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breadbrobin · 4 months

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Hi idk if you’re taking reqs but I’ve been reading your posts about Luke Castellan a lot and I think I’m getting obsessed- So could you make a fic/shot about a Luke Castellan x daughter of Apollo reader where they’ve known each other since childhood and they’re kind of like frenemies (friends and/or enemies) and one day he ends up getting badly injured after a quest so she has to take care of him in the infirmary for a week, but ever since that happened he’s been trying to get injured just to go and see reader at the infirmary again?

Sorry if that wasn’t clear, and this is kinda inspired from another fic you made about Luke and daughter of Apollo:)

But if you ever make something like this I would really appreciate it if you tagged me!

two hearts

luke castellan x reader — percy jackson and the olympians

[fem!daughter of apollo reader]

summary: (as above)

warnings: canon typical mentions of violence, kissing, flirting, a couple of swear words, blood, idiots to lovers a lil bit too (can you tell it’s my favourite thing)

word count: 3.5k

(hiiii hello hi!! sorry this took me so long to get out, but here it is!! thank you so much for the request i had a lot of fun with this one (3.5k words of fun apparently). hope you enjoy it!)

———————————————

if someone had told you luke castellan was going to be gone on a quest when you arrived at camp for the summer, you wouldn’t have spent the whole drive to camp preparing to deal with his annoying ass.

you hiked up half-blood hill and over the boundary, noticing the distinct tension in the atmosphere. something was off.

when luke hadn’t come to see you as you dropped your bags off in the apollo cabin, or when you stopped into the infirmary, or even when you walked past the hermes cabin, you were clued in that something was up.

“where’s luke?” you asked chiron curiously.

“he is on a quest, child. sent by his father,” he smiled down at you warmly. “do not worry about him.”

“i’m not worried,” you bit your lip. “just curious. that’s all.”

and that was that.

it was weirdly boring being at camp without luke’s constant snarky comments. ever since you’d both gotten to camp when you were younger, he’d been a persistent thorn in your side. maybe it was because you both were new around the same time, or because you didn’t like it when he hovered around the infirmary, poking his quick fingers into buckets of bandages and medications. whatever it was, he seemed to enjoy irritating you. and you apparently enjoyed it more than you thought.

monotonous days: breakfast, archery, infirmary, training, activities, dinner, bed.

sleepless nights: nightmares of quests and dragons and a bright white scar.

you sighed one night, waking up from yet another dream of flashes and brief images. your siblings were sleeping around you, a couple of them snoring, and you sat up.

the air on the porch was cooler that night, especially for summer time. you wrapped your sweatshirt a little tighter around yourself and leaned on the porch railing, peering out into the darkness. you just needed a minute, really. you sat down on a chair and relaxed.

you woke up abruptly.

at first, you were confused as to why.

then you saw the figure on the hill.

it was a camper. the hint of orange in the full-moon light told you that much. they were stumbling down—no, they were rolling now.

you stood up and dashed back into your cabin, grabbing your to-go first aid kit. you then turned and ran towards the obviously injured figure. there were only three people it could be. and where were the other two?

you reached them quickly, dropping to your knees beside them and rolling them over.

luke.

it was luke.

the air rushed from your lungs. he was here. he was back. he was alive. you’d never felt such an overwhelming emotion before. it drew slight stinging tears to your eyes.

his eyes were barely open but he gripped your arm with a strength you didn’t think his weak body could still possess. “y/n?”

“just hold on, luke,” you whispered. there were injuries all over his body. you hardly knew where to start. “just hold on.”

“they’re gone,” he said absently.

you looked at him, but didn’t stop trying to help. “who’s gone?”

“everyone,” he stared up at the moon.

you bit your cheek and looked over your shoulder. one of your brothers had gone on that quest with him. “wake up!” you shouted. “someone come help!” you turned back to luke. “okay, luke. you’re gonna be okay.”

his cheeks were hollow. it was then that you noticed the way his eye was swollen closed and a dark red angry cut traced its way down the side of his face. you gasped and turned his head gently to see it better.

“not looking good, huh?” he murmured bitterly. “guess i won’t be getting any modelling contracts soon.”

“we’ll see about that,” you muttered. “stay awake, yeah?”

“you’re not the boss of me,” he grumbled, but kept his eyes open as help finally arrived to get him to the infirmary.

he’d had more injuries than you’d originally thought. it was like he’d been attacked by half of the monsters in greek mythology, honestly, based on the peppered burn holes in his shirt, the cuts and scrapes on his arms and knees and the gashes littering his abdomen. oh, and not to mention the gaping spear wound in his right shoulder.

after working all night with some of your siblings and chiron in the infirmary, he was finally stable. finally, he’d be okay.

you volunteered to stay with him to keep an eye on him for the first few hours, though your eyelids were drooping with sleep.

you held his hand. it felt like the right thing to do.

he didn’t stir.

it was strange, being around him without him talking. since you were fourteen, he’d rarely managed to shut up around you. incessant talking and waving his hands around, explaining some new thing he learned in sword fighting or some joke one of his brothers made. it was both infuriating and entertaining. you loved and hated it, just like you loved and hated him.

sitting in silence with luke castellan felt like the world was turning on its head.

a couple of hours passed. you didn’t let go of his hand. not even as you slipped into a dream—a memory, really.

you were fifteen, and it was raining. it had only been a few months since you got to camp. things were still fresh and somewhat unknown. what you did know, though, was you could never get a moments peace anymore.

“y/n?”

you rolled your eyes. of course it was luke. “what?”

“where are you?”

you supposed you were hidden pretty well. sitting among the reeds at the bottom of the lake was one of your favourite places to be. it was cooler there, but even in winter it wasn’t cold. your feet could sit in the water if you wanted them to and the reeds blocked you from the wind and outside attention.

when you didn’t respond, you could hear him coming closer anyway.

“that’s fine, don’t tell me. i’ll find you anyway.”

and he did. he always did.

there was some theory about that, you realised as he sat beside you, the tiny space between the reeds barely big enough to hold both of you. some theory about a string of fate tying people together. some greek myth about people originally having four arms, four legs and two hearts, and when zeus split them down the middle, those people spent the rest of their lives searching for their other halves. drawn together by fate and reconnected always. you arm was pressed against his arm and your leg against his leg, and maybe it felt so right because you were cold and he was warm. not because of some silly soulmate theory that didn’t even make sense. because there was also the idea that maybe he’d put a tracker on you, but you had no idea where he would have gotten that. or maybe you were just bad at hiding.

“i’ve been looking for you,” he said.

you tilted your head in confusion. “what? why?”

“well,” were you mistaken, or were his cheeks kind of red? “i kinda hurt myself at training today. and the people in the infirmary told me to grow up and get over it. but honestly, it really hurts and i just wanted to know if you could heal it.”

you rolled your eyes. “always needing something, huh, castellan? is it so much to ask for you to just want to see me?” you hold your hand out and he extends his sword arm, revealing the cross-muscle cut on his forearm.

“i do want to see you,” he protested. “honestly. it’s not my fault that i’m also coincidentally injured whenever i want to see you.”

you couldn’t stay mad at that smile. “coincidentally, huh?” you handed him a small section of ambrosia from your pocket as your fingers ran over the cut, whispering a prayer to your father. you watched as the skin knit itself closed again, leaving not even a scar on his arm. you pulled back with a smile. “there. done. good as new.”

“thanks, doctor. don’t know what i’d do without you.”

“die a horrible death and be left permanently disfigured? to the point where we’d do a closed casket funeral just so we don’t have to look at your ugly face?” you tilted your head with a teasing smile.

he elbowed you. “shut up, loser. you know you love my face.”

and as you woke up, feeling his hand tighten around yours, you realised you kind of did. there was gauze over the cut on his eye and cheek, covering half of his face. and yet, he was still annoyingly beautiful.

“something on my face?” he mumbled as he saw looking, finally awake. “except for this thing, of course.” he gestured to the gauze.

you smiled wanly. “i’m glad you’re awake.”

“missed me?” he half-grinned.

you snort and drop his hand, patting the back of it and standing up to check his bandages. “you wish.”

he was silent as you checked his bandages and reapplied the few that were loosening. then, as you left to go and get the next person to keep an eye on him, he spoke up. “i missed you.”

you paused in the doorway, a small smile growing on your face. you looked back at him. his eyes were earnest and soft. he looked younger like this. “i’ll be back a few hours. we’ll have dinner together.”

you did have dinner together. in fact, you had almost every meal together for the first few days.

it was quiet, mostly. you didn’t ask him what happened and he didn’t tell you. you knew he’d already been interrogated by everyone else. he didn’t need that from you.

annabeth came and joined you a couple of times, chatting about some new architectural design she’d learned about or a new move she’d learned in training.

you realised how alike they were. family in every way that mattered, regardless of blood.

it didn’t take long for luke to start getting annoying again though.

once he’d been in the infirmary for four days, he regained most of his usual personality. and that meant bad jokes, incessant talking and poorly-timed, half-hearted flirting.

“the sun makes your eyes glow,” he said one day. he’d never had much of a filter, so it wasn’t too out of the blue, but it still caught you a little of guard.

you fumbled the supplies in your hand. “sorry, what?”

he was sitting up on his bed now. his wounds were almost healed. two more days and he’d be out of the infirmary. you didn’t know if you were one hundred per cent happy about that.

“your eyes. they glow in the sun.” he repeated.

you paused, glancing over at him. “thank you…?”

he nodded and leaned back, his eyes staying on you.

that was only the beginning.

within five hours he’d complimented your eyes, your skills, your smile and your kindness. multiple times. it got the point where the other two patients in the infirmary had stopped taking you seriously, just complimenting you instead. that’s where you drew the line.

“okay, luke, you need to stop. this is too much,” you said. you were checking his remaining wounds and nodding happily at them.

“what, am i flustering you? are you blushing?” he teased.

you were not blushing at all, you decided. whether it was strictly true or not was between your brain and your cheeks, not your honesty. “you’re annoying me,” you grumbled. “like, a lot.”

“you know you’ll miss me when i go back to my cabin,” he leaned back on his pillows, a smirk on his lips. it warped the scar on his cheek more than you expected, and it made your heart clench every time.

“if i miss you, you have permission to annoy me for the rest of my life,” you grumbled. you definitely wouldn’t miss this.

finally, he was out of the infirmary.

finally, you could work in peace.

finally, you could— oh, what the hell?

“good morning!” luke said as he waltzed into the infirmary. “i’ve injured myself.”

you looked him up and down as you walked closer. “you look fine to me. what did you do?”

“i fell of the rock climbing wall and hit my head.” he turned his head to show you the small trickle of blood above his ear.

you sighed and led him to a bed. you handed him ambrosia as you used a wet cloth to clean his head. “you were meant to take things easy for the first few days.”

“i did!” he protested. “i was only like, twelve feet up!”

you pursed your lips and shook your head. your hand was under his chin now, stopping him from turning his head to look at you. “taking it easy means no rock climbing at all, dumbass. you’ve been out of here for half a day and you’re already back!”

“maybe i like it in here.” he shrugged, pouting slightly, looking up at you.

“maybe i find you really annoying and ban you from coming in here,” you countered.

“you can’t do that,” he gasped.

“watch me, castellan.” you prodded his cheek mockingly. “don’t mess with me.”

his smile wasn’t exactly the response you were looking for, but you found that you didn’t mind it all too much.

luke came into the infirmary almost every two days for the next two weeks.

there was always some new injury that he couldn’t ignore, that he needed to have you heal. he only came in when you were there though, like he knew your schedule off by heart.

he probably did.

his sheepish smile was becoming a fixture of your days and you couldn’t help but smile a little brighter when you saw it. you couldn’t stop your heart from beating a little faster either, and it was annoying.

in the years that you’d been at camp, luke castellan had driven you up the wall. did you hate him? did you love him? how did you love him? how a friend loves a friend? how a doctor loves a patient? how a lover loves a lover? how did you hate him? why? why anything? why nothing? the questions only got worse.

“another minor injury?” you sighed, hearing his footsteps entering the infirmary. you didn’t know when you memorised the sound of his footsteps, or the rise and fall of his breathing while he slept, but you did.

“uh, not exactly…” the weakness in his voice made your stomach drop.

you turned around to see him clutching a bright red wound on his inner arm. he looked pale. that wasn’t a good sign. the blood was still seeping past his fingers. also not a good sign.

you gasped and pulled him to a bed immediately, pushing him to lie down and placing hard pressure on the wound. you could feel him reaching into your pocket and fishing around for ambrosia. once he found some, he ate it quickly and sighed in relief.

“what the hell happened?” you exclaimed.

he shrugged with one shoulder. “sword training.”

“were you training against the fucking terminator?” you took in the other minor cuts and bruises. your voice was unfairly shaky. you didn’t want to get close to losing him again. even just the thought made you feel sick.

his eyes were soft when they looked up at you. you almost dropped all of your anger right there. “i got sloppy,” he said nonchalantly. “i’ll be fine once i get back to normal.”

“this is an artery,” you said. “you could die.”

he didn’t look all that upset or shocked. “i won’t die, baby. i won’t.”

your stomach gave a pitiful lurch at the nickname. “save your energy.”

“is that your doctorly way of telling me to shut up?” he teased.

“yes, it is,” you nodded. “now, shut up while i help you.”

he looked at you like you were hanging the stars in the sky, not tending to him with hands red from his blood.

no one had stopped talking about luke since he got back. the first failed quest in years, with two of the three members dying and the third one permanently scarred by a dragon. not a good ratio.

you often saw luke sitting alone now, and when he was nowhere to be found, you knew where he was.

maybe there was something to the strings of fate theory, you thought as you found him and sat down beside him among the reeds. they were taller now and more dense, but the two of you had carved out a little spot for yourselves over time. your limbs were still pressed against each other though. that was one thing that would never change.

he was turning something over in his hands. a repetitive motion.

you tried to make sense of what it was, but couldn’t.

“it’s a dragon claw,” he spoke up. “the one that did this.” he pointed at the still-red scar on his face. that was why you couldn’t get rid of that one. magic scars never really went away.

you stayed quiet.

“peter distracted the dragon just in time for me to get my sword back. i got the cut, but when i turned back he was getting thrown against the mountainside.” he shook his head bitterly. “he didn’t stand a chance.”

you stared at a dragonfly on a reed in front of you. “knowing my brother, he just would have been happy to be there. and happy that you’re alive.”

he smiled, but it looked forced and bitter. “yeah. he spent the whole time talking about how lucky we were for this opportunity, and how he was so excited to explore beyond camp… and gianna was the same. they were just…” he was fiddling with his camp beads now.

you watched his movements slowly. it was like he’d never been gone, but also like everything had changed. there was a new tension in the air around him. you weren’t sure if it was you or him.

“don’t be resentful,” you said softly, breaking the silence.

“what?” his eyes turned to you. “what do you mean?”

“don’t resent yourself and the gods for this,” you said, leaning a little closer to him and looking away. the dragonfly hadn’t moved—like it was listening. watching. “peter and gianna made their choices. they’re in elysium now. that’s about as good as it gets.”

he pressed his lips together and nodded. “i know.”

maybe there was something to the two hearts theory too, because you could tell he didn’t. he didn’t agree. he didn’t want to. you slipped your hand into his. “you know i’m always here for you, right, luke? i mean, you annoy me—a lot—but you’re still, well, you. and you’re important to me. i’ll always be there for you. if you want to hold hate in your heart, then be my guest. i’ll just have to hold more love in mine to balance you out.”

he was watching your connected fingers as you spoke. his hands were calloused and hard, but yours were softer. less time spent training and more time spent healing. “love for who?”

you, you thought. you didn’t speak.

he turned to look at you. you were already looking at him. “love for me?”

you swallowed tightly. “luke…”

he leaned in closer, until his lips were moments away from touching yours. one wrong move and you’d touch. or was that the right move? was the wrong move pulling away? leaving him alone—again? that didn’t feel fair. but nor did your pounding heart and your flushing cheeks, and maybe you were blushing now, but that didn’t mean you had to like it.

then you gave in. that string that connected your souls was pulling you too tight. your lips brushed against his softly at first, and before you could think to move any further, his hand was gripping the back of your neck and pulling you closer, and his lips were pressing against yours with the passion of years of built up tension. you’d never hated him at all, you realised. you loved him the whole time. sure, he was irritating. he was chatty. he was pushy and annoying and never stopped bothering you. but you’d missed his bothering, and you’d missed his smile, and when he pulled away to take a breath, you missed his lips with a fiery need that bubbled up from deep down inside you.

“guess i’ll be annoying you for the rest of our lives then, huh?” he said softly, chest rising and falling against yours.

your eyes were still closed, reeling from the kiss. “wasn’t that a given anyway? i wouldn’t want it any other way, personally.”

when he kissed you again, you decided that the theory about two hearts was, in fact, correct. you met as two, seperate halves in a fucked up world that had you grow up far too fast. you grew as two, finding your places at camp, finding your people, but always finding each other first. you met now as one. four arms, four legs, two hearts, meeting in a tumultuous display of love and desire. and that’s how you wanted to stay. your limbs locked with his, your hearts pounding in sync, your every feeling, every emotion, every sensation making your very soul hum with joy. you’d found him, finally, after years of your hearts waiting for this moment. finally, your two hearts were one again.

#luke castellan #luke castellan x reader #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo #pjo x reader #luke castellan x you #charlie bushnell

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wosoamazing · 2 months

Text

Too Late To Be Fair

Warnings: death (caused by drunk driver), mentions of emotional abuse (R as a child), mentions of drinking and drunks, implications of self doubt and associated things, wishing someone would die. Please let me know if anything else.

Note: Grace is a fake player, due to previous ideas and maybe future ideas I had to make a player up... she does some things none of the girls would ever do....

A/N: Story inspired by Pray (Jessie Murph) & Mansion (NF) - and other things but I listened to these songs and I was like ooo good story idea. There probs will be a part 2. I hope you like it - also I know I said one of the McFoord fics would be out next but um yeah...

“Y/N We’re sorry to inform you but your Dad was in a car accident he was hit by a drunk driver” you couldn’t help but laugh at the irony, you dad the drunk being hit by a drunk driver. Everyone looked at you in disbelief.

“Y/N that’s not very appropriate,” Grace said, before others death stared her, clearly not knowing your situation, of course you were going to blow, especially at her, the thing you had wished for, for so long, finally happened, yet just after you cut him off, so it didn’t matter, it didn’t mean you could have an easier childhood, it was just another way of the universe punishing you. Waiting until you had moved out, cut your ties and in the spotlight, to finally kill him. Almost exactly a year since you cut him off, won the trial, got the restraining order, the one which he protested, causing the gruelling 3 day trial, to decide whether it was needed or not.

“Oh, sorry we don’t all have perfect little lives with perfect Mummies and Daddies, some of us actually had a shit childhood, faced real world problems, no rich bitch problems, oh Mummy and Daddy told me to pick up some rubbish, oh my life is shit they abuse me” you were dragged out of the locker room and into an empty physio room by Leah, Beth, Katie, Caitlin, and Steph who all sent you a glare when the door had shut, “Oh like she didn’t deserve it,” they all couldn’t but help let out a smile. There was an awkwardness in the room, as the girls all looked between each other not knowing how to approach this.

“You guys can all go, I’ve got this, thank you though,” Leah spoke, breaking the silence, everyone left except Beth, but Leah didn’t mind. You and Beth had a very close relationship, you had been close friends since your grassroots team, Beth helped you through the year of your life you realised you were gay, and then when you crushed on your now girlfriend, your then national Captain. Beth felt bad the year you told her about your Dad, she knew something was off but you never told anyone, barely anyone stills knows the full story, but that day Beth and you promised that you would be there for each other forever, and that was true, she had been there during your trial and so much more, and you were there for her when Dan broke up with her, Beth was really your rock and you were hers. Beth moved to sit in the chair on the opposite side of the room, giving you both space, whilst also being there in case you needed it.

“Are you okay?” Leah couldn't find the right words, but she knew deep down the wrong words were what you needed her to say, you weren’t going to break, and release it all otherwise.

“Of course I’m not fucking okay Leah,” you looked up at her, she hadn’t even flinch at your words, instead she pulled you in for a hug. Which caused hot angry tears to fall from your eyes “Why now, why couldn’t it have been a year ago, 3 years, hell any time after I was 12. It’s unfair, its fucking unfair,” you paused, and Leah slowly slid her back down against the wall, bringing you down with her, your legs either side of hers as you sat in her lap. Your eyes connected with her soft kind caring blue eyes, and you could see how her lips formed a soft kind reassuring smile. You broke, big fat tears streamed down your face, as you sobbed, Leah gently pulled your body forward, so you were no longer sitting up, but leaning on her, she placed your head into the crock of her neck, before moving her arm to wrap around you lower body, her other hand was placed on your back, her thumb moving up and down, as she whispered reassuring words in your ear.

“W-why now, when I’ve already lived the hard life, when I’ve been through all that shit. When I’m already screwed up, when I already have trust issues, when I already doubt myself everyday, so much so that I do it unconsciously” you sobbed into her neck.

“I know baby, it's not fair, and it's not right. But I’m here now, and I’ve got you.”

“I-I I used to wish he would die, I used to imagine cops showing up at the door when it was later than he used to come home, them telling me and me not being upset. I used to hope he just wouldn't come back from work trips. I used to imagine people asking me why I wasn’t upset when he died. I used to think of the fact that he was an alcoholic so he wouldn't get a kidney or liver transplant, unless it was a directed donation. I had to say yes, how could I say no if I was a match, but how could I say yes. You know how fucked up you feel when you think that stuff, you know how messed up I thought I was, but that was all his doing. It's just unfair.”

___

You had calmed back down and decided to go see all the girls again, the only problem was that no one had realised what song was playing in the locker room, too deep in conversation to be aware of it.

Waking up but wishing that you don’t. It’s something that I pray you’ll never know.

A song that connected with you so deeply sent you back over the edge, and you quickly spun on your feet and speed walked away, Beth followed behind you.

“What the actual fuck were you thinking McCabe” you girlfriend yelled.

“Wha?” the room had gone quiet and attention was drawn to the music, “Oh fuck, shit, sorry, we werent listening to it, its just automatically come on. I promise, I wasn't trying to be funny, I wouldn't do anything like that to Y/N”

Leah just turned around packing your bag and hers, “Tell Jonas we’re going home.”

“Sorry” Katie yelled as Leah went down the hall.

Leah found you sitting in the middle of one of the side hallways. Beth’s arms were wrapped around you and your body was shaking.

“Come on baby, let's go home.” She said as she placed a hand on your back, Beth slowly released her arms around you, which Leah quickly replaced with hers.

_____

“What’s on your mind? I know it's something more than your Dad” your girlfriend said as she sat down on the bed next to you, legs crossed and leaning back against the headboard. You had just arrived home.

“It's stupid.” you sighed, looking away from her eyes.

“I promise you, it's not stupid, it's your feelings, and your feelings are valid” she said, voice unwavering before pulling you into her lap.

“I don't know, I just feel like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.” “What do you mean baby?” “I don't know, I just feel like something is going to happen, like something is going to happen and you’re going to realise that this was all a mistake and leave. You’re going to get sick of constantly being second guessed for no reason just because I’m messed up, because I don’t believe someone could actually love me this much. You’re going to get sick of me, and all my insecurities, ” she pulled your body into hers, your head finding a place in the crock of her neck, tears started to fall from your eyes, causing her neck to become wet.

“Y/N, baby, I love you so much, and I promise, there is not another shoe that will drop, we have been through so much together, we got through those 9 months together, we got through the trial together, and I promise we will get through whatever life throws at us together, forever, we will go through the highs and lows together. I love you so much, and I wouldn't want to spend my life with anyone else. I will never hurt you, I promise.”

#woso #woso community #woso fanfics #woso x reader #woso imagine #arsenal wfc #awfc x reader #awfc #leah williamson x reader

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theemporium · 8 months

Note

request for quinn hughes !!

quinn and luke’s childhood girl best friend finally get together during the summer of ‘21, keeping it a secret from everyone but their moms

luke’s bsf even goes out of her way to fly to vancouver to see quinn during the season and uses the excuse “i’m visiting my brother in van” because her brother goes to ubc.

i didn't really specify the summer but thank you for requesting!!🫶🏽

part two

“Wait, what do you mean you’re not coming out tonight?”

You resisted the urge to roll your eyes as you held your phone between your ear and shoulder, your hand occupied with the pasta sauce you were currently making.

“Because I’m in Vancouver, Luke,” you stated bluntly. “I told you I was coming up ages ago.”

“To visit your brother?”

To visit a brother, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Yeah,” you said noncommittally. “I promise I’ll go out with you and the boys next time though.”

“How long are you up there for?”

You opened your mouth to reply, only to hear the front door open and shut. You waited a moment before Quinn rounded the corner, something in his eyes lighting up the second he saw you. He went to say something but you quickly placed your finger over your lips before you finally replied to Luke.

“Probably for a week or so, I’m not sure yet,” you said to the younger Hughes. “Listen, I’ll talk to you later, my brother just walked in—”

“Oh, let me say hi—”

“Bye, Luke!” You quickly hung up before the boy got a chance to say another word.

You placed your phone down on the counter, letting out a small sigh of relief before you turned to your boyfriend, who was only looking at you with an amused expression.

“I’m your brother now?” He joked.

“Shut up,” you grumbled as you turned back to the lunch you were making for the two of you before Quinn slipped out the house to run a few errands.

Your relationship with Quinn Hughes over the years could be described in one word: nonexistent.

When you were younger, you were nothing but Luke’s best friend that he insisted tagged along to every family event the Hughes family held. When you were in high school, Quinn was the cool, older brother who went off to college and followed his dream. By the time you were in college, he was off in Vancouver, playing in the big leagues and living the life he always dreamed of.

It just so happened that a fateful night at the lakehouse last summer would be the very thing to completely shatter the nonexistent relationship between you. The second you both saw each other that summer, it was different: you were no longer the little kid tagging along, and he was no longer the older, grumpy brother you barely saw.

It was different. You were different.

Late night conversations around the fire slowly shifted into something more, and all it took was a beer or two for confidence before you found yourself rolled between the sheets of Quinn Hughes’ bed.

And what started off as a summer fling slowly dropped into the autumn months, followed through Christmas and New Years. And now, it was February and you were still going strong.

Not that anybody knew that—especially not Luke.

“I’m teasing,” Quinn murmured as he slid in behind you, his arms winding around your waist and his face pressed into the crook of your neck. “I do want you to come back, after all.”

Your lips twitched upwards. “A whole week of me not enough?”

“Never,” he murmured against your skin, placing a soft kiss at the base of your neck because he knew it made you squirm. “Wish you could stay for longer.”

“Luke would get suspicious if I stayed for Valentine’s,” you sighed as you leaned back in his embrace, wishing that you could stay for longer as well.

“We could always tell him,” Quinn said after a few moments.

“I paired up with Jack for beer pong once and he pouted for a week, how do you think he’ll react to this?” You asked. The bond between you and Luke could only be described as platonic soulmates, and that wasn’t something you wanted to lose, even if your relationship with Quinn was everything you could’ve asked for and more.

“We were younger then,” he retorted.

“It was last summer, Quinn,” you shot back, and the boy sighed heavily against your neck.

“I just wish we didn’t have to hide it anymore,” Quinn grumbled, his arms tightening around you. “I’d like to hang out with my girlfriend in public, not sneak around like fucking teenagers.”

“I thought you said the sneaking around was hot,” you teased.

“It got boring after month three,” he admitted before he lifted his head, turning you around in his arms so you were facing him. “Let’s tell him. Luke’s a big boy, he can handle it.”

You pressed your lips together. “You’re sure?”

“Baby, you’re not gonna lose him over this,” he murmured in a soft, reassuring voice. “He might be a bit fussy, but he’s your best friend. If he sees you happy, then he will be happy.”

“You make me happy,” you whispered, watching as a small smile grew on his face.

“Then we’ll tell him,” Quinn nodded.

“After this trip though,” you said. “I’d rather not spend the rest of my time here with Luke blowing up my phone. I want to tell him in person.”

“Whatever you want,” Quinn nodded before his eyes darted down to your lips. However, just before he could lean down, you were quickly turning around. “That was cruel.”

“I’m cooking, Quinn, stop distracting me.”

He raised his brows. “And one kiss is distracting?”

“With you, it’s never one kiss,” you shot back.

Quinn huffed out a laugh. “Fine, but afterwards you’re all mine, baby.”

You bit back your smile. “You got yourself a deal, Hughes.”

#quinn hughes #vancouver canucks #nhl #quinn hughes x reader #quinn hughes x you #quinn hughes x y/n #quinn hughes fic #quinn hughes one shot #nhl x reader #nhl x you #nhl x y/n #nhl fic #nhl one shot

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thecynthh · 1 month

Text

end game - M.S

synopsis - through matt and y/n’s life both of them never thought they would be hooking up, but what happens when everyone finds out about them and it blows up in their face.

2.6k words

notes - IM NOT HATING ON MADI I JUST NEEDED SOMEONE TO USE FOR STORY PURPOSES. (im her biggest fan dont cancel me)

(synopsis for a new series that i’m working on is featured)

this is for @annamcdonalds67 contest!! i saw the post and saw how many taylor swift songs were there and this was one of my favourite ones out there and i got insanely inspired. please share some love to anna as well bc she deserves it for organizing this !

warnings - smut->angst, small matt sub, riding, oral (fem receiving), childhood best friends to fwb to lovers, badboy!matt x goodgirl!reader

for lacysturniolo and her amazing work and dedication to her fans, i’ll look up to you, forever and always

matt barely made it through the door before his arms were strangling me in a death inducing kiss. in my whole 17, almost 18, years of life i never expected in my life did i think my childhood best friend would be the one crushing me with his lips. we’ve both dated around but through it all we ended up here.

“fuck, matt” the breathy name escapes from my mouth feeling him move down to my neck leaving stinging hickeys with his talented mouth. “god im glad your parents aren’t here, don’t think my good kid image would keep up if they heard you.”

“you’re so inappropriate matt” my eyes roll listening to him rub in how much my parents love matt. “come on, i don’t like the idea of you fucking me on any other surface than in my room especially in my parents house.”

“whatever you say princess,” the small smirk he’s always had since he was 12 still looms over me as i lead him towards the grand staircase. he followed very close behind me keeping his arms and mouth on my neck.

it doesn’t take long till he’s holding my arms above my head with his fingers intertwined with mine. “matt, fuck, please can you just fuck me now.”

“you don’t get to be impatient, you called.”

“and you came.”

“you are about to as well.” i wanted to wipe that smirk clean off his face if his body didn’t feel so right pressed up against mine.

we haven’t told anyone about us yet, not even nick or chris. we both knew it would only make things worse, and i was alright with keeping it a secret. i’ve spent enough of my closeted and innocent. I'm a teenager, teens are supposed to do this type of thing. teens may hook up but maybe not with their childhood best friends

his mouth trailed down from my neck, to my sternum, all the down to between my thighs before he yanked my legs down to come closer to the edge of the bed.

3RD PERSON POV

matt’s hands never seem to have left y/n's body, exploring every last inch of her body. her arms, legs and heart were his. matt spends no time wasted connecting his lips to her clothed heat, within seconds she’s shimming her pants and underwear off.

there was a small knock on the door with an awaiting friend, madi was there to meet up with y/n to pick up the homework she had missed that day. without an answer from the door, madi looks around the house through windows and cracks in the blinds.

only seeing a light shown through from the living room, she wanders off to the balcony and fire escape on the side of the house. it was only a flight of stairs and a half till madi was on par with the balcony, it was a short climb till she was onto the balcony. the only thing blocking madi and the couple was a transparent creme coloured cloth with embroidered rose accents.

y/n’s loud moans escaped flooding her bedroom, escaped through the window. the curtains sway giving madi an opening to see matt fully down on her friend and her enjoying it. madi’s mouth gapes open as ashe slides her phone out of her pocket.

the camera app opens quickly as she swipes to record.

the small blip of her phone pipes up as she capturns the full scene on camera, the summer sunset gave a yellow glow to the recording. matt rips off his shirt with one arm dipping right back to y/n’s core.

madi’s only thought was to share it to her best friend, nick. little did she know nick wasn’t the only one she sent it to, but her homework group. madi continued to record through the small slit of the window.

science 4 group

madi 🩷

* view one attachment *

HOLY SHIT LOOK MATT AT Y/N’S HOUSE!!!!

Y/N’S POV

“matt, matt, matt” the release came to me in an instant. “come on baby girl, you did so well. you ready?” the sound of his belt come undone only made me hotter. before another word could be exchanged i grab his shoulder pulling him down to the bed rolling on top of him.

“i’ll ride you till your dick is limp and your begging me to stop.” matt’s reaction only made me feel even more aroused. “anything for you baby,” matt said copying my tone of voice.

stationing my legs on either side of his i bend down to kiss him, pressing my pebbled nipples onto his bare skin, slowly grinding down onto his raging hard on.

his whines only intensify the burning seer of his skin touching mine. my hand follows in suit with my hips feeling every last vein of his dick through his boxers. “a-ah!” matt whines due to me pressing my finger into his slit.

pushing his boxers down his dick springs out slapping against his happy trail. “please please please y/n please.”

“please what, pretty boy?” i mock feeling the surge of power flow through me.

“please fuck me,” he whimpered out. for such a bad boy exterior, he sure doesn’t act like it now.

without waiting another second for him to say something else i sink down onto his throbbing dick feeling him fill me up so well. “mhhm, matty you feel so good.”

“ugh, only for you b-baby.” matt’s barely keeping it together, while i bounce up and down on his cock. speeding up every second. i begin to grind onto his pelvis as i slam down onto him with his body slightly grazing my clit in the best way possible.

“matty, im a-about to c-cum. do it with me.” his hands sneak onto my love handles as i lean up against him again, he attaches his mouth to my nipple that was dangling in front of him. his hips snap up and down, pushing insanely deep inside me. “m-matt!” a loud pornographic moan comes out of my mouth feeling the knot in my stomach break, feeling a huge relief. he follows soon after letting out a guttural grunt.

i roll down beside him, both of our deep breaths fill the room. “fuck, oh my god.” i breathed out, heaving my chest. i turn to face him, putting my hand against his chest and my head onto the arm that was stretched out near me. my curtains move and sway with the blow of my fan as i see a shadow fall off of my window, it must've just been an animal.

“i don’t think i can walk,” i confess feeling him look over to me. my hand travels to feel his scruff that he’s been growing out the past few weeks, it’s never gotten that long but it’s still very apparent. “hmm, lemme take care of you okay? we can even get mcdonald’s, im fine driving out to the further one if you're scared of people to see us.” he combs his hand through my hair, tugging a little relieving some heat and pressure my head has collected.

he pushes himself up and goes to the bathroom, turning on the shower and coming back to retrieve me.

this whole day it felt like people were staring at me left and right, i haven’t even been in the building for more than 20 minutes and i’ve had three people quickly lose eye contact with me when they were the one staring first.

i haven’t matt yet but i was really hoping we would be able to meet up at our usual spot, im snapped out of my trances feeling someone's hand on my shoulder squeezing it a little. i jump a little whipping my head towards the rest of the hands body, thank goodness it’s just nick. “babes, we gotta talk.” he said in a monotone voice, “why what’s up?”

“just give me a second, stop moving.” i listen to him and stop in my tracks seeing nothing wrong with today but the staring. “okay now what happened last night,” nick said now holding me down with both hands.

“well if you must know, my parents are out of town, like you knew and i stayed home studying before going out for mcdonald’s.” the lie slipped out from my mouth with ease hoping to keep matt and my secret a secret for a little longer.

“okay then maybe it isnt that serious…” nick trailed off, his shoulders were very visibly tense, not letting off since he caught up to me. “what are you talking about? but come on lemme at least go to my locker.” he reluctantly let’s go knowing i’m stronger than him.

“y/n wait– just know i have no clue if its true or if it's even you.” he says following in suit with me. “nick, still no clue what you are talking about.” my locker lock clicks a few times before i'm able to get it open.

a large barrage of papers fall out of my locker all having the same image pasted on them. my mouth drops open as i turn my head to nick. he picks one up from the top of my locker, unfolding it and making a sour face to it. “what? what is it?”

he slowly hands it to me, folding it back up before i get ahold of it.

my heart dropped.

it was a grainy picture of me riding matt last night, his hands on my hips and my face looking at him with pure lust. it was taken through my window and luckily you couldn’t see much of matt’s face and next to none of mine. but people knew, everyone knew it was me.

picking up a few other copies, some of them have the words slut and whore written on them in large words. if they printed a picture it must’ve been everywhere online, i cannot stand being here another minute.

stuffing a couple copies into my bag i storm out of the building feeling tears stinging my eyes, y/n how could you let this happen? what’s going to happen when harvard finds out about this? there goes your life, your friends, your boyfriend and your future. quadruple kill.

i sit in my car and just drive, drive to the only place that’ll bring me any kind of peace at this time. it was only a 3 minute drive from the school to the large forest that surrounded the school. i parked my car on the slightly wet gravel, hearing the crunch of the rocks beneath the tires.

i walked and walked till the trees seemed to clear a bit, the grass was wet and squished under my shoes. brunette hair peaks from behind a tree, it was like the picture was being painted in front of me this whole time. matt came here too, he came to where we met the first time.

he stumbled into the forest after getting chased by a couple of guys once he tried to start a fight.

something brushed by the bushes alerting me, a boy in an oversized hoodie over his stained red white tee. jeans scuffed and a little dirty as he flops down on the grass in front of me. i can hear him panting as his chest rose and fell with deep breaths.

he tilts his head to finally see me, i still sit there frozen with my book in hand slowly reaching for my keys being cautious incase he tries to go for me next. “i see, you know. im not gonna hurt you. i would never hit a girl.” his words are slow and very unconvincing. “do you talk? he asked, glancing at me again. he finally sat up and came closer to me, my hand clutches the house keys even harder as he steps plop in front of me.

his body collides with the tree as he sits next to me, his sweet and salty cologne fills my senses, feeling it cloud my thoughts. he takes the book from my hands and closes it looking around at it.

“everything has changed by cynthia atlan, we crave love so much we would trade anything for it, including ourselves. caleb and cam grew up together, had their first kiss together but still haven’t thought about getting together. when highschool life takes a horrible turn the two become separated and distant, caleb doesn’t wanna let cam go but life takes turns and loops. how are they able to navigate hormones, relationships and life? sounds like a hoot.” his sarcastic voice says otherwise.

“this caleb guy doesn’t sound like he really deserved her huh…” he flips through the pages quickly glancing at a couple words per page.

“well, i guess i should go, but i’ll see you around here i hope.” his smile beamed brightly as he pushed himself up and looked back at me.

“hm, maybe” it comes out almost as a whisper. his face lights up as he takes my words as an accomplishment. “yeah, i’ll see you around here, tomorrow.”

he never gave me my book back before he left and i didn’t even realise it. i guess that’s one way to make me come back

“matt?” i get out between choked sobs. i didn’t even need to see his red eyes and face to tell he’s also been crying.

he peered over to where i was looking up and down before attempting to wipe away his tears and sadness. i didn’t think twice before joining him.

his brown hair is tousled by him running his hand through it many times and his tear stained eyes tell more than what he wished.

“y/n i-i’m so s-sorry.” his tears spilt once more making any effort of wiping them away futile. he wrapped his arms around something and hugged it tight. it was my book he stole from me when we first met. “i’m so so so fucking sorry i’m such an idiot.”

“matt, please it wasn’t your fault. but i am terrified, i don’t want to ever go back to school.” my voice cracks while trying to get through that sentence. matt doesn’t even utter another word before he tugs me into him, straddling him as he wraps his arms around me in a tight hug.

“i’m so sorry y/n, i didn’t wanna face anyone after i left. when i walked in everyone was applauding and people shook my hand, i had no clue why until chris and nick texted me about it.”

his pure sincerity makes me suffocate him a little more not wanting anyone else around but him. he puts a hand around my cheek guiding it to him to kiss, i get a good look of his equally dishevelled face.

“we are so fucked.” i giggle a little thinking about how much a shit show this will be when we get back.

“is this what they mean in everything has changed that high school life would take a bad turn? because i’m happy to go through it if it means we get our happy ending. you’re my end, end game.”

“yes matt, this is everything. we are the happy ending. we are end game” my quivering lips connect with his.

#sturniolo triplets #syn speaks #matt sturniolo #matthew sturniolo #sturniolo fanfic #sturniolo x reader #sturniolo smut #matthew bernard sturniolo #matt sturniolo fanfic #matt sturniolo x you #matt sturniolo fluff #matt sturniolo smut #matt sturniolo x reader #matt x reader #smut #sturniolos #Spotify

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yxami · 6 months

Text

day 3 or nut or not November

desc: yandere soldier x gn soldier reader, no nsft, mostly angst I think, happy no nut November day, mentions of stalking, obsession, general yandere themes, etc.

Aeon:

You were tasked alongside a familiar face, every mission you went on was with him, your new friend that you’ve made by talking over dinner about how distasteful some of the ‘meals’ were.

The two of you bonded over lots of other things as well, coming from the same town was shocking for the two of you, you were still bewildered by the fact that the two of you didn’t meet once especially since it was such a low populated town.

He looked like someone you used to know, resembling his facial features and a few quirks you only knew your friend had, but there was no way they could be the same person, just a guy very similar to him.

And your original friend was long gone anyways, he was just up and out like there was nothing important in his old life to stay for. As if your childhood friendship with him wasn’t anything other than a way to pass time.

You can’t even remember how many messages you left, but you knew they were all heartfelt as you typed them. Some of the ones you sent were begging him to come back, and that you’d forgive him if he just replied back at least, and a few cursing him out for leaving you without saying a word.

And the ones you never failed to forget were the embarrassing ones about how you loved him, how awful it is to be living in this town without him, he was your everything but you weren’t his. You only sent those when you truly believed he would never answer.

And he never did.

“So, what are you going to do after we finish our mission here?” You asked your fellow soldier friend, walking alongside him before the two of you settled down against an oak tree with plenty of falling bark, it was okay to slack off sometimes in your eyes.

“Dunno’, maybe get deployed somewhere fun, what about you?” He nudges at your shoulder, looking excited to hear your answer, a little more excitement than a casual friend would have.

“I’m thinking about cutting my contract early, going awol and running some place far away” Only complete seriousness dripped from your voice, it was the truth and you knew it but you thought you could play it off as a joke.

“Just joking, of course” You laugh awkwardly, looking beside you to see his uncomfortable expression, you immediately worried on whether he’d report you to your sergeant.

You’ve been meaning to go off into some place that’d keep you sane, you hated everything about this town, it was cruel and lonely, nothing like how it was when you were a kid. There was nothing that managed to occupy your mind other than leaving.

“You can’t leave me, you can’t” He repeats, looking incredibly worried, but not in the way a regular friend would be, you couldn’t place you finger on what emotion it could be originating from either.

“I just got you back, I’m not letting you go” He whispers, leaning towards you, his movement made you instinctively fall back against his forearm that he curled around you to slowly lay you down on the soft wispy grass under you.

“What are you talking about?” You scrunch your eyebrows in confusion, staring up at him as you bring your knees up to each side where his hips were, tempted to get up but too confused by his words to do so just yet.

“Do you not remember me? Aeon? I know I look different but don’t tell me you already forgot about me” Your old friend spoke, Aeon was his name and you’ve never forgotten about him not even in the slightest. The suddenly flow of memories was too much of a burden not to get livid about.

He brushed the flowing hair in your face behind your ears after the wind swept it to cover you, as if nature wanted to shield you from the person above you.

“Aeon, you asshole!” Your glassy eyes refilled with tears as soon as a few ran down the side of your cheeks, uncomfortably slipping close to your ears while you still laid against the soft ground. You pushed your hands up into his chest, repeatedly hitting him with no avail of comfort, he sat there and took every little action of abuse even if it hurt his heart to see you like this.

“I waited 2 years, 2 years for you! You didn’t say anything when you left” You sobbed, past sensations resurfacing as he pulled you to sit up, bringing you into his lap, before soothingly running his hand against your back.

“I know, I know” He whispered, allowing you to rest your head against his shoulder, he feels awful for making you cry, he always hated when you cried and he was never the reason why until now.

“My parents.. they didn’t want me seeing you anymore” He sighs, covering his mouth with the back of his hand before shifting his weight so you could rest comfortably against him while he leans against the tree.

“They just didn’t like how close we were” He whispered, still calming you down with back rubs and his fingers in your hair, just like he used to do whenever you came to him for comfort, he was the only one that could calm you down.

Aeon wasn’t exactly lying but he wasn’t telling the truth either. His parents didn’t like his growing obsession with you, they may or may not have found thousands of pictures in his phone and photos plastered all over his closet wall with lots of stolen items from coming from your room.

They might’ve first taken notice of his behavior by how much he spent on you, you always insisted that you could pay for yourself but his allowance always seemed to end up in your pocket in the form of gifts.

And the amount of occasions he was punished for beating the hell out of a guy who was hitting on you was too much that they couldn’t just give him a slap on the wrist anymore. They couldn’t excuse his behavior for a regular teenager either, it was an unexplainable obsession and they had to get him away from you before it got worse.

So they moved, not allowing him to say one word since you might provoke a reaction out of him to be more difficult than he already was being. His dad already had a struggle of making him pack his stuff before getting him in the car.

And with those two years, he was cured, he no longer had any pictures of you and didn’t fixate on how he wasn’t allowed to contact you. In his parents eyes, he was finally integrating himself into society with his therapist helping him along the way.

If only they knew he still had his old phone, the one he used to screenshot all the posts you made and watch your texts flood in every time you were missing him, whether it was anger or sadness motivating you he always read it.

He wanted to reply, he really did, but he couldn’t. He had a plan, the same one you’re seeing now, change some things about his looks and enroll into the military you just did. It was all pretty rushed since you only made a post 2 weeks before you were supposed to get on the field.

But he did it! He managed to get in and this was fate wanting to bring the two of you together!

“I thought your parents always liked me.. why didn’t they like how close they were?” You sniffled, eyes red from how much you cried, you were still in his lap as you leaned against his knees that he brought up as your back rest.

“I don’t know but.. they’re not here to separate us anymore! We can be close like how we used to be, doesn’t that make you happy?” He grins, wiping the tears off your face with his sleeves, always keeping your comfort in mind no matter what.

“I guess” You hesitantly frowned, a little too overwhelmed by how much the two of you have unpacked in such little notice, and the amount of time spent made both of you late for dinner.

“Listen, we can talk about it when we finish dinner, I’ll sneak into your barrack right after, I swear” Aeon lifts you with ease, setting you on your feet before holding his hand up with his pinkie extended, something the two of you always did as kids.

“I promise I will and now I’ll always be able to come back for you, no matter what”

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chilschuck · 10 days

Note

Can i request for chilchuck react to reader who like to daydream and after he tell the reader he is married, the reader keep spacing out more often out of sadness and they also try to avoid interacting with him much so she can move on. But laios and the other think it's normal since she always avoid interacting with people ( the reader interact with chilchuck more after falling in love with him )

Do you think he will notice? (ಥ﹏ಥ) (ಡ‸ಡ)

`✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ WAHHHH ANON this is such a good concept and made my heart hurt…… i ended up adding some comfort to it because if you’re like me, you need it after reading angst!! :”)))

— OF COURSE: chilchuck x gn!reader.

꒰ warnings: ꒱ sfw + hurt/comfort! might be a lil ooc, lol.

꒰ wc: ꒱ 941

✦ i hope this turned out okay!! i made it shorter than my other drabbles by accident but it felt good to end it where it did. i kind of changed the prompt a lil but only because i wanted to give you guys some love from chil still. (;;;w;;;) i’m honestly worried this turned out bad…. hhhhh. i’m so sorry if it’s not what you wanted. ;;; i still hope you enjoy!!! <333

He knew something was wrong.

It wasn’t difficult to see that you had started avoiding him. Even your gaze refused to meet his own for longer than it had to. Your constant spacing out and stares at the floor said all he needed to hear: you were upset.

It only seemed to get worse when you overheard his talk about reconciling with his wife, any hope you had shattering into a thousand pieces in front of you. From then on, you didn’t smile unless you felt you had to. The thick silence you left in your wake was suffocating, and Chilchuck wasn’t sure how much more he could take.

The other members in the party took it as if you were being your usual spacey self, and didn’t draw any attention to the issue. This only made Chilchuck feel worse; he definitely noticed the change.

You used to hang back with Chilchuck and talk with him constantly, sharing little tidbits about yourselves or chatting mindlessly. Things seemed to come easily when it came to you... Too bad he only realized this now.

The smiles you gave him, the eyes full of affection, the lingering touches… It stung that they were no longer a part of his everyday life. Instead, the sadness that ate at you only bled through to your face, into your actions, and into your silence. It was unfamiliar and unbearable at the same time… Especially with the way you’d closed up further.

Chilchuck wasn’t stupid; he knew you harbored some sort of feelings for him. He wasn’t sure if that made this hurt more than it would otherwise. You were obviously distancing yourself from him, further proving his point that inner party relationships were trouble. Yet, there wasn’t any anger or resentment in his chest towards you. If anything, this was a misunderstanding between the two of you.

Calling your name, he approached you almost apprehensively. The recoil you gave made that familiar sharp pain in his chest reappear. Blurting out an excuse, you made your presence scarce. And just like that, you left him alone again.

Of course he noticed. If anything, he hoped that it was all some sort of miscommunication. Sure, he wanted to reconnect with his estranged wife, but… That’s what they were: estranged childhood sweethearts that grew apart. Along with their love, their relationship changed. Things weren’t something he could fix, and his old flame knew that too. But he hoped more than anything they could sort through their differences and still be at least friends.

Of course you didn’t know. There was no way for you to know, or have known his true intentions. Like everything else he tried to bury deep down, you were fading from his life. Chilchuck couldn’t seem to let this one go, to let you go.

So he chased after you. For once in his life, he decided to not swallow these feelings down. He knew there was only so much he could bury, only so much he’d want to bury. You didn’t deserve that, and he needed you to give him those smiles again. To give him those gazes full of adoration and those tender but fleeting touches…

You didn’t pull your hand out of his immediately. Instead, when he called your name again this time, you turned. Chilchuck swallowed.

“Why are you avoiding me?”

Surely there was a better thing to ask at this moment, but your lip quivered nonetheless. A deep sigh leaving you, your gaze met with the floor again.

“…So it’d stop hurting.” Was all you replied, the weight of those words knocking the air out of him. He opened his mouth to speak, but you raised a hand to silence him.

“This is for the best... I hope you understand.” Your voice used to never sound so broken. It was soft in a way that he’d never heard before. You had truly given up on this, and he can’t say he blames you. He’d have given up on himself, too.

But he can’t let himself fall into that same cycle of self-pity. Not again, he assured himself, reaching up to grab a fist full of your top and pulling you down to meet his eyes. “Let me explain this to you. Please. I… I’m not going back to her because of the reason you think.” Chilchuck hadn’t heard himself this pleading in so long. He felt pitiful, and he suddenly remembered why he doesn’t like being vulnerable.

You couldn’t stop your head from nodding a yes to his request, that spark of hope trying to ignite once again in your chest. Trying to snuff it out, you waited patiently for him to continue.

And so he did. Baring it all to you, he decided this would be another step towards being more open with himself. Maybe you’d see him as pathetic for this, but he tried to piece the words together as congruent as possible. The feelings he had for her distinguished with the years spent apart and even some of the time spent together. This whole time he’s been sure that he just wanted to right the wrongs he did, and move on. Hopefully with you, when all this was over.

Of course you said yes. You listened, and with every word that left him, the flame within you rekindled. You weren’t sure what to say for a moment, besides giving a light laugh in relief. Even Chilchuck exhaled a brisk chuckle, scratching the back of his head in nervous habit. He’s not sure he could ever get used to this whole “telling your true feelings” thing.

But for you, he’d try.

— dividers by @/cafekitsune!! <333

#⟡ lilia writes! 🌿#trying to get better at hurt/comfort #and this may be terrible bc i’m so brain fried rn gdhfjfjhj #but i thought maybe you’d want some chil loving too :’)))#chilchuck x reader #chilchuck tims x reader #dunmeshi x reader #dungeon meshi x reader #delicious in dungeon x reader

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maple-the-awesome · 6 months

Text

Friend or Foe || Part 2/3

Part 1 || Part 3

Pairings: Time, Wind, Wild x GN Reader

Overview: Link visits an alternate world without its hero and, more importantly, a version of you without your Link. Unfortunately, it seems even the smallest of details can lead to disastrous results. In spirt of Halloween, I've decided to do a little evil prompt because none of the Links have enough emotional damage yet😈

Zelda Masterlist 💙Fandom Masterlist

Time may not remember everything that has occurred over his many, long adventures, but he does remember the day you met. Only children then, you both made an innocent promise to marry once adults. Now, Time may be a lot of things, but he has always been a man of his word. How could he not be when presented the perfect chance to spend the rest of his life with his childhood crush? You’re the one person he can trust with his every secret - the reward at the end of every troubling journey. He lives to see your joy and dies to see your sorrow, even when it isn't exactly 'your' sorrow...

It's difficult business keeping track of eight young boys and men, especially when they're all cursed with the same adventurous spirits that are easily distracted. Of course they’ve managed to disappear here. He can only blame himself for not having questioned their silence sooner, although he’d be lying to say he doesn’t feel disappointed, notably with the older boys, Twilight and Warrior, who are usually more responsible than to simply wander off without a word of explanation. Alas, even they’re nowhere to be seen, his only hint of other life nearby being a giggle that echoes off the vast number of gigantic trees.

"My, my. One more left I see?" Time leaps back, hand already on his sword when he hears the voice, “Oooh, and look at you! So handsome! So fierce! I’m digging the scar - it makes you look so tough. And those muscles, too! You seem like you would really know how to -”

“- Where are you?!” Time demands, getting his answer promptly when a figure swings down from a branch mere feet away from his face.

“Wow! You’re even hotter up closer!”

Time's eyes widen in surprise due to both their sudden entrance and their physical appearance. This mysterious person has wild hair that sticks out in every direction with their body lacking a healthy weight or color, yet Time immediately ignores all of that in favor of focusing upon the mask they wear - one he knows all too well but wishes he didn’t. He thought, for a second, that he may have recognized their voice, too, yet he’s more certain that he must be mistaken in that regard. No way it could be…

“Hey, you were traveling with those other boys, right? So maybe you’ll be nicer by giving me the answers I want! You see, beautiful stranger, I’m looking for a special friend of mine. We made a promise a while back and I intend to fulfill it if I could just find him first. None of the travelers I’ve found in these woods so far are him, so I was beginning to lose hope until I overheard those friends of yours mention his name, but they -”

Time can’t move, his body overcome with a chilled wave that ends with his feet cemented to the ground. It would be reasonable to say he misheard the first time, and he could keep denying it if he wants now, but that wouldn’t change the fact that he does recognize this person’s voice. How could he not when it’s the same that belongs to his own person angel? It’s a disordered version of yours, however this person isn’t you. This can’t be you because last he checked, you were safe back home where you promised to wait for his next return. How could you suddenly be here in this world, kept under the binding influence of Majora’s Mask?

“- Hey, are you broken?!” This person - who still so eerily sounds like you despite Time’s refusal to admit such a thing - knocks a fist against his forehead, barely flinching when he jerks back with a gasp, “Sooo? You gonna help me or just be difficult like your friends, eh? I don’t have all day, miser!”

Perhaps this ‘you’ is simply a figment of his imagination created by the forest to torment him; that must be the answer. He just has to play the game - no matter how much it messes with his head - to find out what happened to the boys. He’s dealt with enough Skull Kids before, this would be a piece of cake.

“I -...This friend of yours, who is he? Someone you’ve lost in the forest?” Time asks carefully, doing his best not to react too much outwardly, after all he’s seen first hand how Majora’s Mask can affect the mind of its wearer, and this ‘you’ before him has already clearly been put through the wringer.

“If I knew where I had lost him, I would’ve found him!” You snap in irritation.

Time swallows, “...Right, that does make sense, but perhaps if you could tell me his name, I could offer you better help in finding him?”

You seem pleased by this answer, swinging yourself upright on the branch where you become illuminated only by the glowing eyes of your mask, “Link.”

“L…Link?” That cold feeling from before returns, making Time suddenly feel sick to his stomach as the dots finally begin to connect in his head. This is no figment of his imagination - no trick of the light or evil illusion. It really is you…not the same version of you he married, but the other he promised to…

In Wind’s world, you're an adored teacher on Windfall Island. You’re kind, caring, and very knowledgeable about Hyrule's history which came in handy whenever he needed pointers during his early adventures. Yes, you would express concern over a child of his age partaking in such dangerous affairs (you thought it was all a joke when he first told you) and you've let it slip before that you aren't the biggest fan of pirates, although beyond your mother-like worry which you’ve adopted towards all your students (even the unofficial ones like Wind), you’ve ultimately supported him every step of the way. You've always been a huge role model for him, so this shift in personality is more than unexpected...

Wind was excited to show his new friends around what he thought to be his own Hyrule and relieved to discover they weren’t alone on this island they’ve found themselves stuck on after wandering through another portal. A pirate ship anchored on shore - the very ship belonging to Zelda’ crew, as Wind foolishly assured the others despite their caution. Now, thanks to his impatience and eagerness, he sits saddened and embarrassed next to the rest of the heroes as they remain tied to the ship’s mast.

It’s confusing. The pirates of this ship are the same as Zelda's crew, yet they claimed to not at all recognize the younger pirate regardless of his attempts to jog their memories. Instead, they had rounded him and the rest of the Chain up the second they approached their dock, taking them prisoner where they currently wait for 'the Captain's reaction'.

The Captain. This made Wind feel relieved again. Zelda. He doesn't know why the other pirates are acting so strangely, but Zelda will be able to clear this whole mess up, in fact here she comes, dressed in her normal pirate attire Wind's accustomed to seeing.

"ZELDA! Goddesses, am I glad to see you! I don't understand what kinda trick the guys are trying to play on me, but this isn’t the time! My friends - they're all heroes of courage like me and we could really use your help to -" The words come so quickly from Wind's mouth that Zelda barely has time to look disgusted.

"How hard did you exactly hit this guy?" She asks while looking to Nudge then back to Wind with a smirk.

"Wha - I'm serious! This is urgent, Zelda -!"

"- Who?" She places her hands on her hips, generally seemingly confused which makes Wind's blood run cold, but not as much as it does when another voice speaks.

"Oi, what's the ruckus out here, eh!? I thought I told ya' lot to keep it down - Oh. What do we have here, umm?" The doors to the Captain's cabin burst open, out walking a figure dressed head-to-toe in a bright red uniform with a large black, white, and magenta feather sticking out from their hat.

"Captain," Zelda immediately backs off from Wind, "These guys were just caught after trying to rush our ship."

"No, that’s not what we -!"

"- Little thieves. 'thought they could just follow us here and steal our treasure!" The pirates hiss together, although you take more time to look over the boy in front of you along with his companions.

"You all look familiar…" Your statement - as disinterested as it sounds - almost gives Wind hope. Almost, "Lock 'em up in the cellar where I won't have to listen to their annoying bitching. Gonzo, set a course for the Forsaken Fortress. I think Ganondorf would like to meet these boys. Tetra, you stick with me."

"YES, CAPTAIN!" An assortment of shouts follow, both from the pirates who follow your every order loyally and the heroes who express their dismay. Wind, however, can only stare in complete disbelief and betrayal as you look back at him once more, your eyes dark from underneath your hat's shadow which is a sharp contrast to the usual warmth that he knows you for.

Wild lives with a lot of heavy regrets weighing him down, perhaps the most unspoken being his missed chance at ever telling you his true feelings. You were an ever-so-dear friend to him before the Calamity - someone who never expected the impossible from him and always offered a shoulder to lean on should he need one. He loved you quite a bit; something he remembered almost as soon as he remembered you. He has often visited your grave, replaying past events in his head while suffocating in his own guilt from not having protected you. He has sometimes begged the Goddess to let him see you again, even if just to apologize, but this isn’t what he had in mind - far from it…

Wild’s version of Hyrule is chaotic and messy; a land that thrives off of quiet hope and the shattered remnants of a once mighty kingdom. Zelda has mentioned the theory before: that like Hyrule, Wild needed to become something else - something different and unruly in nature because if you can’t beat it, then join it.

With that said, he’s accustomed to using a lack of forethought, at least in any way comparable to his past self (which is what he tells himself, anyway). As far as he knows, before the Calamity, he was as straight-laced as they come, always concerning himself with his public image and focused on never letting anyone down. He’s nothing like that now, often running into danger head first with messy hair and a blaze of fire following his trail. You would think after the amount of concussions and scars he’s gained, he would’ve long learned his lesson, but alas, he raced through this dungeon with little worry as he’s done many others because his confidence - or perhaps his dull wit - has once again outweighed any common sense.

Now this is the price he must pay for his own ignorance: a nightmare reanimated before him as it taunts and tortures his inner conscience…and all he can do is accept this horrid punishment in frozen terror as you stalk across the room towards him.

When he raced ahead of the others and turned the key, he expected to be greeted with the typical dungeon boss - an overgrown bokoblin or fiery wizard. He didn’t expect it to be you, crumbled on the ground with gloom affecting your entire body. He didn’t expect for you to react so harshly to his presence, throwing him across the room with a blast of magic when he tried to reach your side, desperate to know how you’re alive and if you’re okay.

You look as angry as you have every right to be, your face curled into a snarl as you come closer, eyes narrowed in an orange glow and a sword in your hand…yet Wild could do nothing but let his knees buckle from underneath himself and dig his nails into his scalp as he asks himself over and over again how this is possible. How are you here? How are you alive? How were you affected and how does he fix you? …He can’t, though. He let you down then and has no idea how to save you now despite having been granted the gift of your presence again - the very thing he’s been begging for.

“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!” He cries, not sure if it’s for you or himself as he sobs your name with the same heartache he would over your grave, “I’msorry! I’msorry!”

“IT’S AN ILLUSION, WILD! IT’S NOT THEM!” Someone shouts from behind - someone who he’d usually easily recognize as Twilight yet his mind is in too much of a rush to even listen to his concerned friend’s words, let alone care about his identity.

Wild can only think of his final moments with you. The day you ‘casually’ told him about plans to try a new restaurant in Castle Town and how you were looking for someone to join you. Foolishly - ever so foolishly - he asked if your sister wouldn’t go, generally confused that you, someone so kind and loved, would have trouble finding a willing companion for any aspect of your life.

Bashfully, you agreed to ask her, and that was it. You walked off, leaving the poor hero to wonder why you looked so dejected and heartbroken. The next time he’d see you was a mere picture an old woman showed him, curious if you happened to be the one he ran into town desperately searching for. The woman - your niece, as it would turn out - confirmed his worst fears, explaining that while you had survived the initial attack during the Calamity, you like many others soon succumbed to an illness Purah now theorizes to have been a result of close contact with gloom.

Wild can only imagine your final moments, poisoned by gloom and betrayal much like this other version of you is. If only he had done his job properly, you would have never felt such pain. You, like your sister, would have grown old and lived peacefully as you deserved. He, himself, wouldn’t have to forever live with this guilt he bears from your death - guilt that tries convincing him it would’ve been better if Twilight hadn’t pulled him away from the danger, instead allowing you - even if not truly you - to get some sort of revenge for his mistakes.

#lu wind x reader #lu wind #linked universe x reader #linked universe #link x reader #legend of zelda #lu time x reader #lu time #lu wild x reader #lu wild

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luffyvace · 4 months

Text

Chrollo Lulcifer x outgoing reader

no gender specified here so i guess you can count it as gn. btw this is separate from my phantom troupe hcs i’m planning on grouping those :)

(for the record I will still do the rest of the poll results just wanted to post some hxh content as I haven’t in a while <3)

enjoy<3

seeing as though your outgoing if you didn’t meet from the troupe you probably came up to him first

but for these headcanons im gonna go with a reader who’s in the troupe

and childhood friends troupe too :)

ngl your special

your just as important to him as pakunoda

and canonly she was dear to him

so when you came up to him all excited about those tapes they were doing

something sparked in him and he wanted to be your friend instantly

back then you had to be careful who you trust

so he didn’t rush in and become best friends with you overnight

but he definitely enjoyed the time he spent with you

you even got a few episodes in the tapes!!

that was the happiest moment of your childhood

back to present 😋

Chrollo doesn’t mind your need to be active and in fact it’s motivating to him to be as well

he takes you out to as many events and outings as you want

although i’ll say he’s more reserved so your doing the talking and he’s doing the nodding and smiling

he doesn’t mind when you have plans with your friends but just make sure to make time for him

it’ll make him feel lonely if your out having fun and he’s just sitting around with the realization that he has no friends

that’s not in the troupe anyway

its like despite being in the troupe you’d still manage to find a somewhat normal life

he kind of envies that

to be able to still have a sort of morals and such

and not be alienated, y’know?

having a sense of self, in a way.

he does suggest more indoor or private dates and activities

and as much as you love him you just would prefer going out and doing something fun

so he finds loop wholes :)

mounting climbing! your still out and about but your alone!

and since your in the troupe he doesn’t worry about falling much

seeing as though you can handle your own

still keeps and eye out for you though

especially if your not the strongest physically

you also put forth effort for more one on one dates

like watching movies in the bed

its perfect for when your sleepy especially

like you have a whole routine of fun yet tiring mini adventures

and then you get to come back and cuddle with your lover 💗

isn’t that sweet?!

your probably a physically affectionate person

you can give him as much affection in private as you want

with just you two, you can kiss on the cheek, lips, forehead, hands, neck, hug him, cuddle, whatever!

in public it’s more so just occasional cheek kisses, holding onto his arm and holding hands

sometimes you turn things into a game or your just really playful

splashing in the supposed to be a romantic bath

hoping on his back and making him give you a piggyback ride on what was supposed to be a romantic walk

he loves you though, so he never says anything about it

it doesn’t really irk him like that anyway

its another one of those

‘it’s you, so it’s endearing’ moments

buys you all kinds of gifts

typical for chrollo headcanons but i just had to mention it

oh did i say buy?

i meant steal

its not like you don’t know or anything

especially since your in the troupe yourself

i will say pda is hands off in front of the troupe

hes the boss, and your boss, and needs to keep up a reputation

he’s cried in front of the troupe before in that one scene

so it’s not really him being afraid to be vulnerable

it’s just that this is business

he needs to focus

not kisses and cuddles right now. okay honey?

he talks over the troupe’s next moves with you before telling the other members

even more so if your highly intelligent or good at planning

alr im gonna end it here<3

it’s a little bit short but i think it’s a decent length🧍‍♀️. anyway i’m gonna work on some more drafts now cyaa! hope you enjoyed💓

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mxsonxmountx · 11 months

Text

MM x They Don’t Know About Us

Word count: 1143

Requested: Yes/No

Requests: Open/Close

Bold: Mason

Italics: you

-----

They don’t know about the things we do, they don’t know about the I love you

All your childhood you was told to not to date Mason because of his behavior and attitude to women, although he was always very kind towards you, when he came to over people it was always different. He would bad mouth them, sleep with a different girl every night. You always told yourself that you would see past that but others couldn’t. Especially the Chelsea boys. The Chelsea boys to you wasn’t just friends, they were also brothers to you. You’ve known them for a while and they treated you like one of their own. It was another daily trip up to Cobham for you to go and collect Mason. Kepa and Reece both noticed you first and didn’t hesitate to come over to your car and have a quick chat to you about the train session and of course to your surprise, Mason.

“Boys, I can promise you that he’s not like that anymore. He’s a changed man. I swear. I know we’ve said this before, but I’m sure of it this time round”. The way Kepa looked you to say he knows something is doing on, but he never dared to say it to you. Minutes after, Mason headed over to your car and hoped in the front. Desperately wanting to kiss you but unable to because of Kepa and Reece still talking to you.

“Right boys, we better go. See you in the morning” “bye boys, be safe”

“What did they want?” “Nothing much, just told me how you still haven’t changed, but I told them that you have. Hopefully they won’t suspect anything Mase. It’s the last thing we need.” “They won’t suspect nothing. They don’t know about us. It’s our little secret.”

Although since you’ve been dating Mason, he’s been a whole new person, being early for training, forever treating you right, manners have improved massively which his family was impressed by. You’d stay at masons every other night so none of the lads would click on, yeah you’d be there sometimes when they was round but nothing more.

“I love you, you know that right?” “I love you too Mase”

-----

They don’t know how special you are

Saturday night. Date night. He’s booked a private area in the back of a restaurant where he begged nobody could see him and especially you. Although neither of you was ready to tell everyone, neither of you wanted the paps to find out first, you’ve done so well to keep it quite now and nothing was going to ruin it.

“This is lovely Mase, thank you” “only the best for my girl”

You both posted a picture of the night both with serval hour’s gaps apart and both different picture so nobody would click on. Both of you hated doing it, but you knew it was for the best.

Sunday morning. Breakfast in bed. Bed hair and sleeping in his shirt. One of masons favourite looks on you and he would tell the world then if he could but he didn’t.

“Breakfast in bed? What’s this in aid of?” “Nothing? I wanted to impress you and maybe spend a little time with you, before you have to go” “oh Mase, we can always spend time together… always. Plus a little birdie told me there’s a Chelsea end of season ball coming up soon…” “About that… I want you to come, but I hate hiding you…” He was right. You knew about the part from Reece, he messaged you about it. Mason told you weeks before, the only way you’d go with him was if you both came out about your relationship, but you second guessed everything. All the hate, negative comments, the abuse that Mason would get and you just couldn’t do it... yet “maybe if we go as friends, nobody would know?” “that’s what I’m thinking, going to buy you the most prettiest dress, pay for you make up to get done and hair. They don’t know how special you are to me” “I’m the luckiest of them all, lucky to have you. I don’t need you to buy me anything, don’t want them to think I’m only with you for the money” “I want to buy it for you… anyway eat your breakfast because there’s a load of washing up for you to wash up” Mason laughed, he understands where you’re coming from with everything, but he knows he will protect you at all costs.

-----

I want to tell the world that you’re mine

A month later it was time for the end of season party, your royal blue dress arrived a few weeks ago. You argued with mason to tell him not to buy it for you but he couldn’t help himself, you had all your hair done in the afternoon and you did your make up yourself in the evening a few hours before you had to both leave. Mason looked outstanding as per usual. Tonight was maybe the only night that you was looking forward too but also dreading considering none of his team mates knew that you and him was together. A car was picking yourself, Mason, Ben and his plus one up around 7:45pm.

“Not too sure how I’m supposed to keep my hand off you tonight. You look too good” “I can most certainly same the same about you. Ben and his lady are coming here at 7:30. Thought we could get some picture of us 4 just together?” “Oh erm yeah that’s fine. He’ll be the first to know right?” “Yeah but it’s not like he hasn’t seen you here before and he’s probably already put one and one together. So what’s the point of hiding my princess” “I don’t want to be hidden anymore, I’m ready and prepared what everyone will throw at me” and with that there was a knock at the door and it was Ben and his lady. You had to admit that she looked absolutely beautiful. “Are you and Mase, you know? Official?” “We are Ben, why do you think I’ve been here so often... im surprised he never told you boys in training” you chuckled at bit but it was more of a nervous laugh if anything “oh no he never. We all had our own idea but we all left it until you or Mase said something” You got pictures together, minutes before the car arrived to take you to the party. “You’re going to be fine, I promise” “I know I will, I have you beside me” your nerves gradually went and before you all arrived you was calm.

“Boys, this is my girlfriend” “hello boys” “Reece bro you owe me money, I told you they was dating” “wait Kepa and Reece had a bet on us both?!”

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mariaofdoranelle · 11 months

Text

Mastermind

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, @rowanaelinn!!

I’m posting this oneshot at midnight in your time zone if my math is right. I was between childhood friends to lovers and exes to lovers, but ended up going for this secret, cuter third thing. However you wanna call it, it’s a TS-inspired fluff fest.

Love you, Ezzy. I hope you have the best day today ❤️

Warnings: language

Words: 6k

14 YEARS BEFORE

“They’re idiots,” her boyfriend said with all the sureness a second-grader could have.

Aelin groaned. “I told my mom these glasses are stupid, but she won’t listen.”

“I know you can’t see it because the doctor said you’re blind now, but you still look very pretty, Fireheart.”

“I’m not blind!” Aelin whined.

Rowan squinted his eyes at her, not convinced of that yet.

When the school bus stopped and they stepped out, her body finally relaxed. She took a deep breath. That smelly bus full of mean kids had nothing on her neighborhood’s main street, especially when the first thing that hit her senses was coming from Emrys’, her favorite bakery.

Getting home was Aelin’s favorite part of school, but only because she did it with Rowan. She couldn’t stop thinking about today, the embarrassment she felt after the other kids wouldn’t let her play with them because she wouldn’t see the ball. The worst part is, Aelin knew her new glasses were just one of many excuses they had to not let her play.

She sighed, and Rowan squeezed her hand like he knew what she was thinking. After that, he bought her a Kit Kat bar with the pocket money his dad gives him, because he thought he knew how Aelin felt. He didn’t. Rowan said he didn’t want to play with kids who didn’t want to play with Aelin as well, but he only had a few friends because he wanted to.

Their parents were always telling them to use bikes on this stretch, but Aelin and Rowan actually walked on a turtle’s pace so they could spend more time together. Besides, she loved her neighborhood. She liked stopping to pet the neighbors’ dogs through the fences and jumping over the cracks of the sidewalk with Rowan.

Her dad had been telling her all about Doranelle City and how she’d love it there, but Aelin didn’t want to hear it. She loved Mistward, even if it was small and the kids at school didn’t like her. She had Rowan, and she had Emrys’ chocolate cake. It was more than enough.

“Wait here,” he said when they passed by his house.

”Aren’t you going to drop Aelin off, sweetie?” His mother called while she worked on her garden, and turned to Aelin. “I like your glasses. You look great in purple.”

Aelin hoped she wasn’t blushing. Even if Rowan’s mom didn’t approve of their relationship, she was always nice to Aelin.

It was their thing. Aelin walked Rowan home because his house was close to the bus stop, then he walked her home because he wanted to drop her off safely. Only after that he’d walk back to his house, alone this time.

“I’m just going to drop my backpack inside,” he explained.

Mrs. Whitethorn had the most beautiful garden in this block, it was her baby. It had roses and a few other flowers Aelin didn’t know the name of, but the kingsflower was her favorite.

“ROWAN!” Rory called, making Aelin’s eyes go wide and look for her boyfriend.

Before she knew it, he pulled her and they both ran off. Aelin’s heartbeat was as fast as her breathing, but Rowan didn’t let go of her hand as they ran away from his home. He made a stop a little after they turned around the corner, both of them panting and staring at each other with widened eyes.

“What did you do?”

With a sheepish smile, Rowan showed a big, blooming kingsflower he picked from his mom’s garden.

Aelin’s eyes were big with surprise, but then she smiled at him bigger than when she got chocolate cake. “For me?” She beamed, laughing.

Rowan handed over the flower, wearing the boyfriend smile he used just with her.

“I wish I was an octopus, that way I could give you seven flowers.”

“You mean eight.”

Rowan shook his head. “I‘d still need one to hold your hand while we run.”

Aelin’s cheeks were hurting from smiling so much, but she wouldn’t stop even after she got home.

“Do you think your mom will be convinced after that?”

Rowan shook his head. “She still asks me to call you my best friend.”

“Did you tell her we hold hands and share our lunch?”

”I did. She told me dating takes a lot of responsibility and other things kids can’t do.”

Aelin wrinkled her nose. “I think she means kissing.”

“Ew.” Rowan grimaced. “We don’t need that.” He had that little frown that gave away he was thinking hard on something, then sighed. “The couples always kiss on their wedding day, though. I guess I can kiss you if it means we’ll be married when we’re eighteen.”

“Come on, Buzzard.” She tugged on his hand, resuming their walk. “We’ll figure out the grown-up stuff when we grow up.”

Rowan didn’t press on the subject after that, but she knew he was still thinking about it. It was okay, she thought while twirling the kingsflower between her fingers.

Aelin planned the video game they’d play this weekend, Rowan planned the bouncy castle they’d live in instead of a brick house, ten years from now. It was how they worked.

If every day was a day with Rowan, she’d be alright.

CURRENT TIME

PERMISSION DENIED, said the stamp in very red, bold and capitalized letters over Aelin’s request to do part of her research in a rural school near Doranelle City.

Aelin’s furious footsteps clanked against the Depart of Psychology’s tiles as loud as if she were wearing high heels. She knew better than to wear that, though, especially with how many stairs she had to climb to get to the lecture hall.

What was the point of being the psychology department’s nepo baby if she couldn’t even do her research? And was denied by Murtaugh Allsbrook, out of all her dad’s friends.

It was so simple. Aelin just needed permission to do her research at the school Murtaugh worked at, and she didn’t even know that man was capable of saying the word no.

Apparently, he is.

Aelin knocked on her dad’s office, but didn’t wait for his reply to enter. He looked exactly the same as every other day, leaning on that huge, messy wooden desk.

“Fireheart,” Rhoe acknowledged her without taking his eyes off the paper he was grading.

“You didn’t give Murtaugh a heads up about me filing the request?”

“I thought you didn’t want special treatment.” Her dad replied in a quiet tone.

”But you do that to every one of your students!”

Rhoe finally glued his eyes off the paper, looking deep into her eyes with raised eyebrows. “I thought you didn’t want to be advised by me.”

Aelin groaned, placing that damned paper into his desk. “Why are you being so difficult?”

“Sorry, Fireheart.” Her father rubbed his face with both hands. “I guess I’m a little on edge today. I’ll see if any of my students can spot if there’s anything wrong with your papers, then I’ll call Murtaugh.”

Aelin sat in front of him, finally relaxing. “Thanks, Dad.”

Rhoe got up, squeezed her shoulder and headed for his lab down the hall.

She took in his office while waiting. Either as a daughter or as a student, Aelin was very familiar with those wooden floors and lavender essential oil her dad diffused here to help soothing anxious grad students. Now that Aelin was one, she realized it didn’t do much.

“Hi, Dr. Galathynius asked me—“

Her dad’s advisee stopped mid-sentence, and Aelin knew why the second she saw him.

This version of him didn’t resemble the one in her childhood memories at all, but Aelin could recognize those deep pine-green eyes anywhere.

It was like something in her chest loosened to give room for her heart to go wild. No thoughts, the realization that Rowan Whitethorn was standing in front of her after more than a decade, and the funny feeling in the pit of her stomach that came with it.

“Aelin,” he said under his breath, as if her childhood nickname had slipped out of his conscience. His body was completely frozen, eyes wide.

At that point, it wasn’t a matter of if Aelin cared or not. It was a reflex. She got up from her chair and ran Rowan’s way as fast as she could, embracing him in a clumsy, but tight hug. It took a beat for his brain to process all that information and make him hug her back, but he did. So tight he squeezed her ribs a little, but it was alright. Aelin smiled with her head resting on his collarbone, feeling his frenzied pulse against her cheek.

“What are you doing here in Doranelle?” She asked in a quiet, wondrous tone.

He put some distance between them, still holding both of her shoulders and taking her in. “I did tell you I’d move here too.”

Aelin grinned, feeling the leap her heart did at that memory. Rowan’s words when she told him her father got a job on the other side of the country, and she’d be doing 3rd grade there. “Don’t worry, Fireheart. I’ll go with you.”

Swallowing those feelings down, Aelin playfully slapped on his arm. “How long have you been working with my dad? Why didn’t you reach out to me?”

“Just a few weeks, and—“ Rowan rubbed the sting off from his bicep. His insanely large bicep. Aelin trained her eyes back to his face. “It took me a while to decide on an advisor, but your father took me under his wing the second he saw me. And about reaching out…” he did that thing where he just stared at her again, as if he couldn’t believe she was there. “We stayed out of touch for so long, I didn’t want to presume.”

“Presume?” Aelin asked in an outraged, high-pitched tone. “Rowan Whitethorn, you’re my favorite ex.”

“Yeah?” He asked and blinked a few times, looking flabbergasted.

She shook her head slowly, clicking her tongue. “You should’ve seen the dipshits I dated in high school.”

“I-“ He looked at his watch and frowned. “I wish I could invite you for something longer than coffee, but I have Dr. Lochan’s class in an hour.”

“So do I,” she lied. That class couldn’t be further from Aelin’s dissertation, but she needed more time with him.

Rowan was here. She could barely believe it.

“Really?” He scratched his strong, stubbly, mouth-watering jaw. “I haven’t seen you there.”

“Did you even pay attention to your classmates?”

He looked down, a small smile on his lips. “Busted.” He looked back at her. “Do you want to go now and we’ll grab coffee there? Do you need a ride?”

”Sure. I’m trying to take the bus more. Carbon monoxide and all.” Well, that wasn’t exactly a lie. Aelin did care about carbon monoxide. Just not enough to get a crowded, smelly bus first thing in the morning.

Rowan jerked his head towards the door. “Come on, then. I parked close today.”

Dr. Lochan taught at the philosophy building, which was a bit far from theirs. His classes were attended by grad students of the whole humanities field, and rumor has it the cafeteria there is a lot better than the one in the psychology building. Aelin wouldn’t know, but she was supposed to.

As soon as they got in the car, she took her lipstick and carefully tinted her cupid’s bow and bottom lip with pink, drawing Rowan’s attention to her lips. She couldn’t look back at him because it’d be too obvious to spot what she was doing, but Aelin still felt his gaze burning into her skin.

“You ready?” He asked with firm eye contact the second she took her eyes off the mirror.

She nodded, giving him a bashful smile, and Rowan turned on the engine.

Aelin twirled her lipstick between her fingers, considering her next move.

Her favorite person from childhood, the one she had the fondest memories with, was right there. And he looked hot like hell.

Yes, Aelin knew she was being impulsive, but just as much as she wanted to rekindle something right now.

When Rowan was focused on that uni street, she sneaked her tube of lipstick underneath her leg, so it’d look as if she lost it there.

Was leaving something in a guy’s car the oldest trick in the book? Absolutely, but it was as old as it was effective.

Checkmate, she couldn’t lose.

˜˜

Her class—that wasn’t her class at all—had ended hours ago, but Aelin had so much to do she didn’t even notice how time flew by.

Rowan insisted on giving her a ride home after the lecture ended, which meant she had to uber back to the psychology department to get her car. Now that Aelin had her comfy pajamas on and pizza, she was writing Dr. Lochan a formal email, asking to audit his class this semester.

She knew she should’ve been working on her denied application now, but Aelin couldn’t stop thinking about her long lost love from when she was a kid.

Every time she thought of Rowan—which became less frequent each year, but she still did—she remembered him fondly, especially how sweet he was with her.

Never, during all these years, she considered how hulky and insanely hot he’d become.

Like he was being summoned by her thoughts, her phone pinged.

Unknown: Hi. It’s Rowan

Unknown: Rowan Whitethorn. Your favorite ex.

Unknown: Did you forget lipstick in my car?

Aelin put her laptop aside, snuggling in her bed to give her phone full attention now. Smiling, she saved his contact the same way she would’ve done 14 years ago.

Seeing him reach out so fast after they exchanged numbers brought back that funny feeling in her insides, but she still had to calculate her next steps. Aelin squinted at her phone with an alert gaze.

Leaving the lipstick in his car had three goals: make him text her, find out if he’s single by how sure he is about the lipstick being hers, and get invited to a date so he could return it. A question vague like this one did nothing to the second step of this mission.

Aelin: hey!

Aelin: did i?

Aelin: i haven’t noticed

She would rather ignore her fast and erratic heartbeat as she waited for him to finish typing.

Buzzard: It belongs either to you or my bro Lorcan.

Aelin used the little breath she still had to let out a loud, maniacal laugh. No girlfriend, then. She could already listen to the sound of the dominoes cascading in a line.

It was a bold move to leave one of her favorite lipsticks in his car, but Rowan needed to catch up on her tastes. Their wedding was four years too late, she needed to act.

Aelin: there *is* a missing pink lipstick from my purse.

Rowan: Don’t worry, I’ll return it next class

Her shoulders slumped. No date invitation. She could work with that, though.

Before she could look for his social media, Aelin put a reminder on her phone to text him at the same time tomorrow. Time to start some classical conditioning.

˜˜

If it wasn’t for the silver-haired man by her side, Aelin would’ve spent this whole class reading fanfiction online. The class she wasn’t even supposed to attend, for starters.

Dr. Lochan sounded like a sleeping pill to her ears, and it didn’t help that Rowan was playing with the ends of her hair. The electric shock of his fingers against her strands made her shiver, but then the tingling sensation in the back of her neck was so relaxing it almost made her purr.

Her screen lighting up took her out of the sleep-inducing class and hair-caressing haze.

Dad: Did you fix your permission yet?

Aelin: rowan said he just diagnosed it

Aelin: we’ll sit to discuss what can be done later today

Dad: Do you think you can finish before Friday?

Dad: I'll pay Murtaugh a visit. I can hand him the file.

She considered this request, biting her lip. It was Tuesday today. If it took a whole week for Rowan to inspect it, it'd take longer to rewrite it. But then she thought of the very long drive she did to file these at the school Murtaugh worked for. Eh. Taking the risk was worth it.

Aelin: i’ll have it ready by thursday night

Dad: [thumbs up emoji]

When she put her phone down and inched closer to Rowan, he leaned his hand on the backrest of her chair. Aelin suppressed a smile.

“Do you think I can finish rewriting by Thursday?”

He nodded. “I didn’t see anything wrong with your application, actually. Coffee after class?”

“Sure.” Aelin was trying so hard to hide her smug smile.

So far, Operation Rowan was a success. By texting him every day at the same time, it didn’t take long for his brain to learn that as a conditioned response. On the fourth day, he was the one texting her at the time she was supposed to text him.

Aelin couldn’t be happier about her Psychology degree.

She didn’t find Rowan’s social media—she found out later he doesn’t have any, which is a huge green flag—but she did find his Spotify account. When she discovered which artists they liked in common, conversation flew.

After the class, they sat in that same cafeteria to discuss her application.

“I don’t understand why Mr. Allsbrook denied it.” Rowan looked absolutely delicious with those muscles stretching his white cotton shirt while he praised her work. “There isn’t a lot to change, but maybe you should detail more what you’ll be doing with the students for the research, since your work is so innovative.”

She smiled. “You mean experimental.”

“I mean groundbreaking.” Rowan leaned closer, studying her face as the corners of his lips slightly tugged up. ”Any questions?”

“Yes.”

Rowan raised an eyebrow, prompting her further. He was so fucking close, sitting on her side like that.

“Why are you staring at my lips?”

He wasn’t, but he was going to now.

Rowan’s eyes slowly slid from her eyes to her mouth. Back to her eyes. On her lips again. Her knees got weaker each motion, and it didn’t help that they were between his, under the table.

It was like the electricity between them burrowed under Aelin’s skin, waking up her heart that was now beating like a drum.

Rowan gently caressed her jaw. A question. A warning.

Her veins felt like wildfire, heating the air between them. Aelin leaned closer slowly, tilting her head up so they wouldn’t break eye contact until—

“ROWIE!”

Rowan jerked away from her, erasing the moment faster than it started. Aelin’s body felt hot as she looked around, wondering what had just happened.

A blonde man with a I would like to make a joke about philosophy, but I Kant t-shirt approached them, a huge smirk on his face.

“Fenrys.” Rowan’s greeting was almost a protest. “What are you doing here?”

He sat across from them. “Nothing as interesting as you.”

Rowan’s already flushed cheeks just turned a shade darker.

“Hello, gorgeous. Fenrys gave her a troublesome grin. “Since when do you hang out with that grump?”

“First grade.” Rowan narrowed his eyes at his friend, sliding a possessive hand across Aelin’s shoulders. She tried not to visibly swoon. “She taught me the L trick to tell left from right.”

“Oh, really?” Fenrys’ smile grew, and he didn’t seem to miss how Rowan was staking his claim with that arm around her. “Now I need to hear all his stories as a kid.”

“No, you don’t.” Rowan’s voice was so clipped Aelin held back a snort.

Fenrys eyes were gleaming as he smirked like the devil. “All of them.”

˜˜

She didn’t know for how long Aelin and Rowan were there just holding their breaths, waiting for other shoe to drop.

Murtaugh Allsbrook seemed very relaxed, though. Just slowly reading through all the applications and marking them with a PERMISSION GRANTED stamp with very blue, bold and capitalized letters, his signature by its side.

She could barely believe how easy this was.

When Rowan texted her this morning telling Rhoe had asked him to hand the documents at Murtaugh’s school, she was almost sure she’d be rejected again.

The person visiting would be a student, not the professor he’d known for years. He’d read her application again and say he couldn’t let her do research with his students. Aelin already knew she would have to fight for her dissertation, so she asked to come with Rowan.

Her heart almost leapt out of her chest when Murtaugh held her own application. He seemed to be reading faster than the other ones, though.

“I detailed the activities a little further this time.”

The man nodded. If he said something, she couldn’t hear it because of the increasingly loud rain outside.

“I guessed that was the reason why my application got rejected at first.”

“That’s right, dear.” The pitch of Murtaugh’s voice was slightly higher this time, and he closed the file before he could get halfway through it. He had barely read it. When Aelin opened her mouth to speak again, ready to defend her work, the sound of Murtaugh’s stamp stopped her.

PERMISSION GRANTED

Both Aelin and Rowan exchanged small, satisfied grins when the man wasn’t looking. She sat a little taller in her seat, feeling warmth spread through her chest. And not because of the lack of AC in this freaking school.

She could barely believe how easy it was this time. Her dad called in a favor, it was the only reason she got rejected and then accepted without Murtaugh even reading what she rewrote. Aelin would question her father later, now she just wanted to enjoy this moment.

After the man started some small talk with Aelin and Rowan—mostly about Rhoe and the projects some of his students would be working on in this school—and went through all the files, it was finally time to go home.

“You did great there.”

Aelin groaned. “He didn’t even read my adjustments.”

“Maybe he regretted rejecting you?”

She snorted, but it sounded bitter even to her ears. “Maybe he got a phone call from my dad.”

“I don’t doubt it, I’ve seen him doing that for other students.” Rowan squeezed her hand. “It’s not a bad thing, though.”

Chuckling, he slid that one hand around Aelin’s waist, tugging her closer.

Ever since meeting Rowan again, she realized her skin tingles everywhere he touches her. It was starting to become an issue, especially because it had been a few days since their almost kiss, and she couldn’t stop replaying it in her head.

Outside, Aelin realized the rain was a lot heavier than she predicted. She could hear it from Murtaugh’s office, but didn’t realize how aggressive it was outside.

“Come on.” Rowan tugged her hand. “My weather app says it can rain the whole day.“

Aelin sprinted in the rain towards his car, feeling her clothes progressively clinging onto her skin as the rain soaked her wet. Even then, Rowan followed her to open the passage door, running to the driver’s side only after she was inside and safe from Doranelle’s weather.

She tugged on Rowan’s hair and squeezed it to dry a little. “You shouldn’t have done that,” she mentioned his completely unnecessary act of chivalry. She could open her own door, especially in this pouring rain. Despite her own words, Aelin tried and failed to hide a silly smile.

Rowan just grinned and shook his head like a dog, sprinkling droplets of water across the car.

He turned the GPS on and started the drive back, but Aelin was wondering how long it’d take.

After leaving the city, Aelin and Rowan started on a road. A lot later, they entered a smaller road. After that, they entered something that was barely a road. The rural school she’d be collecting data on was a little after that. That’s how long their drive was about to be. Especially now, that Rowan was driving slower to be careful.

”Aelin, I—“ Rowan was squinting his eyes at the road before him. “I can’t see anything. Can you find somewhere we can pull over until the weather gets better?”

Which will take a long time to happen were the words he didn’t say.

When Aelin checked the map, she felt her muscles tighten. “There’s a hotel. It’s the closest place.”

Rowan nodded and asked for her to add it to the GPS on his car. If he had any thoughts or feelings about this, he didn’t show. It was late afternoon already, so it made sense to choose a hotel.

Trees blurring together as they passed by. The soft sound of her playlist, partially muffled by the rain. The car’s AC brushing against Aelin’s skin, giving her goosebumps. Because that was the reason this was happening, right? She had been planning to get together with Rowan, but there was no way staying with him at a hotel would make her limbs tingle like this, so fast after they reconnected.

He dropped her at the front door and went to park the car. The hotel looked nice enough, displaying simple, but comfortable-looking furniture and decorated with plastic kingsflower bouquets. They took her back to Rowan’s old garden, and the remainder of one of Aelin’s favorite childhood memories brought a smile to her face.

There were other people in the lobby who probably had the same idea as them, but she only stood in line at the front desk for a few minutes.

“I’d like to do a check-in.”

The woman nodded, but didn’t do so much as look at Aelin. “How many people, dear?”

“Two.”

She typed on her computer, nodding. “How many rooms?”

Aelin opened her mouth, then closed. She glanced at the fake bouquet of kingsflower, feeling her heartbeat in her throat.

“Just one room.”

The woman just chewed her gum harder as she typed more, but Aelin could barely breathe as she lied her way into Rowan’s bed.

Her gaze quickly swept the room until she found him leaning against a pillar while holding a bag. He gave her a small nod, and Aelin hoped the smile she gave him looked natural.

“There was only one bed,” Aelin blurted as soon as she approached him.

He blinked. “What?”

“Room,” she corrected herself and showed the key dangling from her finger. “There was only one room available.”

“Oh.” Rowan looked around, and his frown morphed into an eyebrow raise she couldn’t quite decipher. “Alright.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You sure?”

“Yeah.” Rowan shrugged and guided her towards the room by placing a hand on her waist. Aelin hoped he didn’t notice the way she shivered. He continued, “Besides, there’s nothing we can do, right? There’s only one room, you said yourself.”

Their room was small, but it looked cozy with its white walls and wooden window. The rain was still pouring outside, but now it was more like a soothing background noise than a nuisance.

“Take this.” Rowan handed her some fresh clothes as he searched for something in his bag. “I think this is the only change of clothes I have, but you can take it.”

“Where did you take this from?”

It was a neatly folded green t-shirt and a pair of soft jeans. It smelled so fresh and detergent-like that Aelin sighed against it. Rowan was studying her, a small smile on his face. Shit. Did Aelin just smell his clothes in front of him?

“Sometimes I need to shower at the gym. Keeping a change of clothes in the car comes in handy.”

Nodding, Aelin unfolded Rowan’s gigantic shirt. It was very easy to picture him having to shower at the gym after spending too much time there, and just thinking of him like that made her blood boil.

“This shirt is bigger than some dresses I have. I can take this, and you’ll take the pants.”

Taking the bathroom first, she frowned at herself in the mirror. Aelin was covered until mid-thigh, which was alright, but damp hair and faded makeup weren’t her best look. Cleaning smudges of mascara from under her eyes with toilet paper was the best she could do to look fresh, though.

Rowan was sitting on the side of the bed, head tilted up as he supported himself with the heels of his hands. He was wearing nothing but jeans and the ridges and valleys of his abs.

Did her knees just get weak?

The air between them was taut as Rowan’s gaze kept darting between Aelin’s face and her—mostly—bare legs, almost as if he was fighting his eyes to stay up. She hasn’t been near as discreet about ogling him.

Aelin strolled his way and bumped their knees together, eyes somewhere between shy and mischievous.

Rowan toyed with the hem of the shirt she was wearing and tilted his head up to look her in the eye. “You’re quite the sight in my Levi’s, did you know that?”

“No, I didn’t.” Aelin playfully flipped her hair and sat beside Rowan on the bed. “Please, tell me all about that.”

Rowan chuckled and wrapped a towel around her shoulders so the shirt wouldn’t get damp by her hair, caressing it on his way.

“I didn’t know a lot when I was a kid, Aelin, but I knew you’re the most gorgeous girl I’d ever seen. That didn’t change over time.”

“Really?” Aelin felt like her whole body was melting, and Rowan’s pining gaze was the only thing keeping her upright.

“Fireheart,” he whispered her name like it was his only possible answer and caressed her hair until his thumb reached her cheek.

She let out a short, soft chuckle. “Buzzard.”

Aelin hadn’t called him that in years, and the way his eyes lit up told her he noticed that too.

His shaky thumb brushed her bottom lip in one careful motion. “Is this okay?”

Aelin’s nod was almost imperceptible, but it was enough for him to tug her closer and meet her halfway, closing their distance.

Their kiss wasn’t each other’s first like they had planned, but right now it felt like the only one that mattered. Rowan’s lips felt so soft to the touch as they made their way between hers, and she felt her insides fluttering as he tilted her head to deepen the kiss.

But then it mixed with a tight feeling in the back of her throat as Rowan flicked his tongue against hers, and Aelin couldn’t stop wondering if this kiss would even happen if she hadn’t schemed and manipulated her way into it. Her body got more stiff each time he caressed her.

Aelin broke the kiss and lowered her gaze, not looking him in the eye.

“There was more than one room available. I lied to you.”

“Oh.” He blinked. “Okay.”

Rowan trailed kisses down her neck, but Aelin still felt her chest tight.

She added some distance between them. “You don’t understand. I could’ve booked two rooms, but I didn’t. Just like I forgot my lipstick in your car on purpose.”

“Aelin…” Rowan sat back on the bed to talk. His hand grasped hers, and his eyes had nothing but amusement as he looked deep into hers. “I knew it wasn’t the last room because other people checked in after us. And leaving things in my car is the oldest trick in the book.”

Aelin opened her mouth to retort, but he beat her to it. “I also saw you’re not in the official list of students at Dr. Lochan’s class.” He squeezed her hand, biting his lip as an attempt to not laugh. “And I’m a psychologist, Aelin, of course I’d notice you were conditioning me to text you at the same time every day.”

She stepped back, mouth falling open. “You knew it the entire time?”

Rowan nodded, still clamping his lips together as if this was the funniest thing. For Mala’s sake, Aelin thought she was being so smooth.

She gave him a tentative, awkward grin. “And you’re not mad?”

“No.” His mouth opened into a smirk. “Actually, I thought it was a little endearing.” Tugging her closer, he continued in a soft tone, “You didn’t have to do all that, though.”

When Rowan kissed her again, it felt right. He gripped the back of her hair with one hand and her waist with the other, but her whole body tingled and shivered as he held her. Aelin fully melted into his touch this time, feeling all the butterflies in her stomach as they explored each other in a bruising kiss.

He rested their foreheads together, breathless as she’d never seen him. “But if you want to make up for lying to me, we could get back together.”

“Alright.” She chuckled and pecked him, but he took advantage and bit her bottom lip. “I thought you’d want to start casual.”

“I don’t know, Aelin.” Rowan tilted his head sideways and frowned, pretending to look thoughtful. “I *did* tell my entire family, when I was eight, that you’re my future wife. Agreeing to be casual would be a huge setback.”

“Okay,” Aelin chirped, adjusting herself in his lap. “So you’re telling me my master mind and scheming abilities brought us together?”

He snorted. “I was ready to woo you, but I guess chivalry is really dead.”

Something struck Rowan, making him disentangle himself from her. He paused, analyzing his still wet shirt, but wore it anyway. “Wait here.”

Aelin frowned at the ajar door he had just left open. What the fuck had just happened? Did Rowan really leave right after they got back together?

It was a matter of seconds before he returned, though. Aelin felt the fuzziest feeling as her face morphed into a beam.

He had one single kingsflower in his hand, which had definitely been stolen from the lobby.

“I wish I was an octopus, that way I could give you seven flowers.”

Aelin cracked a surprised laughter, her pulse fast. “You mean eight.”

Rowan shook his head, grinning as well. “I‘d still need one to hold your hand.”

LATER THAT WEEK

“Are you going to tell me why I had to deny your own daughter’s application?”

Holding his glass, Rhoe pointed to the very expensive bottle of whiskey he gave Murtaugh, which they were sipping right now in his living room. “Isn’t that reason enough?”

His friend smirked. “Bullshit.”

Rhoe smiled at his glass. This wasn’t the easiest thing to confess, but he regretted nothing.

“I hate it when people say love works by faith alone. Do you know how hard it was for an average guy like me to pull Evalin?”

Murtaugh’s mouth was ajar as he processed this. “What are you trying to tell me?”

“Sometimes people need a little push. Especially couples.”

His friend’s eyes widened. “Your daughter and that boy. You were playing cupid, weren’t you?”

“Not cupid, no. That’s too manipulative.” Rhoe twirled his glass, smirking and thinking of a poetic way to put it. “I’m the wind in their free-flowing sails.”

He was used to making little things like putting his students to do assignments together on purpose when he thought they were a good match, but this one was personal.

Rhoe still remembered years ago, when his family moved to the big city because of his job, and he had to witness his little girl crying because she had just been separated from her so-called boyfriend.

A decade and a half later, the memory still broke his heart. The moment Rhoe saw Rowan at the psychology building, he knew this was his chance to fix what he broke.

“Why are you telling me all this?”

Rhoe shrugged. “This is the first time I felt the need to confess.”

Murtaugh chuckled and sipped more whiskey. “How long have you been scheming like a criminal?”

“Not like that!” Rhoe protested in mock offense.

“Okay, I already know what you’re going to say.” Murtaugh waved him off and raised an eyebrow, as if daring Rhoe to disagree. “You’re only cryptic and machiavellian because you care.”

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sn33z3s · 1 year

Text

in defense of “if you weren’t a fucking asshole”

(title subject to change because it’s silly. what better time to write “meta” than hours before a season premiere. after all, style is dead. or was it that it’s just boring? no, wait, it’s toxic–)

this doesn’t have a thesis, it’s just some leftover thoughts from last year - mostly pertaining The Church Scene, because of course - and featuring some hot stan marsh characterization takes i guess

let’s start with the gay glancing at your ex-childhood best friend, yeah?

so, this framing is loaded because it's the narrative of their whole thing: kyle chasing stan. stan usually comes to kyle's rescue in absurd (but solvable) situations, whereas kyle often has to fight stan to provide emotional respite. they're thinking of each other here; it's distinct how stan looks back, rather than this shot cutting at kyle. stan's explosive reaction is still pretty presumptuous, but kyle was, even if unintentionally, asking for stan's attention - which is typical.

in a sense, this scene is their wordless language; the kind you share with said ex-best friend but it’s gotten worn from overuse, and as a result, you’re both communicatively stunted, so now that you’ve reached out again after 40 years, the first step to any comfort or solace is [the scene above] and a homoerotic spectacle:

well, i don’t need to tell you what that public spectacle is; you already know

stan leads his paranoid outburst in the church by accusing kyle of knowing something which would be impossible for kyle to know; in You’re Getting Old/Assburgers kyle also reaches out to stan, who turns him down, yet still asks that kyle basically read his mind and comfort him.

kyle is not a stranger to demanding unrealistic things from stan as well, but kyle calling stan “asshole” packs that punch since contemporarily the fandom usually assumes stan as more emotionally forward or in-touch with himself. however, in the church, kyle is pointing out that stan is clearly repressing his feelings, desires, traumas, etc. and kyle has used a similar approach before:

in my last meta, i wrote about how stan is pretty firm in not instantly accepting kyle's olive branches. of course, the thing is, kyle's olive branches are bent sometimes, let alone how he approaches asking for stan's forgiveness before the broship splits. kyle doesn't apologize: he just expects stan to move on.

(also, i love the "divorced couple" coding before we even reach Post-COVID.) anyway, the show clearly acknowledges stan as "agreeing with kyle no matter what," and the first time stan and kyle fight in canon, it’s a big deal.

i always return to how i don't see kyle or stan as at fault in most of, if not all, of their fights. this especially applies to YGO & Assburgers since it's one of their most significant “break-up” arcs. still... kyle's "if you weren't a fucking asshole" in the church scene is so satisfying. (and 100% excellent voice acting on matt stone's part; the punchy delivery at the end of that line is what makes me revisit it often.) when i put my tin foil hat on, it does sound like decades of resentment built up. if this post had to have a thesis, it’d be, “here’s why kyle had every right to call stan an asshole in that moment,” but the Stan Can Be an Asshole, Too meta is for another day. after all, my last meta also revolved around the trouble i have with framing stan as an exclusively passive character (rather than predominantly passive).

by “decades of resentment,” i mean simmering for kyle since, you guessed it, episodes such as You're Getting Old and Assburgers. i talk about YGO & Assburgers a lot, i'm sorry. but i was thinking about the church scene as i browsed the south park wiki on the official site: "Kyle can only deal with so much of Stan's negativity." (obviously, matt and trey themselves do not write or even moderate the Comedy Central studios wiki, so take all of it with a grain of salt.) i like that wording, though, and this other part of the blurb too: "Stan's ego can get in the way of their friendship [referencing Guitar Queer-o]."

kyle not being able to handle stan’s negativity these days is more often harshly critiqued than anything about stan’s ego. that detail does, in many forms, relate to the stan jock characterization discourse, but that’ll also have to wait for another meta. i can say a couple of things about it to tie up this post, though.

yes, kyle fails to comfort stan in the YGO arc. at the same time, i don't think his positivity is always maligned. after all, the YGO arc isn't stan vs kyle, it's stan and kyle vs. growing up; this is their contemporary theme. and yes, for a kid, kyle can have that emotional maturity.

Tegridy Farms and Post-COVID have cemented stan as south park’s protagonist – though, in my opinion, he always has been it, especially since Bigger, Longer, & Uncut – and protagonists are like, the character archetype that receives the most self-projection. yet this emotional angle is comparatively still a fairly new framing of stan’s character. now that this show is narrated in such a way that we see even more of the world of south park through stan’s eyes, fans watching may feel extra inclined to think of him as only ever depressed. but being sad is not all stan does and never has been.

not only is this frequency fairly new to his character, i would go so far as to say that there’s a difference between the contemporary stan angst arcs and older episodes like Raisins, YGO, and Assburgers. being sad is not “natural” to stan (whatever that means), it is thrust upon him. most recently, this is randy’s fault. yes, we are meant to - and i hope that most do - sympathize or empathize with stan, but my point here is that he’s a little bit more belligerent and bullish than the fandom currently gives him credit for.

#south park meta #south park analysis #(committing crimes using those tags tbh)#south park #sneeze writes #stan marsh #kyle broflovski #sp stan #sp kyle #will i ever crop images consistently again? maybe....

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quinn-pop · 5 months

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About metadede headcanons (it's not much of a headcanon more like how their relationship evolved and my headcanon timeline about the Kirby games)

•They were friends since childhood.

•They stayed as friends until Dedede declared himself the king of dreamland, they were traveling through stars until that and meta didn't wanted to stay in one star for the rest of his life and wanted to go adventuring through space.

•They still give each other calls and hangout, but as the time passed (and dedede started to change aka get cropted by power) those calls and visits became fewer and fewer until they didn't talk to each other.

•After that the first time Meta heard about dedede was due news that said king of dreamland stole all the food. Meta realized the power went to his head back when they were still hanging out, but he didn't think he would stood that low.

•Because of that meta knight figured out the best thing to do was to dethrone dedede, he wasn't planing to give dedede any massive punishment at worst he would send him to dangeon for a few months until he learned his lesson, but when he got out he wouldn't get his throne back.

•Meta knights revenge happens and after that Kirby informs dedede about the events and he says he will think about it.

•When it's time for Kirby's adventure, king dedede against his better judgment gives one of the star rod pieces to meta because he trusts him.

•Due to that Meta and Dedede starts hanging out and Meta realizes that Dedede has changed for the better (in my headcanon dark matter trilogy happens between superstar and adventure).

•After that they become friends again and fighters 2 happens.

Now for some non-timeline related headcanons:

•Meta likes to sit on top of dedede's head to feel tall.

•Dedede can pick meta in his hands.

•Dedede doesn't want anyone to know that his possessions has left an affect on him so he doesn't talk to anyone about it, luckly ,even tho meta is terrible at picking up on social ques, noticed something was wrong and talked to him about those things and made dedede feel better.

•When they were children Meta once gave Dedede a rock that he thought was pretty cool, and Dedede said "Yes, I will marry you" since he was told rejecting an offer from a friend was rude.

•In things where meta needs to have normal sized arms compared to dedede (like hugging dancing etc.) he uses his wings.

Sorry if it is too long.

not too long at all! thanks for writing all that!

it’s really interesting to me just how popular the childhood friends headcanon is, considering there’s not much canon basis for it (not that that matters.) it’s a really cute hc though and i’m always happy to see it

definitely always love the star rod thing. it’s interesting that even back then mk and dedede were kind of cast in the same light, y’know? that being a point they connect over makes a lot of sense—your timeline is a lot different than mine here, being placed after romk, but it’s pretty cool that dedede would trust him with that even after that. adds a layer to it.

anyway i drew a couple of those headcanons just for funsies

i do think meta likes to be held, just probably not in full armor and where everyone can see him lol. it’s definitely a little awkward given their sizes though. holds like burger…

i’m not really a childhood friends metadede believer but imagining their dynamic is pretty fun? especially if we’re adding the Spanish speaking mk hc into this. i guess for some reason i imagined dedede as a little more shy here? just not quite broken out of his shell yet…no pun intended. they can have shenanigans together or something

and dedede only accepting meta’s “proposal” out of courtesy is so funny lol. i can imagine him going home after this and being a little upset because now he feels like he has to marry him. i’m sure the conversation that followed that was very fun /sarcasm

poor meta must’ve been very confused ^^” ah but the irony…

it’s just a very endearing concept to me. cute :>

#thanks for sharing !!!#kirbyposting #my art or something #meta knight #king dedede #metadede #hcs #i kinda haven’t committed to any headcanons for most character backstories because I like the ambiguity #but thinking about it anyway is fun #i wish i could’ve gotten dedede’s expressions exactly how i wanted them man art is hard #his whole life flashed before his eyes /lh #there’s a couple more things in here i could mention i think given the amount of times ive drawn it #it’s no secret i like the idea of them confiding in each other lol #they get each other is all #dedede has a lot of great people in his life but someone who is on all levels his equal? not so much #it’s different

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starrysnowdrop · 5 months

Text

Reactions to Days Gone By, Days Yet to Come

Here are my reactions and thoughts about the encore side story from Tales From The Dawn, which you can read HERE before proceeding under the cut. Beware: MAJOR Endwalker spoilers ahead! Keep in mind that I’ll be discussing my own headcanons with my Azem, so if you don’t care about that, feel free to move along.

So I want to just say that this was the absolute best side story they’ve ever written so far! And because it’s also the one that the community voted on, it makes it even more special. I’ve re-read it twice already and I’m so beyond happy to have read this. I’m still crying from reading it and processing it all. In fact, they gave us so many little details about all our favorite Ancients that I’m eating it up!!

First of all, I LOVE that this is all from Hyth’s POV. It’s fantastic. Anyways, next we get a detail about Azem talking to Hyth about the fourteenth in a series of concepts helping with travel, and I NEED to know more!! What is it?? I have many questions about this one thing in particular. Then we have a brief appearance from Byregot himself in the form of Hyth’s secretary trying to stop him from leaving but I giggled at the fact that Hyth just ignores him and goes to do his own thing. This has such gremlin energy that is so perfect for Hyth, but I also giggle at the fact that this is exactly what Urania would do as well. The sibling vibes are over the top here and I love it.

Then we get a huge lore drop that I wasn’t expecting at all: Mitron is a woman!! Which means that Mitron and Loghrif are both women and with the tons of hint drops we have throughout the canon, I’m here to say I’m celebrating the lesbians today! In my head this is Mitron x Loghrif as confirmed as a lesbian couple as we are ever going to get, and I’m soooooo happy.

Next we get another lore drop, this time with Lahabrea and Igeyorhm, and we have confirmation that they are cousins! This makes so much sense now, as we already knew about them working closely with one another and then they joined together in their fight against WoL in Azys La. I was never a Lahabrea x Igeyorhm shipper, so having them be cousins makes way more sense to me. Nice to see someone scolding Lahabrea for all of his Pandaemonium shenanigans.

Then we get Elidibus and I just know all the Elidibus shippers are screaming with joy. Whether you are a Themis x Erich or a Themis x WoL shipper, you’ve been fed, and I’m happy for you all.

Skipping over the part where I’ll blab about forever (ahem Hermes and his existential dread ahem), we get yet another Emet smile as Azem departs on their journey!! Ahhhhhhhh my heart!!! I am so full of emotions with how Hyth talks about Emet here, and in the parts following this scene. No matter if you read Hyth x Hades x Azem as platonic or romantic, or if you romantically ship only one part of them or none at all, you can just feel how deeply Hyth, Hades, and Azem all love each other. I can feel the love coming out of the words and it’s absolutely tragic and beautiful. Especially when you find out that Emet was the one holding out till the last minute to not summon Zodiark until they received word from Azem. God my heart just shattered right there.

And we also get confirmation that Azem left the convocation in order to find the cause of the Final Days and to stop it without the sacrifice to Zodiark. This was my headcanon and it’s probably a headcanon many of you shared, so to see this confirmed as canon sparks joy. It’s absolutely perfect for Urania, although with the new information about Emet trying to have the Convocation wait until they heard from Azem, I will have to reconsider her departure from Amaurot and her feelings towards Hades and Hermes now that we have this new information.

Another tiny piece of detail also confirmed a headcanon I’ve held for years: Hyth and Hades are childhood friends! I’m so happy to see this be confirmed as canon.

Alright, I think I’ve held off long enough. It’s time to talk about Hermes.

So, overall I’m so goddamn happy that we got to have more Hermes in this short scene. Every little bit of him I can get I will gladly take it. And I especially love that we are getting to see the man who lived through the Kairos mind wiping and what he was like after all of it went down. And yet… I feel completely devastated for him.

He looks like a wreck, he’s buried into his work, and he’s also deep in mourning with no one around to understand him. He thinks he has killed Meteion and says he “murdered her”, and it is so upsetting to see him like that. He also I believe is discovering the beginnings of the Final Days and I think he somehow knows that there’s something else wrong, something that he should know and doesn’t remember, and it’s tearing him up. But it’s even more tragic when Hyth mentions that he and everyone else talks about the Kairos incident and the “death of Meteion” as an “amusing anecdote”, and mentions that no one talks about familiars as people, so it truly shows how utterly alone Hermes really is. My heart broke when Hyth says that after the loss of Meteion, Hermes never made another flying creation ever again, and god I just want to cry.

I do like how Hyth is trying to be a friend and get Hermes to rest, and he’s doing what he thinks will help him. But even with Hyth’s caring soul, he just can’t understand what Hermes is going through. And it’s such a tragedy. It reinforces that even Azem couldn’t help Hermes in his time: it’s not until the WoL can offer the answer to Amon of “next time we will find the answers together” that he finds a true friend that understands him. And yet Amon is only the sundered reincarnation of Hermes, not Hermes himself. And I’m sobbing in my room on a Thursday morning over it all.

Now more than ever do I want to write more for Hermes. Not just in the tragic canonverse, but for the Modern AU that I have brainworms for, and quite possibly in a Happy Ending AU for him… with maybe Hali shipping with him??? It’s just a thought.

Anyways, I think I’ve rambled on long enough. If you’ve survived reading all of this, I commend you and thank you wholeheartedly for doing so! If you have any further questions for me about any of my reactions, feel free to send me an ask or a message!! 🥰💖

#ffxiv endwalker #endwalker spoilers #tales from the dawn #days gone by days yet to come #unsundered hali: urania #urania x hermes #ship: think of me #I have tons of brainworms now #and I don’t know what to do with it all #I need time to process it all #now I have not only canon story stuff to write but possibly two AUs

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camatchoum · 4 months

Text

The third time is the right one

Thomas tmr x reader College AU

Summary : Thomas finally realises his feelings for you. But when he tries to do something about it, it doesn't really go well.

Words : 3.5k

Request : @maddie0101 Thomas x reader college AU? Best friends to lovers?

A/n : Here you go. I'm so sorry for the time it took me for writing this. And I promise I saw all the other requests and I'm so grateful for them but I'm in my exam session so I don't really have the time to write. I'll try to write as fast as I can, but I still have 10 days to go.

My masterlist

“So, still not in love with Y/n?”

Thomas turns his head to see Newt put his elbow on his shoulder.

“Why are you always asking me that?” Thomas says a little bit annoyed that he will again have this conversation.

“I’m only asking you that when you are staring at her like a creep.” Newt answers with a smile. He clearly enjoys bothering his best friend.

“I’m not.” Thomas mumbles.

“What are we talking about?” Minho asks when he approaches the pair.

“Thomas is staring at Y/n.” Newt answers him.

“Yeah like always.” He shrugs.

“Can you two shut your mouths. I am never staring, especially not at her.”

“Are we talking about Thomas staring at Y/n?” Frypan joins the group. Everybody laughs. Well, not Thomas.

“Ok, you know what? I’m leaving you all stupid people.” Thomas starts to turn around while he hears his mates laughing at him.

“Hey Y/n.” He stops when he hears Newt, and the others greet you. He slowly turns around, and a big smile spreads on his face at the sight of his best friend since childhood.

“Hey guys! Hey Tommy!” You greet them than you turn to greet Thomas with a hug, like you always do. Of course, he returns it. He wishes that the feeling of you in his arms never ends. Wait, did he really just think that? “I can’t talk right now I’m sorry, I really have to go to work, but I call you tonight, okay?” You say when you pull back.

“Ye-Yeah totally.” He stutters. Why does he stutter?! Fortunately, you only chuckle at his behaviour and don’t question anything before you walk away.

Thomas, watch you go, and it’s like everything hits him at once.

From the first day, he saw you with your two ponytails crying because you lost your teddy bear until right now. He saw all the time you spent together, becoming best friends with an unbreakable bond. He saw your pretty eyes and all the times he got lost in them, which was a lot. Same with your endearing laugh. He realises it is his favourite sound. He realises his only goal is to make you smile and that you are happy.

“I’m in love with her.” Thomas whispers.

“And that’s only now that you realise it? Congratulations, man.” Minho says, and they all laugh.

“What do I do now?”

“Easy, tell her.” Newt shrugs.

“What! Just like that! Do you hear yourselves?!” Thomas begins to panic.

“Woaw. Calm down, would you? It’s Y/n. She’s not going to eat you.”

“And what if she does?”

“Okay now you are being dramatic.”

“You are right. What do I have to do?”

“Well, you know her more than we do...” Minho says. “Maybe try to do things with her. I know you do a lot of things together, but there has to be something that you don’t do with her.”

“I don’t know. I think, maybe her job? I don’t go to the coffee shop unless I want one, and you know I’m not a coffee guy.”

“Okay, that’s a start.”

“Oh Sonya told me the other day that they were looking for someone.” Newt realises. “You could get the job, and I will ask my sister to put yours and Y/n’s shifts to coordinate.”

“That’s a great idea I will go now.”

“Don’t mess up!” Frypan screams.

“Me? Never!”

Thomas walks away from his mates, a new confidence and a happy feeling in him. He is in love with you. Just thinking about you being his girlfriend makes him all giddy inside. Everything makes sense now, but he has yet to accomplish this goal. He doesn’t know if you feel the same, but he hopes you do. Maybe you don’t know that you love him like he didn’t ten minutes ago. First things first : showing that he loves what you love to do. He goes to the coffee shop, you aren’t there yet. He knows it because he knows that you like to go to your dorm before your shifts to refresh a little after the long day of lectures. He enters the coffee shop and asks for the manager, and 20 minutes later, he is hired. He thinks they were really desperate to find someone.

Try n°1 : the coffee shop

The next day, he is standing in the coffee shop surrounded by coffee machines and so many syrups flavors that he can’t even remember 10% of them. He spent the morning listening to the manager, trying to understand why people couldn’t get a simple black coffee.

Now he is waiting for you to arrive. Thanks to Newt and his sister Sonya, you will both take your shifts at the same time today. He hopes with that that you can see how he takes interest in the things you like. Maybe he will also know if you feel the same. The new revelation that his head had caused him to spend the night thinking about the possibility of being a couple and what would it feels like. He couldn’t think anything else besides happiness.

“Tommy! What are you doing here?!” He lifts his head when he hears your happy voice and a smile.

“Guess who’s your new co-worker!” He teases with open arms. Of course, you run into them.

“Why are you here?” You ask when you pull away with a smile. You are so happy to see your best friend, but this isn’t really his cup of tea or coffee.

“Well, I told you I wanted to find a job.” No, he didn’t. “And I asked myself, why wouldn’t I work with my best friend?”

You are confused because he never told you that he was looking for a job. He even told you two weeks ago when you talked about it that he didn’t have the time for one. But regardless, you are just happy because now you can gossip with him even at work.

“Well, I’m not going to complain.” You say with a smile which cause him to smile back. He was so afraid you weren’t going to like it. “How was your formation? I hope the manager didn’t freak you out.” You ask while putting on your apron with your name tag on it.

“Well, I think he is praying with all his heart that I don’t burn this place before the end of my shift.” He chuckles while scratching the back of his neck. Now that you are in front of him for the first time since he realises his feelings for you, he is a little nervous to be around you. He thought he was going to faint when you hugged him.

“Well, try not to do that.” You both laugh.

And so your shifts begin. You are taking orders from the clients and passing them to Thomas and Sonya. You giggle each time you see your best friend ask Sonya what he’s supposed to put in the drinks because apparently nothing is making sense to him.

After a while, you stop laughing when you have to take care of the fourth customer who is complaining to you about his drink. All made by Thomas. Of course you love your best friend but he is starting to grow on your nerves because he can’t do this right and even though he is your best friend he still has to do well on the job in order to not ruin the reputation of the coffee shop. Customers are not supposed to be angry.

You decide to switch places with him. He is taking the orders, and you are making them. But even then it’s not going well. You keep catching him staring at you. Each time, it makes you flustered, but it stops when you see the angry customer trying to catch his attention. He jumps back to reality, and his cheeks flush red when he faces the customer behind the counter. First, because he is embarrassed by you catching him staring at you and second because the person in front of him isn’t too happy with his daydreaming. He is hurrying to take the order and give it to you without looking into your eyes. You chuckle a little before making the drink. One mocha latte with hazelnut syrup.

“One mocha latte for Linda.” You raise your voice for the customer to hear you. The girl comes and takes her drink for you, thanking you in the process. You begin to make the next drink when you hear Linda trying to catch her breath. You look up at her but think that she is maybe just coughing a little.

“Can someone help, please?!” You hear a male voice. You look up and see him trying to help Linda. Okay, now something is really wrong. You run to the boy.

“What’s wrong?” You ask.

“She is having an allergic reaction!” The boy screams back while trying to help the suffocating girl.

“Thomas the first aid kit! Now!” You scream at your best friend. “Don’t worry, we have an epipen in there.” You say to the boy, trying to ease him up a bit.

“Here Y/n.” Thomas says to you. He is glad he remembered where this red bag was because right now he is so in panic that he doesn’t know what to do and he tripped on his feet in his run.

You take the epipen and heal Linda. She immediately relaxed, thanking you for saving her. You are all smiling that she is okay, but the boy isn’t really happy about the situation. You can’t really blame him. He turns to you.

“What did you put in her drink?!” He asks you angrily. Thomas goes in front of you to protect you, and your heart flutters.

“I-I- I only put what she asked for : a mocha latte with hazelnut syrup.” You answer shakily.

“She is deadly allergic to nuts. Are you out of your mind?!”

“It’s not my fault, I put in her drink what was on the ticket.” You say with more composure. You know you did nothing wrong. You never do. You turn to Thomas. “What did she ask you?”

“A mocha with hazelnut syrup?” He says or asks himself.

“I asked with vanilla syrup, you shank. I know what I’m allergic to.” Linda says.

You sigh and turn to Thomas once again. He can see in your eyes that you are mad at him. His plan to impress you didn’t really work out for the best. You handle the situation from here, giving a new drink to the poor girl and excuse for the disagreement on behalf of all the coffee shops. The couple goes away, not wanting to be there anymore. And when you turn back, you go straight to your best friend.

“What is wrong with you? Why are you so distracted?”

“I-I-“ He doesn’t know what to say. He can’t just say that he was drooling over the sight of you. That’s what Newt says to him all the time. “I don’t know. I swear I thought she said hazelnut syrup. I won’t do it again, I promise.” Before you can respond, the voice of your manager rings in the shop.

“You are fired.” He screams in your faces.

“What?! You can’t fire her?!” Thomas defends you, but he didn’t even quite understand the situation.

“Not her. You are fired greenie.” Your manager walks away.

“I’m sorry.” You try to comfort him, but he just takes off his apron like he is glad about this turn of events. You can’t lie and say it isn’t a good idea. “You okay?”

“Yeah. You know I don’t like coffee anyway. And all of this adds a reason to hate this brown disgusting liquid.” He says with a smile, and you chuckle. At least you aren’t mad at him. “Guess I see you later?”

“Yeah, see you later.” You say and begin to turn around to go back behind the counter.

“I can’t even have a hug?” Thomas says. You roll your eyes playfully before going into his arms. After a while, you try to pull away, but he isn’t letting you go.

“Thomas I have to go. Unless you, I still have a job.” You grin while he feigns offence. You look into his eyes, and for the first time, you can see a spark in them. Of course, every time you watched them, you saw a spark like glitter. But this time, it is like the spark comes from the entire light of the galaxy.

“You bloody did what?!” Newt exclaims in his dorm room. “She was going to kiss you! And you pulled away!”

“She wasn’t going to kiss me!” Thomas screams back.

“You just told me that she was leaning in! How is that not a sign that she wanted to kiss you?!”

“I chickened out, okay! What if I just thought she was leaning in, and obviously she wasn’t and then it would have been a mess!” Thomas flops on his bed with his face in his pillow. Why can’t he do something right?!

“You are the bloody mess.” Newt mumbles, causing Thomas to throw his pillow at him. “Guess you have to try again.”

“How?” Thomas grumbles.

“Well.” Newt starts to think. “She loves to read, right?”

“Yeah but I don’t like it.”

“Isn’t ithis the whole point? You doing things that she loves but you don’t so that she understands that you want to be with her?” Newt teases.

“Go be a crank somewhere else.” Thomas groans again before he stands up abruptly. “Actually, that’s the perfect idea.” He thinks about all the time you were too concentrated on a book that you weren’t paying attention to him. Even in classes you read. “I have to go!”

“Where?”

“To the library, I know she is there tonight.” He finishes making his bag before he runs for the door.

“Don’t be a shank!”

“Can’t promise!” Thomas screams before going away.

Try n°2 : The library

“Hey Y/n/n!” You look up from your book to see Thomas sitting in front of you at your table in the library.

“Hey Tommy! What are you doing here? I thought you didn’t like being trapped in all these books.” You ask using the expression he tells you every time you ask him if he wants to join you on your reading session. And what is strange is that he never, ever says yes.

“Nothing much. I wanted to try reading a little with you. I know you like to read so I wanted to join you.” He says, causing you to blush a little. He thinks it’s just because it is hot in there. Or maybe it is only him who thinks it is hot since he sat next to you.

“Well go ahead, choose your world of the day.” You smile. He smiles, too. He always likes the way you talk about books, even if he never understands how you can like a pile of paper so much.

And so you both start reading. You fall into a world you hope you never have to leave. You seem so at peace right now, while all Thomas can think about is how this bunch of papers is boring. No wonder why he doesn’t like reading. So he starts to fidget, again, and again.

“Can you try not to move too much? I’m sorry, but you keep distracting me.” You ask sweetly.

“Yeah yeah no worries.”

But he doesn’t stop. Now he starts to adjust his seat, and he fidgets again. You try to send him a soft glare to help him understand that he is getting on your nerves, but he doesn’t stop. When he starts to make noises with his mouth that’s when you lose it.

“Can you bloody stop? I really want to read in peace.” You say with a tone that shows clearly that you are starting to get really mad.

Thomas excuses himself again. He really doesn’t want you to be annoyed by him. You were already mad enough at the coffee shop last time, and

“Oh my god, Thomas!” You scream. When he looks at you he sees your book drenched in water, and he immediately understand that it is his fault when he sees his water bottle that he was playing with on the side, pouring all the water that was inside it on the table, on you.

“Oh my god Y/n I’m so sorry. Wait, let me try to help.” He takes a tissue and starts to dry the book, but it only results in him tearing pages apart. “Okay, that wasn’t a great idea.” He scratches the back of his neck.

“No are you kidding, Sherlock?!” You scream at him with sarcasm.

You try to dry everything, but the librarian just told you that you have to pay for the book and that you are banned from the library for a month for damage. You pay and run off. Thomas tries to excuse himself again, but you have enough.

“Y/n please, let me help.”

“No.” You stop and turn to him. “You did enough.” You say to him before turning back. Thomas watches you walk away. He sighs loudly before going back to his dorm. He knows he can do anything right now.

Try n°3 : the movies

It’s been a week since your encounter with Thomas at the library. You aren’t really mad at him anymore. But the fact that he ruined 2 of the things you like the most makes you think. A lot. Why would he do that to you? You know he doesn’t like these things, but he knows how you love them. Why would he sabotage you? Okay, he didn’t really ruin your job at the coffee shop, but this makes you realise that what you love, he hates. You know you don’t have to love the same things even when you are best friends, but at this point, it is starting to bother you. When you look up from your locker, you can see Thomas approaching with a big smile on his face.

“Y/n?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you like to go to see a movie with me?” He asks while fidgeting with his fingers. Newt and the others convinced him to just ask you out because all his attempts were a disaster. He knows that you love going to the movies.

“No.” You say and walk away. You didn’t quite catch that he was asking you out. You think it is another of his attempts to ruin something that you love.

“Why? Did I do something wrong?”

“It’s not that, but every time for the past weeks, you just destroyed the things I love to do. You don’t even like one of them. I just don’t want you to destroy the movies, too.”

“All of this was an accident, I swear.” He pleads with his eyes. His beautiful brow hazel eyes... focus!

“Why would you even do that in the beginning? You hate coffee, and you hate reading. And I know you don’t like to stay put during a whole movie.”

“I-I-“ Thomas searches for something to say, a lie maybe. But this has to stop. “I wanted to prove to you that I could do the things you love. I wanted to spend more time with you.” He says timidly.

“But we already spend a lot of time together. It’s not like we dont see each other.” You chuckle lightly.

“I know, and I love that. But I want to be constantly with you.” Here goes nothing. “I love you, Y/n.” He can’t look at your face now, afraid of losing his most precious friendship.

“Thomas...” You are in shock. Your best friend loves you back? You dreamed of this day for years. Is it real? “Are you telling the truth?” You ask shyly, causing him to finally look up at you.

“I’m in love with you Y/n. I think I always have.”

There are so many emotions in his eyes right now. You can see principally fear and love, tendress, desire. You just start to lean in. You are afraid he was going to reject you like at the coffee shop a few days ago, but there is a feeling inside you that tells you to just keep going. And you do so until you feel perfect lips on yours. You both kiss for a while. Thomas puts his hands on your face, not wanting to let you go. The kiss starts to get hungrier. Not in a sexual way but more in a way I can’t get enough. I want more.

You both pull appart when you hear whistles and cheers down the hall. Newt, Frypan, and Minho are all cheering at the two of you. You look at Thomas and laugh a little. Thomas just admires you. He can’t believe he finally got you. You are his now.

“Y/n, did I ever tell you the number of times Tomas was drooling while staring at you?”

“Oh shut your bloody mouth Newt!”

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Hope you enjoyed guys!

#thomas tmr x reader #dylan o'brien x reader #thomas x reader #dylan obrien #dylan o'brien fanfic #the maze runner

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