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#it literally fills my heart and mind with that emoji with the three hearts around it
wistereia · 10 months
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question bout Wisteria cos i utterly ADORE her design, is there a practical use for those extra appendages/bladed wires she has?
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YES!! Oh my god thank you SO much for asking!! I kind of am going to dump a lot of information about it below, but here's a quick diagram / explanation!
Essentially, they're used for another means of defense, think searing-hot built-in knives, or when inactive can be used to jack into terminals and the like to hack! Each tendril "end" has a connector concealed in it, and this ultimately allows her hands to be free at all times!
Okay here's the dump: Wisteria is first & foremost a netrunner, above all. She rarely uses guns or blades besides her cybernetics, so everything on her body HAS to be practical & either for extreme defense (I.E mantis blades) or for hacking. She is equipped with a Cyberdeck and can quickhack enemies, but even the best netrunners can run low on ram or get caught in an unsavory situation. This is the alternate solution, because as much as she ADORES her mantis blades, they really require her to be focused on no more than two (and barely) enemies at once.
The colored part of the blade, when activated, are burning hot when lit; without the digital "blades" not on, they feel like cold steel and cut like knives. Given a blade has been activated recently, they do need a small period to cool down before retreating to their inactive state or using that specific blade to hack a terminal.
To give fairness/limit the reach of these tendrils, they cannot imaginably reach more than her wingspan would be if she were to have a proper set of wings or much rather, the full height of Wisteria themselves (5'4" without heels). Not only that, but the tendril "body" themselves are NOT much better than, for example, the body of a whip. In rare circumstances, yes, you could use them to choke or detain someone, but there would need to be additional support of both arms to pull/tighten to that extent. Think more of a cat's tail rather than a powerful muscle!
Finally, this also poses a very challenging (and fun) design for me personally! Not only does it not make sense to have clothing that rests on her forearms, she almost always needs to have an opened-backed top or dress that accommodates her additional ligaments.
I originally had the idea to allow the tendrils to support her body weight (which would give her extra mobility) but realized it's reaching outside the "grounded in reality" limit I try and give myself. Although a cool concept, this being connected to her spine and the prior mention of it's similarity to a cat's tail, unfortunately feels like a reach. Although it did produce a fun concept sketch!
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AGAIN!! Thank you so much for asking, it really made my day and I hope you enjoy this brain dump!! You're AWESOME!!
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arvinsescape · 3 years
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Drunk
A/N: Hope you enjoy, bit of cheese, bit of fluff! Been in my draughts for ages!! Hope you all enjoy 💕💕
Warnings: Swearing.
Summary: Tom takes care of his girl when she has a girl’s night out.
W/C: 4.5K... Yeah idk how it got so long either...
Tom watched as you fixed your hair before turning and looking at him, excited look on your face.
“How do I look?” You asked as you twirled for him.
“Beautiful, as always.” Tom answered easily, you really did. Your dress stopped just below your thigh, black tights covering your legs and a pair of heels to finish it off.
“You sure you don’t mind doing this?” You asked as he picked up his car keys and opened the door.
“Do I ever?” He said back, he was dropping you off for a night out with your friends and he’d said he’d pick you up.
“I know but I hate the idea of you waiting up for me, I haven’t seen them in a while and it might get late.” You said as you bit your lip following him to the car.
“I already told you, it’s fine. How many times have you picked me up from a night out?” He asked and you smiled as he opened the passenger side door for you. That smile was enough of a thanks for Tom.
“You’re the best you know that?” You said as he got into the driver’s side.
“I know.” He said and you snorted. “Just promise me you won’t let your phone die this time.” Tom smiled as he set off.
“I charged it this time.” You said and held up your phone screen as if to show the evidence.
“Good, that was a nightmare having to chase you around.” He laughed.
“Look, if you weren’t a celebrity I’d have been able to borrow a stranger’s phone to call you.” You shrugged and he smirked.
“You also probably shouldn’t have gotten split up from your friends.” He teased.
“That wasn’t my fault, I already told you, one minute they were there and the next they weren’t.” You said and Tom laughed as he shook his head and reached over for your hand.
“Just as long as you have a good night okay. You’ve earned it.” He said as he pulled up outside the bar you were meeting your friends in.
“I’ll try. Thank you Tom, you really are the best, if you want me to get a taxi just text me.” You said and he lent over as he placed a kiss to your lips.
“Not happening, I like to make sure you’re safe.” He said as he kissed you again.
“I do it when you’re away filming.” You said, you really didn’t want to put him out.
“Yeah and I always make you call me don’t I? Gotta make sure you get home safe.” He said and you smiled as he placed a final kiss to your lips and then a kiss to your cheek. “Now, go, have fun. I’ll see you in a while.” He said as he watched you leave the car, god knows how drunk you were going to get tonight.
**
Tom did his usual routine when he was on pick up duty, he got a good nap in before midnight to ensure he’d stay awake, a couple of coffees to help after he’d woken up. He knew you were having a good night, he’d received three photos and a video, smiling and shaking his head as he observed them.
The first two pictures where from you and they were fine, just ordinary pictures to let him know you were still okay, you told him it was easier than sending him a message. The third picture he’d received from your best friend, you were sat at the table with two drinks and two straws in your mouth as you drank from the two drinks. Your friend having captured it “we told her she was slacking,” he couldn’t help the smile that graced his lips, firing back a few of the heart eye emojis in response.
The video he’d received five minutes ago, from one of your other friends, told him you were indeed having a good night and you were going to be rather drunk when he picked you up. You were with your best friend and you were sat at your table singing your heart out to some absolute shite as you swayed, voice louder than when he’d dropped you off.
It was almost three am when he received four illegible messages from you that he knew it was his cue to put his shoes on and grab his keys, he was opening his car door when your name flashed across the screen.
“Hi darling.” Tom said, he could hear the chaos of the club you were outside of.
“Hi Tommy.” You said louder than you usually would and he smiled as he sat in the car. “I tried to ring but I kept getting it wrong.” You huffed and Tom laughed.
“That’s what those messages where about?” He teased. He didn’t miss your friends shouting a greeting down the phone at him either. “Where are you?” He asked as he started the car up.
“Outside that club, I can never remember its name, you know that one.” You said and he could tell you were trying to be quiet as you said it, failing but trying, and Tom smirked.
“Oh, that club.” Tom said. You’d once been out drinking together and ended up in this particular club’s bathroom together. “I’ll be ten minutes.” He said as you exchanged ‘I love you’s’ before he hung up and set off.
**
Ten minutes later and he found you outside the club with your friends and you were hammered. Tom laughed as he watched you sway as you tried to keep your balance, approaching you, watching the way your eyes lit up when you saw him.
“Tommy!” You practically shouted as you threw yourself into his arms and placed your head into his chest. “I missed you.” You mumbled as he brought his arms around you. Your three other friends were in just as bad of a shape as you.
“Come on, let’s get you guy’s home.” Tom said as he watched your friends stumble to his car, he looked down at you and you smiled up at him.
“My feet hurt.” You said and he laughed, he knew what you wanted, you liked to be in his arms when you were drunk, more so than usual.
“Do they?” Tom said and he watched as you nodded enthusiastically before he turned around and let you hop onto his back. Your arms slung around his shoulders as you kissed his cheek. He unlocked the car, watching as your friends climbed into the back seats. He got you into the passenger side with ease before getting back behind the wheel.
“Y/N, what have you done to this boy?” One of your friends asked. “My boyfriend doesn’t do that.” She huffed and you laughed.
“That’s because your boyfriend is an arsehole.” You said and Tom laughed, you pulled his hand into your own and played with it in your lap as he drove, not in the direction of home because he knew what was coming next. “Can we go to McDonalds?” You asked suddenly, gaze shifting to look at him.
“As always.” Tom answered and he watched as you turned to your friends and fist pumped.
“See, I told you he’d drive us there.” You said, Tom laughed, it was a ritual when you got this drunk to have McDonalds, he didn’t need to ask what you wanted. “Tommy’s the best.” You said and your best friend laughed.
“He’s whipped, no offence Tom.” She said with a smile.
“Can’t argue if it’s true.” He said with a laugh.
“I can’t believe he admits it.” She said again. “Y/N? Where did you find this guy?” She asked and you shrugged with a smile.
“I don’t know, but I’m not sharing.” You said and your friends burst into a fit of giggles as Tom smiled at you.
“But we’re best friends!” She teased.
“We are and I’ll share anything else with you just not Tom.” You said firmly and Tom laughed as he pulled into the much-loved fast food parking lot. “Yes!” You said as you got out of the car, Tom laughing as your friends followed.
“I thought your feet hurt.” Tom teased once he’d caught up and you looked up at him with a lazy smile.
“They do.” You said as you fell into his arms, waiting for Tom to place the order because he knew you’d get it all wrong, too drunk to read the screen properly. “Thank you.” You mumbled into his chest as you waited.
“You’re welcome.” He said as he kissed your head, you snuggling further into his chest. He eventually encouraged you to sit in the booth with your friends as he got your food. Once you were all done, he got you all back into the car, yawning as he sat back behind the wheel for the final time that night.
“I found something out tonight Tom.” You said, you had hold of his hand again as you rested it in your lap and Tom looked at you humming for you to continue. “Y/F/N has a crush on Harry, she told me.” You said and Tom laughed as your friend reached behind your head and slapped it playfully.
“I told you not to tell him!” She announced as your friends fell into a fit of laughter.
“I told you I tell him everything.” You laughed as you brought his hand up to kiss the back of it. “Besides, Tom would know if Harry had a crush back.” You said loudly and Tom laughed again.
“I don’t.” He clarified.
It wasn’t long before he was listening to you all reminisce about your night, fits of laughter filling his car as he dropped both of your friends off, the only drop of left being your best friend.
“Shit.” She exclaimed and you looked round at her.
“What?” You asked.
“I forgot my bloody house door key.” She groaned.
“Just call your boyfriend.” You shrugged and she laughed sarcastically.
“No, if he’s asleep there’s no getting him up. He doesn’t wait up for me like this one.” She said and Tom watched as you frowned.
“I don’t know why you don’t just leave him, he’s awful.” You said and she hummed in agreement. “Tommy?”
“Yeah, she can stay at ours.” Tom answered easily and you smiled at him. He would quite literally do anything for that smile.
It wasn’t long before you arrived at the house, Tom helping you get out as your best friend followed you both. You were on Tom’s back again, as you played with his hair, and he opened the door. He let you down and watched as you hastily took your shoes off and threw them to the side, Tom putting them where they belong.
“Where’s my baby?” You asked as you tore off into the living room, Tom laughing as you stumbled.
“Thanks again Tom.” Your best friend said and Tom smiled before encouraging her into the living room. He was not surprised to see that your haste to get in there was because of Tess. You were on the floor with her and cuddling her as she ran her tongue up your cheek.
“I missed you.” You were saying as you cuddled her. Tom’s heart did flips as he watched you interact with her. He loved watching the two of you. You turned around after a while and looked up at Tom with a lazy and sleepy smile. “I’m tired.” You said as you rubbed your eyes, almost like a child.
“Okay, bedtime then.” Tom said as he lifted you effortlessly from the ground. You wrapped your legs around his waist as you encouraged your friend to follow you upstairs.
“Guest bathroom is there, your bedroom is there.” You said sleepily as you pointed to both rooms in question. “If you need anything just help yourself.” You yawned as you laid your head on Tom’s shoulder. “I’ll see you in the morning.” You finished and Tom smiled as he kissed your temple, listening as the two friends said their good nights.
“You smell of something incredibly bloody sweet.” Tom said as he grimaced slightly, catching a very strong smell that clung to you.
“Some guy spilled his cocktail on me.” You said through a yawn. Tom lifted his hand and ran it through your now messy hair, getting to the tips and feeling the sticky liquid. “He was a dick.” You added. “Tried to dance with me. I told him to fuck off but he didn’t listen.” You said and Tom’s hands on your thighs tightened slightly.
“What happened?” He asked as he took you into the bathroom of your shared bedroom. Placing you on the counter.
“Y/F/N threatened him and he did a runner.” You laughed and Tom shook his head with a small smile. “He was just annoying and a complete dick.” You said as your head fell back against the wall with a thud.
“Yeah, he sounds like it.” Tom said as he wiped your face with a wipe, taking off the make-up. “Are you okay though?” He asked seriously.
“Yeah.” You said as you cupped his face and brought him in for a kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you.” He returned easily. “Come on, you need a quick shower.” He said.
“But Tommy it’s like four am and I’m so tired.” You said with a huff.
“I know darling but you’re very sticky and you have to get into bed.” He reasoned, knowing it wouldn’t help your hangover tomorrow to have the stench of alcohol clung to you. He encouraged you off the counter, laughing as you fell into his chest, your body giving into the drunken and tiredness it was feeling.
He lifted your dress to your waist and got on his knees as he pulled your tights from you. You held his shoulders as he placed a firm hand on your waist and helped you to get out of the material, laughing as you huffed in frustration, hands tightening around his shoulders as you swayed. He pulled your underwear down before standing to full height pulling your dress up and over your head.
“What happened?” He asked as his thumb ran over a very prominent bruise on your hip. You just shrugged in response; you had a habit of walking into things even when alcohol wasn’t involved. He encouraged you into the shower, taking his own clothing off as he joined you.
“You gonna have your way with me Tommy?” You asked with a cheeky smile and he shook his head as he put shampoo in your hair.
“Not tonight sweetheart.” He said and you hugged him, it made it awkward to wash your hair but he went with it.
“Why not? You did the other morning.”
“You weren’t drunk the other morning.” He reminded your drunken state.
“I’m giving my consent.” You said and Tom huffed out a laugh as he moved onto washing your body.
“It doesn’t work like that baby.” He said as he kissed your cheek.
“You’re too good.” You said, Tom was having a hard time now keeping your arms from him, he needed you to stand still so he could wash your body. He was careful, cautious as he made sure you were okay and didn’t slip.
“No sweetheart, it’s what everyone should do.” He said as he lifted your leg to wash it.
“I feel like my ex would have.” You were rambling now, saying things as they came to mind.
“Well he was a twat.” Tom said, he really had a dislike for your ex, he’d never met him but the way he’d treated you was awful. You laughed at his words, agreeing as he set your leg down, helping you out of the shower once you were clean and drying you off.
You made your way into the bedroom and Tom smiled in endearment as you went straight for his t shirt drawer and pulled out your favourite when you were drunk. Tom would never admit he washed it this morning so you’d have it for tonight. Your eyes lit up as you brought the material to Tom who pulled it over your figure with a smile.
“Come on.” Tom said as he moved you into bed and onto your side in case you were hit with a sudden urge to throw up. He watched as you snuggled into the sheets, almost childlike and his heart flipped at the sight. You were adorable. Tess made her way into the room, jumping up to sleep at your feet, she’d missed you this evening.
“Tommy?” You mumbled quietly as he got himself ready for bed, voice laced with sleep.
“Yes my love?”
“Cuddle?” You said and he joined you instantly, you snuggled back into his arms as he held your back against his chest. “I love you.” Where the last words you spoke before your breathing completely evened out.
**
It was 2 pm when Tom woke up, your figure clung to him, he smiled at your peaceful form, carefully removing your arms from him as Tess stood.
“Tess, no. Leave her be, come on.” Tom said as he encouraged his dog out of bed with him, she huffed but listened. He wanted to make sure you got all the sleep your body wanted you to have.  “Come on.” Tom encouraged quietly once he was dressed, making his way downstairs.
“Hey.” Your best friend greeted as she saw Tom. “Sorry, you guys weren’t up and I needed coffee.” She said as she placed a hand over her face.
“S’okay.” Tom huffed a laugh as he boiled the kettle. “How’d you sleep?” He asked as he let Tess into the garden, leaving the door open for fresh air that he was sure your best friend probably needed.
“Pretty well, I woke up like four times thinking I needed to be sick but your beds are so comfy, I wish I was rich.” She laughed and Tom smiled as he shook his head. “How’s Y/N/N?”
“No idea, she’s still asleep, probably gonna feel horrendous though.” He laughed as he made himself a brew.
“First thing she says when she gets up?” She asked and Tom raised a brow. “My bets on ‘I’m never drinking again.’” She laughed.
“My monies on ‘where’s Tess.’” Tom said as he sat next to her at the kitchen table.
“Let’s see who knows her better then.” She teased and Tom gave a ‘you’re on’ before sipping his brew. “Have you thought about, you know?” She asked and Tom furrowed his brows.
“About what?” He asked for clarification.
“You know, proposing?” She cleared up and Tom put his mug down.
“Yeah.” He shrugged and your friend smiled as she looked at him.
“How long have you been together now?” She asked. “Like 2 years?”
“Three next month.” He said and your friend smiled.
“You really do look after her you know?” She said and Tom shrugged.
“She does the same for me.”
“You didn’t have to look after us you know; her friends aren’t your responsibility.” She said.
“Yeah but, it’s good to make sure you all get home safe, I’m not a dick.” He laughed.
“True. Thank you for letting me stay.”
“Always.” He said as they fell into silence.
“So when are you thinking of doing it?” She asked and Tom laughed.
“Next month.” He said. “Got her dads permission already.” He said and your friend teasingly glared at him.
“What about mine?”
“Oh sorry. May I?” He teased back and she laughed.
“Yeah, you’ll do.” She laughed before groaning and holding her head. “Wait,” she suddenly said. “You mean you’re gonna do it when you take her on holiday?” She asked.
“Yeah, got it all planned out.”
“Tell me.”
“I will, just not when there’s potential for her to walk in.” Tom laughed and your friend nodded. They chatted away for a while, Tom offering her some food which she declined politely. It wasn’t long before Tom heard movement upstairs, moving to grab the glass of water and pain killers he knew would be needed.
You walked into the kitchen, shorts now on your legs to accompany his shirt, your eyes still looked tired and your hair was a mess on top of your head but Tom still found you beautiful, you looked incredibly hungover though. You didn’t say anything as you made your way to Tom who handed you the glass of water, smiling as you took it and sat in his lap.
Tom and your friend watched in anticipation as you downed the water and pain killers, before looking around the room, Tom smiled, already knowing what was coming.
“Where’s Tess?” You croaked out, voice probably hoarse from all the singing you’d done last night.
“Goddam.” Your friend said with a laugh and Tom gave her a look that said ‘see.’ As if she knew you were awake, Tess made her way back inside and placed her front paws on your lap excitedly. You stroked her head as you put the glass down, getting off Tom’s lap and wordlessly making your way into the living room, Tess behind you.
Tom followed after a moment, you and Tess cuddled on the couch as Tom sat next to you. You were curled into a ball as Tess curled into you. Your friend joined and sat on one of the other couch’s. You groaned as you held your head, moving to place it on Tom’s bicep as you rubbed your head against it.
“I feel horrendous.” You said and Tom laughed.
“I bet you do.” He teased and you slapped his chest with little to no energy.
“Shh.” You said as you moved to place your head in his lap, moving your legs out to stretch, Tess placing her head on your side as you looked in the direction of the TV.
“Here.” Tom said as he handed you the TV remote, watching as you scrolled through the apps, opening Disney plus. He placed the blanket he’d brought downstairs over your frame.
“What do you wanna watch?” You directed the question at your friend.
“Your house, you pick.” She shrugged.
“You ever seen ‘onward’?” You asked and Tom groaned.
“No.” Your friend said.
“It’s really good.” You said as your eyes scanned the TV looking for the film in question. “There’s this really hot guy that voices one of the characters.” You said and Tom’s hands fell to your now dry hair.
“Yeah?” Your friend asked with a knowing look.
“Yeah, Chris Pratt.” You teased and Tom laughed.
“Oi,” Tom said. “Take that back or you can find a new cuddle buddy.” Tom said and you shook your head as you buried it further into his thigh.
“No, stay. I didn’t mean it. It’s Tom Holland, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of him but his voice is wow.” You said with a small laugh.
“Better.” Tom said as your friend laughed as the film started. The room falling into quiet, the only noise coming from the TV.
“For god’s sake.” Your friend suddenly said as she threw her phone onto the couch cushion next to her.
“What?” You grumbled, Tom’s fingers massaging your head, voice tired.
“He’s angry at me.” She clarified and you groaned.
“Just leave him. It’s not your fault he was asleep last night, should’ve waited up.” You said and she groaned.
“We can’t all have a Mr Perfect.” She said back.
“I mean no but at the same time, it’s not a big ask. Why’s he annoyed?”
“Because I stayed out, forgot my keys. Apparently, I’m an idiot for forgetting them.” She said with a huff.
“He’s a twat. I’d just be glad you were safe.” You said and Tom couldn’t help but silently agree, he’d never treat you so poorly.
“You’re probably right, but I don’t have the energy to fight him today.” Your friend groaned. “Do you mind if I take a shower?” She asked.
“Go for it. Towels are in the cupboard and I have some spare clothes in my drawer, take what you want, you’ll know which drawers are mine.” You said and Tom laughed, you were comfy now and that meant any hospitality had gone out of the window.
“You want me to root around in your bedroom?” She asked with a laugh.
“I’m comfy and I trust you.” You said and she shook her head with a laugh as she disappeared upstairs. You had now found ‘up’ and Tom’s hands were running through your hair. “I love you.” You grumbled out after a moment.
“I love you. Apart from the hangover did you have a good night?” He asked.
“Yeah, this really good-looking guy took me home.” You teased.
“Yeah? Did he take care of you?”
“Yeah, I think he took me for food as well.”
“I think he might have done.”
“Yeah, he’s won my heart over, think I might stay with him forever.” You said and Tom smiled as he awkwardly lent over you to kiss your forehead.
“Yeah, I think he might want that too.”
“I hope so. I heard he’s whipped, self admittedly so.”
“How do you remember this?” Tom laughed and you shrugged.
“Beats me.”
You spent what was left of the afternoon on the couch, no intent to move as you came to slightly, your friend had gotten an uber home, declining Tom’s offer of a lift. You were now sat eating pizza that you’d ordered in.
“I hope she leaves him.” You said referring to your friend.
“Yeah, I don’t like him much.” Tom said, he’d met him a couple of times and thought he was nothing more than a dick. Wanted to be the guy who didn’t look soft for his girlfriend.
“She needs a you.” You smiled and Tom laughed.
“You specifically told her last night that you won’t share me.” He teased and you laughed.
“No I won’t but you know, might be fun if she dated one of your friends, she had a bit of a crush on Tuwaine for a while.” You shrugged.
“Little match maker.” Tom laughed.
“We should invite them both out, get them to know each other better.” You said with a smile as you pushed your pizza box to the side. Tom did the same when he was done, moving you both into a comfy cuddling position on the couch.
“I’m so excited to go to Paris next month.” You said through a yawn and Tom’s heart soared.
“Me too darling. Extremely excited.” He said as he pulled you closer, nuzzling his head into your neck as you hummed.
“Three years.” You said in reference to your anniversary.
“I know, insane really, feels like I’ve known you forever.” He said as he played with your fingers.
“Yeah, I really hope you don’t ever leave me.” You muttered and Tom smiled.
“Definitely not on my agenda baby.”
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clarawatson · 3 years
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It Only Takes A Taste (3)
Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x [Fem]!Reader (GN pronouns, fem coded stuff, but I’m not sure where this is going as a larger work so we’ll say Fem!reader to be safe) Summary: Jack comes for dinner, I guess. W/C: 2345 Warnings: none yet! A/N: this one got a little long, oopsies. AO3 Where am I in this series? 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 |
The bed had been so warm and comfortable you hadn't wanted to get out, but the thought of seeing Aaron again made your heart grow three sizes. You'd been texting back and forth for the last couple of days, just small awkward stuff. He likes to text emojis. He's precious. Of course he's precious. 
He comes in as you're serving your first customer of the night—a sobbing thirty-year-old man who can't even order his pie without spluttering in tears. Is it favouritism to get excited by Aaron turning up? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes. 
"Hello," you smile. There's a hundred things you could have called him, but he's too cute and your brain doesn't want to work. 
"Hi," he grins back. "Can I have a coffee, please. Here."
"Yes you can." Aaron splits his bill between the counter and the tip jar. "How was your day,  Aaron?" 
"Boring paperwork. Couldn't concentrate."
Concern furrows your eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"
"Huh? No! I kept thinking about seeing you." There's that sunshine smile again. You might even match it yourself. He points to the cake that's still in the display tin. He's in earlier in the night than usual, so there's a lot more range to choose from. "Is that carrot cake?" 
"Sure is. Do you want some?" 
"Please." 
You serve him a slice and let the coffee machine splutter and fight with you. He stabs his cake with his fork and looks like he has an out of body experience the moment the cream cheese icing hits his tongue. That's a face you want to see again under different circumstances.
"Joe?"
"Me! And Joe's recipe. I sort of mixed it together and prayed."
"Then mark me a religious man." Aaron smiles. You can't held but smile back at him.
"It's a bit early for you to be in," you say. It's not an issue, just means you got the earlier shift. Finishing at 1am instead of 7am. Plus, Aaron looks nice in the daytime. Very nice. The afternoon light suits him.
"Didn't have a case," he shrugs. 
You've googled him since getting his business card. “Supervisory Agent Aaron Hotchner, Section Chief of the BAU”. The fuck did that even mean? BAU was the Behavioural Analysis Unit, which was still mainly a mystery, but you think it’s maybe just an over-glorified way of saying ‘they look inside people’s heads and hope for the best’. He’s got a handful of news reports that you’ve practically memorised. 
Okay, that’s a little obsessive. Don’t admit that to him. 
He wasn’t the ‘untouched by darkness’ that you’d thought of him before, his work face held all the darkness his smile did not. You hoped you never had to see the serious man who stood before the cameras. 
“How’s Rita?” Aaron asks. He’s cut the top off his carrot cake, saving it for later. He looks at it longingly every now and then, then he scoops just a little bit of the cream cheese and lets it rest on his tongue.
“She’s good. Restless. She’s happy for the due date to arrive.” She’d also asked you to be the baby’s godparent. Rather forcefully, actually, it had felt a bit strange. That was the only reason you hadn’t jumped at the opportunity. You’d do anything for Rita, but saying yes in that instant would had felt strange. Almost… wrong, maybe.
Aaron knows you’re thinking about it. He puts his fork down and shifts in his chair, waiting for you to continue. He doesn’t fill the silence between the two of you. You think about telling him, but then Lola’s bustling through the door and grabbing her apron.
“Hot stuff, when can I go for a smoke break?” is the first thing Lola says to you. She pulls chewing gum out of her mouth (yes, pulls. She sticks her fingers in her mouth and pulls it out as far as it will go without snapping) and Aaron moves his cake around his plate a bit. Does he not like it? Don’t be silly, he asked for it. Requested it. Whatever. You put his three cookies into a plastic bag and slide it across the counter to him.
“Lola you only just came in.”
“But I want to know,” she whines like she’s a teenager with an after school job, not a thirty-five-year-old woman who works at the diner full time. “Hey, Rita’s been acting weird, right? Is that a pregnancy thing, or?” Lola rubbed her nose on the back of her wrist and sniffs. An action you’re all too familiar with by now, and of course she was doing illegal substances in the bathroom before she started her shift when there’s a legitimate federal agent in the diner.
 “Oh,” Lola says as she looks at Aaron. She looks at you, raises her eyebrows, and nods like she’s impressed. “I take back telling Rita she was a liar." Even without knowing the context of Rita and Lola's conversation, you know Rita had told Lola how pretty/handsome/gorgeous Aaron is. "I’m going to go clean some tables.”
She grabs the cleaning supplies and heads out into the dining area. The door swings open, banging against one of the booths, and you’re immensely glad Lola doesn’t scream 'watch it’ at them. A curly haired blonde woman (gorgeous, mind you) touches Aaron’s shoulder and he sits up straight, smiling, and your heart plummets a little bit. Just the tiniest amount. 
“Jack insisted we switch over here before I go to parent/teacher interviews.” As if on queue, a well mannered, sandy-haired boy sits next to Aaron and grins too much like Aaron. Aaron’s son. You can put two and two together. Profiler or not.
“How was school?” Aaron asks. Jack shrugs.
“It was school.” He learnt that from his dad, there’s no question. 
“Well, in that case. Jack, this is my friend Y/n. Y/n, this is Jack.” Jack extends a hand to shake in greeting and looks really shy about it. You shake it quickly so he doesn’t feel like a kid who’s been roped into doing adult things. There’s a pile of colouring-in pages Joe’s printed off at the local library beneath a cup of crayons that Jack’s eyeing off. 
You grab a sheet and a crayon, raising an eyebrow in invitation as you turn around to Jack. 
“Yes please,” he says, grin growing across his face. “Thank-you.”
“You’re welcome. Wonderful manners.” Jack grins even bigger and you think he, too, might combust just like his dad. Stardust! That’s the movie you were thinking of. When Yvaine sees Tristan she shines, literally, the star inside of her just can’t be contained. That’s Aaron and Jack, and the way they look when they smile. 
Aaron’s sister-in-law looks at you with a cocked head, like a curious cat. Like she’s waiting to pounce. But… curiously pounce. Like she's sussing you out. She extends a hand in greeting.
“Jess. Aaron’s talked about you.”
There’s no response but to look sheepish. This seems to greatly please Jess, who smiles softly and rubs the back of Aaron’s head affectionately. They have a long history together, it’s too familial to be just a relationship born through marriage. 
“I’ll see you later then, Rockstar,” Jess says.
“Bye,” Aaron and Jack say together. Aaron rests his cheek on his hand, watching you as Lola hands you three orders she’s taken while you’ve been talking to Aaron. Jack leans over and whispers to Aaron about his homework (it’s a whisper that belongs on a stage) as you wrestle with the coffee machine. 
It’s been grinding it’s way down to not working for a while now. Ever since you met Aaron, actually. Joe’s said he’s going to fix it, or get a new one, but everyone’s in a state of non-commital until Rita has her baby.You’ve got no idea why, it’s just the way things are. Good luck, maybe? Or luck in general? 
Somehow you get Aaron talking about Shakespeare. It might have been Jack’s doing, to be completely honest, but one moment you’re trying to make the froth… well, froth… and the next you're listening to Aaron talk animatedly about Othello. Jack's young enough to not think his Dad's passion is embarrassing. 
"Have you watched Othello?" Jack asks, a question that Aaron's neglected to ask you. "I'm not old enough to yet." 
"I haven't seen that one yet, but I've seen Much Ado About Nothing."
"Is that the one with the olive gardens?" Jack asks. Aaron frowns, eyes searching for the answer in that big beautiful minds tonight.
"Yes," he says finally. "That was the one with the olive trees."
Jack giggles. "There was kissing in that movie." 
"Lots of it," Aaron agrees. You're not sure you're talking about the same film, but it's cute to see the two of them interact. 
"With the guy who plays Lockhart in the second Harry Potter movie?" You ask. Jack laughs just like his father. It's all light and mirth. He nods in confirmation. 
"His name is Kenneth," Jack says like he's familiar with him. When Aaron smiles, you know Jack's his whole world.
It’s not long before Aaron realised he’d brought Jack in without asking if he wanted anything. The afternoon rush had died down, leaving you in the space between out-of-work and dinner. You make the most chocolate-y hot chocolate you can for Jack when Aaron says he can have one. Well, Jack says the best bit is the froth, so it’s more child-size-hot-chocolate-in-an-adult-mug-full-of-froth. Jack loves it. He slurps at the chocolate, which leaves a giant frothy mustache over his top lip that won’t go away no matter how much he licks at it.
When he’s done you let him come around to the kitchen to wash his face, because no amount of wet napkins is going to fix that mess. Jack can’t reach the sink, so you fashion a step out of old milk and bread crates. Joe gives him cake batter to taste before realising that he actually has no idea who Jack is. Aaron watches from the kitchen door with a smile on his face. You don’t catch it until Jack jumps off the crates and takes your hand, leading you back out. Aaron’s fingers brush your hand as you pass him. Electricity sparks between the two of you that's completely unavoidable. The two of you recoil involuntarily.
Aaron gives you a small smile of apology. You give exactly the same one back. Lola legitimately gasps like she too felt the electricity between the two of you. Surely that was just something that happened in movies? Or in books? That’s not a real thing, right? But Aaron brushes past you again, as if he’s making sure as well, and it’s there again. Only it’s like your whole arm becomes pins and needles, not just a quick lightning spark.
If it’s like that every time you’re with him, your not sure you could even go beyond lusting after him and giving him coffee and meals every now and then. Aaron drops his gaze, then follows Jack to the front of the counter. 
They stay for dinner (because Jack insists, he wants the nachos) but the rush comes early and there’s really not much time to talk to them, so you almost miss them leaving. Almost. You’re serving the angry couple at table three (are they angry at you, or each other? Who knows, you don’t, but they’re taking it out on you) when Jack taps your hip. 
He’s very patient as you finish the order (somehow you figure out what they want between the curse words) and bend down to him. He hands you a folded piece of paper.
“This is for you,” he says. “I did it.” You’re about to unfold it, but he insists that it belongs in your apron pocket until you can look at it with no rush. That’s a kid who knows what it’s like to have a very busy parent. So you tuck it away safely and mess with his hair, which makes him grin from ear to ear.
“See you later!” Jack yells as he runs to Aaron, who’s waving goodbye with a doggy bag full of Jack’s unfinished dinner.and his keys between his fingers. 
“I’ll see you later,” he mouths as the noise in the diner starts to rise. Without thinking you blow him a kiss, which he catches effortlessly and kisses the fist closed around it before slipping out. 
When you get to the kitchen Lola’s already in the midst of teasing you. 
“You like him,” she says with all the confidence in the world. There’s not point denying her, so you just nod. It’s met by a chorus of ‘ooo’s which, to be honest, you really didn’t need. It made the diner feel far too small.
When everything dies down you remember the paper Jack had given you. You wipe the milk and spaghetti sauce off the counter, then make sure it’s dry, and unfold Jack’s page. It’s the generic colouring page Joe’s printed out, but Jack’s tried to make the generic waitress look like you. Well, you if you had purple hair and green skin. It’s a start, you guess, there’s an apology from Aaron on the back. Makes it worth it.
You move a couple of postcards on the corkboard aside and put Jack’s picture there instead. Joe pretends not to notice, but when Lola goes out the back with one of her customers, Joe comes round the front and presses a finger to the page.
“Good kid,” Joe says. He nods a couple of times then turns to you. “You know he and his dad come as a package, right? You fuck up one, you fuck up both.” Joe’s first wife had three kids that weren’t biologically his. He’s still mad at himself for not taking the kids seriously and only turning up for their mom.
“I know,” you say. 
Joe strokes your cheek as he passes and kisses your forehead. It’s all the praise you need. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
taglist (if you want to get added, just inbox me, and if I’ve missed you I am so sorry): @willowrose99 @genevievedarcygranger @maryosprinkle @kleff03 @yoshigguk @samanthareid06 @typical-leo @leilanixx
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junicai · 3 years
Text
Relationship with WAYV
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➣ KUN ☾ karia
if it wasn’t for dotae potentially coming to kill him, he would steal aria into wayv
he’s the cool dad? 
they can’t spend a lot of time together because none of their schedules match up, but aria takes every third or so weekend out to come have dinner in the wayv dorms
she’s surprisingly close to the china line, and its a combination of ten dragging her to his dorm for an entire month and them just kinda adopting her when they realized she was a foreigner as well 
yuta can fight them, she’s one of them now
he doesn’t like to baby her a lot, and she really appreciates the break from being the “maknae” so to speak 
however does that stop him from giving her the forehead kithes? no
aria sad? forehead kith
aria mad? forehead kith
aria smad? forehead kith + kuddles (kun cuddles)
he has sent her a passive agressive text when he found out that she wasn’t eating enough again and had almost passed out
but he finished it with a heart so its ok
if she isn’t smiling at all times, someone will die
aria feels like she can trust him with a lot; that no matter what she tells him, he’ll never out her or make fun of her
kun actually took a two-week online course to learn how to make traditional japanese dishes when aria mentioned missing her parents
he originally was going to learn how to make irish dishes, but he changed his mind after seeing what they were
“im not giving my kids boiled cabbage and mashed potatoes what kind of post world war-”
wants to give her a chinese name but hasn’t yet because he hasn’t found the one that fits her right and he wants it to be perfect 
aria teaches him japanese phrases in exchange for him teaching her a little bit of mandarin
FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT.
aria saw kun’s back as she entered the practice room, the man standing with three other members in the centre of the floor before the choreographer came in to start their practice. coming up behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist, peeking her head around from where she was. “hi!” she smiled brightly.
“hi,” ten chuckled, showing her the camera that had just filmed all of that. 
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➣ TEN ☾ tenaria
Whipped(TM)
so so gone for her its upsetting actually
yangyang and aria share the position of his baby 
except aria willingly accepts the title while yangyang would rather fling himself from a rooftop
ten’s instagram is half his cats, half miyazu aria
he posts her dancing practice on his story a lot, with a variety of captions ranging from “thats my baby  ♡( ◡‿◡ )” to “yah that’s not right...(눈_눈)”
such an enabler for her bad ideas 
aria wants to go shopping at 4am? ten agrees, now they’re sitting by han river eating ice cream
pls he’s gonna get her in so much trouble one day
when they walk together, ten likes to take her hand and put it in his pocket 
its under the pretense of not wanting her to get lost 
he just wants to hold her hand
yes he has lost her in a shopping mall, and NO it wasn’t his fault
ten always complains that they never have schedules together and he misses his baby 
“we have superm-” “I NEVER SEE YOUUUU (ノಥ益ಥ)ノ”
if they’re in the same room ten is either watching her out of the corner of his eye, or is actually wrapped around her like a boa constrictor 
hugs n kithes all around
only he is allowed make fun of her mistakes in dancing 
anyone else gets deaded. he will fight for her honor how dare you insult his baby 
sm give these ttwo a dancing duo video pls 
FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 
the first and only time aria and ten had a duet was during their last concert on superm’s first world tour. during the second half of ten’s solo performance, aria emerged from the left side of the stage, coming to join him in the centre stage. no one had ever seen aria as serious as she was then, both herself and ten becoming completely different people in the moment. midway through, aria spun with her back to ten and leaped backwards into the air - eyes closed - completely trusting ten to be where she needed him to be to catch her. 
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➣ WINWIN ☾ winria
a love hate relationship at its finest
they don’t actually hate each other it’s just really funny to pretend that they do (especially because yuta complains that 2 of his favourite people aren’t getting along)
winwin is so savage towards aria but it’s ok she claps back twice as hard
at first, before czennies had seen enough of their dynamic they thought that they actually did hate each other
but that’s not true they just don’t know how to express, affection, without brutally insulting the other with a loving tone
they are, surprisingly, the most stable pairing in 127 - they have a dynamic and rarely stray from that, which is a good comfort for the fans
despite what they might say to each other, they don’t mean any of it - and winwin has been seen several times raising his eyebrows with a questioning look at aria to make sure she wasn’t taking any of his playful jabs to heart
oh god the flexibility
the entirety of nct is terrified of them
the day sm gives them a circus act is the day that kun and taeyong have a heart attack
quietly supportive of each other - catch aria “playing” with a water bottle and not getting up to get it when it conveniently rolls across the floor and into winwin’s leg
he makes sure to save some new chinese sweets whenever the wayv members get packages from their familes, and sneak it into aria’s room before the managers can catch her breaking her diet
not really physically affectionate with each other, which played into czennies idea that they didn’t like each other but aria cleared it up in a vlive
“winwinnie and I, well. we don’t hug a lot because i know he doesn’t like it as much as i might, so i try to show him i care with other things :)”
FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT.
winwin and aria going in to each other on knowing brothers, to the point where the mc’s had their eyes popping out of their head and waved about to stop the segment before aria could start attacking winwin’s cooking methods-
nothing is off limits when it comes to them
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➣ LUCAS ☾ arihei
besties 
please they’re so cute together - tol child next to tini child she barely comes up to his chest :(
bear hugs
he just swamps her in his arms, and when he doesn’t feel like being bent over he picks her up 
complains that she’s too heavy but then immediately after will throw her around like a softball 
someone tell this man to be careful with her she’s not a barbie doll 
singular braincell energy
don’t get it wrong, they’re both super smart 
so it’s just - being smort together, but then nearly dying because neither of them remembered that you couldn’t eat raw cookie dough when there are eggs in it
she adores how he’s so confident in the things that he does - like convincing the entire nct fandom that he was fluent in english? king behaviour
so aria looks up to him (literally) but also because she wants to have that confidence some day 
lucas says they’re not close and then aria pouts and he takes it all back
nczennies made a 14 minute compilation titled “lucas melting like a popsicle in australia for aria” 
and literally what the title tells you, this man goes :(( when he sees her 
lucas was actually the person to convince her to go ahead with the [redacted] proposal - and reminded her that it was too good an opportunity to pass up just because she felt like she was outgrowing the boys
he’s so proud of her
and she’s so proud of him 
they’re so proud of each other and it makes nczennies want to cry because they never are seen together 
sm stop separating the platonic soulmates first markhyuck and now arihei smh
FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT.
during a photoshoot, aria was standing off to the side of the boys, dressed in white suit to contrast the boys’ black ones. the photographer was calling out to her to get her to move closer, but she couldn’t hear him from so far away, and so lucas (who was on the end) just walked over to her, gripped her by the biceps and lifted her vertically and to the left a little bit. 
“luc-LUCAS?”
“you had to move :)”
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➣ XIAOJUN ☾ arijun
honestly these two aren’t super close, just because their schedules never matched up until the NCT 2020 promotions
even when aria was dragged to the wayv dorms, xiaojun kept his distance from her because he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable 
even so, when they were filming Make A Wish together, they seemed comfortable enough around each other
there was a mutual agreement to not try fill the silence with awkward small talk, so they sat in silence when left alone together
they’re both shy :( someone needs to get them to talk to each other :(
even so, aria was all supportive smiles and thumbs-up when she saw him getting nervous before their first public stage as the unit 
he was a little intimidated of her at first, but also really curious about how she was holding her own against the other members
not only physically, but her vibes are tiny let the man be concerned ok
his first impression of aria was just: small quiet? she was sitting apart from the other boys in the practice room, and he almost wanted to go over and ask her if she was ok; before she was approached by donghyuck and her face broke into a bright smile 
aria’s first impression of xiaojun was: eyebrows he was really handsome? at first, she thought he was in the wrong room, seeing as the SM modeling auditions were happening in the next room down
any arijun shippers are starved of content im so sorry guys 
FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 
currently still up for debate between the fandom :(
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➣ HENDERY ☾ aridery
ah these two 
you might as well sign a waiver if you decide to do anything with them, because they can and will get you killed 
kun can testify
ten’s the enabler but hendery is the do-er
super giggly around each other, for no reason at all
hendery could pick up and throw a basketball and suddenly aria’s on the floor in literal stitches 
have a secret code 
no seriously
they don’t text in words, they just send various reaction memes and a colourful variety of emojis to convey emotions and scenarios 
it’s become quite a beautiful language actually 
got some nice proverbs in there
they’re like, cousins but the ones you only see at family reunions but get so hype to see them
that energy 
asides from the chaotic, murderous vibes they possess as a duo
hendery knows what it’s like to miss home, to miss your parents, etc etc
and so he tries to make aria feel as home as possible - especially with wayv, because they’re all foreigners who know how she feels 
whenever he gets packages from his parents who have sent things over, he always makes sure to keep some of the small treats/sweets back for aria
1. because he knows she’ll appreciate the thought and she gives good hugs
2. because he knows she’s on a diet constantly and never allowed eat these things when she’s in the dorms with managers around 
FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 
filming the Resonance “Wish” event, aria was put in a skimpy minimalistic mock-suit to differentiate from the others’ clothes. unfortunately, that left aria with a little too much shoulder and chest on display than she would like, and she was noticeably uncomfortable with her clothes, constantly pulling it up and even going so far as to just hold it with her hands. 
hendery saw this, and knew he was finished filming his segment for the time being, so he pulled off his own jacket and tossed it over to aria, who caught it with a grateful smile. “thank you,” she mouthed to him, tugging the dark blue material over her shoulders.
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➣ YANGYANG ☾ ariyang
aria. has 9 days of age on this boy and will never let him forget it
“respect your elders you brat” “9. DAYS.”
european pals 
they feel so cultured when they get asked about europe, and then are kindly reminded by hendery that A. Germany started 2 world wars, and B. Ireland was just a British colony until 100 years ago. 
they both hit him for that
aria teaching him curse words in irish and yangyang teaching her curse words in german? more likely than you’d think 
they met before yangyang’s debut was announced, in a practice room that had let them accidentally overlap their practice times 
instead of working it out between them, they actually just started to alternate their songs - and the other gave them some good, constructive criticism 
most of the time
when they found out they were going to be in 90s Love together, they were so happy 
it was going to be their first official schedule together
all the behind-the-scenes videos are just aria and yangyang being children and then ten coming over and cooing at them 
they love ten, but they will trash talk the man behind his back 
yangyang confessed to her that he sometimes feels nervous when speaking korean, like he’s going to make a big mistake
so she tries her best to teach and correct him where she can, and make him as comfortable as possible 
if you look at any of the 90s Love promotions - aria is always beside yangyang
he bit her ear once
she doesn’t know why and he won’t tell her
but now when she makes fun of him, he threatens to do it again 
FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 
aria skating onto the rink during filming, and yangyang following her because she promised to teach him how to skate backwards.
“ok just, think like you’re leading with your heels. press your knees in, and push outwards, with you-no no that’s forwards. go backwards yangyang.”
“no no no thats a WALL YANGYANG STOP-” 
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juminly · 4 years
Text
Nights Like These
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Summary: A nice cozy movie night with timeskip! Iwaizumi Hajime.  Tags: Mostly Fluff & Smut towards the end. Warning: Smut starts after the “♥♥♥” and includes fingering and cockwarming.
–♥– 
Hajime knew that you loved mac and cheese. He had enough skills to be able to be able to whip up something nice and yummy for you after you've had such a long day and especially since you haven’t had an actual “date” in so long. Living on his own in the US for a few years did have its perks and this was one of them: he was a grown ass man who knew his way well enough in the kitchen to be able to cook for you. Sighing loudly, dark orbs stared for a few seconds at the smart watch strapped to his wrist then back at the pot in front of him. He was looking forward to seeing you more than anything. Being the athletic trainer of the national Japanese team was no ordinary feat and it took up a lot of his time and energy. But, that didn't mean that it would take up the time that you deserved, the time that you both needed. Being always so hyper-focused on his own work, his thoughts tended to drift off quite often to you, just thinking about the last few phone calls you had, the last few texts you sent him and the things you've done in your last few dates. He missed the way you sighed when he played with your hair... God, he loved playing with your hair, twirling your curls in his fingers. It wasn't even the agreed time for your date but he was anxious to see you. He wouldn't admit it to you though, not even to himself. The loud and strong thrumming of his heart in his chest was a big reminder of how much he loved you. He was smitten. No, ever worse! or better? He couldn't even think straight anymore, he was whipped for you and... Ring! Ring! Ring! Three rings. That's your own way of letting him know that it was you and he just absolutely loved it when you did that. If it were anyone else at the door, he wouldn't have been rushing towards it the way he had and flung it open just to see your face.
"Princess." The corner of his lips just curled up out of their own volition, didn't even ask for permission but they didn't even have to. You were here and he wouldn't have it any other way. Why was he acting and feeling like such a schoolboy? He didn't even care. What he cared about was why you were still not throwing your arms around him. "Come here, you." Leaning forward, he took your hand in his and pulled you in for a hug, squeezing his arms tightly around your waist, supporting your weight as you literally balanced yourself on the tip of your toes to wrap your arms around his neck and hug him back. He nuzzled your neck only for a brief moment, leaving a gentle kiss there and before you murmured in a wondering tone. "Cheesy?" He couldn't help but stiffen for a brief moment. Did you figure out what he had prepared for you? Or even worse, Hajime would be completely mortified if you thought he was cheesy or corny at any point and you didn't like it. Not that he was a man of many words but he always made sure that any word coming out of his mouth meant something. At least when it came to you. He didn't give two fucks when it came to the guys, they could all whimper and cry for all he cared. Nobody meant more to him than you. The click of your tongue snapped him out of his racing thoughts and that giggle... that same glorious and marvellous sound that made him turn his head the first time you met, that time when your eyes locked and he knew that he had to talk to you, even if one of the players on the team had to be used as a wingman just to be able to get a word in with you. "Babe-" You laughed softly. "What's going on in that head of yours? Are you daydreaming about me when I'm in your arms?" With a long sigh, you mumbled and seemed a bit disgruntled, which obviously made the furrow between Hajime's eyebrows even deeper. "If that's the case, then I can just leave. Is daydreaming about me better than real me?" He knew you were joking but how dare you use that pouty tone on him?
"I won't answer your first question. You'll have to wait and see for yourself. But-" Pressing his hand on the small of your back, his other hand inched down to grip you by the waist as his lips hovered against your own, his breath fanning over your lips, tickling them lightly just as a tingling sensation arose in both your chests. "Do you really think I would call you over if I didn't want you right where you are right now?" Closing the distance between you, he loses himself in the little taste of sweetness he could get from a chaste gentle kiss of your lips. It was hard for him to even contain himself or exercise any form of control when he's around you. "Right here in my arms." He murmurs softly before going back in for another kiss, a little bit deeper, a tiny bit more passionate as he molds your lips together, sucking on your bottom one before breaking away once again. Gazing down on you as you both try to catch your breath from the small loving exchange, Hajime stared down at your cheeks that were now painted with the most adorable blush, his heart swelling with giddiness that he was the one responsible for such a reaction from you. "Come on, we're watching The Princess Bride tonight and I better not hear any objections from you." He smiled as he saw yet another giggle from you, even as you rolled your eyes and told him that you've already seen it a thousand times before and you didn't even know why he wanted to watch it with you. Silencing you with a small peck, his usual frown was still on that handsome face of his but his gaze was soft and endearing. "I want to know more about the things that you love so you'll have to humour me for tonight, baby girl."
Kissing your cheek, his hand finds yours and he guides you to the living room, pulling you away from the kitchen since he knew that was the destination you had in mind. You always wanted to give him a hand when it came to literally anything but when it came to your dates or your time together, Hajime wanted to show that he wanted to do things for you. It was simply his love language. A language that was created since he met you. "Thanks for coming over. I know it was last minute but the guys' practice match got postponed so I decided to cut them some slack." - he chuckled before meeting your eyes that were now crinkling with laughter - "Not that I don't plan on kicking their ass later anyway. Gotta make sure they are in top shape and remember who's the one making the rules." Once he ensured that you were seated, he threw you a glance of warning over his shoulder as he walked out to the kitchen. "You better sit tight princess while I go get the food. I'll be right back." He winked at you and chuckled at the way you squirmed slightly and busied yourself with the remote control as he prepared your dinner for you. Hajime had his own way of showing his love and spoiling you. The man wanted to make sure that he followed through. Making you feel special, trying to show but a sliver of how he truly felt about you. Sighing loudly and after ensuring that the pasta was thoroughly cooked, he meticulously dumped it in a bowl, big enough to fit 6 servings of mac and cheese and brought two plates along with him to the living room.
As "The Princess Bride" began playing, you both dug into your food and being the humble fellow that he was, Hajime didn't dare comment on the food but he did find it quite... acceptable, to say the least. On the other hand, the look on your face when you saw what he had cooked for you was worth all the effort. He didn't use the basic Kraft Dinner mac and cheese, even though it was basically your favourite. However, he just wanted to do just a little bit extra for you, add his own touch : a four cheese mac and cheese with the finest pasta from a local Italian shop that he always ate at and even took you to a few times. The first few bites etched an expression of pure bliss on your face and that drew a shit eating grin on his face, one that you didn't even get the chance to see as you were too busy filling in your plate with a second serving. While you munched on your food and whispered about your favourite scenes from time to time, Hajime tried his best to keep his attention on the movie but you were much more entertaining that it was while you recited almost every single line that resounded from the TV. He wished he could turn it off and just watch you act out the movie and tell him about everything you love about it, he wouldn't have minded that at all.
He chuckled under his breath at the look of amazement on your face when you both managed to finish and lick clean all the contents of the pot. He just let you believe that you ate more than him - just for shits and giggles - when he was also devouring whatever he could from the food (about 4.5 servings - the man works out A LOT, okay? Don't judge-). Nobody could blame him, it was fucking delicious and he was proud that you loved something that he made with his own two hands. Taking a short clean-up/bathroom break, Hajime cozied up on the couch, checking all the stupid emojis and texts he received from the Olympic team. How did they even know that he was on a date with you? The texts and emojis on the group chat ranged from: "Ya betta get it on tonight, Iwa-chan~ Ya frown too much cause ya don't get laid enough!" - Atsumu, the wannabe Shittykawa. "WAT R U GOING TO BE DOING ON UR DATE? WILL IT BE FUN? MAYBE I CAN COME!? I LUV UR GF" - Hinata, the sweet sunshine boy bordering on annoying but too pure to be so, Hajime had to admit that he had a soft spot for him and the rowdy wing spiker who followed up with a text of his own. "WE'RE COMING OVER IN 1H TO HANG OUT WITH U! WE MISS HER SO MUCH!", Bokuto's follow-up did nothing but make the trainer's blood boil with imminent rage. If those two dimwits dared to even ring the bell of his condo, Japan can say goodbye to their favourite chaotic duo.
Putting in an Airpod in his left ear, Hajime began recording the most graphically violent threat he could muster on the group chat and stuttering mid-way through the voice note. Yes, Hajime Iwaizumi stuttered out of surprise and YOU were the only one who could catch this man off-guard as you walked back into the living room wearing nothing but one of his T-shirts. He barely managed a quick "I gotta go", clicked send without looking at the screen, blinked and gawked at you with a baffled frown.  "What happened to your clothes?" "Well~ Things did get a little messy in the kitchen and while I...-" You cleared your throat and bit your bottom lip, definitely not trying to turn him on. Sarcasm alert. "-kinda made things worse so I borrowed one of your T-shirts. I hope you don't mind." He simply shook his head, mumbling a husky "It's fine, what's mine is yours" and patted the seat next to him. His frown only grew deeper when you walked closer to him but made no sign of actually sitting down. Looking up at you, he could see the bright flush spreading across your cheeks when you pointed to his lap. "Is that seat taken?"
His eyebrow perked up in amusement along with a mirthful smirk, your bottom lip remaining a prisoner between your teeth. "Be my guest. Who am I to refuse a request from my princess." He chuckled as he grabbed your hand, pulling you into his lap and you squirmed in embarrassment, the feeling of your well-defined butt rubbing against him, those supple cheeks that his crotch was getting well acquainted with. The accidental groan that escaped his lips was a definite warning to stop what you were doing or continue at your own risk.
"If you keep wiggling your ass on me like that, you're gonna have to own up to your actions, sweetheart." His rough baritone was telling of the growing desire he had for you. He hadn't seen you in so long and he was starved for your touch, as if the soft brush of his calloused fingers on your thighs was no indication to his underlying intentions. He knew how sensitive you were and he was not above taking advantage of that fact, the slight shiver that ran over your body only urged on him, wanting to coax even more of these delicious reactions from you. 
♥♥♥ "Iwa-" Before you could even finish calling his name, his lips were on yours, nipping at your bottom one and sucking deeply before licking his way into your mouth, tasting the freshness of mint from his mouthwash as he entangled his tongue with your own, groaning loudly into your mouth. Breaking only for a moment, he demanded your attention as his fingers began to meander up your inner thighs, wasting no time to slide his index and middle over your panties, a clear wet spot forming and drenching the fabric slowly..
"If this is what you've wanted all along, you should've just said so, you naughty princess." Pushing your panties aside with his other hand, he deftly parted your folds and circled his fingers over your entrance, gathering up your slickness before lathering over your slit, barely grazing your swelling clit that desperately needed his attention. Seeing how you held your breath and stiffened in his embrace made him only want to do even more to you. This is not the type of quality time he had in mind but he was definitely not going to object to it. "Baby girl..." He crooned huskily as one of his hands rubbed up and down one of your thighs, making sure that your legs remained parted so that he could finger you good enough, prep you for what he had in mind. Before capturing your lips once again, he licked the seams of your lips, demanding that your eyes meet his own as he murmured against you. "You call me by my name, baby. You're royalty to me, after all." He smiled softly as you responded in kind, calling out his name and pulling him in a deep kiss, your hips slowly beginning to rut against his fingers that had yet to turn things up a notch. "Hajime..." You whimpered shakily against his lips, his warm breath fanning over your wet lips as his thumb rolled over your sensitive bud, moving clockwise and counter-clockwise, fast and slow with just the right amount of pressure to leave you with fighting to catch your breath. With two fingers right at your entrance, he watches you with avid interest, humming in satisfaction every time a moan escapes your lips, his own hips grinding involuntarily against your behind as his own erection begins to harden under your squirming figure.
"Hajime, I want you inside me... Please, stop teasing me!" You squeal while your nails dug into his shoulders, gripping those thick muscles tightly, while his own body tensed, betraying the composure that he desperately tried to maintain. His large biceps flexing as he squeezes his arms around you even tighter, trying to cease the negligible movement of your body that is driving him insane.
"Shush, baby. I'll treat you good. Just relax." Finally plunging in his fingers inside you, he swallows your moans with a searing kiss while you cried out into his mouth, his thick digits thrusting in and out of you and curling into you, your inner walls clamping down on them and sucking him in. With every roll of your hips, he met you with a thrust of his own, his fingers knuckle-deep, reaching that sweet stop that has you keening, so damn close to falling apart.
Your lips parted with a loud wet noise, his chest heaving with bated breath, his state reflecting your own but it didn't change the fact that you were feeling even needier when he cruelly removed his fingers from your core. Your frustrated whine didn't elicit any reaction from him but, contrary to his exterior, he could feel his body bursting with heat and it became unbearable. He exhaled loudly, patting your thigh and growling in your ear. "Get up and take your clothes off, baby girl. I'm not getting inside you until you do."
Hurriedly taking off his shirt in one smooth go and just in time to watch you reach for the hem of the oversized shirt, pulling it up in a rush, exposing more and more of your smooth skin. Fuck... he wanted to mark you all up but the twitching of his cock straining against his pants urged him to do so later. There were more pressing matters to attend to and right now, he just wanted to drink you all in. Licking his lips with a desire only you could sate, the darkness of his unquenchable thirst swimming in his orbs almost too much to handle, yet you still kept your gazes locked as you unclipped your bra, letting it fall to the floor while he fumbled with his belt, unzipping his pants and freeing his aching length with a loud hiss. The way you squeezed your legs together didn't go unnoticed and he knew that he left you hanging. "Come here, baby." As you inched closer to him, Hajime placed one large hand on either side of your hips, guiding you before him as you placed one knee on the couch and then another to straddle him, giving him a glimpse of your dripping core that was so ready for the taking while you wrapped your arms around his neck. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through his veins as he latched on to the crook of your neck, sucking on your soft skin deeply while sweet moans tumbled so easily from your quivering lips. "I've had enough, Hajime. I promise... Just please... I want you inside me." You pleaded as his warm hands settled on your butt, fondling your soft cheeks while he angled you right on top of his cock, groaning against your neck. "You're so perfect. I fucking missed you so much." With his fingertips digging into your soft flesh, he eases you onto his cock, sheathing himself fully inside you as you sink onto him, both of you moaning in harmony as your cunt clamped down on every single inch of him that you could take.
For a few moments, both of you remained silent, your forehead pressed against his bare shoulders and his own lying on the crown of your head. The silence of the room was filled with your heavy breathing as you allowed the fullness of your bodies, the fullness of your hearts washed over you and enveloped you completely. Neither of you wanted to move or even dared to, even though your instincts screamed to grind against one another and chase the release that you both wanted. But it wasn't what you really needed. This moment, the intimacy, this... love. "W-what about the movie?" You breathed out shakily against his arm, giggling softly while you began nibbling on the hardness of his bicep. He knew that you weren't even mildly concerned with the movie which made him chuckle out a deep laugh that rumbled in his chest. You... You never failed to those stupid butterflies flutter in his stomach with your cute little acts of possession.
He wore your love bites with pride and didn't mind that they were in a place that was even more visible than his neck. He licked a long strip on the column of your throat, decorating it with nips of his own, marks of his love and yearning for you while his hands sought your breasts, kneading them with tenderness. Even if words betrayed him most of the time, he trusted his actions to speak for him. "There's nothing better than watching you, princess."
–♥– 
Please feel free to leave comments/feedback!💜  Masterlist
Tagging @shhhlikeme @hqissodelicate @cleverlittlevixen (I hope you enjoy your movie night with your boo :*) 💜 
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bullshittierlists · 3 years
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MAJOR SPOILERS FOR DANGANRONPA V3 (and probably the other games, too, just to be safe)
So, just as a heads up, I made this list a few months ago, I think in the middle of chapter 4. I was going to update it, but I realized that any feelings I had were just made stronger and the list was still relatively accurate. Here are my thoughts:
I see no god up here other than me
Kirumi Tojo - As you may know about me, I can typically tell who my favorite characters are going to be before I indulge myself in a series. This has especially rung true throughout Danganronpa, I was able to correctly guess Taka and Gundham as my respective favorites before actually seeing them in action. Let me tell you that Kirumi surprised me. I originally guessed K1-B0 as my favorite and while he’s still up there, he is nowhere near Kirumi. I realized she was my favorite the moment chapter 2 ended. Not only were her execution and plan wonderful and brilliantly done, her last-ditch plea to convince everyone to let her live sold her for me. Not only did this plea make sense, it almost worked and I kinda wish it would’ve. Her motive was almost completely selfless and she worked damn hard to escape. Her execution was the only time I cried during this game because I wanted so badly for her to escape, but I knew that all of her efforts were futile. I know her biggest criticism is that her plan from hiding Ryoma’s body was completely unnecessary, but I like to believe she was just nervous and overthought the whole thing. I mean, this had to go perfectly in order for her to save her country, of course she’s going to add a few too many steps.
Miu Iruma - Okay, I know this is going to sound fake, but I actually really love the dichotomy of her character. The way that she acts so self-righteous but is actually quite self-conscious really stood out to me. Of course she’s funny and hot, too, but I feel it’s important to really appreciate the way her character was written. It amazes me that she was written to be the least likable character in the entire series and still ended up being one of my favorites.
You’re the best
K1-B0 - Yes, I type out his name every time. As I already mentioned, he was my original guess for favorite character, but it obviously didn’t work out that way. He stayed in his position of first for a while, but I always knew it wasn’t meant to last, I just didn’t know which character would take his place. Even besides my doubts, I still love K1-B0, I just wish more could’ve been done with him in the earlier chapters. There are several opportunities for him to be a really funny character and have good interactions with Kokichi and Miu, but he just comes off as annoying. I feel like he only really started to be utilized after Miu died with Monotaro and I really enjoyed their dynamic, I just wish we could’ve had some of this side of K1-B0 before this point.
Kokichi Oma - This spot probably isn’t as subjective as I’d like it to be. Every time Kokichi was on screen, I would get visibly annoyed, but I knew I was in for a treat figuring out his deeper intents behind what he’s saying. The only reason I really like Kokichi at all is because he’s fun to analyze. It gets boring to analyze Nagito because his motivation is pretty much just a mix of “hope” and “he’s crazy.” Kokichi’s character trait of lying makes it so fun to individually analyze each of his lines to figure out whether he’s telling the truth and why or why not. Other than that, I guess he has some funny dialogue with Miu sometimes.
Gonta Gokuhara - I really don’t know. I know this is way too early to be unsure about characters, but I just know I couldn’t put him any lower, but I also couldn’t put him any higher. He’s just such a sweetheart, but that’s about where the substance ends. I adored every time he was on my screen, but everything that would’ve been fun to analyze about him just leads back to Kokichi. I still really enjoy his presence, though. I’d like a big Gonta hug.
Kaede Akamatsu - I’ll just say it, I think she would’ve made for a better protagonist. I’ll talk about this later, but Shuichi’s character development doesn’t really feel like it goes anywhere and the twist doesn’t feel worth it because of that. I think the twist should still have been incorporated, but with the roles reversed. Either way, we got what we got, and what we got was tears from Clair de Lune. But seriously, she really is a great pianist. I’ve been trying to learn the piece for ages and it’s still too complicated for me. I mean, it’s in 9/8 for God’s sake. Good for her, regardless.
Tenko Chabashira - Tenko’s a weird case. I didn’t actually care for her that much until quite literally a few lines before she died. Fun fact: I spoiled this entire series for myself before I ended up playing it and I’m still mad at myself. This meant that I was just waiting for all of the deaths to happen, especially Tenko’s. I was fully aware that every line could be her last during the seance, but I wasn’t aware that she would pull on my heart strings before she went. When she tells Himiko that she’ll do the seance in her place so she can talk to Angie, I literally almost started crying. Before this, Tenko was just kind of annoying, but not too bad, but this moment really solidified her spot for me. She really just wanted to help Himiko and I wish she had chosen a better target for her affections.
Hey, I think you’re pretty cool, I like you a lot
Shuichi Saihara - Time to elaborate on what I said for Kaede. I actually really enjoyed Shuichi’s character development throughout the first three chapters. Before coming to Hope’s Peak, he was afraid to hurt people with his detective skills. Kaede notices this and helps him through it, passing the reins to Kaito once she passes. Shuichi convicts Kaede and later Kirumi, much to everyone’s detriment, but they’re all okay with it (Nobody was really super sad about Korekiyo to begin with, lol). Then, starting in chapter 4, everyone just kinda flips on him. Shuichi + the rest of the gang - Kokichi all believe that Gonta is innocent and Shuichi tries to prove this. Instead of supporting him, everyone (especially Kaito) tries to... stop him??? from proving it??? They’re all just in agreement that it wasn’t Gonta, but don’t want to proceed with the investigation to figure out who it was instead. It’s really frustrating and made my overall experience much less enjoyable. This is bumped up a few notches in chapter 5 with Maki. I understand that she was part of the whole case, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying that she won’t let me prove Kaito was the victim. It just feels like the character development was all for nothing and every student feels like a human obstacle (except K1-B0, of course). Still relatable and emo, though.
Rantaro Amami - I would make the joke everyone expects, but I’m on my laptop and I don’t know how to get to the emoji keyboard.
Ryoma Hoshi - I genuinely don’t have anything to say about Ryoma. He’s my halfway point because I don’t have anything particularly for him and I don’t have anything particularly against him, either. Go off, funky little cat man.
Kaito Momota - He got on my nerves in chapter 4, but he was a genuinely sweet character that I really enjoyed talking to. Any time he would talk about the stars, I would swoon because he’s just such a natural romantic. Not really my type, though. Very average.
Monophanie - Legally you can’t ask me why the monokubs are where they are. She’s voiced by Natalie Hoover (Sonia) and I guess that’s my only reasoning.
Monotaro - I really just liked his interactions with K1-B0 in chapter 4. Other than that, I greatly disliked his and Monophanie’s presence in Gonta’s execution. 0/10 worst use for monokubs.
Monodam - A nice, non-distracting addition to Korekiyo’s execution. But he had so much potential and just threw it all away. Apparently I’m a basketball dad from a high school movie now.
I remember you
Angie Yonaga - Many times, I’ve found myself asking who I ship from the series and this love triangle comes to mind. Of Angie, Himiko, and Tenko... I only really like Tenko. I don’t hate Angie’s cult stuff as much as everyone else seems to, but she didn’t have nearly enough of a presence for me to latch onto outside of the cult stuff, which was funny, I will admit.
Maki Harukawa - I was so excited the whole game for her to get cool. I knew she was going to get cool, I just didn’t know when or how. But then, it was chapter 5 already and she hadn’t gotten cool in my eyes yet. I was really meh on her by that chapter anyway, but her being annoying really knocked her down a few pegs. She got a couple extra points for surprising me during the case, but not enough to bump her up any spots.
Himiko Yumeno - I was rooting for her to be crushed under the rock at the end. She was fine before chapter 3, but then they tried to develop her with the Akane treatment and it didn’t work for me at all. She just got on my nerves during the third trial and continued to contribute nothing throughout the rest of the game. During chapter 5 and 6, it’s like the writers just completely forgot that she was there. This would’ve been fine if they weren’t the last couple of chapters and she was one of about 6 people left alive. She had a role to play and didn’t play it in the slightest. The most she was utilized after chapter 3 was as Miu’s replacement post-chapter 5. Someone needed to fill the dirty jokes quota and I guess Himiko was chosen. #GiveTenkoABetterLoveInterest2021
Monosuke - The only thing I remember him doing throughout the entire game was distract me from Kirumi’s exectuion. Not a fan.
You are the worst. Literal scum. Leave this planet and never return
Korekiyo Shinguji - Okay, listen. He’s not that bad. His design is actually one of the best, in my opinion and I love his dedication to his craft. However, he just creeps me out whenever he’s on screen and I’d prefer not to be around him. It’s not even the sister thing, I honestly think that’s funny and a nice change of pace, but his overall demeanor is creepy. Not to mention he’s played by Todd Haberkorn and he’s been in one too many roles recently. Hopefully I’ll get over it, but as for now, that loses him points.
Tsumugi Shirogane - I know, not exactly an unpopular opinion. She’s just annoying and downright pisses me off a lot of the time with her “plain” shtick. I already knew she was going to be the mastermind, so most of the game was just me waiting for her to reveal it. I swear, I almost couldn’t take it every time she said something like, “What if there isn’t a mastermind?” “What?? There’s a mastermind????” Just stfu Tsumugi. You all are lucky I don’t have the energy to talk about 3-6 right now.
Monokid - Hate the tongue sprite, that’s literally the only reason he’s down here. He’s also kind of annoying, but made the best addition to an execution out of all of the monokubs. His death was one of the few things that surprised me in this game and it was a welcome twist. I was sick of him by this point, but was still incredibly shocked when he was pushed into the execution. Then, his severed head rolls out to all of the students looking on in shock at Kaede’s death. Masterful. Still hate the tongue sprite.
There we go. Definitely my least favorite cast out of the whole series, but it’s still fun to love on and hate on a lot of the characters, as per usual. There are just a few too many in the middle tier (metaphorically speaking) that are either uninteresting or just don’t get their time to shine. Maybe they’ll eventually grow on me more, but I doubt it.
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Callbacks & Cannoli Cake
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Requested by: The wonderful Wignony! (“If I haven't missed the cut off, could I request an imagine with Joe and reader? Something sickeningly sweet and romantic, maybe along the lines of a proposal/ wedding day/ honeymoon?”)
Summary: Joe got good news at work, but tonight you’ll have something even better to celebrate. 
Warnings: Language, literal sugary sweetness, a tiny bit of angst (I’m sorry, you know me, I couldn’t help it! 😂).
Word Count: 1.5k.
You’re reading the text for the fifth time when he walks through the front door. I GOT THE PART!!! See yo fine ass at 6:15 ;)
“Hey, firefly!” Joe calls brightly, racing into the kitchen and linking his arms around your waist from behind, kissing the back of your neck with loud, comedic smacks as you giggle and try not to massacre the icing you’ve been painstakingly smoothing with a spatula. He’s called you that since your first date, a picnic in Grand Hope Park that was supposed to just be lunch and turned into drinks, tapas, dinner, and ice cream for dessert as fireflies crept out of their shelters and freckled the sky with their harmless, inborn lightning.
“Joe, babe, stop, please stop, I’m going to ruin the cake—”
Joe gasps, spying it for the first time. “A cannoli cake? You made me a cannoli cake?!”
You lift up the heavy glass cake plate and gingerly show him, wearing a sheepish smile. “I thought we should celebrate. There’s lasagna in the oven, it’ll be done in twenty minutes.”
“So we get to eat the cake first.”
You laugh, ferrying the cannoli cake to the kitchen table as Joe picks up the spatula and licks it like a lollipop, moaning orgasmicly, mascarpone frosting peppered with miniature chocolate chips dotting his nose and chin. “Tonight, Mr. Mazzello, you get everything you want.”
Today was his third callback for the part, a co-starring role of the protagonist’s best friend in a romantic comedy directed by Richard Curtis. And while you are firmly of the belief that Joe is more than worthy of lead roles—especially in romantic comedies, a genre in which he has been criminally underutilized—you know he’s thrilled to have landed it. Rebel Wilson, Colin Firth, and Zendaya are involved in the project as well, and filming will take place mostly in the gorgeous island paradise of Turks and Caicos. Which means that Joe will soon be jetting off to the Caribbean for months on end, leaving you here in Los Angeles to tend your bakery and catch up on your reading list and snuggle with the cats and try not to grow bitter about the fact that most people don’t have to give up their significant others for vast, volatile stretches of the year, most people don’t constantly feel like they’re battling to keep a surfboard level over waves of impermanence. And that’s what you’re really trying to do tonight: not just celebrate Joe’s accomplishments, not just make him happy, but to make sure he doesn’t notice the sadness around your eyes, the mournful slump in the set of your shoulders.
But as he sits down at the table and cuts two messy, hulking slices of cannoli cake and gives you the bigger one, Joe does notice something. His dark eyes catch on you and narrow. His brow furrows in concern. “What’s up, firefly?”
“Nothing,” you reply, slipping into the chair beside him, running your fingers through his hair and forcing a smile. “I’m so proud of you, Joe. And I know you’ll love it. I just...you know.” You take an unenthusiastic bite of cake and shrug, apologetic, feeling childish and selfish and ridiculous. “I’ll miss you.”
“Aww, I know, firefly. I’ll miss you too. But we’ll talk all the time, we’ll text and call and I’ll comment heart-eyes emojis on all your Instagram posts, and you can take a few long weekends to come visit me...and we can FaceTime so I can say hi to the cats and our beloved apartment!”
“Our apartment,” you murmur; because it doesn’t feel much like both of yours. You’ve only shared it for three months, and Joe has easily been out of town for two of them. And although you have no right at all to be disenchanted with an arrangement that you knowingly signed up for, you can’t help but fear that it all has an inescapable aura of transience, that one day Joe won’t come back home at all, and that the apartment won’t even feel that different without him in it; like he’s a comet that comes with the decades, a passing marvel that you can see but never own.
Joe reaches out and takes your free hand, the one not holding your fork. “Hey,” he says softly. “I know. Believe me, I know.”
“I’m not mad, I’m really not, I want you to have this. I know it’s what brings you happiness, I know it’s what you’re brilliant at, I just...I guess I just wish this all felt a little more permanent.”
That seems to surprise him. “What, like, you and me being permanent?”
“Yeah.” You take another bite of cannoli cake. It’s good. It’s really freaking good, actually. Joe’s massive slice is gone already; he cuts another, peering uncertainly over at you. He still doesn’t appear to get it. “What I mean is that I feel like you’re never here long enough for the apartment to start feeling like ours. You’re more like a guest. Petunia and Iris might think you’re just my hot friend who occasionally sleeps over and takes bubble baths with me.”
“I don’t think cats have a particularly deep understanding of commitment anyway.”
You laugh, mostly to break the gravity. This is the precise opposite of how you wanted this night to go. “Never mind, I’m being dumb. Forget it.” You smile again, as convincingly as you can. The scent of lasagna now fills the small kitchen; the orange-pink light of the sunset pours in through the open windows. “Enjoy Turks and Caicos. Make a hilarious movie. Slurp down your weight in daiquiris served in coconut shells. And try not to get too sunburned, I want to be able to touch you when I fly down to visit. We don’t need a repeat of Miami, lobster boy.”  
Joe sets down his fork, crosses his arms over his chest, and grins at you thoughtfully, craftily.
“Uh oh. What?”
“Well, you see, it’s interesting that you brought up this whole permanence thing.”
You shake your head. “Joe, really, I don’t want to make tonight about me. I just want to celebrate. Can we do that?”
“Oh, we’re still celebrating, firefly. But I have one more thing to tell you about.”
“It better not be another cat. That’s really not the solution to this problem. Is it another cat? Jesus christ, if your mother is trying to get us to adopt another one of her rescue cats, I’m going to fucking scream—”
“It’s not a cat.”
“Then what is it?”
“Well,” Joe begins, grinning broadly now. “I guess it’s less of something I have to tell you and more of something I have to ask you.”
“...Ask me...what...?”
His hand slides into the pocket of his Hawaiian cargo shorts—not his best look, if you’re being totally honest about it—where for the first time you notice the faint outline of a tiny square. He takes out the ring box and sets it down between you on the table. Your fork tumbles out of your grasp and hits the floor, splattering frosting and cake crumbs. An ecstatic gasp rips from between your teeth. Your hands fly up to cover your mouth.
“No way...”
“Yes way.” Joe gestures to the box. “I don’t know what continent I’m going to be on six months from now. I don’t know how often I’ll find myself home in our apartment. I don’t know how great of a cat dad I am. But I know that I want you with me every step of the way. So, if you’re down to make this thing permanent, and to bake me cannoli cakes for the remainder of my earthly existence, I’d like for you to marry me. I’d love for you to marry me, actually. And if you need some time to think it over before giving me an answer, I completely understand—”
You rush out of your chair and into his shocked but welcoming arms, almost knocking him out of his seat as you climb into his lap, laughing, crying, kissing him as tears stream down your cheeks. “I don’t need time. I’m saying yes. Right here, right now, Mr. Mazzello.”
“You don’t even want to see the ring first?” he teases.  
“Nope. I’m in no matter what it looks like. I swear on our neglected feline daughters’ lives.”
“Oh thank god, because my bank account is super sparse until this new gig starts paying and it’s a literal Ring Pop.”
Joe’s joking, of course; he’s joking almost all the time, which is one of the innumerable things you love about him. But you really don’t care what the ring looks like. You care about what it means, about the promise it holds, about the peace it gives you to carry around like armor against all the uncertainties of the world.
And Joe whispers, beaming: “Now, future Mrs. Mazzello, I really do have everything I want.”
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unmaskedagain · 4 years
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Mean Queens
            This was for a prompt I mentioned earlier today. I decided to test my hand at Loyal!Alya fic to see how it plays out. Hope you like it.
           Marinette had officially been exiled to the back of the class and excommunicated. Lila and most of the class had been waiting for Marinette to arrive; each with cold looks on their faces. The bluenette had looked for Alya, hoping her bestie could tell her what was going on. But there was no sign of the glasses-wearing girl yet. So she had tried to catch Adrien’s eye but he had refused to make eye contact.
           Then it all came out.
           The class accused her of being a mean and horrible to Lila since the day the Italian girl came to class. Nino told her she’d become even worse of a bully than Chloe. Alix had called her a jealous bitch. Most of the class agreed. Even Sabrina who usually followed around the blonde Queen Bee now clung to the coattails of the newest golden ticket.
           The end result? They weren’t going to be her friends anymore.
“Cool,” Marinette had shrugged and took her seat in the back.
           Chloe got to class just as it happened, took one look around, snorted, and joined Marinette in back; claiming the left seat next to her. She knew the difference between diamonds and fools’ gold. And diamonds are a girls’ best friend.
           Alya arrived not long after. She had been late on purpose. The entire weekend, the class minus two (Marinette and Chloe) had been firing messages back and forth in a group chat about Marinette. It had started Friday after school. Nearly everyone had bashed their once favorite bluenette while Alya had been the only one to defend her. Adrien just said he wanted to stay out of it. Things took a dark turn when Alix admitted and joked to tripping Marinette as revenge. Then Mylene admitting that spilling coffee all over Marinette’s sketchbook hadn’t been an accident. It got worse from there. However, they all claimed it was in defense of Lila. Alya was left stunned. Nothing Marinette could’ve done deserved any of what they did. How could she be so blind as to not see that the so-called “accidents” weren’t accidents at all.
           No matter what Lila said, Alya just couldn’t believe Marinette was capable of such things. She had known the girl far too long. And honestly, she was a little surprised the kids who she knew had known Marinette since like pre-k and then suddenly they could think the worse of the so-called “Everyday Ladybug”.
           To make it worse, the things they said about Marinette were terrible and just mean. The girl who had done so much for them deserved better. So Alya kept fighting for her friend, trying to convince her friends that something wasn’t right. Maybe Lila was a bit confused or something.
           But they wouldn’t listen.
           Then Alya thought maybe if she could get Marinette to realize how amazing Lila was then everything would be fine. She just needed to show Marinette proof.
           …There was none.
           There was literally no evidence backing up any of Lila’s stories. Not even the ones about her mom being an ambassador. The only real information about anything fantastic the Italian girl did came from the Ladyblog. And Alya had deleted that video within seconds upon the realization that Lila hadn’t been telling the truth.
           Alya didn’t hesitate to create another group chat about trying to explain that maybe something was a bit fishy about Lila. She spent most of Saturday just trying to get them to listen to her. But she just got accused of being biased. Even Nino had blatantly told her that she was too close to Marinette to see what she was really like.
Was this how Marinette felt, she had found herself wondering.
“Can you prove she doesn’t actually know Ladybug?” The words tasted sour in Alya’s mouth. The more she thought about them, the worst the taste and feeling in her stomach got. Though she had remained silent the look Marinette had given Alya was like the bluenette was questioning her sanity. Or maybe her intelligence.
           Because Alya was officially questioning both about herself.
           Of course, Marinette could prove Lila didn’t know Ladybug! She was the one who originally helped Alya get her first big interview with the hero.
           And when Alya realized (remembered) that, she also remembered that fact Marinette knew Jagged Stone very well and could easily dispute Lila’s cat and plane story. Her bestie also knew Clara Nightingale and managed to become friends with the superstar; there was no way Marinette wouldn’t ask the singer if she knew Lila Rossi. She probably already had. And the answer was probably no.
           Alya pinched her nose to fight the urge to slap herself. The idea that Clara Nightingale stole Lila’s dance moves was obviously a ridiculous lie; one she had eaten up.
           By Sunday morning, Lila had subtly hinted that her classmates’ chances of meeting all the celebrities she knew and the opportunities they stood a chance for were decreasing. Or as Lila texted:
No one wants to be associated with a bully. (sad emoji)
I’d hate it if people thought you were one too.
They’d never work with you then.
           That was all it took for the class to agree to drop Marinette like a hot potato.
           And that was the final nail in the coffin as far as Alya was concerned.
           She was at Marinette less than half an hour later. Alya apologized for not believing Marinette about Lila. She had taken off her glasses when she began to cry. She handed her phone over, and let Marinette read the group texts. The hurt that flashed over the Asian’s girl face nearly broke Alya’s heart.
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“You’re my best friend,” Alya had stated firmly. “I should’ve trusted you. I should’ve had your back. I’ll do better. I’ll be better.”
           Marinette wiped tears from her face. “You had my back when it counted the most.” A cold look appeared on her face. “Tomorrow, we’ll find out who’s really my friend.”
           Alya agreed but wanted to point out that friends didn’t do what they did. She couldn’t stop herself from remembering all the nasty words and mean jokes they made about her bestie. “Okay, but then we get revenge.”
“Nothing to mean.”
“No promises.”
           Alya looked at the faces of the kids who she was once her friends; to be clear, they weren’t anymore. She couldn’t trust them. If they could turn on someone like as awesome Marinette for a few sickly sweet promises and false tears, then they’d drop Alya, who could admit to herself she wasn’t nearly as nice as the bluenette, in a hot second.
           She didn’t bother saying good morning to them. Alya shook her head and promptly walked to the back of the class and sat in the right (in more ways than one) desk next to Marinette’s. To her credit, Alya didn’t blink twice at Chloe’s new chosen seat; as she far she was concerned Marinette needed all the friends she could get.
Alya crossed her arms and glared at the class. A cold fury filling her. Still, she gave her ex-friends, Nino (her soon to ex-boyfriend), Lila a small smile and a chuckle, “You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
           There would be hell to pay for they did her best friend. This wasn’t war. No, War meant the ingrates in her class actually stood a chance. They didn’t. It was Marinette, Alya, and Chloe versus everyone else. This was a war, it was an execution.
           First thing first was they had to plan.
           After school, the three girls met up at Marinette’s.
“No matter more being a doormat, Dupain… Marinette,” Chloe corrected at the last second.
           Marinette frowned, “I’m not a doormat.”
“You kind of are girl,” Alya said, despite the part of herself that hated agreeing with Chloe. They were on the same side, she reminded herself, the same team. “You’re are constantly running around to help everyone. You’re constantly doing favors; handing out free custom design clothes, banners, food, the works. And they treat you like dirt. They’ve been treating you like dirt, and yet you still help. It’s not right. I never thought it was.”
At first, Alya hadn’t said anything because she was too new and didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. But she should’ve.
“It has to stop,” Alya continued. “They’re not your friends anymore; you don’t owe anyone anything. Even if they were; your designs are way too badass to be giving them away for free.”
           Marinette nodded. She could agree to that
           Chloe put a hand on her hip, “The three of us are the most formidable girls in class; possibly the entire school. Outside of class, most of the school loved Mariette; the artists, the geeks, the fashion club, bakers’ club. Thanks to the Ladyblog, Alya is the most known girl at school; people trust her because Ladybug trusts her. Me? I’m the richest girl in school and I throw the best parties; the elite follows me because they have no choice, and the popular because they don’t want to risk not getting an invite. As hot and as smart as we are, we are ruling that hellhole. You know what our problem is?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Marinette’s too nice. I’m too bossy. Alya’s too stubborn.”
           It wasn’t the first time or the millionth that someone calls Alya stubborn. “We need to work as a unit; they come at one of us, they come at all of us. Lila isn’t done yet.”
“She lied her way to the top,” Marinette said. “As long as she thinks I’m any kind of threat to her, she won’t stop.
           Chloe nodded, “Mostly because of the tops a long way from the bottom and it’s her social status, her reputation, everything she got since she came to school that’s on the line. The fall will kill her;”
“Then let’s make sure she takes our ex-friends with her,” Alya said darkly. “We got nowhere being nice and honest. Lets’ try mean and ruthless.”
           Marinette wanted to protest but the texts from her so-called friends still tore at her. They had said so many hurtful things; about Marinette, her designs, her parents’ bakery. It was terrible. “What do you have in mind?”
           Alya smirked, “We’re going full scorched earth.”
           Revenge is a dish best served cold.
           They let the class think they were safe; let the worry of any potential consequences slowly fade from their minds. It took weeks before their ex-friends would stop reading themselves for an attack whenever Chloe, Alya, or even Marinette entered the room. And during those weeks, the girls assembled their powerbases; slowly but surely, they took their rightful places at the top of the social hierarchy.
           A few of the so-called Queen Bee of the school took afront of this and did their best to sabotage each other
           But what none of the other social climbers expected was for the three to combine their forces. Marinette, Chloe, and Alya were cold and merciless in defense of their new positions; each one using their own unique still to remove or outright destroy their competition and anyone else that got in their way.
           However, it was until Olivia Knight, the former most popular girl in school, popularity fell to just above the Goth kids that people finally got the message.
           There were Three new queens in their school. Call them the Lannisters, Call them the Tyrells, or the Baratheons’; whatever However the message was the same. The Queens would do anything it took to keep their thrones.
           Two months; nine parties, one school election, a dance (where Chloe was elected Queen) and joining seven clubs between them Marinette: Fashion and Art. Alya: Track and Comic Book Club. Chloe: Mathletes and Drama. Finally, all three joined the World Travels’ Club. That way they had a foot in with the nerds, jocks, the geeks, the loners, the goths, and (by way of throwing awesome parties) the popular kids. And Marinette, Chloe, and Alya were officially the most popular girls in school.
           Marinette and Alya were surprised to learn the kids from Bustier’s class were lower on the overall school’s popularity scale than the creepy loner kid that hangs out behind the gym and smokes. They only really hung out with each other and seemed to have more problems than any other class in school. The main idea seemed to be that Bustier’s class was black hole no one ever managed to crawl out of until Alya, Chloe, and Marinette surfaced. Or a budding cult. Now that they had broken free, the three could see how they had gotten that idea.
           When they were in class, it was like they were in their own world. They were all in high school now but most still acted as they did on their first days of middle school. It was like they refused to grow up, mature mentally and emotionally. Bustier never seemed to mind.
           She was a hindrance. She blamed the victim and protected the bullies.
           It was why Bustier had to go.
           Getting Bustier fired was remarkable easy. A week’s work of videos of what life was life every day in her class, and she was gone.
           A substitute didn’t come to replace her. No someone (Chloe) had leaned on Damocles hard to get the entire class split up until a permanent one could be found. Thus they were in for a hard lesson.
           The first? Who really ruled the school?
           The best part was for that ditch the girls were planning on leaving their ex-friends in, those morons brought the shovel themselves.
           It took a few days for Bustier’s class to settled into their classes and schedule but once they did, they immediately tried to go back to their old ways.
           The teachers shut down most of it; making it clear they would NOT be tolerating any crap.
           Still, that didn’t stop everyone.
           Bustier’s students, as they would be known by the students and teachers, yelled out they’re answered, frequently disrupted the class, argued loudly with each other.
           Lila tried to spin her stories again but Marinette and Alya already spread the truth about how much of a liar she was so one bought anything she said. Most just ignored her. Lila didn’t like that. She thrived off attention. No attention meant Akumas. Unfortunately, this just caused Lila to look even more immature than she already did.
           When Alix “accidentally” tripped Marinette. Marinette let herself fall, crash, and spill all her school supplies. Alix and Mylene snickered.
           Aurore who had witnessed the event didn’t hesitate to call them out, drawing the attention of the other students. They saw Marinette on the floor, Alix and Mylene laughing and came to the correct conclusion. Marinette’s new friends rushed to help her, glaring viciously at the two girls while she did so.
           Word spread quickly. And then Alya “accidentally” let it slip about the mean texts about Marinette. And then Chloe “accidentally” revealed all of the classes’ dirty little secrets; things that had only be known by Bustier’s students. Rumors flew.
           It wasn’t long before most of the student body would rather be seen with the creepy loner smoker kid than with any of Bustier’s students.
            No one realized just how true that statement was until Marinette announced yet another fantastic party. Chloe, Marinette, and Alya had become known for them.
           …This party was different.
           Usually, it was a mass invite; welcoming anyone and everyone.
           This party was an invitation-only which was strange because it seemed like everyone in school was invited. Until they got to the party that Friday night and realized just who wasn’t.
           Bustier’s students.
           It was the worse sentence the Queen could’ve delivered to their ex-friends. It wasn’t just a drop on the popularity scale. It wasn’t social exile. The message was clear; Marinette, Chloe, and Alya would not tolerate their ex-friends whatsoever.
           No one wanted to get on the girls’ bad side. No one would even consider risking it. No one wanted to be the next Olivia Knight. Olivia who never fully recovered her reputation or her social status; most of her old friends wouldn’t even speak to her anymore. They were not about to put their necks on the line for losers Bustier’s class.
           They’d only lose their heads.
           The (Demon) Queens of school decreed it, by next Monday, the students of Bustier’s class would be deleted.
           And yet that still wouldn’t be enough for them.
           As far as they were concerned they were only just getting started.
           Move over Heathers, Plastics, the Queens have arrived.
2K notes · View notes
love-we-write · 3 years
Text
Eccedentesiast
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Character: RichyxMC (ambiguous platonic or romantic)  Genre: Hurt/Comfort? Friendship/Romance? Unbeta-ed mess is for certain Words: 4,188  Summary: Richy is used to being known to be able to bring a little bit of comical sunshine to everybody’s gloom. He’s just not used to letting anyone know that he’s burning behind that light. But then, you appeared in his life.  Potential T/W: mentions of panic attacks   A/N: Done in conjunction with the Duskwood Secret Santa event~! Dear @anatomical-myocardium, Merry Christmas to you~! Sorry this took so long to post, I swear my laptop crashes on me at the most inconvenient time sometimes. I hope I did this justice as a gift to you, and I hope you like it, just as I absolutely love your gift to me~! Have a safe and happy Christmas~!  ❤️ ❤️
And with a renewed vow to write anything and everything that I want to write without minding if it’s a game, or an anime, or an anime game, or Kpop, here we go~!  ❤️ ❤️
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Richy is most known by his friends and all the Duskwood residents for his carefree nature, and he is very much aware of this. 
With his small group of friends, he has been the joker of the group longer than memory can serve, always light-hearted with that small touch of dry humor to help liven up the mood. From their weekly battle of Doodle Friends to their catch up session at Aurora’s, all seven of them look to Richy to brighten their days with his quick-witted comebacks and his lame jokes that gets even Lily - ever the serious one - to chuckle.
At his job, his bright personality makes him one of the select few who could talk to Alfie without unnerving the boy, and from greeting old ladies who pass by his shop to chatting away with his customers while he repairs their cars, everyone does not have qualms to admit that Richy’s easy-going nature is his most admirable trait, a warm relaxing ray of sunshine that comes out and give others a bit of cheer on their gloomy days.
Richy knows that his ability to not take things too seriously gives comfort to his friends. 
Richy knows this, knows it in the way Jessy thanks him for being there for her when she is frustrated with how Dan is treating her affections, knows it in the way Thomas looks at him silently yet gratefully when he brought them to Aurora’s and filled them with a copious amount of beers and stupid jokes for a self-proclaimed “pity party” after Thomas’ fight with Hannah. 
He knows it during the wake of Hannah’s absence when Thomas is on the verge of breaking down, and when Jessy fought with Cleo over how to handle the investigation, Lilly had reached out to him in the middle of the night,  quiet words of “I feel like you’re the only one keeping this group together,” mumbled into the phone in between sniffles.
Richy knows he is most known for his easy-going personality, and he is used to it. 
He is also used to that horrible feeling of uselessness constantly haunting him in the deep dark solace of his mind. That sinking in his stomach, the heaviness settling in his core as he contemplates whether he has anything worthwhile at all anything good to offer to this world, the constant feeling that he doesn’t have anything at all. It is a dark void spanning the crevasse of his mind that comes up in his solitude, whispering that he is not good enough, that he does not deserve grief and his fear is only going to burden his loved ones.
Because who is he to voice out his sadness and anguish when everybody else has so much on their plate already? Who is he to want to cry at Jessy to look at him, just LOOK AT HIM WHO HAS BEEN THERE FOR YOU when she is heartbroken herself. What right does he have to voice out his grief, his guilt at being the first one to come to Hannah’s house but still unable to save her anyway? What right does he have to say these things, when he only had lost a friend while Thomas lost a girlfriend and Lilly a sister? 
What right does he have?
So, Richy does what he does best. He smiles. He jokes. And he hides. He stopped trying to figure out the line inside him where his smile ends and his fear starts. To him, they all bleed together.
Richy is used to being known to be able to bring a little bit of comical sunshine to everybody’s gloom. He’s just not used to letting anyone know that he’s burning behind the light.   
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 But then, you appeared in his life. You with your contagious kindness, you who are the one person who does not have any personal stakes with Hannah in this investigation but still decided to help out of the sheer good in your heart. 
Richy sometimes thought that you were highly naive when you said that them getting your number and bringing you in this group must have meant that there is something that you could do instead of just seeing it as it is; an ominous invitation from an unknown hacker. However, that thought of your naivete is blown out of the water when he witnessed your bright-eyed curiosity and your sharp perception. 
‘You like Jessy, don’t you?’ you had texted him out of the blue during one of your conversations when during the first few days after you appeared in their lives.
Richy swore he almost dropped his phone in his coffee when he read your text. No one has ever picked up on his one-sided affections towards Jessy, not even their group, not even Jessy herself who has been his close friend. 
He has always been wary of you when Thomas first invited you in. A stranger whose number was given to them by another stranger seemed to Richy like a well-timed disaster waiting to explode in their faces. Richy liked to think of himself as neutral when it comes to matters of your involvement; skeptical enough to not be desperate as Thomas but to the point of hostility that Lilly has shown. 
But with your eagle-eyed intuition, Richy realized he had to be extra careful with himself around you.
‘Uh, gotta go. Coffee’s about ready and I need that caffeine injection for my sanity, in case some more shit happens around here, haha,’ he had typed quickly, adding in several emojis in succession for some good measure. He puts the phone face down almost immediately, as if that would help distract him from your reply, and busies himself with work.
‘That’s okay. Coffee sounds like a great idea. The next time you want to subtly avoid having uncomfortable conversations about yourself, I have a list of ideas :D,’ was your reply to him when he checked his phone during his break. 
Mirth bubbles up in Richy, a feeling of familiarity and comfort fizzing up in him like downing cold soda on a hot summer day. Richy chuckles towards his phone, seeing as you really did provide him with a list of excuses to make to get out of conversation, each item sillier than the previous one.
Your entrance into his and the way Richy felt you seeing through to him feels like a breath of fresh air.
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‘Richy, hi.’ 
 Richy smiles, looking at his phone vibrated on the countertop as he is pouring his third cup of coffee for the day. Seems like the weekend is as good as any for him to gather his thoughts to himself, to compartmentalize his feelings away from the crowd, but the texts from you over the days is a welcome distraction. 
From asking him about Jennifer Manson, to asking him about the phone call he made on the day of Hannah’s disappearance, to random conversation about your favorite movies or music, messages from you have become something he looks forward to daily. He found himself slowly thinking more and more of you; whether you are okay, what you have been doing among other things
‘Now, what more information does my lady seek from me?’ he types quickly, anticipating as the three dots beside your name blinks back at him. 
‘Good sir, is it such a crime if I just want to inquire about your day? :(’
Richy would be lying if he said that his heart did not skip a few beats over those words.
‘Our previous conversations would indicate that you always would have things to ask me after you know about how my day went, so out you go. :D’
It feels nice to see you playing along with his jokes.
‘Cleo told me you fought with your dad?’
Ah.
Not information about Hannah’s disappearance then. Which, to him, is much much easier to divulge.
‘That girl is going to get into trouble one day over how much she’s eavesdropping.’
‘I know. But more importantly, are you okay?’
Are you okay? Wow, Richy thinks as he stares at his idle phone. A simple question, but look at how he is struggling to answer. So he quickly typed in.
‘I’m okay, don’t worry, haha. Listen, the cat outside my apartment is literally meowing my window panes down, I better go check up on it before it eats itself,’ Richy began typing his response, as if him staring down the digitized letters will give him some form of epiphany over what the best course of action is. 
Excuse #12 from that ridiculous list that you gave him from weeks ago. From feeding non-existent stray cats outside his house to a car needing their tires changed, it quickly became an inside understanding between the two of you that this is a signal that he does not want to talk about it. 
But, inside, he wants to talk about it. Wants to talk to you about how this fight is a series of continuous disagreements between him and his father over how to run the family’s garage. Wants to talk about how this garage is not what he envisioned doing in his adult year, that he has no interest whatsoever in running the family’s business. How he had wanted to be a photographer, but was forced to run the garage by his dad to continue the family business. 
And how each time his father berates him over the losses their garage suffered due to the new competing garage in town, he feels a slight vendetta to bring up that he is never interested in what happens in this garage but is only doing it for his father.
He has long perfected the art of hiding anything of him that isn’t polished and brightened, so when you picked it up immediately, he felt flustered. Flustered because he doesn’t know what to do when faced with the idea of someone perceptive as you catching his vulnerabilities that he is ashamed of. But, also flustered with the fact that he feels a small sense of comfort that someone took time to notice the small things about him, and that deep inside, he feels some small part of him wanting to reach back out.
For now, he just added a bunch of cheerful emojis for good measure and hits send.
He wants to talk about it. He wants to.
‘You know, I don’t expect you to exhaust that list so quickly. I would have thought it’d be good for at least 2-3 months.’ came your reply.
‘I worry about you, Richy.’
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And it is true, you are worried for him. It has been close to three weeks since you first got added into this strange group, and if truth be told, you would never have thought that you’d be as invested as you are now. You could not deny that Jessy and Richy were two of the friends you never thought that you would care for as much as you did. You know that Jake had warned you over the group, and you ARE a bit more wary of some more than others, but you did not expect your trust to go wholeheartedly to this small trio that you have formed with Jessy and Richy. 
Jessy is the sweetest girl you have ever met in the world, always kind. She has this effect around people that made them feel cared for, and you are thankful how she had welcomed you and helped you out when everyone else seems to think you are the kidnapper.She wears her heart on a sleeve, and she trusts easily, but she means well. And Richy…
Richy is an enigma. On surface level, it seems that he is a bright ray of sunshine, all lighthearted jokes and wit, a perfect comedic complement to Jessy’s more emotional tendencies, but you notice the things that made Richy much more complex than he lets on.
You see his calm and composed nature when he is the one to suggest the group to think more critically in the case of your appearance and Hannah’s disappearance, how he calmed everyone down and brought their spirits up. But you also see his aversion to talking about how he himself feels.
Even though he does not show it, you know the incident with Hannah affected him just as much as it had affected everybody else. You see the sprinkle of emotions he has shown, from Jessy who told you how quiet he had been on the day his garage was spray painted with the sign of the raven, to his deprecating jokes about himself when you asked about the phone call he had made to Hannah on the day of her disappearance. 
You see that sliver of fear, that glimpse of guilt over those short moments, but come any closer and you could miss it with how subtly and skillfully he averts to more cheerful topics.
But that’s the thing. You worry for him. Jessy goes to the both of you for comfort while Dan goes to Jessy. Lilly has her family, Cleo goes to Thomas and Thomas’s grief is acknowledged and heard by all of them.
But who listens to Richy? Who gives Richy their shoulder for him to grief? Who lift up his spirits the way he does to you? For now, all you can do is put your phone close to your ear, Richy’s number dialing in the background. 
‘I worry about you, Richy.’
‘It gets better, I promise you. You don’t have to be alone. I’m here for you,’ you added under your previous text. It goes unanswered and your calls only gets redirected to voicemail. So all you can do is hold your phone close to you, placing your lips on its receiver, only able to hope that it goes to him, that his cheeks or his forehead feels the warmth as a sign that you are here for him.
Miles away, in Duskwood, Richy only stares in his phone longingly, wanting to call you. 
‘I’m here for you.’ your text that had him feeling hopeful, comforted and flustered him all the same.
It has been a long time since someone sees through him so transparently, heck, the void in him has bled together with his façade so much that even he himself cannot see through the layers of sunshine to where his dark insecurities start. He has crafted so many walls, perfected so many smiles that it even fooled Jessy, the person most close to him here in Duskwood. Perhaps at some point, maybe he even fooled himself.
And yet, here you are. Effortlessly breaking through those walls like it’s paper, unblinded by the fake shine he puts on, and sees the darkness in him for what it is. He has to laugh at that as he leaned his forehead on his phone, somehow feeling a sense of comfort just in doing that. What have you done to him? 
Perhaps one day he can begin to talk about it.
------------------------------------ 
 That day came sooner that he thought it would be. That night in December, it snowed heavily in Duskwood. Angry snow fell down in a furious blizzard, gusts of wind wailing outside in anguish, doors and window panes shaking almost in fear. Sometimes, the wailing picks up speed and bangs on the window with a scream.
Inside, Richy is just as furious, just as anguished as the blizzard outside. The man without a face seems hell-bent in getting them to stop finding Hannah and to obtain your location. Richy would bend over backwards and go to hell twice before letting your location fall in its hands. And with the search not showing any signs of stopping, so did the threats to them.
Today, it took the threat to another level when it involved their families as well. Richy had woken up with a call from his father. He had expected the call to be his father picking up another fight with him, but the urgency in his father’s voice and the manic sobbing of his mother in the background struck a cold chord in him.
It turned out that his family house has been vandalized with the signs of the raven, only this time it is worse than the one did in the garage. The windows were splashed with red paint, with papers jammed in their mailbox full of threatening letters of ‘give me her’ and ‘Richy, you’re next’. It took him a good two hours to scrub the windows clean, and then another hour to comfort his mother that this is just a prank pulled by some reckless vandals, to clean up the papers from the mailbox and throw them in the trash.
But, deep inside he knows it. This is not a prank. This is a threat to him. To them.
Duskwood is a small town. People will talk and come tomorrow, his friends will find out. He needs time. He needs time to sort out his thoughts. Time to properly compartmentalize.
He needs time to sort out through his guilt of not being able to protect his family from being terrorized from the man without a face. There is the fury with the fact that it has been established that the man without a face is someone within their circle, given how much they know about your presence.
He needs time.
There is the fear that you, being the lynch pin to all that the man without a face wanted from them, will be burdened more. He needs time to sort through the fear that he could not protect you, and even though it is for the best interest of your safety that none of them knows where you are, you are still all alone having to pick up after these seven dysfunctional people and no one to protect you.
Then, there is the confusion, the stress, the angry sadness that this is a game that he has to continue to play with his friends. The betrayal that one of them, one of his close friends is responsible for this, that they could have the balls to laugh with him, smile with him and turn around and do this to him. 
He needs time to sort through this anger and he doesn’t have the courage to face them and continue playing this game tomorrow, not when all he wanted to do is lash out at each one of them and threaten them and ohgodheneedstimeheneedstime-- 
In the solace of his room in his family home, Richy feels his thoughts become as white as the blizzard of snow outside. He hears his breath quickens, a voiceless wail stuck in his throat and he feels the shivers in his spine like the doors trembling in front of the wind.
Heneedstimeohgodpleasegivehimabitoftime----
And like a lifeline, his phone besides him rang and vibrated and he clutched it to him like a lifeline. Like a miracle in December, he sees that it’s your name. Somewhere in his blank white thoughts, he hears a small chuckle and how impeccable your timing is.
He answers and your voice in his ears sounded like a buoy thrown to him that is flailing about.
“Richy, I had a bad feeling about something. Is everyone okay?” and Richy hears himself laugh at that, a horrible mixture of a broken laugh and a hiccup and a helpless wail, all mixed up to become a horrible wounded noise.
Over on your side of the phone, your heart picked up pace when you heard that choked laughter from Richy. It is horrible and it is scary and you would never want to hear it from anyone again, least of all not Richy. He is having a panic attack.
“Richy, are you okay?! Richy, listen to me. Breathe with me, sweetheart. Breathe in, breathe out,” deep inside you tried to stay calm because that is what he needs, but even you feel like being on the verge of tears listening to this man - who has cheered you up so much - break down in front of you.
After he seemed to have calmed down, you tried again.
“Richy, what’s wrong? Please talk to me. You deserve to not be alone in this Richy. I see you. I see you smiling to get everyone to smile. You listened to me and you lifted up my mood when Jessy was attacked, and when I received threats over Lilly’s video. Let me do the same to you, yeah? Tell me what’s wrong?”
And to Richy, who has clutched onto your voice like a lifeline, who wants to share everything with you, just burst like a dam. Everything that he has kept secret from his friends, the sadness behind his smile, everything that he has even kept from himself and just swept under the rug and pushed into a closet at the back of his mind. Everything burst right there in front of you, from his guilt to not being able to stop Hannah’s kidnapping and Jessy’s attack, to him feeling unworthy of being sad compared to others, to his fear when he saw the sign of the raven in his garage and now on his home, his fury at knowing one of his friends are doing this, to his fear for Jessy, his fear for you. 
He hated everything. He hated himself.
You told him that he is strong, that you admired him so much, but he needs to see that he deserves to be comforted just as much as he has comforted everyone else. 
In that snowstorm-clad night, the winds wept and wept, but beneath its howl, you can hear the intermittent wail of a broken man as Richy cried, and cried, and cried. 
As he lets out everything, the blank white fog of his mind begins to clear and gain color. It started from the reds of fury, to the blacks of fear and the blues of guilt, but then your voice came in, and slowly the pinks of comfort, the yellows of hope and the purples of peace began melting through. 
------------------------------------ 
[EPILOGUE]
Both you and Richy sat over the phone for over 3 hours just talking about nothing and everything after his outburst. 
He seems to have gained his color back, his cheerful self almost back as he cracked his lame stories about gangster seagulls eating his sandwich once in his travels. Richy feels like this time, his color - albeit still a little faded - is much more genuine than the blacks filtered from a rose-colored glass that he has shown before. Your laughter as you listen to his story and object to its credibility, slowly made those faded colors in his mind more vibrant.
“Thank you for listening to me, for um… taking care of me,” he begins a bit meekly after he finishes his story. He’s not so used to being listened to, not at this vulnerable a level and definitely he is not used to being taken care of.
“You did the same to me when Jessy was attacked. And you would have done the same for me again, I’m sure of it,” your voice sounded like a smile would, and God, would he give up everything to see that smile in person. He laughs to himself internally. How has this person made him so whipped for her in such a manner?
“I’m planning on going to Duskwood soon,” you had said out of the blue, bringing him back from his reverie.
“Absolutely not. In case you forgot my magnificent show of tears just now, the man without a face is threatening us to get to you. You coming here is the absolute worst thing to do,” Richy snorted, a mock indignant and wounded tone from him that made you chuckle.
“Well, how bad can it be? If we keep my arrival a secret from the rest of them, and spend the days, just you, me and Jessy, it wouldn’t hurt, would it? Someone needs to go there and give you a hug and take care of you,” you had replied back shortly, almost giving no thought to what you had said.
“Oh my, my lady, are you flirting with me?” Richy’s exaggerated gasp brought you back to reality, and his implication had your heart skipping beats.
“Well I mean… um…” you stuttered, and Richy swore your hesitance and stuttering made his heart soar just a little bit more in hope. But pursuing it is for another time.
“W-Well, someone needs to stop you from being such an eccedentesiast!” you had blurted out, extremely grateful that the distance makes it unable for him to see your bright red hot face.
His laughter after that sounds like the most genuine you have heard from him so far, and he might have said something along the lines of “nooo use small words, your idiot here doesn’t understand what that means,” but you couldn’t remember clearly. All you remembered was you thinking that you would give almost anything to protect that genuine tinkling laughter of his.
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danicarosaline · 4 years
Text
Favourite Mistake
𝙹𝙹 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚡 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛
Summary: JJ is fully aware he is being unfaithful to his lover but the connection he has with you is too great to pass up. You both know your actions are wrong and the situation won’t end well but in the moment, it still doesn’t matter.
Warnings: cheating, angst, swear words, a little SMUT
A/N: no i do NOT condone cheating but this is based off the song ‘Favourite Mistake’ by Giveon im obsessed with his songs and i was in a writing mood so i made this😭
(𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚒 𝚊𝚖 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚒 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍!!)
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Are you on your way?
Are you coming soon to me?
“So I’ll see you tomorrow?”
JJ’s head snaps up at the sound of his girlfriend’s voice, twisting his body towards where she stood, beside the hammock, and smiling at her sweetly while she bends down to give him a quick peck on the cheek. “Sure babe, what time ya coming again?”
The redhead rolls her eyes playfully and shoves the blond further into the hammock, creating it to sway gently. JJ only laughs with a shake of his head. “You already know JJ, the same time I come by as always” she says and carries on towards her car to head off for the night.
JJ calls out to her, asking again what time she’ll be coming around the chateau tomorrow and the girl answers cheerfully, seemingly excited to see him again and it does anything but make his heart swell at the thought.
“12:30 pm JJ, c’mon!”
Instead, it made him thrilled to know that his girlfriend won’t be expected in the early morning’s of tomorrow. It means that he had enough time to sneak you out of the chateau before she arrives or when John B does.
As soon as the car disappears from his sight, and he makes sure that John B won’t be coming back home anytime soon, he sends you a quick text. A simple emoji that only you and him know the true meaning behind it.
Is my secret safe?
Safe with just you and me
We can't leave a trace
This is my favorite mistake
It was at a kegger where he met you, where he met you properly shall I say. You were the kook princess of Figure Eight, the perfect daughter and the perfect friend to Rafe and Topper.
You were not like the other kook girls JJ came across, you were funny, genuine and not at all a stuck up kook. Even if your choice of crowd was Rafe Cameron, JJ just couldn’t help but be drawn to you.
You were once good friends with Sarah but ever since she chose the pogues over all the kook parties, and you, you were left with no other than Rafe and Topper taking Sarah’s place as your best friend and Kelce as your beer pong buddy.
You were broken when Sarah left but you kinda understood her. She fell in love and who were you to be upset over that? Who were you to get in the way of her happiness?
When you met JJ, it was at a kegger and you were wandering off towards the waters to get away from all the alcohol and drugs, to get away from the kooks you called your besties. Nothing personal though, you just got tired of staring at Rafe snort a line for the second time in a row.
So that's what led you in that moment with JJ, your back laid flat against the sand and he tipsy stumbled upon your almost napping figure. You drunkenly invited him down to come lay with you and he complied.
He talked about how he’s been with his current girlfriend for almost a whole year now, Cher was her name. You knew Cher because Sarah and the redhead had beef during Sophomore year.
You talked about how much you were missing Sarah and asked JJ if she’s ever mentioned you to any of the pogues. He replied with a nod of his head, telling you that she mentions you here and there with a sad smile on her face.
You liked JJ, he was funny, charming and so down to earth. You wanted to stay close with him because being close to JJ means that maybe, just maybe, you’ll be able to be with Sarah again.
That was the original plan you had in mind. To get closer to Maybank and become one of his good friends to get to Sarah but things took a completely different turn.
You hovering above him, lips connected in a heated kiss that none of you could pull away from. You had asked about Cher and how she would feel about all this. The blond responded by cupping your face in his hands and pulled you back onto his lips. Nonchalantly ignoring your concerns.
That was how the secret arrangement began.
We both know it's wrong
But you're still coming over
JJ moves his kisses from your lips to your jawline then makes his way to your chest to worship each breast with his mouth, leaving small hickies on one side while his hand fondles the other.
The small whimpers that left your lips had him moaning against your sensitive buds, grinding himself against the bed to ease the growing hard on in his sweats.
He slowly marks a trail of kisses down your abdomen, nipping on your hip bones lightly before coming face to face with your womanhood. JJ doesn’t waste any time and dives right in, parting the lips with his tongue and your back arches in pleasure at the warm feeling of him pushing it inside of you as you play with his golden tresses between your fingers.
You moaned his name over and over again and it made him weak in the knees. Not even Cher can give him that kind of feeling. The way JJ had you unraveling beneath him gave him butterflies he never felt with Cher, and it was the way you smiled at him so sweetly that made his heart swell in the most beautiful of ways.
Even when you're gone
The feelings just grow stronger
Should leave it alone
But you're still getting closer
We both know it's wrong
Can't keep this for long
JJ lays exhausted in his bed that morning, with you long gone and leaving no trace of you ever being there. He knew sneaking around with you was fucking wrong and with every kiss you left on his skin made his stomach churn but it was quickly replaced by lust, by passion he no longer felt with Cher.
The guilt dissolves and is replaced by excitement of the thought of getting caught and also not getting caught at all.
JJ is one talented actor for keeping up this facade of faithfulness for months on end and it was only a matter of time before you both actually do get caught, either by one of his friends, your friends or even by his girlfriend.
But even so, he shrugs the thought away and makes the most of it before it all comes to a complete end.
Deep down JJ truly believes that he loves Cher but is it considered love when you're sleeping around with someone else? Will you call it love when the thought of someone else on top of you gets you off?
Knowing that your partner is at home, putting all their trust in you and loving you wholeheartedly while your inside of someone else?
JJ would not call that love and yet, he claims he loves Cher anyway.
I'm getting impatient
Look at what you do to me
Our secret's safe so you're my favorite mistake
That's why we gotta keep it on the low
Girl at home but she don't need to know
The kegger was in full swing, bodies mingling together as the some 09’s r&b music filled the night sky and teens were drinking their worries away. JJ was currently drinking his worries away.
Cher is settled under his right arm, a beer in hand and laughing at a joke you shared to the group. She compliments your humour and you thank her kindly, hugging her as you do as if you weren’t backstabbing her by sleeping with her boyfriend.
His hand grips his own beer tightly as he stares at you with a look that only you know the meaning of. Those baby blue eyes gazing at you so intently had you swallowing a lump that formed in your throat and you ignore the way JJ is looking at you right now. The others being utterly oblivious at the growing tension between you and the blond.
Look in my eyes
Can you find the lies?
Do you feel alive?
Look in my eyes
Do you mind the lies?
Once your eyes landed on the boy who held your heart you almost fell apart. JJ gave you his signature smile, making your heart melt and all you wanted to do was lean in and capture his lips with yours but you knew better than to do that.
Not when the pogues were around. Not when Sarah was right next to you and most definitely not when Cher was literally right fucking there, fiddling with the rings on his fingers as she pecks his cheek affectionately.
You weren’t the type to get jealous but at this very moment, you felt your blood boil at the sight. You didn’t even have the right to feel that way. After all, he already belonged to someone else.
“You guys wanna play never have i ever?” Cher suggests sloppily and the others nimbly nodded, your brows furrow a little and you purse your lips in thought.
You never thoroughly enjoyed playing the game because of the embarrassing memories that came with it but you nod nonetheless. Wanting to get to know the pogues better and maybe get Sarah fully back into your life, which is starting to go well for you right now by the way.
“Sounds like fun, shall i go first?” Pope offers, a teasing grin plastered on his face whilst he rubs his hands together in a mock of villainy that made you and Sarah snort while the boys and Kie groan in internal pain, cringing at their best friend.
“Oh god Pope, you come up with the weirdest things-“
“No it’s fine i'll go first! Okay now five fingers up people!” Cher cuts off Kie by talking over her in an unusually loud manner for a quiet girl like herself.
Sarah raises her eyebrows at you and Kie, her mouth quivering up into a funny smile and the both of you shrug your shoulders simultaneously at Cher’s odd behaviour.
“Okay hmm, where shall i start?” Cher pretends to think, placing a finger on her chin sarcastically and at this point, you and the girls are fully aware of the drunken state of Cher. You three glance at each other one last time before laughing at the redhead’s ridiculousness.
“Oh i got it! Never have I ever cheated on my partner!”
You and JJ froze.
The words that left Cher’s lips caught you both off guard and at first you thought she was just playing the game and she hasn’t caught onto you and JJ yet, but the bitter expression on her face and the way her eyebrows furrowed had you second guessing.
Her brown glaring eyes fixated on JJ for a minute before finally landing on you. It made your heart drop. She knew.
The others were unaware of the sudden stiffness in the air, only making things more awkward between you, JJ and Cher. “Like, never have i ever cheated on my partner for more than four months, continuously!” Cher continues bitterly. You kept your head low whilst JJ looked anywhere but you.
“Four months? That seems awfully specific Cher!” John B jokes, letting out a boyish laugh and the sudden jab to his waist caused him to jolt in his place, almost falling off the log and turning his head towards Kie, who was looking between the three of you and connecting the dots.
Sarah was the second to apprehend the situation and she turns her head to you, the look on her face is pleading for you to deny whatever Cher was saying but when you stayed silent, her eyes widened in realisation and shock.
“Y/n you slept with JJ!?”
At that, Cher abruptly stands up, throwing her half empty bottle onto the sand and storms off. JJ quickly followed in her footsteps. “Cher! please i-“
Cher swiftly turns around and pushes JJ on the chest, making him stumble back and almost lose his footing at the forceful shove.
“No JJ fuck you! And fuck you too L/n! I hope you both rot in hell! Honestly, how dare you cheat on me JJ and with miss goody-goody here?! Seriously?!”
Her yells gained the attention of a few bystanders close by. It made you feel small and weak at the judging gazes that have fallen on your shaking figure. No doubt that your reputation as the perfect kook princess is longer yours to hold. When JJ moves forward to follow Cher, you grab a hold of his forearm, halting him in his tracks.
He doesn’t turn around to face you though, as he stares off after Cher and waits patiently for you to speak. Who is he supposed to choose? Why was this hard for him?
“JJ..”
Your voice was hoarse and it caused his eyes to flutter shut. His shoulders slumping and he sighs. He has to choose now and quickly. You wrap your arms around his middle and press your head against his back, breathing in his musky cologne that you grew to love so much. You have him now. He’s yours, or so you thought.
He wriggles out of your touch, forcing your arms off of him gently and begins to walk away towards where Cher’s figure was last seen. He angles his neck to look at you, bright blue eyes welling up with tears as he mouths a ‘sorry.’
JJ made his choice that night. Was it the right one?
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johnkrrasinski · 4 years
Text
𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐥𝐞
Chapter 5: Now I’m in Exile
full masterlist // series masterlist // commission open // support my work
Pairings: Dark!Steve Rogers x Reader
Word Count: 8,310 
Summary: Steve Rogers; a Hollywood A-lister and your clandestine occasional hookup. Best friends since childhood, but people change and friendships fall out. Now you were merely strangers with benefits. What happens when one day you stopped being his doormat to be a better man’s queen? The selfish Steve Rogers would not like it. How far is he willing to go to get his favorite possession back?
Warnings: smut, non-con/dub-con, dark Steve (in later chapter), angst, Steve Rogers is an asshole in this one, no redeeming qualities. (MUST BE 18+)
A/N: this series is dedicated to the lovely @belovedcherry​​​ who commissioned this story and developed the concept. thank you for being a friend when i truly needed it. i’m really glad that you trusted me to write this story for you. with all my heart, i sincerely hope you like it. this series will be updated every day.
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The calling tone reverberated in your hand as the beaming grin on your face mirrored on the screen. With every passing second, your anticipation grew. You couldn’t control your fidgeting so you took a deep breath and-
“Hey, boo!” Natasha’s voice modulated.
You lifted your right hand to the front camera’s level, revealing the rose golden Cartier wrapped finger as it glimmered under the light.
“Oh my God! Did he…?”
“Mhm,” you nodded. “I’m engaged, Nat!”
Natasha put a hand over her mouth, “holy shit! Girl, I’m so happy for you! Congratulations!” the gaiety on her face was palpable, you could feel it through the screen. There’s a reason why she and Wanda were the first people you passed the happy news to. After your parents of course.
“Thank you so much! I can’t believe it. Eight months ago, I thought I’d be single forever but here I am…”
“Yeah, things escalated quickly for you! Now you are someone’s fiancee and seven months pregnant. It’s mind-boggling,” she spoke like a proud sister. “I’m beyond happy for you. Really, I am.”
“I know this is probably too soon but, will you be my maid of honour, Nat?”
“You know damn well there’d be no wedding if you didn’t ask me to. Hell yeah, I will!”
“Ah, yes!” you hurrayed in excitement. “Alright, I’ll catch up to you later, okay? I gotta call Wanda too.”
“Do whatever you want boo, it’s your day.”
You hung up the phone and went through your contacts list, then clicked the phone number under Wanda’s name. The excitement bubbled up in your chest as you pictured the smile on her face when she sees the new lustrous thing on your finger.
Eight months earlier…
“Hey, y/n. It’s me, Adrian. It was a pleasure meeting you last night. How is the dress doing?”
“She is going for a dry cleaner. It was lovely to meet you too, except for the drink-spilling stain of course.”
“Sorry about that. But it got me your number and I would’ve done it again if that’s what it costs.”
You smiled down at your phone under the warm glow of the morning sunlight. “You showed me pictures of your dogs and cat so it’s a win-win situation for us both.” Wink emoji.
“Perhaps you and I could chat more about my dogs and my cat over a cup of coffee?”
“Will you promise you won’t spill the coffee on my shirt this time?”
“You have my word.”
“I’ll consider it, then.”
“Next Friday, at 7 PM. Write that down on your calendar.”
“I didn’t even say yes.”
He sent an adorable picture of his pomeranian dog looking up at him with pleading eyes. “How can you say no to this face?”
“Say no more. I’ll see you next Friday.”
-
Two weeks after the date.
You regurgitated your guts out in the toilet bowl and held up your hair, trying not to let the vomit splotch a strand of it. This was the third time you had to run to the loo to spew the queasiness in your body. You felt dizziness clouding your head. What the hell is wrong with your body? This had been a daily occurrence for the past one week.
You sat on the toilet lid after everything you swallowed earlier was out. You recollected every food that had made its way into your digestion the past couple of days… Did you eat something inedible? Perhaps that ice cream in your refrigerator had passed its expiration date, but you only bought it three days ago at the grocery store and you swore it could still last for two more months.
Maybe that shrimp that you ate at the Chinese restaurant with Adrian last night was stale. Ugh, you’re gonna need to talk to Adrian about this but you didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. Perhaps, it was just another sickness caused by an unknown bad food.
But you also retrospected the shift in your body for the past couple of weeks. Your period was late this month… It should’ve started three days ago, what is happening? Could it be…? Oh no, there’s no way. You and Adrian hadn’t even moved it to the bedroom yet, so that means… If you are, then… It must be… Steve’s.
Oh hell no.
You recalled, the last time you and Steve met up for your weekly (sometimes more) hookup appointment was the day after you and Adrian met up for a coffee, which was your very first date with him. You didn’t know there would be plenty more to come so you went to what you had planted your soles so deep in, which was Steve Rogers’s penthouse in the upper east.
He had you on top with your arse facing him because he enjoyed the view better than your face. You struggled to bounce yourself up and down on his massive size. He could be such a sluggard sometimes but a man like him would always get his way, and if he needed to fuck out some tension, then he’d use you as a masturbation aid for as long as he wanted.
His grip on your hips was ruthless, you knew it was going to cause some bruises tomorrow but you couldn’t care any less. Not when he was pulling you down this deep that you could feel him penetrating your womb. His grunts filled your ears with eroticism and you picked up your pace to help him reach his climax. You shut your eyes with your mouth hanging open as soft moans escaped through your lips. You clenched around him and you felt his cock throbbed, you knew it was coming. Literally. Your coil shattered just a few seconds before he released his seed deep inside you. He pulled out and went to the bathroom to clean himself up and left you rumpled on the couch.
He left to Atlanta the next day to shoot a new movie. Something about an organization reinforced by the Nazi during World War II, and how the Captain leads an elite combat unit to the battle against an organization called Hydra. You didn’t know that until you looked it up on the internet.
You hadn’t received another booty call for him ever since. He was probably sleeping with twenty-something-year-olds models in Atlanta though.  
And you had made peace with the tragic reality you were stuck in. You had accepted the reality that you and Steve were like riding down a dead-end street. There was no making love on Sunday mornings and have brunch together afterwards. There was no settling down in a countryside house where your kids could run around barefoot on the front yard. There was no marriage vows and walking down the aisle in white for you.
But all that changed when you decided to take a pregnancy test and the result revealed that you were indeed pregnant. You took three more and the results were all the same. Fucking hell. What the hell are you going to do now?
You had to call Steve, right? He was the father after all. You couldn’t tell Adrian because he would despise you for sleeping with another man and possibly carrying his child and he probably would never want to talk to you anymore. He’d probably regret knowing you at all. And you didn’t want to send him away. You liked him, he was good for your heart and the more you explored him, the more mesmerized you become by his magnetic force.
You were distraught. You didn’t know what to do, you didn’t know whom to call, so you just sat there in the tenebrosity of your room, out of options and out of clue.
Eventually, you collected your nerves and you dialled Steve’s number. He didn’t answer. He told you once that he didn’t like being called unless he called you first so you never did, but this time, you had to speak to him. “Please, pick up…” you prayed while on the verge of breaking down completely.
You were directed to his voice mailbox.
“This is Steve Rogers and if I’m not picking up that probably means you shouldn’t be calling me.”
Beep. “Hey Steve, I’m really sorry for calling you this late but I really need to talk to you. Please, it’s urgent.”
Three hours later and there were still no callbacks. You had sent him twenty-eight text messages and his voice mailbox was full. If you waited one more goddamn second, you’d lose your mind. So you picked up your phone and bit the bullet and typed the words; “I’m pregnant and you are the father. Please call me back so we can talk about it.”
It was around 4.30 AM when you checked the time on your lock screen. You were fatigued; both physically and emotionally. You had to unwind from every quandary that impinged you today. It was a lot and you were at a complete loss, but you’ll figure it out tomorrow.
You didn’t sleep well that night, you kept waking up whilst it was still dark out, and you had to wake up at 7.30 tomorrow for work. You kept looking at the sleek device that was left unmuted on your bedside table in case Steve called back. He didn’t though. You only slept for an hour and you really wanted to take a day off but you’d lose your mind if you were left alone with your thoughts and no distraction. So you got out of bed, took a shower and prepared for work, with your thoughts filled with the future of this baby growing inside you and Steve. Why hasn’t he called back or even text at all? Does he really think so little of you?
The impulse to check your phone and call and text him every five minutes was adamantine. You tried to control the itch of sending him another text and voicemail but it failed until you read the words ‘not delivered’ in red under the last text message that you just sent. You tried to resend it over and over again and even tried to write a new message but it was the same result.
You moved to your call feature but after a single ring, you were diverted to voicemail. It took you a few seconds to realize that Steve had blocked you. You went to the last media to reach out to him and it was through his Instagram account. You didn’t even follow each other and you were certain that he received thousands of DMs and notifications every day from his obsessive fans. He had 39 million followers for God’s sakes, the hell is one message from you going to mean anything?
But you were despondent and you needed someone to go through this with, especially the father himself. You did it anyway without thinking twice and told him that you were pregnant and you needed to talk to him. You even sent a picture of those three pregnancy tests and attached it on your message. You couldn’t stop biting your lip and tapping your foot throughout the entire way to your work in the train. Man, were you really going to raise this child alone?
-
Three days later and still no signs of him attempting to return your messages. You had slowly accepted your fate that you were going to carry and raise this child alone. You still hadn’t told Adrian despite talking to him every day and it crushed your heart whenever you heard his elated tone. You could tell that he was really into you and he wanted to take this relationship further but sorrowfully, one way or another, you were going to have to tell him the secret growing in your belly and you were going to have to slaughter this exquisite potential. You wondered if the circumstances were different or you had met at another time or in another universe, would Adrian be the one you were meant to be with?
You made a promise to yourself that you were going to meet him tomorrow and tell him the truth. Delaying it wouldn’t make it any easier and it wouldn’t prevent the doom from happening. If anything, it would only elongate the hurt. So you picked up your phone after you cerebrated it on your mind and clicked on Adrian’s chat room; “meet me at the Drive Brew Cafe tomorrow? Got something I’d like to talk about.”
“Is it something really urgent or you’re just looking for an excuse to see me?” Wink emoji.
“Oh, stop flattering yourself. We really need to talk.”
“Usually, I’d ask a person the matter before I’d decide that it’s important enough for me to meet them in person but I’m giving you a pass.”
“Very generous of you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, y/n.”
-
You arrived ten minutes earlier than the time you both agreed to meet at. The cafe wasn’t too crowded, thank God, so you immediately ordered a cup of Machiatto for Adrian and a cup of hot chocolate to calm your nerves. After the barista called your name, you walked to the corner booth before anyone could occupy it first. You were going to need some privacy. You sat as your hands trembled from edginess. You couldn’t stop fidgeting and tapping your foot as the second passed by on the clock.
Exactly on 6.30 PM, a dashing brunet in a dark grey vest and rolled-up sleeves entered and you stood up to greet him. He just came home from work and man, it was impossible for him to ever look bad even for once, you were so lucky but life just kept finding a way to eliminate the people you cared about.
“Hey, you look good.” his British accent was thick. He kissed your cheek and embraced you with a warm smile.
“So do you. How was work?” You both sat on the opposite chairs of the booth.
“The ordinary. We had a meeting with a director of this historical film to get us to fund the project. How was yours?” The genuinely curious look on his face nearly changed your mind. Oh, how you wish you could hold on to this moment where you could still have him a little longer.
“Nothing new, just another day at work. This one’s for you by the way.” You didn’t know what more to say when your mind was cluttered so you stalled by passing over his drink.
“So, what’s so important that you needed to see me?”
“Adrian, you know, I really like you, right?” you took his hand in yours as you stared into his striking eyes. “And I’ll always be grateful that you were foolish enough to ruin my dress that night.”
He was perplexed. His eyebrows were furrowed. “As much as I enjoy your companion, I’m sure that you didn’t call me to meet you only to thank me for wrecking your dress, right?”
“Yeah, but um… I just, it’s been wonderful knowing you. And… Oh God, this is going a lot harder than I thought.”
He nodded. A dejected look on his face that you wished you could wipe out. “Let me save you the trouble… You are breaking up with me.” He didn’t say it as if he was guessing, he said it as if it was a declaration that he’d figured out before you could even formulate the words.
“Adrian… I’m pregnant. And you’re not the father, so don’t worry. I know when you first asked me out, this isn’t what you signed up for. So I’m setting you free. I’m sorry.”
You expected him to get up and walk out of the door, leaving you with your alienation but none of that was detected on his expression or his body language. “Who is the father?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me.”
“Adrian…”
“Don’t I at least deserve to know who my girlfriend is sleeping with before I even took her to my bed?”
Girlfriend. Huh. Well, that’s first.
“Steve Rogers.”
“Steve Rogers the actor?”
“Yes…”
He snickered. That drew a mystification out of you. “What’s so funny?”
“So you’re into the arsehole type.”
“…How do you know what kind of person he is?”
“The movie that we had a meeting about today? He’s going to star in it and I’ve met him a couple of times at some parties. Not the nicest guy, eh?”
“I don’t… I don’t know what to say.”
He sipped a bit of his coffee. “How did you get involved with a bloke like him?”
So you told him everything; the beginning of your friendship, the fallout, the moment he took your V-card in your dorm, and how years later, he still had you on a chokehold. He didn’t seem to mind one bit that the woman that he had been seeing had a history with someone. He’d dealt with much worse scenarios in his former dating lives. He wasn’t going to let other man’s neglected baby stand in the way of what could be something beautiful.
“I’m not walking away.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m staying. I like you and I know you feel the same way too. We are going to raise this baby together. No child deserves to grow up fatherless. I’m going to be its father.”  
“Adrian, but…”
“No buts, we’ll get through this together. Now, let’s enjoy these tasty drinks before they get cold, yeah?”
So you nodded, too dumbstruck by the man before you. You drank your hot chocolate that was cooling down and let his presence soothe you better than the sweet drink on your tongue.
-
Steve went back to New York after spending nearly four months in Atlanta, shooting his movie. Man, he’d lost count on how many extras he had fucked in his hotel room but nothing felt as good as your pussy. He thought about your last text before he blocked you. You had claimed that you were pregnant with his baby. You must’ve lost your mind to think that he’d buy that shit.
So he picked up his phone, unblocked your number and pressed the call button. Three dial tones and a familiar voice answered. “Hello?”
“Hey baby, meet me at my place tonight.”
“Who is this?”
“Hillarious, y/n. I’m too fucking tired for jokes okay? Come here and suck my cock then maybe I’ll listen to your jokes.”
“Is this Steve Rogers?”
“Fuck yeah, it’s me, y/n. Who else do you think I am?”
A pause jammed the line. “I’m done, Steve.”
“What? The fuck do you mean you’re done?”
“I sent you thousands of texts and calls five months ago and you couldn’t even lift your fingers to answer.”
“I was in the middle of shooting, y/n. You know better than to call me while I’m working.”
“Oh, screw you, Steve. I’m pregnant and you didn’t even care? How much of an asshole can you be?”
“You were actually serious about that?”
“Of course you think I was joking. But don’t worry, it’s none of your concern now. We’re done. Don’t call me anymore.”
“Wait, wait! Y/N!” you cut off the line. “Ah shit.”
He tried to call five more times and you neglected every single one of them. In fact, you instantly blocked his number after the last phone call with him. You didn’t want to be associated with him anymore. You thought that Steve had forgotten about you since he blocked your number first so you never had to do it yourself. But of course, an entitled scoundrel such as he is would never stop taking and taking until you had nothing more to give.
It took you years of anguish, an unforeseen mishap and a beautiful stranger that ended up being the stupendous love you’d been looking for to open your eyes to the rotten core of Steve Roger’s heart. He ever only lusted for your flesh, he never gave a shit about you as a person.
You lived for the hope of it all, you cancelled plans just in case he’d call, and you never once suspected the pitfall, but you were no longer that foolish girl anymore. You had met a real man now and he led you to the path of love and happiness and Steve was no longer the most intrinsic thing on your mind.
-
Steve was going apeshit. He had never been rejected or denied before, he always had it so effortlessly. Especially by you. He thought he’d always have you by the palm of his hand, he thought whenever he asked you to jump, you’d always say “how high?”, he thought whenever you’d think about walking near to the door, you’d always turn around with a few sensual touches and sugarcoated words, but the renunciation that came out of your mouth sting like a bitch and he didn’t like his ego being trampled over.
He went to sleep later that night, dreaming about caressing you and kissing you as a lover would. Never once did he ever have such a dream about anyone before. Maybe he belonged to you more than he had realized all this time.
-
It was his fourth time this week of standing on the street of your apartment building after you returned his plenteous gifts that you certainly never even asked for or needed. Why would you? You could easily buy that necklace jewellery, that overpriced velvet dress, and those designer shoes with your own money. And even if you couldn't, your boyfriend could easily afford all those things for you too. But that motherfucker used his money to buy you shoddy gifts such as poorly designed accessories and tacky books and yet you happily accepted them? What a closefisted fool.
But who are we kidding? The sole reason why you didn’t accept those gifts is that you no longer cared about him. Those inducements didn’t work on you anymore. You were much happier with a better man now. What do you have to lose?
Rather than dwelling in self-pity and resentment, he hid in Range Rover in a black baseball cap and Tom Ford shades from the paparazzi and waited. Waited for her to come out. He had been religiously stalking every social media you had from another private account to track your activities. The last photo you posted on your Instagram was a picture of you and the scary college roommate of yours that he’d forgotten the name of. It was last Saturday.
“Always a delight to catch up with this one. Love you @natasharomanoff.”
under 281 likes and 32 comments. He scrolled through every single one of them and searched for any clue that might indicate your next move. Found one.
Wandamaximoff: “Don’t forget about me!! :(” so they are still friends apparently.
Natasharomanoff: “Same time next week? 💕”
“Absolutely,” you replied to the red-head.
Gotcha. He’ll be there.
So here he was, waiting for you to come out of that building to grab an Uber because he knew you weren’t so into driving. Except for that late-night rendevous of course, because he told you once that he’d hate for a single soul to know there was something going on between you and him. You were a secret and he’d like to keep it that way. Sooner or later, people are gonna talk and headlines are going to break the internet.
Two minutes later, you stepped out wearing a beige coloured cable knit cardigan and a grey jersey maxi dress underneath with a necklace around your neck. He couldn’t see it from this distance but the item had made a few appearances in some of your recent Instagram posts, and he already knew that you wore it wherever you go. It was an initial necklace of the letter ‘A’ in silver.
He hated the arising thought but he couldn’t help but think how ethereal you looked in your casual, maternal clothes. Perhaps even more than when you wore those petite dresses that always made you look uncomfortable whenever you wore them. You walked with grace and there’s this elegance that you just exuded without trying too hard. You could be wearing the most boring clothes or doing the most mundane things like looking down at your phone to text your Uber driver and you’d still look enchanting.
Man, how could he had been so blind all this time?
It shredded his heart even worse knowing that the growing fetus in your belly was his, but when that baby borns, another man would hold it instead of him and the kid would grow to learn that another man was its father instead of him. That motherfucker. He didn’t have any right in raising that baby. You were bearing his child. Not Adrian’s. You belonged to him. You always did. Fate had interlaced your paths long before you were given birth to this world. No one knew you better than him and vice versa. Not even that former roommate of yours or Wanda. Only him. He had to have you back. Whatever it takes.
He was so inflamed with debt and feebleness of his childhood that he turned into someone he used to loathe when he was younger. He strayed so far away from the path that his mom had paved for him to walk in and he wasted the one good thing in his life that kept him going when he had nothing. But he couldn’t turn back now, couldn’t cross out the mistakes that he did. The best he could do is make use of what he is capable of now and utilize it cleverly.
A scheme was formed in his head… He’d have you back in no time. One way or another.
-
Months went by and his patience emaciated. He had it all drawn out in his head but he had to be very careful. If he rushed or stepped on the wrong stone, he’d end up being decapitated and his career would burn to ashes. Especially with how the paparazzi and the media were always busting up his ass, like hunters with foxes. He couldn’t have that. He had worked too hard to see it all crumble beneath his feet.
He rejected all film projects and public appearances offered by his agent slash good friend, Sam Wilson. Sam was getting a little frustrated by Steve for being unreasonable. He was his most ambitious client, never one to say no to a good script and occasions that could advance his career and generate more profit for both of them.
But after he returned from Atlanta for his last movie, he had been shutting most people out. Sam was always his most trusted confidant, he was his agent, after all, it was his responsibility to make sure the client that earned him the most income was well in health and aptitude. But he was scratching his head trying to get Steve to open up to him.
Sick of Steve’s shortcoming, he called Steve and told him to come to the office.
“Fuck off, Sam. Why can’t you just talk on the phone?”
“Get your ass down here or I will come to your house myself.”
He groaned and hauled himself to Sam’s office, not in the mood for Sam’s garrulous nagging.
-
Steve knocked on Sam’s door and he saw Sam sitting in his usual black and white attire in his ergonomic chair. He had a frown on his face instead of his usual conceited womanizer charm. “What’s with the long face?” Sam asked.
“Nothing. I’m just worn out.”
“Cut the bullshit. Last time you got your ass to work was six months ago. What the hell is happening with you?”
“I just haven’t found any good script that interests me, Sam. And I told you, I needed a short break. I’ve been travelling nonstop for the past few years to shoot films and press tours, and now I just need to hit the pause button.”
“The Steve Rogers I know isn’t one to rest. He was power-hungry and always craved for more. You also rejected an Oscar potential role. Something’s going on and it’s deeper than just needing a break. C’mon, talk to me man. As a friend, not as your agent. Let me help you.”
It took him a few seconds to brace himself. He didn’t need to tell him the entire truth, he just had to ask Sam fora favour and then the Steve Rogers that made him millions would come back. “You know anyone who’s good at editing photos?”
“…What?” Sam was perplexed.
“Just let me know, Sam. You got any connections to editing experts? Hook me up.”
“What is fueling this?” Sam was bewildered. He looked at Steve like he had just grown two heads out of nowhere.
“Just trust me on this one, alright? You link me to a good editor and business will back as usual.”
“I know a guy.”
-
Your bachelorette party was fun. You, Natasha, Wanda and a few of your fellow colleagues were invited to the tea party at the garden of The Berkeley in London, which is the hometown of your fiance. You loved London and you always had such a good time whenever you paid it a visit with Adrian.
Now that the weekend was over, it was time to pick up little Nathan from your parents’ house. A beautiful baby boy was born three months ago and he was your parents’ joy. You never told them that the real father was the scrawny kid who used to lounge around on their couch every Wednesday afternoon when there was nothing much to do. Your parents loved Adrian as their own and it was all that mattered.
This baby is going to grow up with so much love from his parents and grandparents. From your chosen family who will become his aunties and uncles. He is going to be raised right in gentleness, affection, and sincerity. And it would never matter how he was conceived into this world in the first place.
You refused to leave this baby for more than five minutes but Wanda and Nat kept insisting that you needed some time for your own. One bachelorette party wouldn’t hurt. It’s only one weekend. Besides, your grandparents were obsessed with baby Nathan and they were going to take such good care of him while you were away, celebrating your single life with your girlfriends before you spend the rest of it with someone.
Now you were back home, you couldn’t wait to see your baby. You had been thinking about him endlessly in London and you missed holding him close to your chest. So you put on your coat and took your keys to drive to your parents’ house but you were stopped by a text message before you could open the door of your car.
“Enjoyed your bachelorette party?” An unknown number wrote.
Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Who the hell is this?” your thumb typed and pressed the send button.
“You know me. Better than anyone, just like I know you too better than your fiance.”
Your heartbeat quickened. “Stop texting or I will call the police.”
But before you could hit the send button, a picture of your face popped on the screen. But what disarrayed your mind wasn’t your face, it was the body. You were stark naked with your knees on a mattress and your ears teared up, and your lips were wrapped around a shaft.
What. The. Fuck?
“Got plenty more.” the unknown number threatened.
Another picture of you lying on the same bed, except this time you were on your back so your tits were clear cut visible and your mouth was parted slightly like you were moaning. A hand was wrapped around your throat and yours were pinned above your head by another one.
You were frozen in place and the warm autumn air descended into zero degree celsius. Your breath hitched and tears started brimming in your eyes. Who could have these pictures of you?
“I’ve got many more if you’re curious just how much of a slut you can be.”
“Stop. What do you want?” your fingers trembled.
“Meet me at the New York State Pavillon tonight, at 11 PM. Alone. Bring your baby. If you dare to report this to the cops, I will send these pictures to your fiance and post them on every existing site on the internet.”
The words didn’t leave any room for argument or further questions. So you drove to your parents’ house to pick up Nathan for the last time ever.
-
Adrian was working late tonight. He told you over the phone that a big project was in the work and so he and his team had to stay a little longer in the office to get it done as soon as possible. You were a bit relieved because that means, you could save yourself from whatever was bound to happen when you arrive at the abandoned historical world fair.
“Don’t forget to drink water. I love you.” You reminded him.
You wrapped Nathan in a blanket to keep him warm and you placed him in the infant car seat next to you. Your mind couldn’t stop flashing back to those pictures. Who could you possibly have done so wrong that they thought exaction would be the most fitting comeuppance. It took about 35 minutes via Grand Central Parkway which was the fastest route so you took it. Your mind also couldn’t stop asking questions, so many questions… But most importantly, who could this person be? Could it be… No, no way. You knew him. That was the last thing he’d ever do. Not because he wasn’t a nefarious person but because the world was constantly throwing themselves at him, offering him dollars and women.
He had too much in his plate to look over to yours and wanted to steal what was in it too. After months of not a single contact made, he must’ve had forgotten about you right? C’mon. This is ridiculous. But if it’s not him, then who could it be?
You arrived at Flushing Meadows a half-hour later and then you texted the number. “I’m here. What do you want?” you kept Nathan inside, fearing that whoever the culprit is might hurt him. So you stayed inside as consternation overcame you.
A few minutes later he answered, “step out the car and bring the baby.”
“Don't hurt my baby, please. Take me, but let him return safely to his father.”
“He will. Now, do as I say or I will publish these pictures.”
You trembled. You unlocked the door of your car and stepped out of it deliberately holding Nathan to your chest. You were careful to keep him from crying. The crisp air sent shivers down your spine. You closed the door and waited. Your eyes roved to all over the desolated site. Until it landed on those familiar blue eyes that held more ice than the air.
“…Steve?”
The man you used to know was different now. His face that used to be clean-shaven was now covered in a glorious beard that made him indistinguishable. His dusty blonde hair was slightly longer and he dressed in dark clothes that amplified the sinister atmosphere circling him.
You held Nathan closer to you with one hand behind his head, trying to keep him quiet. “Don’t be like that, let me see my son.”
“No. He’s not yours.” You spat.
He scoffed. “Say whatever you want, sweetheart but it’s my blood running in his little veins. In fact, I think we can take a DNA test and send it to your fiance, how about that? Also, how is Mr and Mrs. Y/L/N?”
“Leave my parents alone, Steve.”
“Are you going to cut that attitude of yours or do we have to do this the hard way? Either way, I don’t mind.”
“I’ll be good. Just please, don’t involve my parents.”
“Good, I know the good girl I knew is still somewhere inside you. Now, drop your phone to the ground and smash it.”
“…What? No! How am  I going to-”
He furrowed one eyebrow at you and you instantly understood the peril if you repudiated him once more.
You took out your phone from the pocket of your coat and dropped it to the ground. You stomped it with your foot until the screen was cracked, but Steve wasn’t satisfied enough with its damaged state so he stomped it harder than you did until it was smashed into two.
He led you to his Range Rover that he parked in an empty street and opened the backseat door and you slide into it with Nathan still tucked under your neck. Then he closed the door and walked to the driver’s seat and drove away to God knows where.
“Where are we going, Steve? Nathan needs to sleep. He can’t-”
“Quiet. He’ll be home soon.”
You didn’t dare to ask more questions. The vacancy in his eyes that were reflected on the rearview mirror was petrifying enough as it is. You sat and stared out the window and think about Adrian. Was he home yet? Did he try to call or text you? What would he do when he realizes you weren’t home? You couldn’t help but think that this morning was possibly the last time you’d ever see Adrian. God, you missed him already. You prayed to whatever God was listening that he would save you and your son soon.
Please Adrian, please do something. I love you.
The soft hum of the engine made your eyes feel droopy. You tried your best to stay awake but it was nearing midnight and the jet lag was still encompassing you so the fight in you to stay awake resolved. You gave in to the lethargy with Nathan dozing on your lap.
You were woken up by a shake on your shoulder and you found Steve standing on the open door. “Get up, we’re here.”
In your still languorous state, you got out of the car hugging Nathan close. “Where are?”
The sounds of crickets saturated the ambience as only the faint glow of the moon illuminated the trees around you. There was nobody around except you and Steve -and Nathan if a three months creature counts-. You put two and two together… Did Steve take you into the woods?
“Steve, what are we doing here?”
He didn’t meet your eye or answered you but instead, he walked toward what looked like a mid-century modern wooded oasis perched on a sloping site and set on stilts. The trees blended with the wood side exterior and wraparound decks. You had no idea whose house this belonged to but it was enchanting.
“Go ahead.”
You approached the resident that was incandescent with yellow lights, giving you a little peek to the furniture inside. You hoped whoever owned this property wasn’t sleeping yet, it was literally in the middle of the night, what the hell was Steve even doing taking you to a stranger’s house?
“Steve, I really don’t think this is a good idea…” as you stood freezing on the terrace. “Can we go back now? I really don’t want Adrian to worry.”
He fumbled with a key and unlocked the entrance. “Get in.”
Your eyes scanned the room to make sure there was no one around that might bust your ass tot he police for breaching before you stepped in. Your eyes peregrinated to every corner of the interior, relishing in the smell of oak and firewood.
He then took you for a quick tour to every section of the house without saying anything that would actually straighten your befuddlement. The decorations were full of vintage and antiques. “You like it?” Steve asked.
“I mean… it’s lovely for sure.”
“Good, then that means we won’t have to redecorate.”
“Wait, wait… What?”
“I bought this house for us, sweetheart. I knew you’d love the cozy design and it’s a perfect place for Nathan to grow up in.”
“Steve, what the hell are you talking about?”
“We’ll work things out. I’ll stay here with you for the rest of the weekend and I’ll only leave when I need to work. You won’t have to worry about anything else, I’ll take care of it.”
“God, you are crazier than I thought. I’m going home.”
He stopped you by blocking the entrance door and glared. “You’re not going anywhere, sweetheart.”
“Steve, get out of my way.”
“You are mine. That baby is my son, you hear me? This is where you belong.”
“I’m gonna call the cops.”
“With what? Your phone?” He derided. “You don’t even know where the hell we are.”
“Adrian’s gonna come looking for me.”
“No, he won’t. Because I’ve sent those pictures of you to him and to your boss, who is it? Tony Stark? And you don’t have any life to get back to. This is your life now.”
Your heart sunk. No, no, he can’t be. He promised he won’t if you did what he said, right?
“You’re lying…”
“I did. I sent it while you were snoozing in the car. Shit, I’d pay a million bucks to see the look on that asshole’s face when he realized just how much of a dirty slut his fiancee is… Well, ex-fiancee now.”
“Why would you- you promised you wouldn’t if I did what you asked me to.”
“Well, that agreement has changed,” he said it so nonchalantly as if he hadn’t just pulverized the life you had built for yourself, the happiness you had stacked on a shelf that took you years to collect; a great job, a loving boyfriend, an adorable baby.
You wanted to lash out, you wanted to smack him in the face but you were too wounded by what you just heard. If you returned to Adrian and your work tomorrow, would you still even have them? Would they even accept you at all? You knew better than trying to report a powerful man such as Steve Rogers to the cops, he could bribe them, he could get a qualified lawyer. He could also make you lose the battle you never wanted to be a part of even if you were the victim, he could easily paint you as the mentally unstable woman that wanted to blackmail him for money.
The media had never captured pictures of you sneaking out of Steve’s apartment. Steve never took you for a stroll in the park or Sunday brunch because that’s all you were; a secret. Steve never wanted to be seen with you and Steve never wanted to share you with the world for whatever reason. Steve didn’t mind being photographed by models and other film stars, but not you. And now, he wanted to keep you in this little vault or calaboose so that you’d never escape and the traces of your history would be erased forever from the world’s memory.
Because Steve Rogers was no longer the man you used to ride around the bicycle with during the summer or the scrawny romancer you used to know, but he was a selfish man, a man with enough ego and ego to completely metamorphosed himself into whatever he wanted to be, no matter how ruthless and perilous that person he is. And now here you were, a mere object for him to assert his powers on, and you knew it wasn’t because of his love for his son or for you, but simply because he always got his way. Always.
“Now you can stay here, accept your new life with me and raise Nathan together, or you can face the disgrace that your fiance and your boss see you as. You think he’s gonna let you come back to his house? You think your boss is gonna shrug it off and let you come back as if nothing happened? No. You’re dispensable, and one way or another, you’re gonna come back to me. Even if you don’t, I’ll find a way to make you.”
“Why me? You could have every other woman in the world… Why me, Steve?”
“Because you think that you can repudiate me… You can’t. You think you can take away control from me… You can’t,” he gritted. “Not a single person in the world can.”
The tears in your eyes fell the floor as your legs wobbled. “Now, let’s not keep our son awake any longer yeah? Put him to bed. And then… You can be the good housewife you were meant to be and perform your duties.”
So he led you to the nursery room and you put Nathan in the crib. You wanted to fight, you wanted to reach that door and run… Even if you don’t know where you were going, as long as you could escape from this maniac. But you knew better than running away to in the middle of nowhere at midnight, in the cold with your son. You also knew better than thinking that Steve wouldn’t do whatever he could to get you back under his feet… so what was the point in countering anymore? Men like Steve Rogers always wins.
After you put Nathan to sleep, he led you to the master bedroom and ordered you to strip. The routine revokes old memory. “Get on your knees,” he commanded as he sat on the edge of the bed, like a king waiting to be served.
You did as he says and stood between his spread legs. “Take off my pants.”
You unzipped it and pulled it down along with his briefs. “Good girl, now, open.”
You parted your lips, wide enough to fit him and circled your tongue around the tip. Just like you used to because he liked the buildup and you knew it better than anyone. He grabbed a fistful of your hair and tugged on it harshly then inched himself back deeper into your mouth. You hollowed your cheeks to accommodate his girth as he hit the back of your throat each time he went back in.
“Ah fuck, I’ve missed that sweet mouth of yours…” He picked up the pace and you looked up to him. His face contorted in pleasure while you were feeling anything but. You feel repulsed, you wanted to push him away but you couldn’t. He closed his eyes, relishing in the feel of your mouth around him and threw his head back.
He moaned as he controlled your movement faster, trying to get himself off. Your eyes teared up as you looked up at him, and his cock throbbed. He climaxed deep inside your mouth as he kept your head down so every drop that he had was spilled down your throat. He kept you there until he had no more to offer and then he pulled himself out. “Get on the bed, ass up, face down.”
You followed his command and waited until you could feel him kneeling behind you. “Just like old times, huh?” He chuckled. You could feel the tip of his cock nudging your clit and then he invaded your body through your entrance. “Shit, you’re still so fucking tight. Did that asshole ever fuck you at all?”
You didn’t answer but moaned instead as you could feel him stretching you like he used to. And no matter how many times he had fucked you, you never truly got used to it. Adrian’s face came in flashes; you recalled how he made love to you, how gentle he would be with you and how intimate your lovemaking session was, a stark contrast to how Steve would treat you. You also compared their sizes, Adrian was average compared to Steve. Whenever Steve entered you, it always felt like an intrusion, an unforeseen attack, rather than your fleshes weaving into one.
He retracted himself and then pushed back in brutally and you whined. He held onto your hips in a bruising grip, as he pounded into you because he was never one for a tender start; he only had wanted to get himself off and that was it. “Does he fuck you this good? Bet you think of my dick when he fucks you.”
Your body jolted every time he jerked himself forward and he groaned and grunted. He hammered into you relentlessly and incessantly, causing you to clench around him. The wetness made squelching noises as you could feel your impending orgasm approaching, forming a dam inside you that was ready to break any second now. He sped up and he screamed in pleasure as the coil inside you broke, you reached your peak at the same time and he buried himself deep inside you, spilling every drop that he had deep in your womb.
“Bet that British asshole doesn’t even make you cum, huh? And I know you always fake it to get him off you.” He sneered as he detached himself from you and got off the bed to clean himself off to the bathroom.
You laid there in the same position, feeling voidness creeping up your heart like you once were; unwanted and alone. Steve had stripped you of your pride, dignity and honour once and even after you managed to climb out of that pit, he found a way to drag you back down once more and locked you under.
And there was nothing else that you could do except accepting your fate as his perpetual prisoner, living under the corruption and unforgiving authority of Steve Rogers. You could only hope that once Nathan is grown enough, you could somehow sneak him out of this confinement to live a much better life and eschew himself from turning into the monster that his father is.
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woonietune · 2 years
Text
Hello fandom my old friend
I’m being stalked again. I tend to get stalked. It’s sort of a thing with me. A friend once said I wasn’t like crazycake flypaper--that I was more like a Venus flytrap so stalkers beware. True, I’m not to be messed with. That still doesn’t mean I don’t freak out.
The WBDS fandom was pretty quiet these past six years given the noise of my previous fandoms--in which the highest pitch involved the FBI addressing threats to moi (twice). But (twice) in the WBDS fandom I’ve run across people who’ve made my skin crawl--one loves me too much; the other is a sworn enemy. In the past three months, my Instagram has been hacked three (more?) times, and my humble posts (I have a following of less than a 100 ppl--mostly kdrama fans) keep being reported for inappropriate content and taken down. One post I didn’t question--it had a link in the text to a story which IN TURN had a hidden link in a note to M-rated material. But the other reports were just WHACK, like a photo of a guy licking his sword (ok, Insta, that’s so suggestive... but what if it was a hot girl eating a banana?) The last post taken down was a drawing of mine of a guy on a horse, and the story was innocuous--the fic even had a damn puppy in it, ok? Well, a crazy man committed suicide in it, but THAT WAS ALL A PIECE OF FICTION? WAS THAT INSTA-INAPPROPRIATE? Geez, I reposted it all, and I wished whoever was harassing me a Merry Holidays and gave them some pearls to clutch.
I get uncomfortable the more “known” I get in fandom too. More people love me, more people hate me. Someone on Reddit named my current WIP as one of “the greatest fanfics of all time” in a thread, and I was like, duuuuuude, what are you smoking? I’ve been around a while, and off the top of my head, I can think of a gazillion fics way better than my current UNFINISHED fic. The only one allowed to love me and my work that much is my fandom wife. Oh, she got hit one story hit by the kudos bot (I got one story hit too--this is a crazy bot--it’s not a webcrawler--it’s SENTIENT--it hit a lot of people who posted stories in a small fandom thread on Reddit--it READS Reddit). Since Wifey’s story was hit, she put up a disclaimer saying please ignore those fake 70 kudos (however many--I got about the same number on my GREATEST FIC OF ALL TIME, lol, and I put up a similar I hate you kudos bot note). But weirdly, people have not been leaving kudos OR comments for Wifey since she put up disclaimer... it’s like kudo bot nervousness on the part of readers? What has this bot done to us all? (Wifey did get a hilarious comment from anon calling themselves NOTABOT on another story though who left a heart emoji :D).
I feel on pins and needles right now. 
I want to share stories with people and have people like the stories. I don’t like fandom stalkers, haters, kudos bots, weird persistent downvoters for every comment I make on Reddit, mad love like people saying my fic is one of the greatest of all time loooool, or that one poor woman who still wants to have my babies or something after 4 years (and we weren’t even dating, I swear). I don’t know who keeps harassing me on Insta. Maybe the same person who told me to kill myself for writing rape fic a few months ago--I mean,  why target me? So many other writers out there in way bigger fandoms writing way darker rapefics?
Which one of you two was it? Or is there a third now? A fourth, fifth, sixth Debbie-hater?
Brrrrrrrrr.
My friends say I eat these people and get stronger--they’ve seen it happen. But you know how painful it is to digest hate?
Anyway, Wifey’s story is amazing and getting so little attention. It takes a wonderful (terrible) canon time (when Dong-soo was literally insane for a couple months and unable to speak after being betrayed by Woon) and fills in a lot of plot-holes by having us go into Dong-soo reputed genius mind as he hallucinates Woon. It’s brilliant. It’s here: 
Weakness
Speaking of which, I need a very long nap. And I’m envying my cat’s lickable protein snacks. I may order ice cream. Can people get ice cream delivered? I don’t even like ice cream. Soy cream? Can I get a vegetarian drone from a supermarket to drop me off some soy milk cream sandwiches? And a cabana boy with a drink with an umbrella?
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max-is-tired · 4 years
Text
It’s Fine By Me (If You Never Leave)
Pairing: Dukexiety
Characters: Remus Sanders, Virgil Sanders
Words: 2.062
Warnings: Sympathetic Remus, swearing, crying, kissing
Notes: I... might be starting to grow lowkey in love with Dark Sides ships sdkjvnsjkfvn 
Anyway!! here is a new fic, not even a week after the last one I posted -miracles exist apparently. A big thank you to my boyfriend @afulldeckofaces for catching the mistakes that slipped past 3am me skvnsfjv you’re the best babe <3
I hope you guys like it!!
Commission me!!  Buy me a coffee!!  Join my Discord server!!
If you had told 15 years old Virgil that one day he would’ve fallen in love with none other than Remus Grimm, he would’ve probably ended up cracking a rib or two by laughing too much.
And yet, look at him now -19 years old ad head over hills for his best friend, who just happened to have had to move two towns over because of college.
God, feelings sucked.
Virgil groaned in frustration, letting his forehead hit the textbook lying open in front of him with a muffled thump.
He was tired. He was so. Fucking. Tired. Tired of college, tired of this stupid crush that kept stubbornly refusing to go away, tired of his stupid anxiety and tired of having to deal with all of this without his best friend by his side.
Yes, he was grumpy because he hadn’t seen Remus in more than a month, sue him.
As if sensing his worsening mood, his phone buzzed, breaking Virgil out of his thoughts. Letting out a series of annoyed grumbles and half-assed curses, Virgil snatched his phone from where it was lying on the desk, Remus’ wild grin staring back at him from the screen.
It was a photo they had taken that summer, just before Remus had had to leave for college. Roman had been the one taking it, the day Patton had decided to drag -for some more literally than others- their entire group out for some ice cream.
Remus had thrown his arm around Virgil’s shoulder, proudly showing off his chocolate mustache as the other fumbled with his cone to keep it from falling to the ground.
Virgil remembered glaring daggers at him for a total of two seconds before Remus’ waggling eyebrows did him in and sent him in a snickering fit.
Virgil remembered the weight of Remus’ arm around his shoulder, his warmth seeping through his shirt in a way that somehow, didn’t make him uncomfortable -he had never felt uncomfortable with Remus, not once, not even under the hot summer Florida weather in the middle of July.
He only saw that photo for the first time later that night, staring at Remus’ wide grin and sparkling green eyes as his heart hammered in his chest.
The realization had crashed over him like a tsunami, every thought in his head screeching to a halt as he slowly became more and more aware of the fact that he was very much in love with his best friend.
”Of course,” Virgil remembered thinking, staring at his phone with wide eyes, ”who else could it be?”
And boy if that thought alone hadn’t scared the living shit out of him.
For a moment, Virgil let his mind linger on the memory of that sunny afternoon, a soft smile stretching on his face.
Then, he swiped up and clicked on the notification.
”You up for a little chat?” read Remus’ message, followed by a string of random emojis Virgil didn’t even try to decipher -he knew it would probably be useless since they rarely made sense in the first place.
Virgil frowned, threw a considering glance at his textbook and the various papers still scattered on the desk and shrugged -it was not like he was getting anything done anyway.
“sure, why not”
Not even ten seconds later Virgil’s phone lit up with an incoming call, the first notes of My Immortal filling the room.
“Hey there Spider boy!” came Remus’ voice from the other side of the line.
Immediately, Virgil felt some of the tension leave his shoulders, relaxing back on his chair as he pushed himself away from the cluttered desk.
“Sup, Trashman,” he answered, not even bothering to fight down the tired grin tugging at his lips -Remus was not there to tease him about it anyway, so.
“Wow, don’t sound too excited to hear from me.”
Virgil snorted, his smile turning more and more genuine as the seconds passed.
“Fuck you.”
“Maybe later. But really, you sound like shit -everything alright? Are there some bones that I need to break?”
Virgil groaned, leaning back as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Now that he wasn’t panicking over his homework exhaustion was slamming down on him full-force, making it very hard for him to string together a coherent thought let alone think about filtering whatever shit was coming out of his mouth.
“It’s just… fucking everything, man. College is kicking my ass, my anxiety is kicking my ass and I’m just- I’m just tired, you know?”
From the other side of the line, Virgil heard Remus hiss in sympathy at his words.
“Yeah, shit, that sounds rough as hell.”
A beat of silence, and then-
“I can drive over and burn down your campus if you want. No college, no classes. Boom, airtight.”
Virgil couldn’t have stopped the amused snickers leaving his mouth even if he’d tried, shoulders shaking with his laughter as he fought to stifle it down.
“Thanks for the very tempting offer, but I think I’ll give it a pass for now.”
Then, he sighed, feeling his smile slip away as he stared at the ceiling, his sadness starting to creep up on him again. “... I miss you,” he whispered -he hadn’t exactly meant to say that out loud, but he had and now just couldn’t stop.
“I just- I miss our daily escapades and you sneaking into my room at the oddest hours of the day because you decided for some reason that simply using the front door was too mainstream.”
Virgil took in a ragged breath, distantly feeling his eyes start to sting with unshed tears.
“I miss being able to just call you when everything gets too much with the knowledge you’ll be knocking at my window in five minutes max. I miss having you physically by my side every day, I miss my best friend and I feel so fucking bad about it because you’re following your dreams and I’m proud of you, I really am but I also want you right here by my side and-”
Virgil audibly snapped his mouth shut, pressing a hand over his lips to stifle his sobs as tears streamed down his face out of his control.
“I’m sorry,” he whimpered, moving the phone away from his ear.
“Virgil-” Remu voice called, sounding worried and maybe a little desperate. but before he could say anything more, Virgil hung up, letting his room fall back into silence before throwing the phone somewhere on his bed.
Virgil bit down hard on his lip, but he could do nothing against the sobs that kept bubbling in his throat. One escaped, then another and soon Virgil could do nothing but curl up with his head hidden between his knees, yearning for the one person that could not help him the way he wanted him to.
+++
Virgil didn’t exactly remember when he fell asleep, his memory being somewhat hazy in-between the tears that seemed to never end and the way he kept feeling like something was trying to squeeze him to death from the inside-out.
What he did remember, however, was waking up to a very familiar sound -one he’d thought he wouldn’t get to hear again in quite some time.
Initially, during those few moments floating between dreams and awakening, when reality hasn’t quite set in yet and sleep still hangs heavily from your eyelids, Virgil had almost believed he was still dreaming, his own vain hopes playing cruel tricks to his brain.
But the seconds kept ticking and Virgil kept hearing the goddamn sound, so there were only two possible explanations -either someone was trying to break into his room, or-
Virgil bolted up, almost tumbling off the chair he had fallen asleep on -which, ouch- in his haste to get to the window.
And sure enough, there Remus was, with his signature manic grin as he waved at Virgil from the tree branch he was perched on.
Virgil stared, hands moving almost on their own as they went through the familiar motions of unlocking the window to let his best friend in.
“Thanks, it was starting to get chilly out!” Remus chirped, climbing in with practiced ease and plopping himself down on the bed.
“What the fuck,” Virgil answered, still trying to process what was going on.
“I- you- what???” Virgil felt like his brain was about to implode, his gaze flickering from Remus to the window and then back to Remus again.
“Dude, what the hell are you doing here? It’s fucking two am or something like that and you live like, three hours away!”
Remus shrugged, shuffling around so he could sit cross-legged in the middle of the bed.
“My best friend is hurting, why would I not come?”
“It’s the middle of the week, you have classes tomorrow,” Virgil weakly pointed out, starting to feel a little choked up with all the emotions coursing through him at once.
“It’s Thursday, or Friday morning is you wanna be accurate,” Remus easily countered. “I know for a fact that neither you nor I have anything important going on tomorrow and the weekend is class free, so I’m going to crash here until Monday morning since we both have afternoon classes. And no, this is not up to debate. It’s happening, Spider Boy.”
Virgil blinked, staring at him with wide eyes as his heart hammered in his chest.
There was a tingling sensation running through all of his body, electrifying in the best of ways. It felt like fire and ice and water altogether, filling him up and up until-
“I love you,” Virgil blurted out, unable to stop the words from tumbling out any longer.
Remus stared for a second before a dazzling grin took over his face.
“I love you too!” he chirped, grinning so wide Virgil distantly worried if it didn’t hurt to pull at the muscles that much.
“No, uh-” Virgil stuttered, all too aware of how flustered he probably looked at that moment.
He bit his lip, pondering his next course of action. He could still salvage this, just let it go and make Remus believe he meant it in a platonic way and nothing more, burying his feelings in the deepest and darkest corner of his heart. But on the other hand… did he really want to do that?
“I meant in a romantic way, Remus,” he finally admitted, looking everywhere but at his best friend, “I love you as in I want to be your boyfriend and kiss you and stuff.”
Silence fell, filling the room as Virgil kept carefully avoiding Remus’ eyes.
God, he’d ruined everything, didn’t he?
Then he saw a familiar hand reach out and grab a fistful of his hoodie, firmly tugging him forward before he could express his confusion.
Virgil let out a startled yelp, stumbling towards the bed until he found himself face-to-face with his best friend. Still grinning, Remus winked before leaning in, erasing the last few inches separating them as he kissed him square on the lips.
Virgil froze, eyes as wide as saucers as he tried to comprehend whatever the fuck was going on. But before he could do that, Remus pulled back, slowly letting his eyes slide open again as a small, soft smile tugged at the corner of his lips -it was such a strange expression to see on Remus’ face, but Virgil found that he didn’t mind it at all, as long as it was directed at him.
“I know what you meant,” Remus chuckled, pecking Virgil on the lips again for good measure, “and I love you too. Now, are you gonna actually get on the bed and cuddle or do I need to drag you under the covers myself?”
Virgil let out a startled snort, feeling like he was reeling from the last five minutes alone. Still, he dutifully climbed on the bed and flopped down, feeling his exhaustion start to creep back on him again.
Remus grinned, laying down beside Virgil and immediately cuddling as close as humanly possible.
“Comfy?” Virgil teased, moving his hand to gently card it through the other’s hair.
“Hush boyfriend, pillows don’t talk,” Remus grumbled, already halfway gone as he somehow snuggled even closer.
Virgil hummed, leaning down to leave a kiss in Remus’ hair.
Boyfriend, uh? Well, it did have a nice ring to it.
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4lix · 4 years
Note
hello, i’m so happy you’re making a comeback. since you’re in the mood to write abt chan, may i request a best friends to lovers trope?
friends to lovers ★ bang chan ↳ gender-neutral. fluff.
okay so falling in love with ur best friend is a big L but its one u are more than willing to take for christopher bang
first things first, chan loves people with his whole mf heart.
whether its family, friends, or romantic interests
so when it comes down to him falling for his best friend? idk if he’d really realize it unless someone literally spelled it out for him, he’d just mistake his affection towards you as just the same kind of best friend love he has for ˙his group members
he’d never think much about the fact that most of his song lyrics these days were getting oddly too specific in detail about a certain someone
or how whenever he felt down his gut reaction was to call you up because the sound of your voice seemed to make everything better
or how he really really likes cuddling with you after long days of practice
and when you stop by the studio when he’s stuck on a track and just pull him to the couch to lay down for a while to get a break from staring at that damned screen, he’d instantly relax in your hold, sighing in content as your fingers twirled around his curls
and yeah his stomach is filled with butterflies and his ears are all red all that corny stuff but you’re his best friend and best friends cuddle sometimes too right?
best friends also feel the urge to kiss one another on the cheeks? perhaps sometimes they fantasize about what it would be like to kiss each other on the lips?
ok maybe not.
chan knew some of his thoughts were a bit odd. but you were really pretty so it was understandable. you were his safe place and the closest thing he had to home besides his members.
unbeknownst to him, you were honestly no better, a bit more aware of the fact that you could possibly be in love with the idiot but you were still in denial nonethless
whenever felix or hyunjin would tease you about your relationship with chan you’d feign disgust like he’s my best friend that’s weird! but your cheeks are red anyways and you’re kind of stuttering and hey is it hot in here or what-
when you had tough days chan would spam you with encouraging texts, a million obnoxious emojis, memes, just anything to make you smile and it always always worked, just the sight of a notification from chan always made you light up but that’s what best friends are for right?  
friends make the world seem brighter, that’s all chan was to you, a friend.
and chan cared a lot about his friends, so it only made sense..
but unlike his other friends, you always got special treatment
he’d give you gifts for your friendship anniversary despite all the suggestive looks from his group members, kissed your forehead when bidding you goodbye and always sent you good morning and good night texts each and every single day
he’d go out of his way for you always and all of that just seemed normal, natural to him. because he loves with his whole heart and he doesn’t even realize it
he wouldn’t really come to terms with things until one of the members like screams at him to just stfu already because he won’t stop talking about you and he somehow makes everything about you and it’s driving them insane
they’d be like we get it you’re in love with y/n shut up already
and he’d just be a stuttering mess like !! no im not !! and yet his heart is racing in his chest and everyone looks at him with an unamused glare
changbin would be like “everything you’ve written these last few weeks are all about them-”
felix would chime in like “you killed your phone battery texting them all day and then used my phone to call them so you could talk for three hours straight.”
jisung is like “yeah and you bought like ten different gifts for your friendship  anniversary but you gave me a set of socks for my birthday-”
huh wait maybe he is in love with you.
“those socks were knitted and really nice.” would be his only line of defense
the rest of the afternoon the members would just tease him about all his lovesick puppy habits that he was completely unaware of
like how his face lights up the moment you walk into the room
or how he can never go shopping without picking up something for you because hey y/n would look really cute in this!
and that he even mumbles your name sometimes when he’s sleeping lord help the boy
things kind of go to hell because now he can’t look at you without blushing and stuttering
he’s panicking because how the hell could he have fallen in love with his best friend who probably only sees him as a brother? if you liked him back surely you would’ve let him know by now, i mean if he was as obvious as his members said he was with his feelings there’s no way you weren’t aware of his infatuation with you.
but you were on the same boat really, to you, it seemed as though chan was affectionate with everyone, he smooched jeongin’s cheeks every now and then, and the socks he got for jisung’s birthday were kind of nice? you weren’t that special right? there’s no way chan could fall in love with someone like you anyways... right?
you knew him better than you knew yourself so his odd behaviour definitely did not go unnoticed even tho your sheer lack of brain cells prevented you from realizing why he was acting odd in the first place
the good morning and good night texts stopped, the spams of memes stopped, it was just radio silence for a few days and it was starting to freak you out but it was close to the deadline for the new album so he could just be stressed and you could just be overreacting
you figured you’d stop by the studio at like ass o’clock like always with some takeout for chan because you knew he never ate much when he pulled all nighters, you even threw in some of his favorite snacks and energy drinks, bringing your laptop with you to get some work done of your own hopefully
you did your signature knock on the door before entering but chan still jumped at the sight of you, weirdly startled by your presence, avoiding your eyes and only managing to cough and give you a tilt of a nod in greeting before gluing his eyes back to his computer screen
your first initial reaction is did i do something wrong :( and you intend to ask chan about it but he puts his headphones in and seems rather busy, you remind yourself again that he’s just focused on the new album he’d never purposefully ignore you.
you’ll ask him later, taking a seat on the couch, scrolling through social media mindlessly as your thoughts can’t seem to drift away from the boy across from you and how fluffy and soft his hair looks today.
after a good fifteen minutes pass, chan still hasn’t touched the food you brought which leaves you no choice but to annoy him to ensure he takes proper care of himself. calling his name multiple times to no avail, you tap the space bar, pausing the track before removing his headphones.
“channie, you can ignore me if you want to but i won’t let you ignore getting your vitamins and nutrients. i know you didn’t eat dinner. so eat.” he’s still not looking at you, just nods, clearing his throat awkwardly before turning over towards the takeout you brought for him and taking a seat at the couch.
you follow behind him, sitting right beside him. just a week ago you were here with chan laying on your chest, watching tiktoks of cats but now here you were, in the same spot but this time chan was silent, closed off. the complete opposite to his usual warm and bubbly demeanor.
he didn’t even bother to deny the fact that he was ignoring you, he just ate silently and fear starts to consume you because maybe chan really was upset with you?
before you figured he was probably just stressed and overly focused on the track he was working on but now it seems obvious he’s blatantly ignoring you, not even sparing a thank you for the takeout which was really unlike him. he always thanked you for taking care of him with tight hugs and sloppy kisses on your forehead. now he didn’t even look at you.
half of you was agitated that he was giving you the silent treatment instead of just being honest with you about whatever was bothering him but the other half of you really wanted to smooch his chubby cheeks filled with rice because wow he looked really really cute.
as annoyed with him as you were, you couldn’t help but appreciate his bareface, it was you favorite look of all, when he didn’t look like a famous idol, instead just a regular boy with blemishes and unruly hair in grey sweats and a hoodie.
a grain of rice hugged the corner of his lip, you fought back the urge to kiss it away. he was so unfairly attractive it made you want to punch him
you lean forward, reaching out to him to wipe the stray food away but he evades your touch, leaving your hand raised awkwardly out in front of you in rejection. now he didn’t even want you to touch him?
“did i do something wrong?” you didn’t realize how hurt you were by his silence, by his disgust of you, how he felt like a stranger these days. you kicked yourself inwardly for sounding so broken but the tone of voice seemed to strike something in chan because he finally met eyes with you for the first time in what felt like forever.
“w-what no not at a-all what makes you think that?”
“chan you’ve ignored all my texts for the last three days. you haven’t talked to me in nearly a week and now you can’t even spare a hello when i come in? you’re even avoiding my touch like i have the plague or something.” guilt washes over him immediately and he puts down the plate of food and looks at you with those brown eyes that are all sad and regretful and you forgive him before he even opens his mouth because you’re just that helplessly in love with the idiot
“i-i’m sorry. i didn’t mean to, really, i just have a lot on my mind right now and i just...” he turns to look away again but you place your hand to his chin, turning him forward to meet eyes with you again, he doesn’t shy away from your touch this time
“chan if i said something or did something wrong that bothered you, y’know you can always talk to me right?” you said earnestly, cupping his cheek in your hand, he leaned into your touch, humming gently. relief enraptured your heart, along with warmth
“you didn’t do anything wrong, i promise.” his eyes don’t leave yours, nor does his voice waver, so you believe him
“then why are you ignoring me?”
“because...” he tries to get the words out but his brain is going a mile a minute and you’re really close to him. you’re turned to face him, sitting criss crossed, knees bumping against his, he can feel your body warmth and it’s kind of sending him into overdrive
“because?” you urge him further, unable to help your lips from curling downwards in worry. he’s silent still, biting his bottom lip anxiously and you consider giving up for a moment but then he pulls your hand away from his cheek, instead holding it tight in his.
“i realized something. the guys, they made me realize some things.” he starts, eyes flittering past each and every single one of your features, admiring them silently to himself. how did it take him so long to realize he was in love with you? you were beautiful, his best friend, his whole heart, his muse.
earlier, his eyes were glued to the screen because he was rereading the words he’s written over the last few weeks and he couldn’t quite believe he wrote lyrics that were literally entirely about you and he had no idea, just assumed he had some new rush of creativity or something.
of course he was in love with you, he always been in love with you.
“yeah?” you rub your thumb over his hand slowly in an attempt to ease some of his anxieties. whatever it was he needed to tell you, it was clearly taking a toll on him, he was fidgeting, sighing over in over again and shaking his head trying to clear his thoughts. you felt a bit bad, perhaps you were prying too much?
“look i just–– i know we’re best friends, and the last thing i want to do is jeopardize that so if what im about to say makes you uncomfortable or something j-just forget it ever happened okay?” unknowingly, you hold in you breath, fear for his next words knocking the wind out of you.
“i... i like you. like like you, and- i don’t know how to deal with it so i’ve just been avoiding you and i’m sorry- wait why are you laughing?” his eyebrows are all furrowed and his cheeks are bright red and he’s squeezing your hand in confusion and you just look at him and just die of laughter
why were you laughing? you weren’t sure. maybe it was relief? joy? just pure utter love for the idiot in front of you?
“channie-” you attempt, but your laughter still has control over your lungs so you just cling to the boy helplessly, looking up at him with so much happiness in your eyes that he can’t help but feel a bit hopeful that maybe this laughter is good laughter?
“why are you laughing! i just confessed to you, put my heart out on the line and your response is laughter?” he’s smiling despite the confused tone of his voice, nudging you playfully but you pull him into you, shoving your face in the crook of his neck trying your hardest to get out the last of your giggles. with one last deep sigh, you prepare yourself to finally give him a proper response
“i’m sorry for laughing channie i’m just really happy. and relieved.” you finally pull away from him, resting your forehead against his, cupping his face once again in your hands.
“i like you too chan, i’ve liked you for a really really long time.”
the smile that lights up his face is one you’ll never forget, his eyes practically disappear, his dimples protruding through those precious cheeks of his and you can’t help the small laugh in happiness at the sight
“thank god i was actually losing my mind you know, changbin and jisung have been making fun of me all week, clowning me for being a lovesick puppy.”
“is that why they’ve been wiggling their eyebrows whenever i walk by-”
“unfortunately yes.”
“chan you should’ve just told me!”
“yeah well! i thought you saw me as like a brother or something!”
“what- no! i’ve literally been in love with you since the moment we met you idiot-”
“yeah well i’ve been writing songs about you for the last month, songs that you helped with and you didn’t notice a thing-”
at that you just :O bc realization hits u like a train n yea wait a minute he was pretty obvious..
he just gets all red again and then you smile at him and he’s smiling back at you and with the dopiest grin on his face he’s like
“can i kiss u..” and u dont bother to reply you just grab his cheeks and connect your lips with his
the kiss is kind of a mess tho bc you’re both just so ridiculously happy that you can’t stop smiling so yea its not a proper kiss but its filled with giggles and each time you pull away chan only leans forward to peck you again and again because he cant seem to get enough really and he’s just so elated that he can finally do this as many times as he wants
in conclusion chan loml<3 
requests are open! :) ↳ notes: tysm for all the kind welcome back msgs ily all sm omg <3  i ended up combining two requests as they were a bit similar i hope thats okay hehe <3 also sry if this is sloppy this is my first post in a long time & im kind of rusty .. whew
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steppedoffaflight · 3 years
Text
Summer’s a Knife - Epilogue
Catch up on Chapter 16 here
But everything feels different. Falling in love has changed everything. It sounds ridiculous, even to you, because in reality you and Van have only been together just shy of three months. But something about returning to the city where you first met him in that crowded bar has your heart feeling raw. This past year has been the craziest- but no doubt best- one of your life. Tomorrow it’ll be one full year since you swallowed your inhibitions down, letting Van lead you back to his hotel room. When you recall it you can still feel the adrenaline rush that had poured through you at his proposition, your pounding heart echoing the memory. 
Word count: ~3.5k
Epilogue
January 2020
“Are you ready?” You yell up the staircase, before sighing to yourself in exasperation, turning to your own things. Your luggage is opened up all over the floor by the front door, and you’re meticulously double-checking that you’ve got everything packed.
You’re scouring over one of your bags when you hear Van’s heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. He’s got a duffle bag slung over one shoulder, his MacBook open and glowing in one of his hands. It wobbles with each step down, and you practically feel nauseous from Van’s carelessness. 
“How can you hold that in one hand?” You ask, shaking your head. “What if you tripped?”
Van rolls his eyes playfully, but doesn’t bother with a response. He lets his duffle come to rest by the base of the stairs, proceeding towards the sectional so that he can flop down with his computer.
“I literally just bought a new mascara,” You complain. No matter how many times you’ve searched your things, it hasn’t magically appeared. “Have you seen it?”
Van is engrossed in his screen, not hearing a word you said. 
“Babe?” You ask a bit louder, snapping him to attention.
“What?”
“Have you seen my mascara? I just bought it yesterday and I thought I left the bag on the coffee table.”
“Oh, yeah,” Van gestures absently toward the hall. “I put it in the bathroom.”
“The one down here?” You ask incredulously, rising from where you’re kneeling on the floor. Sure as shit, your brand new tube of mascara is still in its cardboard packaging on the sink in the bathroom down the hall.
“I don’t know why you’d put it in there,” You scold him, annoyed. “You know I don’t keep anything down here!”
Van sighs. “I obviously didn’t know that,” He replies, terse. “I thought I was putting it away. You know I’m still trying to figure everything out.”
You let out your own tense exhale, but drop the argument. Learning to live together these past two months hasn’t exactly been a dream, but Van was right. He was trying. You were both trying. Trying to learn each other’s daily routines, trying to divide household duties equally, trying to work with each other’s quirks. Still, you wouldn’t trade getting to wake up next to Van every morning for anything. 
And by every morning, that meant every morning. Because the band’s touring schedule is no joke, and once you and Van were established you realized that the trajectory of your career was going to have to make some adjustments. That’s how a few discussions with Denise lead to you finally being promoted, and to a position that allowed you to work from home well over a majority of the time. Any obligations you needed to be in the office for were going to be planned in advance, so by the summer you’d be done being mentored and you’d be free to travel with Van. 
“Wanna see the mockups?” Van interrupts your thoughts.
“You got the mockups?” You ask excitedly, tossing the mascara into your suitcase before heading for the couch. “Yes I wanna see!”
You plop down next to him, snuggling into his side. He’s looking at a file Capitol has just sent him with full mockups of a few different options for the CD sleeves.
THE SUMMER, the spines of the CD sleeves read in each of the files. It looks so official, seeing the album title next to the Capitol Records logo. It feels like only yesterday when Van tried to be nonchalant when he mentioned to you that he’d been pitching that as the album name to the boys. It had completely stunned you then, and it still feels surreal now.
Because the album’s about you, you’ve learned. Almost all of the eleven tracks are dedicated to Van telling the story of your relationship, from that magical night in San Diego, to him drinking away the pain of missing you on the night of his birthday. There’s a song about the steamy encounter you two had in the car during your road trip to Phoenix, and the last track on the album details that night things almost ended, but instead became the best thing that’s ever happened to you.
“Gone is still the best,” You tell him, spotting where they’d decided to put it on the tracklist. It’s two up from the bottom, which feels appropriate. It was a ballad, Van wailing soulfully about the guilt that hangs over him from leaving his parents high and dry in order to make his music career work. His parents haven’t heard it yet, but you were in tears when Van played it for you. It’s just his voice and the piano, and you’re sure the fans will love it like you do. He’s nestled it between two upbeat tracks, always careful to keep things on a positive note. 
Van snorts, no doubt remembering your messy tears while you sat next to him on the piano bench in the studio that one afternoon. “Which cover do you like best?” He asks, flashing you the different options.
The cover for this album was a lobster, symbolic of the lobster dinner Van got the night he took you to dinner. Tim had done one illustration that looked more like the alligator from The Ride, and one that was more of an outline like The Balance, and a few variations of each. You chew the inside of your cheek as you examine them carefully.
“That one,” You say quickly when Van scrolls past the sleeve with the Ride-esque realistic sketch. “If the lobster was doing something, like how the toucan’s sipping that drink, I’d say that. But I like this one.”
Van takes in your opinion, nodding very seriously. “I’ll have to ask the lads, we can all take a vote.”
There’s a moment of quiet contemplation as Van looks over the tracklist for what was probably the millionth time. 
You’re still taking in the details of the cover, trying to wrap your mind around the fact that Van has immortalized so many details of your life in an actual, physical thing that people would soon be hearing, when your phone vibrates loudly against the mantle. You leap up, knowing it’s Mary before you even see the screen.
“Are you ready?” Mary asks on speakerphone, her voice bringing Van’s focus back to the task at hand.
“I’m ready,” You tell her, relieved to be free of any blame. “Are you ready, Van?”
“I only need a second!” He shouts loud enough so that Mary can hear him. “Lemme send this email!”
“Hurry up!” Her voice cuts through the living room. “You and Theo are the worst!”
“Oi!” Van shouts in indignation, but then there’s the beep of Mary disconnecting, clearly not entertaining any of Van’s excuses.
“I’ll take my stuff to the car,” You say as Van taps away at his keyboard. “Where’s the keys?”
“Kitchen,” Van murmurs, distracted, and you head around the corner to grab them from the kitchen island. 
You zip your bags closed and sling your purse over your shoulder, hauling them out of the front door and onto the driveway. There are some birds chirping in the privacy bamboo, and a few scatter from their hiding spots as they’re startled by you opening up the back hatch of the Range Rover.
The sun is beaming down from it’s glowing spot in the bright blue morning sky, a stark contrast to the climate you’ve spent your January birthday in when you lived in your hometown. You’re used to giant snowdrifts, freezing temperatures, a snow day off of school if you were lucky. You should be used to this by now; balmy birthday weekends that commence with packing up for the traditional San Diego trip.
But everything feels different. Falling in love has changed everything. It sounds ridiculous, even to you, because in reality you and Van have only been together just shy of three months. But something about returning to the city where you first met him in that crowded bar has your heart feeling raw. This past year has been the craziest- but no doubt best- one of your life. Tomorrow it’ll be one full year since you swallowed your inhibitions down, letting Van lead you back to his hotel room. When you recall it you can still feel the adrenaline rush that had poured through you at his proposition, your pounding heart echoing the memory. 
“I’m ready, I’m ready!” The screen door clatters behind Van, snapping you away from memory lane. He sets his duffel bag down by your feet before heading back to the front door. He reaches under the welcome mat for the spare key before locking the door securely and tucking it back. 
“Put it in the rock!” You call, slamming the trunk shut after you’ve loaded Van’s bag in with yours. But Van is already sliding into the driver’s seat, so that means you have to stomp up to the welcome mat, taking the key and reaching into the mulch by the front door for the hide-a-key rock you’d purchased for this purpose. 
Van is probably rolling his eyes at you, but you can’t see through his sunglasses as you hop into the passenger seat. The car is sweltering, and Van immediately gets the air conditioning going while you get settled for the long ride ahead of you.
Leaving now, you shoot a text to Mary.
Theodore is literally showering, Mary responds with three eye-rolling emojis. But we’ll be out of here soon.
You send a laughing emoji in response as you two pull out of the gate. 
Van makes a pit stop at a nearby gas station right before you two hit the highway so he can fill the gas tank while you go inside to collect the largest bottle of water they sell, two packs of cigarettes, a soft drink, and various snacks to hold you two over.
Traffic is light when you two finally get going, Van easily zooming towards San Diego as the early-afternoon sun blazes down on the cement, guiding your way. 
“It’s gonna be so weird to be back,” You grin, Van turning the radio down so he can hear what you’re saying. 
“Christ, I know,” Van’s beaming too, his hand straying from the steering wheel to intertwine his fingers with yours. You give them an excited squeeze.
“What were you doing alone at that bar, anyway?” You decide to ask while you’re lost in nostalgia.
“I wasn’t alone!” Van chuckles. “I was having drinks with Bond, but he decided to call it a night and I wanted to finish my drink.”
“Wait, you were with Bondy?” You grin, shifting in your seat to give him your full attention, eager for more details. “Was Bondy with you when we sat down?”
“We came in after you,” Van tells you. “We weren’t getting anything to eat so they seated us straight at the bar.”
“And then he left?”
“Yeah. We had a couple’a drinks and then he left, and I was finishing my beer.”
It’s so strange to think of the way every single person around you is running on their own timeline. Every single person at that bar had their own reasons for going, their own company (or lack thereof). It’s strange that so many people can coincidentally gather in the same place, whether it’s for a burger after a long drive or a beer after putting on a show at the House of Blues. 
“But when Mary said you were looking at… us, she said you were alone,” You point out, hesitating over the word us. You really had no idea if it was you that Van had been staring at. Secretly you had a suspicion sometimes that he was actually staring at Mary. 
“Well, yeah. Bond was gone, I was sort of just looking around.”
“But we stayed for, like, two hours after our food was gone. So you finished one beer for two hours?”
At this Van snorts. “No, I wasn’t drinking one beer for two fucking hours.”
“Gimme these,” You murmur, leaning forward to steal his sunglasses off of his face, annoyed that he was able to hide his expression behind them. You use them to push the hair out of your face.
“What’d you do that for?” He pouts, gesturing to the road. “It’s so fucking bright out!”
“The sun’s not even in your face!” You argue. “And anyway, what were you doing if you weren’t finishing one beer for two hours?”
Van sighs in exasperation. “Well, I was finishing my beer, and we caught each other’s eye, didn’t we? So I couldn’t exactly leave, could I?”
“When did we catch each other’s eye?” You cry incredulously. “Mary said you were staring at me!” 
“I thought you had looked over at me! I kept seeing you grab drinks at the bar and I felt like we were noticing each other, I dunno. And then I saw you whispering with Mary, and she was staring at me dead-on, so I knew you were talking about me. So at that point I thought eh, I’ll stick around for a sec.”
You chew the inside of your cheek, trying to hide your pleased smile. “And then what?”
“You walked to the bathroom.” Van’s voice has an edge of hesitation in it, like he’s reluctant to reveal his side of the events. “And got about three inches away from me, and we made eye contact again, so, I dunno. I thought we were on the same page.”
“And then you stalked me back to the hotel?” You ask, your eyes widening. Your theory had been right all along!
“No!” Van cries, looking over at you with his brows furrowed. “No, I didn’t stalk you! What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You stayed until the bar closed! And then we walked back to the same hotel!”
“When you sat down again you walked the most roundabout way around me! So I accepted we weren’t on the same wavelength, and ordered my last drink and then I was ready to call it a night. But then it was last call.” He glares at you from the driver’s seat. “Everyone had to leave. It had nothing to do with you!”
“Yeah, okay,” You groan in surrender, your stalking theory finally laid to rest.
“And that’s it.” Van shrugs one shoulder. “I saw you guys head inside the hotel, I went around to have a smoke before I headed up to bed. Then Theo suddenly comes around, and the rest is history, I guess.”
You think over his version of events, still worrying the inside of your cheek. “Huh,” You say finally. “I sort of thought you were staring at Mary and just settled for me.”
“What?” Van shakes his head. “First of all, it’s very clear wherever they go that Mary and Theo are with each other. Second of all, I thought you were proper fit from the get-go.”
“Proper fit,” You mock him, reaching down by your feet for your pack of cigarettes. “As if. I’m ugly,” You say as you crack your window and light a cigarette. 
Van rolls his eyes. “So fit I couldn’t even keep it in my pants.”
“You really couldn’t,” You agree. Knowing Van’s sexual history now, a spur-of-the-moment one night stand had actually been very out of character for him. “But I guess I decided to be some sort of impulsive, sexually empowered alter ego that night, so who am I to talk.”
Van tips his head back briefly to let out a loud laugh. “I really can’t believe you’d never had a one night stand. I would’ve never guessed.”
“My first and only,” You say in exaggerated sweetness, reaching over with the hand not holding your cigarette to pinch him lightly where his dimple is poking through on his cheek. 
Van shrugs your arm away with a laugh, switching lanes to rush past someone who was actually going to speed limit. 
You’re still gazing at his face, your whole body warm with love. “I love you,” You tell him. Just because you can. Just because it’s not a secret anymore.
“I love you,” Van responds instinctually, like it’s the easiest thing in the world for him to put into words. His words still send the butterflies in your stomach into a tiff. You don’t know if you’ll ever get used to hearing them.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Van breaks your dreamy trance, peeking over at you quickly. “In the email they said they wanted to push Arizona as the first single.”
“No way,” You grin, trying to imagine how the song might fit with the current music Van’s alternative radio stations are always spinning. You still avoid listening to them, much more inclined to switch on the Taylor Swift album you keep stashed in the CD player when you drive. But then again, Catfish has never bothered with radio trends, so you suppose it didn’t matter. 
“What do you think?” You press when he doesn’t respond.
Van shrugs. “I think it’s a great single. Me and Benj really rooted for it. Just wondering how you feel about it.”
There’s an edge of unease in his voice, and you suspect it’s because of all of the personal details in the song. While Van clearly didn’t mind airing out his every thought and emotion to the public, he’s known you long enough now to know that’s not the case for you.
You stay quiet, mentally running through the song in your mind. You peer out the window, watching the highway rush past in a blur, remembering that ride to Phoenix. Van had encapsulated it in stunning detail, from the conversation where you two exposed your deepest regrets to the strange sight of rain in the desert, the chill in the air from the pounding rain and the way you two had intimately warmed up. 
“I think it sums up the album perfectly,” You tell him finally, giving him a bright smile. Van’s raw, blistering storytelling mixed with the upbeat, summery melody seemed like the perfect synopsis of what listeners should expect of The Summer. 
And if a few details about your deepest secrets and sex life were broadcast around the world? Well, you suppose you’ll have to get used to it, because if this thing with Van plays out the way you’re hoping then he’ll be writing about you for a long, long time. 
“I think so too,” Van nods, the tension dropping out of his shoulders. He turns the radio back up, settling back into his seat to focus on driving again.
You go back to looking out of the window, watching the buildings bordering the highway melt into each other, the other cars on the road radiating heatwaves. You’re still stuck on memories of the Phoenix trip, remembering that moment of realization that you were in love with Van. With the conversation you two had had on the way, and seeing Van be so sweet to Charlie, in hindsight you realize you never stood a chance. 
Are you happy? You distinctly remember Van asking, and how you’d scrambled for an answer, realizing too late that you weren’t sure. 
But now there was no question. Only the steady, content happiness that felt like it was always glowing around you. Of course shit in your life still went wrong, but now at the end of the day you got to cry about a work blunder in the arms of the person you loved the most. You’d be working remotely soon, free to visit your family whenever your heart desired, and you’d also be getting to travel. Not to mention the pay raise, and the fact you could devote a lot more of your income to your savings and paying off your student loans now that you lived with Van. Even your friend circle had expanded; you were closer than ever with the girls at work, and along with Van your circle had expanded to include the rest of the boys. The band also had a Newcastle tour date scheduled in the summer, and Bondy hasn’t been able to stop talking about the night out you were all going to have with Sam and his band. 
“I love you,” You blurt out again, fluttery with that feeling that everything in your life was going oh so right.
“Christ, I love you too,” Van snorts, poking your thigh playfully.
“How fast are you going?” You ask as you realize he’s passing every car around you two at lightning speed.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m trying to get to the hotel before everyone else so I can get some time alone with you,” He grins, stealing his sunglasses out of your hair so he can pull them over his eyes again. 
You accept his excuse. “Okay, well in that case I’m gonna take a nap.” You finish up your cigarette, rolling your window up before you reach for Van’s sweatshirt that he’d tossed in the back seat, pulling it on before you slump down in your seat, trying to get comfortable. “Don’t crash,” You warn him, closing your eyes. The sun coming through the car windows makes the inside of your eyelids a bright orange. 
“I’ll try not to.”
\\
A/N: I am so incredibly grateful for these last 17 weeks on tumblr sharing this story with you all. My biggest hope is that this was able to bring a little bit of positivity or happiness to you in any way possible. I have endless gratitude for fenderswift, my absolute best friend in the world, for all of her support through this entire process. This fic would not be here out on the internet without her convincing, and being able to share this story with you all has been one of the best things to happen to me this year so I can’t say THANK YOU enough. THANK YOU to everyone who has read, to everyone who has sent me an ask, who has joined me and fenderswift in our love for this universe. The kind words you’ve sent me stick with me, and I’m so excited to keep living in this universe. This is definitely not the end for these two. There is much more to come!
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baeklooming-day · 4 years
Text
Soft | Baekhyun
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This is a part of the drabble challenge.
Original ask comes from @fullsuninbloom​
Lines 6. “I need a place to stay.” and 9. “You can’t banish me! This is my bed too!”
Summary: When your best friend’s cousin needs to stay at your place, you start to realize that your warm bed isn’t the only thing he wants to claim as his.
Feat. Chanyeol
Genre: ice cream fluff should be a term, FLUFFISH
Word count: 1.1k
A/N: I literally got the idea for this in the shower, lmao. I hope it’s ice creamish fluffish enough for you Sunny UwU
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“Why are you insisting?”
You asked your best friend on the telephone for the thousandth time, slowly getting impatient.
You did know that he was just preparing to leave with his parents for a few days, and you did also know that his younger jolly cousin was going to visit him, but what you did not know was why on earth couldn’t they simply postpone the one’s arrival so that they would be in the same place at the same time.
It was just completely and utterly without any logical explanation to you.
One was coming to visit the other one who was leaving.
Beautiful.
But alright, it is what it is, you thought.
“You are family, so what is the problem if he waits those three days for you to come back at your place?” You asked. “Baekhyun isn’t a baby, he doesn’t need to be taken care of, Chanyeol.”
Your best friend continued whining into the telephone. “Y/N, please? He is like a man-child.”
“Said a man-child.”
“Yes, alright, but he hasn’t seen you for so long, it’s your chance to catch up without me this time.” Chanyeol apparently made it his mission to finally melt you.
Sneaky giant.
“I don’t really feel comfortable around Baekhyun.” You replied. “He’s so clingy whenever we meet.”
“It’s called cherishing every moment.” He paused. “You’re my best friend, just do it for me?”
“Listen-”
A doorbell interrupted you before you could say anything else.
“That must be Baekhyun.” Chanyeol said, a little too joyously for your liking. “I’mma go now, love you, bye-bye!”
“What? Chanyeol!” You literally yelled into the telephone, but it was too late. He just ended the call like that. “Be damned.” You muttered, directing yourself to your door to open it.
Whatever, you would just have to deal with this.
As you decisively pulled the door open, you were met with the widest, joyous smile you’ve ever seen before.
Baekhyun.
“Sup buttercup” Not even giving you any time to reply, he just threw his arms around your waist without any warning as well, pulling you in real tight.
You were grateful that your neighbours didn’t come out whilst you were there in the opened door, because you assumed the scene must have looked really questionable with Baekhyun basically squishing you like a little kid a teddy bear, your body not moving like a lifeless doll with an expression that screamed ‘show me where did I sign up for this.’
You noticed that he was a little taller than you recalled. And when he finally let you out of his embrace, you noticed other things too.
“What’s up with this hair” You asked.
His previously charcoal fluffy locks were now completely rosy.
“Wasn’t soft rose your beloved colour?” He asked, while pulling the large light blue suitcase into your apartment.
“It was red like wine.” You answered. Actually, you loved those two equally but you decided to be quiet.
“Damn.” Baekhyun said, stopping in the middle of your big white corridor. “But won’t you even compliment me? It took a lot of effort.” He pointed at his hair.
“Charcoal black went way better with your outfits.”
“Come on, don’t be a stingy little mama.”
You looked at him questioningly. You knew exactly what it was.
“Are you using Elvis’ lines?” You asked.
But he was already on the way to what looked like... Your room?
Hold on.
“Baekhyun, frankly, why are you even here?” You asked, following him.
“I need a place to stay.” He simply stated, pushing the suitcase through the door straight to your room.
“You could stay at Chanyeol’s.”
“What’s the point if I’m there alone and you’re here alone?” He said, falling on your bed and ruining the smoothly layered soft covers.
Great.
“Don’t-” You started, only to be interrupted again.
“Don’t.” Baekhyun sat properly, looking at you. “Don’t, that’s what you say.”
Alright, you sensed some sick joke in the air. “Baek, what’s the problem with you today?”
And again, he didn’t even answer, he just reached out to grab you and pull you down to sit right next to him, again pulling you in real tight.
Just how clingy can someone be?
“Don’t-” You started, but that merely resulted in him cuddling up to you even more.
“That’s what you say,” He repeated. “Each time that I hold you this way.”
“Dude-” You couldn’t believe this. You knew Baekhyun way too well, you knew that he wouldn’t stop with this nonsense even if you told him to. “Dude this is my bed. I don’t know what you have in mind but you aren’t sleeping in my bed. There’s a couch in the living room.” You tried to disenthrall yourself from his hold, but failed.
“Why though” He asked, not bothered by your tone. “Let me be your teddy bear.”
“What the actual freak-”
“Run your fingers through my hair and cuddle me real tight.” Baekhyun showed you the most beaming, dazzling smile you’ve ever seen on him.
“Enough with the Elvis!” You spit out, properly looking him in the eyes.
“What? But you love Elvis.” He was giving you a puppy look now. “I thought that if I’m familiar with your favourite artist you will like me more”
What?
“I love Elvis, that’s why you need to stop, you’re spoiling this.” You replied.
“Y/N, now you got me started, don’t you leave me broken-hearted-”
“Leave this room, Baek” You pointed to the door.
Naturally, you knew it was for nothing.
“But I want to be with you.” He answered, leaning his warm right cheek on your equally warm left one.
“I won’t sleep next to you! And you can’t banish me! This is my bed too!” You said, but reasoning with Baekhyun when he already made up his mind was obviously all for nothing.
This time, to your surprise, the usual smile on his rosy lips transformed to a flirtatious one as he said the following words. “So, my darling, please surrender?” He just couldn’t leave Elvis out of this, could he?
At the same time, you felt a very gentle touch on your hand, his long fingers ever so slowly circling around yours and finally carefully interlocking with them.
You looked up.
If the in-love-emoji was a person, it would probably look exactly like Baekhyun looked now, plus dark blushing cheeks.
You were way too soft for this.
It was obvious now, that it was his own way to confess, which left you wondering if all this was planned before.
Because if it was, there was only one explanation.
Chanyeol, that jackass, planned everything with him.
But when you looked in Baekhyun’s honest eyes again, you knew you just couldn’t deny it.
You couldn’t deny it, that you felt warmth filling you when you looked at him.
You let out a deep breath. “I’m too soft for this.”
“If so, then” He started. “Please surrender?”
You surrendered, feeling a blush creeping up your own cheeks.
“All my love so warm and tender?”
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A/N: Tysm for reading! as always thoughts and reblogs are appreciated uwu
Just for fun, the Elvis songs I mentioned as followed:
A Big Hunk O’ Love, Don’t, Teddy Bear, Too Much, Surrender
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