can we

Janis: If you wanna broach that that’s your business

Janis: just have her gone by the time any of us are back

Casey: Or what

Janis: You wanna introduce her to the family?

Janis: go ahead

Janis: I’m pregnant, I don’t really want total randoms in my house, yeah

Casey: she ain’t random and pregnancy ain’t catching, last I heard, but crack on, bet this kid loves me being a human shield and all round excuse for whatever the fuck you fancy

Janis: It’s you who keeps pointing out how fucking weak and vulnerable I am so, don’t take a genius

Janis: what is this, you want me to be scared or

Casey: not you, just your man

Casey: what do you want, other than some fucking diy done

Janis: if you could not break your brother’s heart, that’d be great, an’ all

Casey: Piss off

Casey: he’d love it if I did do, never more chuffed than when he’s got something to cry about

Janis: Come on, Case

Janis: don’t we all know each other better than this

Casey: Don’t sound like it if we’re going off what you’ve said

Casey: what do you think you’re going on about reckoning I’d want you to be scared of me

Janis: Okay, I take that back

Janis: I just don’t think it’s dead weird to not want strangers roaming my house when I’m asleep, that’s all

Casey: and you don’t think it’d be worse to just leave her home on her own when she’s that off her head

Janis: I think you always start off with good intentions

Casey: Oi, take that back an’ all

Casey: what kind of fucking knobhead do you take me for

Janis: same one you must take me for

Janis: I believe you were looking out for her, but that’s not exactly where it stops, is it

Janis: no need for me to spell it out, tah

Casey: but go on, you have to if I’m THAT thick

Janis: you’re not thick, you’re a smart arse, always have been

Casey: only the bit of dementia then, glad to hear it

Janis: we’re still the same people

Janis: it’s just circumstances that get better, hopefully, like

Casey: You’re not

Casey: there was a time you done loads more than pull my dad’s shower curtain down

Janis: We were kids left in charge of kids

Janis: us three

Janis: it shouldn’t have happened but there weren’t an alternative

Casey: making it sound tragic is what shouldn’t happen

Janis: I’m saying I know I weren’t perfect and I did some shit, Jimmy too

Janis: we weren’t meant to be raising Bobby, in charge of him, whatever you reckon, Ian dropped the ball

Casey: Fucking hell, I ain’t never called him perfect neither

Casey: if I was at uni with [whatever that girl who he went out with was called] I’d be up to loads more shit, wouldn’t be under your roof is the only difference

Janis: I know you ain’t, but I know it makes you feel different being the one who has any time for him

Janis: that is the only difference, yeah, Bobby has eyes just ‘cos you’re lucky he can’t hear

Casey: Deny it’ll do Bob some good, he ain’t a kid now and every twat at that school treats him different, he needs to do more to get on, not less

Casey: you both want him turning out like Jim as if that’s good and he ain’t a massive victim already

Janis: He has the internet like the rest of the world, he can work it out without demonstrations

Janis: kids are cruel, he has his mates though, he’s good

Janis: there’s no call for that, alright

Casey: he has a mate, Libi, and we ain’t gotta go into how that’s a bit weird

Janis: they’ve been going to parties and that lately, all that play stuff, he’s just quieter than you, not just literally

Janis: why’s it weird?

Casey: come on, dickhead, everybody knows why

Janis: if they have a crush on each other they do, I don’t know though

Janis: why is that weird, aren’t you SO glad he likes girls

Casey: he ain’t gonna do sod all about it, he might as well not

Casey: and that’s you pair letting him be SO soft

Janis: you can have a go with this pep talk but I don’t reckon he’ll heed your advice, like

Janis: it would be mental if we tried to force him to date, not arranging marriages here

Casey: you know what I mean, and no shit it’s too late for me to crack on with that little chat

Janis: maybe he’s got a girlfriend

Janis: when’s the last time you asked, tried to have a chat and not just tell him to stop being a pussy

Casey: I never meant for him to come back and you know I never so stop being a prick about it, like

Janis: I should hope you didn’t do it on purpose, weirdo

Janis: just chill out a bit, yeah, please

Casey: don’t beg me, it’s going a bit far

Janis: in this ‘state’ it’s very unlikely to happen, boy

Casey: I’m just doing what every other lad my age is

Janis: and if the girls were in and out and you cleaned up after yourself, we’d never know

Janis: you know what I mean

Janis: We only have to get involved when you start tearing down the walls

Casey: did the car get cleaned or what

Janis: and did we say thank you or what

Casey: if we’re chucking tahs and pleases about, don’t make me say that I’ve only been a bit carried away for the one reason

Janis: Not actually a mum, I won’t invite myself in with a brew for her to have a nose

Casey: might be for the best, I’m saying I like her not that you’d be in her fanclub

Janis: if you do, that’s alright with me

Janis: not that I’ll pretend to like her, seeing as you’ve never much bothered with your own brother, like

Casey: you don’t pretend to like nobody, it’s why we was mates, when we used to be

Janis: bit harsh you’re unfriending me because I’m having a kid, dickhead

Casey: bit harsher you’re gonna chuck me out to make room for it

Casey: and you’re telling me how I gotta behave before it’s even here

Janis: You want your own place

Janis: if you wanted to come, we’d find a four-bed

Janis: now you’re sure this girl isn’t a psychopath who’s gonna murder me in the night, you can have her about if you just mute yourselves

Casey: I ain’t being your free babysitter no more, got dumped with Bob enough when you two couldn’t be bothered to be about or didn’t wanna try and mute yourselves

Casey: I ain’t sure of nowt of the sort like that, soz, except how unlikely she is to calm down seeing as she loves me THAT much, but

Casey: I’ve heard you, you can tell him he ain’t gotta use the new shower curtain to dry his eyes

Janis: Not perfect but not a tragedy, in your own words

Janis: I reckon it was pretty fucked, yeah, but you know

Janis: 🙄 God

Janis: Thanks, I’ll pass it on 👍 all ‘round

Casey: No point you using my own words against me, never could get the accent right, I’ll only laugh

Janis: Well I’m seriously debating not letting either of you talk around this kid, poor thing

Casey: be piss easy, he don’t say owt anyway and you’ll have got rid of me so

Janis: on and you ain’t ever gonna have time to visit

Janis: dramatic

Casey: What for, your cooking 😏

Casey: you’re alright, I’ll work something else out

Janis: real charming

Janis: but alright, nice knowing you, kid

Casey: not your kid, love, thank fuck

Janis: Ha

Janis: tah very much, not like it’s terrifying or anything without you being bitchy

Casey: You’ll have my address if it’s a little lad who needs a proper one about or a lass who needs protecting

Janis: can’t you see you’re wrong about him

Casey: how am I

Janis: I don’t know where to begin, at this point

Casey: there you go then, nah, unlikely to happen, is it

Janis: our kid is going to be fine

Casey: long as fine’s alright with you

Janis: I’m not going to bore you with how much better than fine

Janis: it’s not like this was an accident, we have thought about it

Casey: your award’s in the post

Janis: not asking for one, you’re alright

Casey: yeah, I am, I’m looking for my own place

Janis: 😏👏

Janis: best hold onto that job

Casey: SO patronising, you

Janis: you that don’t wanna be mates, mate

Janis: anyway, it’s no joke, but you know that

Casey: it were you that started it, mrs

Janis: hmm, not how I remember it

Casey: funny that, it’ll be your babybrain

Janis: such a wind-up

Janis: can’t wait ‘til it happens to you and you have to put up with whatever hell your mrs is going through, I’ll be laughing then

Casey: not gonna happen to me and if does to whatever missus I’ve got that’ll be up to her to go through, if she’s thick enough to

Janis: you’re right, I shouldn’t wish that on the poor cow

Janis: you never know what’s gonna happen, people change their mind either way

Casey: I dunno about a personality change going that far, what am I having a stroke too along with this kid

Janis: always said it’d be too good to be true if you were the one ending up deaf

Casey: Said loads of things you have, someone’s gotta make up for what he don’t

Janis: we’ve all tried

Casey: some of us harder than others

Janis: nah, I don’t think so

Casey: not in your right mind

Janis: for as long as you’ve known me?

Casey: for as long as you’ve known him, so yeah

Janis: Convenient

Casey: if that’s what we were playing at I’d lie she’s up and tell you to piss off

Janis: Go on then

Casey: you

Casey: you’re the one who only chats to me when you want something

Janis: I meant tell me about her, you knob

Janis: you’re keen, like

Casey: I like her, I said, still not had a stroke to change who I am, last I checked

Janis: 👌 doesn’t totally seem like it, nah

Casey: she’s just

Casey: everything I’m after, somehow in the 1 lass

Janis: s’good

Janis: it’s nice for you

Casey: not had a row yet, might not be so keen then, neither of us

Janis: it’s a cliche for a reason

Casey: I don’t wanna scare her no more than I do you

Janis: That’s not nothing

Janis: you don’t mean to scare no one

Casey: I meant to scare [the uni ex] and she was, is maybe, I dunno

Janis: after you got upset

Janis: not that it makes it alright or nothing

Casey: and if she upsets me, this new one, what the fuck then, like

Janis: what then

Janis: it only worked ‘cos she was leaving, and she’s stayed gone

Janis: you don’t wanna hurt someone and then they stick around like a reminder of it, yeah

Casey: she’s not gonna do one, I told you, she loves me massively

Janis: then don’t hurt her, or it’ll fuck you up a lot more than it did last time

Casey: you know it don’t work out as piss easy as all that, saying I won’t or don’t wanna

Janis: yeah, I know

Janis: but people don’t just disappear or do what you want or what ever else ‘cos you smack ‘em too, I know that

Janis: you got to find a way to walk away, get out of it, when you can’t hack it

Casey: Dad disappeared ‘cause I smacked him and mum did ‘cause he smacked her, can’t tell me Jim’s all here either, can you

Janis: alright, but you don’t want none of that, do you

Casey: I want some of it

Janis: Not with everyone, not with this girl

Casey: her dad’s dead and the rest of her family don’t care about her

Janis: sounds like she’s had a rough go of it, an’ all

Casey: got a sister who’s a massive bitch too, know you’ll get that

Janis: you want me to bring her a cuppa, I get it

Casey: 😏

Casey: but nah, you’d make her cry, her mum don’t do nowt for her

Janis: you can understand her then, probably why you haven’t had a row yet

Casey: Oi, don’t flatter yourself I’m that gutted you ignore me

Janis: 😏 obviously not what I meant

Casey: you ain’t quite that shit at making a brew it’d have me in tears either, if that’s what you meant

Janis: ‘course

Janis: even if you’re entirely downplaying my prowess, which is well rude

Casey: Don’t sound like something I’d ever do

Casey: your big head and how much it winds him up you having it is the best thing about you

Janis: Glad it amuses you, like

Casey: that he’s getting old and still can’t take a compliment or give one out, yeah, it does

Janis: 🙄😌 alright, alright

Janis: know it don’t amuse you to tell you otherwise

Casey: good job kids are cruel and it won’t be giving him none

Janis: be a long while ‘til it can talk and give you all shit back

Casey: ring me then, had a right laugh winding this little one up at the doctors

Janis: getting a sick note?

Casey: Piss off

Casey: with her so she don’t end up in the same state as you, more like

Janis: You could’ve lied and said you needed antibiotics or something

Janis: but good, I suppose, proactive

Casey: what for, you’ve whinged about hearing us, can’t pretend you don’t know what we’re up to

Janis: I don’t reckon we need to chat about it

Janis: and hopefully I won’t be hearing nothing else now, right

Casey: have said I can’t promise that, only so much even I can do to shut her up, especially since you’ve said you don’t want me to smack her

Janis: Oh, God, Casey, shut up 😆

Casey: first bit was too dead on for comfort there

Janis: Great, now I’m gonna throw up

Casey: the baby’s not nicked how funny you are off you then

Janis: I don’t think that’s how it works

Janis: 🧛‍♀️👶

Casey: is it not a massive parasite

Janis: Maybe technically

Janis: but we’re not considering it for a baby name, tah

Casey: throw mine in the hat to wind him up, works for a lass too if you need

Janis: think we can only handle one of you, devil child

Janis: be asking for trouble

Casey: go on, what you calling it, Bobby or i

Janis: Not decided

Janis: but they can have their own name, got that far in the 💭

Casey: you gonna have the doctor tell you what it is

Janis: Yeah

Janis: only 2 good outcomes so may as well, right

Casey: had no clue if you knew already or not, as you don’t tell me nowt no more

Janis: You hate babies

Janis: didn’t reckon you’d want my bump updates

Janis: I tell you plenty, we’re on different schedules now 🦉

Casey: that’s 2 copouts, reckon you’ve got another you can use before it takes the piss, maybe

Janis: 🤔 it’s women’s business?

Casey: lovely

Janis: about as lovely as you chatting about your sex life, yeah

Casey: All I said was I’m being safe and she’s being loud, no ins and outs

Janis: 🖕

Casey: should’ve said you’ve got being lightweights in common with each other

Janis: You’re SO funny

Janis: good thing I’m being kind or I’d point out what they say about going for girls who are like your mum that I ain’t

Casey: dead dad, single mum, shit sister, lightweight and has freckles, don’t need to tell me

Janis: depressing having it summed up like that… christ 😆

Casey: not got as big of a head as you or else I would be asking myself some questions

Janis: Well, we can’t all be perfect

Casey: rude, she ain’t ugly, she just don’t know how pretty

Janis: I’m only joking

Janis: you’re very sweet

Casey: long as you don’t come in and tell her, go ahead and crack on thinking what you like

Janis: Obviously not

Casey: probably sleep through if you did, she’s gonna hurt when she wakes up, that bath’s a deathtrap

Janis: I don’t think the bath is the problem

Casey: didn’t wanna piss you off by going on about all the drinks I ordered, and made before that, you can’t have

Janis: it makes it 🤏 better that you were pissed as well but still

Casey: glad you’ll be even more chuffed to bits now you woke me

Casey: she always does too, forgot to add that to the list

Janis: God knows why, you grumpy git

Casey: Who was having a strop over a piece of fabric and some hooks, right, it were you

Janis: Good job for reminding me that the toilet could use a clean

Janis: thank your lightweight girlfriend

Casey: can thank me it weren’t the car or all your floors any time you’re ready

Janis: We haven’t got our pleases and tahs out the way?

Casey: I dunno but I’ve remembered the best similarity for you, a gay lass was trying to get off with her the whole night

Janis: 😬 ptsd

Janis: not a full fruit basket but she can take 🍌🍎 from the fruit bowl as condolences on her way out

Casey: not gonna make breakfast for us, some mum you are

Janis: My bathroom sorted yet?

Casey: I’ll do it if you do your bit, how’s that

Janis: My bit is keeping you housed ‘til you find your own roof

Casey: I need feeding, don’t be a massive nightmare

Janis: 🙄 Are you gonna do a good job?

Casey: what kind of question’s that

Janis: am I in the wrong chat?

Casey: if you reckon I’ll do a piss poor job, obviously are

Janis: and you still reckon you’re NOTHING like your brother

Casey: I still reckon he nicked his only decent shit off me

Janis: definitely not how it works, 👶

Casey: ain’t even had your one and thinking you’re a expert

Janis: tracks, what with my massive head

Casey: your funeral if it takes after you and you’ve gotta get that head out

Janis: 🤐 now

Casey: least it’s your job not his, he’d never do it

Janis: no bloke would

Casey: I could, but sod the kid at the end of it

Janis: bold claim you can’t back up, boy

Casey: nowt I can do about that, you’re just gonna have to take my word for it, knowing how well hard I am, unlike my brother

Janis: mhmm 🙄😏

Casey: I get it, you’re shitting yourself, and probably are actually gonna, from what I’ve heard

Janis: They prepare you, the classes aren’t that entertaining though so won’t invite you along

Janis: a lot less 💩🩸 and more breathing and making sure every idiot can change a nappy before the real baby pops out

Casey: be a bit of a weird date night, and from how fast she legged it down the doctors she’d not be that into it

Janis: Makes a pleasant change

Janis: not gonna use it to scare Bob either, reckon we’re fine

Casey: it’s Libi you should, how many times she’s watched the videos of her mum and dad, be getting ideas

Janis: Nah, she’s so unlike them it’s almost easy to forget who her parents are

Janis: she looks a lot like her, though

Casey: they’re the ones you gotta watch, I’m waiting for the day Bob loses it to see how ‘cause he’s nowt like Ian nor Debbie

Janis: I know what you mean…

Janis: still don’t reckon I’ll make her come and rub my shoulders when I can put Jim through it, like

Casey: Can you steady on, that’s well grosser than anything I’ve said, trying to sort the bathroom if you don’t fucking mind, like

Janis: You’ll be waiting a while for your apology on that one

Janis: but I’ll leave you to it

Casey: don’t let the dementia have you forgetting to give me a shout when my breakfast’s done

Janis: please let your friend know I’ll probably just leave the hob to burn down this whole place so she has a chance to get out

Janis: see if you finish before the smoke inhalation does you though 😘

Casey: challenge accepted, goes without saying, but I have so you’ve got it in writing case your mind goes blank

1 note · View note

rafescoke · 3 years

Text

All I Ask ; Rafe Cameron (Part 2)

masterlist

#Part 2

#Part 1

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x reader

Summary: Reader finds herself in the arms of her best friend’s brother after finding her boyfriend cheating on her

Warnings: Swearing, cheating, hella angst, JJ being an extreme asshole

A/N: you guys are truly amazing. thank you so much for the countless amount of love & support for my last works, i love you!

p.s, my request box is always open! go ahead and drop any ideas bae

“Hey,” he said softly. “You’re okay?”

(Y/N) emitted a laugh, her eyes focusing on the road, but her mind was somewhere else. She cleared her throat, “Um, I don’t think so.”

“Want to talk about it?” he said, and she noticed the grogginess behind his voice. She felt bad now, knowing that she had woken him up, but she was desperate for someone.

She couldn’t go to the pogues; her only friends, not when they knew. They knew all along about Kie and JJ but they didn’t try to talk to her. She thought about Pope, how he had looked so nervous around her since a month ago and how she had thought of it as nothing more than anxiety for his new upcoming scholarship application.

(Y/N) groaned, tightening her fingers around the steering wheel. Why had she been so naive? Why couldn’t she realize the signs sooner?

“Are you okay?” Rafe asked, suddenly jolting up from his bed when he realized how quiet she has gotten. Ever since they got close 4 years ago, there was never a long silence between them as (Y/N) always has a random topic to discuss about. He would tell her that he doesn’t care, but he truly likes the new information she’ll give him.

Like how the word ‘who’ is the oldest English word in the world.

“Like, the owl?” he asked, scrunching his face. (Y/N) rolled her eyes, licking the slowly melting ice cream, and Rafe had a sudden thought of stealing her snack.

“No. God, you’re stupid. It’s who.”

“Yeah, the owl,” he grunted, thinking hard. (Y/N) looked at him with her bored eyes again, and Rafe took a quick glance at the dripping ice cream.

“No, Rafe, that’s woo. I’m talking about who.”

“You should write it.”

Rafe watched as she used her pointer to write the word ‘who’ on the table using her ice cream. Rafe laughed, finally understanding the joke, and he smiled wider when she returned a grin.

“No,” her voice croaked, and she could feel her tears slowly rolling down her red cheeks. God, she felt stupid. Why would she cry over stupid stuff like this? She had told Rafe before that she couldn’t understand why Bella Swan was too sad over Edward’s flight, saying how Bella had Jacob all along to help her get over him. Rafe rolled his eyes at this statement, muttering something along the words of ‘this is a movie’, ‘Edward is hotter’, and ‘Jacob look like that cashier guy at the hardware store’.

But she understood everything clearly now because she too, felt like staying in her room for the rest of her life.

“What happened? Do you need me to pick you up?” Rafe asked again, finally standing up from his bed and walking towards his bedside table to retrieve his car keys. He rubbed his eyes, still so tired, but he wanted to make sure she was safe.

“It’s alright, Rafe, you don’t have to pick me up, it’s just, um-” she took a deep breath, “Can I come over?”

Rafe stopped in his tracks, not sure if he had heard her right. He waited for a few seconds, “Huh?”

“Can I come over?” (Y/N) bit her lips, making a turn towards the road heading to Figure 8 from the Cut. The road was deserted, and she looked at the dashboard to check on the time.

2.43 a.m.

“Yeah, sure, um, when are you coming? I just have to wait for you, so you know the new passcode of the backdoor.”

“You guys changed it already?” she asked, and she was surprised to find a smile creeping onto her face. “When was the last time I came over? 2 months ago?”

“9,” Rafe muttered, “But it’s okay. I’ll wait for you, okay?”

“Okay,” she released a breath, “Thank you, Rafe.”

“Yeah,” was all he said before ending the line.

Maybe she did missed him.

When she arrived before the white building of the Camerons’ household, she could see a figure sitting on the front porch, bending over something that (Y/N) assumed to be a phone.

Rafe was mindlessly playing Candy Crush, just starting on his third level when he heard a car door being shut. He jumped to his feet, ready to greet the girl, but stopped in his tracks when he saw the state of her.

She was still in her party clothes, her (H/C) hair in a messy ponytail and her makeup all smudged. He tried to think of a joke, wanting to lighten up the mood, but his deed was interrupted when she finally had him in a tight hug.

“Whoa,” Rafe exclaimed, putting his arms around her waist. He let her stayed in that position for a few more seconds, liking the warmth, and finally parted after he cleared his throat.

“What’s wrong?”

“I, um-” she sighed, not looking into his eyes. “I got cheated on.”

Rafe was glued to his spot as he watched her wiped her tears with her sleeve, looking down to her glittery blue slippers. He couldn’t remember the amount of times he had prayed for his (Y/N) and JJ to call it off, but he didn’t hope for any kind of cheating to occur.

“I’m so sorry,” Rafe said, pulling her into a hug again. He rested his chin against the top of her head, letting the scent of strawberry wafted into his nostrils. (Y/N) cried against his chest, her face all scrunched up, and when she pulled away for the second time, she noticed the tear stains on his shirt.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” she rushed, trying to remove the stain using her fingers even though she knew it was impossible. She was too tired to think logically; she felt like laying in bed and watching Love Island until the day she dies.

“You’re still stupid, even when you’re all fucked up,” Rafe sighed, but he watched her from the corners of his eyes in case his words had struck her, but she looked like she understood the joke. She smiled weakly, pulling on the hem of her dress that had rode up down.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up,” he said, pulling her by her wrist as he guided her through the backdoor to his room. He showed her the new passcode proudly, mouthing how it was his birthday date this time, and (Y/N) had emitted a small laugh.

Screw maybe, she did missed him.

“And still a mess,” she sighed, plopping onto Rafe’s blue bedsheet as she took a look around the room. The painting of a random boat in the middle of an ocean was still askewed, and his trash can were piling up. She made a face, pointing at the cause of disturbance.

“You have to clean that.”

“Sorry I couldn’t let you stay in our five stars suite, ma’am,” he said, finding an old t-shirt in his cupboard. “You know, since you barged in this hotel at this time, all there’s left is the 3 stars suite.”

“You’re calling this a 3 stars suite?” she laughed, tilting her head to one side. “Rafe, this room can’t even be rated.”

“Whatever,” he pulled out a yellow t-shirt, putting it aside before looking for a new pair of boxers. “Is your room still pink with that weird strawberry pound cake smell?”

“Yeah,” she laughed, crossing her legs. She was glad there were no crumbs on the bed, or else she would rather sleep in her car. “And that smell’s great. My sensory organs are blocked by all the dust you’re collecting in here.”

Rafe grinned, liking how she was back to her old self, and handed her the pair of boxers and the yellow t-shirt. (Y/N) muttered a quick thanks, her feet lightly padding against the carpeted floor towards his bathroom. She closed the door, leaning against the sink, watching her reflection in the mirror.

She did look miserable, and her eyes were all red and puffy. She always hate how puffy her eyes would get after a nice session of crying, having to endure the pain of soothing it down again.

She shook her head, not wanting to spend anymore time thinking about JJ or Kie or the pogues who had betrayed her, and tried to reach for the zip of her dress. After a few good tries she sighed, relaxing her cramped arms. The familiar yet uneasy pain coursed through her veins, and without wanting to abuse herself anymore, she turned the doorknob.

“Rafe? Can you help me?”

“Huh? Yeah,” he came to the door, closing his eyes before he halted right in front of the object. “Are you naked?”

“No, can’t seem to be, too. Can you help me unzip?”

Rafe opened his eyes, feeling his heartbeat quickening, and with trembling hands, slowly unzipped her dress and stopping directly at the curve of her bottoms, silently admiring the view.

He cleared his throat, shaking his head at the childish behaviour he just found himself in. “Yeah, done.”

“Thanks, Rafe,” she smiled, and turned to close the door again. Rafe listened to her breathing in the bathroom for a few more seconds, knowing how hard she was trying to ignore the aching feeling eating off of her. He wished he could take her pain away an make it his, knowing that at least he’ll have an excuse to snort more coke to ‘forget the pain’.

When she got out of the bathroom, Rafe had to stop himself from drooling over her in his shirt and boxers. She always look good, but she had never looked better in nothing but his yellow shirt and his boxers.

Rafe closed the light, remembering how she hates sleeping with any form of light either it’s tiny or big, and settled himself on the sofa. He wanted to give her space, not wanting to rush anything, knowing how tired she must felt from all the things she had to endure today.

“Rafe, we’re not 10. You can sleep on the same bed as I am,” she sighed, turning to face the other side. Rafe stood up, thanking the gods above, and settled for his new room.

“We never sleep in the same bed before,” he said, pulling the covers to shield himself from the cold. (Y/N) snorted at this statement, still not looking at him or even turning to face him.

The closest thing they have done to sleep right next to each other was in the car during a road trip, and when they woke up, they were both throwing disgusted faces and pretending to vomit.

“Stop it, you guys look stupid,” Sarah groaned, giving them a quick look over her shoulder. Rafe pulled his middle finger from under the blanket he was sharing with (Y/N), causing her to snort and struggling to hide her laugh.

. . .

“So yeah, that’s how you hit it.”

“You’re bluffing,” (Y/N) rolled her eyes, taking over the club and watching the small hole in the distance, squinting her eyes. She took a step back, licked her teeth, and gave Topper the club back.

“See? I told you I’m right!” he exclaimed happily, clasping his hands together. He returned to the game, focusing on his goal, and hit the golf ball.

“That’s fine, I guess,” (Y/N) announced when he came back to the resting area, “For beginners.”

Rafe snorted, downing his mineral water before handing Topper the same bottle. Topper grunted at him, muttering how it’s unhygienic, but he took a full swing of it anyways, being so thirsty after sitting under the sun for hours long.

“We’re glad you’re back with us, (Y/N),” Topper smiled, removing his cap and fanning himself with the clothing. He opened his mouth to say something, but when he looked at Rafe’s expression, he quickly shut his mouth.

He wanted to ask her if she ever missed their old clique when she was with the pogues, but Rafe knew better. It had been 3 weeks since the incidence, and she had been doing so well in coping with the situation. They had been inseparable ever since, always attached to the hips everywhere they go; he couldn’t let one tiny mistake slip that can cause her another breakdown.

“Hey,” Kelce jogged to them, smiling apologetically at Rafe and Topper before placing a quick kiss on (Y/N) ‘s cheeks. (Y/N) smiled, knowing how sweet and gentle Kelce is, almost glad he still does the same thing to her even after they had not been hanging out for a year.

“You’re not dressed for the occasion,” Topper rolled his eyes, “And late. We’re already packing up, man.”

“I know, but I’m wondering if you guys would like to listen to Cage The Elephant this evening by the beach,” he explained, still heaving from his previous activity. He had drove straight from his home to the country club after getting 4 tickets to the show, excited to show his friends what he had gotten for her.

(Y/N) snorted, throwing her arms into the air. “Fuck off, Kelce. There’s no way they’re coming down to Obx.”

Kelce sighed, taking out his phone before showing her the proof in his photos. (Y/N) grinned, trying to contain herself, and looked at Rafe who seemed to be smiling as well.

“Thanks, Kelce,” she laughed, pulling him into a hug. They made her happy, and all the negative thoughts she had about them during her brief friendship with the pogues suddenly evaporating into the air. She squealed, jumping wildly, and she swore she has never felt this happy before.

Just them four. Like the old times.

Four hours later, (Y/N) took a step back when they arrived at the beach, the memory of what happened three weeks ago suddenly rewinding in her head. Rafe noticed how quiet she had been, and pulled her aside while Topper and Kelce went to check on the stage.

“Are you okay?”

(Y/N) bit her lips, nodding. She ran her fingers over the penguin charm Rafe had gotten her a week prior, saying how it resembles him when he sees her. (Y/N) rolled her eyes at him during that surprising moment, touched yet confused at the story behind the penguin charm.

“Okay. Do you need a drink?” he asked again, staring into her eyes. She shook her head, wetting her lips and putting on her usual smile. Rafe grinned at her, muttering how she’s doing so good, all while guiding her towards their two other friends.

“(Y/N)?”

(Y/N) turned to look at the source, not thinking much. She almost fell to the ground when she saw the person responsible, but Rafe still had his arms around her. He turned to check on her again, but followed her gaze when he noticed she was staring at the opposite direction.

“What the fuck?” Rafe yelled, pushing JJ’s chest with so much anger that he toppled over to John B. Sarah yelped, pulling Kie to her side, watching as her brother walked towards them furiously.

“Chill, man, I just want to talk to her,” he said, taking a deep breath. He noticed the crowd starting to notice them, and his eyes landed on a certain girl who was held up by Topper and Kelce, both asking if she was okay.

“Fuck off, pogue,” Rafe said, his eyes stern as he stared over JJ and his group of friends. “You have nothing to say to her.”

As he turned to return to his friends, his chest heaving from the near-fight he almost encounter with JJ, he bended to (Y/N)’s height to check on her state. Her eyes were glassy, her face red.

“So you’re fucking them all now like a whore?” JJ shouted, loud enough for everyone else around them to gasp, and some already had their phones out. (Y/N) was shocked at this statement, frozen on her feet, not knowing what on earth would make JJ say that to her.

He was never mean to her, even when they had a fight. He yelled at her sometimes, sure, but she had been the one yelling first. He never called her anything of that sort, not even during sex, where she had given him her full consent.

“You’re crazy,” she muttered, her lips trembling. “Go to hell.”

“No, no, because it has always been easy for you, right? You broke up with me, got on with Rafe, leave your own friends and come back to the country clubs?” he laughed, and she flinched at his words. If JJ had meant the pogues as her friends, then he was totally wrong.

“Fuck off, pogue,” Topper stepped out, and before he could finish his sentence, JJ landed a full punch on his face, causing him to fall onto the ground with a thud.

(Y/N) screamed, getting to his side as Rafe returned JJ’s gesture. Topper laid on the ground with his nose starting to bleed, causing (Y/N) to panic while she rummaged through Rafe’s backpack he had left on the ground for clean tissues.

Topper groaned, keep wanting to get up, but (Y/N) held him in place, not letting her friend go and hurt himself more just for her. She cried while she tried to wipe the blood, hearing the fight behind her.

“Fuck you! You stupid pogue! You should be in jail like your dad!”

Something cracked in JJ as he yelled something back in pure anger. He punched, kicked, slapped and hit Rafe who was already on the ground, spitting blood.

“JJ! That’s enough,” Pope pulled him back, trying to contain the wild animal as he thrashed to escape. He yelled more curses at Rafe while Pope tried his best to pull him away, obviously not done with hitting the boy laying on the ground.

(Y/N) cried, running towards Rafe’s side, cupping his face and looking into his swollen eyes. She groaned when Rafe’s laugh filled the air, not believing how he was still joking in a state like this.

“I’m okay,” he said, his breath ragged. “Don’t cry. I’m okay.”

Rafe stood up slowly and looked at the direction of the still thrasing JJ, hearing his muffled shouts with his arms around (Y/N) ‘s waist. He held her close as she sobbed into his shoulder, still trembling.

“Let’s go home?” he asked, and (Y/N) didn’t need to be told twice to follow him into his car. As disappointed as she was that she didn’t get the chance to see her favourite band, she wanted to take care of Rafe, who had been there since the day she found out about Kie and JJ.

The clock struck 12 in the morning and the grandfather clock in the living room chimed as Rafe groaned, feeling a certain girl with trembling hands and tired eyes gently wiping a cotton pad across his cut.

“Fuck! I said slowly,” he grunted, closing his eyes to decrease the pain. (Y/N) bit her lips, trying to concentrate all the while trying to contain her laugh. He hissed again when she dabbed on his cut, this time with his fingers gripping tightly around her wrist.

“I said slowly.”

“I’m doing it slow, asshole,” she smiled, and felt him softened when she finally threw the last cotton pad. She pulled the covers to his chin, fixing the front part of hair before going to the bathroom to wash her hands. When she came back, she found him still awake with his eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling.

“I really need you to sleep,” she sighed, “To heal your pretty face.”

Rafe grinned and though (Y/N) tried her hardest not to smile back, she couldn’t deny the warm feeling settling in the pits of her stomach.

“You think I’m pretty?”

There was no use denying it anymore.

“Yeah,” she shrugged, getting into the space beside him. “Even when you are all fucked up.”

(Y/N) could sense his smile even when she didn’t look at him, knowing how soft he usually end up being when she compliments him. She turned to look at him.

“Are you serious about not wanting a girlfriend?”

Rafe turned to look at her, his eyebrows raised. His insides exclaimed happily, liking the way his words had struck her. He meant what he said, but that statement didn’t apply to (Y/N).

“Why?”

“Just asking,” she shrugged, and made a move to touch his cut. He hissed, feeling a sharp pain soaring in him, but she looked so peaceful trying to figure out his wound.

“You can kiss them to make them feel better,” he grinned, and watched as she groaned, trying to hide her face against the pillow. Rafe laughed, and turned the lamp beside him off, knowing that he shouldn’t push it and leave her be.

Just as he was about to drift into a peaceful sleep, he felt her soft lips against his, to which it was quick and gentle before she pulled away, giggling.

“4 years.”

“Huh?” (Y/N) questioned, still smiling from the kiss she just initiated a few seconds ago. She couldn’t contain herself; he looked so peaceful, so sweet, and so handsome. She didn’t know why she hadn’t kissed him sooner.

“I waited for that since 4 years ago.”

“Now you’re just pushing it, Rafe.”

Rafe grinned against the darkness, and felt his heart soaring. “Can we kiss again?”

“Tomorrow,” she stated, and Rafe laughed.

Tomorrrow. The next day. Next week.

He didn’t care - as long as he will finally have her by his side.

add yourself to the taglist!

@kayleea122 @joselyn001 @okayshoto @onceuponateenagetrash @dyingsleeping @im19yearsold @iwannabeapogue @meaganjm @rafesobxs @clearbolts @flossy2929 @drewstarkeyluver @lovelyxtom @unfortunatekiwitrash @Mellifluouszayn @noonesafe726 @hhishho @christianaevans @jemimah-b99 @hvrcruxes @scottybitch @asimpwriter @opierdalacz @anaisaxsalva @dangerdolns @starxqt @obxlovelys @wildflowerliv @classygirlything21 @amaya124 @made212 @topshaggerwillne @gabiatthedisco @adriee16 @eggirl @ms187 @tommy-tommo @thatshithurted8 @milkywqze @raeslibrary @24-martie @kookypogue @cooper8224 @darklingbrekksov

#rafe cameron #rafe cameron smuts #rafe cameron imagines #rafe cameron x reader #rafe x read #drew starkey #drew starkey x reader #drew starkey imagines #jj maybank #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank imagines #outerbanks #outer banks #outerbanks imagines #outerbanks x reader

1K notes · View notes

coweye · 2 years

Text

Commitment Issues - Part 2

Pairing: Benjamin Miller x Reader Words: 2.1k Summary: When you try and take your friends with benefits relationship to the next level, Benny's response isn't quite what you were expecting.

Warning: Angst, Slight(?) Depression, Alcohol Abuse, Breakup blues, Tough Love from Will, Benny being a✨fuckin' idiot ✨who can't process emotions in a healthy way. Big Brother Will UwU

This one's a doozy folks, Enjoy!💕 See you next Friday @ 10pm GMT - We got a writing schedule now boizzz.

➢ Fic Masterpost

⇠ Previous Part

A few days morphed into a full week before you could even think of responding to the text messages from the guys and that was only because Catfish threatened to turn up at your place if you didn’t.

In order to deter, or in the very least, delay him you'd spouted some fictitious bullshit about a break up, you’d received a few awkward words of consolation from your brother in arms - promising you your continued privacy and a shoulder to cry on should you need it.

William however, made no such promise and your period of convalescence came to a swift end on the eleventh day when Ironhead turned up at your front door.

Admittedly it was poor timing on your part as ‘Drops of Jupiter’ was blasting from your speakers and you were in pyjamas at around 6pm.

The hammering on the door had interrupted your session of self reflection as you were sprawled on the couch so you could only imagine the figure he was presented with - three day old sushi pyjamas, a glass of rosé in your clutches and severely unwashed hair.

♫ Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star? One without a permanent scar and did you miss me, While you were looking for yourself out there? ♫

The man who had for all intents and purposes been a brother to you for as long as you could remember - your secret coital acts with his brother were not a factor in the bond you shared - stood on your doorstep with an unimpressed edge to his jaw.

“Turn this depressing crap off.” He huffed whilst pushing past you to turn the knob on the speaker to zero himself. “What the hell is going on with you?”

“Didn’t Francisco tell you? I got dumped.” You sigh dramatically and fall back onto the sofa after downing your glass of wine.

Will takes a seat in the arm chair opposite, his eyes surveying every detail of your disarray and watching you like you were a creature on edge, ready to attack. You’d think he was checking you out if he wasn’t so delightfully Will - or if you’d at least showered in the past three days.

“Over a guy? You? Come on Y/N, Buck up. You’re made of stronger stuff than this.” You can't help the glare you send his way as your eyes rove his face finding the similar features to the man who had crushed your heart, you have no control over the ugly bile of resentment that rose.

“I just needed a bit of self care. A few days to sort myself out.” You know the second the words leave your mouth you’ve played your cards wrong, that would’ve scared Frankie or Santi off but Will, no, William Miller was like a dog with a bone; it was just better to rip the band-aid off and find out exactly what it was he wanted.

The raising of a single eyebrow as he picks up one of your old discarded wine bottles from the floor by his feet tells you exactly what he thinks of that statement. He sets it on the side before he carries on. “We’re all meeting down at Flanagan’s. Come on down with the guys, it’ll be good for you.”

“You’re saying that like I've got a choice… Why can’t you just let me sleep.” You whine burying your face in your dressing gown, exaggerating the very real exhaustion you felt in your bones.

“Oh yeah, there’s no choice here. I’ll just bring the guys here if you don’t show.”

“Dick.”

He nods your way and swipes the remote control from your coffee table. Switching the television on and flicking through until he lands on some boring documentary before he finally gives you his attention. “Go and get ready, I’ll wait.”

There was no way to know if Benny was going to be there tonight.

One of the many downsides to your sordid rendezvous with the youngest Miller was the secrecy, Will didn’t know he was walking you into a nightmare.

Fuck it, better to get it over with, you decided finally despite your tired bones.

You and Benny were friends first and foremost - you couldn’t let this get in the way, that being said it couldn’t hurt to make him regret his decision.

So, with revenge in your heart, you began to shower trying to wash the last week of self-pity down the drain taking the layers of sweat and grease with it.

It didn’t take you long to feel human again, a bit of makeup and a brush through your hair had worked miracles and before you knew any better you were walking into the Irish bar your closest friends had always frequented.

It turned out you and Will were the last to arrive and much to your relief Benny was in the bathroom - his leather jacket hung off the back of one the chairs and in front of it was a half drank beer.

You took your seat to the side of Valerie Morales, it just so happened it was the furthest you could get away from Benny without sitting on a different table.

“Frankie mentioned there was a guy…” She trailed off sympathetically once you took your seat.

“Cariño! We’re taking her mind off of him!” Frankie reminded his wife with faux annoyance at her prying. “Where the hell’s Ben? Cheap Bastard… Conveniently disappears when it's his round.”

Your eyes searched the room for the man of the hour until you spotted him leaning lazily against the bar smirking like the cat who got the cream, deep in conversation with a remarkably busty blonde woman.

You can’t help the drop of your stomach or the narrowing of your eyes at the discovery, though the latter gives you away as Will follows your sights.

“Looks like he found himself a friend.” He mutters with an eye roll at his brother's antics. You try for a conspiratorial smirk but it lands somewhere between a grimace and a flash of teeth.

You’re annoyed at yourself for giving the game away; you might as well have ‘BENNY’S THE GUY’ painted on your forehead. So, in a display of sheer strength and will. You pull yourself together, you can be okay for three hours, you decide.

Three hours and then you feign tiredness and leave.

Three measly hours - hell, you’d been pinned down being shot at for longer - you could totally sit in a bar with your ex for three, maybe two hours. No problem.

“You get the first round in William. You dragged me away from a great nap for this!” Your jesting tone doesn’t sound quite right even to your ears but you try your best to ignore it and persevere. The others grant you the same favour, though they believe it is a generalised agony in response to your dumping, rather than the conduit sitting at the bar.

Will holds his hands up in surrender, just glad you’re trying for an air of normalcy and the next hour goes on with casual small talk, all dancing around the subject of your elusive suitor until you're suddenly three drinks in and Benjamin hasn’t returned to the table.

He’s now running those stupidly delicious fingers up and down the woman's arm, sat on the barstool whispering what was no doubt sweet nothings into her ears - you should know, he'd done it to you in secret more times than you could count.

This was textbook Benny before the two of you had begun your indiscretions. Whilst you had carried on he kept himself to himself, never hitting on other women in your presence as a sign of what you assumed was respect.

This meant that this behaviour wasn’t out of the ordinary for him, as such nobody so much as raised an eyebrow when he returned to the table in passing to grab his jacket before the two of them left.

“You don’t come over to say Hi?- What would Ma say?” Will berates him jokingly as they embrace.

“Ma, would kick our asses for drinking in a dump like this! … Y/N.” He nods in your direction finally acknowledging you with a smile that doesn’t quite meet his eyes, the action in itself is strange and you know he’s caught Valerie’s attention with it.

“Hey, Ben.” Your voice has a relaxed edge to it and you impress yourself, appearing unaffected whilst screaming inside. (You can’t help but accredit this to the half a bottle of rose you’d pregamed with and the three beers you’d sunk since arriving.)

He breaks eye contact and fixes his sights on Catfish before the easy smirk rises “I’m heading out, boys.”

Catfish makes an awful catcall which both Will and Valerie thankfully ignore. The latter glaring at her husband before turning your way, trying to piece together the information she had gathered in your brief interaction with Benjamin. If the sympathetic eyes are anything to go by, she’s guessed correctly.

Two years of secrecy taken out with one idiotic greeting.

A sudden wave of nausea overtakes you.

You don’t know how you even manage to find the toilet after giving a quick ‘Excuse me’ to the table but you quickly find yourself revisiting the beers and Nachos you’d ordered.

When finally your stomach seizes its spasming, you lean back against the stall. You can't help but close your eyes and focus on the buzzing of the harsh bathroom lights. Your eyes well with unshed tears half from the gagging, half from the constant weight in your chest you just seem to carry around with you these days.

Your throat clenches, though not in the urge to regurgitate but to hold back emotions you knew were about to flood you.

“You okay?” You hear Val’s muted voice through the door and see her heeled ankle boots through the gap in the bottom of the stall.

“I’m good.” You manage brokenly despite the constriction in your throat, taking a strip of toilet roll you wipe under your eyes and then your mouth, attempting to make yourself semi-presentable.

You barely have time to look up at the mirror before she’s on you like a bloodhound.

“You and Benny…” Val doesn’t quite question, leaving it open ended. Your eyes meet her own in the mirror as they scan your form.

You don’t have any fight left in you, not to lie to Valerie, besides who cared anymore, it was over. What was the point in keeping up the lies, you had no face left to save.

“... yes.”

It's somewhat freeing as the truth hangs between the two of you. She’s stunned into silence for only a moment, before bombarding you with question after question, quick to cover the 5 W’s.

For the first time you let yourself talk to another person about the intricacies of yours and Bennys romance. You unloaded the heavy weight you’d been carrying around for nearly two years and it was almost cathartic.

A secret shared is a burden halved, that's what grandma always used to say and despite the old cow being a horrifically huge racist, you had to give her credit, the old woman had a point; your stomach felt lighter than it had in months.

Valerie listened with sympathetic eyes, never interrupting or asking for more than you were willing to give. Just taking it in and nodding from time to time and when you’d told her all you could, she wrapped you in a hug; one so comforting it could only be from a mother.

Tears ran down your cheeks uncontrollably and in that moment you despised the man; you’d never been much of a crier before Benjamin Miller.

“Enough of the pity party.” You huffed through your tears. “Damn, I haven’t been able to stop crying every five minutes. I’m turning into such a pussy - I’m surprised I’ve got anything left.”

Valerie laughed.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were pregnant!” and just like that, with her joking words, your entire brain went into panic mode.

Your internal sirens were ringing.

Frantic mathematics and tracking of your periods began.

The realisation dawned on you.

Vomiting, crying, exhaustion - All symptoms of your breakup - or perhaps something cuter and much more sinister.

As Valerie took in your widened calculating eyes her laughter died off with one last snort of disbelief “You’re not right? You’re not. You couldn’t be...”

The whites of her eyes slowly exposed themselves until the two of you stared at one another through matching sets of saucers.

⇢ Next Part ✨

#Ben stop being a dick and apologise rn pls T-T #I'm sorry to drag out the pain but I promise #The angst will make the payoff even better #benny miller x you #benny miller x reader #benny miller x female reader #benny miller #triple frontier fic #triple frontier #Ben Miller x reader #Ben Miller x You #Garrett Hedlund

337 notes · View notes

ahundredtimesover · 3 years

Text

Hold Me Close | JJK

Pairing: Jungkook x (f.) Reader, ex Namjoon x Reader (ft. brother Jimin)

Genre/Tags: brother’s best friends au; (dash of) angst, fluff (sort of), smut

Warnings: foul language, feelings of insecurity, minor accident caused by inebriation, getting drunk, sexual content (oral, unprotected sex but be safe please!), JK has a hip tattoo and at some point has grey hair (18+)

Word count: 22k

Summary: When Jimin hits a crisis, he enlists the help of his older sister - you - and his best friend, Jungkook, to put the pieces back again. That proves to be difficult when 1) Jimin’s a brat and a certified pain in the ass, and 2) Jungkook has grown and suddenly, you can’t keep your eyes off him.

A/N: I wanted to write something fun for a change and saw @ladyartemesia‘s brother’s best friend list and thought it would be a nice trope to explore because if there would be an ideal bratty younger brother, it would be Jimin. This was sooo much fun to write but also reminded me again of why I love my baby sister more than anyone in this world. Hope you all enjoy!

Three - the number of missed calls you probably now have just in the last 5 minutes, the vibrations piercing through your pocket and onto your thigh. It might be important, but so is keeping your attention on the department Director to your right, who is complimenting the man to your left, over a proposal that you spent weeks working on.

You force a smile because in front of your entire department isn’t really the time and place to refute and complain. It doesn’t help that Chul accepts the credit because anything to get ahead, right?

Just another reason why you dislike this job. Perhaps your boss telling you that you’re too emotional or too soft to be in this industry has gotten to you, but then again, there’s not a bone in you that’s ambitious and competition-craved, unlike your parents. But you try, at least. It’s the least you can do for something that’s expected of their eldest child.

The Director flips a page and turns to you. “Glad you could contribute to this, Ms. Park.”

He did assign it to you but you suppose your name just flew off his head, but you remind him anyway.

“Thank you for the opportunity to work on it, Mr. Yoon. I’m truly learning a lot,” you fake a smile and wish for this to end.

Soon enough it does and you bow towards the managers present, one of them giving you the compliment you needed to hear, and excuse yourself before another call comes in.

Best brother ever, the screen announces, and you curse yourself for still not changing his contact name and for having an easy-enough password to guess.

“I swear to god, Jimin, this better be an emergency,” you cuss to the person on the other end, already boiling at the thought of him possibly calling to ask how to fix a broken toilet or what kind of oil he’s supposed to buy for frying because he’d done both too many times for you to count.

“___!” The sound of a relieved huff is what greets you, the voice familiar.

“Jungkook?”

“Yeah, hi,” he says. “Uh, we’re at the hospital.”

Your eyes widen and you scold yourself for missing the calls, but then again, you wouldn’t have known because Jimin’s wolf cries precede this moment of an actual emergency.

“What? Why! Is my brother okay?” You cry out, hands already working on collecting your files and feet rushing towards your desk to pack up.

“Yeah,” Jungkook affirms. “He’s fine. He just—“

“I AM NOT FINE!” You hear your brother shriek in the background, sound a little soft due to distance but you don’t miss the farcical tone of his statement.

“Dude, it’s just a sprained ankle. You’ll live,” Jungkook tells him calmly, away from the phone.

You sigh in relief because Jungkook is definitely the person to believe in times like this.

“From 1 to Jimin, how dramatic is he?” You ask.

“Jimin. Times two.”

“Damn, okay. That actually seems worse than the injury itself huh?”

Jungkook laughs in agreement.

“I’m just packing. I’ll go to you guys right after.”

“Alright. General Hospital, emergency room. Just follow the tone of the weeping man-child.”

“I feel so empty. What am I gonna do with my life now!” You hear in the background.

You laugh at your brother’s antics because you’ve heard that exact line not long ago after his building owner told him again that he can’t have a pet in the apartment. But who knows with Jimin this time around?

“Got it. See you in a bit,” you say, then head out to hail a cab.

You arrive in the emergency room and follow the sound of the weeping man-child and true enough, you see your baby brother lying on the bed with his right leg nestled on pillows, ice taped on the swollen ankle.

You rush to his side and assess if there’s any other part that’s being treated. “What the hell happened to you?” You worriedly ask. “Is this because of work? God, Jimin. I told you that company overworks you! You don’t even get enough rest.”

Behind you, you could hear muffled laughter, and paired with your brother’s sheepish smile, you could already tell he got it over something silly. He’s avoiding your gaze, causing your worry to turn to frustration.

You cross your arms and you give him a stern look. “Park Jimin, look at me and tell me what happened.”

He plays with the hem of the blanket draped over him and with a sickly sweet smile, the one he uses on you to get himself out of trouble, he says, “I may have drank and perhaps had my foot stuck in a gutter and I may also have moved about when Jungkook told me to stay still and well…” Arms laid out before him as if in presentation, “here I am!”

He’s beaming, as if it’s something to be proud of. You know it’s his tactic but still, your brother’s ability to go from one reaction to another astounds you.

You turn to Jungkook for confirmation and he nods at the accuracy and absurdity of the situation, causing a worried feeling in the pit of your stomach because how the hell are you going to explain this to your parents?

“You forgot the part about you screaming that you hate men and you don’t want to love anymore,” Jungkook adds. It’s classic Jimin that it actually makes you laugh.

You, as his older sister and Jungkook, as his best friend of 15 years, should be used to this already but your brother is plucked from a classic romcom as the hot mess character and that carries with it amusement and predictability.

You're about to ask for an elaboration to put more context in the scene that’s playing in your head of a crying Jimin flailing his arms and a bemused but laughing Jungkook trying to shut him up, when the doctor comes in.

She checks the clipboard then on Jimin.

“Thankfully, there’s nothing broken,” she says, jotting down on a pad. She starts instructing how to properly wrap the ankle, prompting Jungkook to stand next to you and Jimin to nip at his fingernails because the brat won’t even pay attention to how to care for his own injured foot.

After handing you the prescription, the doctor tells Jimin, “We’ll just wrap you up with a cast and give you the crutches then you can head home.”

“So I’m not staying?” He asks.

“No need,” the doctor clarifies. “It’s just sprained but it will take several weeks to properly heal and it will be sore for a while,” she states, then calls a nurse and instructs him to prepare the supplies.

“You said you’re a dance instructor? The injury was aggravated by previous mild sprains so I require complete rest. You absolutely cannot move. Just stay in bed and follow the instructions I’ve written down.”

You and Jungkook release a sigh of relief, thankful that it’s nothing serious, the concern over what prompted his outburst temporarily at the back of your mind, until Jimin speaks up.

“But, something else feels broken.”

“What is it?” The doctor asks, suddenly worried and checks the board for anything she might’ve missed.

“My heart.”

“Yah!” You smack Jimin’s arm in embarrassment, which he returns with a smack on yours, a common sight for you both and Jungkook who’s bared witness to the violence you and your brother inflicted upon each other growing up.

The doctor rolls her eyes. “She’ll come back,” she says, then heads towards the door.

Jimin scrunches his nose in annoyance. “She’s a he, by the way!” He shouts, causing the others present to turn to him, as if such a situation is scandalous.

“Do… you have a boyfriend I don’t know about?” You nervously ask.

While your 3-year gap sibling relationship is rooted in violence that’s caused bruises, buckets of tears, timeouts, and your parents almost giving up on making you two get along at many points of your lives, you and Jimin have somehow grown up and have found the right balance of telling each other important things while also staying out of each other’s business.

The “growing up” only happened midway through his college life, when he realized that even with his best friend next to him, you were still his lifeline in the big city of Seoul and the only other reminder of home.

Because even with him knowing what it takes to make it in the competitive entertainment industry as a choreographer, in his heart, he’s still the younger child who’s used to being taken care of. That meant regularly demanding your presence in his dorm when he was still studying and then crashing your place when he’d started working. For food, mostly. The ranting about things just came naturally after.

“It’s Tae,” he shyly reveals, meeting your eyes for the first time and suddenly, he’s your little brother again, the one whose snacks you used to prepare or whose wounds you used to treat when your parents weren’t home or were too tired from work.

“Your roommate?”

“Yeah. He left today because he got this photography gig where he gets to travel the world.”

“I didn’t know you had a thing,” you say.

“We didn’t,” he huffs out in frustration. “I didn’t know I liked him until he said he booked a one-way ticket and didn’t know when he'd be coming back. And he was so excited and I was really happy for him but also felt like it was too late. Like should I have said anything? What if he felt the same way? Would he have stayed?” He sighs, looking sullen this time.

“He may have, or he would still be taking the trip. Regardless, no one should be giving up on dreams for anybody, Chim. That’s not how it’s supposed to work,” you say, not meaning to sound as if you’re reprimanding him, but the look he gives is enough to tell you that he understands. He’s heard variations of that same sentiment before, anyway.

Jungkook feels the tension in the air and breaks it by stating that he’ll be driving everybody home.

“I’ll be staying with my sister,” Jimin announces, his annoying smile now back, and he knows you can’t say no; by obligation or by choice, you won’t tell.

“There goes my weekend,” you gripe.

“I won’t be a nuisance, I promise,” he says then crosses his heart, like it actually means anything.

“You’re a nuisance even when you’re not injured, what more now?”

“I’m not that bad,” he defends.

“Oh, but you are.” You turn to Jungkook. “You know, I actually tried to push him back in our mom’s vagina but even her uterus didn’t want him anymore.”

“Ouch okay, I will pretend I didn’t hear that,” and you all laugh as Jimin is transferred to the wheel chair and pushed by the nurse, signaling Jungkook to go ahead and retrieve his car.

You arrive at your apartment with a Jimin-clad Jungkook in tow, the worry of not having cleaned up quickly dissipating because this is your brother, and he shouldn’t complain.

Jungkook assists Jimin in the bathroom while you set up your bed by piling up pillows for his foot.

“I don’t have clean sheets for the sofa bed in the other room,” you say, “and it’s not cleaned up, as I didn’t expect to house an injured child this weekend. Just sleep on my bed first.”

Jungkook guides Jimin to your bed and helps him settle in, with your brother looking all smug with the treatment he’s getting because he knows you don’t give up your bed that easily.

“What about you?” Jungkook asks, seemingly more worried about your inconvenience than the actual cause of it.

“I’m fine with the couch. Wouldn’t wanna sleep here with him and accidentally hit his foot. He might murder me or something.”

“Thanks, Sis. I’m very comfortable here. I think I’ll be sleeping well tonight,” Jimin states, then yawns, drowsiness kicking in from the medication.

You roll your eyes and close the door. You lead Jungkook to your kitchen and offer him a drink.

“I’m sorry for him, Kook. Did he drag you out of work?” You ask.

“Just had to call the tattoo parlor and reschedule my Friday appointments,” he says, downing the glass of water. “He was pretty emotional over the phone and wanted to drink at 4PM and well, you know the rest.”

“Ugh, such a pain in the ass,” you mutter, massaging your temples. “But was he serious about the whole Tae thing?”

“Seemed like it. I think it just took an abrupt change for him to realize what he felt,” he explains. “But you know him - falls fast, moves on faster. He’ll be okay. You’re here,” he continues, flashing you his bunny smile, the one that used to cause you to pinch his puffy cheeks out of cuteness.

But that’s when he was a lanky 10-year old with his awkward front bangs. The man in front of you now sports long dark locks and a sharp jawline, tattooed arms and probably a built figure, if the way he carried your brother as if he’s a feather is any indication of his strength. His bambi eyes, usually scrunched large nose, and child-like smile are the only things that remain from that memory of him.

“You know I can’t stand my brother for long periods of time, Kook,” you pout, earning you an amused laugh.

“He actually already invited me over the weekend, asked me to bring my PS4 so we could play.”

“That bitch has to rest, what is he talking about?”

“Same thing I told him. I’ll just make up some reason that my player caught fire or that I dropped it while running or something.”

You give him a straight face. “The hell would he buy that? You can just not bring it.”

“I’m just gonna match his drama,” Jungkook shrugs, earning him your laugh, which for him is all tones of sweet and soothing.

A smile forms on his face at the thought of making you laugh like this, something he secretly enjoys. This particular sound would most likely be etched in his mind, among the several others that he caused.

There was that time when you caught him doing chubby bunny as a consequence and seeing him stuffed with marshmallows made you secretly giggle because 15-year old you didn’t want to indulge in their silly antics; Jungkook heard it though.

There was that other time during Jimin’s 14th birthday at an arcade, Jungkook went over the basketball game’s railing to get the highest score and you alternated between scolding him and laughing your butt off. He snuck the tickets he won in your pile though so you would have enough to get the Tinkerbell tea set because he knew your obsession with fairies.

When you visited home for their high school graduation, you all cooked dinner and he overdid the glazed sweet potatoes, causing them to get stuck on the plate. You tried to hold your laugh but gave up once he started dancing; he was so embarrassed but that’s when he knew he’d willingly make a fool of himself to hear you laugh like that.

And 3 years ago, your large group of friends went on a ski trip. He was attempting to run up the slope but kept sliding, and even from a distance, he could pick out which laughter was yours; it was probably the only remedy to an otherwise heartbreaking weekend, considering that you were there with your then-boyfriend, Namjoon.

Reminiscing those causes his heart to feel like floating, like always, then the words “nobody dates my sister” pulls that heart down to crash into reality, like always, too, the reality being that you’re his best friend’s older sibling.

You’ve been off-limits since Jimin threatened Jungkook and their other friends about cutting off their dicks if anybody tried to date you when they were 16, but you were probably off-limits even before that. Jungkook mentally shakes his head.

He doesn’t like being told what to do but then again, Jimin is his best friend, the tiny feisty 10-year old who fought off the bullies who tried to take Jungkook’s snacks. It had been them against the world since then, and so far, the only person he thinks who’d ever come between them is you.

Jungkook is pulled out of his thoughts at your call of his name, prompting you to repeat what you just said.

“I said, thanks again for being there for my brother like, ever since. If it was just me I would’ve disowned him a long time ago.”

Jungkook giggles, already used to the drama that is your sibling relationship. He’d witnessed too many wrestling matches, scream fests, and pulled pranks in the last 15 years. While you’ve both gone past those, your complaints about each other is something you haven’t really outgrown yet.

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t disown him,” Jungkook chuckles, the words ‘he’s the only link I have to you’ quickly dissipating in his mind.

“You know he just craves your attention and riling you up is the way he does it, younger sibling and all. I would’ve done that if my brother wasn’t 7 years older. Jimin tends to be immature around you but he’s the best person I know. I wouldn’t have survived anything if it weren’t for him.”

This brings a smile to your face, their origin story warming your heart more than you care to admit. Your brother is fierce and a fighter, you’d give him that.

“Well, he’s just as lucky to have you, Kook.”

It’s the tenderness in your voice that makes him feel like he’d just won a prize, and he wishes you don’t notice the flush of his cheeks. If you do, you don’t mention it, because not long after, you say that you’ll wash up, signaling him that it’s time to go.

Jungkook drives home that night feeling like his pre-adolescent self, the giddy feeling of when you first pinched his cheeks the same one he feels right now. It’s when he first developed his crush on you - you’d been arguing with Jimin and said you wished he was as behaved and as adorable as Jungkook, prompting your brother to point out Jungkook’s large nose, which you responded with by saying it adds to his charm.

Petty fights, like always, but it’s when you told him to not listen to what other people say if they’re out to put him down did Jungkook realize that you and Jimin were cut from the same cloth.

Soon after, every little moment with you, every glimpse of your life outside of being his best friend’s sister became more and more enthralling to him. The fact that you were getting prettier each year just served to solidify his affection for you. And also made it difficult to hide his hard-on every time you’d show up for breakfast in your cloth shorts when he’d sleep over your parents’ house, or when he’d see you in your pretty outfits in the bars you all frequented once he was in Seoul for college.

He’d let himself think of you during the times he wasn’t in a relationship, and he’d slowly let go of the bit of hope he’d have every time you were in one, partly because your relationships were usually long-term, compared to his, and also because your ex-boyfriends were nothing like him, which is safe to say that he wasn’t your type.

Maybe it was the age, the level of maturity, maybe it was the sense of security, maybe he’s just not the kind of guy who could give you what you want, although honestly he doesn’t know exactly what that is.

But if Namjoon - your intelligent, upstanding, businessman ex-boyfriend who was also really handsome and kind - and your subsequent heartbreak are anything to go by, then Jungkook is clearly reaching for the stars with you. Not that you’re out of his league, but he’s more like in the outskirts, just lying in the edges, the border between what’s possible and what isn’t, but definitely far from the center of action. Even tonight, the most time you’d spent together in years that wasn’t in a party, was because Jimin had been hurt.

If anything, though, his long standing admiration for you hadn’t really gone away. And he doesn’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

The weekend with Jimin staying with you wasn’t that unbearable, primarily because he was rendered immobile on your bed and was usually sleepy. You were thankful that Jungkook dropped by to keep your brother company while you caught up on errands and chores.

With another work week coming filled with meetings and events, you had Jimin stay with Jungkook first. He insisted it wasn’t a bother; his work as a freelance artist and a part-time tattooist gives him control of his time.

It’s the weekend after the incident when you hear a knock on the door, not expecting to see Jimin with his casted ankle and crunches; behind him are 3 large luggages and a few boxes.

You’re just about to process the sight before you when he says, “I got sacked from the company when I said I couldn’t get back to work next week. And I can’t afford to pay rent anymore, even if I get a roommate and I…” he turns to you, almost shameful, “I have nowhere else to go.”

You sigh because really, your relationship with your brother is hinged on fights you don’t really mean, pettiness that drives you crazy, and an unconditional love that you both deny but undeniably share. So you open the door wider and laugh at his “you’re the best sister in the world” claim and your usual response of “you only have one.”

Jungkook arrives with the last box and you help bring in all the stuff that seems never-ending, making you wonder how these fit in his car and how he managed to bring everything, including your brother.

“Park Jimin, you have so much stuff! You might as well have hired a mover,” you cry out.

“Oh I did,” Jimin answers, pointing to Jungkook.

You cock an eyebrow because obviously, movers get paid.

“I told him you said you’re gonna make us dinner.”

“Except I didn’t,” you scrunch your eyebrows and turn to Jungkook, amused at his sudden change of expression, bambi eyes widening at his innocence.

“I swear, he seemed so convincing,” Jungkook claims, hands held up as if in surrender. He bites his lips and looks at the ground. “I can just go, really. I’ll just force him to treat me to lunch when he’s healed and I can wrestle him if he doesn’t.”

“Don’t be silly, Kook. Stay for dinner,” you crack a smile. You walk to your kitchen and take out the pork belly to thaw. “I won’t make you steak though. That’s reserved for my wine nights when I want to bask in my singleness,” you call out.

“Also,” you turn to Jimin, “you don’t deserve my steak.”

Your brother laughs, knowing that it’s your way to mask the kindness you’re showing.

Later that night, with dinner out of the way and your spare bedroom set up for Jimin to stay, you guide him to the sofa bed and make sure his foot is elevated, bell just within his reach that you instructed him to ring when he needs you.

“Thanks, ___. You—”

“Are the best sister in the world, I know,” you cut him off.

“I was gonna say you should get some rest and to not worry about me. I’ll be fine,” he smiles.

You nod and head out the room, the worried look on your face not going unnoticed by Jungkook, who’d just finished wiping the dishes.

“Everything okay, ___?”

You heave out a sigh.

“What the fuck am I gonna do with him, Kook?” You ask, the reality of your injured and now unemployed brother dawning on you. “What am I gonna tell my parents?”

Oddly enough, it’s when you and Jimin were finally adults did your parents think to check up on you both. Perhaps living under the same roof didn’t warrant that, but with both children now living independently hundreds of miles away from them, they’ve ensured to call every week. Your conversations mostly revolve around Jimin, though, the words “take care of your brother” not having an expiration date, apparently.

You know the weight of the words - it’s not just because you’re older but because by your parents’ standards, you’re also the more stable and financially secure one by nature of your 9-5 corporate job in a fancy building that requires you to wear corporate attires, in contrast to Jimin’s late-nights in a dance studio busting moves in sweats.

Your parents are partial to your kind of work, given that they’ve spent more than half their lives in the same field and always wished you’d both do the same, even if you promised yourself you wouldn’t give in to the world that took so much of your parents’ time from you.

Much as you want to believe you’re just doing your job as the older child by entering the industry, you were too much of a people-pleaser who just wanted to make her parents proud.

Jimin, on the other hand, was smart enough to only apply to the performing arts programs of prestigious universities in Seoul and was good enough to actually land a scholarship in the same school as you; your parents were backed in a corner and couldn’t do anything.

You’d never tell Jimin but you always admired him for that; it takes a lot to stand up to your parents without actually standing up to them. You’re just glad that between the both of you, someone was brave enough to go for what they genuinely wanted.

“Tell them the truth?” Jungkook shrugs. “I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“You act like you don’t know what my parents are like.”

True, Jungkook thinks, but he also knows things have improved on their end. “Well, if anything, they’re more receptive now. They would congratulate Jimin on the choreographies they’d see those idol groups dance. They ask him about work, too.”

You smile at the thought, something your brother never mentioned, but you can imagine how happy that might’ve made him. Jimin, as you’ve found out, is a sweetheart to his friends - affectionate in all ways and very expressive - something he isn’t to you and your parents. The same can be said about you, and you soften at the thought that you and Jimin really aren’t that much different from each other.

Jungkook picks up on the thoughts going through your head. “He probably didn’t tell you because you know him, he’d go all soft if he does, and Jimin has this persona when it comes to you. And it isn’t the soft one.”

“Goes both ways, I guess.”

“It’s not the end of the world, and he doesn’t seem to think so. He’s going to be fine.”

Jimin, in all sense of the word, is not fine. It took a few days until he cracked. He went from being an obedient patient who followed the doctor’s order of staying in bed, to one who constantly walked around and complained that he had nothing to do.

Going on dating apps makes him sad, looking at job openings makes him sad, not being able to move and dance makes him sad. And your heart breaks for him, knowing what it’s like to lose your sense of direction and motivation at the loss of something or someone important. You allow him to let out his frustrations, though, listen to him when he rants, feed him his favorite food, and call Jungkook over with his PS4 that isn’t actually broken.

In fact, calling Jungkook has been your go-to, especially when you’re running out of things to say to comfort Jimin. Most times it’s really just so they could play PS4 together, prompting Jungkook to leave it at your place so Jimin could stay preoccupied and not feel too down when the job lists come up empty. He tires easily though, and it’s after he’s been tucked in bed that you usually settle for a cup of tea in the kitchen, Jungkook now the one listening to you talk.

It usually starts with the topic of Jimin, followed by some memory from your childhood that you and Jungkook get hysterical over, followed by a story about your work, and then a story about his. His stories are more interesting though. He shows you the paintings and digital pieces he makes for clients, and tells you amusing bits about his tattooing gig like amusing patterns and memorable customers.

Hearing all this sends warmth through you because of how much he’s grown. While you’re only 3 years older, you met Jungkook when he was a shy 10 year-old, a complete opposite to you and Jimin’s naturally sociable selves. He went from smiling sheepishly to joking around and giving you high-fives in the 5 years before you went to Seoul to study.

Of course he’s grown when he followed your brother to the same university, having seen him with different girls, going to the same parties because your friends had taken a liking to him, and attending his art exhibitions. He went from greeting you under his breath to calling out to you at a bar while he’s surrounded by his peers.

This was the kid who used to follow your brother around - even joined the dance club in high school - and would dunk his head in water if you asked him to, but now he’s forged his own path, doing what he loves, and enjoying every bit of his time that he controls.

Personally, you’re also just happy that he can be available for your brother and for you, too, seeing that the nights you used to spend forcing yourself to sleep are now spent in good conversation with him.

He’s also gotten way more attractive in the past few years, something you’ve only noticed now. Perhaps it has much to do with the physical closeness when you talk - your kitchen bar isn’t that long, anyway - where you’re able to pay more attention to his defined jawline, his dark eyes that anybody could get lost in, the curve of his nose, and the perfectly-placed beauty marks on his face. Come to think of it, maybe Jungkook has always been handsome, but you stop your thoughts before they go anywhere restricted.

It’s one Saturday night when you arrive home, after having drinks with your friends, to a very drunk Jimin and a tipsy Jungkook, gorging on fried chicken. Just thinking of cleaning up is already giving you a headache, which is aggravated by your brother’s drunk singing of classic yet cringey sad love songs.

“Yah! Look at the mess you’ve made,” you smack Jimin’s arm, pointing to the chicken crumbs on the floor. “And alcohol, seriously? You can barely walk properly and now you’re drinking?”

“I’m injured, unemployed, homeless, and heartbroken. Leave me alone,” is all he says, then proceeds to belt out an insanely high note that pierces your ears and which causes Jungkook to laugh, used to this already and may have been enduring this the past hour or so.

“He’s been like this for the past 4 hours,” Jungkook says.

“And you let him?”

At the final high note, Jimin passes out on the couch, body limp over the empty space to his left.

“He wanted to drink his frustrations away, thought it might help,” Jungkook responds.

You sigh in annoyance but think he’s right, too. Jimin was out drinking his frustrations the night he got injured but at least now he’s doing it in the safety of your home.

“I guess,” you shrug. “Can you take him to his room before he severs his neck?”

Jungkook laughs but follows. He carries Jimin over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and you pretend to not look hot and bothered at how easily he could carry your dead-weight brother.

You follow to the room shortly and place an aspirin and orange juice on the side table, knowing it’s Jimin’s hangover drink. You remove the strands of hair that have stuck to his forehead and tuck him under the covers.

Jungkook looks at you fondly; for someone who always claims you should’ve disowned her brother, you sure have a very affectionate way of showing it.

You step out of the room and take in Jungkook’s tipsy state, red cheeks and glassy eyes giving him away.

“You should stay,” you tell him. “You drank and I doubt you’d sober up anytime soon, but try anyway.”

He nervously accepts but not for the reasons you think. He’s nervous because aside from those sleepovers at your house when you were younger, this is the first time he’s sleeping under the same roof as you, and that makes him giddy but anxious at the same time. He hopes you don’t catch him mid-dream saying your name; that would be too awkward to explain.

He goes back to the living room post-shower, a blanket and large pillow on the couch and you, tucked in the corner with a glass of juice.

“Did you want to sleep already? I can go to my room if you are.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m not that sleepy yet, you can stay.”

He refuses your offer of a drink. Unsure of the appropriate distance from you now that there’s space to go around, he settles on the other end of the couch. You smile at him as he sinks on the corner and he smiles back as you take baby sips from the glass. You both settle in comfortable silence, appreciating the quiet as a reprieve from the mind-numbing noise from earlier.

You take a big gulp and he couldn’t hold the chuckle at your wide eyes hidden behind the glass.

“So I’m guessing your hangover drink is apple juice?” He asks, not missing the similarity with your brother.

“Yeah. Jimin hates it so I’m sure he’ll never take it. He used to finish all the orange juice at home and I was mad because I wanted orange juice, too,” you say with a pout. Jungkook’s heart skips a beat at how adorable you look and goes for an ah, that’s why face because he remembers you fighting Jimin over it before.

“So you just switched to apple juice?”

“Yeah, pretty much. It’s really good. I thought he’d switch too just to annoy me but he said he really doesn’t like it.”

“Look at you two, being all civilized for once,” Jungkook teases. You throw a pillow at him and laugh at his comment, but you don’t disagree.

“Yah! We’ve always been civilized, okay?”

“Now that is a lie. May I remind you of the time you two wrestled in front of me over a piece of pop tart. How you tackled him to the ground and he pulled your hair and the innocent treat was crushed in the process.”

“Hey, I was 15 and I called dibs on the strawberry!”

“Or that time you both wanted to watch different movies and had me choose and I felt like I was signing a death sentence either way? But it didn’t matter because you still got into a pillow fight?”

“His choices were always so boring!”

“Or that time when…” You throw him another pillow.

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. We weren’t always civilized,” you give up, laughing so hard with him at the memories. “You witnessed the worst parts of us, huh?”

“I didn’t really have a choice, did I?” Jungkook cocks an eyebrow.

“Well, you were the only one who stayed. The rest of your friends would run out once Jimin and I started going at it.”

He laughs at this because if only you knew why he always stayed. He actually liked that you’d let him referee you two, he felt wanted.

“Hmm, it takes a lot to handle the Park siblings, I don’t blame them.”

“Wow, Jeon Jungkook. Calling out your elder. Where is this bravery coming from?” You tease.

“I drank, remember?”

“Not much though.”

He shrugs. He doesn’t know, too, but he likes seeing you look flustered. “Enough liquid courage, I guess.”

You deem his answer satisfactory but it does make you recall all those petty fights growing up.

“Sorry you had to witness all that,” you say, giving him a shy smile. “Our personalities were always just clashing and it was harder not to fight each other.”

“I think you two are just so similar, that’s why.”

You look at Jungkook, eyes wide at the statement you’d only ever thought to yourself.

“He thinks the world of you, you know?” He continues, sensing your now serious demeanor. “He used to tell the mean older kids that you’re his sister and you’ll fight them if they hurt him because he just knows you’d protect him no matter what.”

You laugh and roll your eyes but Jungkook knows you agree.

“For schoolwork, he would always write about you as his role model or the person he looks up to.” Jungkook doesn’t miss how your eyes soften at this. “He never found out that I knew but I’ve read parts, how he wanted to be strong and kind like you, to be independent and smart and hardworking like you.”

Maybe it’s the remnants of alcohol, or this apple juice is just fucking delicious but you’re getting emotional.

“And honestly, I don’t think that’s changed. He’ll always look up to you, whether he’ll say it or not.”

And there goes the water works, causing panic in Jungkook and he immediately goes to you. Noticing your non-movement, he uses the edges of his hoodie to wipe the tears that have begun flowing from your eyes. He stills for a moment but seeing how you haven’t pushed him away, he continues.

You look up at him with watery eyes and quivering lips. Somehow you should be embarrassed but something about Jungkook having seen the worst of you and being nothing but a huge help these past few weeks, you feel safe. No judgment whatsoever, just an air of understanding and care.

“Why are you telling me this?” You ask, and Jungkook feels weak at how you look. He didn’t mean to make you sad but all he wants to do now is hug you until you feel better.

“Because you’ve been so worried and so hard on yourself, as if it’s only your burden to carry.”

You try to object but he cuts you. “Jimin’s an adult. He’s crying and drinking and sulking but that’s normal. He’ll be fine and get himself together. I know that. Even he knows that. You know why? Because it’s what he’s seen you do.” Jungkook wipes another stray tear.

“Whether it’s a breakup or a work thing, he’s seen you take hits but never back down, never let anybody walk all over you, never let them take away the best parts of you. He’s struggled before, too, but he always got back up.”

“He’s good and strong that way,” you reply softly.

“Like I said, he has a good role model,” he smiles, nudging your shoulder.

It’s meant to be playful but it’s comforting for you, and you’re leaning on his shoulder before you know it, ignoring the way he briefly stills at your action.

“You’re a good person, Kook. We’re lucky to have you.”

You’re so close to him and he can feel the heat radiate from you. It’s too quiet that he’s afraid you’d hear the thrumming of his heart, from your words and the affection behind your still head on his shoulder. The situation calls for it, he thinks, so he lays his hand on your back and rubs circles on it.

He’ll chalk it up to liquid courage again if you ask, but you don’t. Instead you snuggle closer, chasing his warmth. He swears he could pass out with just this, but he tortures himself more by holding you even closer and he swears, even with his thick hoodie, he could feel your smile.

Over a month since the gutter incident - as you like to call it - you, Jimin, and Jungkook have found a pattern of cohabitation, and yes, that includes Jungkook, seeing as how he’s become a staple in your household and your life.

At some point, Jimin had sulked less and would spend his time watching dance videos to remind himself of the feeling, even if it was just virtual. He’d even expanded his choice of employment by checking job openings as a fitness instructor and a ballet teacher for children.

He’d also done his regular foot exercise once the pain became bearable. Still unemployed and heartbroken though, he’s been shameless in making your place his own home, with most of his belongings now removed from their boxes, and inviting Jungkook over any time, any day. Not that you minded though, since he’s been nothing but a literal angel.

Living in a studio on his own, Jungkook usually has ramen or street food as dinner, which is why Jimin used to invite him over his shared apartment with Taehyung so that Jungkook could at least have home cooked meals every once in a while.

It’s why he’s often over your place on weeknights he doesn’t have a shift at the tattoo parlor. That and because Jimin still wants him over to play video games. Jungkook brings food over or pays for delivery though, and you welcome the initiative.

On weekends, you’re all busy doing your own thing in the living room together, which carries over to movie nights. The young ones pass up on their friends’ invites to a party while you, well, your friends would rather spend their weeknights with their partners instead. So your night of basking in your singleness now means doing so with your brat of a brother and his dependable best friend.

It’s a Saturday afternoon when you get home from doing errands and you find both men in your living room, with Jimin reading a book on some dancer’s biography and Jungkook busy on his laptop. Your brother’s face pops on the screen and you decide it’s not a personal matter so you plop next to Jungkook on the floor and softly rest your chin on his shoulder, something you’ve maybe done once or twice before.

“What you up to?” You ask, an impressed look on your face at the snippets of Jimin dancing, some of which you’ve never seen before.

“I’m working on his application video,” he says, pointing to your brother. “Since he’s not able to dance when he tries for jobs, he thinks sending them a video to show his skills will help.”

“Oh, like a visual CV of some sort?”

“Yes!” Jimin states. “Want them to know what they’re missing out on, and that’s a lot.”

You roll your eyes but mentally agree; your brother is the most talented person you know.

“Kookie’s been kind enough to work on it for me although he’s been on it for hours,” he continues, a playful smile on his face.

“Give him a break, Chim. He’s done so much for you already,” you say, getting your own laptop and setting it up on the table.

“Nah, it’s the least I can do. He’s helped me so much, ___.”

“He fought off your bullies 15 years ago…” You cock an eyebrow.

Jungkook chuckles. “Yes. And more. Helped me with school work, my confidence, my social skills…”

“Gave him tips to woo girls because he was too shy to ask them on dates,” Jimin adds.

“Hmm,” you mumble. “What you gotta be shy for? Just flash them your smile or show them your toned arms, they’ll probably jump on you right there,” you say nonchalantly, unaware of the way Jungkook’s heart stills at your comment.

“He doesn’t want them to jump on him, ___. He wants them to actually like him, or love, whatever. He’s a romantic, you know,” Jimin teases. “Would travel to the ends of the earth or fight to the death for the woman he loves, whoever she is,” he says matter-of-factly, unaware of the way Jungkook’s breath hitches because if Jimin only knew.

“Aww, Kook. That’s cute,” is all you say, smile genuine though, he wishes he could see it everyday. But cute, really? That’s it?

He chooses not to dwell on it and instead asks you what you’re up to, to which you respond that it’s a presentation you have to work on. You’re frustrated at your lack of design eye and it looks so bare; you want it to look professional but still eye-catching.

“Maybe I can help!” Jungkook states.

But of course, you think. You’ve been accommodating an actual graphic designer in your home, surely it’s fair that he help you out, right?

“Yes please, Kook. I need to blow these people away with my smarts and my non-existent creativity,” you laugh.

Jungkook sets aside his laptop, adoringly quick to prioritize helping you, and works on your presentation. He knows just the right color and font combo, even helping out on which details to include, what visuals to add, and how to make it exactly how you want.

You’re amused at how easily he works on it. He's meticulous, working on the size of the texts and the angles of the patterns. Jimin chides him for his perfectionism but unbeknownst to both of you, Jungkook’s laser focus is a means of distraction with how physically close you’ve been to him the past hour, eyes flicking from him to the screen.

He wants this to last but also can’t wait for it to be over because of how nervous he is, especially with your constant praises for something really basic, but which he finds so charming all the same.

Pretty soon he finishes and returns your laptop to you and retrieves his, quick to get back to work and focus on something else, which still proves futile once you remove your sweater to reveal a camisole underneath, and tie your hair on a high bun, thus exposing more of your shoulders and neck.

He shakes off the tingles he feels, pretends to be completely unbothered by his attraction towards you that seems to intensify day-by-day. He looks forward to seeing you, and when he doesn’t, he yearns to. He’d been used to admiring you from afar but these past weeks showed that he has all the reasons to admire you even up close.

You’re just as brilliant, feisty, and funny; sassy too like Jimin but in a captivating way, yet so kind-hearted just the same.

The three of you settle in a comfortable silence, each busy with your own task at hand. With your knees touching Jungkook’s, your questions on any additions you make on the presentation, and him asking for your approval on the video (which he seeks, oddly enough from you and not from Jimin), your eventual quick agreement on dinner and your teamwork in preparing it, it all feels so familiar, like it’s home.

The next evening, you find yourself sandwiched between Jungkook to your right and Jimin to your left, who moved from his center seat to lie down, with half of his tiny body settled comfortably on top of you and Jungkook. Your brother insisted on watching “How to Be Single” tonight, like a slap to all your faces.

It’s during one of the scenes with the protagonist’s ex when Jimin randomly asks, “___, do you regret breaking up with Namjoon?”

It may seem like a question out of left field, but with everything that’s happened, Jimin has been quite reflective lately, particularly about love. He’s had his fair share of partners but unlike you, is more a feeler than a thinker; gets out of relationships as fast as he gets into them; takes it one day at a time whereas you always have to consider the future.

You don’t need to ponder on the question; you’ve gone through this multiple times with your best friends but never really with your brother.

“Sometimes. But there was too much on the line and it was unfair to both of us if we carried on.” You sigh, recalling the moment you both decided it wouldn’t work. “It was something we had to do but doesn’t mean it hurt any less.”

Jimin hums, thinking back to the days he’d barge in your apartment and ask for leftovers when really, he just wanted to be near you so you had someone to cry to, just in case. That was over 2 years ago and it took you a year to finally say that you were over the relationship. He used to note your choice of words - “I’m over us,” never “I’m over him.”

Next to you, Jungkook is picking on his nails, unsure if he should be part of the conversation. He’d heard about the break up since you had common friends. It was quite the shock, knowing how you and Namjoon were.

You pick up this nervous habit, aware that he might not know what really happened. It wasn’t a secret but there was more to the story.

“We just wanted different things,” you say then turning to both of them, “so you two better make sure you’re on the same page with the person you date, talk about what lies ahead, what you want, what you’re willing to compromise and what you aren’t.”

“That’s good advice, yeah Kookie?” Jimin says.

“Why you focusing on me?” Jungkook asks.

“You’re the one focused on the dating, not the settling. You avoid those conversations.”

“You don’t want to settle?” You ask, now curious. You’ve seen him with girlfriends but thinking back now, his relationships never really lasted.

“It’s not that,” he glares at Jimin. “I’m more of a live-in-the-moment kind of guy. Thinking about the future is great, I mean, any mature individual does that, it’s just…”

He heaves out a sigh, hoping he’s not shooting himself in the foot with his statement. “What good is the future if you don’t take care of what you have right now? Isn’t the present more important because it’s what’s assured? The future is literally dependent on that, so the now is what I want to focus on.”

He rests his head on the couch, nervous of your reaction. He knows you’re a planner, needs to see things far ahead to know what to do.

There’s no one way to go about life, he acknowledges that. He just doesn’t want you to think he’s not a serious guy. With his developing feelings for you, not seeing him as a potential partner is literally the worst thing that could happen.

Jimin continues with the movie he paused but in your mind, all you could think about was what Jungkook said. If you and Namjoon hadn’t obsessed about the future, would things have been different? Would you still be together?

The sinking feeling comes at the realization that maybe they still wouldn’t. What if your ‘present’ with him then wasn’t good enough in the first place? That the “could be” was more exciting than the “what is”? Suddenly there’s clarity, you just don’t know if it’s the good kind.

Still, it doesn’t keep you from sinking further down the couch until you’re leaning on Jungkook’s shoulder. And like the few times that you have, there’s a comforting feeling in the act.

“You must’ve made your ex-girlfriends really happy, huh Kook?” You ask, head shuffling near his upper arm. “Focusing on the present and the moments and all that.”

You wish it was something you did, but Namjoon was just like you.

“I guess you could say that,” he answers shyly.

“But that was just it though, right Kook?” Jimin says. “Made them happy but not enough to fall in love.”

This prompts you to look at him, wide eyes full of questions. “How come?”

He turns to you and if he tried enough, Jimin right behind you would blur and there’s just you, overhead light illuminating the best parts of your face which is, well, everything. You’re absolutely breathtaking.

And at your question - how come he never fell in love - comes his own realization. For all of his talk of living in the moment, tucked in the corner of his mind is the thought of the future he’s only ever dreamed about, the one that he’s always wanted, well, with you.

“I - I actually don’t know.”

Adopting your brother, and by extension Jungkook, isn’t as bad as you expected. Sure, Jimin is still a diva and annoys you just because he wants to, but he makes you laugh more, compliments your cooking more, and encourages you to go out and have fun. Most times you do, but if you’re being honest, you’ve been enjoying time spent with him and Jungkook more.

Your movie and PS4 nights are chaotic and only egos are harmed. You and Jungkook help Jimin with job hunting, monitor his practice dancing, and watch dance videos with him. Two months since the gutter incident, you’ve gone to the park, the beach, and the river, perfected making choco-walnut cookies, and built fairy houses.

Your days are more tiring yet satisfying, as if your apartment actually feels like a sanctuary, save for Jimin’s provocation leading to your bickering, but even that has become a welcome addition in your daily life as well.

Jungkook though is altogether a different story. You two have gone grocery shopping together more than once, had spent some mornings on a run, and some weeknights he even picks you up from work then you both grab some of Jimin’s favorite food for dinner. Those are on top of the many nights you’ve spent drinking whatever in the living room, bidding him goodnight either out the door or on your couch. You’re not exactly sure what to make of the giddiness but you shut down whatever unusual feeling there is before they start to mean anything more.

It started with a missed deadline, then an oversight of a risk, then your workmate Chul getting the last laugh. Sometimes, no matter how good you think things are going, all it takes is an extremely bad week, made up of extremely bad moments, to make you doubt yourself. You think some more, then you end up doubting everything else.

Am I good enough for this job? Can I really make a career here? Is this what I really want? Is this going to make me happy? Why the fuck am I still single? It’s the sudden feeling of uncertainty that overwhelms you, makes you second-guess, and suddenly you’re not as stable and secure as you thought you were.

It’s this feeling that you carry over the day after at your friend Jin’s and his wife’s baby shower. Between their growing family, Yoongi’s hit-making record label, Hoseok’s renewed contract as a travel show host, Yuri’s PhD, and Na-eun’s engagement to her college boyfriend, you feel so… lost. Like you’re just getting by, just letting time pass until there’s something big and meaningful to look forward to again, whatever that is.

Of course your friends would never make you feel any less; that’s really on you, which is probably worse.

The party is on full swing; gifts have been given and time has come for full-on socializing where you all get to talk about how great your individual lives are. Except for you. And maybe Eun-ha on the corner who doesn’t seem to be happy being here, but that’s not your problem.

Somewhere near the bar is Jungkook, beer in hand and clearly enjoying himself. He’s a staple in events like this and he fits right in with everyone else - self-assured, content, in control, and may be on his way to a date, seeing as how that pretty girl hasn’t left his side all afternoon. Not that you were monitoring, though.

For once, you’re actually hoping Jimin was here so you can whine together, but the group he used to choreograph for invited him to their concert, so there’s that.

You’re on your third glass of champagne when you head inside Jin’s enormous house, away from the laughter and obvious put-together lives of your friends, when you see him, the man who was once your embodiment of stability, of a “good and secure life,” as your parents had said.

He sees you, flashes his dimple-bearing smile, and walks towards you, looking extremely good in a white polo and denim jacket, brown hair slicked back.

“___!” He greets, his arms immediately engulfing you in a tight hug, providing you the physical warmth that you haven’t felt in a while. You sigh into him, your head on his firm chest, his now sturdier frame but a reminder of the time that's passed.

You linger, prompting him to gently stroke your back like he used to after a long day at work.

“You needed this, huh?” He observes, voice low and comforting.

You release yourself from his hold and look up at him, his sweet smile a contrast to his commanding presence.

“Unfortunately,” you sigh.

“Boss still not giving you due credit? Colleagues still not making it any easier? Stress still at an all-time high?” He asks, and it’s either he still reads you so well or your problems - or you - haven’t changed one bit.

“You’re just not your usual energetic self,” he continues. “I mean, I haven’t seen your genuine smile since you arrived.”

He’s been watching you? Somehow that sends heat to your cheeks and quickens your heartbeat.

“Just tired, is all. Plus, Jimin’s been living at home after a little accident,” you finally respond.

His face makes this charming worried expression. “House already a makeshift wrestling ring?” He laughs.

“You’d be surprised at how little damage there is in my apartment. Safe to say we’ve grown up,” you say, wide smile finally adorning your face, which he returns. You haven’t felt this light the whole week.

“It’s nice to see you again, Joonie.”

You and Namjoon find a spot in the large living room, with the 2-seater couch being the only one available, the physical closeness making it difficult not to be mesmerized by his gorgeous face. His laugh is still the same, the feel of his hand under yours is still the same; the attention he gives, his thoughtful and wise words, and ability to make you feel cared for haven’t changed.

You’re smiling more, eyes sparkling for sure, and you can’t help the way your body reacts the way it does - knees chasing his, hand tucking your hair behind your ear, voice going a key higher.

He’s still the same confident and self-assured man that you fell in love with, that you once saw a life with. It’s almost intoxicating, the way he speaks, sees the world, sees himself. You could easily fall into this again, into the ideal, the safe and secure, the expected, the could be. You think of the reasons why it didn’t work out, of what you chose when you decided to call it quits. His phone rings. He excuses himself but you still hear him. And you’re reminded why.

“I’m sure the gown looks beautiful, love. I’ll leave the party soon and meet you and our parents at the wedding planners’ office. See you in a bit.”

Your heart should be breaking but it’s just your pride that does.

“I’m sorry, it was my uh—“ he says, unsure.

“Your fiancé,” you smile, as if reminding him.

“Yeah it’s… it’s pretty recent and we uh… we’re planning to have it in 3 months,” he explains, eyes turning sullen, lips curling into an apologetic smile.

“Congratulations, Namjoon. I’m so glad you’re happy,” you say, hoping he picks up the sincerity in your voice.

He sits across from you again, hand on top of yours, his smile hopeful, and for the first time, you see him struggle with what to say. So you don’t give him a chance to.

“What are you still doing here?” You playfully nudge him. “You have somewhere else to be.”

“You’ll be okay?”

“Of course. Don’t worry about me.”

He lingers this time. Maybe in another life you would’ve worked out, you would’ve loved each other better, you would’ve fought for each other. But not in this.

He leans forward and places a soft kiss on your forehead and you shut your eyes, absorbing all the words he wishes he could say. I’m sorry. I will always care about you. I hope you find your happiness, too.

Your eyes follow him as he walks out the door, out to the woman who could definitely give him what you couldn’t. From across the room, a pair of eyes follows your movement too, the way it has since you entered the party four hours ago.

Whatever worry you initially had about getting drunk at your friend’s baby shower is out the window. You don’t mind anymore, not with your 5th glass of champagne and your 3 shots of vodka because of course, it’s Jin. You laugh along with your friends although you’re too dazed to process what they’re saying.

Your jaw is sore from laughing over things you don’t understand so you decide to head inside, maybe call it a night and take the drinking back to your place; at least you’d be in your pjs and not in a tight dress and heels.

You’re pulling open a door that just won’t budge and you exert what little energy you have, causing you to trip on yourself only to be held steady by strong hands on your waist.

“That’s a sliding door, ___,” the familiar voice says, tone low but still teasing.

You turn around and meet chocolate eyes looking down at you and you stare back even in your embarrassment.

“I… I think I’m drunk,” you stutter.

You’re met with laughter. “No shit, ___. Think I didn’t notice that?”

“I…” You say, looking down at the hands still holding onto you.

He quickly removes them, worry painting his face and you wave him off before he could apologize.

“Let’s go to a bar, Jungkook.”

You reasoned your decreased alcohol tolerance to your friends, which they didn’t buy but waved you off without much fanfare. They probably sensed you were out of it for a while. Or probably saw the exchange with Namjoon, who knows.

But you’re now at a bar eating chicken wings and fries like you’re about to run out of food, the guy next to you chuckling and reminding you to breathe every once in a while.

You finish your meal quickly and pout when you realize he’s barely touched his food.

“You’re not eating,” you state the obvious.

“Sorry, too entertained,” he laughs, the child-like sound now so familiar, you’d recognize it anywhere.

He’s just smiling at you and you feel so small under his gaze. He saw you talking with Namjoon, taking shots, and almost tripping earlier. He’s probably wondering who this person is; definitely not the one who’s been semi-housing him the past few months.

You bury your face in your hands. “I’m so embarrassed,” you cry out.

“Hey now,” he says, hands gently removing yours from your face. He stops the one tear before it falls off.

“God, how many times have I cried in front of you, Kook? This is humiliating.”

“No one’s counting though,” he states. “It’s your drinks I’m counting and I’m thinking maybe you’ve had enough.”

You nod and he orders a can of soda and a glass of water. With light chatter and glasses clinking in the background, you two fall in comfortable silence. He’s quietly picking on his food, eyes roaming the bar while yours flit from him to the space between you, somehow wishing it isn’t as wide as it is right now.

“I had a bad week,” you finally say. He nods.

“My friends are all accomplishing so many things, achieving their dreams and I’ve been stuck in the same company for 5 years.”

He nods again.

“I’m a 28 year-old who got drunk at a baby shower and flirted with her ex only to find out he’s engaged.”

Jungkook pretends not to be affected at the confirmation that you were indeed flirting with Namjoon but he nods just the same.

“And?” He asks.

“And? I’m in a bar with you, and I cried, and I’m acting like a baby because I had a terrible week and ended up doubting everything and now think I can’t get my life together. I mean, between my brother I can’t properly help, a job I can’t seem to stand out in no matter how hard I try…” You release a deep breath. “And a relationship I couldn’t keep because I wasn’t enough and I…”

“Hey, don’t say that,” he says angrily. “You’re none of those things.”

“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to have kids. And Namjoon always wanted to be a father,” you blurt, the words not stinging as they used to.

This stuns Jungkook. Jimin had always mentioned it was a mutual breakup but never said anything more. Jungkook didn’t think it was because of this.

“I thought I wanted a family, too. It was so easy to fall into the idea of that kind of life with him because he was the perfect person to have it with. But then one day I just started doubting it,” you sigh, recalling how hard you used to be on yourself for suddenly wanting something different.

“Sometimes I think, what if I gave myself more time, what if eventually I’d be sure?” You take a long breath. “But the uncertainty was too much and it wasn’t fair to him,” you huff. There was no blame game; you both knew it wasn’t anyone’s fault.

“Quite the dealbreaker, huh?” Jungkook wonders.

“Yeah but looking back, the other issues were just bubbling under the surface. The future was so enticing and we talked about it all the time, it seemed much more important than well, us,” you explain.

“It was Jimin who made me realize that I hung onto Namjoon for the relationship, the potential, what it meant. He was the epitome of stability and I was the same for him but at some point, even that wasn’t enough.”

“So, earlier. Why did you, uhm,” he starts, hoping it doesn’t come out wrong.

“Flirt with him?”

Jungkook nods.

“Being with him used to make me feel like I had it together, you know? Like I had it figured out because he did and it was silly but I don’t know, maybe I wanted to trick myself into thinking that by being close to him in any way, I had it together.”

“You don’t need to have it together all the time. You just need to have it together enough.” His whole body turns to you.

“You had one bad week, we all do. But it’s over now, isn’t it? Your friends doing well in their careers? So are you. You know what not to compromise on, what to stand up for, which battles to fight. I’ve heard enough of your stories to know that there are people at work who respect you, look up to you. The way your friends, your brother, and I look up to you.”

Your lips are quivering, forcing yourself not to cry again tonight. He just always knows what to say. “That’s really sweet, Jungkook.”

“Thanks, but I wasn’t trying to be sweet. I was just being honest. You’re a lot of good things to people, ___. Isn’t that what matters? Being a little off at work and drinking then flirting with an ex don’t make you any less of a person. Okay? You’re allowed to slip up every once in a while.”

You let this sink in.

“Look at you, Jeon Jungkook. When did you get this wise? It’s like I just blinked then you’re all of a sudden so grown up.” You tease to keep yourself from breaking down.

“Like I told you, much of what I know, I got from Jimin. And what he knows, he got from you. Maybe try listening to yourself, yeah?” He smirks.

You nod, smile creeping on your face the same way all the heat is rushing to your cheeks. You feel comfortable like this, being vulnerable and sad and doubtful but he’s holding you close without touching you, making you feel safe with just his presence. In the now noisy bar, your bodies angling towards each other, and with his tender smile, you feel a type of intimacy you’ve never felt before. It’s reassuring yet enticing at the same time. And this scares you.

You both stay for another hour until you decide it’s time to head home. Jungkook had taken a cab, too in anticipation of drinking so you both decided to walk back to your apartment, knowing the couple of blocks would be enough to sober you up.

The streets are still alive with the nightlife just starting but the noise starts to tone down once you reach your neighborhood. The long walk is soothing, as Jungkook leaves you to your thoughts, except for the times he has to steady you because, well, your vodka shots are still in your system and a walk isn’t enough to flush them down. Still, you’re calm, a feeling of acceptance overtaking you.

“Thanks for tonight, Jungkook. I hope I didn’t ruin any potential date or anything just because I couldn’t get the door open,” you laugh.

He raises an eyebrow.

“That, uh, girl seemed really into you,” you stammer.

He chuckles, hands in his pockets and cheeks flushed at the implication of your observation.

“That wasn't much, we were just chatting.” He turns to you. “I could see your scrunched eyebrows from where I was and thought you needed help,” he shrugs.

You sigh. He was always helpful, ever since he was a kid.

“You know, you were always the good guy. Jimin’s other friends were so rowdy and immature. Yugyeom was always sprawled on the couch with his feet up like he owned the place; Sejun was always finishing our ice cream, and Sunghoon was such a flirt.”

Jungkook laughs, recalling the times you were scolding all of them for messing up the house and being so annoyingly noisy and eating your snacks.

“You were always the well-behaved and mature one. Like, you barely engaged in their pranks and stupid boy talk. You’d rather watch it all unfold until it was too much and you’d help me in the kitchen always. I remember your glazed potatoes. God, that was so hilarious.”

“That was embarrassing.”

“It was funny! And adorable. You were always so kind.”

“Thanks but uh, I wasn’t trying to be kind. Well, sort of. I wanted to impress you. And I—” He doesn’t know where this is coming from but it’s like word vomit, especially now that you’ve started to walk more slowly and are looking at him.

“It was an opportunity to be near you. Kinda wanted a lot of that back then. Even now, actually.”

You gulp, unsure of what to feel or how to react. You thought you were imagining his lingering looks, or how his eyes shone a tad brighter and his smile was a bit wider when you were around. But he’s not saying what he’s saying, right?

“I, uh. Well, maybe you look up to me like an older—“

“Don’t say sister because I never saw you as one,” he interrupts you, frustration laced in his voice as if the word is venom. “Not when I was a teenager, not in the years after, and especially not now.”

You hesitantly turn to him, his nervous face a contrast to the offended tone of his voice just seconds ago. He nibbles on his lips, a mannerism you noticed when he was a teenager who always seemed shy around you and would only relax after you talked to him.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles. I didn’t mean to sound angry. I just—“

“That was your angry tone?” You tease, your laugh affirming him that you’re not upset one bit, just… unsure. You’re flattered, definitely; he is a very attractive man. Still your brother’s best friend, though.

This eases him, but prompts him to test the waters.

“I’m a gentle boy, what can I say? Most times, at least,” he says, and you don’t miss the playful tone of this voice, his eyes peering down at you, making your breath hitch and your hands clammy.

You wrap yourself with your arms - really to wipe the sweat off because you’re feeling nervous - but Jungkook takes this differently, as anyone would, and immediately unzips his jacket and puts it on you.

You slow on your tracks and you feel even warmer. He follows your pace but urges you to speed up once he feels a droplet on his cheek. You’re glad you opted to wear low heels today, tiring your calves only a little but allowing you to walk fast enough until you’re on the steps of your apartment in time to miss the sudden downpour.

Well, Jungkook doesn’t because as he enters, a portion of his torso is wet, his black shirt sticking on his skin to tease you of his toned abs that you definitely will be thinking about tonight. Between that, his damp hair, and soaked veiny arm, you curse your mind for the images it’s currently making up.

All he did was indirectly tell you he has a crush on you, right? Or did he? He doesn’t seem as bothered as you expected him to be if that was the case so maybe you misinterpreted?

You can’t stand this wet version of him so you say you’ll get him a towel but are too flustered so you hit the wall as you turn towards the bathroom, eliciting a loud “ow!”

“You okay?” He asks worriedly.

“Yeah, still drunk I guess,” you lie. He smirks and probably knows you’re lying.

“I’ll take care of myself, don’t worry. Go wash up and get ready for bed.”

“Are you ordering me around?” You ask, trying your best to reestablish yourself as the one in authority because you can’t take how this man is making you feel nervous and unsettled and not in control.

“Do you want me to?” He simpers, flustering you even more. What is with him?

You roll your eyes and trudge to your bathroom. You’re technically sober but with Jungkook’s looks, the sudden flirty tone of his voice, and his innuendos, you might as well be drunk again.

You open the door and seconds later he’s by your bedroom, a glass of water in one hand and apple juice in the other. The bottle of aspirin is tucked under his arm by his rib and he asks you to get it and you think he's evil for testing you but you take it, acting unbothered. He follows you to your room and you don’t stop him.

Glasses now on your bedside, you tuck yourself in. “Thank you, Jungkook.”

“For what?”

“For staying with me? Listening to me?” You test the waters, too. “For caring for me?” And his smugness disappears. Before you is a man, all strong and tough yet his smile is the tiniest, softest you’ve ever seen on him, and even from where you are, you could see the tips of his ears turn red.

“I really appreciate everything,” you conclude, and you mean it.

He gathers himself before he looks you in the eyes. “Don’t worry about it. Anything you need, just tell me.” You nod.

“Sleep well, ___.”

You don’t sleep well. In fact, even with the rain pouring outside, you feel so hot, you end up shedding your shorts.

The closeness with Jungkook has been gradual and if anything, it’s been comfortable. You convince yourself what he has is probably just a little crush; convincing your heart to still is a different story.

Jungkook, on the other hand, can’t stop smiling. He was testing the waters tonight, gauging how you would react to his flirtation and teasing. It was partly the alcohol but then you’d gone all shy and flustered; he thought it was worth a shot.

He was half expecting you to scold him like you used to do with Sunghoon, or berate him like those guys at work but you did neither. You don’t seem to hate him, even with his indirect confession to you, and that’s really better than what he’d hoped.

You wake up dissatisfied with your sleep and take your hangover necessities; dealing with Jungkook last night did add to your inebriation.

You head out to the kitchen to prepare some beef bone soup to help with the headache, hands trying to remove the sleep from your eyes. You move like you’re on autopilot like most post-night out mornings and then you hear someone gasp.

“Shit, woman. Learn your manners and put some clothes on,” Jimin shouts.

It wouldn’t have been bothersome had Jungkook not been here but of course, he is. Next to your brother, eyes wide and definitely trying not to look at your bare legs. It dawns on you that you indeed removed your shorts because of that very man and your face contorts in shock and embarrassment.

“Fuck. Jimin! Grab me my shorts on my bed, please!!!” You cry out and stand behind the counter.

He’s too scandalized to complain so he rushes to your room and you feel so hot all over. You avoid Jungkook’s face at all costs, which apparently is what he’s also doing.

Jimin throws your shorts on your face. “Get yourself together, jeez,” he scowls.

“You’re the one invading my space, okay, both of you,” you bite back.

Jimin’s making faces like he always does when you scold him and Jungkook sits next to him, chuckling.

“I shouldn’t have welcomed you, you brats. I’m used to walking around my apartment in my underwear so this is a lifestyle change.”

“Oh god, shut it. Nobody wants to imagine you without clothes on,” he cringes.

For some reason, your eyes find Jungkook, who visibly gulps. You glare at both men, and Jimin responds with an evil smile.

You return to what you were meant to do and start getting ingredients. Jungkook starts to feel bad and approaches you, mumbles to Jimin that he’ll just help.

Jungkook appears next to you. “Did you mean that?”

You sigh. “I didn’t. Of course you two are welcome here.”

“I was referring to the other one,” he says with a low voice.

Your eyes widen and you smack his arm. “What is wrong with you? Stop teasing,” you loud-whisper, but he doesn’t miss the way you try to hide your laugh.

“You’re cute when you’re flustered,” he smirks, and you get flustered even more.

You’re a 28-year old getting scandalized over playful comments by this ridiculously good-looking man and you feel so pathetic but you can’t deny that it’s exciting you. It’s been a while since you’ve had someone flirt with you and pay attention to you like this, make you all giddy and entranced as if you’re an adolescent getting her first love letter or being told by her crush that she’s pretty.

There’s playfulness there but affection, too. You see it in the way he stops the teasing and smiles to himself, then proceeds to help you cook, looks at you with fondness while you eat, then forces Jimin to clean up with him.

This continues for the next few weeks. His lingering looks on you are more flirty now and he smirks when you look away and try to hide your flushed face. His tone of voice when Jimin is nearby is lower, as if he’s telling you a secret.

He no longer stiffens when Jimin moves to the corner of the couch and kicks you closer to Jungkook so that your brother can make space for himself. In fact, it’s the opposite now, with Jungkook finding ways to be near you - when the three of you are on a grocery run, when you’re all on the couch for movie night, and especially when Jimin opts to sit on the floor - shuffling closer, knees grazing each other’s.

You’ve kept your head to yourself, fighting the urge to rest it on his shoulder and he definitely noticed this, so he’s started to edge you, in a way. The once lingering finger touches when he hands you something are no more, so are the “accidental” elbow brushes.

He stands close to you just enough for you to feel the heat off him but not enough to feel him. His arm over your chair leaves his hand thisclose to your shoulder and you swear you can feel the sensation even then.

You’d stopped smacking him after this one time he flexed his bicep and you started to imagine how good those arms must look.

You found out shortly after when he and Jimin convinced you to join them in the gym because Jungkook had a voucher to a free yoga class since a client of his is a teacher; safe to say she wasn’t happy when he popped in the studio to say you were taking his slot. Jungkook and Jimin did a workout, your brother now in a better condition.

After the session, they made you wait as they finished and Jungkook really had to remove his red jacket to reveal his stupidly gorgeous toned and tattooed arms in a black fit sleeveless top. He caught you ogling and the devil crossed his arms to fucking flex and smirk when the conversation he was having with one of the trainers didn’t even seem that amusing.

Of course, his outfit just sent your mind into another dimension with the images of what could be underneath that black top and again, you find out one morning exactly how glorious it is.

It’s one of those post-bar night mornings - you’ve allowed Jimin to enjoy the nightlife again as long as he had chaperones, which essentially were you and Jungkook. You’d woken up and stopped by the hallway at the sound of someone gasping and you look up from the hallway, slack jawed as you watch Jungkook pull his shirt off from the back of his neck with one hand, coffee-stained clothing lying on the counter.

His black sweatpants are hanging low on his hips and does he not have any boxers on?? His tiny waist spreads out to his muscular back, and when he turns, his sculpted chest almost blinds you; pecs just the right perk and torso so taut but not intimidating at all. It’s... beautiful. It looks so smooth and captivating; your eyes can’t help but trail down south and is that black ink that’s peeking underneath the waistband? You gulp at the thought of Jungkook having a hip tattoo because what the fuck? Is he trying to kill you? And his…

“Do you have a shirt I can borrow?” He asks, and you jerk from where you’re standing.

Your eyes turn to the appropriate body part they should be focused on and he’s smiling like he’s an angel, as if he literally didn’t just try to murder you with his exquisite bare body.

His smile is so sweet and you know he’s playing you because he totally caught you drooling at the sight of him. Your throat is dry and suddenly you can’t speak, which really isn’t surprising by now because he’s also taken away your ability to form coherent sentences.

“I, uhm. I’ll get one of Jimin’s.”

“I don’t fit in his clothes. Don’t you have large ones?”

He knows you do, and you nod, unclench the thighs you didn’t even realize had betrayed you, and retrieve one of your oversized Disney t-shirts and approach him. You stay at a safe distance because any closer you might fall into temptation and you throw him the shirt.

He chuckles and turns to his side to slowly put it on because of course there’s a fucking dent down there that he wants to show off.

You turn and trip on your foot because god knows how dizzy you feel from the show he just put on.

“Careful,” he calls out and even with your back turned, you just know he’s smirking.

He beats you to the bathroom shortly after and he took his time.

You decide to wait with your brother who’d been so ecstatic over an audition he landed for a fairly new and small entertainment company as a choreographer for a hip-hop group.

They told him his contemporary dance background and versatility are just what they need and you soften at his joyful face; he says he feels like a new person again. You listen to him excitedly and give encouragement.

You perk at the sound of the bathroom door opening because you really need to clean the wetness down there and you trudge out of the room so you could finally shower, slightly upset at Jungkook’s clothed form.

You groan. “Ugh that was so long,” you mindlessly say.

“Oh it is.” His smirk is back and you are pissed. You bang the door and pull your hair out of frustration.

He doesn’t even need to touch you for you to be a whimpering mess. He knows it. And you’re in trouble.

Jungkook is busy for the next two weeks, having shared that he has a couple of on-site art installations outside of the city and a tattoo piece that will need more than one 5-hour shift. You tried not to seem affected when Jimin teased him since it was going to be on a woman’s breast this time.

“This the same one who had her vagina tattooed? The one who asked you out after?” Jimin asked.

Your eyes were burning your phone screen because you absolutely cannot be affected.

“Yeah,” Jungkook laughed. “That was fun.”

Jin calling you was your saving grace and you spent the next half hour in your room, talking to him over nursery room ideas because Hoseok couldn’t make up his mind over a neon green or a fuschia pink wall and Yoongi wanted dark grey because “babies can’t even identify colors,” which is true but Jin needed you as the one with a more palatable taste.

Jungkook had knocked to say goodbye, which is more than his usual yelling, and you noticed him linger before you heard the steps away from your door.

It was day 5 when you realized why you’d been so grumpy and you hated the moment you did - you miss Jungkook. You’d gotten so used to seeing him every few days - picking you up from work, playing rock-paper-scissors to determine who’ll choose dinner, laughing at his high-pitched child-like laughter, talking to him about work and other things… you even miss his flirting and teasing.

He’d been such a staple in your life the past months, and not just to referee between you and Jimin. Jungkook, with his listening ear, his heartwarming passion for his work, and ability to soothe and comfort you in the silence, just feels so stable. And not in the way you used to think. He’s so laid-back and just there, always dependable, like you’re sure whatever it is you’re feeling, he’ll know what to do and say.

Jimin used to say that Jungkook was always the person he needed for anything and now you understand why. He emits a certain calmness, joy, and consistency, like whether you’re flying or drowning, he’s the pillar grounding you or keeping you afloat.

You’re always tempted to send him a message but you two don’t text and it’d be weird to just start now, although it doesn’t help that he doesn’t text you, too. You shrug it off and convince yourself that it really might just be a silly crush, one he acts on when he’s around you but probably forgets when he isn’t. Or maybe he went out with that girl, who knows?

On the day that he arrives, he's set to drive Jimin to the audition and watch him, too, while you’re just happy to be able to do errands and clean the house on your own.

The doorbell rings and Jimin, whom you’ve reminded to shower so he won’t be late, answers the door and you try not to look intrigued when you hear him rambling about how good Jungkook apparently looks because how else can he look better?

With ash-grey hair, that’s how. You couldn’t help it. You peeked and turned your head before he could turn to look at you.

You’re currently by the kitchen counter, tiptoeing to try to get the cereal box on the top shelf to check if you need to buy another or if it would suffice. Or if it’s even still edible. You’ll be off for a quick grocery run if only you can get this stupid box out.

Then a large hand is touching your lower back and the fresh scent of detergent fills your nose. You stiffen as an arm is raised to easily grab the cereal box you’ve spent the past 5 minutes trying to get and fuck do you miss his touch, his scent that you realize is just as comforting as his soft sweatshirts, and the way you feel a jolt of electricity even at the slightest brush of his body on yours.

He places the box on the counter. “You should’ve asked,” he says, voice low.

“I can do it,” you respond, gaining the courage to look at him and your lips betray you at how they part because he looks so good with his new hair.

“I know. I just like it when you ask.” He tries to keep his eyes on you but they keep falling to your lips, the one he’d been imagining the feel and taste of. But your eyes lock on his, letting yourself be hypnotized.

You feel his touch drift away from you and you stop him, as your hand finds his and keeps it on your waist, and it signals him to grip tighter and pull you closer. And you let him. You angle yourself so you’re standing chest to chest, you could almost feel his heart beat just as fast as yours.

“What else?” You indulge yourself because you just wanna know. You've missed him and you can’t reconcile the flirting with his recent silence.

Jungkook bites his lip, knowing it’s his signal to tell you how he feels.

“I like it when you say my name, when you listen to me talk and take me seriously. When you don’t make me feel bad about the things I do, the things I choose.”

His hand that isn’t on your waist glides through your arm, leaving goosebumps in its wake. It settles on your cheek and you hope he doesn’t notice just how hot it is.

“I like it when you pout and when you smile with your eyes,” he continues. “And I like it when you need me because then I know I’m not the only one, because fuck do I need you,” he continues, both hands pulling you closer to him until his breath grazes your mouth.

“Want you so much,” he mumbles, before he eliminates the distance and you feel his soft lips on yours, moving tenderly, carefully, as if the purpose is to seek validation that you feel the same way, to ask your acceptance of the overwhelming affection he has for you.

Your lips move gently like his, languid yet electrifying and euphoric and you hold onto him for support, just so you won’t lose yourself even more than you already are.

This now feels surreal. You’re not thinking about anything else - not the before or the after - just the feel of him at this very moment and how it’s making you feel alive, carefree, unbound. And you wonder if all your other kisses had felt this good before. Or maybe just different.

You and Jungkook keep your steady pace, focusing on the soothing feel of each other’s lips, of the sensation of something sensuous and tender.

The aggressive pull of the bathroom door jolts you awake from a dream it seems, and you’re ducking down and crouching on the floor behind the counter before your brother notices anything amiss. Jungkook’s surprised but holds his laugh at how scared you look, the first time he’d seen you be afraid of your brother.

“Kook, has my sister left for the grocery?” He calls out from his open room, probably dressing as he speaks.

Jungkook looks up to check on Jimin. “Yeah, she just left,” he answers after deciphering your hand gestures from underneath him.

“Ugh, I forgot to tell her to buy my cereal. I think the one on the top shelf isn’t edible anymore.”

Jungkook smirks, thanking the heavens that Jimin didn’t tell you, otherwise Jungkook wouldn’t have had the best kiss of his life. He felt you; you moved with him, you felt him. And he can’t be happier.

He has a chance with you. He really has a chance with you, and even at the risk of being caught, he’d do this with you over and over again.

“Let’s go,” Jimin calls out. “I’ll just text her.”

“I’m sure she knows,” Jungkook smirks then heads out, leaving you with a dazed feeling and a heart that won’t slow its beating.

Your time alone with your thoughts only served to confuse you even more. It felt nice. He felt nice. You’d never really considered Jungkook as anything more than, well, your brother’s best friend, even if he’d been the one you preferred out of all of Jimin’s friends dating back to middle school.

His well-behaved nature and boyish charms were always endearing to you and even when he grew up, his confidence and compassion just amazed you. But it was always from afar. You think it’s the same with him; his affection may just be a little infatuation borne out of his idea of you growing up. You’ve learned enough that the idea of a person, of a relationship, of a could be isn’t always enough.

Another thing you think about is that Jimin is very protective of his friendships. You know that more than anyone, when you dated Taemin in high school.

You were both seniors and had gotten close because he was Jimin’s dance captain and mentor, someone whom your brother looked up to and admired. Your relationship ended during your first year of college, with both of you saying things you eventually regretted. Safe to say it was your first heartbreak, one that resulted to Jimin’s as well, as his friendship with your ex was also affected.

You and Jimin barely talked about it, seeing his own disappointment because of the resulting strained relationship with Taemin. You thought that the elder would at least maintain a friendship, but he didn’t.

The most Jimin said about it was when he told you, eyes downcast but tone quite angry, to “keep off my friends and don’t date any of them, please.” You were home for a break and he stormed out of your room before you could apologize. You realized later on that his heartbreak was worse than yours; you told yourself you don’t want to be the cause of that pained look on his face ever again.

His friends are off-limits, he made it pretty clear. Taemin was a mentor but one Jimin eventually did without. But Jungkook is his best friend, his brother. They’ve looked out for each other for more than half of their lives; you can’t even imagine what would happen if you and Jungkook get together and then fight, or break up.

You wouldn’t want Jimin to have to give up a friendship that means more to him than anything. Or more accurately, you wouldn’t want to lose Jimin over something that might not mean as much anyway.

You stick to the latter thought, especially when both men arrive home and Jimin is beaming, his smile something you’d never admit actually makes your heart feel all sorts of fuzziness and pride. He’s so excited and you feel it, too, moreso because he informs you that he got the job.

“They really liked me! They said I can really mentor the group and their team is so creative and passionate…” Jimin goes on, narrating every single thing that happened right as he entered the studio. You’ve never seen him this elated, not even with his previous company that was at the top of their game.

“And they said I don’t have to work right away! They’ll wait for my doctor’s clearance but I can go to work to observe and get to know them more.”

Your eyes moisten because not long ago, you saw the joy in your brother wither away, his passion deteriorate, and his plans go on a standstill. But now, it’s like he didn’t go through a slump or moments of weakness, like he didn’t go through a depressive mode when he thought he’d lost everything. He’s really a fighter, and you truly look up to him.

“I wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for you two,” Jimin continues, pulling both of you in a three-way hug because of course your brother wouldn’t hug just you.

This prompts Jungkook to wrap his arm around you, hand gripping your waist while yours settles for mere pats on his lower back. He tries not to dwell on this minimal contact, or on the way you purposely avoid his gaze. He tries not to think too much when you actively lean towards your brother more during your dinner out, or how you jerk away when any of Jungkook’s body parts comes in close contact with yours.

He’s thinking maybe you’re not in the mood for his playful antics or maybe, he really pushed too far with the kiss from earlier, and it sends him in an internal panic mode because just as his hope of starting something more with you was blooming, it quickly gets shot down just like that.

It’s when you pass up on games and drinks in your living room when you get back so you could just stay in your room did Jungkook think that he may really have blown his chance.

You try to be subtle in your avoidance of Jungkook but it’s harder than expected, especially since Jimin still invites him over. With the excitement of the new job now steadying, Jimin announces his checklist for getting through a crisis - healed foot, check; new job, check. That’s pretty much it, really. “But I still need you two,” he says.

Jungkook comes over and at the start, you notice how he still tries. He attempts to catch your gaze, goes near you, engages you in conversation, makes jokes, lingers before leaving… only to be met with eyes that don’t seek him, short answers, forced laughter, and cold goodbyes. And you absolutely hate it.

He’s around yet you miss him even more than when he was away, but you can’t fall into the things that made you feel something for him in the first place.

Living with Jimin made you appreciate him so much more, and you’re glad you get to be this close with him for the first time, and you don’t want to jeopardize that.

Jungkook had much to do with the newfound attachment with your brother, yet it’s exactly why you’re hesitant to give Jungkook a chance. Their relationship is sacred, similar to how yours with Jimin is. What you and Jungkook have is a by-product of those, and it’s not the priority. Somehow you think all three can’t coexist; you can’t have it all, really.

Whenever Jungkook makes an effort, Jimin’s plea to keep off his friends rings in your head. You know, too, that Jimin gave his friends an ultimatum - date my sister or keep your dicks, something like that. It was funny when you heard of it, but it’s definitely not a laughing matter now.

Those words were said years ago yet they still hang above your head. You wish Jungkook would just make it easier for you, but why is it that when he stopped trying did you feel your heart break, as if you’re losing something you never had in the first place?

It’s easy to reason you feel sick and tired; you’ve been spending later hours at work so spending more time in your room and asking the boys to make dinner instead seem reasonable. But tonight, Jimin isn’t having it.

“We’re celebrating, stay here,” he says, pulling you to the couch next to him. Jungkook is on his right, his once tendency to stiffen around you back again, and you sadden at the thought because he looks so uncomfortable.

“Celebrating what?” You ask, grabbing the beer being handed to you.

“I’ve been working for 2 weeks and I haven’t reinjured my foot,” he says, his smile blinding you.

Normally you’d roll your eyes at his shallowness but you just agree and mindlessly sip the beer, eyes veering off in the distance.

“Is it a guy?” Jimin asks out of nowhere and you try not to choke. “You only ever get this sulky when it’s about a guy. Is it someone from work?” Jimin states with furrowed eyebrows.

“Oh! Is it one of the managers who’s been trying to ask you out but he’s the ex of your close friend?”

You try to remember when you told him that but it was definitely a months-ago issue.

“Or did you have an epiphany and realized you actually like Yoongi? Or Hoseok? Or maybe Jin but he’s married?”

“What the hell, Jimin!” You say, smacking his arm. Your eyes flit to Jungkook who’s focused on the TV.

“The first one,” you lie to satisfy your brother.

“It’s kind of a code, you know? He’s Yuri’s ex and she really loved him and I don’t want to ruin my friendship over something I’m not sure is worth it anyway.” And with that, you see Jungkook’s jaw clench. He knows about Yuri and the manager; they were merely a fling, so he knows you’re lying.

“How do you know it’s not worth it if you haven’t even tried?” Jimin asks, incredulous.

“I don’t know, it’s just… Yuri’s my friend and I don’t wanna mess up a friendship.”

“Seems like you don’t trust your friendship with Yuri enough, then,” Jimin states like it’s a fact. This hits your more than it should. Do you really not trust in your relationship with your own brother? Surely you have a basis to be hesitant, but if it only it were that simple.

Jimin picks up on your silence and asks again. “How are you and the guy like? Do you have moments with him?”

“Lots of them,” you say, your eyes finding Jungkook just on the other side of the couch and he’s never felt farther away.

“And for the first time it’s like I get to savor them. Whether it’s something sweet that he does, or if we’re just together in silence, or when he’s being flirty,” and you don’t see it but Jungkook catches you smiling at the thought and god does he wish you’re lying about this one unless it’s about him. He wishes it is.

“Sounds like a keeper if he gets you to enjoy moments, don’t you think? For someone like you?” Jimin says, cocking an eyebrow.

“Like me?”

“You think too much, you know? You plan, you analyze, you manage risks… I mean, yeah sure they help I guess but this isn’t a job, ___. There’s no profit to be earned here, no losses,” he points out.

“The only loss is you missing out on something good because you’re too focused on what could happen, and not what’s actually happening, right now.” He's told you a variation of this before, but somehow this hits differently, and more than it should.

“Did you teach that to Jungkook, too?” You ask, a smile creeping up and you digress because you need anything to stop you from walking to Jungkook and holding him close to you.

“No, he taught me that,” Jimin states. “I know it seems like I teach him a lot - well, all I really told him was to never let anybody dictate what he wants and deserves in life, and I stand by that, but to be clear,” Jimin turns to you, “I learn just as much from him. He’s his own self; nobody tells him what to do.”

It’s all meant to be assuring, comforting even, if only Jimin knew. And if only it were that simple. The tension is suffocating but your brother breathes easy. You love him more than you can ever say and his happiness has meant more to you than you ever imagined. You just wish your own didn’t come at a cost.

A few days later, Jungkook is back at your place and you had quite the reflective week and opted to stay in your room.

Some days you just want to bask in your own thoughts; absorbing yourself in your own emotions helps in figuring out what to do, you’ve realized. You’re still a thinker and a planner - that’s probably never gonna change - but you’re starting to at least let yourself feel and enjoy the now, or something like it. You just wish the person you want to spend your now with hasn’t changed his mind.

It’s almost midnight when you decide to head out, your early dinner long digested and you feel hunger creeping in.

You exit your room and stop in your tracks at the sight of Jungkook in your kitchen, all alone. You definitely weren’t ready for this.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were still here,” and you regret it immediately, not wanting to sound disappointed.

He looks up, alarmed at your presence because he wasn’t expecting this, too.

“Jimin fell asleep on me but don’t worry, I was just about to leave,” he responds, eyes not meeting yours.

“He’s also gonna be coming over my place now since he’s able. Don’t want you to feel like a prisoner in your own home,” he says, motioning to your room where you’ve been hiding recently.

“Since you’re avoiding me and all,” he continues, and you don’t miss the hurt look on his face.

You mentally give yourself a pep talk because you definitely want him to still come around and you’re definitely being stupid.

“I… I wasn’t avoiding you,” you say, blocking his way by the couch as he’s about to reach for his jacket.

He stops in front of you, ensuring some distance. “Yeah, I guess. I mean, you were just not minding me and making sure you stayed as far away from me as possible.” He’s trying to sound bitter but you’re his weakness and he will always go soft on you because his tender eyes are definitely not a match to his bitter words.

“I just didn’t know what to do. You didn’t exactly say what you felt and—“

“I kissed you, ___,” he says, tone suppressing frustration.

“I told you I needed you, wanted you. And you kissed me back. The way you looked at me that day, the way you held me… it meant more, I could feel it. So I don’t know how you could just act like none of that happened, like it didn’t matter,” he continues.

“Jungkook… you’re my brother’s bestest friend. And he’s very protective of his friends, of you.”

And it’s ironic, Jungkook thinks, how Jimin is the reason why you two had met, got close; how Jimin’s what got you together but is also who’s keeping you apart.

“He’s also the one who constantly reminds me to go for what I want, to never let anybody tell me what to do,” Jungkook says.

“Yeah but this is different. I don’t want anything to come in between you two, the same way I don’t want anything to come in between him and me.”

“So it’s okay for him to come in between us? You really think he’d be okay with that? That he’d keep the two people he loves the most from being together? From being happy?”

And you hate that he’s right.

“What Jimin is to us is out of our control,” he states. “But that shouldn’t be why we can’t try, right? Because god I’ve wanted you since I was 15 and and I’ve waited too long for this and I’d either fight for us or keep us a secret, I don’t care. Just don’t lie to me, please.”

By now he’s standing in front of you and he could pin you against the armrest if he wanted to but he’s keeping his hands to himself, fists clenched at the control he’s trying to maintain because of his intense feelings for you. He’d make you feel it all too, if you just let him.

You can move away if you wanted; there’s space for it. But you don’t. Jungkook bared everything to you, braving through just to be with you; the least you could do is be honest. So with your own strength, you look up at him.

“You made me fall for the moments, Jungkook. You made me fall for you, and there were so many things to consider and I—“

Your rear hits the armrest, as you’d reflexively walked back as he started to move towards you, slowly eliminating the distance. His arms, sandwiching you, are propped on the couch to support his spread out frame, his face now level with yours. You’re burning with how he’s looking at you with so much hope and yearning.

“Go on,” he says, voice low, his eyes wandering all over your face and you feel your heat dampen with just his gaze.

“I didn’t know what to do with what I’d started to feel for you because you were off-limits but that didn’t keep me from wanting you and—“

His lips graze the side of your neck and with your breath hitching, he proceeds. Open-mouth kisses trail your neck, with just enough wetness and just enough heat to leave you wanting more. You angle your neck for more access and he smirks at this.

“And what?” He urges you, mouth focusing on the other side of your neck now, head nudging yours to adjust.

“And I avoided you because—“

You grip the couch for support, as you unravel with his hot breath on your skin.

“That seemed easier than to keep at what we were doing knowing that—“

He licks a sensitive part by your ear and your strangled moan spurs him on.

“I couldn’t have you the way I wanted to.”

At this, he stops.

He focuses his gaze on you again. Jungkook holds onto the tiniest shred of self-control he has left just so he can savor you like this, emotions unraveling and your body falling apart before him.

“How exactly do you want me?”

You steady your breath and as much as you want to give in to your carnal desire and attack his lips, you want him to know how much this means to you. You’re still scared but being with Jungkook steadies you, makes it all feel worth it.

You’re crossing this line now, and you’ll stick with him whether you’ll both come clean or keep it a secret. He wants you enough right now; you’ll figure out what to do eventually.

Your hand finds his face and fingers trace the scar on his cheek. You let yourself drown in his beautiful eyes, knowing on clear nights you could see galaxies like this.

“I want you close, Jungkook. I want you to hold me, when I’m sad, happy, confused. I want to hold you that way, too. I want to savor every moment, let you know everyday what you mean to me.”

Your featherlight touches on his jaw send shivers all over his body and he hums at the sensation. You caress his lips before he could bite them again, palming him with your thumb and feeling its softness.

“I want you to fall apart under my touch, want to make you feel good, kiss you like it’s always the last time.”

Jungkook thinks he deserves a prize for how well he’s keeping himself together and not yet taking you on this couch like his dick is telling him to. But he needed to hear all that, needed to look in your eyes while you said them.

Then you smile at him, eyes filled with desire, and that’s all it takes for him to lose his resolve and plunge into you, your plush lips against his soft ones, melding together again like a literal dream. He straightens his stance so his hands can cup your face and he feels you smile in the kiss, relishing in the care and attention he’s giving.

It starts tenderly then quickly turns heated, his eager hands trailing down your arms and waist, and your own entangling his hair, pulling the strands as he nips your lips, prompting them to open.

Your tongues explore each other’s mouths, his lingering taste of rootbeer somehow making him more addictive. You swallow each other’s sounds, both of you still having half a mind to tone down, knowing that only a wall separates your wanton moans and your sleeping brother.

His grip around you tightens and you pull him closer, your hands now around his neck, fingers thumbing his cheeks and you’re losing yourself to him, as the past few months of undeniable attraction and sexual tension climaxing at this moment where you finally give in to what you’ve been trying to suppress.

Jungkook, on the other hand, feels a sense of calm even with his hard dick and his thumping heart because he’s dreamed of this, dreamed of you, and you’re here wanting him, too. All the memories of watching you from afar, blushing at how beautiful you are, missing you when you were away, heart breaking at how happy you were with someone else, fly by him like a movie because he’s got his ending - you.

He’s lived for moments most of his life and always knew to savor them, to bask in them because he doesn’t know when he’ll get to have those again. But nothing comes close to right now with you and he decides to make sure he’ll have you like this everyday.

Both your actions continue, hands stationary but mouths eagerly moving against each other, stopping momentarily for air but smiling, laughing in the kiss.

You give in first, fingers slowly trailing down to graze at his chest and he shivers, curses mid-kiss and you giggle, and he’s on cloud 9 again, realizing he can hear the beautiful sound that is your laughter everyday.

Suddenly it’s all thoughts of what’s ahead for both of you, imagining what that would be like - feeling, holding, touching each other. You’re both so lost in your little world, minds traveling from now to tomorrow and it’s exciting, so incredibly alluring to be savoring this moment but also thinking about the next.

You’re light-headed now because kissing him is like a drug, soothing yet exhilarating at the same time and you’re aching to feel him. “Jungkook…” You whine.

And then.

“HOLY SHIT,” you hear a gasp.

Your eyes burst open and you feel Jungkook stiffen before you try to push him away. You both stull, looking at each other, some distance now between you, and you can hear a pin drop with how quiet it is, the tension so thick that you’re afraid to move.

You knew at one point you’re gonna have to tell Jimin but not now and definitely not in the middle of a fucking make-out session.

“Is this a hookup or are you both finally out of your asses and would actually like to properly date because god knows it’s about time?”

You and Jungkook slowly turn to the side, eyes wide at your brother who’s leaning by the wall, checking his nails as if he didn’t just give you a heart attack.

“WHAT?” You ask.

“Jungkook’s been into you since forever but never had the fucking guts to do anything.” Jimin sighs and rolls his eyes at the man. “You’re not exactly subtle with your staring.”

Jungkook can’t seem to wrap his head around what's happening because his mouth keeps moving but no sound comes out.

“Neither are you,” Jimin eyes you this time. “You forget I’m good with reading people. And also, I’m friends with Yuri. She doesn’t even remember that guy,” he laughs because of course they’re friends. You feel so stupid; you should’ve known he was trying to catch you in a lie when he asked if your sulking was because of a “guy.”

“So you’ve always known?” Jungkook finally finds his voice.

“About you, duh. She’s recent,” Jimin points to you. “It’s like, one moment you’re friendly then you’re flirty then it’s like you can’t stand each other. Get your shit together, people. I’m literally right here.”

God, you and Jungkook were definitely not subtle. And underestimated your brother, too.

“So you’re not mad?” You confirm.

“No.”

“But… you said you were gonna cut my dick off,” Jungkook stammers.

“And you told me to keep off your friends because of Taemin,” you add. “You stopped being friends because of me,” you remind him, voice almost a whisper.

Jimin takes a deep breath because now he has to come clean.

“We stopped being friends because of him. He hurt you, ___, and you didn’t deserve that,” he admits, avoiding your questioning gaze. “I heard you crying to Jin about what happened and I got angry and wanted you to stay away from my friends because they were all assholes.” He continues, jaw clenched at the memory. “Well, except for him,” he cocks his head towards Jungkook.

“He was the only good guy. I never really minded if he went for you because... iknowhe’lltreatyouwellandyoudeservethat,” Jimin says.

And you’re not gonna lie, you feel like crying. Jimin’s been trying to protect you all this time.

Jungkook, on the other hand, isn’t taking this all too well.

“You said you were gonna cut my dick off…” He says again, tone low and unbelieving.

“That didn’t stop you, did it?�� Jimin counters, earning him a sigh of defeat because he has a point.

“I just wanted it to happen naturally,” he explains. “I mean, I didn’t plan on getting heartbroken, injured, unemployed, then homeless all at once but it happened and you both helped me and that unintentionally brought you together and I…”

He turns to you both. “I realized how good you are together. Not just in taking care of me but in taking care of each other, too.”

By this time, Jungkook has found his feet and is back to standing in front of you, his hand intertwining with yours. You let out a laugh because this whole time, Jimin wasn’t in the dark. But then again, he’s a smart ass too and would’ve figured it out.

And would also push it. “I actually got over Taehyung months ago so like, I’ve been okay for a while,” he shrugs.

And just like that, he gets on your nerves again because that’s how he’s been getting his way, by reminding you of his “broken heart that’s still hurting.”

“You little bitch! Do you also have a new apartment now and you’re not telling me?!” You shriek, and Jungkook next to you is finally laughing.

“Oh no,” Jimin responds. “I’m really still homeless.”

And he smiles his sickly sweet smile and you can’t help but mirror it. Your brother is really something, and you don’t know what you’d do without him.

Some seconds pass and you’re just all basking in this moment because for the first time in months, it really feels like things are looking out for all of you.

“So in that case,” Jungkook turns to you. “Would you like to go on a date with me?” Hopeful eyes staring at you, a weight off his shoulder now that he doesn’t need to hide anything from his best friend. He can just focus on falling in love with you and making you do the same.

“Yes,” you excitedly reply, hand trailing down his chest again. “And in that case, would you like to continue this in my bedroom?”

Jungkook feels his dick twitch. “Fuck, yes.”

“Guess I’m gonna have to sleep on the couch now,” Jimin groans, but you don’t miss his playful tone. “You’re both welcome, idiots.”

You’re pushed to the wall right as the door closes and Jungkook’s lips meet yours immediately. It tastes much sweeter knowing there’s no need to hide, to be careful. It’s liberating and it’s making you feel more.

He kisses you harshly as his hands make quick work of your shirt, pulling them off then slowly kneeling down in tandem with his mouth sucking, licking, and kissing down to your breasts, then your torso, causing your chest to heave at the pleasure from just his mouth.

His hands aggressively pull down your bottoms and his tongue finds your clit before you can even process his action. He’s nibbling your bud and laving at your lips and pumping his fingers in you all at once, you don’t know where to focus.

You feel the desperation and intensity with every move, the sensation overwhelming and eliciting lewd sounds from you. He alternates between moaning and cursing on your cunt and that just adds to the pleasure.

“Eager, aren’t we?” You ask with a smirk.

“You have no idea,” he responds, head buried between your thighs, one of which is currently resting on his shoulder. “Some of my wet dreams may have been because of you.”

“What the fuck Jungkook!”

“I was a growing boy with raging teen hormones!” He says in between breaths. But he doesn’t relent. Fingers curling in your hole, tongue swirling on your clit, and hand squeezing your ass, he’s determined to make you cum now, and with a hard suck, you do.

You jerk away at the oversensitivity with his mouth still on you and you pull him up to give him a kiss, tasting yourself on him.

At the sight of you bare, eyes half-lidded and steadying breath, he stills.

“Is everything okay?” You ask.

“Yeah I just…” He starts, stepping back a bit, and his eyes roam your body, smile creeping up his face. “I never thought I’d get to have you like this. I always admired you from afar and you always felt so out of reach and I…”

“Jungkook,” you stop him.

“I’m here with you right now, barely any distance. I’m not your best friend’s sister, okay?” Your hand reaches out to him and he takes it, let’s you pull him closer. “I’m the girl you like whom you’ll take out on a date after you fuck her senseless. Got it?”

“Y-yeah,” he stammers, a shy laugh escaping him.

You kiss him softly. “No need to admire me from a distance anymore. You have me, right here.”

“Okay.”

And before he can attack you again, you lead him towards your bed. Your fingers pull the waistband of his sweats as you sit on the edge and look up at him, wide eyes eager for something.

“Shirt off,” you say, and he follows.

Your eyes meet your hands that are slowly ridding him of his remaining clothing and you swear you could come again at the sight of the tiger lily tattoo resting on his hip. It curves with his semi-defined v-line, the stem trailing downward, like some pathway to his throbbing dick that’s leaking with some pre-cum.

You take him in your hands and he bucks at the feel of your soft skin around his length that’s aching to be inside you. Your eyes stay on the tattoo; something about it is so hot and you kiss it, lips then exploring the expanse of his hip and up to the part of his torso that you can reach, feeling the ridges of his definitely smooth abs, now tensing at the sensation.

All the while, your hand is stroking his member, up and down as you continue kissing and licking his pelvis and just like this, he already tastes so good. He grunts with your ministrations, head falling back at the intense pleasure. His hands fall to your hair as you take him in, tongue traversing his dick and your heat clenches at the salty taste of cum and the feel of his veins as his shaft twitches in your mouth.

At the vibration caused by your moan, he stops you, removes himself from you and then lays half your body down on the edge of the bed.

“My turn,” he says smugly.

You’re about to protest but he swirls his tongue all over your cunt again, the pad of his thumb flicking your nub and you moan his name instead. You haven’t fully recovered from your first orgasm yet but he seems determined to give you another one. He’s eating you like a man starved, as if he plans to slurp you dry.

“More, Jungkook,” you breathe out, then he’s pumping his dick and thrusting into you, the stretch just a tad bit painful but so, so good.

He quickly adjusts, spreads your legs open for his easy access and the view, and he growls at the supple flesh that's taking him so well. It’s so erotic, watching himself go in and out of you like this, then hearing your deliciously hypnotic moans louden as his hands start kneading your breasts like it’s some dough he’s molding to his liking, his fingers flicking the hardened nipples.

“You feel so fucking heavenly, ___,” he pants. “Fuck, fuck. Can’t believe you’re mine.”

“All yours, Kook,” you respond, delirious now because his movements are really sending you to another dimension. “Fuck me harder,” you beg, and he follows.

He adjusts again, flushing your legs against you and the angle in which his dick hits your sweet spot causes your eyes to roll to the back of your head.

You’re screaming expletives and it’s just urging him to go harder, deeper, faster, his sweat trickling down his temples and forming on his chest.

“Cum for me, baby. I need to feel you,” he huffs.

He’s in a frenzied state and he’s losing himself in you, his mouth now parted and he joins your filthy wails, which are in tune with the sound of skin slapping on skin.

You feel your body spasm and you call out his name before you give in, heart stopping for a moment and he feels the stream of your cum coat his dick that’s just savoring this a bit more.

But you clench and it’s all it takes, his own seed spurting in you and your back arches as he comes down from his high by languidly kissing your breasts, one hand around your lifted waist and the other, intertwining your hand.

“Fuck, you feel so good. So much better than I imagined,” he utters, sounding so winded at the intensity of his orgasm.

He’s too tired to even move, body now resting on top of you, chest heaving and bated breaths escaping him. You massage his head and he moans even at that and you laugh but soften at the intimacy of it all.

He finally gets himself off you and you chuckle as he sneakily opens the door and tiptoes to the bathroom, careful not to be caught naked by your brother. He returns with a wet towel, wipes you, then lays next to you, his arm secured around your waist.

He’s smiling so fondly, lips now peppering kisses all over your face. “You’re stuck with me,” he states.

“Nowhere I'd rather be,” you reply, your own soft kiss now turning greedy again, and you think it’s gonna be a long night.

You wake up tired but you’re not complaining. It was quite the evening, after all, and you’re reminded by the fluff of grey hair adorning your chest. Jungkook likes to cuddle, you’ve learned, and he couldn’t sleep without a part of his body touching you.

You release from his hold and head to the kitchen after washing up, not expecting your brother to already be eating his cereal.

“Oh my god, can you wear shorts?” He huffs.

“Bitch, you’re in my apartment,” you bite back, laughing at the face he makes.

Your front is to the counter when Jungkook approaches and unlike before, heads to you, arms wrapped around your waist from behind and places a kiss on your cheek. “Good morning.”

His voice is hoarse and you hold back a moan because it just brings you back to last night when after you came the second time, he fucked you softly for your third, then fucked you hard for your fourth, then softly again this morning for your (extended) fifth. God, this man will be the death of you.

He nuzzles your neck and you giggle.

“Manners, you two. You’re like teenagers,” Jimin scowls.

“Well, I am living my teenage dream,” Jungkook announces.

Jimin grimaces but softens at the look of his two favorite people looking so happy. “Okay, this is gonna take some getting used to.”

You and Jungkook playfully nod in agreement.

“Also,” he turns to Jungkook who’s now managed to tear away from you. “Are you gonna be here again tonight because you know, I kinda wanna sleep on a bed and all. Couch is great but like, no.”

“You better find your own place soon if you don’t want to keep sleeping there every night,” you reply smugly.

“Okay, now gross!” Jimin, dramatic as always, pretend-gags at the implication. “I’m gonna look for places. Jungkook, you’re still my best friend. We’re going apartment hunting tomorrow.”

“But…” You start.

“No. Nuh-uh. You had him last night and you’re going out on a date today. You need to share my best friend.”

And you all laugh at him throwing a tantrum. He and Jungkook start to bicker and you walk towards your room to grab shorts because it really is awkward when your brother is there.

The doorbell rings as you’re about to walk back and you open the door, a surprised look on your face.

“Hi, is Jimin there?” The person asks.

You head back to the kitchen, your guest in tow and you call out to your brother.

“Chim, someone’s looking for you.”

Jimin looks up and almost falls off the chair.

“Taehyung?” He says, trying to mask the nervous tone of his voice. “I…”

“I have something to confess,” Taehyung cuts him off, eyes nervous but hopeful. “Can we, uhm, maybe talk somewhere else?”

Jimin nods and quickly follows him out.

You walk back to Jungkook and he tugs you close, hands back to your waist. “What’s that about?”

You bite back an excited squeal as you think back to what Taehyung told you at the door.

“Let’s just say, you might not need to help Jimin look for an apartment anymore,” you respond.

Jungkook smiles and pulls you in for a hug, reveling in this absolutely perfect moment.

“You Park siblings drive me crazy, you know that? And you two make me so damn happy.”

masterlist

#jungkook #jungkook fic #jungkook x reader #jungkook smut #jungkook fluff #jungkook angst #brother's best friend #hold me close #oneshot #mine

2K notes · View notes

subpar-ghoulfriend · 3 years

Text

A Family Affair

Slasher AU CannibalFamily!EraserMicxReader

We’re going with the “strange family that lives outside of a small town” trope. After a few deliveries to the Aizawa household you get pulled in to an affair you never wanted to be a part of.

Spooky season is upon us and I’ve already begun watching too many horror movies. This fic will definitely be a two parter

Super Dark Content Warning!!! Literally do not read if you have any reservation and definitely no minors!

TW: cannibal themes, mentions of murder, mentions of corpse mutilation, kidnapping, unhealthy relationships

Part 2 is gonna include more of this and the smut

Growing up you were grateful for living in a small town. You didn't really relate to the coming-of-age stories told in the movies where the small town girl runs off to the big city for a whirlwind romance and a chance at some "big break." To you, small town life was more picturesque than any overcrowded city. You knew your neighbors, and watched a lot of their families grow and change throughout the years. A small town allows you to become a regular at several businesses, including the coffee shop and your favorite diner downtown. Going away to college was tough even though you didn't go far. The nearest city - a little over 40 miles away - had a great college with a program you were really interested in pursuing.

You went home every break and picked up delivery jobs at one of the local restaurants. It was winter break of your last year in college when you first delivered to the Aizawa residence. In all your years at the restaurant they never ordered delivery, one of the two men would always place an order for pick up. The thing about small town stereotypes is that small towns tend to self-impose said stereotypes. The Aizawa's were that family. The one that everyone whispered when they came to town and children would tell horror stories about during Halloween. They were the weird family that lived just past the outskirts of town.

You weren't entirely sure what either of the two men did. Everyone speculated that Mr. Aizawa was some sort of mountain-man-feral type and maybe did some mechanic work for the folks that tend to live in between towns. His husband, Mr. Yamada seemed like the stay at home trophy husband but you heard he did some sort of conspiracy podcast. They had children - reportedly, but no one has really met them - and other family members that live similarly further out into the middle of nowhere. The drive was absurdly long but they were loyal customers and the owners didn't want to turn their request down. Your boss handed you a chunk of bills to fill up your tank before heading out. That's no place you'd want to get stranded, he told you.

The paved road got worse the further you got from town. Forty-five minutes later you were pulling down the dirt road that led to the illuminated Aizawa home. A wall of cold air slammed in to you when you opened your car door and you grumbled about leaving your gloves at home. There was no doorbell, so knocked and did that awkward please-don't-let-me-freeze dance while you waited. Two unfamiliar faces opened the door, an apathetic looking teen and an adorable little girl. Must be their children. The older one called out for his dad before taking one of the bags you held and disappearing into the home. You looked down awkwardly and wave at the girl. She smiled shyly and reached out for the other bag.

"Are you sure?" You asked her, "It's a little heavy."

She nodded.

"Okay, but use two hands," You passed her the bag. "Oh jeez, you're strong. Don't tell your brother, but I think this is the heavier bag."

You smiled when she giggled and ran off.

Mr. Aizawa appeared in the door, "How much do we owe?"

He was just as terrifying up close and for a split second your mind went blank while your basic instincts were begging you go back to the car. He raised an eyebrow at you, looking irritated at your falter.

"Uh - forty-two."

He pulled counted out a chunk of bills and then you were off. You didn't even count the amount until you parked. Forty-two with a forty-dollar tip. They may be odd but apparently they're loaded. You didn't think much of it until the following week when you were heading back to their house with another delivery. You wished that they would order earlier but at least you could hope for another generous tip. You were taken aback when the little girl answered the door by herself, jumping up and down with excitement.

Was she old enough to answer the door by herself?

"Papa," She yelled. "The lady is here!"

She turned her attention back to you with a huge grin, "Shinsou got sore that you told me I'm the stronger one."

Before you could respond to her the other man, Mr. Yamada, bounced around the corner, "Eri, what have we told you about the door? Oh no, you must be freezing come stand inside while I go get your payment. Forty-two right?"

You wanted to protest, feeling uneasy in their entryway but the little girl tugged you by the delivery bags. So you stood there quietly while she ran back in forth so she could unload the delivery for you. Shinsou peered around the corner so you gave a small wave. Then it was just you and Eri once again. In the background you could hear Yamada asking his husband where the wallet went.

"I like your shirt," You smiled, trying to fill the silence.

"I wanted a Pegasus shirt but this was the only one my daddy could find."

"Well I think unicorns are pretty cool too."

You use to babysit for some of the families in town, no part of you could imagine doing that all the way out here.

The blonde rejoined you, giving you another lush payment. You heard the little girl whine about you leaving so quickly until her father appeased her by saying you'd be back.

Something about that rubbed you the wrong way; but you were back like clockwork the next week with their usual delivery. Once again you were brought inside while they went to get your payment. But on your fourth and what should have been your final delivery of the winter break you noticed something was off when you parked. Their truck was missing from its usual spot. Strange but they probably just moved it somewhere else on the property. You had become accustom Eri running to answer the door and telling you wait for her parents in the entrance of the house. You became suspicious after she had run back and forth to take the food to the kitchen.

"Eri, where are your parents? Or Shinsou?"

The little girl's response was nonchalant, "They had to go out, one of our cattle got out. But they gave me the money."

You stuffed the money into your jacket; payment was the issue here. In the back of your mind you though about how you never saw any cattle on your deliveries. A child her age shouldn’t be left alone.

"Oh, well, can I hang out with you while we wait for them to come back?"

The little girl lit up as she pulled you to the living room. There was a kid's movie playing on the TV and she had a coloring book out. Eri divide up her crayons and tore out a page for you to join her. You kept looking to the window, waiting for the truck to pull up.

Suddenly there was banging at the door, which elicited a cry from Eri. You reached into your pocket only finding the crumpled bills. Shit, your stomach dropped. You left your phone in your car. After all, this was just supposed to be a quick delivery. The noise stopped, only for a moment, before resuming.

"Eri, sweetie," You whispered to the stunned little girl. "Do your parents have a phone here?"

She shook her head.

A man’s voice tore through the door, "Let me in dammit, you have to let me in before they come back."

You held your finger to your lip, and Eri nodded, repeating the gesture. The living room light was on and you realized that if he came to the side of the house you'd be seen through the window, but turning out the light would draw attention. Maybe he was bluffing, maybe he didn't know if anyone was inside and turning off the light would signal your presence. You pointed to the kitchen, where the lights were off and the two of you tip toed to the safety of darkness.

"Eri, honey, can you go sit in the pantry for me and be really, really quiet? I'll be right out here and don't come out until I come to get you okay?"

She looked hesitant and tearful but you were surprised at her level of composure for a kid. Finally she complied. Once the pantry door was closed you began rummaging through the drawers, looking for something that could inflict the most damage. A meat tenderizer could work. The banging continued and you swore you hear wood beginning to splinter. Your grip tightened with every bang. Finally the door gave way and a man stumbled through the splintered wood. He stopped when he saw you holding the cleaver.

He was dirty, without shoes or a shirt and his skin was red from the cold.

You hoped your voice wouldn’t crack, "You need to leave-"

"Monsters, monsters," he blabbed. "They're gonna come back and we gotta go."

You decided to bluff, "Get out of here, I already called the cops."

"Good, good, good," He mumbled, “but we still gotta go. NOW."

There was one step forward from him, one step back from you.

"If you come near me, I'll make sure you don't get up," You warned. At the very least you had to keep him away from Eri. Even if that was all you could do.

There was a desperate look in his eyes; they darted from you to the keys hooked to your jeans, then back to the keys. Finally he smiled, "You have a car, man that's perfect. Listen I won't hurt you but we need to get in your damn car, now."

Sounds like something someone who wants to hurt me would say, you thought. Apparently you took too long to respond, the man lunged toward you and you tried to swing the meat tenderizer. The tool connected with his shoulder and he howled out in pain but still managed to wrestle you to the ground. The two of you struggled with each other and the man was yelling that you'd die if you didn't listen to him. You landed a weak hit to his jaw, splitting his lip. You even tried biting at him but he was persistent and struggling to get your keys. You were telling him he could have them that he just needed to let you go but he wasn't listening to you. Managing to grab his ear you had a flashback to the self-defense seminar you had to take in college, it should be easy to rip a human ear. So you pulled. Blood began to flow from the wound down his face and on to you. He got you off him before you got the whole ear by delivering a blow to your stomach. The air rushed from your body, is this what it means to get the wind knocked out of you?

There was a loud noise and fog lights flooded through the broken door. Then saw Shinsou and Aizawa pulling the man off you. You pushed yourself and back, clutching at your stomach. Your cheeks were wet. Were you crying or was that blood on your face? Probably both.

The trio wrangled the man outside where you heard more struggling, fighting, and groaning.

Eri. You managed your way to the kitchen but realized you were covered in blood. Not wanting to traumatize the little girl any further you spoke through the door.

"Eri, can you stay there a little bit longer?"

"Can't I come out? I heard my daddies," She cried, tugging at your heartstrings.

"Not yet, okay? They're here and everything's okay, I'm gonna have them come get you okay?"

Thankfully, the door didn't open. As you shuffled toward the front door Mr. Yamada entered, wiping specks of blood off him.

You were shocked when he pulled you into a hug, "You're okay. Sho and Shinsou got everything under control. Where is Eri?"

You told him about her hiding spot and he sighed in relief and rushed to her.

The other two returned with bloodied knuckles that made your stomach churn.

"Yamada," The mountain man called, with his eyes scanning the home.

"Don't worry, Sho, I got Eri. She's fine. Our delivery girl is okay, she's got some bumps and bruises but she made the other guy look worse."

Aizawa ushered you to the couch, expecting your legs to give out at any moment.

"We need to call the police," You finally spoke.

Aizawa assured you he did. They were 45 minutes out but they'd work on getting here faster. Yamada brewed you a cup of tea, “for while we wait.” They finally calmed Eri down and Shinsou took her upstairs to get ready for bed. It felt weird for them to return to mundane evening routines so quickly after all that chaos, but maybe you were just the odd one out. Close to an hour later you were still waiting for the police to show up. Your tea was finished long ago and your nerves had calmed. You were even having trouble keeping your eyes open.

"You think they're almost here, babe" The blonde wondered, draping a throw blanket around your shoulders. "I'm sure she wants to this day to be over with."

---

It was still dark when you woke up. The blonde was fast asleep on the recliner next to you. The police must have come by now but there was no way you slept through the visit. Anxiety from earlier made it’s way back in to your chest. The clock read 4am; had they even called the police. All of the childhood rumors you heard came flooding back and you exited the house as quietly as you could, not realizing your keys were no longer with you.

When you made it outside you noticed dried blood on the ground, trailing toward what you assumed was their barn or storage shed. You were entranced. Looking back to the house, no one was awake; there was no movement, no light, just quiet. You shouldn’t follow the bloody trail, you shouldn't go near the shed; but your body moved on it's own accord and before you realized it you were at the doors. You gave a tug, expecting it to be locked, but the door swung open and inside you noticed the lock lay on the ground.

You should have turned around, got in your car, and drove away. Instead you stepped inside and found the bloody, broken body of the man who attacked you. There was a slight sway to the corpse that was hanging from a reinforced pillar. Nearly screaming your hand shot to cover your mouth.

You should've left.

Aizawa was watching you from the kitchen, cursing Hizashi for leaving the shed unlocked. His hand hovered over the secured cabinet drawer that stored a pistol. He wouldn't shoot you only scare you a bit. But you weren't running out in a panic. He didn't even hear you scream. Interesting. He went to join you, moving like any predator concealing it presence and leaving the gun safe untouched.

You should've left.

You finally came to your sense and whirled around only to run into your late night admirer. A terrified squeak escaped you as you jumped further into the confined space.

"Mr Aizawa! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have - I'm sorry."

He didn't look angry, although you wished he did. It would be better than the unsettling smile on his face.

"That's alright, I was heading out here anyway," He closed the door behind him and flicked on a dim light that lit up the room with shadows. "Can't leave it hanging for too long."

Your throat tightened, he stood between you and the only exit. If he noticed your terror there was no indication that he cared. He turned his back to you momentarily, rummaging through the clutter on the workbench. Now was the best chance you may get and you made a dash for the door. It was a futile attempt and part of you knew it but your nerves were ablaze with adrenaline and you were running on instinct not reason. There was a foreign tightness around your throat that kept you fighting to inhale. Struggling to breathe you didn’t even register the sharp pinch of a needle piercing your deltoid.

Aizawa pressed his nose to your hair, "Behave. Even if you get out of here, your tire has a flat, pesky nails tend to find their way on to the roads out here. A real shame."

He dragged you over to a chair across from the lifeless body cuffing both your wrists to the armrests. Stupid, stupid, he was grabbing out cuffs and I ran straight into him, you scolded yourself. You went to open your mouth and beg to be let go, but you were silenced.

"Keep it down or I'll have to find a way to keep you quiet."

Your heart was beating so hard it hurt. Once a friend said it was possible to die by fright, if that was true you wouldn't last much longer. Now that you were safely out of the way, Aizawa could make quick work dismembering the carcass. He donned his usual rubber apron and pulled back his hair. With his experience he could finish the job in less than two hours. Now was as good a time as ever for you to learn.

With a sigh he began his explanation and craft:

"Cannibalism has been around as long as we've existed: sacrificially, ceremonially, culturally, especially during times of plague, war, and famine. You can find documented accounts from pretty much every part of the world. And there's no one reason. Our family keeps it simple. We eat meat, animals are meat, and humans are animals. In times of famine and other hardships, this was a reliable food source. Of course now, there's not much of a risk for severe famine to effect people like us but it's tradition. This is how it's been for our family for years. And not just those of us around these parts but our relatives everywhere. It's important to keep old trades alive."

He paused, now splattered with blood, to take note of your dry heaving.

"Please," You gasped. "I just want to go -"

With narrowed eyes he continued:

"It's important for you to listen to our family history. Typically we don't reap a harvest until three weeks after the winter solstice and 3 weeks before the summer solstice. Twice a year is enough to get us by. Zashi and I are impressed that you managed to wrangle him in. Poetic in a way, don’t ’cha think? Consuming the flesh of someone who tried to overpower you. First reap of the harvest. Nice that it's a family affair."

The room was spinning and you were fighting the sedative as hard as you could. There was no way any of this was real, maybe you were dreaming? Maybe you'd been knocked unconscious when that man rushed you. Or better yet, maybe you were asleep at home still. It was possible that this whole delivery fiasco was just a nightmare. Your stomach churned at the speech. There was sun peaking through the cracks in the wall by the time he finished separating the ... different sections. There was no more body, just pieces. You nodded off for a few minutes before being jolted awake by the door opening and letting in the bright morning light .

"Good morning, you two night owls," Hizashi beamed. Walking to his husband handing over a tall mug of coffee. He was completely unfazed by the scene he walked in on. In fact the only frown he made was when Aizawa said he put too much sweetener in the coffee. "Anyways, grumpy pants, I called your sister. She's on her way to pick up Eri and Shinsou for a few days. To give us some time to focus on our little muse. Speaking of, I should go get her some water. Oh, plus we need to fix our door."

---

After you refused to drink anything they tried to give you they left you alone in the shed. The handcuffs were too tight for you to slip through and in your struggle you managed to topple the chair over, hitting the floor with painful slap. It was hard to ignore the buzzing of the flies swarming the space where the body once hung. You closed your eyes, your mind wandering to your family and what they would think when they realized you were missing.

Outside you heard a car pull up and were tempted to scream for someone to help you. Maybe it was the police; maybe someone realized you didn't go home last night and found out where your last delivery was. Your captors came out to greet whoever it was and you were glad you didn't yell, they sounded friendly. They were coming toward the shed but you were too defeated to react.

"Sho," Hizashi gasped, "She fell."

The response was sharp and sarcastic, "I hadn't noticed." He yanked you up with ease and the world was no longer side ways but the jolt paired with the exhaustion and drugs left the world spinning.

The woman must've been the sister they mentioned earlier. She squealed with delight, "Oh isn't she the cutest, lemme get a good look."

She resembled neither of the men and gave off cool-soccer-mom vibes. With a gentle grip on your chin she bore into your eyes.

"Please,” You begged, “I just want go home."

The sister didn't waiver, "Don't worry sweet thing, these two are gonna take such good care of you. Just relax and let them help you."

Help? You don't need help from them. You needed to get out of this hell.

"Okay," She bounced toward the exit, "Bring out my niece and nephew, we're gonna have a fun weekend. And take care of your girl, she looks like a keeper."

Finally you screamed in frustration. Brief, loud, and full of anger but it deflated just as quickly when the two men shot you a menacing look. How could all three of them show no display of empathy? You were again convinced this was an alternate reality when both children peaked their heads in to wave goodbye before they peeled away from the home, leaving you alone with Hizashi and Aizawa.

---

There was a hatch toward the back of the room where the two disappeared until they came back with a third body. They were dragging a woman up like a ragdoll and acidic bile burned your throat. If you had to guess you would say she was late middle age. It felt like they were setting a stage, Hizashi pulled you closer to where they stood while Aizawa managed to tie the woman down to the stained table.

"Why are you doing this," you cried. But they ignored you.

"Did you know there are people who pay for certain oddities and they’re willing to spend big bucks to get what they want? We keep whatever makes sense to eat and sell the rest. Ideally nothing goes to waste.”

The next hour and forty-seven minutes were excruciating. There were several “items” – as they referred to her body parts – that they removed while she was still alive; but finally Aizawa made the perfect incision along her thigh and a pomegranate wave gushed out. There was no way she would suffer much longer with this amount of blood loss.

"Please just let her die," You begged the universe. "Please let it end."

For the first time since starting they stepped back from the body, leaving it on the table to come over to you. Aizawa knelt before you and his bloody hand brushed hair from your face; his thumb rested on your lip and you couldn't even physically respond. Hizashi was behind him, rubbing his partner's shoulders.

"You're going to kill me?”

Both men finally softened, coming down their endorphin high. There was something so satisfying about your question. Arousing, even. They made it clear that your life was up to them, which meant they had you where they needed you.

"Am I having a blonde moment? I don't recall saying we'd kill her."

Aizawa threw an incredulous look his way before addressing you, "We aren't going to kill you. We wouldn't've saved you from that terrible animal if that were the plan. We don't kill just anyone. We wanted to introduce you to our lifestyle and now’s the best chance. Eri’s wanted to keep you since day one, but if you can't behave that'll be an issue. Can you prove to us that you’re going to behave or do we have to get you down into the cellar?”

There was no other choice than to nod. Picking up a piece of the dissected woman Hizashi muttered something about starting dinner before telling his husband that you really need to get more rest. Aizawa agreed, and since it seemed like you were having trouble getting rest he decided to give you another little dose of medicine.

#slasher au #mha x reader #bnha yandere #mha yandere #yandere erasermic #yandere erasermic x reader #yandere x reader

581 notes · View notes

because-of-a-friend · 3 years

Text

Enemies to Lovers!Jeonghan

MASTERLIST

One day I will come up with titles for my works lol.

Hi Hannah!!!! Thanks for requesting! I loved doing this one! I went ahead and went with Jeonghan cuz I feel like he fits this trope best! Sorry you had to wait so long, this particular fic got deleted like... three times so it was a struggle lol. I hope it’s what you were looking for!

I hope this is a good one, I’m realizing I get real insecure about my writing anytime I’m not doing a bulletpoint or reaction fic, so I don’t feel great about this time. Also I only started recently putting actual detail into my kiss scenes and idk how I’m doing with those???? Like do they seem ok??? Also I feel like I make it so obvious that I am such a sucker for SVT having cute nicknames for siblings, friends, partners, etc in fics lol. Anyways...

Also, I really said: Jeonghan... but in different types of lighting

Remember I don’t own the gif! Link to OP is right there if you want to go give the creator some love!!!

Word Count: 5.2k

Warnings: Mentions eating, reader is using female pronouns (I will keep things gn unless you request differently), I think that’s it, pls let me know if I missed any

You’re not sure exactly how it happened. It was probably just an instance of getting off on the wrong foot, that led to more awkward interactions, giving both of you the wrong impression of each other. You knew this, you could rationalize it all. You were well aware that all it would take was one “I think we might have the wrong idea of each other” conversation and it would all be over. You could easily fix it all, but…

But his stupid smug face. The sarcastic jokes. The never-ending pranks that were not as funny as he thought they were. His ridiculous arrogance. His overall unapologetic nature towards all of it.

You couldn’t help but hate Yoon Jeonghan.

*****

“I don’t know, Wonnie…” you say uneasily over the phone. In previous years, you’d go over to the dorm without hesitation. You loved spending time with your brother and many of the other boys. But ever since you had officially met and begun interacting with Jeonghan…

“C’mon, [Y/N]! I bought that new game you were talking about! We can play it together on my gaming system!” Wonwoo began to persuade. You knew you’d give in; you always did. Your brother was far too sweet a person and far too comforting a presence to reject. The question was how long did you want to argue with him about going to the dorm.

You sighed, accepting defeat early to save time, “I’ll head over there in a bit.”

Wonwoo gives a small cry of victory, “Ok, I’ll have Gyu make extra ramen.” Wonwoo abruptly hangs up the phone right after, leaving you in silence to groan in regret of your decision.

You immediately straighten yourself out, though, trying to put yourself in a mindset of determination. What were you thinking? Just because you and that asshole didn’t get along meant you couldn’t go see your own twin brother without feeling uncomfortable? Screw that! If he wanted to keep the peace then he was going to have to start watching where he stepped around you.

*****

You knocked loud and clear on the door of their dorm, knowing that with thirteen people living inside, it was usually too noisy for them to hear someone signal their arrival. To your relief, Seungcheol opened the door just moments after you knocked and greeted you with a warm smile followed by a hand sneaking into your hair to ruffle it, “Hey there, kiddo! How’s it hanging?”

“Just fine,” you tilt your head down slightly in his direction as you pass him to enter the dorm. “How are things here?” As soon as you ask, your ears are met with the noise of someone dropping something in the kitchen, followed by Seungkwan crying in alarm.

“Same as always, I supposed,” Seungcheol sighs, but his smile doesn’t fade. “I think Mingyu and Wonwoo are already in the computer room, if you want to go ahead and see them!”

“Ok, thanks Cheol!” you call as you both rush off in different directions, him towards the kitchen and you towards the small room that would provide you solace from the possibility of having to see Yoon Jeonghan.

You were determined not to let things go how they usually did: you with your mouth clamped shut as Jeonghan spoke whatever teasing words he had saved up for you, and the most you can do to fight back is by rolling your eyes and finding any way to get away from him.

This time, you would still avoid contact with him, but if it happened, you’d speak your mind and not care what he thought, since that’s how he treated you.

But there was no sign of him or anyone else as you walked to the computer room. You could hear Mingyu and Wonwoo yelling and cheering at the game long before you opened the door. It was pitch black inside, the piercing light of the screen making you squint your eyes.

The two men inside both turn immediately to check who offended their dark space with the soft, yellow light from the hallway.

“Oh [Y/N], you came!” Mingyu beams up at you. You nod, matching his bright expression.

“How’s the game?” you ask simply, looking up to your brother.

“We like it so far,” Wonwoo’s smile is wide, he always gets excited about new games, whether they’re good or not. He leans over to grab a can of some sort of energy drink before gulping it down. “We left some ramen for you over there on the table. Eat first, then I’ll let you have a turn.”

You roll your eyes, though Wonwoo was only mere minutes older than you, he found those moments to be enough leverage to order you around and act like you should be dependent on his care. There were times when he even referred to himself as “oppa” to you and insisted that you do the same.

Most of the time you let it slide, especially when you weren’t in the mood to argue. However, there were times when you’d pull out the “We’re the same age,” “Even if you’re older, I’m smarter,” or “Don’t boss me around when I’m more mature than you” cards at the drop of a hat.

“Can you at least turn on the LEDs while I eat?” you ask, tip-toeing in the darkness towards the table at the back end of the room. You hear a click before a soft blue glow fills the room, finally giving you a clear view of your path. You pull the bowl of ramen towards you as you sit and resist the urge to comment on how little they left you. The dorm was filled with food anyways, you could find more later if you got hungry again.

Wonwoo and Mingyu begin to eagerly tell you what they like about the game as you eat. You listen happily, feeling safe in the presence of your brother and friend.

Then of course…

“Hey you two, Cheol wanted me to remind you that we have to get up early tomorrow,” you can’t help the sour expression that comes over your face as Jeonghan enters the room to speak to Wonwoo and Mingyu. “Oh, hey there cutie, I didn’t know you were here!” His smirk makes you sick.

“Don’t call me that,” you say bitterly into the nearly empty bowl.

Wonwoo looks nervously between you and his bandmate, well aware of the dislike you have for him. He’s grateful that you’ve always kept it so civil, but still feels bothered by the unrest between you.

Jeonghan lets out a little giggle in response, and Wonwoo feels a tug in the pit of his stomach, he wishes Jeonghan wouldn’t be so hard on you sometimes. He knows his hyung doesn’t mean anything by it, but you…

You feel your heart sink as Jeonghan steps fully into the room, striding to sit across from you at the table. You can only stare in wonder at his audacity as he slides the bowl towards himself and finishes off the ramen in one bite.

“I was eating that,” you try to keep your tone measured, attempting to keep within the balance of standing up for yourself but not starting any drama that would affect the boys.

“Go make more if you’re hungry, then,” Jeonghan says casually, making your anger positively flare.

You don’t even give your brother the chance to mediate, jumping up from your place and leaving the room, wanting to be anywhere but around that prick.

*****

“You’re leaving already?” Mingyu pouts at you.

“Gyu, I’ve been here for hours,” you laugh, stretching out your fingers as they start to prick from pain of slamming into a keyboard for so long. You had returned to the computer room but only after Jeonghan left. Part of you had wished you had done more to confront him; another part was glad you didn’t start a fight and put Wonwoo in an awkward position. “Besides all of you, as well as me have to get up early tomorrow, it’s already late. I need to get back home.”

“You can stay here,” Wonwoo was quick to offer.

You shook your head at him, “Then I’ll just have to get up even earlier, I’ll go back to my place.” Wonwoo nods almost reluctantly, standing to walk you out.

All of you run into Joshua on your way to the front door, he turns out to be the only one smart enough to ask how you got there.

“Oh, I took the bus,” you say slowly, knowing this is about to cause issues.

“Well, the last one would have already stopped running by now,” Mingyu says looking at the time on his phone.

“I’ll give you a ride,” Josh offers immediately.

You bring your hands up to shake them back and forth, “No, no, I can find a way home, you all need to go to bed.”

“[Y/N],” Wonwoo speaks up immediately in that stern voice you hate but also can’t help but listen to, “let Josh take you home. It’s either that or you stay here, I won’t have you walking around alone at night.” Wonwoo waits a moment to gauge your expression. He finally nods affirmatively, before speaking directly to Joshua, “Take her home, please.”

Joshua nods before walking off to grab his keys. You and Wonwoo send Mingyu off to bed. Once you’re alone, your brother pulls you in for a tight hug. “Do you want me to say something to him?” he asks lowly.

You shake your head, “I don’t want to cause any problems with you guys.” You sit in silence for a moment. “Come and stay over with me sometime, I miss our sleepovers.”

Joshua comes back and Wonwoo pulls away, “Thanks, hyung. Please get her home safe.” For the second time that night, your hair gets ruffled before your brother disappears to go off to bed.

The ride home with Joshua is comfortable. He speaks kindly to you and makes you smile.

You begin to wonder how amongst all these angels, there exists a person like Yoon Jeonghan.

*****

Wonwoo used the new game as leverage to guilt you into coming over quite often in the following weeks. You hadn’t realized how much you had limited your time at the dorm until you started going consistently once more. It was nice being able to spend time with the boys again. You hated that Jeonghan had become such an unbearable presence that it affected your relationship with the rest of your friends.

But ever since you had started to stand your ground and talk back, he had finally begun to avoid you. You supposed it was only fun for him when you sat there and took it.

It didn’t stop the two of you from bickering when you saw each other, but now both of you preferred to avoid each other instead of Jeonghan seeking you out to tease you.

The following weeks of visiting were fairly comfortable. Whenever Jeonghan wasn’t around, you got to spend plenty of time with the other boys and your brother. Plus, the new video game was even better than expected.

Jeonghan’s presence slowly became uncomfortable in a different way.

Instead of being smug and overbearing, he became strangely quiet around you. His facial expressions became more serious as he sent genuine glares your way before letting out bitter remarks and going on his way.

It made you even angrier.

Who the hell was he to torture you all this time and then act like a kicked puppy when you finally fought back???

Your anger and his bitterness slowly escalated the tension between you two. Although they were happening less frequently, the arguments between you became more serious and almost hurtful.

Whatever, you told yourself, he could do as he pleased, you wouldn’t let it affect you anymore.

*****

You stared down at your phone screen. Why? Why did it have to be here, while you were at the dorm?

The call was only five minutes. They didn’t even do it in person. Of course, they had warned that because of hard times, there’d be lay-offs soon. But they couldn’t even do it in person? And all you got was a simple “Sorry, come collect your things on Monday”??? You were a hard worker, passionate about the job, more efficient than most of your coworkers and this is how they treated you???

A part of you could’ve guessed, many of the employees your age had gotten in because of nepotism. But you didn’t want to believe that they’d just brush off all your years of hard work just to avoid stepping on the toes of higher-ups who had relative connections hired at the company.

You squatted against the wall of the hallway, still too in shock to move.

So, you simply sat in silence, for what seemed like forever.

“You good?” you had never felt worse than the exact moment his voice reached your ears.

“Go away,” you said sternly, knowing you’d be crying soon.

“Geez, forgive me for asking,” Jeonghan responds before turning to walk away. He stops abruptly after you sniffle. “So, you’re not ok?”

“No offense, Jeonghan,” you say hating the way your voice is shaking, “but you are the last person I want to speak to right now.”

There’s a heavy silence for a long moment. You silently pray that he’ll just leave. “Do you want me to get your brother?” he asks lightly.

You shake your head, “No, I don’t want to ruin the mood. I’m going to go home, just tell him I had a stomach ache.” You push yourself up and begin to walk briskly towards the door.

To your surprise, Jeonghan reaches out to stop you. You stare at his hand wrapped around your arm and wonder if you’ve ever even allowed him to touch you before. “It’s already late, let me give you a ride.”

You pull his hand off of you, “No, thanks.” You grab your coat and start to dig around in your purse to make sure you have all of your belongings.

“[Y/N],” Jeonghan’s voice rings clear in your head despite your brain feeling fuzzy. You don’t want to look at him. Who is this person that’s showing concern and speaking kindly? You don’t like it. It feels fake. It feels like a predator playing with a wounded prey. You’re just waiting for him to laugh or make a remark or do anything to make you feel worse than you already do.

But Jeonghan simply grabs the keys laying on the front table, grabs your arm once more, and leads you out to the car.

*****

The ride is suffocatingly silent. You wished he’d at least turn on some music to cover up the sound of your crying, but you remained in the quiet. You rolled down your window and stuck your head out, letting the warm night air and sound of wind comfort you. Since you were turned away from him completely, you didn’t see Jeonghan glancing over at you throughout the drive.

You couldn’t have left that car faster when you finally pulled up to your apartment.

To your dismay, Jeonghan also gets out, apparently intent on walking you up.

“You don’t have to-” you start but abruptly stop when he gives you a look telling you an emotion you don’t quite understand.

Jeonghan finally speaks when you’re riding the elevator up to your floor, “I don’t really mean it, you know.”

“Mean what?” you say weakly, starting to feel the exhaustion from crying so much.

“When I talk to you like that… I mean when I’m… rude,” he trails off, running a hand through his hair. “Usually it’s just teasing, but obviously I went too far with you. And I didn’t realize it until you started showing how upsetting it was for you. I should’ve known before that, though.”

“You seemed ruder after I started talking back,” you say, confused.

“I was just being petty and defensive. I kept telling myself things like: It’s her fault, isn’t it? She should have made it more clear from the beginning that it was upsetting her. How was I supposed to know? But that was just me being immature, I should’ve just talked to you.”

“Is that an… apology, Yoon Jeonghan?” you ask, letting yourself be a little smug.

For the first time, you get a genuine smile out of him, “Maybe.”

There’s more silence for a second.

“It’s a two-way road, though,” you say finally.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“I mean, I could have also come and talked to you instead of letting things escalate,” you say. “I played some part in all of this… unpleasantness. You can’t entirely blame yourself.”

Jeonghan smiles again, reaching out to ruffle your hair the way Seungcheol always did. Then he takes a dramatic deep breath and rolls his shoulders, “There! That feels better, doesn’t it? We can finally be friends!”

You roll your eyes in a playful manner, but you feel it too, a weight has been lifted.

*****

Wonwoo showed up at your door in the middle of the night that night. You took one look at his frantic face and groaned, “I told Jeonghan I would tell you myself.”

“You should have told me immediately!” your brother pouts as he passes you to walk into your apartment.

“I didn’t want to worry you so late, especially when all of you were having a good time. I was going to tell you tomorrow,” you close the door behind him. You watch as he turns on the TV and starts picking through your pantry. “Hmmm, yes it seems quite clear that you came here out of concern for me,” you can’t help but use a sarcastic tone.

Wonwoo sends a glare your way as he grabs snacks and settles on the couch. You sit next to him, grabbing your fair share of the food. You try to keep your attention on the show, but the feeling of Wonwoo staring straight at you is distracting.

“I’m fine, you don’t have to worry,” you sigh.

“Really? Because Jeonghan described you as an emotional wreck,” your brother scoffs.

“I was just shocked and upset. I’ll be ok. I have a good resume, I can find a new job,” you insist.

“I keep telling you, you don’t have to work-”

“I don’t care how much you make,” you interrupt. “I’m not going to depend on you. It’ll just make trouble for both of us.”

“Will you at least let me help out if there’s any problems before you find a new job?” Wonwoo kicks at your leg.

“Like I would even tell you if I was having trouble,” you return his kick.

“You just can’t help but be difficult,” your brother complains quietly.

You let the sound of the show take over the room for a few minutes. “I do have good news,” you finally speak up, wanting to give your brother some peace of mind about something. “Me and Jeonghan made up. We figured it out.”

Wonwoo bolts upright with a grin on his face, “Really??? It’s really all good now?”

“100%,” you say, unable to stop yourself from pinching your brother’s cheeks, finding his excited expression cute.

“Let’s celebrate soon then! We can have a big gaming party with all of the boys!” You agree to your brother’s proposal. You feel content in this moment, knowing you’ll wake up in the morning in an uncomfortable position, immediately kick at his legs and tell him to get his stinky feet away from you.

*****

Your time at the dorm increases with the weight of you and Jeonghan’s rivalry being gone. You’re enjoying getting to know him as a friend instead of constantly walking on eggshells around him. Going to visit the boys is once again a happy and comfortable experience.

You hadn’t realized how much Jeonghan had affected you until you two had worked things out. The world felt light again and you could breathe, no longer in constant worry of possibly ruining things between your brother and his bandmates.

You hoped things would remain without complications for a long time.

*****

“Seungkwan, you should come with us!” you begged. “The carnival only comes once a year; you can’t miss it!”

“But it’s so crowded and there are screaming kids everywhere,” Seungkwan complains.

“Oh, whatever,” Soonyoung interjects. “You love it every time we go.”

Seungkwan gives Soonyoung a look that has you laughing through your mouthful of ramen. “Oh, shoot,” you say feeling liquid start to dribble down your chin. “Can I get a napkin?”

“Here’s one,” you hear Jeonghan’s voice as he enters the room. You reach out to grab the napkin as Seungkwan and Soonyoung continue bickering. But instead of handing it to you, Jeonghan extends his hand not holding the napkin towards you. His fingers come to lightly touch your chin and turn you towards him. Jeonghan wipes your face with the napkin himself, taking the time to make sure it’s really all clean. “All better,” he smiles at you, running his thumb across your chin to check its cleanliness one last time.

As Jeonghan walks away, you turn to see if Seungkwan or Soonyoung saw what had happened. They were still arguing, though. The boys showing you physical touch or affection wasn’t really all that uncommon. But for some reason, the way Jeonghan had grabbed your chin just now… Why was your heart beating so hard?

*****

You couldn’t stop yourself from dragging Wonwoo all over the carnival. It was nice to get out in this environment, the lights, the laughter, the food, the games, the rides. You wanted to do everything, but not before you looked at all there was and took in the spectacle.

You could hear all the boys laughing excitedly behind you, you knew they’d want to try everything as well. You shook your head at Seungkwan’s bright expression, you couldn’t wait to play the ‘I told you so’ card later.

The night was a blur. All of you ran from games to rides to snacks and then all over again.

You couldn’t help but stop completely in your tracks as you passed a booth with a giant stuffie of your favorite animal as a prize. Your fascination with the plushie doesn’t go unnoticed.

“You want me to win it for you?” Jeonghan’s voice is suddenly speaking right into your ear. You jump after realizing he was right behind you. You grip your cotton candy a bit tighter and shyly nod. The way Jeonghan grins at you fills you with warmth.

You watch him walk over to the booth. His light hair and pink shirt were illuminated by the soft glow of the surrounding lights. Jeonghan takes his wallet out and hands some bills to the vendor. You step up closer to stand next to him as he plays the game. He laughs as he chats back and forth with the vendor. You watch in awe as Jeonghan clears the game, no problem.

“Anything from the top shelf!” the vendor exclaims happily.

“That one please,” Jeonghan points right at the stuffie you had been staring at.

“It’ll be a wonderful memory for your girlfriend,” the vendor smiles as he hands the prize directly to you.

“Oh, I’m-”

“Of course!” Jeonghan interrupts you almost instantly, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and starting to pull you away from the game. “We’ll cherish it for a long time! Thanks for the game!” The vendor waves kindly as you two walk away. After a moment, Jeonghan pulls his arm off of you, “Sorry, sometimes it’s just easier to agree than explain, you know?” You nod in agreement. “Wait a second,” he stops you by putting his hands on your shoulders and standing in front of you. Before you can ask what’s wrong, his hand comes up towards your face as it had earlier that day. He quickly swipes his thumb across your lips before pulling to back to show you remnants of your cotton candy. “Do you always eat this messily?” he grins and then, to your surprise, puts his thumb in his mouth to clean it off.

You stand there, frozen, unable to really comprehend what just happened as Jeonghan walks away towards the other boys.

“For the second time today?” Soonyoung is suddenly standing next to you.

“So you did see what happened earlier!” you exclaimed, hitting his arm lightly. “It was weird, right?!”

“Can’t tell yet,” Soonyoung replies cocking his head to the side and putting his hands in his pocket. “Sometimes Jeonghan is just sort of naturally flirtatious. But I’m not sure about you. I figured since you two didn’t get along at first, it’d take him awhile to warm up to you at that level. He seemed to get comfortable with you quite quickly.” Soonyoung turns and shrugs at you after his words.

“You’re no help at all,” you say emotionlessly. There’s a pause before both you and Soonyoung slowly look at each other and laugh at your quip.

You decide to brush off your new concerns about Jeonghan and enjoy this night with the boys. The vendor was right, it was a good memory, and you’re sure it’d last you for your whole lifetime.

*****

You hate yourself a bit for it, but you once again seem to be avoiding Jeonghan. He had made you so nervous that day, and the way your heart pounded… You didn’t want to get sucked into having a silly crush on him if he wasn’t actually trying to flirt with you.

No, from now on, interactions with Jeonghan would be friendly but short and appropriate.

You were stupid to think he wouldn’t notice.

It wasn’t long before there came a night when Jeonghan insisted that he be the one to give you a ride home. You couldn’t help the way your nerves spiked at his determination to be the one to take you. You knew he most likely wanted to talk to you about your sudden distance from him.

The ride itself was nice, Jeonghan rolled the windows down for you, remembering that you enjoyed the warm night air of summer. You talked comfortably with one another. Jeonghan was always able to make you smile so easily.

You couldn’t stop yourself from staring at him. He was just wearing a t-shirt and sweats but… His blonde hair being illuminated in the moonlight as he ran his hands through it and his bright smile as he laughed...

He really was beautiful.

Once again, Jeonghan came with you to walk you to your door. And once again, he finally spoke up in the elevator, “You’ve been avoiding me, sweetheart.” Your heart drops to your stomach at the nickname. “Is everything ok? Did I do something to make you mad again?”

You quickly shake your head and pull your hands up to shake them as well, “No! Not at all!”

“You sure?” he insists.

“Yoon Jeonghan, you really don’t think I’d tell you if you did?” you say.

He giggles, “Yeah, that’s true. You’d let me know the moment I messed up, wouldn’t you?” The elevator dings and opens up to your floor. You and Jeonghan step out together. “Is everything else ok, then? You don’t start avoiding people for no reason.”

You nod as casually as possible, “Everything is great.” Your tone isn’t convincing and Jeonghan nudges you. “I guess, I just got… nervous? I mean one moment we were like enemies and then the next we were suddenly really… close, and-”

“I made you uncomfortable?” Jeonghan’s voice is slightly panicked.

“No, you did nothing wrong! It’s all on me, I just got caught up in my emotions and-” you stop abruptly when you realize what you were about to do.

Jeonghan nods quietly as if to say he understands, but what it is he understands, you’re not sure. “Is it ok for us to remain close, or do you want me to back off?”

“I don’t want any more distance between us, but…” you trail off.

“But, what?” he prompts you again.

“I don’t want to get the wrong idea about anything…” you say, finally reaching your door.

Jeonghan watches as you slowly unlock your door and push it open, “You haven’t gotten the wrong idea about anything.” He avoids eye contact when you look up at him.

You’re shocked by his forwardness. But once he voices his thoughts out loud, you once again feel the feeling of a weight being lifted.

Jeonghan gestures for you to step inside, catching your arm once you fully pass him. He pulls you back to him, close enough for him to lean in and leave a quick kiss on your cheek, “Night, babe, I’ll see you later.”

You stand there, completely still, staring at your door that had shut closed in front of you. You can feel heat rise from the tip of your toes all the way up to your ears. You finally let yourself fall into a squatting position, covering your face with your hands, and letting out a squeal.

*****

Jeonghan invites you to meet up outside of the dorm. It’s a cute little coffee shop at a quiet part of the city. You’re already sitting when he walks in. Maybe one day, you won’t be completely caught off guard by his beauty… but today is not that day.

His whole person is bathed in the glow of the early morning light as he approaches you, the softest, most genuine smile gracing his face.

“No, don’t get up,” he says when you try to leave your chair, “I need to go off and order anyways.” Jeonghan leans down to kiss your forehead firmly. “I just wanted to come say hi first,” he whispers, holding your face close to his.

Your first date sets a wonderful precedent to the rest of your relationship. Jeonghan gets your heart racing with flirty comments and sweet touches. But he also makes you feel calm and content, easily keeping a smile on your face. You just feel… good throughout it all.

You insist on walking him back to the dorm, since they had schedules that day.

“So, we’ll be doing this again?” Jeonghan asks hopefully, as you reach the front door.

“Definitely,” you nod enthusiastically up at him, wondering how you had ever managed to despise the man that made you feel so whole and happy.

Jeonghan looks utterly happy and a tiny bit nervous as he stares down at you. His hand reaches up to brush back your hair before settling firmly against your face. Jeonghan looks at you so fondly as he leans in. His lips connect to yours… so softly… so sweetly. You can feel his nose nudge against your face to push it into a preferred position. He pulls back slightly after every little kiss to let out laughter so sweet, it sounds like it should be coming from the mouth of an angel. But he’s never far away for long, reconnecting to you quickly every time. You let him take the lead, allowing his lips to take care of yours, giving them the sweetest kind of attention. He pulls back for a moment longer to nuzzle his nose against yours, an action that has you gripping his shirt to keep him close. His hands keep themselves entertained by running across your face or through your hair.

He’s going back in to kiss you once again when he front door of the dorm opens, leaving you caught in the act. Wonwoo stares at you two for a long moment before making a single comment that causes you and Jeonghan to laugh.

“You know, when I said I wanted you two to have a better relationship, this isn’t exactly what I meant.”

519 notes · View notes