#i put my phone down and groaned how i hate romance | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cherry-leclerc · 7 months

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ruined all my plans ☆ cl16

genre: wolff!reader, secret relationship, humor, enemies to lovers (?? depends how you see it ??), forbidden romance

word count: 6.4k

Toto creates a “hands off” rule over his daughter for all the drivers on the grid. Too late, as it appears Charles might’ve already weasled his way into your heart a long time ago.

Plot line of schematization that runs along George, Carmen, Lily and Alex to figure out who you’re busy hooking up with. All bets are on.

nsfw warning under the cut!

18+...pentrative sex (f and m), biting

inspired by this and this !

i'm so weak. i waited 72 hours to post this??? whatever, consider this a sunday treat!! hope you enjoy it :)

One could argue and say that you’re old enough to make your own decisions, and while everyone around you might see that as true, there’s only one person who would disagree.

“I’m being serious.” Your dad walks away without further comment. Chasing after him like a little girl, you find it almost impossible to keep up with him and his long strides. You pant.

“Why would any of this cause an issue?”

Toto comes to a sudden stop as you bump into his back. You let out a slight umph before putting on your brave face. His heels turn as he looks down at you. “Because I said so.” Leaning down he plants a kiss on your forehead before walking away. You scoff as you click your tongue.

Both your dad and yourself had decided it would be a fun idea if you tagged along for some races of the new F1 season since you haven’t for quite a while, but the moment he noticed the way the grid grew nervous, flirtatious, and some even with tongues hanging out, he regretted it.

You had been bickering back and forth when he broke the news to you that you would be flying back home as soon as possible. If teleportation existed I would’ve already sent your ass away, he stated earlier as you glared angrily.

“You know this isn’t a proper excuse to just send me away. I’ve behaved! Not once have I responded to any of the driver's advances.” He knows you’re right, but he ignores you anyway. Susie had always pointed out how his stubbornness always had her fuming and in this moment, in you, he noticed just how annoying it could get.

“I don’t care! If this is something I have to do in order for my daughter to stop being gawked at by every driver, so be it. Now, stop yapping and start packing.”

That was the last straw.

As he walks out of the Mercedes garage to make his way to his drivers he hears fast footsteps. Throwing yourself onto his large back you cling on as if he was a floatie.

“Let go!” He stumbles back and forth as you cover his eyes. Then your arms slide around his large shoulders, squeezing hard. “You're acting like a child!”

“Stop treating me like one then!” This was a bit much, you’ll admit it, but never out loud. You pinch his bicep and he yelps, running like a chicken without a head. You screech as you hold on tighter, head digging into his neck.

“This isn’t going to make me change my mi-” You bite his ear. He tries to push your legs that wrap around his torso, but you just won’t budge. He spins as he groans in pain. He knew you hated to be dizzy, so why not use it against you.

“Cute. Father-daughter quality time.” Lewis smiles as George takes his phone out to record. Toto looks at them with a bright red face.

“Fuck quality time! Get. Her. Off.”

Scurrying over, they each grab a leg. “Let go!” You yell as you turn to look at them, breathing hard.

“Exactly! Let go!” Toto continues to pry your hands off.

Everyone has gathered outside of their garages as they watch in amusement. Carlos bends over laughing.

“She looks like fun, no?”

Taking a sip of water, Charles shakes his head.

“That chicks crazy.”

You, Lewis, and George sit in the Mercedes meeting room silently waiting for Toto. Rocking in his chair impatiently, George grins. “Do you guys want to see the video I took?”

You glare harshly. “My dads not here yet, you wanna be next?” He shuts up as he slides his phone back into his pocket.

A minute passes by before your dad walks in with Avengers stickers covering his ear, hand, and neck. You all stifle a laugh. “You think this is funny?” You nod. His cold stare turns into the kind you’ve only seen the times he’s grounded you.

“You asked!”

He shakes his head in disapproval. “These are Jack’s, so I don’t even want to hear it.” Sliding a chair out in front of you three, he takes a seat. “We need to talk.”

You roll your eyes. “Really? I thought we were all gonna learn how to fly.” George lets out a laugh as Lewis nudges your thigh. Just listen, his gaze warns you.

Toto folds his arms against the tables as he lets out a breath. “I won’t send you home.” Not what you were expecting. Hopping over to him you kiss his cheek as he slightly flinches.

“Thank you, Daddy!”

George raises an eyebrow. “Seriously? If I would ever behave like this with my parents they would ship me to boarding school.” You bite the air.

“Sit down.” You rush back into your seat between the Mercedes drivers. Drumming his fingers against the table he begins. “But I have some rules. Call them…my conditions.” You groan.

“That’s not how this works-”

“No, it’s going to work because I said so!” He takes a moment to relax before continuing. “Look, I spoke to your mother and you were right. I was being unfair.” You clap your hands in delight. “That doesn’t mean what you did was right. But here’s all I ask from you, the same thing as always; don’t date any drivers on the grid.”

You nod profusely. “I promise!” There were some good looking men on the grid, but quite frankly you never found interest. You knew what you’d be getting yourself into if you ever did.

Lewis clears his throat. “This has been super nice and all, but why are we here?” He signals between him and his teammate.

“Right.” Standing up, Toto places both his hands on his waist. “I won’t ask for much.” Turning to look at them he says, “Just ask for you both to watch over her.”

“Like Jesus?”

“George, shut up!” You follow Toto. “Dad, I don’t need them to babysit me. What’s the whole point of not being treated like a baby?”

“That’s what you don’t seize to understand. You are my baby.” He cups your face tenderly. “Those are my circumstances if you want to stick around.” He lets go. “And either way, you said it yourself. You don’t pay much attention to them, so why would this be any different?”

“Fine. Deal.”

“Where are you headed?”

Miami was always a fun place to be at and you wanted to have some fun. Wasn’t this the point of it all?

“I’m just going for a walk around the paddock.”

Lewis stands up like a guard dog as he slides on his sunglasses. “You know what? I’m kind of in the mood for a walk too. Always a good time to show off my outfit.”

Rolling your eyes you reluctantly agree. He’s telling you about Roscoe’s recent “girlfriend” as you both pass the Red Bull garage. Paparazzi stand outside as they wait for any glimpse of Max, but as soon as they see Lewis they immediately rush over. Almost like a force of nature, Lewis coolly poses as he continues walking smoothly.

“Yeah, I can’t do this right now.” Taking advantage of the situation, you dart off.

“Whatever,” Lewis yells out as he continues, entertained by the cameras.

Rushing behind a nearby wall you gasp for air. “Are you okay?”

“Crap!” You fling your hand outwards as you smack someone's hard chest. You look at your fist as you recognize the dark blue fireproofs.

“Ow!” Max yelps as he pushes your arm down. You cringe.

“Sorry! I just thought- nevermind. Are you alright?” He nods.

“Yes. Were you looking for someone?” You notice that in an attempt to get away from the mob you had landed yourself inside the garage of Mercedes’ main rival. You shake your head.

“God, no. I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” You hum embarrassingly. “I should go now.”

“Hey, I mean you can hide out here with me for a while.”

The way he smiles shyly takes you back to the day he first asked you out. He was nice, but no. You can’t. Tugging out your phone from your back pocket you giggle nervously. “Oh! Would you look at that! It’s my dad calling. I should go before he starts to worry. Bye Max!” You zoom out.

“Yeah, bye…”

“Where were you?” Toto is sitting in the small room he had set up for you when you were on the road with him and the team.

“I went out for a walk.” That wasn’t completely a lie, but if he found out who you were with he would only start World War III. “Wanted to stretch out my legs.” You kick your legs out as you hop up a few times.

He holds out an envelope as you delicately reach out for it. Opening it up you see what’s inside. Pictures of you with Lewis, but as you continue flipping through you see yourself slipping away. It would almost be funny if it weren’t for Toto’s narrowed look. “Where did you run off to?”

“First of all, this is extremely creepy, zero privacy, but nowhere! I came straight back, you know I can’t handle large groups like those.”

Rising up he nods. “If you say so.”

You take a seat next to your dad as you both analyze the race. The Red Bulls are fast, as expected, but Mercedes wasn’t that far off. They might actually get podium if the strategy continued the same.

“C’mon. C’mon.” It was the final lap and George was fighting for third against Fernando. Anxiety filled up your stomach, you could only imagine what George was feeling. “Goddamn it!” You and Toto both curse out as you both slam the headset against the table.

“Every single time.”

You congratulate Lewis and George as they walk in after being weighted. “You guys did good.” You smile as they wipe off their sweat with a small towel.

“Ah, I need a drink. Wanna come out with Carmen and I to the club? A couple other drivers are tagging along.”

“Yes! Okay, just me a second to go back to the hotel and change.” As you run away, Toto strolls over. George gulps.

“Remember…” He warns him as the Brit carefully nods. Of course. You don’t need to worry.

You show up 2 hours late, but it's Miami. The later the better.

“That group right there! I swear I know them.” You had been trying to explain to the security guard that you weren’t some crazy fan and that you did in fact know the group of F1 drivers who had shown up to the VIP section.

“Right and I know Oprah Winfrey…” You furrow your brows. Are you calling me a liar? He shrugs. Just then, Charles walks by and you immediately jump forward, but the guard holds you back.

“Charles!” He turns to look at you as he tries to understand the situation. You’re being held back by the guard as you screech in his arms. He rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, no.” He walks away. Coward! Your body droops into his arms. The tall man drags you out. I swear I know himmmm.

“Yo, is that chick dead?” Your eyes pop open as you hear a familiar voice.

“Daniel! Ah. Thank God! Tell him you know me!” Daniel lets out a loud laugh as he claps his hands in amusement.

“Oh God, this is amazing.” He hurries over to you both. “Yes, I know her.” The bald man looks like he doesn’t quite believe you, but he lets you go either way. Walking side by side you pat the Australians shoulder.

“Thank you so much. You won’t believe how long it’s taken me to try and wheeze myself in.” He grins.

“No problem.” He lets you through first as Carmen rushes over.

“Oh good! I thought you weren’t going to show up.”

“Ran into a bit of trouble, but there’s no way I would’ve missed out on Georgie’s almost win celebration.” George scowls. Bitch, he mutters under his breath. Carmen smacks his head.

Excusing yourself you walk over to the bar as you order yourself a drink. You don’t have to turn to know someone is now standing next to you. You immediately noticed the stack of bracelets. “Hey, dick, what was that all about?’ Charles sighs.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You ignored me! You let them drag me away like a beast!”

He snickers. “You said it, not me.” Slamming your palm against the table you make his drink jump up a bit.

“You are a real piece of shit, y’know that?”

“And you aren’t?”

You toss your head back with a cold laugh before you glare back at him.

“I can’t believe I ever dated you.”

There was a time - where you’re embarrassed to admit now - that you actually fell for a driver's charm.

“Charles,” he introduces himself, as you kick your shoe against your leg nervously. For a while you tried to push away, but somehow, something always led you back to him.

Skipping your way down the paddock you make your way towards the taco stand. Rumors had made their way to you that Scuderia had authentic tacos in honor of the Mexican GP and you just had to go.

The line was long, but you didn’t seem to mind as you answered a few texts.

“Hungry?”

You blush when you notice Charles with his fireproofs. Glistening sweat makes his brown hair connect to his face. He looks so filt-

“Just a tiny bit.” He could’ve easily made his way to the staff to request your plate much faster, but then how else would he talk to you? For an entire hour, his towering height lingered over you as you both stood under the blazing sun. And he was just as perfect as you could have ever imagined. It wasn’t that long after that you both were sneaking in kisses behind Ferrari’ and Mercedes’ motorhome.

“Fuck.” He kisses you hard as his hands slip underneath your shirt. His cold touch makes you shiver as your body jumps up a bit. This causes you to rub yourself against him. He pulls away, eyes screwed shut.

“What’s wrong? Did I do something?”

He shakes his head as he stares down at you with an enamored smile tugging at his pink, swollen lips. “No, it's just that…” You look down at the tent poking through his jeans.

“I could fix that.” Your flirtatious tone is enough for him to fall back against your warm lips. He groans.

“N-no. Not here.” You had both been taking shelter behind the Mercedes garage in order to not be caught, but still, this was risky. You sigh as your arms drop to your sides.

“You’re right.” He gives you one last peck as he rushes off to his media duties. Walking through the sliding doors the first person you see is George signing a few hats. He looks up.

“My word, did someone punch your lips?” You rush over to a nearby mirror as you take in your appearance. Your lipstick was everywhere. Bring up your sleeve, you quickly try brushing away.

“Not a word of this to my dad.”

And no he never told Toto, but he knew he couldn’t hold onto this by himself.

“...It has to be someone on the grid. But who…” Carmen, George, Lily, and Alex had gone out on a double date when the Brit spilled the beans.

“What if it’s Max? Have you seen the way he looks at her!” Lily exclaims as she purses her lips. Alex shakes his head in disagreement.

“No. It definitely has to be Carlos. I mean look at him! That’s straight up her type.” Oh. I didn’t even think of that one, Lily pouts.

“You both got it wrong, it’s Lando. They get along so well, plus, they would look so cute together.” Carmen swoons at the image. George pretends to gag.

“Darling…friends… let me explain.” They all sit there eager for the next candidate. “It’s definitely Lewis.” The table dies.

“Mate! You’re insane. He’s old enough to be her dad!” Alex cripples over laughing as he leans his head against his girlfriend's shoulder. She pats his head.

“He’s right, George. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

Whatever, he thinks to himself. It might be him.

“I lost her! Shit, I lost her!” George panics to his girlfriend as she stares up in confusion. What do you mean you lost her! He cringes. “As in; she's gone! And I keep calling Lewis and he’s not picking up and- oh.”

Carmen’s eyes grow wide. “You don’t think…” George laughs wickedly.

“I told you so! Wait until I tell Alex. Alex!” She slaps her hand over his mouth.

“Are you crazy? You can’t just go around claiming this when it might not even be true!” He immediately deflates. You’re right, you’re right-

“Either way, Lando’s missing too.” She giggles as he stares with a deadpan expression.

“Shit!” Charles hisses in pain as he bangs his head against the wall. You let out a sweet laugh.

“Be careful. Also, be quiet!”

You were supposed to be meeting with Toto to go grab dinner with the team and Charles had a last minute defrief to get to, but there was something far more important.

You were both horny.

“Mhmm,” he mumbles as he slips you onto the counter that sits in the privacy of his motorhome. Scrunching your mini dress around your thighs he gets down on his knees as he drags your panties down with his teeth, a teasing look painting his eyes. You bite down on your erupting moan.

“As much as I love this, I need you to be fast.” He chuckles as he stands up to his full height, slipping his suit down as his cock springs out, looking painfully hard. You lick your lips. His strong hands grab your hips to scoot you closer towards him. You giggle as he pecks your lips one final time before slipping inside of you.

Normally, you moan as loud as you please, but you know you can’t right now. So, you bite the inside of your cheek as he begins thrusting in the most delicious way. Your eyes roll to the back of your head as you softly pant.

“That’s a good girl,” he murmurs. He knows how much you love to be vocal and seeing you trying not to be in order to not get caught has him downright impressed. His hips pick up the pace as you silently whine. His cock brushes against your g-spot and that has you feeling as if you’re going to burst. Slow down, Charles, you moan. He cocks his head to the side. “Sois une bonne fille et prends-le.”

Nodding frantically your hand squeezes against his forearm for support.

“Charles are you almost done changing?” Carlos taps his fingers against the door as he waits for his teammate. Trepidation fills you at the thought of Carlos walking in on you. You had both been keeping this a secret and this was definitely not the way you wanted someone to find out about your relationship.

“Charles, s-stop,” you whisper, but this only seems to make Charles snap his hips faster. You want to scream when you feel his cock all the way deep inside your stomach. He suppresses a loud groan.

“Just a minute! Go on without me.” You hear a low, Just don’t take too long. Footsteps grow further as the Spaniard struts away. You sigh but that’s quickly replaced when your boyfriend tosses your left leg over his tan shoulder.

“Oh my God.” Eyes are looking straight at Charles as he admires the way his cock disappears inside of you. The thought makes you blush. He softly kisses your ankle as you moan louder, you feel your tummy grow tighter. “Charles, oh God, I’m gonna cum-”

He covers your mouth, muffled cries vibrating against his hand as he feels you clench around him. The warmness that splatters around his cock makes him bite your ankle as he finishes inside of you. You squirm in pain.

Panting, he lets go of your leg and kisses your temple. “Sorry. Did I hurt you?” You shake your head.

“I’m okay.” Seeing your fucked out state has him glowing with pride that your his and that only he gets to see you like this. He gives you one last kiss as he pulls out of you. You choke at the slight sensitivity. Sorry, he mumbles as he cleans you up.

You both go your separate ways as it dawns on you that you feel so…complete. It’s a weird feeling to have, but as soon as you remind yourself that this is Charles - your Charles - you don’t feel so lost anymore. Grinning, you walk towards your dad.

“You took forever,” he scolds you before letting out a soft smile, kissing the top of your head. He takes a whiff. “Did you run here?”

“Um, why do you ask?”

He stares at you like a hawk before rubbing his eyes. “No reason. You’re just sweating a bit, that's all. Anyways, we should get going.”

That same day you quickly disappear to a nearby shop to buy a cheap perfume.

“Mmm. Flowers.” Lewis sniffs as he walks past you.

“Are you serious?” Lily and Alex grew suspicious when they saw Carmen and George huddling up together like two detectives, so eventually, they went to investigate themselves. “Have you tried calling her?”

“Goodness! How did I not think about that?” Lily and Carmen shoot a dry look at the Brit before he shrinks down onto his seat.

“Stop fighting and let’s just think,” Alex interrupts.

Lily’s eyes roam the club as she see’s Checo and Lance talking. Daniel is with Fernando, but wait-

Excited, she turns back to the group. “Max! It’s Max!” She jumps up and down as Alex stares at her in love.

“Sweet, sweet, Lilyicious, you’re wrong. C’mon we’ve talked about this.” She stomps her foot.

“Nu-uh. Look around with your big head.” She points around the club. “Max is missing. It makes sense.”

“Okay, well Carlos is missing too, how do you explain that?” The couple huff in defeat as they plop down next to George.

“Well this isn’t working. All our best bets are missing and so is she!” Carmen chugs down an entire glass of vodka as the three of them stare up at her scared. “We’re just going to have to look for her ourselves.”

Wanna come over to my room? Fifth floor, #254.

Butterflies fill you to the brim. On my way.

It’s a personal record, really, the way you dash to his room. Part of you thinks about waiting a couple of minutes before knocking, but you know can’t stay away for long. Closed fist almost reaches the wood as the door swings open. Charles stands there with a pair of workout shorts and white socks. Maroon bruises cover his chest from a few nights ago.

Walking towards him you brush your fingers against his chest. “I like where this is going,” you joke as he smiles, kicking the door shut.

The way he kisses you is different. The type of kiss where someone is really trying to memorize the person. It’s still amazing, but why does it feel any different from the rest? You dig your lips deeper as if this would help you figure it out. His hands move to play with your hair as he pulls away. His fingers feel nice. “Let’s sit.”

Once you settle onto his comfy bed you stare at him in awe. How is it that he ever paid you any attention? He could have anyone, but he chose you? That must count for something. “I was thinking maybe now's a good time to let everyone know we’re together.”

He clenches his jaw. “I don’t know…”

You tuck your legs under your butt as you lean a bit forward. “Okay, maybe you’re right. Let’s start off slow. Maybe just our friends?” Taking one look at him makes you feel like an anthill. “Or what do you think?”

Taking in a shallow breath he doesn’t look at you when he says, “I want to break up.” You stop breathing.

He doesn’t say I think we should break up or there’s something wrong. No, he just jumps straight to the point. No explanation.

But you need one.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” This time he looks at you and his eyes don’t hold the same shine they normally do. The kind you love on him. Now they’re dark and empty. Did I do that?

“It’s just that…” He trails off when he notices you looking at him as if he’s really about to try to save your relationship. “...I need to focus on the Championship.”

You bite your lip as you try reaching out for his hands, but when he slightly pulls away before you even can, it makes you shrink. Settling your hand on your lap you let out a shaky breath before pretending to smile. “Of course. I get that. I can give you some space.”

He shakes his head, eyes looking down to his feet. “No. I just can’t be dating you right now.” When you were 7 and your dad accidentally stepped over your favorite tea cup you had claimed that was the worst pain you have ever felt.

Nothing would beat Charles’ words.

“Me? You can’t be dating me right now, okay.” You start putting your shoes back on and he stares at you with an open mouth.

Stay. I never meant any of this.

But it was too late.

Entering the elevator you’re sobbing, feeling like a nobody. What did you do wrong? Everything was going great. The doors slid open as the last person you wanted to see, apart from Charles, walked in.

“Honey, are you okay?” Toto frantically searches for any cuts or anything that might be causing you pain. Surface level, you want to cry out. You’re looking surface level, but you won’t find anything.

Tying your arms around his waist he immediately hugs you back, trying to understand.

“Daddy, I want to go home.”

“That’s it. I’m calling him.” The Brit pulls out his phone before his friend yanks it away.

“Do you want to lose your job?” Quickly, he shakes his head. Alex tsks. “But we’ve looked everywhere! God, I’m gonna get fired regardless…”

“Bathroooooom. I need to go to the bathroommm.” A body sways, bumping into Lily, sending her flying towards Carmen.

“Watch where you’re going dickhe- oh! Max!” The Dutch man squints his eyes. Do I know you?

“Don’t bother, he’s completely wasted,” Daniel says as he brushes past the group. But George is desperate. Shaking him by the shoulders, he questions Max.

“Have you seen her? Was she with you?”

Max lazily puts a finger over George’ lips. He sighs at the silence. “Much better…no. I haven’t.” They all groan. Letting go, Max zigzags away.

“So, it’s not Max.”

I was homesick. That’s all.

Your mom raises an eyebrow. “But you love traveling, this is new.” You shrug lamely.

“I just really missed you and Jack.” You both look over to your little brother where he silently sits there entertained with his coloring book.

“No you didn’t.” You laugh as Susie stands up to brush your hair. “Honey, what actually happened?”

A weak smile forms itself onto your lips. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Should we call the police?”

Lily exhales, rubbing her fingers against her lap nervously. “No. I still think we can find her.”

Alex nods. “Try calling Lewis again.” A disgusted look maps itself on George’ face.

“Gross. No, what if they’re hooking up?” They all groan.

That’s definitely not true at all, Carmen mumbles. “I still say it’s Lando.” Daniel is passing by with a feathered boa. “Danny!” she shrieks. His pearly whites make her smile. “Do you know where Lando is?” Daniel looks up at the ceiling before clicking his fingers.

“I last with him with baby Wolff!” Carmen jumps up in excitement.

“See George I told you! I told you so! Eat and-”

“...Oh no nevermind that wasn’t him. It was…oh. Who was it?” He covers his face with the boa as he thinks about it.

“Hand that over. I’m about to kill myself.” The group turns to face Lando. His face is flushed as he strips the boa from his teammate. Daniel lets out a sore cough as Lando pulls it off him, but the Australian had it wrapped around his neck. Sorry mate, he apologizes.

George rushes over to the younger Brit. “Where were you?”

“I’m okay,” Daniel croaks out as he takes a sip of Lily’s drink.

“I was trying to get a girl's number.” Carmen’s eyes shine. “Word of advice: always make sure they’re not married.” He walks away.

“Dammit. I was almost sure it was going to be him."

“Please, don’t hang up!”

His voice is raspy from the cold as you lie warm in your bed. You can already smell your favorite homemade pancakes your mom always makes for you when you’re feeling down.

“Tough, because as you can see, I just don’t want to talk to you.” You’re about to hang up before he shoots out a quick, Too late. I’m downstairs.

Now, you’re definitely awake. You quickly try to make yourself seem presentable before you rush downstairs. And he was there, sitting with Susie as they both ate your favorite pancakes.

You stand there with your matching PJ’s and one white tube sock. Charles smiles fondly as you blush.

“You forgot your other sock…” Jack tugs at your shirt to gain your attention as he holds his arm out.

“Thank you, baby.” You quickly slip it on.

Susie walks to Jack as she picks him up. “Let’s go, Jackie. This is what we call privacy.” As they both walk down the hallway you can still hear her say, Do you know what privacy is?

“Is she…”

You stare at him blankly. “She’s teaching him how to respect others.” A distant smile. “Holy shit! Wait! Maybe she can teach you.” He winces.

“Look, I just want to talk. Please…” You take a seat across from him as you snatch his plate away and begin to eat.

“I’m only listening because there’s a really delicious plate right in front of me, but you only have 5 minutes, then I want you to leave.” He nods desperately.

“So, um, that night…”

You can’t help the shaky breath that slips past your lips. You hate that he’s getting to you, because it's not what he deserves. You stubbornly would have bought yourself a diamond ring if you had known he would be here.

“...That night. I never meant anything that I said.” The way you want to laugh has him hurrying to get all his words out. “The media, all the stress, was getting crazy and I was a fool to let that get to me.”

“Are you just word vomiting?” He chuckles.

“This is me telling you that I messed up. I screwed up. I fucked up. Whatever you wanna call it, but you don’t know how much I regret that day. How cold I was being to you.”

“You didn’t even try. You never even let me help you,” you whisper as he shakes his head. I know amour, I know.

He grabs your hands. Soft and warm and his. “If you need me to beg, I’ll beg…But please. Give me one more chance.”

Looking deep into his eyes you slowly nod, almost as if you can’t believe this is really happening.

“One more chance.”

“If we’re being quite honest, I never thought it would just be you and me, George.” The two best friends share a high five.

“I can’t even believe it. One of us might actually have it in the bag!” Carmen and Lily scoff at their boyfriends.

“Let me remind you that she’s still missing, dork.” Lily smirks as George snaps out of it.

“You’re right, but we’re getting closer.”

Standing behind Lily, Alex wraps his arms around her shoulders. Despite everything going on around them, Lily still leans in. “Babe,” he starts. “You might actually have a winner in your han- fuck!” His girlfriend jumps up.

“What!”

“Hey, have you guys seen Charles?” Carlos stands there with a puzzled look as Alex curses him out. I bet my money on you! He slaps a 100 dollar bill to George as he does a small celebratory dance with Carmen.

Lily steps aside. “We haven’t, but I think I remember him being with Pierre and Kika. They were talking about - nevermind - that’s not what matters here!”

Carlos hums. “Okayyy then. Just let me know if you do. He’s my ride back.” He walks away.

“Well, well, well,” George clicks his tongue, tall frame leaning against the table. “And then there was one.”

“Are you both sure?”

Things had taken a sharp turn that it even had you questioning your sanity.

“We’re sure.” You gaze at the bright rock that sits on your finger as Charles rubs soft circles on your hand. You mom sighs, but deep down she’s proud of both of you. Overcoming past mistakes together is a huge deal when it comes to marriage. Jack giggles as you flash your ring up. Charles smiles and Susie can tell by his dazzling green eyes.

The Monegasque is in love.

“You can’t tell dad yet, though!” you yelp as your mom stares back with an open mouth.

Why not?, she says at the same time Charles asks, She can’t?

Shaking your head you kiss your fiance's cheek before facing your mom. “It’s just that he wouldn’t understand. At least not yet. Right?”

Charles nods slowly, not fully seeing where this was going. “Whatever you say, mon amour.” Susie winks in approval. Charles feels quite proud of that one.

“I’ll respect your choice,” she says loudly as Jack chirps up. He nods as he keeps quiet. “Right, I’ll respect it, but you have to find a way to let him know soon enough.” Getting up, you hug her tightly.

“Thank you! And yes I have a plan. Top tier. He won’t even see it coming.”

“Now it makes sense why they’re so close! All those late night drives, breakfasts in the morning. No wonder I wasn’t invited for a few of those!”

“Yeah. That’s why,” Alex shoots as he snickers. Carmen softly pats her boyfriend's shoulder as she lets out a playfully grimace. George flips him off.

“You’re just mad because I actually got something right for once!”

“You said it. For once.”

“Oh, you bi-”

“Huh? Huh! Speak louder you gira–”

“Guys!”

Cut short from their heated argument they all turn their attention.

Lewis stands there with a worried expression. His facial lines noticeable as he pinches his face in slight fear. “I’ve been looking everywhere, but I can’t find her. Oh, God, Toto’s gonna kill me…”

George has his fist wrapped around Alex’s collar as he stares with his mouth hung open. Alex laughs as he pushes George off.

“Aha! I knew it! There was just no way!” George groans as he tugs at his floppy hair.

Lewis looks lost. “I don’t have time for this, have you seen her?” They all shake their head as they explain their theory that involved the 7x World Champion. He shudders.

“Gross! She’s like a daughter to me!”

“Thank you!” Carmen, Lily, and Alex shout as George shrugs.

“Okay, so let’s backtrack: She couldn’t have been with Max because poor boy is too drunk to even remember his own name, she wasn’t with Lando since he’s too busy hiding from someone’s husband-”

George and Alex giggle.

“She definitely wasn’t with you,” Lily points to Lewis as if it were impossible for you and him to be in the same sentence. Way to rub it in, he pouts. She shrugs her shoulders as an apology. “And she wasn’t with Carlos because he’s too busy looking for…”

Their eyes grow wide.

“Jesus fucking Christ, where is the bathroom!” Max swings his arms, almost knocking down Yuki. Sorry Uki, he murmurs as he furrows his eyebrows.

“Yuki,” the Japanese driver corrected him.

“Whatever.” Max waves in dismissal. Alex drags the Dutch closer to them.

“There’s one right here.” Max almost starts to cry as he spots the bathroom that stood close by the group.

“Thank youuuu.” He rushes towards the restroom as he tugs harshly. He lets out a whine as he bangs his head against the wall in frustration. “I swear I am going to kick this door down…”

Alex runs over. “Don’t do that, mate. Again.” He kisses his bicep as winks over to his girlfriend. Watch this, he mouths.

But it won’t budge.

“Move over,” George says as he starts rolling up his sleeves. This one’s for you, Carmen. The brunette girl cringes as she covers her eyes. He groans as he pulls with all his strength. “One minute…”

Lewis lets out a sigh as he walks over and pushes his teammate to the side. Wrapping both hands around the handle he leans back and pulls. Both Lily and Carmen drool over his rippling muscles.

“At least try to hide it,” George muffles.

Suddenly the door swings open. Max cheers as he runs in.

“Gotta pee, fuck, get out!”

Two flying bodies are thrown out as they both crash onto a nearby couch.

“Dickhead!” you yell out as you rub your head. Charles groans in pain with you on top of him. The entire room grows silent. Well, as silent as it could get in a club.

“Young lady, when your father finds out!” Lewis exclaims, hands against his hips.

“You’re fucked,” George laughs. “Literally.”

There’s really no way of hiding it. Your short skirt is riding up a tad bit too high as you yank it down. Lipstick stains cover the Monegasque’s face.

“Not a word.”

“And how do you think you guys are going to keep it under wraps?” Susie questions as Charles looks at you with an intrigued face. Yeah. How are we?

Rolling your eyes you take a bite of the now cold pancakes. You gag.

“Easy. We can just pretend to hate each other for a while, make dad believe I’m following his long lasting rule of not crushing on any driver and after a while he’ll trust me and ta-da! We’re getting married, baby!”

You flash a proud smile as Charles high fives you.

Your mom raises a skeptical brow as she leans against her chair. Giggling, you put your hand over hers.

“How hard could it be?”

#charles leclerc #charles leclerc imagines #charles leclerc x reader #f1 #f1 imagine #f1 x reader #charles leclerc drabble #charles leclerc smut #wolff!reader

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r0ttenhearts · 11 months

Text

Like A Dog II

“oh, you’re here.” you say flatly as you peer up at the grey-haired scholar, his hand leaving the edge of the door as he stood there with a stumped look on his face.

“(y/n)? you came back? i-”

“i’m not here for you, i’m just here for the rest of my stuff. kaveh said he packed it up for me.” you responded curtly as the mentioned blonde man exited his room.

“(y/n)! just in time. sorry i couldn’t beat him to the door.”

kaveh holds a taped up, brown box in his hands as he passes alhaitham, following you out the door as he takes it to your new home.

alhaitham watches you two leave his home, the smiles and laughs you once held for him were now directed towards kaveh. the way your mouth would crinkle up in a smile made his fist clench. kaveh’s close distance to you didn’t make things any better for alhaitham either.

shortly after alhaitham’s outburst you had gone to kaveh, asking him to help you find a new place as you could no longer stomach being under the same roof as alhaitham. kaveh happily obliged and helped you secure housing close to the akademia, your days were now filled with hangouts when the both of you were free from your studies, or in kaveh’s case, his blueprints.

as much as alhaitham pretended to ignore it, he hated seeing all of your belongings slowly disappear from your once shared home. the smell of your sweetly brewed coffee, your cat mugs you had gotten to represent the three of you, your romance novels that occasionally were laid on the coffee table were now gone. just an empty room and plain mugs resided in your places now, the coffee tasting bitter in the mornings as kaveh nor alhaitham could replicate it.

seeing kaveh stay all buddy buddy with you bothered him. an aching tightening in his chest as he saw you seek out his roommate rather than him. it’s not like you’d spend nights in kaveh’s sheets like you once did with alhaitham, but he figured it was just the same if you were.

after hours of kaveh not returning home, alhaitham’s phone pinged with a message.

tighnari: hey kaveh is here with (y/n) at puspa

tighnari: he’s very drunk. do you mind getting him?

alhaitham groaned as he read the message, putting his headphones on his ears as he made his way to the cafe. his eyes widened once he saw you were also drunk, babysitting a rather large glass of a clear liquid as tighnari patted your shoulder while kaveh was slurring next to you.

“why is he here?”

even in your drunken state, you were still angry with him. you wobbled as you stood up from your chair, pointing a finger at his chest as your face scrunched up. “you have no right to be here alhaitham. you don’t get to have fun with us anymore.”

alhaitham’s eyes slightly softened as he tried to put your shaking arm down, but you snatched it back in retaliation, almost as if he had burned you.

“don’t you touch me! you have no right to barge in here and take kaveh from me! he’s been here for me, let me keep his company.” you slurred as you stumbled, holding onto the top of your chair for stability.

alhaitham looked to cyno and tighnari who shrugged their shoulders, unaware of the dilemma that had occurred between the both of you. kaveh’s red face turned to alhaitham as he waved his hand.

“don’t need you ‘haitham doin’ jus’ fine without you.”

alhaitham grumbled as he took kaveh up by his shoulder, letting him lean against him as you looked to alhaitham with glossy eyes.

“please don’t take him from me.” you whispered, almost as if you were talking about something else, not of alhaitham taking your drinking buddy home.

“sorry (y/n.) make sure she gets home safely you two.”

alhaitham nods to the other two at your table as alhaitham takes kaveh’s drunken self home.

“you really hurt her you know.”

alhaitham stops in the doorway, kaveh’s alcohol ridden breath passing by his ear.

“she really loved you, and you tossed her out like nothin.’ you don’t know how many nights i had to comfort her, cryin’ n’ snotting on herself over you.”

“i know kaveh. i know i hurt her. but nothing i do will mend what’s happened. i miss her around here just as much as you do.”

alhaitham admitted as he closed the door, letting kaveh flop onto the couch as he splayed out.

“i loved— love, her. i hadn’t realized it at the time.”

he sighs, sitting on the couch next to kaveh’s drunken, laid out self. this admission of his guilt seemed to set in as the two men rested on that couch. the realization that you’d never forgive him, never wake up next to him, or smile to him again. it hurt. your absence hurt the scholar more than he wanted to admit.

alhaitham takes out his phone, tapping your contact as he pressed his phone to his ear. it goes to voicemail, of course. but that didn’t stop him.

“hey (y/n).. i understand this might be a bad time but i cannot hold these words in any longer. i feel terribly guilty for what i said to you, though i know i cannot fix things between us, i want you to know that i didn’t mean a sentence i said that night. not a word of it.

i actually— these past few weeks i’ve come to this.. realization. you likely don’t want to hear it from me but..

I love you. I’ve loved you since we were kids.

I don’t deserve your kindness or your love again but these feelings will eat me from the inside out if i don’t tell you. I love you (y/n) and i’m so fucking sorry for what i’ve done to us.

I miss you. I miss us. I miss the smell of your hair tickling my nose when i held you in my bed, your warmth when you’d lean against me while we read.

I miss all of you.

I’m sorry for spouting this to you when you’re intoxicated, but i’m afraid if I don’t say it now I never will.

I don’t expect your forgiveness. I just want you to know. I’m sorry (y/n). I only wish for your happiness now.”

alhaitham sighed, tapping the red hang up button as he tossed his phone onto the coffee table. kaveh’s drunken snores next to him as he sat there in the dark. he stood up from the couch, going to the kitchen and picking out a strong vodka as he sat back down next to kaveh, uncapping the bitter liquid as he gulped it down. the alcohol numbed his senses, but even in his now drunken state he could hear your voice.

“i don’t forgive you, alhaitham.”

#genshin angst #genshin x reader #genshin x reader angst #alhaitham #alhaitham angst #alhaitham x reader

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makeitmingi · 5 months

Text

Just A Phone Call Away

Genre: Romance, Angst

Pairing: Hongjoong x Reader (y/n)

Characters: exGirlfriend!Reader, exBoyfriend!Hongjoong

Summary: Your relationship didn't work out, the only thing it did was fill your friendship with awkwardness and regret. But when the other is in need of comforting, you still drop everything and run to each other. After all, you're both just a phone call away.

Word count: 7.1k

Warning(s): lowkey toxic ex-lovers relationship, sprinkles of jealousy, potentially emotional triggers for some. Please read at your own discretion.

[A/N: Hongjoong is just a producer/ song writer in this, not an idol. Ateez isn't an idol group. (y/n) and Hongjoong's friends don't hate each other, they just disagree with the actions of the ex couple. The couple didn't work out for whatever reason. No matter what their lingering feelings are now.]

30th September, Saturday, 9:27pm

Your front door suddenly opened, making you look up from the movie that was playing on the television in front of you. Seeing that it wasn't some stranger entering your house to cause you alarm, you turned back to the movie, simultaneously eating a spoon of rice.

Also, he had called 30 minutes before to tell you he was stopping by. No questions, just a declaration. So you were expecting him.

"Ughhhhhhh." The visitor groaned, falling onto the empty space of the couch next to you. Rolling your eyes, you ignored him but he continued to annoyingly groan.

"Tch. What do you want?" You clicked your tongue. You paused the movie and turned to him.

"Yah..." You tapped his head with the bottom of your bowl.

"How can you just casually eat when I'm in distress?" He asked. You tilted your head, chewing your food before swallowing. You let out a sigh of defeat, reaching to put the bowl down on the table.

"Come here." You spoke softly. He moved immediately, pushing you to lie down and rest his head against your chest.

"Nothing's working out." He mumbled.

"What's not working out?" You probed further, hand coming up to stroke the back of his head.

"I've been camping at the studio for 2 weeks and have not produced a single beat, much less a track or instrumental. I think I've lost my touch." He said. You sighed, his studio work was always something that stressed him out. It was unhealthy for how much of a workaholic he was.

"If you're gonna come here and start speaking bullcrap, I'm kicking you out." You threatened.

"No..." He shook his head, hands coming to squeeze your waist like a child, as if you were really going to kick him out. You hoped he couldn't hear the way your heart lurched.

"Hey, don't sleep yet. Do you want food?" You asked. When you felt him nod, you got up and went to the kitchen.

"What did you cook?" He came up behind you, wrapping his arms around you.

"Fried rice. I was lazy." You explained. You took the remains and scraped them into a new bowl for him. The leftovers were going to be your lunch tomorrow but it's fine.

"Here." You poured flaked seaweed over before handing him the bowl. He sat at the small dining table in the kitchen, eating and watching you clean up. You did the dishes before wiping down the counter and the stove top.

"Your cooking always reminds me of home." He commented. You froze slightly at his words, chewing on your bottom lip. Luckily you were facing away from him that he couldn't see your reaction.

"Don't eat and talk, you'll choke." You forced a chuckle.

"I'm going to shower, can you do the dishes when you're done?" You asked. He nodded, giving you a thumbs up as he shovelled more food into his mouth.

"Slow down, no one is going to take the food away from you." You patted his back.

"Go shower. I'll shower after." He said betwen chews. You hummed and left him in the kitchen, going to have your shower.

Kim Hongjoong, also known as Producer Hongjoong, Songwriter Hongjoong. But before any of those things, you knew him as student Kim Hongjoong, the boy you met during your first year of college. You clicked instantly and became inseparable. He was also the first boy you truly loved.

After a few years of friendship, you both tried dating. It was some of the best moments of your life. One of your best friends was your lover, you practically spent every waking moment with him.

But ultimately, you grew too comfortable with each other, one thing led to another and in the end, you both that it was best for you to part ways.

You regretted acting on your feelings because the relationship only made your friendship awkward and uncomfortable.

If you knew you would end up losing your best friend, you would have kept your feelings to yourself.

When you broke up, you both promised to remain 'friends'. You promised that in times of need, you were both just a phone call away to give the other person some comforting. Hongjoong would come to you, like he did now, and you would go to him.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"Aein, where's my towel?" You broke out of your train of thought to see Hongjoong's silhouette through the door. One more thing, Hongjoong never got rid of his nickname for you 'sweetheart'.

"Oh, I moved it to be with your clothes. Bottom left drawer of my dresser." You replied.

"Okay, I'll go find it. Thanks!" He walked away. You let out a long sigh, lifting your head to let the shower rain on you, hoping it'll wash away whatever you were feeling. You lightly slapped your cheeks, you needed to pull yourself together.

"Joong, I'm done." You announced as you stepped out, drying your hair with your smaller towel. Hongjoong stood up from the couch. He smiled when he saw you.

"You always look cute in my old shirts. I've always told you that you pull off any style you wear." He complimented.

"I'm literally in pyjamas... Just go shower. I'm going to sleep." You scoffed.

"No! Wait for me!" He protested, running to the shower. You honestly didn't think about it when you pulled the shirt to wear. Most of your closet was curated by Hongjoong anyway, even before you dated.

After doing your skincare, you sat on the bed and scrolled through your social media.

"Ah! That felt good!" Hongjoong came in, tossing his towel aside and diving straight for the bed.

"Joong, you didn't come your hair after you blow dried it. It's gonna be all messy when you wake up tomorrow." You lectured. Hongjoong never combs his hair, you would comb it for him or nag him to do it. Because his hair would get tangled in the morning. He ignore you and laid his head in your lap.

"It'll be fine." He assured, scrolling on his own phone. Your hands habitually came up to pat his head, your fingers combing through his freshly dried hair.

"By the way, did you change your soap?" He asked, still looking at his screen.

"Mhmm, a friend was using it. Some rose and geranium one, I thought it smelt nice so I asked where he got it." You explained.

"He?" He stopped and put his phone down to gaze up at you. You suddenly felt like you were being interrogated, also looking away from your phone to look down and meet his eyes.

"Yeah... Why?"

"What guy uses rose and geranium soap? And how close were you to him that you could smell him?" He asked with a scoff of disbelief.

"To answer your first question, you do. Because you've just used my soap. And for your second question, he was sitting next to me and I noticed. That's all." You replied.

"Right..." Hongjoong frowned slightly, pursing his lips.

"What's the big deal? It's just soap. You didn't complain when you used it." You raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing." He shook his head and turned back to his phone. You stared at the side of his face for a few seconds before going back to your social media scrolling. But Hongjoong's pointed questions and change in tone bothered you slightly. Was he... jealous?

"Joong, you don't have to stress and bother about the studio stuff, alright? I know you'll make it work out, you always do." You spoke softly, wanting to move on from whatever that was.

"You don't know that... My career... is so fickle..." He said with a sigh, putting his phone down.

"You're right, I don't. But forcing yourself to do something for 2 weeks isn't going to help either." You replied.

"What do you think I should do then?" He turned to lay on his back to look at you again. You did the same, putting your phone on the charging dock on your nightstand.

"Take a break." You smiled softly as you let your fingers continue to run through his hair.

"A break?" He tilted his head.

"Yeah. Who knows, you might get struck with inspiration. Don't think about the deadlines, think about the music and let it speak to you." You told him. Hongjoong stayed silent, he was wrong, you did know. You knew everything about the hardships of producing and songwriting because it was one of the things that broke you two up.

"How do you always know what to say, aein?" He smiled softly.

"You'll get out of this rut, just like you always do. Look at all the hits you've produced, I believe in you and your talent. This is just another hurdle you'll jump over." You giggled.

Hongjoong sat up, making you do the same. He laid down on his side of the bed, patting your pillow. You laughed as you laid down beside him.

"Come here." He whispered. You scooched closer, only for him to wrap an arm around your waist and lay his other under your head.

"There. That's better." He chuckled, now practically holding you to his body. Your chest tightened at this closeness.

"How has work been?" He asked, realising he's only been talking about himself the entire evening. Not once had he asked how have you been, even though he crashed your night at home.

"Busy. My company made me take on a new team and it's been grueling onboarding them." You groaned. Hongjoong chuckled, the hand of the arm around your waist opted to lightly brush the exposed skin of your hip with its thumb.

"But I think it's great your company believes in your ability to take on a new team and manage them, alongside your current team." He complimented.

"Thank you." You said.

"There's nothing to thank me for. You're an amazing leader with great work ethic, I've always told you that." He smiled.

"I thought you were just saying it to hype me up." You rolled your eyes, flicking his chest lightly. Of course you didn't do it hard enough to hurt him.

"You're so cute." He laughed and pulled you in to kiss the top of your head. You were both just silent, you were too lost in your head.

"Hongjoong, I-" You looked up to see his sleeping face. You melted slightly, reaching out to hold his cheek gently. Even in his sleep, he instinctively, leaned into your touch.

It took everything in you to carefully remove yourself from him. You tucked his outstretched arm next to him, pulling the blanket up so that it covered him properly. You stared at his sleeping face for a while, lightly patting his side through the blanket. Hongjoong meant so much to you. But what was he to you?

17th October, Tuesday, 4:49pm

It has been about 2 weeks since Hongjoong was at your place. When you woke up the next morning, he was gone. All that was left was a note on the counter in his handwriting.

'Thanks for letting me crash and feeding me so last minute, aein. Have a great day and weekend.

Also, there's iced coffee in the fridge and a bagel sandwich in the paper bag next to the toaster. Heat it up before you eat it!

- Hongjoongie'

Hongjoong was a terrible cook. But he still always tried to make sure you were fed. You were both workaholics so you took it upon yourselves to always remind the other to eat.

According to his one social media post, it seemed like he took your advice, going to the countryside for a few days to get away from the studio. Of course, you knew that he probably still brought equipment there to work but now there was a change in scenary.

"Oh, you're back." Seonghwa walked in after having seen the lights to his best friend's studio on. He had an iced tea on hand, not liking the bitterness of coffee.

"Mhmm." Hongjoong hummed, resting his head on his hand as he looked at the screen before him.

"So..." Seonghwa started.

"What?" Hongjoong stopped, turning to see the taller male who was now seated on the couch. He stood up and went to the mini fridge, grabbing a can of cold coffee to drink.

"What was with the sudden vacation? You don't usually take sch last minute studio leave." Seonghwa asked with suspicion.

"Just needed a breather. Wanted the outdoors. Looking for inspiration." Hongjoong shrugged.

"And did it help?" To which Hongjoong nodded to but then shrugged again, it was iffy. He didn't know for sure if it helped him write new music but it definitely helped him clear his head and forget about the stressors of work for a bit. Just like you said, it helped him focus solely on the music.

"I definitely feel more clarity in my thinking. Overall, it was a good suggestion for me to go." Hongjoong said without thinking. But Seonghwa raised an eyebrow at that.

"Suggestion? Someone suggested for you to go?" He clarified. Hongjoong cleared his throat, not expecting his best friend to pick that up.

"Yeah." He was brief in his answer as he sat back down in his chair and pulled himself back to his desk.

"(y/n) adviced you to go, didn't she?" From the way the shorter male stiffened slightly, Seonghwa knew he hit the nail on the head.

"We're still friends, Hwa. She tried to help me get out of a music rut, that's all." Hongjoong was unnecessarily defensive, especially when Seonghwa hadn't said anything.

"So you went to meet her to seek comfort from her. Just like how she does with you." Seonghwa spoke slowly, hoping Hongjoong would realise how that sounds. But he didn't get what the taller was getting at, nodding in agreement.

"Friends comfort friends." Hongjoong shrugged.

"Right, cause you two are just... normal, everyday friends." Seonghwa scoffed. Hongjoong frowned.

"I need to work. I'll see you at dinner later." He put his headphones on, shutting Seonghwa out. With a sigh, Seonghwa stood up and grabbed his drink before walking out of the studio.

Once the door closed, Hongjoong sighed, plopping his head down onto the desk. He groaned as he sat up, grabbing his phone.

"CHEERS!"

He straightened up when he saw your social media story on his personal, private account. You were out with your friends, Mingi, Wooyoung and San last night. Your posts were a mix of reposts from your friends and your own.

"Wooo!" You had a slightly shaky video with Mingi's arm around your shoulders, holding you to him. He was excitedly jumping up and down, making you jump with him.

"You're making me spill my drink!" You squealed, which only made the mischevious Mingi do it more.

"Ah, you're so cute." Mingi chuckled at your outraged reaction, pressing his forehead against your temple with a smile.

"Hug me!" The next was a video Mingi posted of San, obviously drunk, reaching out for you to hug him. At first, you shook your head, which only made San more whiny.

"Hug me~!" He glued himself to your waist like an attached child to his mother.

"I'd rather let him hug me than a random stranger. Again." You shook your head, taking a sip of your drink as you patted San's back.

"This girl. She always doesn't want to go out with us but when we make her, she has such a good time. Doesn't she?" Wooyoung appeared, giggly and also drunk. He held your chin to make you face him, a teasing smile on his face. You rolled your eyes and slapped his hands away.

"Yah-" Your shouts of protests were cut off as the video cut off and went to the next story. It was a report from a video that Wooyoung had taken in selfie mode.

"She's mine, okay?!" Wooyoung pulled you in, pressing his cheek against yours, squishing your faces together.

"You're mine!" He then proceeded to give you a loud kiss on the cheek.

Hongjoong had to turn his phone off after that. Mingi, Wooyoung and San were your friends a lot longer than he was. But he always felt out of place with them.

Mingi was always flirty with you and Wooyoung was always physically touchy with you. San as well but Wooyoung was more.

Out of respect for your longer friendship, he never mentioned anything to you. He was worried it might upset you or make him seem untrusting and/or insecure. And you never liked clubbing but the trio always convinced you to go with them.

Hongjoong brought it up once, telling you that you shouldn't feel pressured or forced to go. However, you assured him that you didn't feel forced at all and you trusted the 3 to keep you safe.

They weren't bad friends, they made you happy. They were there for you when you and Hongjoong broke up.

They were also the ones, along with Seonghwa, that disapproved of you and Hongjoong's 'arrangement' of continuing to seek comfort from one another.

26th October, Thursday, 8:16pm

"Joong...?"

The moment he heard your saddened voice, he sat up from his bed, pausing his music and putting his laptop aside.

"Yeah, aein? Are you alright?" He asked. It took a while for you to reply, he heard the shaky sigh that escaped you. It was barely audible but he still heard it.

"Ugh... Can I come over?" You seemed hesitant with your question.

"Of course." He replied almost instantly, contrary to your question, without any hesitation. Hongjoong had about 30 minutes to make his place 'presentable' to you. To be honest, he hadn't been home much, always camping at the studio or Seonghwa's place, which was much nearer to the studio.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

You still remembered Hongjoong's door passcode. It was his mother's birthday. You trudged in, kicking your shoes to the side as Hongjoong shuffled to you.

"Ugh..." You groaned, leaning against him with your forehead against his chest as he held you up.

"What's wrong, aein? Are you okay? Feeling sick?" Hongjoong asked.

"Work is shit, my parents are shit, life is shit." You complained, like a disgruntled teenager going through puberty. Hongjoong chuckled, guiding you to the couch. He tucked you under his arm.

"Alright, slowly. Tell me what happened?" He coaxed, his other hand coming to stroke your hair.

"Work is always shit, you know that. And my mum keeps trying to set me up on blind dates. The guy tonight was so... he was terrible." You groaned. Hongjoong went quiet. Whether it was on your own accord or not, he had no idea that you were back out in the dating scene.

"What guy ends a date so early? You called me at like 8pm." Hongjoong asked, looking at his watch.

"He didn't end the date. I told him I was leaving and just stood up... walked out of the restaurant..." You mumbled. That made Hongjoong burst out laughing.

"Aein! You walked out on the guy?"

"What? Would you have preferred I stay?" You frowned. Hongjoong stopped laughing at your words.

"Of course not." He hugged you tighter. To cheer you up, Hongjoong ordered you takeout. You weren't going to eat his possibly poisonous cooking. So he ordered rose tteokbokki with cheese.

"Why don't you go shower before the food comes? I've already turned on the heater." Hongjoong suggested. You nodded and pushed yourself to stand up.

"Way to tell me I smell." You scoffed with a playful smile before walking to the bathroom. You already knew your way around his house, just like how he knew his way around yours. But he still followed you, grabbing a clean towel for you while you took one of his hoodies from his closet.

"Thanks, Joong." You kissed his cheek and went into the bathroom. Hongjoong stood there, in the middle of the room, stunned.

"Calm down, Kim Hongjoong." He slapped his cheek before leaving his room. He closed the door behind him to give you some privacy before going back to the living room.

*DING DONG*

"Delivery." There was a muffled voice. Hongjoong went to answer, tipping the delivery guy.

"Thanks." He bowed his head and closed the door. As he got two plates and two sets of cutlery out, he paused for a moment. When was the last time he had someone over? It was probably you.

"Food's here?" Your voice sounded from the room. Hongjoong let out a sound of acknowledgement and you came out.

"Gosh, I'm starving." You said, drying your hair with the towel.

"Did you not eat at all, aein?" Hongjoong chuckled as you slid onto the bar stool, opposite him. You shook your head, accepting the cutlery and plate he handed to you.

"I left after eating two breadsticks, Joong. It was so bad, my parents were already tearing up my phone on the way here so I turned it off." You waved the blank out device, setting it on the table. You and Hongjoong dug into the food.

"You always know what I need, Joong." You giggled, physically melting and letting out sounds of happiness.

"Don't eat so fast, aein. No one is going to take it away for you." He chuckled, reaching out to pat your head with a soft smile on his face. You smiled back.

After eating the food and sharing a can of beer, Hongjoong made you some tea, knowing you always liked to have it after eating things that may cause you to feel bloated in the morning.

"Luckily I still have your full boxes of tea here." He said, handing you the mug.

"Thank you." You received the warm mug and took a sip, you were careful not to spill any on his bed.

"Were you working before I came?" You asked, nodding over to the laptop that had been abandoned at the end of the bed. The screen was still open, showing a chat between him and someone named 'Hyejin'. It was obviously a girl's name, making your stomach sink a little. But you looked away, ignoring it.

"Just some touch up work." He quickly picked it up and closed all the open windows. He tucked the device under his arm, going to charge it at the desk.

"So, who is Hyejin?" You couldn't help but ask in a low voice

"Just a friend I met. Seonghwa introduced us." Hongjoong replied. Internally, he was confused at your change in demeanour.

"Ah, I'm so glad I could take the day off tomorrow." You changed the subject, taking a long sip of tea before putting it on the nightstand beside you. Hongjoong laughed and got under the covers.

"Come." Just like at your house, Hongjoong waved you over. You moved in without hesitation, leaning against his touch. He tucked your head under his chin.

"It'll be okay, hmm? Don't be bothered by work and what your parents do." He rubbed your arm while hugging you.

"Thanks, Joong. I feel like you're the only one that will always believe in me." You closed your eyes.

"You should believe in yourself too, aein." He whispered.

When Hongjoong woke up, he was greeted by your sleeping face. You were calmly and safely tucked against his side, sleeping without a care in the world. Hongjoong smiled softly, stroking your head before getting up to close the curtains properly. You were always annoyed when even a little bit of sunlight came in to wake you.

*RINGGGGGG*

Hongjoong scrambled to get his phone, running out of the room so you wouldn't wake up.

"Hello?" He spoke softly even though he was a good distance away from the bedroom. He was still worried that you may get woken up by the slightest noise.

"Where are you? You're not coming into the studio today?"

"Oh, Hwa. No... I don't think I am." He said, leaning against the wall to look out the window.

"Why? You don't usually forget to cancel studio time unless it's an emergency. Please don't tell me you're going on another spontaneous holiday or something."

"I'm not... I'm just... busy..." Hongjoong scratched his head, not really sure on what to say. Seonghwa was silent on the other side.

"Oh my god. You have someone over, didn't you? Good on you, Hongjoong! Was she good?"

"Please don't speak about her in such a way..." He mumbled, annoyed that you were being mentioned in such a crude way, even if Seonghwa didn't intentionally mean it, not knowing that the person that as over was you.

"The person... It's (y/n)... isn't it...?"

"I-"

"Save it, Hongjoong. You don't have to explain it to me. Please just tell me you didn't do anything stupid that you will both regret."

"No, none of that. She was just having a hard time and I'm returning the favour. I comforted her like how she comforted me when I was struggling. That's all." Hongjoong explained.

6th November, Monday, 10pm

You stood outside of the club. It was closed for a private event but when you showed your card to the bouncer, he opened the velvet rope for you to go in.

"You okay?" A hand came up on your shoulder. You looked over to your plus 1, Jeong Yunho. He offered to come with you so you don't get lost and you didn't want your usual 3 friends to know you're here, they might actually tear the place down. But you were sure Yunho might tell Mingi at some point, they're best friends.

'HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONGJOONG!'

Was displayed everywhere. Yes, this celebration was to ring in Hongjoong's birthday at midnight. Hongjoong had sent you an invite and you asked Yunho to come with you for moral support.

You could have said no but deep down, you knew you couldn't. You didn't want Hongjoong to think there was something wrong.

"Sorry, where are the presents?" You asked someone that was dressed in a server outfit with a nametag.

"Follow me." He waved you over. Yunho walked behind you, guarding you against all the moving bodies. You were sure Seonghwa organised this party for him.

"Wow." Some presents looked huge and some weren't even wrapped, just presented into their luxury label paper bags. Compared to your small present, it seemed like it would get lost somewhere.

"Don't doubt it." Yunho whispered, knowing you. You sighed and placed the paper bag down.

"Shall we get some drinks?" He asked. You knew Yunho would take care of you if you had alcohol. He wasn't drinking, wanting to be sober to take care of you and because he was driving. You went to the bar to order yourself a cocktail.

Meanwhile, you hadn't noticed that Hongjoong was staring at you from the moment you walked in. His eyes narrowed in on Yunho, he wasn't part of your usual trio.

"Hongjoong! Are you enjoying yourself?" Seonghwa came up to him. Hongjoong nodded, making Seonghwa followed his gaze.

"You invited her?!" Seonghwa exclaimed.

"She's still a friend, Hwa." Hongjoong mumbled. Seonghwa face palmed, seeing the male by your side, he knew Hongjoong was going to be preoccupied the whole night.

"Please enjoy your own party." He sighed. Hongjoong took a sip of his drink, turning to his best friend.

"I am enjoying the party, Hwa. Thank you for organising it. I've spent the past two hours greeting people." Hongjoong cringed slightly. He appreciated Seonghwa's efforts but preferred a smaller, quieter, more intimate celebration. When Hongjoong saw you get up and try to head over, he straightened up.

"Go, go." He shooed Seonghwa away as you approached. Seonghwa rolled his eyes and walked away. But he did cross paths with you.

"Hi, Seonghwa." You gave a friendly smile. Seonghwa smiled softly, pulling you in for a hug.

"Hi, (y/n). How have you been?" He asked. Seonghwa didn't hate you or dislike you in anyway, like your own friends, he thought you and Hongjoong continuing as friends like this wasn't healthy.

"I've been good. What about you?" You blinked up at him.

"Great. You know the usual, taking care of Hongjoong." He chuckled. He could feel Hongjoong burning holes into the back of his head.

"I better let you go greet the birthday boy before I'm 6 feet under." Seonghwa patted your head before walking away. You tilted your head in confusion but went to Hongjoong.

"Aein, you made it." Hongjoong smiled softly as you came into view. You were beautiful, as you always were. You were dressed in a black dress with a slit going up the side of your thigh, the bodice hugged your curves nicely.

"Of course. Happy early birthday, Joong." You giggled, wrapping your arms around him. Hongjoong's scent always comforted you.

"Thank you." He closed his eyes, savouring the hug.

"You came with a friend?" Hongjoong asked when you both pulled away. You both wished the hug could last longer but it would just make the whole thing awkward.

"Yeah, just someone to make sure I get home safe in case I go overboard with the drinks." You said shyly, rubbing the back of your neck.

"Aein, I'll always make sure you're safe. You know I won't let you be in any sort of danger." Hongjoong frowned slightly. You didn't need Yunho to take care of you, he could do it, ma

"I know. I... I just want you to enjoy your party, don't worry about me." You said, squeezing his hand with a reassuring smile.

"Hongjoong! Happy soon birthday!" A girl appeared behind you. You blinked in confusion.

"Thanks, Hyejin." He replied. This was Hyejin, the girl that Seonghwa introduced to him. Now you felt out of place, like you were the one that wasn't supposed to be there.

"Enjoy your party." You wished. With another brief hug, you left him, going back to the bar where Yunho was waiting for you. You didn't want to leave his side, Hongjoong didn't want you to go too.

"Whenever you want to leave, just let me know. I'm here only for you." Yunho told you kindly. You nodded with a smile, taking a sip of your drink. Honestly, Yunho also disapproved of you coming but he'd rather come with you than let you come here alone. You insisted you were here to celebrate a friend's birthday, that's all.

"Alright everyone! Let's countdown to the birthday boy's birthday!" Seonghwa said in the mic, standing with everyone on the stage. You saw Hyejin standing beside him with a big smile.

"10... 9... 8... 7..." Everyone counted down with their drinks in hand. Hongjoong looked at you as you counted down with the crowd.

"1! Happy birthday Hongjoong!" Seonghwa yelled into the mic with everyone else raising their glass for the toast.

"Happy birthday Hongjoong!" Hyejin wrapped her arms around Hongjoong, giving him a peck. The crowd cheered at her action while Hongjoong's eyes widened at the action.

"Hyejin..." He was stunned.

His eyes searched for you frantically. You were still there but Hongjoong knew, your genuine smile was gone.

This was your fake, forced smile. Your mask of a smile.

He watched as Yunho leaned in to whisper something to you. You took the last sip of your drink and nodded, placing the empty glass on the counter. Yunho held your hand to help you off the bar stool and led you through the crowd to the exit of the club.

"(y/n)..." Hongjoong whispered.

"Enjoy the rest of the night everyone! Thanks again for coming to celebrate the birthday boy!" Seonghwa said to everyone before getting off the platform.

"Why would you do that?" Hongjoong frowned at Hyejin, who looked stunned at Hongjoong's reaction.

"I... I'm sorry, Hongjoong." She hung her head low.

"We're not dating, Hyejin. We just met! And you just do that in front of all my friends?" Hongjoong hissed. Seonghwa, who watched the exchange, sighed.

Yes, Hyejin shouldn't have done that. But he knew that Hongjoong was more bothered that you saw Hyejin kiss him.

15th December, Friday, 6:02pm

You sighed tiredly, getting up from your desk. There were too many year end wrap ups to do but you wanted to get them done before your Christmas leave started. While Yunho promised he didn't tell the other 3 about what happened at Hongjoong's party, it was suspicious when Wooyoung suddenly suggested a vacation.

It would be good. You wouldn't have to go to your stuffy family Christmas celebration, it was good to get away and you wouldn't be near Hongjoong.

But speaking of, you haven't contacted each other since the night of the party. Maybe it was for the better.

You were not dating, he was only a friend, so you shouldn't feel hurt or bitter. You told yourself that you should be happy for him, you knew he was a good partner, he would make Hyejin happy.

'I'm downstairs. - Yuyu'

'On the way. - (y/n)'

Yunho wanted to take you out to dinner tonight. You were clear in expressing that you were not ready for a relationship, no matter what your feelings were. But he assured you, it was just dinner.

"Yuyu." You called out to him. He straightened from his leaning postured against his car, smiling softly.

"Hi, (y/n). I hope you had a good day at work." He wrapped his arms around you to engulf you in a big bear hug, or what you would call a puppy hug, even rocking you from side to side. You giggled, putting your own arms around him.

"I told you to dress warmer." He tsked, taking the scarf off his neck and wrapping it around you.

"I'm fine." You waved him off. But he shook his head, opening the door to usher you into the warm car. Once you were seated, he closed the door and went to the driver's side.

You didn't notice the car that was parked a little behind Yunho. Hongjoong looked at the exchange between you and Yunho.

"Damn it." He slammed his fist against the steering wheel. He hadn't contacted you, he was scared.

He was scared of what you were going to tell him, he didn't want you to wish him the best. But he couldn't take it anymore so he wanted to speak to you physically.

But after witnessing that, if there was something between you and Yunho, he shouldn't be in the way. He should wish you both the best right?

25th December, Monday, 2:34pm

The boys decided to rent a cabin in a forest village of Kurokawa in Kumamoto, Japan. It was cold like Korea but the forest scenary was beautiful and there were Christmas lights set up everywhere, which was very pretty at night. You were seated next to the heater on the balcony, admiring the view.

*BEEP BEEP*

'Merry Christmas, aein. - Hongjoong'

You stared at the message for a while, chewing on your bottom lip as you decided if you wanted to reply. You knew if you wanted to let go of Hongjoong, you needed to stop contacting him.

'Merry Christmas, Hongjoong. - (y/n)'

When was the last time you called him 'Hongjoong' and not 'Joong'? Even when you broke up, you called him 'Joong'.

"Hey, beautiful. The boys wanna go snowboarding and-" San suddenly appeared. He seemed to have glanced at your phone because he frowned, taking it from your hands.

"Sannie." You tried to take your phone back.

"Come, Mingi wants to build a snowman with you." He said, tucking his phone into his pocket. You nodded, slipping your hand into his and letting him lead you out. Being with the 4, you knew you had to put Hongjoong at the back of your mind and enjoy yourself.

'How's Japa|'

*delete*

'You decided to travel for Christmas? That's gre|'

*delete*

Hongjoong groaned out, tossing his bed on the side. He really wished he was home where his home studio was and he could work. But he came to visit his parents for Christmas, only bringing his laptop.

"Hongjoong ah. Santa Claus can hear your sighs all the way in the North Pole." Mrs Kim clicked her tongue as she came in.

"Santa Claus isn't real, omma." Hongjoong scoffed, sitting up. Mrs Kim laughed and sat beside Hongjoong.

"Whatever it is you're going through, my dear son, you'll get through it. Sometimes, things just aren't to go our way, no matter how bad we want it to. But that doesn't mean it's the end. There's still so much to look forward to, you never know what life will throw at you." Mrs Kim smiled, rubbing Hongjoong's back.

7th January, Sunday, 10:13am

Hongjoong gulped as he stood before your front door. When you had suddenly texted him to meet, he grew nervous. You always called him and instead of asking to go over, you asked him over to yours.

*DING DONG*

Here goes nothing.

"Coming!" You replied, feeling your heart race as you approached your front door. You felt a lump in your throat, one that was too big to swallow. Seeing Hongjoong when you opened the door just made things worse. This was a bad idea.

"Hey, Hongjoong. Thanks for coming so early." You smiled, stepping aside for him to enter your house. There it was, you dropping the nickname and calling him 'Hongjoong' like an acquaintance.

"Hey. No worries, at all. I hope you had a good holiday." He returned the smile, reaching over to hug you briefly.

"I did. It was a nice getaway. What did you do?" You asked as you closed the door.

"Visited my parents for a bit, celebrated Christmas and New Years with extended family." He shrugged, removing his shoes and sitting on the couch. He was so stiff and awkward.

"Oh. That's nice. How are they?"

"Good." Hongjoong replied. You handed him a glass of iced coffee, holding your own tumbler in your hand before sitting down next to him.

You both felt a little deja vu, it was negative, making your stomachs sink and your hearts race. The last time you 'talked' like this, you were in Hongjoong's apartment, sitting down and ultimately ending the conversation in tears and with a break up. You gulped, trying to find the words.

"It's okay. Breathe." Hongjoong said, leaning forward and placing a comforting hand on your knee. It didn't help, you didn't want him to be nice, it only made things harder.

"I think I know what you want to talk about. That our friends were right, weren't they? We couldn't continue as friends like we thought." He spoke.

"Hongjoong... I..." Your bottom lip quivered.

"It's okay." He rubbed your back.

"I still care about you, Hongjoong. I really do... It's just... It's hard. I feel like my heart gets hopeful that we can go back to being something more but we can't." You looked at him, seeing tears in his eyes.

"At least I know I'm not the only one that feels that way. We tried to make it work but we still couldn't." He said.

"I'm sorry." You cried.

"Aein, don't be sorry. There's no one at fault. Unknowingly we've both been holding each other back that the other can't move on." He pulled you into a hug to soothe you.

"We both liked the comfort too much that it became too comfortable, similar to our relationship. Being just a phone call away from each other hurt more than it helped." You said softly. Hongjoong nodded in agreement, wiping his fallen tears.

"I don't want to lose you, Joong." You shook your head, subconsciously using the nickname. Hongjoong felt the same, he had already lost you as a lover, now he was going to lose you forever.

"I don't want to lose you too, aein."

"I shouldn't have confessed my feelings. If I didn't, we would have still been friends. We wouldn't be here." You said.

"No, please... Please don't say that like you regret it. Our time together was the best time of my life, I don't regret it at all. So please don't." He begged you, choking on a sob.

"And if you didn't confess, I would have. My only regret is not cherishing you more when I had the chance." He forced a small smile.

"It's not solely your fault, a relationship needs effort from both sides." You chuckled. You and Hongjoong just stared at each other, sharing a short moment of silence.

"Before I go, I just want to clarify. There's nothing between me and Hyejin. I didn't lie or hide anything from you." He blurted out.

"You don't have to explain it to me, Joong. It's fine. You're free to move on and love whoever you want. I know the girl you end up with is going to be the luckiest girl in the world." You smiled. Deep down, Hongjoong wished that girl was you. He already knew it was going to be a while until he can actually move on.

"Well, I can say the same for you. I wish you and Yunho the best." He said. You didn't correct him that you and Yunho weren't dating because was there a need to now?

"Thank you for everything, Joong. You gave me some of the best memories I've ever had." You pulled him in for a hug.

"Thank you for loving me, no matter how difficult I am, (y/n)." He cried softly and closed his eyes, squeezing you against him. You shook your head.

"Don't cry." You whispered, cupping his cheeks and wiping his tears with your thumbs. Hongjoong smiled tearfully, holding your hands in his. The both of you chuckled through your cries.

"Take care of yourself, hmm?" He said, rubbing the back of your hands. You nodded obediently.

"You too." You smiled softly.

You wanted to tell him, that if he ever needs you, he can always call you. But you said the same thing to him when you broke up, which led to the current predicament that you're both in so you kept quiet.

With that, Hongjoong reluctantly pulled his hands away from yours, walking down the hall with a hunched posture to hide his cries. Looking down at your hands, they suddenly felt cold as Hongjoong took his warmth away with him, as well as his heart.

207 notes · View notes

bellaxgiornata · 11 months

Text

Falling For the Devil [Part twenty: "The 'I Told You So'"]

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader

Summary: You get sick and have to call off of work. Matt offers to take care of you later.

Matt repeatedly promises you he won't get sick.

[Series of one-shots about Reader meeting, falling for, and dating Matt Murdock.]

Warnings: 18+ for this series; contains humor, fluff, romance, angst, smut (like...a lot of it later in the series), language, some violence

Word Count: 4.3k

a/n: A fluffly installment where Reader gets sick and then so does Matt (and he turns into a clingy baby Capuchin monkey). You can find the entire list of installments for this series on tumblr here and my other Matt Murdock stories on my Masterlist if you enjoy my writing! I have...quite a few Matt Murdock series'...

The alarm on your phone woke you, the sound somehow more grating than you remembered it usually being at six in the morning. With a groan you threw a hand out, searching for your phone along the nightstand. Once you'd found it, you raised your head from your pillow, brows furrowing as a sharp pain shot through your head. Eyes squinting at the bright light of your phone screen in the dark room, you finally managed to turn off your alarm and blissful silence surrounded you again.

But you needed to get up and get ready for work. It was Thursday morning after all.

Sitting up in bed, sheets falling down your chest as you did, your entire body immediately protested the movement. Everything ached–your head, your back, your legs, and your throat. Eyes closing, you faintly groaned from your place in bed. A shiver ran down your back at the chill of your exposed arms in your bedroom that shouldn’t feel quite this cold.

That’s when you realized you were sick.

"Fuck," you muttered.

Tossing the sheets off of you, you slowly threw your legs over the side of the bed, running a hand over your face. Rising to your feet, you shuffled with half-lidded eyes out of your bedroom and into your bathroom across the hall.

Flipping on the light, you winced at the brightness in the small room. You groggily opened the medicine cabinet above the sink and grabbed the thermometer. With a sigh you pulled it out of the container and put it in your mouth before leaning against the wall beside you, eyelids lowering.

You had felt perfectly fine last night, how the hell did you wake up feeling so shitty?

As you waited for the thermometer to read your temperature, hating the fact that you would have to use up a sick day if you had a fever, you felt yourself slowly drifting back off on your feet. A minute later the beeping had your eyes snapping open and your body pushing off of the bathroom wall. Pulling the thermometer out of your mouth, your eyes darted down to the reading. You had a fever–100.6 degrees to be exact. Nothing to be too worried about, but definitely a fever where you should crawl back into bed instead of going to the office.

Frustrated, you washed the thermometer under the faucet knowing you'd have to call Ellison next. You'd also have to cancel your plans with Matt tomorrow night, too, you realized with another irritated groan. And you'd really been looking forward to trying that new restaurant.

Placing the clean thermometer back into its container, you brought it back with you to your bedroom and set it on the nightstand. Taking your phone from the charger, you skimmed the contacts for Ellison's number. Hitting the call button, you sunk down onto your bed and held the phone to your ear. A few rings later Ellison answered, greeting you with your name.

"Hey," you said, voice sounding a little off from the sore throat. "I hate to leave you hanging, but I woke up with a fever. I'm not–not feeling too great," you muttered. "I should probably stay home and not infect everyone else at the office."

"Yeah, you really don't sound too great," he agreed. He sighed over the line, probably quickly reworking a plan to not have your absence screw up the next issue. "That's alright, I'd rather you get better. But…do you think it's possible to email me that article you had just about finished? Maybe some time before five?” he asked in a way where ‘no’ was clearly not an option. “Sabrina can probably finish the edits so it'll still get to print on time."

You nodded, running a hand across your aching forehead. "Yeah, I'll uh, I'll send it along in a couple hours," you assured him.

You hung up shortly after, quickly and eagerly crawling back into your bed and under the sheets and pulling them high towards your chin. Getting comfortable, you slowly began to drift off, curled up with your stuffy nose buried in one of Matt's dark gray shirts that you’d fallen asleep with last night.

The sound of a melodic ringtone drew your eyes wide open not too long after you’d managed to fall back asleep. You groaned, rolling over and throwing out a hand to grab your ringing phone. Matt's name was on the screen and your brows drew together in confusion as you answered the call.

"Matt?" you asked him in lieu of a greeting.

"Hey, sweetheart, where are you?" he asked.

Your other hand rose from the sheets, rubbing your burning eyes. "What? I'm at home," you mumbled.

"We were…supposed to meet up for coffee this morning before work?" Matt hesitantly said over the line. "I thought we'd agreed on that last night or am I misremembering?"

You exhaled slowly, feeling yourself deflate. "Shit, sorry Matt. I totally forgot," you croaked out.

"Are you okay?" he asked curiously. "You sound off."

"I uh, I'm sick," you told him. "Slight fever. I just called Ellison and was about to go back to sleep. I'm sorry, I totally forgot or I'd have called you, I didn't mean to–"

"Sweetie, it's okay," Matt cut you off. "Don't worry about it. I'll stop by after work, okay?"

Your brows pulled together again quickly. "No, I don't want you to get sick," you protested immediately.

He chuckled lightly over the line. “I don’t usually get sick,” he boasted in assurance. “I’ll be fine. I can stop by this evening, bring you some medicine and some dinner.”

“Matt,” you whined, throat aching at the pitch as your voice cracked on his name. “I have a fever and I don’t want to get you sick. I can just order some groceries on my phone and have someone deliver everything to my door.”

“Okay, but would you rather cuddle me or my shirts?” he teased.

You frowned, your eyes dropping down to the dark gray shirt you were currently clutching in a death grip in your left hand. His laughter over the line caught your attention again.

“Yeah, I thought so,” he said in amusement. “I’ll see you this evening. I’ll get some cold medicine–you have a fever but do you have a sore throat? Congestion? Are you vomiting? Do you have–”

“Matt,” you whined again, this time in embarrassment. God forbid the man asked if you had diarrhea next, you’d probably die on the spot. “I’ll be fine, I have cold medicine,” you told him.

“Is it expired?” he asked.

“I–” you began then paused. When the hell did you buy that bottle of Dayquil?

“I’ll get you something,” he assured you. “And bring you soup from that Deli we like for dinner. You just rest up and focus on getting better.”

After you’d exchanged goodbyes and hung up, you rolled back onto your side in your bed, burying your face back into Matt’s shirt. You took a deep inhale the best you could manage through your stuffed up nose and smiled when you could just make out the faint scent of his not-entirely-scent-free detergent.

_________

Shivering under the large, dark blue plush blanket, still snuggling Matt’s shirt, you mindlessly stared at the episode of House Hunters on your television. Your fever had gone up in the afternoon, shortly after you’d managed to make it out of bed and shower knowing Matt was probably going to find a way into your apartment tonight one way or another. You’d managed to eat a piece of buttered toast some time afterwards, but you hadn’t been too hungry all day. Mostly you’d slept, either in your bed or curled up on your sofa with the television softly playing in the background.

A knock came from your front door and your head slowly rose from the pillow, the movement reminding you just how much your body still ached.

“Sweetheart, it’s Matt,” he called through the door.

“Door’s unlocked,” you called back, sore throat stinging at the effort of raising your voice.

A moment later the front door swung open and you saw Matt stepping through the threshold, his cane in one hand and two bags in the other. One of which looked like takeout and the other clearly a CVS bag. You made to sit up on the couch but he quickly threw up his hand still holding his cane in your direction.

“Don’t get up, I’m fine,” he told you. As he slipped off his dress shoes by the door, he shot you a curious look. “Why is your door unlocked, though?”

You shrugged, settling back down on the couch. “Unlocked it earlier for you,” you mumbled. “Knew I’d be too comfortable on the couch to want to get up later.”

He rested his cane near the door, making his way towards you on the couch. You tucked your feet up towards yourself, leaving him room at the other end of it. He placed both bags on your coffee table before he settled down near your feet.

“Please tell me you haven’t had it unlocked while you’ve been asleep?” he asked you flatly.

“Okay, I won’t,” you muttered.

He said your name firmly as he pulled his glasses off, the tone in his voice catching your attention. “Someone could have just walked in here,” he chastised, setting his glasses on the coffee table. “That’s not safe, you of all people should know that.”

“If someone wanted to come in here and stab me, at least I wouldn’t have to feel this sore throat anymore,” you joked.

Matt stared at you from the other side of the couch, his expression unamused. You sighed, slowly sitting up on the couch and wincing as your headache disapproved of the movement.

“I was kidding,” you told him. “You’re not the only one with jokes, Murdock.”

“Jokes are actually funny,” he countered.

“And I thought you were supposed to help me feel better?” you asked, raising a brow at him.

A little grin slid on his mouth before his hand found your thigh over the blue blanket. “You’re right. I just don’t want something to happen to you. Please lock your door.”

“Alright, alright,” you conceded.

You shifted under the blanket, trying to get comfortable again on the couch now that Matt was here. You also tried to discreetly pull his shirt out from under the blanket, slowly placing it on the end table beside you. Matt’s head tilted to the side before he turned back to look at you, one brow raised.

“Were you cuddling with my shirt again?” he asked, smiling at you.

Your mouth opened, an immediate ‘no’ ready to fall out of it, but remembering Matt was a human lie detector, your mouth snapped shut. Instead your cheeks flushed at being caught–or at least, you think they flushed, it was hard to tell with the fever already burning you up.

“See?” he teased, throwing an arm around your shoulders and drawing you into his side. “I knew you’d prefer to cuddle the real thing.”

He wasn’t wrong and you quickly lowered your head to his shoulder, eyelids dropping closed. His fingers were on your chin a moment later, slowly tilting your mouth up towards him. It took your sluggish, feverish brain a moment to realize he was about to kiss you and when you did, your right hand flew up to his chest, abruptly pushing him away from you. Matt sat on the couch staring back at you with his brows raised and his eyes slightly widened.

“What’re you doing?” you asked, startled.

“Trying to kiss my girlfriend?” he answered matter-of-factly.

“No!” you shot back, scooting away from him on the couch as your voice cracked. “I’m going to get you sick if you kiss me!”

His expression swiftly shifted to a look of amusement as he fought back a laugh. “You won’t get me sick,” he assured you for the umpteenth time today. Holding his arms open, he continued to grin wide at you. “Come back here.”

When you didn’t move, he pulled out that look that you swore he’d slowly been perfecting on you. His brows creased together just a little bit, lowering down on his forehead, and his eyes softened, looking almost ready to water. The corners of his lips pulled down a fraction and his head cocked gently to the side.

“No,” you said firmly, holding up a hand. “Don’t do the wounded puppy face on me, Matt. That’s unfair. You know it always works.”

“That’s the point,” he murmured.

He continued to make that face and you felt your resolve quickly disappearing. Barely half a minute later your shoulders sagged and you scooted back towards him on the couch, muttering out a “fucking hell” as you did. A triumphant grin spread across his mouth as he leaned forward to kiss you, but you quickly threw a hand to his chest again, halting his movements.

“For the record, I reserve the right to say ‘I told you so’ if you get sick now,” you said. “And you accept full responsibility for getting yourself sick. No blaming me.”

He chuckled, shaking his head as he gazed down at you. “I’m not going to get sick,” he said again. “And I won’t blame you if I do.”

“I’m remembering that,” you told him.

Still grinning, he leaned down towards you, his fingers lightly tilting your chin up towards him again. Your hand on his chest slid up to his neck, his skin feeling pleasantly warm against your palm as he kissed you. Even his mouth felt deliciously warm against yours, a shiver running down your spine as you eagerly kissed him back, your mouth greedily seeking warmth from his own. Your other hand quickly slid up his chest, your body leaning into the heat radiating from his, trying to take comfort in it. If it wasn’t for the fact that you quickly realized you couldn’t breathe out of your congested nose with how intensely you were kissing him, you wouldn’t have broken the kiss so soon.

Feeling out of breath, you groaned, lowering your forehead to his warm shoulder. Matt’s large palm came up to cradle the back of your head, gently smoothing your hair down.

“You’re burning up,” he noted.

“Mmm, funny,” you muttered into his dress shirt, your eyes closing as you relaxed into him, “because I feel cold and you feel really, really warm.”

“How long ago did you take something for the fever?” he asked.

Your head shifted along his shoulder, your cheek coming to rest along his chest as you squinted at the time on the stove in your kitchen. Taking a moment, you did the mental math as your arms wrapped around his waist.

“About three hours ago,” you answered. “So I still have another hour before I can take more.”

Matt leaned forward, reaching out to the coffee table. Your head remained against his chest, having zero interest in removing it as his hands pulled the bottles of medicine from one of the bags.

“You can at least take some of these,” he said. “And I’m assuming the employee who helped me wasn’t lying about what it was that I was buying.”

You instantly frowned, shifting your head along his chest to look up towards him. “Please tell me that hasn’t happened before.”

His mouth thinned out. “Thankfully I have other senses that help when it has happened,” he murmured. “And these did smell like medicine, so I know it’s not like he tried to get me to buy bottles of sexual lubricant instead or something.”

“Sure those wouldn’t have gone to waste at least,” you muttered before you could stop yourself.

Matt’s head slowly turned towards you, the corner of his mouth quirking up as an amused smirk spread gradually over it. Quickly you sat upright on the couch, clearing your throat and grabbing the bottles of medicine.

“Yeah, these are definitely cold medicine,” you mumbled. “I’m uh, just going to go take them. In the kitchen. Where I uh, can get some water.” Your eyes darted towards Matt, swallowing hard and wincing when it hurt. He was still making that knowing, almost hungry face. “You want some water? Or a beer?”

"Beer would be great, thanks," he answered.

You grabbed the medicine bottles from the coffee table and bolted to the kitchen, trying to ignore Matt still staring at you from across your apartment with that hungry look still on his face that was starting to somehow turn you on while simultaneously making you self-conscious.

"You know, from my experience," Matt called out to you as you filled a glass with water, "you really don't need any lubricant. You've usually got that…very much covered."

"Pretty sure it's because of you," you muttered under your breath.

Matt's loud bark of laughter tore through your apartment and your eyes widened, forgetting about his super hearing in your feverish state.

Turning off the faucet, you drank down some water, the slight chill of it burning your dry, sore throat. You focused on taking some of the medicine he brought instead of the nerves he’d managed to shake loose in you, your nose scrunching at the taste of the overly sweet, fake fruit flavor as it went down. Before heading back to the couch, you grabbed Matt a beer from the fridge and picked your glass of water back up.

“So,” you asked Matt as you sat down beside him on the couch again, offering him the beer, “you still need to go out Cane Tossing tonight?”

He swallowed down the drink he’d just taken before turning towards you, raising one brow very curiously up onto his forehead. “Cane Tossing? Is that some sort of new sexual term I’m unaware of?”

You snorted, the sound quite obnoxious with how congested your nose was, but Matt still grinned instantly–as he always did whenever you made that particular noise of amusement.

“No,” you answered him, setting your water glass onto your coffee table. “The thing you do at night.”

“Another new name?” he asked. “This one doesn’t even make sense.”

“Yes it does,” you replied quickly. “Last weekend we were all leaving Josie’s, you caught wind of something with your fancy Devil senses–”

“–fancy Devil senses?” he asked in amusement.

“–and you made up some random excuse,” you continued, not even bothering to respond to his question, though you noted the growing entertained smile on his face, “and you bolted down some side alley and you fucking whipped your goddamn cane . Like, that fucker went on a freaking Six Flags ride straight out of your hand. Remember? I had Karen double back with me when Foggy took Marci home and we fished it out of the dumpster you threw it in. Which took a lot of drunk creativity, by the way.” Your head tilted to the side as you added on, “And what is it with you and dumpsters lately?”

Matt quickly lost the fight he had with holding back his laughter, a wide grin breaking free as the warm sound of his mirth filled your apartment. Despite how shitty you felt, you smiled wide in return, your eyes drawn to that one little damn dimple in his right cheek.

“You are–” he began, trying to rein in his laughter, “–by far the funniest person I have ever met. And thank you, by the way,” he said, large smile still spread across his face. “I don’t know if I thanked you enough for crawling into another dumpster for me.”

“For your cane,” you corrected. “I wasn’t sure how many of them you had laying around. Even less sure now that I’ve seen how you treat them. But uh,” you began, voice returning serious, “thank you for–for stopping by. Bringing me medicine and food. Even though I swear to God Matthew Murdock, you better not end up getting sick.”

He looked at you seriously, trying to fight down the laugh that kept trying to fall out of him as he said your name, his hands reaching out towards yours. “I promise you, I will not get sick.”

_________

Matt swung his apartment door open and you were greeted with a sight of him you hadn’t seen before. His nose was tinged red, probably from blowing it too much, and his hair was a disheveled mess of brown on his head, sticking up in various places from where he had most likely tossed and turned trying to sleep. He looked incredibly tired, his eyes half-lidded as he sniffled lightly. He was dressed in a zip-up hoodie, no shirt underneath, and a pair of sweatpants tucked into some cozy looking socks. Your face fell at how miserable he looked and you instantly rushed towards him and drew him into a hug, entirely disregarding the bag of food and medicine in your hands. His strong arms wrapped around your waist in return, his face burying itself into the side of your neck.

“You got sick, didn’t you?” you asked, your own face buried in his shoulder.

“Yeah,” he answered softly.

“Dammit, Matt, I told you so,” you chided.

"Yeah," he mumbled against your neck, "you did."

You drew back from him, heart sinking at the sight of him before you. He somehow looked permanently like a wounded puppy while sick. He was also still clinging to you, apparently more in need of touch while sick than when he wasn’t–something you made a mental note of.

"Did you take something for your fever yet?" you asked him as you turned in his hold, closing and locking his door.

"About an hour ago," he told you.

"Well I brought you cold medicine and some lunch," you said, glancing at the bags you'd brought. "You hungry yet?"

He shook his head silently, his hands still holding tight to you. With a sigh you grabbed onto one of his hands and led him down his entry hall and to the kitchen.

"How about I put your lunch in the fridge and you take some medicine," you told him, trying to do just that while he was still clinging to you like a baby Capuchin monkey.

"Then will you come cuddle with me?" he asked hopefully, voice a bit muffled by his congested nose.

Closing the fridge door, you turned towards him in his one-armed hold around your waist and reached a hand up. Gently you ran the tips of your fingers along the length of his stubbled jaw, the hairs pleasantly prickling the pads of your fingers. A faint smile drew onto his face as he leaned into your touch.

"Yeah, Matty," you agreed.

You brought the bag of medicine to his counter, pulling the bottles out of the bag as Matt still clung to the back of you, his forehead resting in the crook of your neck. Afterwards you stepped over to a cabinet, trying to reach up and grab a glass as Matt clearly refused to let go of you. Carefully you filled the glass with room temperature water as best you could so the water wouldn't irritate his throat too much–you assumed he'd be much more sensitive to temperature, especially with a sore throat.

Turning back to his counter, you set the glass down and measured out the appropriate amount of medicine for him.

"You're going to have to let go of me to take the medicine, Matty," you told him.

With a groan he rolled his head off of you, finally releasing you from his hold and accepting the little cup of medicine. He pulled a face before throwing it back and you quickly held out the glass of water for him to chase it down with. Immediately he accepted it, guzzling it down with audible swallows.

Despite the water, he still ended up having to brush his teeth after downing the medicine, trying to rid his mouth of the awful taste. You couldn't imagine how gross it was to him, but he definitely seemed disgusted and you waited on his couch patiently while he thoroughly brushed his teeth.

A few minutes later, he shuffled out of his bathroom and to where you were waiting for him on the leather couch. You rose to your feet and made your way to his room, Matt happily following along behind you as you moved, wrapping his arms back around your waist and rubbing his face into your neck as you walked. You kept giggling when his stubble tickled you, which only spurred him on. Eventually he broke away when you reached his bedroom, Matt getting into his bed as you slid his bedroom door closed. Then you made your way towards the other side of the bed and pulled the sheets back–and abruptly paused, your eyes catching sight of the article of clothing he was clutching under the sheets. You bit down on your bottom lip, fighting back the smile.

"Matt?" you asked him. When he responded with a questioning hum, you asked, "Have you been cuddling with my sweatshirt?"

"You left it behind last week," he murmured as you crawled in beside him. "Smells like you."

He pulled it out of his sheets, setting it onto the nightstand behind him with one hand before he slid his way towards you in the bed. Immediately his arms and legs wrapped around your body, Matt's head instantly coming to rest along your chest. His slightly red nose nuzzled into your shirt as he made a few throaty, happy noises that you couldn't help but smile at. Eventually he settled, his eyes closing as a peaceful expression spread over his face as he rested on you. Absently your left hand came up and began combing through his soft hair and you felt him shudder against you, humming contentedly again.

"I'm sorry I got you sick," you whispered.

"Worth it," he mumbled into your shirt, "for the cuddles."

#matt murdock x reader #matt murdock x you #matt murdock x fem reader #matt murdock fic #matt murdock series #daredevil x female reader #daredevil x reader #fftd

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lovesickonmybed · 5 months

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some nights they get so bad you almost pick up the phone | (3/?)

chapter two | masterlist

eddie munson x OC | word count - 3025

summary | a surprise visit at work leads to a drunk phone call

warnings | violence, swearing, underage drinking, abandonment, allusions to self harm and child abuse, sexual content, and dark thoughts.

a/n | this chapter got really dark so sorry in advance. listen to g.i.n.a.s.f.s. by fall out boy while reading.

taglist | @lelenikki , @bimbobaggins69

I wake up falling out of my bed as my alarm clock goes off. Fuck. I totally forgot I worked today. I peel myself up off the floor and turn off my alarm clock. I grab a patchwork button down and a pair of dark blue jeans to wear to work today. I go to my bathroom and put my hair into two braids and do some light makeup. I work at a bookstore two miles from my apartment and I bike to work every shift. I grab my bike lock and put it into my backpack along with my wallet and my cassette player and headphones. I put some tapes in my bag too. I grab my blue bike helmet and start biking to work. On my way there a car pulls up near me, keeping the same speed. The passenger throws something at me but thankfully I dodge it, they yell, “SLUT!” before speeding off. “What the actual fuck?” I mumble to myself as I keep biking. I arrive at work with no more incidents and lock my bike up outside the shop.

I walk inside and greet my manager before putting my stuff up in the back and grabbing my name tag. My job is usually pretty quiet, a majority of the people who come in are looking for a book for school or are some nice more nerdy types who want some recommendations. It’s clearly going to be slow today so I tune the radio to the rock station and grab a copy of Carrie by Stephen King. I've read it like a million times but it never gets old. I hum along to the radio until my boss brings me some books to re-shelve. I take the cart and start going around to re-shelve the books. I’m in the romance section when I feel myself get shoved back against the shelves. The air is knocked out of me and a hand covers my mouth. I open my eyes and I’m face to face with Billy Hargrove. Shit.

“Did you miss me, sweetheart? Because I sure missed you,” He smirks.

Panic rises in me, and my palms sweat, my hands beginning to shake. My eyes are wide with fear and my brows furrow with worry. Billy has his hand on my hip pinning me to the shelf, I can already tell it’ll bruise. I speak despite his hand covering my mouth, “Y-You’re hurting me, Billy,” My words muffled by his hand.

“I know I am. Y’know, it wasn’t very nice of you and that freak to humiliate me like that, sweetheart,” he says before removing his hand from my mouth. He plays with my hair, twirling it around before sharply tugging on it. I wince in pain and squeeze my eyes shut.

“I-I’m sorry…I didn’t know he was going to do that, I swear!” I try to defend myself.

He shoves me back harder, my head coming into contact with the shelf painfully, I groan in pain and rub the back of my head.

“I honestly don’t give a shit, I need you to give your little lover boy a message for me. Can your pathetic little brain handle that, sweetheart?” He asks.

“He doesn't even like me. Why don’t you tell him yourself?” I spit back.

He grabs my hair at the root and holds it tightly and painfully, “You’re going to give him the message or I’ll make your sad excuse of a life even worse than it already is, got it bitch?”

Tears prick my eyes as I nod, “G-Got it.”

He smiles wide, “Good. Tell him that if he ever fucks with me like that again I’ll carve up more than his locker next time. Maybe next time it’ll be you, sweetheart.”

My breath hitches in my throat and I gulp, “I-I’ll tell him.”

“Good, I would hate to hurt a pretty little thing like you,” he smirks before walking off.

I don’t relax until I hear him leave through the shop door. I run to the bathroom to fix my hair and makeup, and to see how my hip is doing. When I look in the mirror, my jaw drops in shock. I have mascara running down my face and my hair is messy as hell. I fix my hair and wipe off the tears. Then I go into a stall to look at my hip, there’s already a small bruise forming from how hard he was grabbing me. “Fuck…” I mumble. I lay my head back against the stall wall and sigh.

I walk out of the bathroom and make a beeline to my manager, “Hey um, I hate to ask, but can I use the office phone for a personal call? It’s really really important, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t.”

He looks at me with concern but nods, “Of course Viv, go ahead, honey.” I thank him and then head into the office and dial the number I’ve had memorized for years. My mouth goes dry as it rings, it goes on for a while and I worry he might not pick up. But finally he does.

“Munson residence, what is so damn important that you have to interrupt my campaign?”

I’m too nervous to speak at first but I stutter out, “P-Please don’t hang up. Billy just came to my work and I-”

“Vivian? What the fuck are you calling me for?” He whisper yells into the phone.

“Please, just let me explain! I wouldn’t call you just for shits and giggles. Billy just came into my work and told me to tell you that if you fuck with him again, then he’s gonna carve up more than just your locker. He threatened me too and thanks to him I’ve got a pounding headache and bruise on my hip,” I rant.

I hear Eddie sigh into the phone, “Seriously?”

“Why would I make something like this up? I can come over and show you the bruise myself!”

“I don’t want to see you,” Eddie says abruptly.

I say nothing back; I don’t even know what to say. I feel tears welling up in my eyes again.

“J-Just watch your back…you know what he’s capable of. Okay?” I say before hanging up, my voice wavering as I speak. It’s clear in my voice that I’m on the verge of tears. I collect myself before going back out and thanking my manager for letting me use the phone.

I go back to restocking the shelves and keep my eye out for anyone else who plans on coming in to fuck with me. I’m on edge the whole day, I spend my entire lunch break in the back to avoid everyone. I continue to read Carrie as I eat my lunch. She’s always been one of my favorite book characters. I relate to her anger and her isolation. Whenever I read the book, I feel protective over her, if people treated me like that everyday I’d snap too.

When I go back out after my lunch I notice the store is pretty busy, I help customers find books and ring them up once I help them make their selections. The rest of my shift is pretty busy as I assist customers and re-shelve books. Finally, at 7pm my shift is over and I grab my stuff out of the back before saying bye to my manager for the night. As I unlock my bike, I see my back tire is slashed. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” I yell. I kick the post that’s nearby and regret it immediately as sharp pain shoots through my foot. “FUCK!”

I gather myself and start walking back home with my bike in the dark. I stay far off from the road so I don’t risk getting hit. I take an hour to walk back home and when I get home, I’m a sweaty pissed off mess. I lock my bike up even though I know nobody is gonna steal it with a giant fucking hole in the tire. I swear if I knew how I’d put a goddamn hex on Billy Hargrove.

“Mom! I’m home!” I yell as I walk into the apartment. I set my bike helmet by the door and unpack my backpack. My mom isn’t home like I had hoped she was. I see a note on the fridge and sigh. ‘Going to be gone for a week, I left money for Pizza. Aunt Gina is sick.’ I groan and grab the money off the counter to order some pizza. I call and place an order before getting comfortable on the couch and turning on a horror movie, I’m cuddled up into a blanket when the phone rings. It scares the shit out of me and I go flying off the couch. Horror movies may not scare me too badly but loud sounds definitely do. Once I get up off the floor, I run to the phone to answer.

“Hello?”

“Viv?” Holy shit, it’s a voice I haven’t heard in forever. Veronica Ecker has called me.

“Y-Yeah? Um yeah it’s me, it’s Viv,” I ramble.

“I don’t know what the hell happened last night but stay away from Eddie. He’s talking about Billy Hargrove having it out for him and I swear to god if you don’t get that asshole to back off of Eddie then I’ll have it out for you!” Before I can even try to respond she slams the phone down, hanging it up immediately. I groan and pull at my hair.

“How do I manage to make everyone in Hawkins hate me, jesus fucking christ?!” I throw myself back down onto the couch and scream into a pillow until I can feel my rage subside. I get up off the couch and make my way over to the liquor cabinet and thank the lord that my mom doesn’t care if I drink. I make a rum and coke that’s definitely more rum than anything and drink it as I watch the movie, waiting for the pizza to arrive. I don’t know how I fucked things up so young, if I hadn’t gone to seek revenge over something so stupid I still could’ve had friends, could’ve actually had Eddie by now, instead I have a bottle of rum and a lonely ache that fills my bones. Sometimes I wonder if my dad had known how badly of a fuck up I’d be and that’s why he left, maybe I was already a fuck up as a kid. My grades weren’t great, I didn’t have many friends, I guess he knew I’d never get better, I’d just be a loser forever. I inherited his eyes, his anger, his love for the bottle. I wonder if he ever felt like this, if he left because he felt he wasn’t good enough. My mom never gave me his actual reason so I let my mind wander. I wonder if life is always this empty, this lonely, this cruel. I go to take another sip of my drink but the doorbell rings. Pizza’s here.

Most nights when I plan to get drunk I unplug my phone from the wall, I don’t trust myself to not call somebody I shouldn’t, but Eddie hates me even more now, Billy Hargrove wants me dead, and me simply leaving my house is social suicide so it’s not like I have much left to fuck up. I let myself stop caring, stuffing my face with pizza and washing it down with rum, not exactly my dream combination but who cares. With half the bottle gone it doesn’t take long for me to pick up the phone. My anger seeps out when I drink, but so does my sadness. I dial Eddie’s phone number; I know he’ll be up, he always is at this hour. The phone rings and rings until he finally picks up.

“Munson residence, who the fuck is calling at 2am?” He answers, angrily.

I smirk, I love that I’ve pissed him off, “Hey Eds. Miss me yet?” I laugh into the phone, taking another swig from the bottle.

“Jesus christ, what the hell do you want?” He asks. I know he’s rolling his eyes, I’m shocked he didn’t hang up as soon as he heard me honestly.

“Well, your good friend Ronnie called me up earlier. She didn’t sound too happy with me, thinks I sicked Hargrove on you like some junkyard dog. You didn’t tell her what a gentleman you were at the lake?” I tease. I’m fed up, I can’t hide it anymore. I’m angry at him, I’m angry at Billy, I’m angry at everyone.

“She called you?” He sounds confused.

“Yeah. Why don’t you tell her to get her fucking facts straight before threatening me, we both know I could take her in a fight anyway,” I’m slurring my words letting whatever pops into my head simply spill out of my mouth.

“Fuck,” he sighs, “Viv, are you drunk right now?”

“So what if I am? I’ve got nothing better to do right now and rum doesn’t taste too bad after a few sips,” I giggle.

Eddie sighs into the phone again, “How much have you had tonight?”

“Jesus christ, what are you my dad? Y’all both left anyway,” I mumble that last part.

Eddie goes silent.

“Sorry,” I hiccup. I feel sad again, I know I said something I shouldn’t have.

“Why’d you call me, Viv?” He asks softly.

“I don’t know…I don’t…” My voice trails off.

“I’m sorry, that Ronnie threatened you,” he says.

“It’s fine, I deserved it. It’s my fault we’re even in this shit. I shouldn’t have taken that dare,” I say sadly, I take another sip and curl into myself on the couch.

“It’s not your fault. Billy got what he deserved, well less than what he actually deserves. I made the choice to help you, I don’t regret it.”

I furrow my brows in confusion, “Why not? You haven’t spoken to me since the first day of Junior year. You hate my fucking guts, Eds.”

“No, I don’t. I-I…it’s all complicated, okay?” He sounds genuine, he sounds soft, it confuses me.

“You should. You should hate me. I-I’m a fucking disaster, I-I…I’m a shitty friend, I’m selfish, I’m angry…so goddamn angry all the time. I don’t like my friends, or well, ex-friends now I guess since they’re all groupies for that mullet wearing fuck. They’re so mean to you and your Hellfire friends, I-I try to get them to stop but they don’t care what I have to say…I-I could’ve tried harder to stop it, but I didn’t I’m sorry. Fuck, I’m sorry I slept with Tommy too. I just…when I saw you that night with Nicole I couldn’t take it. She was so fucking cruel to me…and you…you slept with her anyway, you let her take your goddamned virginity Eddie! Why? Huh? God, I know she was your type but you couldn’t have picked someone else? Literally anybody-fucking-else!” I yell into the phone, letting my anger get the best of me. There are tears running down my face as I’m brought back to that night.

“I’m sorry for yelling, I’m sorry for calling you. I-I should go…” I mutter.

“Don’t! J-Just stay on the phone with me, okay? You shouldn’t be alone like this,” he says.

I cry harder, “I shouldn’t be with you when I’m like this either…I talk too much, let too much out. I should keep it in, keep the peace…”

“Fuck that, let it out. You’ve got a lot you wanna say to me, right? Go ahead, let me have it,” He chuckles into the phone.

“I try not to be angry in front of other people, I’ve got my fathers temper y’know…” I laugh dryly, wiping away my tears.

“I’m not much better and you know that, I can take it,” he replies.

“You shouldn’t have to.”

“But I will, so start talking.”

“Why’d you fuck her, Eds?” I ask, laying back on the couch and waiting for a response.

“Do you want to know the truth?” He sounds hesitant.

“I wouldn’t want anything else.”

“I…I thought that if I slept with her, if I let her get her story for her friends, that she’d lay off you. I didn’t like her…at all…and she was awful in bed, by the way.”

I laugh into the phone, “Was she really?”

“The worst, I swear she thought porn was the standard, I thought I’d have to gag her because of how over the top her moans were,” he laughs.

“Fuck…Tommy wasn’t good either. Well…I mean I didn’t really get to feel if he would’ve been or not…fuck I can’t believe I’m telling you this but, he umm,” I snort with laughter at the memory, “He was fucking my thighs the whole time thinking it was my vagina.”

I hear Eddie fall off of his couch and howl with laughter, he takes a good minute to catch his breath, “S-So you’re telling me that he didn’t even fuck you? Like…he just fucked your thighs like some virgin who’s never taken an anatomy class or been with a woman?” He laughs.

“Pretty much.”

“Holy shit…the other guys you’ve been with, I mean there had to be more than just Tommy, they’ve made you cum right?” He asks.

I bite my lip and run my hands through my hair, “Like two of them have, yeah.”

“Not enough guys are getting you off correctly, you need someone who knows what they’re doing…” He’s doing his DM voice, the voice that had me clenching my thighs every time he’d speak at a session.

“Y-Yeah…” My mouth feels dry, my face is hot, and there’s a familiar ache between my thighs.

“Fuck it’s getting late, get some sleep, you’re gonna have a wicked hangover tomorrow,” Eddie sighs.

“Shit, don’t remind me,” I groan.

He laughs and the ache between my thighs gets even worse, “Seriously though, get some sleep…I’m glad you called me.”

I could scream, I never thought I’d hear him say that, “Yeah…me too…goodnight, Eddie.”

“Goodnight, Viv.”

#eddie munson #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fic #eddie munson x oc #eddie munson x original character #eddie munson x original female character #eddie munson angst #multichapter

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honorary-knight-of-favonius · 1 year

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Truth - Kaeya

Summary: You finally find the one

Warnings: crush!Kaeya, Fem!Reader, Multiple orgasms, cuninglings, fingering, living room sex, roommate!kaeya, collegestudent!reader.

I groaned rubbing my temples, I had been staring at this book for hours and nothing is being processed in my brain and it doesn’t fucking help I have a project due in less than twelve hours. As I was staring at the book the door to my room opened and in came my roommate and friend, Kaeya.

“Yo, so you might wanna wait to shower, I might’ve used all the hot water.” I groaned in response, Kaeya came over and looked at my materials.

“You’ve been on the same page since I got home, which was two hours ago.” I sighed and looked at Kaeya.

“Thank you Captain Obvious!.” I said condescendingly.

I heard a hum then I was lifted from my seat and carried out of my room and the only thing I felt was relief and warmth. Kaeya brought me to the living room and sat me down on the couch and he held me in his arms to make sure I didn’t try to get up and go back to that self-made prison.

“I’m hungry, wanna order?” Kaeya asked, I looked back and at the perfect moment my stomach rumbled.

“B-but money.” I whined.

“I didn’t ask if you had money, I asked if you were hungry.” I nodded and Kaeya smiled and pet me, “What do you want?” He asked

“Can we get Indian food?” I asked, Kaeya nodded and pulled out his phone and ordered the food, while we were waiting for the food Kaeya turned on some historical looking romance movie and made sure I was into the movie before leaving the couch. When he came back it was with a giant tortilla blanket, my favorite stuffed animal and some comfier clothes. Kaeya changed my jeans to fluffy pants and took off my shift and bra putting me into an oversized shift I was pretty sure I stole from him, and then he wrapped the blanket around me and handed me the toy before a knock echoed through the apartment and he went to go get the food and then handed me my food and finally sat back down.

“Is that why you like historical fiction?!” Kaeya asked as a certain explicit scene showed, “I mean I get the appeal but that’s. . .wow.” Kaeya said, I giggled.

“I know it’s so enchanting isn’t it! It’s like he already knows her body without ever having to touch her!” I rave, Kaeya chuckled.

“Oh. . .No I get that part, I mean take you for example. You hate when the top of your thighs are touched, but melt when the sides are caressed.” Kaeya said, I choked a bit before I looked back at him confused at home. He knew that and all I saw was a shocked expression almost like he exposed himself, “I-I, I didn’t mean that I meant-”

“How much do you know about my body?” I asked, Kaeya swallowed harshly before putting his food down on a tiny end table and bit his lip.

“A lot more than you think.” Kaeya said.

“. . .explain.” I urged.

“Well. . .shit I need an area.”

“Chest.”

“Shit, ok, you’re really not holding back. . .Um. . .You hate when people put their whole hands on your. . .boobs and just move them around, you like when they're worshiped or when your,” He coughed, “your nipples are stimulated.” He finished.

I looked at him dumbfounded, “How the fuck do you know that!” I asked

“W-well. . .when you're horny and unsatisfied with a certain dude you tend to. . ."rant.” Kaeya said, “Most of the time it’s to Lisa and if I don’t hear it Lisa tends to tell me because well because she tends to vent about your choices is lays.” Kaeya said, I looked at him and saw color rising to his face.

“Just. . .how much do you know?” I ask

“I know you like when guys take their time to eat you out, how you like foreplay, how to hold your body, how to get your legs shaking with ease, and I also know you like to kiss and makeout. . .Oh! And aftercare and I know a bunch of ways to arouse you too.” When he realized what he said he covered his mouth and even more color rushed to his face.

“So you know everything about my body.” I whispered, Kaeya quickly went to take me in his arms.

“I-I’m so sorry! I am really sorry! I- I didn’t mean to say all that!” Kaeya rushed.

“H-Have you told anyone else?!” I asked

“W-what?! No, no way! Why the hell would I tell the competition your preferences when I could try to use them myself?” Kaeya once again covered his mouth and got up and moved away from me, “Shit Kaeya you and your big mouth.”

“H-have you tried to. . .”Kaeya looked back.

“No! No way! I-I mean I wouldn’t be opposed to using that knowledge on you, but I’ve never intentionally tried, not that I haven’t wanted to, but I-” Kaeya shut up the moment he saw my face, “Shit Kaeya you're not helping yourself.” He scolded, hitting his head.

I looked away and covered my face. It almost sounds like Kaeya is confessing to me. Like he’s telling me he’s in love with me that he wants me and no one else. I looked back to Kaeya how he was trying to hide his anxiety, but he was failing. I got up and went close to Kaeya taking a hand and placing it on my hip and Kaeya quickly moved it to my waist and hugged me.

“I-I. . .if you want what I think you want you’ll have to tell me. B-because otherwise I really need to get my hands off you, I-I really don’t want to ruin our relationship so. . .please, tell me.” I looked at Kaeya and put my hands on his bare chest and whined.

“You’re thinking right.” Kaeya swallowed harshly, “Please, show me what you’ve learned.” Kaeya picked me up by the backs of my thighs and carried me to the couch when he laid me down before he got on his knees on the floor.

“Are you sure you want this?” I nodded and he began tugging off my pants while removing my shirt. Kaeya started by cupping and caressing the side of my thighs just the way I liked before he bit my inner thighs as well as sucking some hickeys on them too. When he got to my cunt he blew twice before licking a long stripe up and diving in, he used his tongue to focus on my clit then wrapped his lips around it making my hands go to his hair. He began humming and the vibrations made my head all fuzzy, when he managed to slip his fingers in I closed my thighs around Kaeya and he welcomed me to squeeze his head and continued to use one hand to caress my thigh and I began grinding against his face my moans getting higher and my that knot was unraveling and the moment it was undone I arched my back rolling my eyes back. I took a deep breath and my body relaxed.

Kaeya pulled away and moved his hands to my hips before he hovered over me, “well, did I pass Mistress?” Kaeya purred out like a kitten. The way the mistress came out of his mouth was perfect, like he was made to say.

“Y-yes~ with flying colors.” I said, Kaeya moved to face my tits, and made sure to place his hands in a way that caressed them without grabbing them like an apple. He kissed the valley between and then moved his mouth to the left side while the right side had the nipple pinched, and twisted. I whined and arched my back, Kaeya took his mouth away and went to kiss and suck a hickey on my tit before returning his mouth to the nipple, I felt his teeth graze the skin and I tangled my fingers in Kaeya’s hair.

“K-kaeya, you’re doing so good, so fucking good~” I praised, He smiled and grazed my nipple again. I felt the knot forming and then Kaeya switched his hand and mouth and the knot grew tighter and tighter and I managed to grind against his stomach and with all the stimulation I came undone going limp on the couch.

“It seemed like I managed to scratch that itch.” Kaeya smirked, “How are you doing?” Kaeya asked, cupping my face. When I didn’t answer him he moved to get the toy he’d brought out, “Be a good girl and touch Nellie if you still want to continue.” I touched the toy and he smiled.

“If you want a break, touch Nellie.” I did so again, “Ok, you must’ve needed that huh?” I nodded, Kaeya kissed my cheek, “you’re doing so good, so fucking good.” After a few minutes I pulled Kaeya into a kiss. He hummed and placed a hand on my waist allowing me to meet his hips.

“There’s no need to be impatient, Mistress. Just order me to serve you and I’ll be a good boy and do just that.” I smiled and pulled him closer.

“Then be a good boy and fuck your Mistress.” When I felt the slight movement on his pants then I felt his hard and ready cock on my desperate cunt and he looked at me.

“If I hurt you tell me,” I nodded and he slipped in and I dug my nails into his shoulders and he stayed still before he began moving but his pace was slow but he was deep and rough, shit he even knew how I liked being fucked. Why didn’t I notice his lusting gazes or kind praise, or the sad smiles he gave when I told him I was going on a date? Why didn’t I notice them sooner? I should’ve noticed them so much sooner, I don’t need him as my bestfriend, I need him as my fucking boyfriend!

“C-close~ I’m so close~” I whined, Kaeya went to my tits and worked their magic as I screamed, my orgasm washed over me and I felt Kaeya going to leave and I locked myself around him making it so he had to cum inside which he did and laid in my chest before looking up at me.

“S-shit, shit, shit! I can’t believe I just came in you, I came in you! Oh fucking hell, I can’t believe that, I’m so fucking sorry, I-I’ll take responsibility if anything happens, shit.” Kaeya freaked out before I spoke up.

“I-I have an implant.” I say, Kaeya looked confused but then it clicked and he grabbed a tissue before he pulled out making sure to clean me and once I was I had the oversized shirt put on and then cuddled on the couch with Kaeya.

“So. . .Um. . .I know you know how I feel about you. But. . .what about you?” He asked

“Kaeya.” He hummed, “Would you like to be my boyfriend?” I asked, He smiled brightly and nodded before peppering my face in kisses and snuggling into my hair.

#genshin x reader #genshin impact smut #genshin impact #sub!reader #favonian archive #dom!kaeya #genshin imagines

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riikive · 6 months

Text

STARTED WITH A PARCEL AT THE WRONG ADDRESS ⌕ 최범규

masterlist | request

pairing. choi beomgyu x gn!oc | genres. comfort/hurt, a bit of romance, fluffy, next-door neighbor au, soft, etc. | warnings. blunt/rude oc, overworking, being sick, high fever, etc. | word count. 1.5k | request. yes

note. I hope you enjoyed it. It is a little rush at the end, but I hope it is good. It's sooooo cute. I tried to do what you requested but I changed it a bit. So I hope it is okay. Thank you for requesting! Hope to see you request again some other day or something!

Jun lying down, staring at the ceiling. They didn't want to get up even though they had a job at 10:00 a.m. Looking at the clock, it read 8:00 a.m. They sighed before groaning as they lazily got up from the bed. Walking to the bathroom, they got ready for the day. Taking a shower after brushing their face.

After putting on their clothes, they tied up their armpit-length hair before going out to check the mail. They didn't care if anyone saw their wet hair since it was hot summer autumn meaning it was 26°C to 32°C all week. As Jun opened the door, they saw a package waiting for them. "I didn't order anything?" Observing it, they noticed it was a parcel. Picking up the parcel, they read the address and noticed it was under a different name. "Choi Beomgyu? I don't know any Choi Beomgyu."

They went inside their apartment with the parcel before grabbing their phone and keys. Then closed their apartment door as they stepped outside. Reading the address carefully as they walked through the hallway. "Apartment 313," they muttered under their breath. "Wait a minute,"－looking at the door number, they realized it was their next-door number－"What the－how in the world did the mailman get the address incorrect when it is the door next to mine?! Are they blind or something?" Looked at the address one last time before ringing the doorbell.

rest under cut

Within a minute, the door opened, revealing a boy with chestnut brown hair. His hair reaches down to his shoulders, just barely, in a sort of mullet. The rest of his hair is cut neatly, with some of the sides reaching down, stopping above his jawline. Their eyes travel to his bangs, which are cut just above the eyes. His hair must be dyed because some of the layers he has cut into his hair are different shades of the brown. His jawline is sharp, and his hair stylist must have wanted it to show because none of it touches his actual jawline, simply resting a bit past his ear.

"Hm, no," they bluntly said with no hesitation. "This parcel is for you. The mailman was apparently too blind to read the address and put it in front of my apartment instead of yours. Here you go and I will be on my way. Have a nice day, I guess. " They politely gave him the parcel before walking away. Beomgyu looked at the parcel before looking at Jun who was talking back to their apartment. He closed the door and opened the parcel.

It was from his mother. His mother gave him some snacks that she brought when she went abroad for vacation. Smiling at the letter, his mother sent inside the parcel. He put the snacks away before getting ready for the day.

Jun walked out of their apartment once again after getting ready for work. They made sure they got everything before locking their apartment door. Then walked to the bus to their job. With a sigh, they sat down on the bus stop seat, waiting for their bus to come. Once the bus arrived, they went inside and sat down at their usual seat. They watched the bus drive off from stop to stop until it reached their stop.

Feeling the breeze hit their face as they exited the bus. Lazily walked to their job. Jun worked as a graphic designer in a famous company. They don't really hate the job. It pays well and is quite flexible. Some of the co-workers are a little annoying at times. Walking inside the entrance, they were greeted by the receptionist. "Good morning, Jun." They smiled as they nodded. Walking past the receptionist, they entered their ID before walking to their office.

Greeted by everyone who was walking in the hallway going from place to place. Jun finally reached their seat. They put down their bag and clasped on their chair. Staring at the computer in front of them before letting out a sigh and turning on the PC. Once they enter the usernames, passwords, etc, they start working on their project that is due before the end of the day. "Good morning, Jun!" Glancing up, they saw it was no other than one coworker whom they worked with when they started working at the company.

"Morning," was all they said before laying their eyes back on the screen. "How was your morning?" The co-worker said, trying to start a conversation. They just shrugged. The coworker sighed before working on their own project. The rest of the day was busy for Jun.

After a busy day at work, Jun went home straight away. They decided to take a taxi instead of going on a crowded bus. They usually take the bus because it is less money for them, but they don’t want to deal with the crowds, especially during rush hours. Once they got a taxi, they went inside and told them the address before sitting back and relaxing.

Staring at the evening sky as the taxi drove to their destination. Again another sigh was let out. Once they arrived, Jun paid the driver before exiting the car. Walking inside the apartment and up the stairs to the 3rd floor. As they were about to unlock the door, they saw their next-door neighbor walking to his apartment. Was his name Beomgyu? He glanced at their way and smiled. "Good evening, neighbor!" They didn't respond, just gave a little nod.

As they were about to enter their apartment, Beomgyu stopped them. "Wait!" Jun stopped and turned to him with a blank face. Staring at them for longer than 4 minutes, he started to notice the black bags in their eyes and how tired they were. "Do you want to hang out?" He asked them. They shook their head before entering the apartment.

As the days got busier and longer, more bags started to become darker and eyes became more tired. Jun felt like their head was going to explode. They called in sick at 10:00 p.m. when they couldn't even stand up to do anything. They couldn't even hold their phone and typed the email until 10. All they want to do is to sleep. Until they heard the doorbell ring. Lazily went up and slowly walked to their door. Almost fell midway.

Opening the door, revealing their neighbor. "What?" They asked. "Wow, not a good morning?" Jun rolled their eyes. "What do you want?" They bluntly asked. This time Beomgyu rolled his eyes. "No need to be blunt." They sighed and rubbed their forehead. "Can't you get to the point?" He observed them before asking a question. "Are you sick?" "Duh, I guess you found out," they lightly chuckled, "Now tell me what is up." He pulled out a bag from behind him. "My mother got these for me and I couldn't finish them so here are some for you." They took the bag and looked inside. "Thank－" Before they could finish their sentence, they fainted.

Beomgyu quickly caught them before they fell onto the floor. He touched their forehead and his eyes widened. They had a high fever. "Did you overwork yourself?" He asked softly before carefully carrying them to their bedroom. Hoping they don't mind him stepping inside the apartment and using the kitchen, he cooked some porridge. He went to the cabinets looking for medicine for them to drink before entering their room with a tray of porridge, water, and medicine. He went to the bathroom and took a towel before putting water in it.

Then carefully place it on their forehead before sitting down. Observing around the room, he noticed the room was simple and comfortable. There aren't a lot of things in the room to make it look more open. Jun slowly woke up and noticed him. "Oh, sorry for entering your apartment without your permission." "It's fine," they said as they touched their forehead, noticing the towel on top of it. "I made porridge for you." He gave the bowl to them. They tried to hold it but were too weak to. Beomgyu chuckled, muttering, "Cute."

Jun looked at him with annoyance in their eyes. "What? I am weak right now." "Do you want me to feed you?" He asked. They looked at him then at the bowl. "Fine." Beomgyu smiled, scooped some porridge, and then blew on it before putting the spoon near their mouth. They slowly opened their mouth, letting him feed them. After they finished the soup with his help, they drank the medicine before laying back on the bed. He went to the kitchen to wash the dishes before returning to the room. Sitting down after he wet the towel again and put it on their forehead. He unknowingly smiled just by watching them sleep.

permanent taglist : none (please send an ask if you want to be added to the permanent tag list!)

please do not copy, steal, plagiarize, rewrite, repost, etc!! Feel free to reblog, like, comment, and share!!

#🍵 — tomorrow x together oneshots & drabbles #🍵 — tea house requests #beomgyu fluff #choi beomgyu #beomgyu #txt beomgyu #beomgyu x oc #choi beomgyu fanfic #choi beomgyu fluff #beomgyu fanfic #beomgyu fic #beomgyu ff #txt fanfic #txt fic #txt #tomorrow x together fanfiction #tomorrow by together #tomorrow x together #tomorrow x together fic

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simpofmanymen · 1 year

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Prompt: It’s Valentine’s Day and she’s never received any cards or messages from anyone…until now.

(was listening to This is what falling in love feels like- JVKE and needed to write this, also Janus is funner to write lying all the time, beside when he's trying not to)

{Ships: poly sander sides x g/n reader}

Valentine's day, I never really had any opinions on it. I've never really been with anyone on it, or gotten anything, of course in elementary but, you were made to give those out. I mean I've never gotten anything that means something, i don't hate it i just have never gotten the chance to feel anything. So when I woke up that morning to my boyfriend Patton cooking pancakes I didn't think much, but. The heart shaped pancakes did throw me off, “you ready for today?” he said as his bubbly self, “ Is today special or something?” that earned me a gasp from everyone, “it's valentine's day!!!” “ah..” roman looked at me confused, “my dear y/n do you not enjoy valentines day?” I gave a breathy chuckle, “I don't really know how i feel about it” “agreed y/n, just another holiday” “JUST ANOTHER HOLIDAY'' everyone started yelling at Logan, me and Virgil laughed softly. I had finished my breakfast after a couple refills and decided to go over to the couch, a snake decided to join us walking down the stairs, “hi Jan” “horrible to see you this morning” he respond, I smiled softly before turning the TV on to set up my F/S that I need to finish. When I heard a roman run in and snatch my phone (we lost the real remote..) “no no no, romantic movie my love” I sighed softly looking over to Janus with an annoyed face, he rolled his eyes back at me. Everyone started to pile in. I ended up being cuddled by Patton, cuddling Virgil, Remus in my lap, and sitting in Logan's lap. Roman was sitting next to my leg, Remy with a blanket around him and laying his head on Thomas who were both sitting on Patton's side of the couch. Roman put on some romance I've never bothered watching. I layed back more on Logan and gave him a peck on the jawline, a mistake. “Hey babyyyy i wanna kiss to!” Patton looked up at me saying, “me tooooooo” Remus says, before then everyone (who would say it) was chiming in wanting a kiss too. I groaned and grabbed onto the Logan, “nooooo im comfyyyyy, Logan save meeeee” “THAT'S MY JOB” roman said crossing his arms like a child. I giggled into Logan's neck. He had his arms wrapped around me, his chin on top of my head, jealous noises everywhere. {time skip} after the movie was over I ended up mostly in the same cuddle position as before. Me, Jan, Logan, and Virgil were the only ones awake at that point. So comfortable, I woke up Remus softly (he was on my legs nnefneufiuefibfb) he ended up waking up everyone. Patton and Logan got up to make lunch, I finally got to my F/S, “lunch!” Patton half yelled, we all sat around the table, roman and Patton stood up. “We have something special for all of you!” roman said, “WE MADE CARDS!” Patton said. They passed out cards with everyone's logos, yours and Thomas's just had hearts with your F/Cs. you opened yours “you make us all smile, we love you, we love your laugh, your insecurities, we love your face, we love everything you hate, we love you so much. Thank you for coming into our lives.” butterflies <3 just butterflies <3 Happy tears? Yes. I started softly giggling as tears streamed down my face. Patton walked over and hugged me, are you ok? Are you good? Could be heard throughout the table, a lot of us got emotional from our messages. I gave Patton a kiss, and nuzzled him softly. We all ended up finishing lunch and going back to cuddling on the couch. I think I’m going to like Valentine's Day from now on.

#janus sanders #sanders sides #patton sanders #logan sanders #thomas sanders #virgil sanders #remus sanders #roman sanders #remy sanders #sander sides x reader #sander sides roman #sander sides logan #sander sides fic #sander side virgil

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ninjadeathblade · 6 months

Text

Moulin Rouge Discotrain AU (part sixteen)

Summary: (Post-game canon) The Conductor and DJ Grooves agree to finally work on a movie together. They come up with 'Moulin Rouge', a musical drama filled with romance. Over time the two directors grow closer and discover that maybe they don't hate each other as much.

Beginning | Previous | Next

Word count: 390 (very short)

Warnings: None

Author's notes: This is the last prewritten chapter I have so I should probably continue writing. But we are now in my favourite part (arc?) of the story. Enjoy.

Grooves flicked on the TV as he sat down in his new apartment, mind zoning out slightly as he watched the news.

"-And now, a leaked behind the scenes clip of directors DJ Grooves and The Conductor!" The reporter announced and Grooves' eyes widened.

"Oh no," he breathed, watching himself and Conductor dance and sing together, cutting off just before Snatcher had shouted at them.

Grooves put the TV onto mute and picked up his phone, dialling Conductor's office number - because that seemed to be the only place Conductor ever was.

"Whaddya want Grooves?" Conductor yawned.

"Um, darling, you remember earlier when we were practicing? And Snatcher filmed us?" Grooves started.

"I don't like where yer headed with this."

"Well, he sent it into the news," Grooves finished and Conductor let out a groan.

"Peck neck," Conductor muttered, before continuing more clearly. "We need to get everyone to take time off so we can get away from the press."

"So what, we just run off for a while?" Grooves checked.

"Precisely. Can you meet me outside the studio in a few minutes?" Conductor asked.

Grooves sighed, already making a mental list of possible things to expect upon arrival.

"Okay darling. Want me to grab anything on the way over?" Grooves offered.

There was a stretch of near silence, only the quiet sound of Conductor's breathing.

"A snack maybe. Also, you should bring a bag with some of your stuff. I dinnae know how long our…absence from work might last so whatever essentials and anythin' extra you might want," Conductor explained. "I'll wait outside the studio for yer."

"Okay. See you soon."

"Right."

Grooves put down his bag as he reached the outside of Dead Bird Studio.

"There you are!" Conductor exclaimed, pushing open one of the doors and walking out to stand beside Grooves.

The owl was wearing the bright red coat over his usual dull clothes but still shivered.

"How are you always cold?" Grooves laughed, earning a shrug from his friend. "So, when are we leaving?"

"As soon as the cleaners finish. Then I'll lock up and we can go," Conductor explained.

"Why are they here? They usually only come in after we've finished movies."

"I wanted them to clear out the basement."

"Okay. And how are we getting out of here?"

"The Owl Express of course!"

#discotrain #moulin rouge discotrain au #ahit #ahit au #a hat in time #the conductor #dj grooves #ahit dj grooves #ahit conductor #ahit the conductor #ahit moulin rouge au

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sakis-sweets · 2 years

Note

hey, if your requests are still open could you do a Megami x Aoi oneshot?

i've actually already done megami x aoi, it's right here, but i'm happy to do another one! the last one was really angsty, so i think this one should be fluff. can we write fluff about two serious characters? let's find out!

Valentine's Day was soon approaching, and Aoi hated Valentine's Day.

Guys planned all sorts of stupid stunts to confess their love at this time of year, and the student council always had a hard time uncovering such plots and dismantling them. "Just give them chocolates like a normal person!" Aoi would shout. You don't need to dump pink confetti over the whole damn plaza!" Times like this made her wish she could put the school on lockdown or even employ martial law, but whenever she made the suggestion, Shiromi would insist that it’s “not that deep, bro,” and Megami would concur. So Aoi was stuck with hunting down every last mischief-maker who couldn’t keep it in his pants.

After one particularly exhausting day of foiling a plan to hijack the intercom and confess during morning announcements, Aoi slumped into one of the chairs in the student council room. “This is ridiculous,” she vented. “Why do people care so much about big, showy displays of affection? I mean, we never needed stuff like that.”

“You’re cutting out,” came Megami’s voice from Aoi’s phone. “Has the school’s internet been having problems?”

Aoi banged her fist on the table (softly - Kuroko had scolded her once for denting the mahogany). “I’ll bet someone else is up to some hair-brained scheme that involves flooding the bandwidth,” she seethed. “It’s just one thing after another! Can’t they give it a rest? Megami, we’ve got to start being stricter about this sort of thing. Isn’t it damaging to the school’s reputation?”

“Akademi is a prestigious institute, but its purpose is to give its students a proper high school experience. Irrational romances are part of that experience.”

Aoi groaned. “It wouldn’t even be that bad if you were here. They look up to you, you know. If you could show them some of that Saikou class and dignity, they wouldn’t even think of inconveniencing everyone else like this.”

“I apologize,” Megami said flatly. “My father still doesn’t want me going to school until court proceedings with the Aishi family have concluded. They’re in custody, but they might still find a way to retaliate.”

Aoi furrowed her brow. Had that whole thing really only happened eight months ago? Students had been popping up dead for the first nine weeks of school, and then Megami was able to catch the killer in the act. It had been none other than Ayano Aishi, the daughter of the woman who’d been accused of those crimes in the eighties! The entire family was under investigation now, especially since the journalist who’d accused her back then had gone missing in America around the same time Ayano’s parents were traveling there. The cleanup had been absolutely disastrous. “On second thought,” Aoi muttered, “I’d much rather deal with something mundane like this.”

“I agree,” Megami said. “Aoi, at your discretion, the school might overlook some of the more tame public confessions. I think we could all use something light-hearted to wrap up the year.”

Aoi sighed. “Well, fine by me. Leaves me with less work to do. How’ve things been on your end?”

“Busy as well. However, I have found a little bit of free time.”

“Oh yeah? When?”

“Now. Come outside.”

Aoi jumped out of her chair. “Huh?!” But before she could ask any questions, the line went dead. Aoi shoved her phone in her pocket and ran to the doors of the school. She still couldn’t see Megami. But she had definitely told Aoi to come outside...

Aoi ran out of the school and down the hill. Sure enough, Megami was waiting on the street - outside of school property. Aoi slowed to a stop in front of her girlfriend, whose lips betrayed a small smile. Aoi’s own expression was one of complete bewilderment, even as she gasped for breath. “How are you here?” she asked. “You should be locked up at home!”

“I pulled some strings with my father,” Megami explained. “We’ll be shadowed, and I have to stay in crowded places, but we’ll be able to go on a date today. I’ve already explained everything to the others; your obligations are over for now.”

“Is this real?” Aoi asked. “You’re really here?” She reached out and placed her hands on Megami’s shoulders. The high-quality fabric wrinkled under her grasp. Aoi hadn’t seen Megami outside of her home ever since Ayano was arrested, but here she was. For once, they could actually let loose and have fun. Aoi pulled Megami into a crushing embrace. She accepted the hug gracefully, wrapping her arms around Aoi and suppressing any noises of discomfort from being squeezed by a particularly strong young woman. “Thank you, Megami. I am so ready for this.”

“Even though it’s a bit... showy?”

Aoi flushed a deep shade of red. “T-This is different! It’s private and not bugging anyone else!”

“Of course,” Megami conceded. “Shall we be off?”

Aoi’s complexion slowly returned to normal as she grasped Megami’s hand and smiled. “Please.”

#yandere simulator #yansim #megami saikou #aoi ryugoku #megami x aoi #truth be told i had to look up fluff prompts for this one #but i think it turned out alright!#another thing i had to research for this #wood density #wanted to make sure it made sense for a human fist to dent a mahogany table #the things i do for fanfiction i swear #this was kinda short so #hey anon if you have ideas for their date ill write it lol

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queenofstelena · 1 year

Text

The beginning of their epic love

Summary: The beginning of our favorite love birds aka how things could have been different and with a twist. Stefan gets to guts to ask Elena out on a date when they first date it may seem a bit rushed but I think it's adorable!

Notes: Supposed to have at least 2-3 chapters. For some reason I don't have a lot to say today lol!

Chapters: 1/3

Characters: Elena Gilbert, Stefan Salvatore, Bonnie Benett, Caroline Forbes, Lexi Branson, and Damon Salvatore

Warning(s): Nothing really for the millionth time just fluff

Rating: General Audiences

Hope you enjoy <3

Elena's POV

Mr. Tanner was talking about the Civil War in 1864 I tried to focus but I couldn't. I kept thinking about the new kid Stefan Salvatore. I looked over to the window watching the fall leaves. I tried to distract myself but it wasn't working. My thoughts kept drifting back to him. He was mysterious but also cute.

He also, had this romance novel look to him. Oh my God, I've been hanging out with Bonnie too much. I internally groaned at this she's been rubbing off on me and not in a good way. I mean she's not wrong. Sometimes I hate it when she's right, but she wouldn't be Bonnie if she wasn't right or wise about something.

But there was something about him, I was drawn to him. Somehow in a short amount of time he made me smile, he made me giddy, and I felt like he understood me. It's like we had this unspoken understanding and bond.

I know I haven't known him very long but this was something I was certain about. Out of all the boys, I've ever dated combined he is the only one I truly felt something strongly about. In the past, I did like boys but I never felt this strongly about one before.

I was snapped out of my thoughts from my vibrating phone. Bonnie texted me saying "Hawtie starring at u." I smiled as I felt my cheeks warm up. Stefan sat a cross from me.

I turned carefully as I peeked a look at Stefan. He was indeed starring but I didn't care, I liked this boy. We locked eyes, I looked deep into his forest green eyes and he look deep into my chocolate brown eyes.

He had a small smile on his cute face. I couldn't help but look down and smile sheepishly as I blushed a deep red.

After class

Today, I had been running a bit behind putting my stuff away before the bell. But I wouldn't regret it this time. Unbeknownst to me as I put my stuff away Stefan walked up to me.

Bonnie and Caroline watched giddily and smiled at each other. "Your Elena right?" Stefan asked softly. No matter how sweet or softly he had asked me I still jumped a little.

"Oh, God I didn't see you there," I said apologetically as I put my hand over my chest for a second.

"I didn't mean to scare you, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after school?" Stefan asked looking into my eyes.

"Umm, y-yes of course I would love to!" I shuttered shyly.

"I'll pick you up at 6:00," Stefan said about to walk away.

"Wait, you don't know where I live?" I said grabbing his wrist.

"Don't, worry Bonnie and Carolina told me," Stefan said softly, smiling wholeheartedly.

"Oh, ok good. I'll see you at 6:00." I said quietly looking at him one last time before grabbing my stuff. I blushed to smile to myself.

"How about I walk you to your next class?" Stefan asked.

I turned around and smiled. "That would be great." "What's your next class?" Stefan asked.

"Oh, French," I said pulling my bag over me.

"Well you're in luck we have French together." We both smiled as we headed for our next class.

Bonnie and Caroline smiled brightly at each other as they saw Stefan walking with me. We walked out of the door my heart was raising our hands were so close.

I closed my eyes and steadied my heart rate. Stefan seemed to notice this and said this to make me feel more comfortable.

"You know you've really made my first day a whole lot better. You've been sweet to me. Thank you for making me feel welcomed." Stefan said looking at me sweetly. I smiled and said

"I'm glad I've made it bearable I know high school isn't easy. I'm glad I met you Stefan you've made it better for too.

I said looking into his eyes. We both looked forward and realize we arrived at French class.

"Well, our talk has just made me more eager for tonight," Stefan said sweetly as he moved he tucked a strain of my hair behind my hair. I blushed looking at him we both headed for our seats thinking about one another.

#the vampire diaries #tvd #elena gilbert #stefan salvatore #stelena #nina dobrev #paul wesley #tvd fanfiction #the vampire diaries fanfiction #stefan elena #elena and stefan #stefan and elena #stefan x elena #stelena shippers club

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tehmichi · 1 year

Text

The Assistant - Chapter 1

Modern Warfare II(2022) AU - Office Romance Pairing: John Price/Original Female character Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity, slow burn (posted on Ao3 with 26 chapters atm with an Explicit rating. More smut incoming)

After securing Hassan and the missiles, Kate and Price form a PMC company. Kate hires Stella to be her new assistant, a bubbly, snarky, and admittedly geeky thirty-four year old who loves to stay busy.

Price can’t stand her because she pushes every single one of his buttons and handles his temperament better than any of the last five assistants he’s gotten fired.

Forced together for two projects thanks to Kate being fed up with his attitude, things slowly start to change.

(this is quite literally my first time in ages posting fanfic on tumblr. pls forgive me for formatting errors)

______________________________________________________________

Chapter 1 - Just Another Day

Stella stepped into the office with a small smile on her face. She’d been able to get everything done on time to make it to the building just before Laswell. While she’d only had this job for six months, her boss was incredibly likable. Some of the other people who shared her floor were questionable at best. Especially the man Laswell called one of her best friends, former SAS Captain John Price.

Pressing her lips together as she stepped into the elevator, Stella swiped her security card to get access to the top floor. With a quick glance at her watch and seeing that everything was on schedule, she allowed herself a sigh of relief.

“Hold the elevator!” called a gruff accented voice.

“Fuck,” Stella whispered as she pushed the ‘hold door’ button on the elevator. The doors pulled back, revealing Price, holding onto a briefcase and dressed to the nines in his usual work attire. A blue suit that made his eyes stand out. She hated that he looked incredible in everything he wore for work. Made for good eye candy but his attitude definitely needed vast improvements.

“Stella,” he started, realizing who held the elevator for him.

“Price,” she replied, scanning her card again for her floor.

“Still here I see,” he remarked.

“I work here, where else would I be?” Stella replied, internally groaning. She just wanted to get to her floor already. The elevator opened a few floors later, and more people got in. ‘Thank goodness for small favors,’ Stella thought. As the elevator continued, more people shuffled in and out of it until it was just her and Price once more.

Stella fidgeted on her feet, glancing in the opposite direction of where he was. He was a pretentious Brit, and he ranked first on her office shit list quickly…granted, he was the only one on it. Everyone else was great.

“Finally,” Stella mumbled as they arrived. She quickly scrambled out of the elevator and headed to her desk, setting her bag down. Price walked past her, heading into his office without another word. “Thank fuck,” she mumbled as she sat. With a ring of the phone, her day began.

“Good morning,” Kate said as she came in.

“Morning Kate!” Stella chirped up from her desk. “I have your coffee and breakfast scone here for you.”

“You’re such a lifesaver, Stella,” Kate appreciated as she picked up the stuff from Stella’s desk. “How does my schedule look today?”

“Pretty light. You should be able to go home to the wife early,” Stella said with a smile. “You don’t have any client meetings. It’s mostly internal stuff this week concerning budgets, payroll, and the like.”

“Great, I could use a break from all the ass-kissing to retain clients,” Kate said with a small laugh.

“Same here,” Stella said with a smile. “If you need anything, please let me know. I’m already getting some of the interns working on the books you need for the financials presentation.”

“Thank you,” Kate said as she disappeared into her office. With another ring of the phone, Stella was back to work putting out potential internal fires so they wouldn’t get to the boss. Working with this security firm was always a new adventure. After a few hours of work, Stella slipped on one of her wireless earbuds and started to listen to music while she got through some emails and set up future meetings with supervisors on the lower floors. Typical everything.

Price stepped out of his office and continued straight forward to Kate’s. He glanced to see Stella softly listening to music as she worked, her hair up in the usual high ponytail she wore. The elevator pinged open, revealing one of the newer interns. She was a round-faced girl about Stella’s height and looked positively nervous.

“Stella,” she said, cutting the silence in the room. The female looked up at the sound of her name, side-eyeing Price before glancing at the new person.

“Irene, what is it?” Stella asked. Price took this as his cue to step into Kate’s office, softly closing the door behind him.

“Morning, John,” Kate greeted. “What is it?”

“Why is Stella still here?”

“Because she’s an excellent assistant.”

“I don’t like her. She’s mouthy, loud, and-”

“John, you’ve cost me five assistants in two years. I’m not listening to your judgment,” Kate said firmly, refusing to look up from her computer. “She’s on top of things better than the last one, and she actually deals with your temper.”

“Kate,” Price started.

“She bites back, that’s why you don’t like her,” Kate said as she looked away from her computer to Price. He scowled, letting out a frustrated sigh. A knock interrupted him before he could say his next words, the door opening to reveal Stella.

“I’m getting this corrected as we speak, but I thought you’d like to have a look at the preliminary reports. The pages are all woefully out of order,” Stella said as she came over to Kate’s desk and left a binder. Laswell immediately started to leaf through it as Stella kept talking. “I’m looking into who approved this to be printed and prepared this way.”

“These dates don’t line up, this is-”

“Once I have a name, I’ll let you know,” Stella said, turning around and starting to leave.

“Thank you,” Kate said. “Stella?”

“Yes?”

“Can you call in the bistro down the street and put my lunch order early?”

“Of course,” Stella said with a genuine smile. “Do you want me to also order you a smoothie from the-?”

“Yes, that would be great.”

“I’ll let you know when the food is here,” Stella said as she left the office and closed the door behind her.

“She didn’t even ask me if I wanted anything.”

“You hate that restaurant, John. We’ve all heard you complain about it. She stays, you don’t have to deal with her for now. She’s my assistant, not yours,” Kate said in a dismissive tone.

“What do you mean I don’t have to deal with her ‘for now’?” Price asked.

“Exactly what I said. John, I appreciate you, but you need to get the hell out of my office right now.”

“This isn’t over, Laswell.”

“When it comes to Stella, yes it is,” Kate said, focusing back on her computer. Price sighed, storming out of the office. Kate chuckled under her breath, shaking her head. “He’s really not going to like the news I have for him next week,” she mumbled, checking the binder carefully a second time.

#cod modern warfare ii #cod fanfic #mw2 fanfic #john price #fanfiction #also posted on ao3 #john price x oc #captain john price #captain johnathan price #john price x original female character #cod john price

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makeitmingi · 8 months

Text

Cause Baby You're My Muse [Chapter 32]

Genre: Romance, Idol!AU, Music, Slight angst

Pairing: Mingi x Reader (y/n)

Characters: Producer!Reader, IdolLyricist!Mingi, IdolProducer!Hongjoong, Idol!Seonghwa, Idol!Yunho, Idol!Wooyoung, Idol!San, Idol!Yeosang, Idol!Jongho, cameo(s) by other celebrities

Summary: You always preferred producing underground, having an unknown face and governed by your own rules. But when you start freelancing for idol groups, you say goodbye to your lone wolf lifestyle as you learn to work with idol producers and lyricists.

Word count: 3.3K

You stirred in the middle of the night, turning around only to bump into something hard. Half asleep, you frowned before you cracked open an eye, only to be met by Mingi's sleeping face. The frown disappeared and you smiled sleepily, reaching up to cup his cheek. He snored softly, undisturbed by you.

"Welcome home." You whispered, rubbing his cheek with your thumb. He groaned, his hold on your waist tightening as you pulled you closer to him. He buried his face into your chest.

"Big baby." You chuckled as you stroked the back of his head.

"Please... don't go..." You heard Mingi mumbled in his sleep, almost sounding like a whimper.

"I'm not going anywhere." You replied. Despite using your soaps, there was still a scent from Mingi that calmed you down and made your heart feel warm.

"Goodnight." Knowing that Mingi was here, his body against yours, lulled you back to sleep quickly.

Mingi woke up to find the space beside him empty. He placed his palm on the bedsheet to feel that it was still warm. That meant you got up not too long ago.

"Baby!" Mingi yelled, facing the ceiling with his limbs spread out. He expected you to rush in, panicked and worried, then scolding him for scaring you. But he waited and there was nothing, no rushed footsteps or anything.

"Baby? Where are you...?" Mingi yawned as he shuffled out of the bedroom.

"I wanna be where you at. Fix On! Put your hands up!" You had your headphones on, singing Turbulence into a spoon, as you prepared breakfast, performing like it was your own concert.

You mumbled out the rest of Ming's rap lyrics, the rap being too fast for you. Mingi took his phone out to record you.

"Passion, Young, Fever~" You rapped, turning around and nearly jumping out of your skin when you saw Mingi just standing there, watching and recording you.

"Yah. You scared me!" You placed a hand on your racing heart.

"Please, don't let me interrupt the concert. I'm really enjoying it." Mingi chuckled, gesturing for you to continue. You glared at him before turning back to the stove to cook but you stopped singing and dancing, much to Mingi's dismay. He put his phone into his hoodie pocket and walked to you.

"Good morning." He wrapped his arms around you, leaning down to plant a kiss on your cheek.

"Delete the video." You mumbled, ignoring his sweet greeting and kiss. Mingi knew you were embarrassed that he caught you, especially since you always told him you never liked your own voice.

"It's cute, baby. Especially your rap." He chuckled, nuzzling your cheek with his nose.

"What rap, huh?! You know I was just mumbling. How dare you video my private moment without consent, Song mingi" You repeatedly slapped him.

"Ack! Stop hitting me!" He shielded his face with his arms.

"Hate you." You stuck your tongue out.

"We both know you don't mean that. And also, take it as payback for leaving me alone in bed. I had to wake up to a cold, empty bed on my own. Again." He raised an eyebrow, pointing to the fact that you have left him to wake up alone multiple time before.

"I was making YOU breakfast." You poked his chest. Mingi wrapped his fingers around your wrist, his other hand encircling your waist to pull you against his body.

"I missed you so much." He leaned down to capture your lips with his. The hand holding your wrist let go to cup your cheek.

"M-Mings, the food." You said in between his kisses.

"I don't care. Let it burn." He grasped your chin with his thumb and forefinger to guide your lips back to his. But to appease you, Mingi reached behind you to turn the stove off.

"I missed you too, by the way. Even if we are in the same building." You wrapped your arms around his neck.

"You've been practicing so hard." You moved his fringe away from his face with a giggle.

"We're both working hard." He had his signature dorky grin on his face. Suddenly he grabbed your waist, lifting you up onto the kitchen counter. You yelped, holding his shoulders in fear. Mingi slotted himself between your legs, arms wrapping around your waist and leaning his head against your chest.

"Just for a while." He whispered. Mingi just wanted to be as close to you as possible now. It made every bad thought melt away and calmed him down.

"Okay." You replied softly, pressing your cheek to the top of his head as you held him.

"I'm sorry I fell asleep before you came back last night." You said. Mingi pulled away to look at you with a frown.

"Baby, what are you saying? Silly girl, why are you apologising for falling asleep, hmm? I want you to sleep more." He stroked your cheek, smiling softly at you.

"Besides, you falling asleep revealed to me that you watch my fancams when I'm not around." He continued to tease you. Your eyes widened, no wonder your phone was charging on your night stand when you woke up.

"Oh my gosh." You hid your face in your hands, feeling your cheeks heat up.

"I love you, baby." Mingi kissed your head.

After that sweet moment, you continued cooking breakfast. You made a potato hash with sausage meat and eggs, a Western breakfast rather than your usual Asian breakfast.

"This is good. Can I have some ketchup?" Mingi asked. You handed him the ketchup bottle.

You sat with Mingi on the couch, both of you having your own plate of food as you watched television. Cups of iced coffee in front of you on the table.

"This feels very domestic of us." You chuckled.

"Does it?" Mingi laughed along. Both you and Mingi didn't feel the need to always go out on dates. With both your schedules keeping you away from each other, you would much prefer to comfortably hang out in the comfort of your home. Rather than having to look over your shoulder in case there were fans or the media.

"The CEO dropped by the practice room yesterday." Mingi suddenly told you. You stopped chewing, looking up at him with a slightly concerned expression.

"Don't worry, it was nothing regarding us... He just wanted to see how we were doing. He had nice things to say about you." He smiled.

"Really?" You asked, poking at your food with your fork.

"Mhmm, he was really impressed with your work for the upcoming comeback. He called you an asset to the team." Mingi described. You nodded with a hum as you listened.

"He came to my studio yesterday, probably after he went to the practice room to see you guys." You said.

"Yeah, he said he was going to drop by. What did he talk to you about?" Mingi asked.

"Nothing much. Just wanted to see the progress of the b-side tracks. He wants to make sure they're just as good as the title songs. And we talked about the song credits, making sure all your names are properly credited so the fans can appreciate it." You explained.

"Oh... Did he... talk to you about your contract?" Mingi seemed to hesitate when he asked you that. You could hear it in his voice, how he broached the subject carefully.

"Not exactly. More hinting that we'll talk after the comeback." You lied, shrugging your shoulders.

"That's a good sign right?" He scrached his head.

"Maybe. Let's see how this comeback does before getting our hopes up." You chuckled and Mingi nodded. He didn't want to put too much pressure on you.

You felt bad for lying to Mingi but whether your future career was with or without KQ, you didn't know yet. Even so, you didn't want to burden Mingi with your decision. He was already dealing with a lot.

"I've got to go for practice at 4 so until then, you're not leaving my side." After breakfast and doing the dishes, Mingi took you back to bed. He didn't want to do anything, not watch a movie or play a game, he just wanted to spend as much time as possible holding you. You gladly welcomed him.

"I know you guys have your diets and all that but your health is first okay?" You squeezed Mingi's hand.

"Yes, ma'am. You better be eating your meals and sleeping. Doesn't mean I'm not there, means you can just forget to eat and sleep." He lightly knocked his forehead against yours.

"I won't, I promise." You giggled.

"Good. Because not only will you have me on your case but Seonghwa hyung, Hongjoong hyung, Wooyoung, the entire Ateez will on it too." He threatened.

"Alright, alright." You laid on top of his chest, arms around his body. Mingi patted your head.

"Are you excited for comeback season?" You asked.

"Yeah, I'm excited to be performing on stage again, seeing fans and interacting with them. It's like an adrenaline high, you don't feel the exhaustion until after the high." He chuckled.

"You all have been working so hard. I mean, I haven't seen the dance but from what I know, Ateez dances are not easy. But this will be the first time I get to watch you all perform on stage, I'm excited for that." You lifted your head to grin at him.

"Look at you being an Atiny. Cute." He pulled you up so you were at eye level with him.

"You should come see us practice." He suggested.

"I'm just going to be a distraction the everyone, especially you." You rolled your eyes. Mingi smiled softly, not even denying your words. He kissed forehead, hugging you to him.

"I'll only be able to hug you and hold you like this at home now." Mingi suddenly said.

"Mings..." You felt conflicted.

"It's okay. I'm just... lamenting. As long as I have you, I'm happy. I'll do whatever it takes." Mingi nuzzled his cheek against the top of your head as his hold on you tightened.

When Mingi had to leave for dance practice, your heart felt heavy. For some reason, you didn't want him to go, you wanted him to stay with you. You silently followed him through the house as he got ready. Mingi noticed but never pointed it out. Every chance that he could, he held your hand in his.

"Have a good practice. Don't get hurt." You smiled up at him as he got ready to leave.

"Thank you. Are you going to the building later?" He asked.

"No, I told Eden I'm working from my home studio today." You shook your head. Mingi nodded with a hum. He leaned down to plant a kiss on your lips.

"Goodbye, love." He stroked your cheek. You nodded, tip toeing to give him another peck on the cheek.

"I love you. I'll see you soon." You waved, watching from the door as he walked into the lift. Before entering the lift, Mingi turned back to smile and wave. He pulled his mask up and left.

You closed the door, feeling the emptiness of the house weigh on you. There was a weird stirring in your gut but you brushed it off as just one of your random weird feelings. After making yourself a mug of coffee, you shut yourself in the studio to work.

"And hold... 2, 3, 4... Good job everybody!" The main choreographer said loudly and clapped as the 8 boys collapsed in their spots, breathing heavily.

"Good job. Thank you." The backup dancers and Ateez members stood up to bow to each other.

"Oh my gosh..." Wooyoung panted heavily as he laid on the floor. San pulled him up, handing him a bottle of cold water.

"Aish." Mingi sat against the mirror as he tried to catch his breath.

"Be careful not to strain your back, hyung." Jongho reminded, tossing the taller male a bottle of water too. Mingi nodded, giving the youngest a grateful thumbs up.

"Everyone, have a water break for 10 minutes then we'll watch the video playback." Hongjoong announced to the members.

"Yes, captain." They replied in unison.

"Hongjoong, Mingi and Jongho need to start practicing with microphones in their hands." The choreographer said. Based on their preferences, the rappers and Jongho liked using hand held microphones when performing on stage. Therefore, they needed to practice dancing with it.

"Should I change to in ear instead?" Hongjoong sighed at the thought. There was always a risk of not using the right hand or dropping the microphone.

"Ah, what are you saying, hyung? You danced with a cane AND a mic. You'll be fine." Yeosang chuckled.

"Everyone gather." Seonghwa called.

The boys obediently gathered around the iPad, all watching the recorded dance video. They all had serious looks on their faces as they watched themselves and the other members.

"The formation here needs to be tighter." Yunho pointed out. Being the lead of dance practices, he usually notices details quickly.

"Let's go back to this part." Mingi decided. They paused the video and went to stand in their positions.

"Yeosang, move forward." The choreographer waved.

"Move in, San. That's better." He held his hands in front to make sure the alignment was correct. Once all the mistakes were clarified and corrected, they decided to call it a night. The Ateez boys stood together and bowed as the dance team left.

*Last online: 3:34pm*

Mingi noticed that you were not online since he left for dance practice 5 hours ago. You were probably busy in your studio so he didn't want to call and bother you.

'I'm done with dance practice. Make sure you take eye breaks and have dinner. - Mings'

"Where should we go for dinner?" Yunho asked as they packed up their things to get ready to leave the studio.

"I can't eat anymore flour stuff." Seonghwa sighed.

"What about grilled eel? Mingi's mother's restaurant?!" Wooyoung perked up. Mingi's head raised at the mention of his name. He looked around in confusion.

"Will your mum be able to sit us all now? It's a little last minute." Hongjoong asked.

"Oh... Let me call her." Mingi called his mother. But Mingi already knew what she was going to say. Of course she had a table and food ready for her 8 sons. All the Ateez parents were always ready to host the 8 boys. They all climbed into the van for the managers to drive them to Mingi's mother's restaurant.

"Omonim!" Wooyoung and San ran over to hug her. She happily welcomed everyone's hugs. But Mingi shoved everyone to the side, annoyed he was the real son and couldn't greet his mother.

"Be nice." She scolded Mingi. The others, with Mrs Song's backing, nodded in agreement.

"But you're my mum first." Mingi argued.

"You didn't bring (y-"

"You mean Indigo? No, omma, we came from practice and she's working from home." Mingi quickly cut his mother off before she could reveal your real name.

"Remember what I told you about her real name, omma?" He whispered. Mrs Song remembered, nodding her head. She quickly ushered the 8 hungry boys to the table at the side.

"How many portions of eel?" She asked.

"10 potions first... Three steamed eggs... 2 stews and who wants rice?" Seonghwa asked the table, knowing some of them were cutting their carbs. With all the orders in, Mingi's mother left them to prepare the food.

"Eat up everyone, we've been working so hard and deserve this good meal. Let's continue to give our 101% for the comeback." Hongjoong raised his tea cup.

"Yes! A successful comeback! For Atiny!" Yunho cheered as they all clinked their metal cups together.

"Here with your side dishes and eel." Mrs Song came with the staff members. The boys helped to pass down the dishes.

"Wah, it all looks so good. I can't wait for it to be done. I'm so hungry." Jongho smiled, patting his empty stomach as the pieces of eel were laid over the grill.

"Here is the lettuce and perilla leaves for wrapping. Also the dipping sauce with the ginger. This is the key" Mingi helped his mother hand out everything to the others.

While waiting for the meal to cook, Mingi's mother caught up with the other boys. Mingi secretly stared at the phone in his lap. You had not come online or read the message that he sent despite it already. being so late. He wondered if he should send you another message but he didn't want to seem clingy.

'The boys decided to eat at my mother's restaurant for dinner after practice. What did you have for dinner? - Mings'

He hid his worry in a common, normal question. After staring to see if you would reply right away, he locked his phone and tucked it under his thigh just in case you replied him.

"Eat up, everyone." Mrs Song smiled as she gave out the cooked eel to everyone.

"Here." Mingi cooked for his side of the table, taking the cut pieces and putting them on the members' plates.

"I want a wrap!" Wooyoung rolled his sleeves up.

"Are you okay, Mingi ah?" Yeosang asked.

"Mhmm, just tired. Don't worry." Mingi forced a smile, waving the concerned member off, making a wrap with the eel and eating it. The boys continued eating to their hearts' content until they were full, they ended up eating 15 portions of eel.

"I'll see you soon, omma." Mingi hugged his mother after they paid. She nodded, hugging her dear son tightly. She knew how hard he has been practicing for the comeback.

"Take care of yourself. And take care of (y/n), okay? Make sure she eats." She said softly.

"I will." He kissed her cheek. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he joined his other members in the van to go back to the dorm.

"Rest well, everyone. You all have your own schedules tomorrow for vocal and rap lessons." The managers announced. The 8 tired boys nodded, bowing to them.

"Thank you. See you tomorrow." They waved.

While the boys fought to shower first, Mingi slipped into his room. He suppressed his worries and dialled your number, he just wanted to make sure you were okay and not overworking. But before he could press the call button, your name flashed on the screen from your call. Mingi smiled as he pressed the phone to his ear.

"Hey, baby. Good timing. How did you know I was about to call you? Is it telepathy?" He smiled but all he heard was heavy breathing on the other end.

"Baby? (y/n)?" Mingi called with more seriousness this time, growing more worried.

"M-Mingi... I-I need you... I'm sorry..."

"I'm on my way. Stay on the phone, baby. Don't say sorry." Mingi shot to his feet immediately. He didn't even say anything to his members, slipping his shoes on and running out of the dorm.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, baby. It's okay. I'm coming." Mingi promised as he hailed a cab and made the driver speed to your house.

When he arrived at your house, he hurriedly opened the door and you threw yourself into his arms. Mingi let out a shaky sigh of relief as you cried in his arms.

"I'm here. I've got you, baby. I've got you. Breathe." He whispered continuously, holding you against him. He rubbed your back to try and encourage you to catch your breath. The two of you sank to the ground with Mingi gathering you to sit you on his lap.

"Follow my breathing, baby. It's okay." He instructed. You did as told and tried to follow his breathing pattern. Mingi was worried that this was what all the work stress was doing to you.

But you couldn't tell him it was because someone was following you home from the convenience store.

Series Masterlist

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ritualoftheancients · 1 month

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Ritual of the Ancients Chapter 17: You Can't Save Everyone

by Roan Rosser

This is a chapter of a complete vampire novel with a trans-masc main character and a gay romance subplot. New Chapters are posted every Sunday. If you like the novel and want to support the author, ebook and paperback copies can be purchased here.

*****

I paced while Jack sat back down on the couch. “So, what’s the plan then?”

“Let’s try the easiest route first: calling them.” Jack pulled a new prepaid cellphone out of his pocket and then looked expectantly at me. “And come sit down. You’re making me nervous with all that pacing.”

“Won’t she be tracing any calls that come into their number?” I asked, whirling to face Jack.

“Probably, but tracing takes time. We’ll start a timer, no longer than thirty seconds on the phone, then I hang up no matter what.” Jack patted the couch cushion next to him, and I came over and sat on the edge. My leg jumped, and I tapped my foot. I wanted to move, go somewhere, do something, and was having a hard time sitting still.

Jack put the phone to his ear, listening to it ring. After a moment he put it down again. “No answer. Do you have any other way to reach them?”

“That was their house phone. They both have cellphones.” I gave him my mom’s number first.

“No answer.”

“Try my dad’s cell.”

I stared at Jack impatiently, groaning when he again lowered the phone without saying anything.

“Nothing?” My panic was returning. “Why aren’t they answering?” My voice raised and cracked at the end. I was sure I sounded like a teenager, but I was too panicked to be embarrassed.

“You have no idea at all where they could be?” Jack looked at me with a frown. “It’s past nine, so I’m surprised that they aren’t home, but it is Friday night. Date night, maybe?”

I shook my head. “No, not really. Maybe we could try my brother? We can get his number from the local directory.”

“Better not to get anyone else involved if we can help it,” Jack said, crossing his arms. “Do they have any favorite restaurants they’d be at, anything like that?”

“There is one thing,” I said slowly. “Where’s the tablet?” Without waiting for an answer, I jumped up and jogged into the kitchen where I’d left it. I laid the tablet on the coffee table so Jack wouldn’t see how bad my hands were shaking as I typed in the group’s website, then navigated to the “Events” tab to find my worst fears confirmed. “Shit!” I jumped to my feet to stomp around the living room.

“What?” Jack leaned over the tablet and read the page out loud. “May Crown Tournament.” He looked up at me with an amused smile. “Your parents are role-players?”

“Kinda. My mom loves period costuming and sewing, and the group is a great excuse for her to sew new outfits for the whole family.” Feeling a little better for the stomping, I knelt on the other side of the coffee table to reach the tablet. I scrolled down the page and pointed to a line in the schedule. “That’s why they aren’t home and aren’t answering their phones.”

“Bardic circle,” Jack read, then glanced back up at me, a small smile tugging at his lips. “I don’t know that dressing up and singing merit that deep of a scowl.”

“It’s not the singing, it’s the damn dressing up.” I pushed up from the coffee table and glared down at the tablet. “Growing up, she was always dragging me to those things. After five boys, I was her only ‘girl’,” I made air quotes around the word, “and she was so excited to make dresses for me. She treated me like her doll. Frilly lace and corsets, and god, I hated it so much.” I felt like punching something just talking about it. Stomping across the room helped only so much. “We were always fighting about it.” I scowled harder and crossed my arms.

“Well, no dressing up this time,” Jack said in an understanding voice.

“So what does this circle have to do with not answering their phones?”

“It’s really discouraged to answer a cellphone at these events, especially at the bardic circles.”

“So we leave them a message telling them they are in danger, and to go to the police.” Jack bent over the tablet again. “This says quiet hours start at ten, so they’ll get the message when they get home for the night.

I groaned. “Knowing how seriously my mom takes these things, they left their phones at home. Besides, the police are a bad idea. Lady Ann has cops on her payroll. Remember those cops who showed up at my apartment?”

Jack nodded.

“Remember I told you I went to talk to one of them? They work for her.” I moved around to sit back down next to Jack and covered my face with my hands. “How are we going to get a message to them now?”

“You mentioned five brothers? Do they all live in town?”

I leaned forward to rest my elbows on my knees. “No, just my brother Michael, two years older than me. He works at Dad’s garage. All my other brothers moved away. They’re scattered all over the country. Why?”

“Just trying to figure out who else she might go after next.” Jack sighed. “Alright, let’s give your brother Michael a call, since he’d be the next logical choice for her to go after anyway.”

“Thank you.” I raised my head and gave Jack a grateful smile.

I looked up Michael’s number through my email account, since my cellphone was long gone, and read the number off to Jack. I reached for the phone, but Jack shook his head, switching hands to hold the phone on the side away from me. “No, too dangerous. In case he’s already involved, let me do the—”

Michael must have answered, because Jack cut himself off abruptly.

“Hello, Michael? This is Detective Jack Petty.” There was a pause.

I raised my eyebrows at this lie. Jack saw and waved me off with a smile. “No, the reason I’m calling is about your brother, Everett.”

“What!” I blurted out. Jack’s free hand swung up and clamped over my mouth before I could say anything else.

“Sorry about that. Yes, no, your brother is fine. He’s in police custody right now—”

Jack glanced at me. I lifted a hand to make a zipping motion across my lips. Jack nodded and let go.

“So you haven’t seen the news?” Jack asked, and then paused again. I was dying of curiosity about what my brother was saying on the other end of the line. Why didn’t vampires get enhanced hearing like the movies? I leaned closer, trying to hear, but Jack pushed me away.

“I don’t have time to go over the details of your brother’s case with you at this time. I’m calling you about another urgent matter. We have reason to suspect that you and your parents’ lives are in danger. However, we’ve been unable to reach your parents. Where are you right now?”

Jack glanced at me and frowned. “Well, that is good news. Please stay where you are for now. You should be safe in Miami. We have reason to believe the threat is local to Portland.”

Another pause, and I fidgeted nervously. My stomach sank at the mention of Miami. Although I was happy that Michael was out of town, which should mean he would be out of Lady Ann’s reach, it meant that he couldn’t go by and warn our parents. I hoped this was for the gay cruise he’d mentioned last time we’d talked. He deserved to be able to cut loose away from our ultra-conservative parents.

“Yes, do you have any other way to reach them?” Jack paused again. “Hood River County Fairgrounds, got it. We’ll send a few officers by there to check on them. Thank you for the information.”

Jack hung up and lowered the phone, then gave me a sympathetic look. “I take it you overheard? Michael confirmed your hunch about where your parents are. He said the only way to reach them is going to be going by in person. The good news is that he’s on vacation in Miami, so he’ll be safe.”

“So, who can we call?” I stared back at Jack. “And who’s Jack Petty? I thought from that memory I saw that your last name is Prashad.”

“It was Prashad. Since I went into the supernatural’s version of wit-sec for outed supernaturals, it’s been Jack Smith.”

I made a face and Jack laughed.

“I know, believe me, but I didn’t get a choice. They insisted on nice and generic. I’m just glad they let me keep my first name. Anyway, I’m not going to give out my real name, am I?”

“I guess not, but you didn’t answer my first question.”

“I didn’t answer because we aren’t going to do anything else. We’ve pushed our luck as it is.” Jack held up a hand to forestall my protests. “We can’t get anyone else involved, and we have no way to warn them by phone.”

“It’s only an hour’s drive up there,” I pleaded. “We go up there, warn them, come back. No one even has to know we left.”

“I’d know.” Jack looked uncomfortable. “It’s just too dangerous. You know she’s going to have people watching them. Besides, we both know that a warning probably won’t make any difference. If she wants them dead, there’s really nothing we can do to stop it.”

“So why help me try to call them?” I clasped my hands together and made a pleading look.

“Everett, I was helping you mostly for your piece of mind. You’re just going to have to accept the fact that you won’t get to make up with them.”

“If we disguise ourselves, they won’t know who we are. Besides, they’ll be looking for one person, not two.”

Jack shook his head. “No.”

“I can use my speed to get in and out. Lady Ann’s thugs will be human. They’ll never even see me.” I lifted my hand, palm towards Jack, and put the other one over my heart. “Scout’s honor.”

“Alright, let’s play this game.” Jack shifted to face me. He started ticking points off on his finger. ”If you manage to speed or sneak past the guards— who are by the way, probably well-trained mercenaries or ex-military—and then if you manage to find your parents’ tent in a dark field filled with near identical tents, how do you convince them of the danger?”

I frowned and stayed silent for a moment while Jack looked at me expectantly. “Well, Michael seemed to take you seriously,” I said finally.

Jack shook his head. “He thought I was a cop. These are your parents who from the sound of things, haven’t listened to you very well in the past.” Jack waved a hand. “Okay, let’s skip that and pretend they do listen. How do you get them to safety, back out past Lady Ann’s guards? Without,” Jack fixed me with a glare, “revealing you are a vampire. Top secret, remember?”

“I guess I didn’t think that far ahead,” I admitted. “Forewarned is forearmed. Once they know about the threat, they should be okay, right?”

“You’re the youngest of six, was it?”

I nodded, not seeing where Jack was going. “Yeah, so?”

“How old are your parents, Everett?”

“They’re both almost sixty, but my dad’s a mechanic, and keeps in shape. My mom’s really active too. She walks a mile every morning.”

“You think they’re a match for trained fighters?”

I threw up my hands in frustration. “You keep mentioning mercenaries, but we don’t know that. She’s a mobster, she doesn’t have an army. For all we know, she might not even have anyone there.” Saying that gave me another idea. “Wait, maybe she doesn’t. What if we just go up there and check it out, take out anyone who looks like a threat? Then I wouldn’t even have to talk to my parents.”

“The ones who took me were professionals, but—” Jack closed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose with one hand. “Everett… You seem to be missing my point.” He opened his eyes and took my hands in his. “You can’t save them. We’ve done all we can. Now we just sit tight.”

“But—” I tried to pull away, but Jack squeezed my hands and gave me a sad look.

“Everett, I know you don’t want to lose them, but I want you to understand something.” He leaned closer and rested his forehead against mine. “I don’t want to lose you, either.”

I started shaking, and Jack put his arms around me and pulled me close.

“What if—”

“No, Everett. We can’t risk it.”

I swallowed. “I just want to talk to them. I sneak in, say my piece, and then get out.”

“Damn you, Everett. We agreed it’s a risk.” Jack tightened his arms around me and began massaging my shoulders.

“I know.” I leaned back into Jack. “I know it’s dangerous, but I just want to see my parents one last time. Have a chance to make peace with them.”

Jack sighed heavily. “I understand. I want to help you, but it doesn’t matter without a car to get up there.”

“You don’t have a car?” I sat back to regard him. “How did you get to the grocery store then?”

Jack laughed. “I walked. My car got mysteriously filled with bullet holes, remember?”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “If we get a car, you’ll agree to help?”

“You’re so stubborn, and you look before you leap.” Jack sighed. “I love it about you. I even like how bad you are at lying, although we are going to have to work on changing that if you’re going to keep your vampire nature a secret. But yes, I can understand. If I could go back, I’d want one last chance to see my parents.”

I chewed my lip. “So what now?”

“Let’s get a car.” Jack pulled out a phone and started scrolling through the contacts. “Too late to rent one, and everyone you know is out, obviously. Problem is, I’m still pretty new to town, and most of the people I know are connected to the office. We don’t want Stacy getting wind of this, so that narrows the list considerably.”

“The only person I’ve talked to that isn’t part of the offices is Emily. Or would she still be at the offices?” I said slowly.

“Not a bad idea. She fell asleep at the wheel and her car hit the freeway dividers. Not serious and the airbags went off, so she wasn’t hurt, just startled enough to trigger her transformation. Meant there weren’t any

witnesses, so she could just go back to her life.”

“Wait, if she crashed, her car won’t be drivable.”

“I talked more with her after you went to bed. She has to drive a lot for work. I bet she already has a new one by now, or at least a rental we could borrow.”

Jack scrolled to her name and lifted the phone to his ear.

“Hello, Emily. This is Jack. From PCA. Yes. How are you doing?”

Jack nodded along to her words, smiling. “Good, good. Listen, I have a favor to ask. My car broke down, and Everett and I need to run up to Mount Hood tonight.” There was another pause. “Yes, exactly. That would be great. It’s near Lloyd center. I’ll text you the address. Right then, see you soon.” He hung up and turned to me, smiling. “She is happy to lend us a car.

She’ll be picking us up in fifteen.”

***

Emily honked when she arrived, pulling up in a brand-new white sedan with a temporary plate taped in the rear window. Jack and I went out to meet her. She smiled warmly at Jack as she got out of the driver’s side, but her smile faded when she nodded her head to me.

Emily looked much better today. Her hair was done up, and she wore understated makeup and a professional suit. I was surprised, given how late it was, that she looked like she’d come straight from an office.

“Just drop me at the train station by the mall,” Emily said, leaning forward to talk to Jack over his shoulder as he adjusted her seat and mirrors to fit his taller frame. “I sent you my address, so bring the car back to me there in the morning when you get back.” She sat back again, giving me a side-eyed look.

“Thanks, Emily. We really appreciate it,” Jack said, starting the car up.

“I mean, I don’t mind helping you out, but why is he going with you?” Emily wrinkled her nose. “Zoe told me he’s a vampire. Is that why he stunk when I was a fox?”

“That’s right,” Jack said, backing into the street. “Our noses in our animal forms can smell that vampires are dead, and instinctively we dislike it. Part of why vampires and shapeshifters were at odds for so long.”

Emily’s face scrunched further. “It’s not going to linger in my car, is it?”

“Afraid so.” Jack glanced at Emily in the rearview mirror.

“Hey!” I protested, but Jack kept talking.

“Sorry. But the good news is that you’ll only smell it when you’re in your animal form. Plus, it’ll be good for you to get used to it. As you can see, vampires get a little testy when you imply that they stink.” Jack’s eyes canted over to me. “Everett, not your fault. Just stating facts.”

“Fine.” Emily crossed her arms.

“What is it you do for work, Emily?” I asked, trying to reduce the tension that was growing in the car.

“I saw you on the news.” Emily glared at me.

I slid down in my seat. “I’m innocent,” I mumbled.

“That news report has to do with why I’m taking him to Mount Hood,” Jack said, reaching over with one hand to rub my leg for a moment, before putting it back on the wheel. “But the details are up to him to reveal.”

I shook my head. “Maybe another time,” I mumbled.

Jack took pity on me. “Emily is a real estate agent.”

“That’s why I’m out so late. A lot of people only want to see houses after they get off work, so I’m often working in the evenings.”

Jack turned down the street near the mall and pulled over to the side of the road. “Here you go, Emily. Thanks again for letting us borrow your car.”

Emily opened her door, but lingered inside. “I have a showing at eleven tomorrow.”

“I’ll have it back first thing in the morning, promise,” Jack said.

Emily nodded. “I’ll hold you to that. And Everett?” She looked directly at me for the first time. “Good luck on getting your name cleared.”

“Thanks.”

She got out and walked away, while Jack put the car back into gear and headed for the freeway.

#original fiction #trans author #trans masc #urban fantasy #ftm #transgender fiction #vampire novel

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